Ecopoetics Along Shorelines

Messages from Frank’s Landing begins with lists of what settlers attempted to control when they first arrived. They tried to change their practices, their speaking, even their names in an attempt to “better assimilate” into their new culture. The first act of defiance (in the text) came from Nisqually leader Leschi who tore up Stevens’ treaty. These treaties attempted to police and control what the indigenous people already used and “owned,” through a government put into place without their voice. The fight for fishing grounds that lead to the Boldt decision was a series of resistances that prevailed over control.