I was confused at the beginning of this essay. I wasn't sure what the big deal was about having the Coast Salish people being split between the U.S. and Canada. Then I realized that the Coast Salish people's concept of political boundaries is far from ours. As stated in the text "The boarder, while signifying the differences between two empires, made little sense to Coast Salish people...". I believe it is truly impossible for indigenous people to remain true to their roots amongst an industrialized and modernized culture. The dominant culture will always take precedence over the "savage" culture, regardless if they've thrived for hundreds of years before colonization occurred.
The dominant culture will try and innoculate the indigenous people with their culture, religion, and education. As mentioned in the text, the metamorphosis that modern culture uses to try and "civilize the savages", often results in destroying the indigenous people's sense of being. They've lost almost all ties to their indigenous culture, while at the same time not being fully accepted into modern industrial society. I found this to be a discouraging conclusion to come to, and only further supports the argument that modernized culture is destructive.
The dominant culture will try and innoculate the indigenous people with their culture, religion, and education. As mentioned in the text, the metamorphosis that modern culture uses to try and "civilize the savages", often results in destroying the indigenous people's sense of being. They've lost almost all ties to their indigenous culture, while at the same time not being fully accepted into modern industrial society. I found this to be a discouraging conclusion to come to, and only further supports the argument that modernized culture is destructive.
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