Swedish Oregon by Lars Nordström

Abstract

R?ssel Lawrence Barsh carries thediscussion further,arguing that the successWashington tribeshave had in re-establishingfishing rights has created "thefictionof collective tribalown ership" of resources thathad been controlled by extended family units (p. 217). He brings his cogent analysis to bear on the question of ethnogenesis, and its impact on the rights of tribalmembers as their basis of identity changes over time.Bruce Rigsby concludes part 3by arguing that tribes reserved treatyrights, including "the rightto curate graves and burial sites"on treaty-ceded lands, in a case studyof theKennewick Man controversy (p. 245). Part 4, "Power Relations inContemporary Forums," moves history into the present. Arthur J. Ray leads readers through the dif ficulties expert witnesses have in educating judges,based on his own trialexperiences, and exposes some of theweaknesses of delivering evidence in the adversarial conditions of the courtroom. Ravi de Costa writes about mod ern treaty making effortsinBritish Columbia and argues forfluidity as opposed to rigidity in the agreements. He argues that modern treaties should not be shaped by the historic and "anachronistic" treatymaking process (p. 314). Robert T. Anderson believes modern agreements such as thatnegotiated byNative Alaskans (ANCSA) and theNez Perce (2004 water rights agreement) resemble nineteenth centurytreaty negotiations inthattribalpeople must negotiate from a position ofweakness. While the essays do amarvelous job defin ing power relations between tribal groups and western governments, thework is also exemplary inexploring power relations among tribes.This text should serve as a model for thosewho would produce books derivingfrom conference papers. Itprovides valuable com parative insights, for beginners and experts, into treatyand resource issues and histories across national, tribal (and disciplinary) bor ders in thePacificNorthwest. David R.M. Beck University of Montana SWEDISHOREGON by Lars Nordstr?m Swedish Roots inOregon Press, Portland, 2008. Photographs, bibliography, index. 339 pages. $22.00 paper. In Swedish Oregon, Lars Nordstr?m compiles articlesand other shortpieces thattellthecom pelling storyof the state'sSwedish immigrants. Arranged chronologically, chapters representa fullrange of immigrant experience: the trans atlantic voyage, transcontinental train travel, rural and urban settlement, ethnic entrepre neurship, Swedish-language newspapers and literature, religious and secular institutions, and twentiethcentury assimilation and ethnic revival. For scholars of the Swedish immigra tion, thisOregon material isboth familiar,fit tingthepatternsof SwedishAmerica elsewhere in theUnited States, and informative,filling in gaps in our knowledge. Especially valuable isNordstr?m's analysis of trends in recent Swedish immigration, including how experi ences of late twentieth and early twenty-first century immigrants are qualitatively differ ent from their earlier counterparts. Scholars of Swedish America will also be interested inNordstr?m's work with the papers of two well-known Swedish-American intellectuals who had Oregon connections, SamuelMagnus Hill and Ernst Skarstedt. For non-Swedish readers, Nordstr?m's translations of autobiographies, journals, and letterswill broaden their understand ing ofOregon history and culture to include information about this important non-Anglo group. Probablymost valuable are the1908-1911 excerptsfromAnton Swanson's diary, in which we hearfrom Swanson's point ofview about the difficultiesan immigrantcould face inan urban setting without the safety nets of labor lawsand health insurance. Swanson contractspolio, and during his long recovery,he, his wife Huida, and their son George, are forced to live sepa rately, withHuida working as a live-indomestic to support thefamily. Hill's journal recounting Reviews 631 his second-class sea voyage to America and Anna Birchman's contrasting description of her passage in second-class accommodations provide readerswith varied socioeconomic and gender experiences. These translated primary sources also help readers perceive the immi grants' range of literacy levels. Swedes were generallywell educated during theperiod they came to thePacific Northwest, butmany had written littlebefore leaving familyand friends in Sweden. Nordstr?m does an excellent job of rendering their distinctive writing voices in simple prose, in Swanson's and Birchman s texts, or more elevated prose, in Hill's. Nor dstr?m also translates three of Hill's poems written late in life, when he was disillusioned with America and homesick forSweden. These and a chapter byVictoria Owenius recounting thehistory of themost long-lived ofOregon's Swedish-language newspapers, Oregon Posten, remind readers thatAmerican literature is multi-lingual. In addition toOwenius's study of Posten, Nordstr?m selects severalpreviously published but difficult to obtain articles about...