Native Space: Geographic Strategies to Unsettle Settler Colonialism


Native Space: Geographic Strategies to Unsettle Settler Colonialism is a lucid examination of routine examples of subtle Native territorial claims. As a project, Native Space is abstract, focusing on what the author methodologically describes as "mundane" productions of space and how these figure into decolonization efforts. The result is a unique blend of topics, ranging from the ways that Native communities deploy street signs to insist on presense, to how the use of street signs in non-Native, mainly white neighborhoods ironically bolsters a sense of Eurocentric hegemony. Natchee Blue Barnd's reach is tremendous in this book, from the politics of legibility to the politics of art. In juxtaposing these accounts, he creates a unique understanding of the production of Native geographies that shows how they are messy, mundane, and unequal.