The Third Space of Sovereignty: The Postcolonial Politics of U.S.–Indigenous Relations

Acknowledgments

231 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS In an existential sense, this book began long ago as I was growing up in British Columbia, where indigenous politics is a central part of the political life of the province, and where a young man with some sort of weird interest in politics could not help but notice that words like treaty and sovereignty marked sites of deep contention. In fact, it took a move to the United States, and my graduate school experience at the New School for Social Research, for this book to get its tangible start. There, I was fortunate to find professors and peers who supported, challenged, and nurtured this project as they did me. Of my advisors, no one has been as important as Victoria Hattam. Vicky saw possibilities for this project from its earliest stages, beyond what I was able to conceive at the time. During moments when my confidence wavered about using postcolonial theory to study politics, she persistently urged me to prioritize this dimension of the project, and this proved invaluable to getting the book where I wanted it to go. As she does with all her students, she treated me more like a peer, never hesitant to pursue lines of thought outside the so-called mainstream (often for that very reason!); her concern was the content of the conversation and not the standing of those having the conversation. I am proud to say that she is, all at once, a friend, a peer, and a mentor. I thank David Plotke for the insight, advice, and supportive, convivial presence he has provided; I have learned, and continue to learn, a great deal from him. I have also greatly appreciated Anne Norton’s help and unfailing enthusiasm regarding my work and future, and hope she sees the “negative space” possibilities in the third space. I must also acknowledge my first major influences at the New School, George Shulman and Ari Zolberg; in different ways, they challenged me and offered models of intellectual curiosity and engagement. Over the years, many colleagues, especially at the New School and Babson College, have graciously read chapters of this book in various stages of development, and provided invaluable feedback. Most notably, 232 Cat Celebrezze, Edmund Fong, Joe Lowndes, and Priscilla Yamin read the entire manuscript in its early forms, over and over and over again, and to them I give my greatest thanks, because I can now say, with hope, “It’s all there.” I was greatly helped by those who gave their time to talk through the ideas and directions of this work and by those who read one or more of the following: early proposals for the project, early drafts that would become conference papers, conference papers that would become sections of chapters, sections of conference papers that would become sections of chapters, partial chapters that would become complete chapters, Siamese chapters that needed surgery, overly complete chapters that needed to slim down, emaciated chapters that needed to gain a few pounds, and every other combination imaginable. For their time and help in this regard , I thank Gerry Berk, Jessica Blatt, Dan Delaney, Michael Fein, Marjorie Feld, Jen Gaboury, Ron Hayduck, Ron Krabill, Joseph Luders, Jeff Melnick, Carol Nackenoff, Jill Norgren, Ruth O’Brien, Joel Olsen, Craig Robertson, Brian Seitz, Emily Strauss, Phil Triadafilopoulos, Brad Usher, Nancy Wadsworth, and Bill Winstead; the anonymous reviewers from Indigenous Nations Studies Journal, New Political Science, Studies in American Political Development, and Northern Illinois University Press; and the students in my Native American politics and policy courses at Babson College. Special thanks to Thomas Biolsi, whose review for the University of Minnesota Press provided both enthusiastic support and trenchant comments and criticisms that helped shape and improve the final version of the manuscript. The path from completed dissertation to completed book was not short but proved worthwhile, because in its course I was able to significantly transform and improve the work. I was very fortunate to have been aided by the institutional and personnel support of Babson College. A Gill Faculty Fellowship from the Babson Faculty Research Fund provided me leave in spring 2005, time critical to finishing the manuscript. Since 2002, the Babson Faculty Research Fund also provided me individual course releases, as well as funds for books and library access that were crucial to my research. I particularly thank Susan Chern of the Babson Faculty Research Fund for her hard work. I am also grateful to the librarians at...