Dr. Lissa Wadewitz, assistant professor of history, presented “The Nature of Borders: Salmon and Boundaries in the Salish Sea,” as a part of the Faculty Lecture Series on Nov. 9.

Wadewitz has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Asian studies and presented her lecture to inform those who came of her upcoming book being published in spring 2012 called “The Nature of Borders: Salmon and Boundaries in the Salish Sea.” The book examines the connection between the border area between British Columbia and Washington, and how it led to the decay of the salmon runs.

The book itself has been accepted into the prestigious Emil and Kathleen Sick Series, a series that concentrates on publications in regard to American West.

Throughout the lecture, Wadewitz described why borders and human relations have always influenced the lives of salmon. From the borders created by the Native Americans, all the way to fish piracy in the 1800s and 1900s, Wadewtiz described how the Native people drew “specific types of access borders around their fishery” in which the goal was to conserve the salmon. Additionally, border between Canada and America supported salmon smuggling and piracy which lead to the transnational conservation policies in an attempt to preserve what was left of the salmon.

Wadewitz used maps throughout her presentation to give a visual of the border between Canada and America in order to better explain the causes of the decline of the salmon runs.

In addition to her book being published in the spring, Wadewitz may also be invited to the University of Washington campus in Seattle to give a talked based on the book, she said.

“I am also hoping to be able to do some readings in Portland,” Wadewitz said in an email. “But, nothing has been planned yet.”

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Samantha Sigler/News editor
Samantha Sigler can be reached at [email protected]