The creation of the Canada–US border in the Pacific Northwest is often presented as a tale of two nations, but beyond the macro-political dynamics is the experience of individuals. Before and After the State examines the imposition of a border across a region that already held a vibrant, highly complex society and dynamic trading networks. Allan McDougall, Lisa Philips, and Daniel Boxberger explore fundamental questions of state formation, social transformation, and the (re)construction of identity to expose how the devices and myths of nation building affect people’s lives. The authors show that histories on both sides of the border have downplayed pioneering before large-scale western migration. -- David R. Conn ― Western Mariner After reading this book one may never look at the Pacific Northwest in quite the same way. -- Tracie Lea-Scott, Heriot-Watt University, Dubai ― British Journal of Canadian Studies This exciting new work has much to offer on alternative understandings of Indigenous sovereignty in the trans-border Pacific Northwest. It will be an important study for scholars, students, and the general public interested in the region’s many aspects of society, culture, and history and how we should understand them better. -- Sterling Evans, editor of The Borderlands of the American and Canadian Wests: Essays on Regional History of the Forty-ninth Parallel Documenting the profound impact of state formation on individuals and communities in the Pacific Northwest of the nineteenth century, Before and After the State reveals how national narratives and constructed identities were used in the service of nation building. Allan K. McDougall is professor emeritus in the Department of Political Science at the University of Western Ontario. Lisa Philips is professor emerita at the University of Alberta. Daniel L. Boxberger is professor of anthropology at Western Washington University.