The papers collected in this volume reflect the discussions and presentations held during the conference in May 2002, organized by the Netherlands Association for American Studies (NASA) and the Association for Canadian Studies in the Netherlands (ACSN). The theme, Politics and Representation, was an appropriate one for crossing national and disciplinary boundaries, as some 35 scholars, writers and artists from various European countries, Canada and the United States came together to present the latest approaches and research results in the field. Written from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives — political, social and economic history; literature, theater, visual art and photography; anthropology, media and museum studies — the 22 essays collected here examine the manifold ambiguities and pitfalls of intercultural contact between "indigenous," "native" or "aboriginal" peoples in North America and their European colonizers.