DOCSLIB.ORG

ONE SIDED CONVERSATIONS: CHAPTERS in the LIFE of ODILLE MORISON by MAUREEN L. ATKINSON Integrated Studies Project Submitted To

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text

Load more

ONE SIDED CONVERSATIONS: CHAPTERS IN THE LIFE OF ODILLE MORISON By MAUREEN L. ATKINSON Integrated Studies Project submitted to Dr. Jean Barman in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts – Integrated Studies Athabasca, Alberta March, 2008 Table of Contents Table of Contents .................................................................................ii Dedication............................................................................................iii Acknowledgements..............................................................................iv Introduction .......................................................................................... 1 Northwest Coast of British Columbia................................................. 11 Chapter 1 Tsimshian Beginnings ................................................. 12 Chapter 2 Lineage Role Models................................................... 22 Chapter 3 Educating Diversities ................................................... 30 Chapter 4 A Year in Her Life ........................................................ 37 Chapter 5 Mrs. Morison of Fort Simpson ..................................... 49 Chapter 6 Transitions and Translations ....................................... 59 Chapter 7 Odille the Ethnographer............................................... 69 Chapter 8 Odille’s Heart ............................................................... 78 Appendices ........................................................................................ 90 Bibliography ....................................................................................... 97 ii Dedication This work is for: Odille Quintal Morison who lived the story, Frances Haberlin who taught me that a vibrant faith requires questions, and Maureen Samuels for her commitment to greater cultural understanding. Odille Quintal Morison, circa 1880 Hannah Maynard Photo, Aldous Family Collection iii Acknowledgements First and foremost I must recognize two very important families without whose support, patience, and confidence this project would never have been completed: the Aldouses and the extended Atkinson/Bruce clan. Howard and Donna Aldous showed great support early on and continued to provide information and insights during the past four years. Odille’s voice would have remained silent if not for the vital assistance from her descendants. To my own immediate family, Michael, Patrick, and Eden; thank you for your loving patience as I divided my time between work, school, home and ‘the project.’ I would like to recognize Athabasca University and the Master of Arts Integrated Studies (MAIS) program for providing ongoing support and flexibility to distance students such as myself. Without the MAIS program this project would not have been possible. I would especially like to thank Drs. Derek Briton and Mike Gosmondi for their expertise, and guidance. As second reader to this project, Dr. Alvin Finkel’s feedback and suggestions were encouraging and insightful. I would also acknowledge the History and First Nations Studies departments at the University of Northern British Columbia for my early graduate studies course work. An accurate and engaging history can only come from a wide base of information. I have drawn on many sources to flesh out Odille’s story and I would be remiss if I did not recognize the archivists and library sources which helped me out along the way. Thanks goes out to Chris Roth for his countless emails regarding genealogical and Tsimshian lineages and to Cliff Armstrong at the diocesan archives in Prince Rupert, and to the kind archivists at the Prince Rupert City archives (Carol, Jean, Heather and Barb) whose keen sense of local history made my work a joy. Isobel Tovar, formerly at the Chicago Field Museum, took up my request for information regarding Odille’s ethnographic research housed there. She also located the ‘all clans pole.’ Special recognition goes out to Dr. Margaret Anderson, Dr. Robert Galois, Bruce Watson, Ken Campbell, Dr. Susan Neylan and my friend Nicholas May who generously shared their research and primary sources. Thanks as well to Caroline Dudoward and Louise Hager for their interest and to Patricia Vickers for her perspectives. This project would not have been complete without the unflagging interest from my friends and colleagues Dina and Rod, Maureen, Jim and Brenda, Char and Dave, Patti, and Mia and most especially Kate. Finally to my friend and mentor Dr. Jean Barman, I cannot begin to express how deeply I appreciate your guidance and constant encouragement over the past few years. You exercised great patience as you kept this wayward researcher on task through your steady stream of emails and a few hours over coffee in the Vancouver airport. I see now that great research is the starting point for an accurate and engaging story, but there must also be commitment and maturity. This is a debt which I can never repay iv Introduction I was first introduced to Odille Morison in the summer of 2002 when I came across the manuscript written by her husband Charles Morison in the archives at the local community college in Terrace. Our first meeting was a casual affair as Charles, in the course of writing about himself, commented that his wife had translated portions of the Bible and Anglican prayer book into the dialect of the Tsimshian, a First Nations group of the Northwest Coast. I was intrigued. Although Charles’ story of his years as a self proclaimed pioneer was a good one, I wanted to know more about this Mrs. Morison. Why was it so important to Charles to mention her achievements, yet not even give her first name? Some people obsess over their families, spouses; some their pets, the latest water cooler gossip or even their possessions. I happen to be passionate (the glass half full version of obsession) about historical research – something I can do reasonably well. More questions began to surface as I searched for the mysterious Mrs. Morison in the vital events index in the BC Archives. These questions were not only about her, but also about how this information was transforming me. I began to see how little I knew of Northwest BC history even though I had lived in the region for nearly fifteen years. Once I had tracked down her name and later her obituary in the Prince Rupert newspapers of May 25th, 1933, I realized how extraordinary she, Odille, really was. The Prince Rupert Daily News article reported that she had been eulogized as “the greatest woman that Northern British Columbia has ever produced.” How is it possible that the life story of such a person could be absent from the collective memory? What social conditions would drive the erasure, or more accurately exclusion, of such an individual? As I continued my search for primary sources I did manage to find local and regional first person narratives which made reference to Odille. Often these comments were made only in passing and usually with reference to her bicultural heritage. These references were in a coded form as with her obituary which described her birth thus: “Mrs. Morison was born July 17 1855 of old Hudson’s Bay stock at Fort Simpson [emphasis mine] now 1 known as Port Simpson.”1 She was in other words, both First Nations and white. I eventually learned that Odille’s mother was Tsimshian and her father French Canadian. All references that I have located laud Odille Morison as a bright, articulate and powerful woman, yet her own voice was absent from not only the popular literature during her lifetime, but also from the recent scholarly literature. While I realized that she influenced many people, she remained outside the historical spotlight. My goal was to draw Odille out from the shadows and put together the pieces of her life story. Sources I was very fortunate in that my sources for my research project soon extended beyond the printed word. Through extensive archival research and a bit of good fortune, I made contact with living descendants of Odille and Charles Morison. The great grandsons were not aware of their First Nations heritage, but they were enthusiastic supporters of my research project. The family members have shared with me photographs, letters and personal items which had been passed to them in what is known as the “cookie tin.” These personal items - mementos saved by Odille and later by her daughter Victoria - could easily have gone astray as time created emotional distance between the articles and the individuals. I also uncovered references to Odille in government documents and missionary reports about her role as language interpreter, then later as an ethnographer who worked with Franz Boas. The most exhilarating find, however, has been the rich detail provided by her daughter and son in a series of audio tapes from the early 1960’s. It was, and remains, the most moving and intimate experience to hear the actual voices of Odille’s children as they tell stories of their youth and childhood. Not only were their memories captured on audio tape but also their emotions as they engaged in the act of remembering then narrating their lives. Perspectives 2 The longing for a reconnection to a mythical time is manifest both in the artifacts we save and in the stories we share. Odille is mentioned in a few autobiographical narratives written by residents and visitors to northern British Columbia. Their descriptions of Odille are expressed with fondness yet these same memories are also cultural constructs. As the scholar Svetlana Boym postulates,
Recommended publications
  • George Woodcock's Peoples of the Coast: a Review Article* ROBERT D

    George Woodcock's Peoples of the Coast: a Review Article* ROBERT D

    George Woodcock's Peoples of the Coast: A Review Article* ROBERT D. LEVINE AND PETER L. MAGNAIR The appearance of George Woodcock's Peoples of the Coast ought to be a source of dismay for social scientists throughout the Northwest — and beyond the Northwest as well, for the willingness of publishers to print such volumes is certainly not confined to this one region. Woodcock's survey of cultures and culture categories on the Northwest Coast is one of the worst discussions of this subject matter available. Thus the need still exists for a non-technical book on Native peoples of the Coast, written for an intelligent lay audience willing to read with thought and care, synthe­ sizing the knowledge gained by investigators during the past century. Some of the finest fieldworkers in the history of North American ethnology carried out their best research in the Pacific Northwest: Franz Boas, Frederica de Laguna, Viola Garfield, John Swanton and Erna Gunther. Much of this work has been inaccessible to the non-specialist both because of the relative rareness of the original publications outside university libraries and because of the technical difficulty of the publications them­ selves, whose authors recorded, in minute detail, the tremendous com­ plexity of coastal societies. A summary and integration of the incredible mass of information we currently possess — and the questions which are still open and seriously debated — obviously would be very welcome. It is impossible for Woodcock's book to fulfill this role. Peoples of the Coast is so shot through with basic errors of fact and major misinterpre­ tations that another fair-sized volume would be required to list and discuss them all.
  • Gitxaała Use and Occupancy in the Area of the Proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline Tanker Routes

    Gitxaała Use and Occupancy in the Area of the Proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline Tanker Routes

    Gitxaała Use and Occupancy in the area of the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline Tanker Routes Prepared on behalf of Gitxaała Nation Charles R. Menzies, PhD December 18, 2011 Table of Contents Gitxaała Use and Occupancy in the area of the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline Tanker Routes......................................................................................................... 0 1. Qualifications.................................................................................................................................2 2. Major sources of knowledge with respect to Gitxaała .....................................................3 3. The transmission of Gitxaala oral history, culture, language and knowledge ........6 3.1 Basis of evidence......................................................................................................................................6 3.2 Oral history and the transmission of narratives ........................................................................7 4. An overview of the early history of contact between Europeans and the Gitxaała. .............................................................................................................................................................. 10 5. An Ethnographic Description of Gitxaała.......................................................................... 11 5.1 Gitxaała Language ................................................................................................................................ 11 5.2 Social organization
  • The Tsimshian Homeland: an Ancient Cultural Landscape

    The Tsimshian Homeland: an Ancient Cultural Landscape

    THE TSIMSHIAN HOMELAND: AN ANCIENT CULTURAL LANDSCAPE By KEN DOWNS Integrated Studies Project submitted to Dr. Leslie Main Johnson in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts – Integrated Studies Athabasca, Alberta February, 2006 The Tsimshian Homeland: An Ancient Cultural Landscape Questioning the “Pristine Myth” in Northwestern British Columbia What are the needs of all these plants? This is the critical question for us. Rest, protection, appreciation and respect are a few of the values we need to give these generous fellow passengers through time. K”ii7lljuus (Barbara Wilson 2004:216) Ksan (Skeena River) downstream from Kitsumkalum looking toward Terrace Master of Integrated Studies Final Project – Athabasca University Submitted to Dr. Leslie Main Johnson – February 25, 2006 – Ken Downs Table of Contents Introduction……………………………………………………….... … 4 Tsimshian Landscape ………………………………………………… 6 Tsimshian Archaeology………………………………......................... 12 Tsimshian: “Complex Hunter-Gatherers”? ............................................ 15 Investigations of Tsimshian Agriculture – Field Research …………….. 17 Results of Fieldwork (2003-2005) ……………………………………… 19 Kalum Canyon Sites …………………………………………………….. 36 Adawx: Oral Histories of the Canyon …………………………………… 45 Canyon Tsimshian Plant Resources and Management ………………….. 48 Significant Plants at Kalum Canyon …………………………………….. 50 Kalum Canyon Agro-Ecosystems ………………………………………… 66 Conclusions ……………………………………………………………….. 69 Further Research …………………………………………………………… 74 Acknowledgements
  • Proquest Dissertations

    Proquest Dissertations

    Singing to Remember, Singing to Heal: Ts'msyen Music in Public Schools Anne B. Hill B.G.S., Simon Fraser University, 1999 A.R.C.T., Royal Conservatory of Music, 2006 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For The Degree Of Master of Arts In Interdisciplinary Studies The University of Northern British Columbia April 2009 © Anne B. Hill, 2009 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-48789-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-48789-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation.
  • The Pacific Historian, Volume 30, Number 1 (1986)

    The Pacific Historian, Volume 30, Number 1 (1986)

    University of the Pacific Scholarly Commons The aP cific iH storian Western Americana 1986 The aP cific iH storian, Volume 30, Number 1 (1986) Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/pac-historian Recommended Citation "The aP cific iH storian, Volume 30, Number 1 (1986)" (1986). The Pacific isH torian. 116. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/pac-historian/116 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Western Americana at Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in The aP cific Historian by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Native Missionaries of the North Pacific Coast Philip McKay and Others E. Palmer Patterson Indian: A History Since 1500 (1972) and Mis­ sion on the Nass: The Evangelization of the Nishga (1860-1890) (1982). His current re­ E. Palmer Patterson is Associate Professor search is on the history of the Nishga Indi­ of History at the University of Waterloo, ans of British Columbia in contact with Ontario, Canada. Among his works on Europeans during the second half of the Canadian native peoples are The Canadian nineteenth century. White missionaries and their native converts. N WRITING THE HISTORY of nineteenth sion is seen as an example of European or Euro­ century Christian missions the tendency has American/Euro-Canadian cultural expansion and Ibeen to deal primarily with the European and its techniques of dissemination. However, native Euro-American or Euro-Canadian missionarie·s cultures have not always been destroyed, though and their exploits- as adventure, devotion , sac­ they have often been drastically altered .
  • Franz Boas and Tsimshian Mythology Ralph Maud Potlatch at Gitsegukla

    Franz Boas and Tsimshian Mythology Ralph Maud Potlatch at Gitsegukla

    n8 BC STUDIES ... I had been thinking about the book is aimed, will be able to critically glyphs all morning after finally being assess its lack of scholarship. This can ferried across" Too bad he didn't take only lead to entrenching preconceptions the time to speak with the Edgars, who about, and ignorance of, First Nations have intimate knowledge of the area in British Columbia. The sad thing is and the tliiy'aa'a of Clo-oose. that, although this result is no doubt Serious students will find little of the furthest thing from Johnson's value in this book, and it is unlikely intention, it will be the legacy of his that the general public, at whom the book. Transmission Difficulties: Franz Boas and Tsimshian Mythology Ralph Maud Burnaby: Talonbooks, 2000.174 pp. Illus. $16.95 paper. Potlatch at Gitsegukla: William Beynon's 1Ç45 Field Notebooks Margaret Anderson and Marjorie Halpin, Editors Vancouver: UBC Press, 2000. 283 pp. Illus., maps. $29.95 paper. REGNA DARNELL University of Western Ontario OTH VOLUMES REVIEWED here respects the integrity of Beynon's parti­ explore the present utility and cipant-observation documentation, B quality of Tsimshian archival simultaneously reassessing and con- and published materials. There the re­ textualizing it relative to other extant semblance ends. The scholarly methods work on the Gitksan and closely related and standpoints are diametrically op­ peoples. Beynon was invited to the pot- posed; a rhetoric of continuity and latches primarily in his chiefly capacity, respect for tradition contrasts sharply although he was also an ethnographer with one of revolutionary discontinuity.
  • Proquest Dissertations

    Proquest Dissertations

    Un-Layering Landscapes: A Post-Colonial Critique of "Wilderness" in Tsimshian Territory, Northern British Columbia Brenda Guernsey B.A., University of Northern British Columbia, 2002 Thesis Submitted In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirements For The Degree Of Master Of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies The University Of Northern British Columbia August 2008 © Brenda Guernsey, 2008 Library and Bibliotheque et 1*1 Archives Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-48767-9 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-48767-9 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives and Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Plntemet, prefer, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans loan, distribute and sell theses le monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, worldwide, for commercial or non­ sur support microforme, papier, electronique commercial purposes, in microform, et/ou autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. this thesis. Neither the thesis Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels de nor substantial extracts from it celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement may be printed or otherwise reproduits sans son autorisation.
  • An Historic Event in the Political Economy of the Tsimshian : Information on the Ownership of the Zimacord District* JAMES ANDREW Mcdonald

    An Historic Event in the Political Economy of the Tsimshian : Information on the Ownership of the Zimacord District* JAMES ANDREW Mcdonald

    An Historic Event in the Political Economy of the Tsimshian : Information on the Ownership of the Zimacord District* JAMES ANDREW McDONALD This paper reconstructs and presents a bit of ethnographic information that is based upon a piece of the oral history of the Tsimshian people,, a society native to what is now northwestern British Columbia. The value of the history lies not only in the events described, but also in the illustra­ tion it provides of relationships between a set of houses in two neighbour­ ing villages prior to the Canadian Confederation. In the history can be seen several aspects of the old property relationships under which the Tsimshian lived, as well as an outline of their social organization. Anthropologically understood, property is a socially embedded defini­ tion of relationships between persons within a society. The property piece itself, not necessarily a material object, is a mediation of these relation­ ships, a focus of attention for how persons and groups are to relate to one another. Thus, property defines the rights and obligations people and groups have to each other, setting the limits to the use of the property while demanding adherence to the dominant mores of the community, and re-establishing these relationships in the process. Any particular form of property is always stamped by the impression of the society in which it exists and by which it is defined. In the story about the Zimacord District lies the mark of Tsimshian society attempt­ ing to re-assert proper practices towards territorial resource property, and to justify a particular arrangement of ownership, in this case that of the acquisition of property by one group from another.
  • Fighting Language Endangerment

    Fighting Language Endangerment

    ON SM'ALGYAX (COAST TSIMSHIAN) (COAST ON SM'ALGYAX RESEARCH DIRECTED COMMUNITY Fighting Language Endangerment TONYA STEBBINS LA TROBE EBUREAU La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3086, Australia https://library.latrobe.edu.au/ebureau/ First published in 2003 by ELPR Publications Second edition published in Australia by La Trobe University © La Trobe University 2020 Second edition published 2020 Copyright Information Copyright in this work is vested in La Trobe University. Unless otherwise stated, material within this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Non Derivatives License. CC BY-NC-ND http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Fighting Language Endangerment: Community Directed Research on Sm'algyax (Coast Tsimshian) Tonya Stebbins ISBN: 978-0-6484681-3-4 DOI: https://doi.org/10.26826/1011 Other Information Designed by La Trobe eBureau Enquiries: [email protected] This ebook has been peer reviewed Cover photo and imprints: Adapted from 'Thuja plicata Vancouver' by abdallahh from Wikimedia Commons used under CC BY 2.0. ii Preface to the second edition This book explores a range of issues associated with working in a community directed project to prepare a dictionary for community use. In conjunction with my studies as a MA and then a PhD student in Linguistics at the University of Melbourne between 1995 and 1999, I approached the Tsimshian community proposing to work with them on preparing an updated and expanded dictionary for the community. My involvement with the Tsimshian community was supported by my PhD supervisor, Dr Jean Mulder, who had also completed her PhD working on Sm'algyax, the language of the community.
  • Declaration of the Kitsumkalum Indian Band of the Tsimshian Nation of Aboriginal Title and Rights to Prince Rupert Harbour and Surrounding Coastal Areas

    Declaration of the Kitsumkalum Indian Band of the Tsimshian Nation of Aboriginal Title and Rights to Prince Rupert Harbour and Surrounding Coastal Areas

    DECLARATION OF THE KITSUMKALUM INDIAN BAND OF THE TSIMSHIAN NATION OF ABORIGINAL TITLE AND RIGHTS TO PRINCE RUPERT HARBOUR AND SURROUNDING COASTAL AREAS I. Introduction This declaration is made by the Elected and Hereditary Chiefs of the Kitsumkalum Indian Band (“Kitsumkalum”) on behalf of all Kitsumkalum. Kitsumkalum is a strong, proud part of the Tsimshian Nation. We take exception to attempts to deny us our rightful place within the Tsimshian Nation, and to deny us our rightful place on the coast, with its sites and resources that are an integral part of who we are. This denial is more than an attempt to separate us from our lands and resources, it is an assault on who we are as people. We are supposed to be moving forward with Canada and British Columbia in a spirit of recognition and reconciliation. Instead, we are met with denial and resistance. In this declaration, we once again assert who we are and what is ours. We are a part of the Tsimshian Nation that exclusively occupied the Prince Rupert Harbour and surrounding coastal and inland areas prior to and as of 1846. Within that area, we hold exclusive ownership over and responsibity for specific sites in accordance with ayaawx, Tsimshian Law. We have aboriginal rights to fish, harvest, gather and engage in cultural and spiritual activities throughout the coastal part of our territory. There is much at stake – in particular with a Liquefied Natural Gas (“LNG”) industry at our doorstep. It is only through recognition on the part of Canada and British Columbia of our rights and title and an acknowledgement of your legal obligations to consult meaningfully with us that we can move forward in a spirit of mutual respect and work to achieve results for our mutual benefit.
  • Tsimshian Wil'naat'ał and Society

    Tsimshian Wil'naat'ał and Society

    Tsimshian Wil’naat’ał and Society: Historicising Tsimshian Social Organization James A. McDonald Introduction ot far from Gitxaała are the people who live inside the mists of the Skeena River. Connected to Gitxaała by the familial ties of kinship and chiefly designs, theN eleven Aboriginal communities of the lower Skeena River also are part of the Tsimshian Nation. The prevailing understanding of Tsimshian social organization has long been clouded in a fog of colonialism. The resulting interpretation of the indigenous prop- erty relations marches along with the new colonial order but is out of step with values expressed in the teachings of the wilgagoosk – the wise ones who archived their knowledge in the historical narratives called adaawx and other oral sources. This chapter reviews traditional and contemporary Tsimshian social structures to argue that the land owning House (Waap1) and Clan (Wil’naat’ał) have been demoted in importance in favour of the residential and political communities of the tribe (galts’ap). Central to my argument is a critical analysis of the social importance of the contemporary Indian Reserve villages that is the basis of much political, cultural, and economic activity today. The perceived centrality of these settlements and their associated tribes in Tsimshian social structure has become a historical canon accepted by missionaries, politicians, civil servants, historians, geographers, archaeologists, and many “armchair” anthropologists. This assumption is a convention that loosens the Aboriginal ties to the land and resources and is attractive for the colonial society. It is a belief that has been normalized within the colonized worldview as the basis for relationships in civil society.
  • DEFINING the MIDDLE PERIOD Fjsoo BP to 1500 BPJ in Tsimshian History Through a Comparison of Archaeological and Oral Records

    DEFINING the MIDDLE PERIOD Fjsoo BP to 1500 BPJ in Tsimshian History Through a Comparison of Archaeological and Oral Records

    DEFINING THE MIDDLE PERIOD fjSoo BP to 1500 BPJ in Tsimshian History through a Comparison of Archaeological and Oral Records ANDREW R.C. MARTINDALE AND SUSAN MARSDEN INTRODUCTION NDIGENOUS ORAL TRADITIONS are compelling sources of information for archaeologists. They represent situated narratives on culture Iand history, which introduce a people's record of their history to the otherwise materialist database of archaeology. Archaeologists routinely make comparisons between indigenous cultures and archae­ ological data, either in the form of generalized analogies or as direct historical analogies between ethnographically known cultures and their archaeologically known antecedents. The use of indigenous oral narratives in archaeology is less common, although much of what is known ethnographically is based on the indigenous oral record. Several successful comparisons are known, however (Klimko andTaft 1990; MacDonald 1984; Marsden 2000; Martindale 1999a; Sharpe andTunbridge 1997). In this paper, we compare archaeological data for the cultural history of theTsimshian people of the northern Northwest Coast of North America to information from their oral histories. Analysis of archaeological data and indigenous oral records presents distinct but comparable views of Tsimshian history. We discuss the history of the Tsimshian from about 3,500 to 1,500 years ago and argue that such a comparison clarifies an evolving pattern of settlement that earlier interpretations of the Tsimshian have not brought into focus. Specifically, we argue that, during the Middle Period between 3,500 and 2,000 years ago, the northern Tsimshian area (Figure 1) consisted of two settlement regions, one on the coast north of the mouth of the Skeena River and the other in the interior around Kitselas Canyon.