Fort Selkirk: Early Contact Period Interaction Between the Northern Tutchone and the Hudson’S Bay Company in Yukon
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Archaeology Programme Government of the Yukon Hude¸ Hudän Series Occasional Papers in Archaeology No. 17 FORT SELKIRK: EARLY CONTACT PERIOD INTERACTION BETWEEN THE NORTHERN TUTCHONE AND THE HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY IN YUKON Victoria Elena Castillo Yukon Archaeology Programme Hude*\ Huda†n Series Occasional Papers in Archaeology Hude*\ Huda†n—Long Ago People (Northern Tutchone) Editorial Committee Chair: Jeff Hunston Manager, Heritage Resources Production Manager: Ruth Gotthardt Archaeologist, Yukon Archaeology Programme Production Assistant: Greg Hare Senior Projects Archaeologist, Yukon Archaeology Programme Objectives of the Series The Occasional Papers in Archaeology Series is designed to provide for the timely dissemination of technical reports, conference workshop proceedings, and dissertations relating to archaeological research in the Yukon. The publication of these materials contributes to the realization of Yukon Tourism and Culture’s heritage programming mandate: to develop, enhance and preserve the Yukon’s heritage resources and communicate an appreciation and understanding of the Yukon’s heritage to Yukoners and Yukon visitors. In order to expedite timely publication of research results and keep publication costs to a minimum, manuscripts are submitted ready for printing. Errors are the responsibility of the author(s). Archaeology Programme Government of Yukon OCCASIONAL PAPERS IN ARCHAEOLOGY NO. 17 FORT SELKIRK: EARLY CONTACT PERIOD INTERACTION BETWEEN THE NORTHERN TUTCHONE AND THE HUDSON’S BAY COMPANY IN YUKON Victoria Elena Castillo YUKON Tourism and Culture Archaeology Programme Mike Nixon, Minister 2012 Fort Selkirk: Early Contact Period Interaction Between the Northern Tutchone and the Hudson’s Bay Company in Yukon by Victoria Elena Castillo A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology University of Alberta ©Victoria Elena Castillo Spring 2012 Edmonton, Alberta Fort Selkirk: Early Contact Period Interaction Between the Northern Tutchone and the Hudson’s Bay Company in Yukon by Victoria Elena Castillo A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Anthropology ©Victoria Elena Castillo Spring 2012 Edmonton, Alberta For Selkirk First Nation Citizens and Grant and Roman Zazula Abstract Historical archaeology has often struggled to reveal the roles that Indigenous people played as socio-economic agents during the initial contact period in North America. Previous research in the discipline largely focused either on reconstructing everyday life in early European settlements while ignoring Indigenous agency or on European material culture and dominance over Indigenous groups. The absence of Indigenous agency in historical archaeology unfortunately presents Aboriginal people as lacking the reflexivity to create their own space within their social conditions. Research presented in the dissertation employs a holistic, multi-scalar approach, combining archaeological, archival, and ethnographic data to examine how Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) fur traders and Northern Tutchone Athapaskans negotiated their socio-economic roles at Fort Selkirk, Yukon (A.D. 1848-1852) and to expose the underlying social processes of early European- Indigenous interaction. Results of this study demonstrate that the Northern Tutchone were active agents in their trade relations with the Hudson’s Bay Company and Coastal Tlingit Chilkat trade partners. The archaeological and archival records reveal that the Northern Tutchone traded with the HBC but were never subsumed within the HBC trade sphere. The Northern Tutchone people, as reflexive agents, remained autonomous throughout the fort’s existence and were able to create a dual trading strategy that was profitable for them for the duration of the forts existence. Acknowledgements There are many people to thank for this thesis. My supervisor, Raymond Le Blanc, never stopped supporting my research and encouraged me to think independently and critically. He was enthusiastic about my topic and his love of Yukon archaeology was infectious. I could not have asked for a better supervisor. I would also like to thank the rest of my committee members. Gerhard Ens taught me how to read archival documents “between the lines”. Being new to archival research, Gerhard guided my examination of the primary documents and was always encouraging and supportive. Jean DeBernardi was always supportive and provided me with great words of wisdom that kept me on track. I would also like to thank Ruth Gruhn for her meticulous editorial skills and Kisha Supernant for providing me with fantastic feedback on my theoretical approach. I am grateful to my external examiner, Max Friesen, who also provided me with important and useful comments. I wish to express immense gratitude to Ruth Gotthardt who presented me with the opportunity to work on this project and provided me with tons of logistical support. I would also like to thank Christian Thomas for taking me out into the bush and teaching me how to navigate my way around. Thank you to Greg Hare and Jeff Hunston for their logistical support and encouragement. Valerie Monahan helped identify and clean some of the prettier pieces in the collection. Tatiana Nomokonova conducted the faunal analysis and my dear friend Erin Green designed many of the figures. I would also like to extend my gratitude to Dominique Legros and Llewellyn Johnson for their earlier research on the Northern Tutchone and Hudson’s Bay Company Fort Selkirk journals. I wish to express my appreciation to the Fort Selkirk field crew members that participated in this project. Thank you to Selkirk First Nation members Dayna Joe, Lyndelle Johnson, Delaney Alfred, Lauren McGinty, Curtis Joe, and our camp cook, Alice Joe. I would also like to thank Morgan Ritchie who agreed to be my assistant without ever having been to the Yukon. You had an infectious spirit. Two important women who also put their heart and soul into the fieldwork were Sam Darling and Kirsten Smith. They were the first to start work and the last to finish every day and I had a wonderful time living with them at Pelly Farm. I would also like to thank Shannon Marks and Peter Schnurr for all their work at Fort Selkirk. I am grateful to Emma and Jessica Alfred for their support of the project. A thank you to the Bradley family at Pelly Farm for allowing us to sleep on their cow fields and providing us with the use of their boat after our camp was evacuated because of a forest fire. Dale Bradley went out of his way to provide us with a comfortable and safe place to stay after a full day of excavations. The Tredger family at Stepping Stone visited us at the site with watermelons and juice on the hottest of days. Thank you to the staff at the Department of Anthropology for all their assistance over the years, in particular Gail Mathew. I would also like to thank my University of Alberta colleagues and friends for their support and encouragement, especially Christine Schreyer for her friendship, encouragement and editing. Jodie Asselin, Gabriel Asselin, Mindy Pitre, Kory Cooper, Aaron Denham, and Carly McLafferty Dokis were also supportive. To all the musicians that kept me sane while writing this, cheers. Thank you to my ladies: Jennifer Stewart, Jade Boyd, Melanie Lee, Shelley Chelin, Heidi Nutley, Francoise Raunet, Sara Clarke, Erin Clarke and Shelley Lightburn for twenty-three years of friendship and counting. Without financial and in-kind support this dissertation would not have been completed. I would like to show my appreciation to Selkirk First Nation, Government of Yukon Heritage Unit, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Northern Research Institute, Canadian Circumpolar Institute, Yukon College, Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Yukon Archives and the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research at the University of Alberta. I am indebted to my family who continually asked, “When are you going to be done?”. I would especially like to thank: John, Laura, Mara, Daniel, and Betty Zazula as well as my aunt, Eva Robin. To my fabulous mother, Berta Rovinsky, thank you for encouraging me to be independent and to never stop having dreams and working towards them. Finally, and most importantly, to my wonderful husband Grant and my precious boy Roman, having you both in my life is the greatest accomplishment of all. Table of Contents Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................... 1 Research Objectives ............................................................................................ 3 Fort Selkirk Historical Vignette .......................................................................... 4 Chapter Progression ............................................................................................ 5 Chapter 2: Theoretical Framework ......................................................................... 7 Agency Theory ................................................................................................... 7 Agency Use in Historical Archaeology ............................................................ 10 Material Culture Studies ................................................................................... 11 Culture Contact Studies .................................................................................... 12 Gender