This is an electronic copy of a dissertation: Hutchings, R.M. (2014). “The miner’s canary” what the maritime heritage crisis says about archaeology, cultural resource management, and global ecological breakdown (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of British Columbia, Vancouver, B.C. This paper is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommerical-NoDerivatives 2.5 Canada License. “THE MINER’S CANARY” WHAT THE MARITIME HERITAGE CRISIS SAYS ABOUT ARCHAEOLOGY, CULTURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT, AND GLOBAL ECOLOGICAL BREAKDOWN by RICHARD M. HUTCHINGS M.A., Western Washington University, 2004 B.A., University of Idaho, 2000 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Interdisciplinary Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) August 2014 © Richard M. Hutchings, 2014 ABSTRACT This dissertation investigates the maritime heritage crisis as it exists on the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America, emphasizing the Salish Sea region of Washington State, USA, and British Columbia, Canada. Worldwide, maritime landscapes are undergoing unprecedented change resulting in physical, biological, and cultural problems of “wicked” proportions. To focus conversation, the maritime heritage crisis is defined here as heritage site loss resulting from amenity migration and sea level rise. Rapid, unsustainable population growth (coastal sprawl) and anthropogenic climate change (global warming) are key drivers of contemporary coastal change, thus, arguably, heritage destruction. In Northern America, the response to coastal change has been resource management, elevating the concepts of “resourcism” and “management” as central elements of coastal change discourse. In this dissertation, I examine the response of archaeology/cultural resource management (CRM) to coastal change. I survey coastal change threats and impacts, focusing on Indigenous maritime heritage landscapes because they are especially sensitive to coastal change and the primary context for Northern American archaeology/CRM. To assess heritage conservation and the success of CRM in the Pacific Northwest, I present a case study of the shíshálh (Sechelt) First Nation’s traditional territory in British Columbia’s amenity-rich Sunshine Coast. I discuss the shíshálh Nation’s heritage stewardship approach and detail coastal change impacts in three areas within the Nation’s territory. In addition to future sea level rise, the impact of amenity migration or “sea change” on Indigenous heritage is demonstrated to be significant. Indigenous maritime heritage landscapes are highly threatened, contested and politicized places, tied up in issues of nationalism, colonialism, sovereignty and, increasingly, cultural survival. By focusing on social power and domination, a critical heritage studies approach exposes resource management as a technology of government promoting and permitting the ideology of growth, development and progress. Archaeology/CRM is therefore implicated in both the destruction of Indigenous heritage landscapes and the psychosocial consequences of that destruction, and is thus part of the problem, not the solution. An example of the “miner’s canary,” the shíshálh Coast study offers important lessons about heritage stewardship in the late modern era of consumer capitalism. ii PREFACE This dissertation is original, unpublished, independent work by the author, Richard M. Hutchings. The author is solely responsible for any errors and/or omissions. This document has been prepared and presented without prejudice to issues of Aboriginal Rights or Title and does not attempt to define or limit Title and/or Rights of any Aboriginal community within or without the study area, nor does it represent the views or opinions of the shíshálh First Nation, nor any individual therein. This project was carried out under shíshálh Nation Heritage Investigation Permit #2011-019 (see Appendix A) and under UBC Ethics Certificate H11-01649. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... ii Preface ......................................................................................................................................................... iii Table of Contents ........................................................................................................................................ iv List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................... vi List of Figures ............................................................................................................................................. vii List of Text Boxes ......................................................................................................................................... x Chapter 1: Introducing the Maritime Heritage Crisis ............................................................................ 1 The Confluence of Maritime Heritage, Coastal Change, and Resource Management.................................. 5 Maritime Heritage ............................................................................................................................ 6 Coastal Change ................................................................................................................................ 8 Resource Management ................................................................................................................... 12 A Critical Heritage Studies Approach ........................................................................................................ 14 Document Organization .............................................................................................................................. 19 PART ONE: SETTING THE BASELINE—THREATS, IMPACTS, AND RESPONSES ............................. 21 Chapter 2: Sea level Rise .......................................................................................................................... 21 General Threats ........................................................................................................................................... 23 Washington State ........................................................................................................................... 25 British Columbia ............................................................................................................................ 27 Salish Sea ....................................................................................................................................... 31 Cultural Heritage Impacts ........................................................................................................................... 32 Responses .................................................................................................................................................... 39 Chapter 3: Coastal Population Growth and Change ............................................................................. 43 General Threats ........................................................................................................................................... 44 Washington State ........................................................................................................................... 48 British Columbia ............................................................................................................................ 52 Salish Sea ....................................................................................................................................... 59 Cultural Heritage Impacts ........................................................................................................................... 62 Responses .................................................................................................................................................... 64 A National Maritime Heritage Area Approach .............................................................................. 64 A Risk Management Approach ...................................................................................................... 67 Chapter 4: British Columbia Resource Management in Historical Context ....................................... 70 A Brief History of Land-Use from Preoccupation to Present ..................................................................... 71 Resource Management ................................................................................................................................ 76 Coastal Resource Management ................................................................................................................... 79 (Integrated) Coastal Zone Management ......................................................................................... 81 (Adaptive) Co-Management .......................................................................................................... 82 Cultural Resource Management .................................................................................................................. 84 History of Research........................................................................................................................ 87 The Mainstream