ra 1HE Publication of the Archaeological Society of British Columbia ISSN 0047-7222 Vol. 34, No. 1 - 2002 Culturally Modified Trees of the Nechako Valley Wapato (Part II) TRACES Field Report-Index Volume 33 ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF a MIDDEN BRITISH COLUMBIA Published four times a year by the Declicated to the protection of archaeological resources Archaeological Society of British Columbia and the spread of archaeological knowledge. Editorial Committee President Editor: Heather Myles (604.274.4294) Patricia Ormerod (604.733.0571) heathermyles@ shaw.ca [email protected] Assistant Editor: Helmi Braches (604.462.8942) Membership braches@ attcanada.ca Shirley Johansen (604.299.8940) Permit Lists: Richard Brolly (604.689.1678) shirleyjohan sen @yahoo.com [email protected] News Editor: Heather Myles Annual membership includes a year's subscription to assisted by Lynda McDonald The Midden and the ASBC newsletter, SocNotes. 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MacMillan Space Centre BRITISH COLUMBIA Auditorium (Planetarium) at 1100 Chestnut ~r1tnge Street. New members and visitors are wel­ qrlfJD come. Admission is free. a THE IDDEN Volume 34 No. 1, 2002 In this issue Culturally Modified Trees of the Nechako Plateau 2 Subscriptions to THE by Amanda L. Marshall MIDDEN are included with Debitage 11 ASBC memberships. For non-members in Canada A Critical Look at the History, Enthnography, and 12 Linguistics of Wapato subscriptions are available by Terry Spurgeon at $14.50 per year-$17.00 for addresses outside Field Notes 21 Canada. Debitage 21 Single copies of most previ­ Annual Index Volume 33 22 ous issues are available at Exhibits 24 $5.00 each. Subscription forms and Conferences 2002 inside back cover membership application Conferences 2003 outside back cover forms are available on our BC Archaeology Forum 2002 outside back cover Web site at asbc.bc.ca Cover Page Drawing of Culturally Modified Trees (CMTs). See 'article by Amanda Marshall starting on the next page. The Midden 34/1 1 CULTURALLY MODIF'I f:D TREES OF THE NECHAKO PLATEAU CAMBIUM UTILIZATION AMONGST TRADITIONAL CARRIER (DAKHEL) PEOPLES By Amanda L. Marshall and Nak'azdli agreed to be interviewed mittee 1973: 11), was an almost universal Introduction for the oral history project. They are: an springtime food of the interior First Na­ This study investigates, using archaeo­ elder from Fort St. James who requested tions (Turner 1997:53). Cambium collec­ anonymity, Russell Alec, Sebastian logical and ethnographic data, the signifi­ tion involved removing the outer bark of Anatole, Francesca Antoine, Josephine cance of cambium within the seasonal the tree, and then scraping the cambium Austin, (the late) Camille Joseph, Walter round of Carrier First Nations of the layer from the trunk and collecting it. Joseph, (the late) Annie Mattas, Celestine Nechako Plateau, and how culturally According to ethnographic accounts, May modified trees (CMTs) fit into Carrier ar­ Thomas, Francis and Catherine Williams, and June were apparently the best months and James Williams. The elders ranged in chaeology. The article argues that for cambium collection, as the sap runs age from approximately 60 to 105 yeC!.fS, cambium was not used solely as an emer­ during this time (Albright 1984; Bond and gency food, but rather as one of a variety were of a traditional upbringing, and had Russell 1992; Central Carrier Linguistic all had first-hand experience collecting of foods that the Carrier consumed Committee 1973; Glynn-Ward 1932; Hall throughout the year, which contributed to 1992; The People of 'Ksan 1980). This cambium. Elders were interviewed on five general the seasonal round by providing a spring­ process of cambium stripping created a topics relating to CMTs: (1 ) cambium col­ time food full of carbohydrates, sugars, scar on the tree; the tree would continue lection and its use as an emergency food; and body cleansing attributes. The ar­ to grow and the scar would slowly heal. It (2) the correlation between the different chaeological data comes from two forestry is these scars that we find today as ar­ cutting permit (CP) areas in northern Brit­ chaeological features or CMTs (see scar types, scar shapes, and scar top ish Columbia: CP MK-15 (site FjSg 12) cover). shapes; (3) the relationship of girdled trees and choppings to streams and trails; (4) and CP 54l(site GgSp 55). Ethnographic The nutrient-rich cambium of the data obtained from interviews conducted the side of tree chosen for bark removal; lodgepole pine provided a variety of vita­ with 12 elders from various Carrier com­ mins and minerals, as well as dietary fi­ and finally (5) how CMT densities corre­ munities was also analyzed. late with the natural topography of the bre (Turner 1997). So far there has been land. The study area falls into the region of little documentation of the nutrient con­ the Nechako Plateau of interior BC, which tent of lodgepole pine cambium, but Archaeological Data is traditionally the territory of the Carrier Turner and Kuhnlein (1991: 13) expect Archaeological data was collected from Athapaskan First Nations (Figure I). The that it would be high in sap content. Us­ two CMT sites referred to as CP 541 or Nechako Plateau is bordered by Babine ing maple sugar as an example, they would GgSp 55, and MK-15 or FjSg 12 (see Fig­ and Stuart lakes to the, north, Prince expect high carbohydrate/sugar energy ure 1 for the site locations). These two George in the east, Smithers to the west, values for inner-bark foods. In fact, the sites were chosen because of their accu­ and the Blackwater River to the south. dietary supplement pycnogenol, a mixture racy in methodology and detail of data Culturally modified trees are one of the offlavonoids with antioxidant activity, is collection, which are described below: most common archaeological·subsistence derived from the bark of Pinus maritima features found in the province of British (R.J. Maries, personal communication CP541 Columbia today (Carlson 1998a). They 2000). CP 541, or GgSp 55, is a large site, with are also widespread along the northwest an estimated 8,000 CMTs located within coast and interior plateau regions of the Research Methodology and Design the block boundaries (Figures 2 and 3). United States (Bergland 1995), and have Two sources of data were analyzed to This site is of the Harvest Area typology been extensively documented in Sweden answer the above research questions: both and is located east of Babine Lake, adja­ (Niklasson et al. 1994; Zackrisson et al. ethnographic (oral histories) and archaeo­ cent to the Carrier village of Old Fort. 2000). logical data. Because fieldwork was concentrated The inner bark tissues of the lodgepole Ethnographic Data within the cutting permit boundaries, the pine (Pinus contorta), or chundoo dze in Several elders from the Carrier commu­ full distribution of the site remains un­ Carrier (Central Carrier Linguistic Com- known. Carlson (1998b:3) believed that nities of Tachie, Middle River, Portage, 2 The Midden 34/1 the site distribution probably continues to Figure 1. Map ofBritish the west toward the shore of Babine Lake, Columbia showing the and north and· south of the block. Due to approximate locations of CP 541 and MK-15, as the large number of CMTs located within well as the approximate the block, not every tree could be re­ extent of the Nechako corded, so an adequate sample of data was Plateau. obtained. Systematic transect strip sam­ pling.(transects spaced 100 metres apart), and plot sampling every 100m along the transect strips (20 m in diameter), were used to estimate the overall density and total number of CMTs present in the blocks (Carlson 1998b). A total of 237 dating samples were obtained, providing an approximate 3-to-4-percent sample of dates for all the CMTs present at the site. Using this transect/plot sampling method­ ology, an estimated total of 36,375 CMTs may be present at GgSp 55. Scar dates from the site range from AD 1785-1890. CMT descriptive data was collected in each plot and includes: Block; Plot; N CMT#; Dead/Alive; CMT Type; No.