WAPATO FOR THE PEOPLE: AN ECOLOGICAL APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING THE NATIVE AMERICAN USE OF SAGITTARIA LATIFOLIA ON THE LOWER COLUMBIA RIVER by Melissa Cole Darby A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology Portland State University 1996 i Table of Contents FIGURES ..........................................................................................................................................................ii TABLES ..........................................................................................................................................................iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .....................................................................................................................................iv CHAPTER ONE : INTRODUCTION.........................................................................................................1 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY.............................................................................................................1 BACKGROUND............................................................................................................................................4 Geography..................................................................................................................................................4 Biota ...........................................................................................................................................................5 Fauna .........................................................................................................................................................7 THE PEOPLE.................................................................................................................................................7 Introduction................................................................................................................................................7 Language....................................................................................................................................................8 Occupations................................................................................................................................................9 Settlement .................................................................................................................................................10 Trade ........................................................................................................................................................10 Population................................................................................................................................................12 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK................................................................................................................14 Research Parameters ...............................................................................................................................14 Ecological Theories: The Ecosystem Approach.......................................................................................15 INTENSIFICATION....................................................................................................................................19 Intensification and Social Complexity in the Northwest...........................................................................20 The Emergence of Intensification and Plant Domestication ....................................................................21 Food Processing Technologies ................................................................................................................23 CHAPTER TWO :ASPECTS OF THE ECOLOGY OF SAGITTARIA SPECIES..............................26 BOTANICAL FEATURES ..................................................................................................................................26 Population Structure: The Monoecious and Dioecious Condition...........................................................31 WAPATO IN THE FOOD WEB: PROFITABLE PREY ............................................................................32 Waterfowl Predation ................................................................................................................................32 Muskrat Predation....................................................................................................................................34 Summary Prehistoric Predation...............................................................................................................37 MODERN PREDATION .............................................................................................................................38 Summary...................................................................................................................................................41 CHAPTER THREE : ETHNOGRAPHIC, ETHNOHISTORIC & ARCHAEOLOGICAL ACCOUNTS ................................................................................................................................................42 Ethnographic Accounts From East Asia ..................................................................................................43 Ethnographic Accounts from the Eastern United States ..........................................................................44 Ethnographic Accounts from the Midwest................................................................................................45 Ethnographic Accounts from the Far West ..............................................................................................47 Accounts from the Northwest Coast Area.................................................................................................48 ETHNOHISTORIC ACCOUNTS: THE GREATER LOWER COLUMBIA..............................................50 Men of the Sea..........................................................................................................................................50 Lewis and Clark Journals.........................................................................................................................52 Accounts from the Fur Trade Era ............................................................................................................57 Settler Era 1850-1870 ..............................................................................................................................60 ii ETHNOGRAPHIC ACCOUNTS: THE GREATER LOWER COLUMBIA...............................................61 The Tualatin .............................................................................................................................................62 Chinook ....................................................................................................................................................64 Wishram Chinook.....................................................................................................................................65 ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONTEXTS............................................................................................................65 Great Basin ..............................................................................................................................................66 Northwest Coast .......................................................................................................................................67 SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION................................................................................................................67 Harvest .....................................................................................................................................................68 Cooking ....................................................................................................................................................68 Storage .....................................................................................................................................................69 Seasonality ...............................................................................................................................................70 CHAPTER FOUR :DIET AND SUBSISTENCE .....................................................................................72 SOME MAJOR SUBSISTENCE RESOURCES ......................................................................................................72 SUBSISTENCE DEPENDENCE ..........................................................................................................................74 DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS....................................................................................................................78 CHAPTER FIVE : WAPATO PRODUCTION ON SAUVIE ISLAND.................................................79 THE SETTING: SAUVIE ISLAND ......................................................................................................................80 QUANTIFYING SURFACE AREA OF SAUVIE ISLAND ........................................................................................88 Method......................................................................................................................................................88 Available Harvest.....................................................................................................................................90