McMaster University DigitalCommons@McMaster Open Access Dissertations and Theses Open Dissertations and Theses 4-1-2012 THE MOUNTAINS AND ROCKS ARE FOREVER: LITHICS AND LANDSCAPES OF SKWXWÚ7MESH UXWUMIXW Rudy Reimer McMaster University, [email protected] Recommended Citation Reimer, Rudy, "THE MOUNTAINS AND ROCKS ARE FOREVER: LITHICS AND LANDSCAPES OF SKWXWÚ7MESH UXWUMIXW" (2012). Open Access Dissertations and Theses. Paper 6735. http://digitalcommons.mcmaster.ca/opendissertations/6735 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Open Dissertations and Theses at DigitalCommons@McMaster. It has been accepted for inclusion in Open Access Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@McMaster. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE MOUNTAINS AND ROCKS ARE FOREVER: LITHICS AND LANDSCAPES OF SKWXWÚ7MESH UXWUMIXW PhD Thesis – R. Reimer/Yumks McMaster - Anthropology THE MOUNTAINS AND ROCKS ARE FOREVER: LITHICS AND LANDSCAPES OF SKWXWÚ7MESH UXWUMIXW By Rudy Reimer/Yumks, BA, MA A thesis Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree Doctor of Philosophy McMaster University Copyright by Rudy Reimer/Yumks, December 2011 ii PhD Thesis – R. Reimer/Yumks McMaster - Anthropology Doctor of Philosophy (2011) McMaster University (Anthropology) Hamilton, Ontario TITLE: The Mountains and Rocks are Forever: Lithics and Landscapes of Skwxwú7mesh Uxwumixw Territory Author: Rudy Reimer/Yumks, BA, MA (Simon Fraser University) Supervisor: Dr. Aubrey Cannon Number of Pages: xi, 272 iii PhD Thesis – R. Reimer/Yumks McMaster - Anthropology Abstract This dissertation contributes to Indigenous archaeology, particularly along the Northwest Coast, the Coast Salish region and the territory of the Squamish Nation. I examine the regional archaeological sequence and provide an Indigenous perspective of time and space of Squamish Nation territory. Closer examination of this region’s archaeological record focuses on the occurrence of suitable igneous tool stone sources and their use over the past 10,000 years. A full understanding of these lithic sources comes from three different perspectives Squamish Nation culture, the archaeological and geological records. I propose that lithic sources are important places of the Squamish Nation cultural landscape and that the distributions of certain material types is linked to Squamish Nation place names and oral histories. Expanding this concept outward, I consider the distribution of the occurrence of these materials from 25 archaeological sites ranging from sea level ocean shore to mountainous alpine contexts. I then examine lithic source materials and artifacts from these sites on a visual and chemical basis (X-Ray Fluorescence) to illustrate the varying importance of certain lithic materials across Squamish Nation territory. Resulting analysis demonstrates that these materials have varying spatial and temporal distributions that relate to predominant themes of Squamish Nation oral history, concepts of Transformation and Mythical Beings. Material distributions, place names, oral history related to the region’s archaeological record are discussed under different theoretical frameworks of the Northwest Coast building from culture history, processual, post processual, and humanist perspectives cumulating at a Indigenous perspective of lithic sources and flaked stone artifact distributions. iv PhD Thesis – R. Reimer/Yumks McMaster - Anthropology Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to thank the ancestors of the Squamish Nation, who left such curious clues to the ways they lived. Special thanks go to my wife, Robyn G. Ewing, for her love, patience and understanding while I grappled with finishing this dissertation. Thanks to the modern-day community, elders, leaders and my close family: Bernice John, Rudy Reimer Sr, Rosemarie Williams, Eleanor Williams, Louis John, Auntie Donna and Uncle Phil, and Auntie Donna Billy. We have such a rich history; my learning does not stop here. I would also like to thank my advisor, Dr. Aubrey Cannon, for his guidance, patience and wise support, and for telling me to stop “writing like Yoda.” Along with him, I would like to extend thanks to my dynamic committee, Dr. Kostalena Michelaki and Dr. Trudy Nicks. Their guidance and comments about my thought processes kept me going during the writing of this dissertation. Also, I would like to thank the office staff of the Department of Anthropology at McMaster University, Janis Weir, Rosita Jordan and Rabia Awan, whose day-to-day presence makes the department a welcoming place. I would also like to thank all my fellow graduate students in Anthropology and Earth Sciences during my time at McMaster—notably Duncan Findlay, Andrew Kingston, Brandi Lee MacDonald, Meghan Burchell, Andrew Galley, Andrea DeGagne, Heather Battles, Jennifer Birch, Natalie Brewster, Emily Cowell, Sacha Geer, Stacy Lockerbie, Andrea Chan, Hagen Kluge, Alison Hay, Andrew Benson, Gloria Lopez, Trevor Orchard, Rhonda Bathurst and Lisa Sonnenburg—for their friendship and discussions on a number of topics. Key to my chemical analysis was Dr. Bruce Kaiser from Bruker Inc, who came to Simon Fraser University, provided an excellent workshop on the details of XRF analysis and loaned me one of their incredible portable instruments. This sped up and improved my analysis greatly. I would like to thank key individuals who have helped shape my career, Stan Copp (Langara College), Bob Muckle (Capilano University), Knut Fladmark, Roy Carlson, Dave Burley, Alan McMillan (Simon Fraser University), D. Geordie Howe, Richard Brolly and Arnoud Stryd (ARCAS Consulting Archaeologists), Peter Merchant (Sechelt Archaeologist), Simon Kaltenrieder (IR Wilson Archaeology), Joanne Hammond, Natasha Lyons, Ian Cameron, Peter Panek and Brian Pegg (Kwantlen University). Finally, I cannot forget to thank my funding agencies, for without their generous support this research would not have been possible: the Education Department at the Squamish Nation, the Squamish Nation Trust, Squamish Nation Chiefs and Council, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the Department of Anthropology at McMaster University and finally the School of Graduate Studies at McMaster University. v PhD Thesis – R. Reimer/Yumks McMaster - Anthropology Table of Contents Abstract ......................................................................................................................................iv Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................v List of Figures ...........................................................................................................................ix List of Tables.............................................................................................................................xi Chapter One: ..............................................................................................................................1 Sḵwxwú7mesh Uxwumixw K’eksin ti siya’t­shn/The Skwxwú7mesh Uxwumixw World in Context.......................................................................................................................1 1.0 Introduction..............................................................................................................................1 1.1. Statement of the Problem, Approach and Organization ...........................................4 1.2 Research Questions................................................................................................................7 1.2.1 Research Questions Related to Lithic Sources .................................................................... 8 1.2.2 Research Questions Related to Archaeological Lithic Material Distributions....... 9 1.3 Archaeological Approaches to Regional Lithic Material Distributions ............. 10 1.4 Anthropological Approaches to Coast Salish Social Organization ...................... 13 1.5 Purpose of the Study........................................................................................................... 17 1.6 Calling for an Indigenous Perspective on Lithic Sources and Materials ........... 18 1.7 Indigenous Archaeology and the Use of Cultural Knowledge............................... 24 1.8 To Ust’am/Witness .............................................................................................................. 28 1.9 Scope, Limitations and Organization of Chapters..................................................... 30 1.10 Significance of the Study.................................................................................................... 32 Chapter Two:........................................................................................................................... 35 Sḵwxwú7mesh Uxwumixw Archaeological Sites ......................................................... 35 2.0 Introduction........................................................................................................................... 35 2.1 History of Archaeological Research in Sḵwxwú7mesh Uxwumixw Temixw ..... 36 2.2 Current State of Archaeology in Sḵwxwú7mesh Uxwumixw.................................. 38 2.3 An Archaeological Perspective on the Radiocarbon Chronology of Sḵwxwú7mesh Uxwumixw Temixw ................................................................................ 39 2.4 Establishing a Sḵwxwú7mesh Uxwumixw Chronological