Honours Theses/Papers

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A Statistical Determination of Components Represented in the Excavated Material from The Helen Point Midden, DfRu 8
(2013-11-19) Hall, John Laurence
DfRu 8 is a small shell midden lying at the head of a small cove on the north side of Helen Point, Mayne Island, bordering on Active Pass.
A description and analysis of cranial material from the Gulf of Georgia region
(2014-07-15) Anderson, Kathryn Ethel
The investigation undertaken in this paper consists of a description and analysis of cranial material from several recently-excavated sites in the Gulf of Georgia region. Archaeological analyses of these sites have suggested that the various components represent three distinct culture types -- Locarno Beach, Marpole, and Developed Coast Salish -- occupying the Gulf area sequentially over the past 300 years (Borden 1950; Carlson 1960; Mitchell 1968; Willey 1966), and the investigation's major objective has been to determine whether or not the populations associated with these distinct cultures differed significantly from one another in their physical characteristics.
The use of hospital admission data in epidemiological research: a pilot study based on British Columbia Hospital Insurance Service records
(2014-07-15) Brauer, Gerhard Walter
This paper represents an attempt to come to grips with a methodological problem arising out of recent trends in epidemiological research. During the past twenty years epidemiology has seen a marked change from interest in the infectious diseases to concern with non-infectious diseases.
New Hebrides midden analysis
(2014-07-17) Hudson, Douglas R.
The purpose of this paper is the presentation of information about shell middens in the Southern New Hebrides, and an attempt to manipulate pertinent aspects of the information that will lead to an understanding of what these physical remains of human activity mean with respect to environmental and cultural operatives; the concepts used representing an attempt to utilize statistical methods within the framework of archaeological concepts.
Report of the Preliminary Excavations at Fort Defiance
(2014-07-17) Knox, John Robert
During the summer of 1968, archaeological excavations were undertaken at site DhS11, located on the west coast of Vancouver Island, on Meares Island on Lemmens Inlet, the supposed site of the eighteenth century American blockhouse, Fort Defiance. The purpose of this report is to provide a record of these preliminary excavations, including a correlation and analysis of the data derived both archaeologically and historically concerning this site and the structure that once stood there.
Conflicting Cases: A Bibliometric Analysis of the Role of Case Studies in Paleopathology
(2017-02-07) Smith, Taylor
Disease Does Not Discriminate: HIV Prevention Initiatives within Indigenous Communities
(2017-02-10) Smith, Cheyenne
Adorning the Dead A Bio-Archaeological Analysis of Ochre Application to Gravettian Burials
(2017-02-20) McKinney, Sierra
The Implications of Thermogenic Modification for Anthropological Recovery of Burned Bone
(2017-02-20) Efford, Meaghan Karyn
Burn trauma is prevalent in both the archaeological and forensic records. It causes thermogenic modifications that have implications for the discipline of anthropology. Anthropologists and medical professionals are frequently the experts who are called to address burn trauma cases, often in the role of forensic anthropologists. This project seeks to discuss the processes of burn trauma and the resulting changes, as well as how the professionals in the fields of archaeology, anthropology, and medicine are discussing the recovery and analysis of burned human remains. An experiment was conducted to demonstrate these changes and compare them to those documented by experts in the field. A literature review discusses the processes of burn trauma and the resulting thermogenic modifications that are seen in the scholarly literature on the topic. The author makes recommendations for future research, namely the inclusion of weight in the recorded factors during experimentation and continued research into the recovery of burned remains. The author argues that the bioarchaeological approach of forensic anthropology benefits from the combined experience of archaeologists, biological anthropologists, and medical experts who have a background in osteology and biomechanics.
“The INS Cannot Simply Send Them Off into the Night:” The Language of Detention in US Court Cases on Migrant Child Detention
(2017-05-01) Lorraine Thompson, Anna
In this paper, I argue that the language used by American court cases allows for the differential application of rights and treatment of children in detention. In wake of what the media dubbed the “Central American Refugee Crisis” between 2011 and 2014, the US-Mexico border experienced an increase in the number of unaccompanied children and family groups. Apprehended children and their families were placed in detention centers. My research combined cultural and linguistic anthropological techniques to question the mass incarceration of these children. From a selection of six court cases all pertaining to the detention of migrant children I argue that courts consideration of a child as both an “alien” and a “minor,” the ambiguous use of the principle “best interests,” and a child’s familial status all contribute to children receiving different rights while detained. This research also discusses how the experience of “the state” as a monolithic and unified entity is made manifest though the everyday actions of legal actors, including word choice.
Perceptions of Repatriation in Anthropological Literature
(2017-05-04) Kroeger, Suzanne
Over the last three decades the topic of repatriation has become widely, and at times intensely, debated. Anthropologists, members of Indigenous communities, and governments have varying opinions and agendas regarding this issue. As such, this subject often appears within academic literature. As repatriation emerges as a best practice for the building and maintaining of relationships between institutions with legacies in the settler colonial state and Indigenous communities, the subject of repatriation in academic literature has been framed in several different ways. This paper addresses how repatriation has been framed within the anthropological journals Museum Anthropology and American Antiquity over the last three decades. Specifically, it asks what are the common trends and rationales pertaining to the repatriation debate? Has there been a shift over time in how repatriation has been discussed in each journal? How are these articles framed in relation to religious freedom, scientific inquiry, calls for collaboration or executing bureaucratic obligations? Ultimately, this research seeks to identify trends in the discourse surrounding the topic of repatriation over time.
The Migrant Other: A Visual and Textual Analysis of Migration in UK Media
(2017-05-04) McIver, John
The lead up to the Brexit vote, which occurred in the UK on June 23rd, 2016, marked a politically tumultuous time for the UK. One issue at the forefront of this vote was migration, and the control (or perceived lack of control) over migrants. However, often overlooked is the question of how issues surrounding migration appeared in the media during this unique time and specifically how media can then be a space for the development and strengthening of political discourse. To this end, I examine images embedded in articles from two major news events that coincided with the Brexit vote: the stabbing of Alexandra Mezher, who was killed on January 25th, 2016, and Pope Francis returning from a trip to Lesbos with 12 Syrian refugees who he settled in Rome on April 16th, 2016. In looking at these events, this analysis turns to two “broadsheet” newspapers from the UK: the left-leaning Guardian and the right-leaning Telegraph. Then, with these two events and two newspapers, this paper examines how images become embedded in, and become indicative of, political discourse. I conclude that in the left-leaning Guardian a sympathetic portrayal and discourse surrounding migration is represented, while the right-leaning Telegraph constructs a less sympathetic, and more threatening, discourse regarding migrants and migration. The essay further shows that images are a key factor in the development and reinforcement of politicized discourses.
Hailing a Neoliberal Citizen: Language from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada
(2018-06-08) Becherer, Ariel
Canada describes itself as “a nation of immigrants” that has embraced a policy of multiculturalism. The majority of individuals granted citizenship in Canada do so under programs labelled “economic”. In this paper a critical discourse analysis is conducted on an interactive tool, and two documents accessible online from the ministry of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). These objects are, intended for consumption by potential immigrants. The use of economic language to describe different citizenship paths, Canadian citizens, and the nation is examined. The three objects: offer economically labelled and described categories for immigrants to accepts; present images of workers; frame the economy and work as central to Canadian identity; and place the responsibility of being a good labourer onto the individual. Drawing from Althusser and Foucault, I argue that the items produced by the IRCC attempt to hail a neoliberal subject for a neoliberal nation.
Exploring Development in Relation to Terrain: 3D Skeletal Analysis of the Femoral Neck-Shaft Angle
(2018-06-08) Mason, Celia
Bioarchaeologists have expressed interest in the study of past populations and their mobility, with studies focusing on behavioural adaptations and subsistence strategies. While the effect of the topographical terrain on bone expression has been explored briefly, our understanding of it, especially in juvenile specimens, is limited. The object of this essay is to explore the effect of terrain in two archaeological samples, Indian Knoll (Green River, Kentucky) and Later Stone Age South Africans (Cape Fold Mountains, South Africa). These are both considered highly active populations, who inhabited vastly different geographical areas. To study skeletal expression, the femoral neck-shaft angle was chosen for study, due to its importance in clinical literature – cited as being highly developmentally plastic, and bioarchaeologists such as Erik Trinkaus have found changes in its expression that correspond to behavioural patterns. While no effect of terrain was observed in this study, future research with juveniles, the femoral neck-shaft angle, and the 3D method created for this project can benefit bioarchaeology and wider understandings of juvenile skeletal expression and attendant terrain-based effects.
Policy in the Pants: Peeling Back the Layers in Political Discourse on Male Circumcision and its Creation of the Masculine Body
(2018-06-08) Rintoul, Zachary
Male circumcision is surgical procedure that amputates the male foreskin from the penis, and its merits have been debated for millennia. The surgery is highly contested as it represents a collision of ideas surrounding gender, infant vs adult bodies, human rights, religion, and understandings of health, to name a few. To justify its continued existence, rooted in differing ideological frameworks, claims that are regionally specific for the arrest or continuation of the practice are made around the world. This research examines through a critical discourse analysis the cultural differences between the Canadian Paediatric Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics policy recommendation statements that were constructed for both health practitioners and the public. Beginning in 1975 both Canada and the United States began in 1975 to release policy recommendation statements after having been spurred into action from a small statement in an American text for physicians titled “Standards and Recommendation of Hospital Care of Newborn Infants.” Circumcision policies are not simply theoretical imperatives but claims that enact physical changes to bodies and their lived experiences of the universe. Therefore, I utilize the three bodies of Lock and Scheper-Hughes (1987) to ground my linguistic findings to bodies – with first and third body most present. Ultimately, I discuss how scientific framing of data in both countries policies create two different individual bodies, with the Canadian holding more holistic views of individual bodies than Americans. The body politic differed whereby, Americans emphasized efficacy of procedure, Canadians expressed the need for regulating and controlling pain and who can perform the procedure.
“Nitawâhtâw” Searching for a Métis Approach to Audio-Visual Anthropology: Cultural, Linguistic, Methodological, and Ethical Considerations
(2018-06-08) Toorenburgh, Lydia A. I.
Decolonizing and Indigenizing the Academy has long been an important focus in Indigenous scholarship, particularly in the social sciences. From this project has come a push for each researcher to design a unique approach rooted in their own personal, familial, community, and cultural values. With this attention to values and protocol, Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers can develop an approach that challenges the colonial thinking and practices which have so profoundly harmed Indigenous peoples around the globe. As a Cree-Métis person with mixed European ancestry, I feel a responsibility to, and a passion for, learning to work and be in the community in a good way. My thesis is an exploration toward developing my own Cree-Métis approach to audio-visual anthropology and to my academic language. Learning from the work of salient Cree-Métis filmmakers, such as Christine Welsh and Gil Cardinal, and the literature of Indigenous and audio-visual researchers, I search for a practice that speaks to my teachings and values. In addition, I discuss the importance of language and my desire to depart from the history of the words “research”, “researcher”, and “research participant”. Instead, I consider Cree words whose meanings reflect my commitment to my unique, culturally informed, anti-oppressive, decolonized approach to my work, my “participants”, and academia. All my relations!
Development 2.0: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Peer-to-Peer Aid
(2018-09-10) Duke, Haley
Foreign aid and development projects, in their initial conception, were generally executed through large-scale state and NGO interventions aimed at eradicating poverty in the developing world. More recently however, development has become an interactive experience, transcending international borders and mobilizing personal relationships between individuals in the Global North and South. Within this new landscape of development – what I call “Development 2.0” – World Vision and Kiva.org have, in their own right, gained international recognition for the approaches they take to alleviate poverty and the numbers of people they have reached. World Vision, perhaps the foremost organization for child sponsorship, encourages individuals to donate to a child in need to provide them with the basic necessities of life. Kiva.org, in contrast, departs from the practice of donating through gifts to a focus on “empowering” individuals through small loans, under the presumption that this provides them with the tools and resources they need to lift themselves out of poverty. Through a critical discourse analysis, this paper builds on current literature to highlight the similarities and differences between World Vision and Kiva.org. This research shows how these two organizations, although manifestations of the same phenomena of peer-to-peer aid, mobilize two different representations of the “Other.” This, in turn, hails two distinct donor subjects: one who conceives of foreign aid as charity and a gift and another who conceives of it as a loan and in terms of market relations. By merging online linguistic evidence with contemporary literature, this paper contributes to research on development in the field of anthropology.
Sea Urchin and Indigenous Marine Resource Management in the Archaeological Record: Implications for Sea Otter Conservation in Coastal British Columbia
(2018-09-14) Nagle, Arianna
Ancient remains of sea urchins are frequently encountered in archaeological contexts along the Northwest Coast of North America, yet they have not been the focus of synergetic archaeological study. However, these important marine species are important for providing new insights into the deep time of Indigenous marine resource management systems. Motivated in part by current ecological research identifying the importance of sea urchin body size for influencing the range and productivity of kelp forests on the Pacific coast and the importance of urchins as a size selective preferred prey for sea otters (Enhydra lutris) this project involved developing a quantitative methodology to evaluate red sea urchin (Mesocentrotus franciscanus) size variation in the archaeological record based on linear regression. This method was developed to investigate the prevalence of sea otters in the Barkley Sound region from archaeological data to inform contemporary sea otter conservation in coastal British Columbia – a widespread concern across several First Nations’ traditional territories today. Specifically, this paper investigates whether urchins of large size are regularly present in archaeological samples from the Broken Group and Deer Group Islands to lend support to the hypothesis that Coastal First Nations actively managed sea otters by excluding them from urchin harvesting areas. This research contributes to the greater socio-cultural context of Coastal First Nations interaction with their marine environments as active participants rather than passive foragers.
The Effects of Ageism and HIV-Related Stigma on Older Adults’ Social Networks
(2019-05-03) Hogan, Mikaila
HIV/AIDS has been the subject of culturally produced stigma since its emergence in the 1980s when a positive diagnosis meant certain death. HIV was transformed to a chronic condition with the introduction of antiretroviral therapies in 1996, yet the experiences of people living with HIV are still fraught with stigma and discrimination. Aging is also a stigmatized process in North America where a high value is placed on youthfulness. Through thematic analysis of individual illness narratives, this paper addresses how the intersection of age-related stigma and HIV-related stigma may exacerbate the social isolation already experienced by many older adults. As an example of how stigma can be unintentionally culturally produced, this research takes a critical anthropological view of the “successful aging” paradigm. The narrow normative framework for aging well does not allow for variations of success and can further isolate marginalized individuals. The discussion of themes that emerge from older adults’ illness narratives can help show how biomedicine must go beyond treatments of the physical body and address the social aspects of wellness. Sharing the stories of older adults living with HIV can help increase public understanding and empathy of the illness, reduce stigma, and humanize the individual experiences of HIV.
“These Paintings Have a Spirit”: Voices Found in Childhood Artwork from Indian Residential Schools
(2019-05-03) Bibault, Adele
The residential school system has had profound negative and lasting impacts on the Indigenous peoples in the land now known as North America. Children as young as the age of four were forcibly removed from their families so older generations could not pass down cultural values and identity. The children went to the schools with some belongings and for those of whom survived, left with less. Recently, however, there have been children's paintings that were rediscovered in 2008 from some residential schools. Robert Aller, an artist, volunteered to teach art classes at some of the residential schools in Canada in the 1960s and early 1970s. He stored some of the children's artwork from these classes until his passing in 2008. In my research, I have met with and interviewed a Survivor, Mark Atleo from Ahousaht First Nation, and an Intergenerational Survivor, Lorilee Wastasecoot from Peguis First Nation. I write about their experiences with the residential schools, and how their childhood paintings, from Aller’s storage, have influenced their lives. The goal of this research is to witness the Survivors stories and act upon the knowledge gifted to me to share these gifts to others. I reflect on my own experiences throughout this process of research to decolonize my thoughts and act on them to spread awareness about the colonial belief system. Colonial thought is heavily present in today's society and for most, unconsciously, continues to affect the thoughts of non-indigenous peoples. I seek to spread awareness of this topic and to share the Survivor's stories from my emic, yet settler, point of view.

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