Fathoming empire: Marine knowledge and colonial navigation in an Indigenous seascape, 1825-1906
| dc.contributor.author | Robertson, Jesse | |
| dc.contributor.supervisor | Lutz, John S. | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2025-04-22T22:09:00Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2025-04-22T22:09:00Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2025 | |
| dc.degree.department | Department of History | |
| dc.degree.level | Doctor of Philosophy PhD | |
| dc.description.abstract | Oceans connected populations and markets to an unprecedented degree in the era of sail and steam, but intricate coastlines, dense fogs, powerful tides, and hidden hazards made marine environments potentially devastating spaces for the uninitiated. Seldom considered in recent scholarship, the navigational infrastructure introduced to alleviate such risks was fundamental to imperial efforts to incorporate the vast stretches of North American coastline to which the United States, Britain, and Canada laid claim in the nineteenth century. This dissertation presents a new history of waterborne colonialism in the Northeastern Pacific, including coastal waters from the Columbia River to Haida Gwaii. Where previous scholars have examined naval power and marine harvesting, this study innovates by focusing on the exchange of navigational knowledge and practices between Indigenous and colonial mariners in what became known as the “Graveyard of the Pacific.” The earliest European and American mariners to arrive on this uncharted and treacherous coast understood better than most that “knowledge is power.” The opposite is also true, however. Geographic ignorance shaped and restricted the unfolding of colonialism in coastal spaces that were often illegible to newcomers. This project looks past received narratives of “exploration” to evaluate four stages in imperial efforts to “fathom” the coast: early voyages of reconnaissance, hydrographic charting, the lighthouse service, and marine lifesaving, arguing that Indigenous knowledge, labour, and technologies underpinned the success of colonial navigation at every turn. By revealing how these interventions allowed colonialism to take hold and thrive, “Fathoming Empire” exposes the long-term consequences of maritime imperialism while showing how colonial aspirations were modified according to local circumstances and Indigenous agendas. In doing so, it provides a crucial historical perspective on recent Indigenous assertions of jurisdiction over the management of marine traffic in these still contested waters. | |
| dc.description.embargo | 2026-03-17 | |
| dc.description.scholarlevel | Graduate | |
| dc.identifier.bibliographicCitation | Jesse Robertson. "Lightkeepers on Huu-ay-aht Shores: Indigenous Labour and Knowledge in the History of Coastal Navigation." BC Studies: The British Columbia Quarterly, no. 222 (Summer 2024): 47-69: https://doi.org/10.14288/bcs.no222.198968 | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/1828/21962 | |
| dc.language | English | eng |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.rights | Available to the World Wide Web | |
| dc.subject | Colonialism | |
| dc.subject | Indigenous knowledge | |
| dc.subject | Ocean history | |
| dc.subject | Pacific Northwest | |
| dc.subject | Maritime fur trade | |
| dc.subject | Hudson's Bay Company | |
| dc.subject | Hydrographic charts | |
| dc.subject | Lighthouses | |
| dc.subject | Shipwrecks | |
| dc.title | Fathoming empire: Marine knowledge and colonial navigation in an Indigenous seascape, 1825-1906 | |
| dc.type | Thesis |