Cultural forests of the Southern Nuu-chah-nulth: historical ecology and salvage archaeology on Vancouver Island's West Coast

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dc.contributor.authorEarnshaw, Jacob Thomas Kinze
dc.contributor.supervisorMackie, Quentin
dc.contributor.supervisorStahl, Peter W.
dc.date.accessioned2016-05-09T14:27:31Z
dc.date.available2016-05-09T14:27:31Z
dc.date.copyright2016en_US
dc.date.issued2016-05-09
dc.degree.departmentDepartment of Anthropologyen_US
dc.degree.levelMaster of Arts M.A.en_US
dc.description.abstractCedar, represented by Western redcedar (Thuja plicata) and Yellow Cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis) was known as the “Tree of Life” to the Nuu-chah-nulth on Vancouver Island’s west coast, and most other groups of the Pacific Northwest. This thesis investigates the Culturally Modified Trees (CMTs), or more specifically Tapered Bark Strips (TBS), created through the extraction of cedar bark removed for all manner of material goods. CMTs are now the most common archaeological site type within British Columbia. Current regional chronologies have inherent biases that make interpretations difficult. The chronologies created through Archaeological Impact Assessments (AIAs) are weighted heavily to the contact period and the highest frequency of use corresponds with indigenous population collapse rather than peak. Investigations are made into the true distribution of existing CMT features. This thesis details the survey of 16 recent old growth cedar clearcuts which found extensive unrecorded CMT features that have recently been logged throughout the southern Nuu-chah-nulth study region. Half of all TBS scars in exposed stumps were found embedded within healed trees, otherwise invisible to archaeologists. Comparing all AIA report dates (surveyed prior to logging activity) with all post-impact assessments surveys it was found the latter contain a greater and older distribution of scarring events corresponding to high First Nations populations before the contact period. The study also compares CMT chronologies with local histories, investigates the antiquity of Northwest Coast CMTs and the indigenous management of cedar trees to maximize bark harvests. The findings of this research hint at the expanded extent of anthropogenic forests in the Northwest Coast, the inadequate recording and heritage protections of CMTs, and what it all means for Aboriginal Land Rights in British Columbia.en_US
dc.description.proquestcode0324 0740 0329en_US
dc.description.proquestemailkinze.earnshaw@gmail.comen_US
dc.description.scholarlevelGraduateen_US
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/1828/7291
dc.languageEnglisheng
dc.language.isoenen_US
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.rights.urihttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/ca/*
dc.subjectCMTen_US
dc.subjectCulturally Modified Treeen_US
dc.subjectVancouver Islanden_US
dc.subjectnorthwest coast archaeologyen_US
dc.subjectHistorical Ecologyen_US
dc.subjectSalvage Archaeologyen_US
dc.subjectwestern redcedaren_US
dc.subjectthuja plicataen_US
dc.subjectfirst nations land claimsen_US
dc.subjectbark stripping and peelingen_US
dc.titleCultural forests of the Southern Nuu-chah-nulth: historical ecology and salvage archaeology on Vancouver Island's West Coasten_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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