Grant Keddie - Grant Keddie

Victoria. A Place of Strong Fibre

Originally published in Discovery, 1993:3. Summer 1993. By Grant Keddie In April 1843, native people were hired to cut posts for the walls of the first nonnative buildings on the southern tip of Vancouver Island: Fort Camosun. They were given a 2’/2-point Hudson’s Bay blanket for every 40 posts, each measuring 3 feet in diameter by 22 feet long (1×7 m). On I June, about 40 men and 3 officers from the Hudson’s Bay Company began building the fort. The fort was initially referred to as Fort Camosun, and then between 6 August and 4 December as Fort Albert, in spite of an official letter dated 14 April from the Hudson’s Bay Company, which refers to the general location as: … Continue reading “Victoria. A Place of Strong Fibre”

Paul Kane Sketch Brought to Life at the Royal BC Museum

September 14, 2017. By Grant Keddie In the 1970s, I was aware of an old lantern slide in the Royal BC Museum ethnology collection that I later identified as a Songhees First Nation. I based my information on the original field portrait catalogue of Paul Kane – created when he was at Fort Victoria in 1847 (Harper 1971:315-317). I did not know at the time the original sketch was missing, and this seemed to be the only image of it. Figure 1, is No. 46 in Paul Kane’s portrait log: “Ska-tel-san – a Samas Tillicum with a (grass) hat that is much worn here south of de Fuca”, and in his Exhibition of 1848 he is listed as: “124 Sca-tel-son … Continue reading “Paul Kane Sketch Brought to Life at the Royal BC Museum”

The Rocks of Harling Point

Originally published in Discovery, 19(1). Winter 1991. By Grant Keddie One of the most fascinating places to visit on southern Vancouver Island is Harling Point in the Victoria municipality of Oak Bay between Gonzales Bay and McNeill Bay. Many people go to Harling Point to see the Chinese cemetery. You can walk up to the large concrete cremation pillars and altar and see where, in the early 1900s, relatives placed food and burned colourful rice-paper offerings for the dead. The Chinese traditionally choose locations for important cultural activities, such as burials, that are in harmony with nature by following the practice of feng-shui. In Western terms, this is geomancy, the selection of particular sites of land whose inherent qualities are … Continue reading “The Rocks of Harling Point”

The Man Who Fell From Heaven Petroglyph

1995. Compiled by Grant Keddie In the collection of the RBCM, is a cast of a unique petroglyph or rock carving that – unlike most petroglyphs – has an associated story. This story was recorded by Harlan I. Smith in 1936. The location, archaeological site GbTo-39,is on Robertson Point on the Metlakatla First Nation Reserve near Prince Rupert, British Columbia: “The origin of this petroglyph is explained by some of the Tsimshian Indians in the following story. An important Indian man, to astonish the people, said he was going up to the sky. He disappeared, but came back home some days later as he could not stay hid very long for lack of food. He explained to the people that he had … Continue reading “The Man Who Fell From Heaven Petroglyph”

Haida Gwaii to Hawaii

October 13, 2020 By Grant Keddie A Possible Case of a Haida Oral History that refers to an Ancient Voyage from the Northwest Coast to Hawaii. John Swanton, as part of The Jessup North Pacific Expedition, recorded a Haida story in the period between the winter and spring of 1900-01 from an old man, known only as Walter, who belonged to the Rear-Town-People of Yan. He considered the stories of Walter to be the most trustworthy. The narrative written in the Masset dialect of the Haida language and in English is entitled: Those Who Were Blown to Sea from Nasto. It tells the story of a man named Eagle, of the West Coast-Gi’tans – a principle Eagle family in this … Continue reading “Haida Gwaii to Hawaii”

Social Patterning in “Rock Art”
And Other Symbolic Objects of the
Interior Salish

1974. By Grant Keddie When undertaking the analysis of the organizational and symbolic content of rock art one would assume that the first step would be to base such studies on a locally derived ethnographic model. Such is often not the case as one still reads statements to the effect that rock art cannot be interpreted as it is the product of some individual psychic experience. If one takes the time to read the existing literature it is clear that most rock art representation is a product of specific kinds of social conditioning. The imagery of the art is not a random factor but a culturally controlled and cultivated phenomena. Among the Interior Salish spirit identity and the power, which a spirit gave, were associated with visible fabricated … Continue reading “Social Patterning in “Rock Art”
And Other Symbolic Objects of the
Interior Salish”

Installation of a Songhees Chief

Originally published in Discovery, 20(1). Winter 1992. By Grant Keddie The Museum’s Anthropology photograph collection contains many photos whose subject and time remain a mystery. Recently, I put together a series of five undocumented photographs (four are shown in this article) from different parts of the collection that seemed to be related to the same event. A little detective work revealed that the photos documented the visit of the Governor-General of Canada to Victoria in 1927. As the highest ranking representative of the Crown, he was anointed as an honourary Indian chief. The information sources I located added to my knowledge of an earlier Indian history before the coming of Europeans … a history which I will reveal here in … Continue reading “Installation of a Songhees Chief”

Petroglyphs, Heaven and Earth

By Grant Keddie For up to thousands of years, figures have been carved in stone along the beaches and in forests stretching around the Pacific Rim from California to China. Some of the human face and animal design elements found in British Columbia show interesting parallels with those found along the coast of Siberia. One of the most common questions I am asked in regard to these rock carvings or petroglyphs is what are they, and what do they mean? Were these designs pecked into the rock by a shaman for a special purpose? We cannot understand these images by trying to analyze them from the perspective of our modern culture. We need to look to traditional aboriginal cultures that … Continue reading “Petroglyphs, Heaven and Earth”

Chief Kwah

2005. By Grant Keddie INTRODUCTION Kwah was a famous nobleman in the history of the Nak’azdli people of Stuart Lake in central British Columbia. Many of Kwah’s descendants continue to live in the region today. According to oral histories of the Nak’azdli First Nation, Kwah was the first person in the region to own an iron dagger. Kwah and his dagger figure prominently in a number of significant historical events, particularly in a story surrounding events in the life of a young man named James Douglas – who later became the governor of the Colony of Vancouver Island and the Colony of British Columbia. The events surrounding Kwah’s dagger forced the movement of Douglas to Fort Vancouver on the Columbia River. This move led to … Continue reading “Chief Kwah”

Hunting the Devil

By Grant Keddie Aboriginal peoples, from the central coast of British Columbia to SW Alaska, represent the octopus in their art, myths and ceremonies. All First Nations peoples living along the coast also ate octopuses, which are high in protein. But while there are many historical accounts of skinned octopus arms being used to bait hooks for halibut fishing, there are few descriptions that have been uncovered about where and how octopuses were caught. Some accounts have been found for the south end of Vancouver Island. In 1951, James Fraser of the Songhees told anthropologist Wilson Duff that the “big rock” in Gonzales Bay was called “devilfish rock” and “If you touch that rock, devilfish come up.” It was also … Continue reading “Hunting the Devil”