Category: Archaeology

A First Nations Shell Midden on Raymur Point, Victoria Harbour

September 11, 2017. By Grant Keddie There is an ancient archaeological shell midden – the refuse from what was once, at least, a seasonal camp on Raymur Point at the intersection of St. Laurence Street and Kingston Avenue. Raymur Point is a raised bedrock peninsula on the south side of Victoria’s inner harbour located to the west of Laurel Point and at the east end of Fisherman’s Wharf. The site was not occupied by First Nations in historic times and appears to have had a limited occupation in the distant past. The midden location, known as Archaeological site DcRu-33, includes the extreme northern extension of the point and the shoreline along the wider section of the point extending along the … Continue reading “A First Nations Shell Midden on Raymur Point, Victoria Harbour”

Charles Newcombe’s Visit to Paul Kane’s Klallam Village of I-eh-nus

January 17, 2019. By Grant Keddie Dr. Charles Newcombe played a major role in the development of the Royal B.C. Museum ethnology and palaeontology collections (figure 1). He left behind four of his own interesting photographs that were missing the details of their context. Here, I present the story behind these images. Newcombe was fascinated by the Northwest Coast paintings of the famous Canadian painter Paul Kane. In 1904, Newcombe traveled to the University of Toronto where he photographed some of the Kane paintings from the Sir Edmund Osler private collection that were on loan to the University. Newcombe was keenly interested in Kane’s composite oil painting – then labelled as No. 84 (now ROM912.1.84). This painting was made from … Continue reading “Charles Newcombe’s Visit to Paul Kane’s Klallam Village of I-eh-nus”

Bird Leg Rings on the Northwest Coast?

January 30, 2011 By Grant Keddie There are a variety of small artifacts found on the Northwest Coast that are often assumed to be forms of body adornment. Some of these likely had other functions. Three examples described here might normally be assumed to be pendants, I think we should consider the possibility that these may have been used as bird leg rings for holding live decoy birds or pets. A common type of artifact in Polynesia is the kaka poria or bird leg ring made of stone or whale, bird and human bone. They were used to hold tame kaka birds (Nestor meridionalis) as a decoy for capturing wild birds in the forest (Phillips 1955:145). The leg of the … Continue reading “Bird Leg Rings on the Northwest Coast?”

A Well Curated Perspective On BC Archaeology

This issue of The Midden highlights accomplishments of Grant Keddie, Royal British Columbia Museum (RBCM) curator of archaeology. Grant has recently been honoured with a public service award celebrating fifty years of archeological service in British Columbia. Grant was also the recipient of the Queen’s Jubilee Medal in 2012 for his contributions to archaeology. The Midden took this opportunity to interview Grant, select topics of interest of which he has written, and dredged up a list of archived Midden articles from past issues.

Spirited Divers and Spirited Diggers

Originally Published in The Midden, 23(3), 6-7. June 1991. By Grant Keddie Introduction  THE PICTURESQUE Gorge narrows near Victoria is a place where native Songhees dove deep into the water to gain special spirit powers. Here, at the beginning of time, Halys the transformer-being turned a young girl named Camossung into stone. Her name survives today as Camosun College and Camosun Street. Just above the reversible falls caused by the shifting tides, members of the Victoria chapter of the Archaeological Society of B.C. dig into the oldest recorded shell midden on southern Vancouver Island. Two years ago, a small area of the South Gorge Bridge shell midden /DcRu 5) was exposed during construction of a walkway under­neath the Tillicum Road … Continue reading “Spirited Divers and Spirited Diggers”

Fireweed Clothing. Evidence of Its Use by the Snuneymuxw First Nations of Vancouver Island.

Originally Published in The Midden, 46(3&4), 14-17. By Grant Keddie.  2016 Small fragments of woven material were found along with other items in a burial cave site on Gabriola Island in 1971. The Burial remains and associated artifacts were brought to the (then) Provincial Museum to protect the material that was being removed by unknown persons. Artifacts found in the cave included bracelets of copper and brass, shell pendants, a stone bead, a green glass wire wound Chinese made bead, a woven rattle head and bark matting, in addition to the small fragments of unidentified woven material. This assemblage of material suggested that the woven material likely dated to around the late 18th to early 19th century. In 2001, the … Continue reading “Fireweed Clothing. Evidence of Its Use by the Snuneymuxw First Nations of Vancouver Island.”

The Historic Village of the Clallum and Kosampson.

2012. By Grant Keddie James Teit, working with Clallum consultants in 1907-10, was told there was: “A village of them formerly in Victoria” and that “they were closely related to the Songhish” (Teit 1910). This location would be the “Clallam Village” referred to by the editor of the Weekly Victoria Gazette on August 28, 1858. It was located in the community of James Bay, west of the Legislative buildings and just to the east of Laurel Point. It can be estimated to have been occupied about 1847-1855. This village contained Clallam people from the Olympic Peninsula, and some of the Sapsom or Kosampson people of the 1850, Douglas Treaties. The Clallam may have located here by right of intermarriage with … Continue reading “The Historic Village of the Clallum and Kosampson.”

Boyhood of Adventure

Originally Published in Discovery. Magazine of the Royal BC Museum. 2007. 35:3:4-6 2007. By Robert Moyes Grant Keddie and the Boyhood of Adventure – How the child was father to the archaeologist. Grant Keddie (left) at age 6 with his older brother Graham. Grant Keddie is proud of being a curious fellow. And up on the 11th floor of the Royal BC Museum’s Fannin Building, this long-time curator of Archaeology uses that curiosity to help him interpret nearly 150,000 artifacts that reflect the pre-contact history, ethnography and cultural development of our many First Nations groups. “I’m one of the few archaeologists who still does experiments on tools,” says Keddie, who pursues many of his so-called “projects” in his spare time. … Continue reading “Boyhood of Adventure”

Aboriginal Defensive Sites

By Grant Keddie 1996. Part 1: Settlements for Unsettling Times Over time, glaciers, sea level changes and climate have reshaped our landscape. Around us today is the evidence of how humans have utilized that environment over thousands of years. By studying types of settlements, archaeologists can get a glimpse of how people related both to the natural world and to other people. In the Victoria area, bounded by Cowichan Head to the north and Metchosin to the west, there are about 100 shoreline shell-midden sites which represent the remains of old aboriginal villages. At least 18 of these have been recorded as defensive sites or villages with large wooden defensive walls and/or defensive ditches. In spite of the many observations … Continue reading “Aboriginal Defensive Sites”

Cultural Change in the Gulf of Georgia. Asking the Right Questions

Originally Published in The Midden, 24(3), 3-4. 1992. By Grant Keddie One of the things I find intriguing is the attempts some archaeologists make in trying to fit an artifact collection that is obviously too small, into poorly supported cultural phases. One or two widely divergent radiocarbon dates from a site serve as evidence for a continuous occupation of several thou­sand years. We seem to be preoccu­pied with having to fit every­thing into a nice neat evolutionary scheme when, in fact, human cultures rarely follow such continuous sequencing in environmen­tally rich areas. In the Gulf of Georgia it is most likely that a diversity of cultures moved from different direc­tions, at different times, to merge with and/or displace each other over … Continue reading “Cultural Change in the Gulf of Georgia. Asking the Right Questions”