British Columbia Connections - Grant Keddie

Dating Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials with Chinese Coins

Originally published in Datum. Newsletter of the heritage Conservation Branch. Ministry of Recreation and Conservation. 1978. 3:2:3-5. By Grant Keddie. 1978. Introduction Early Chinese coins have been used occasionally to date historic burials or associated historical assemblages as well as being used as proof of a pre-contact circum-Pacific movement of trade goods or of proof of actual visitations by early Chinese explorers. By utilizing the direct historic approach it becomes evident that we must exercise caution in using Chinese coins as chronological indicators. I first became aware of the need to examine the reliability of dating with Chinese coins when trying to date a historic burial intrusion at the archaeological site DhRx 6 on Newcastle Island near Nanaimo. B.C. A … Continue reading “Dating Archaeological and Ethnographic Materials with Chinese Coins”

Review of: An Archaeology of Asian Transnationalism. By Douglas E. Ross

By Grant Keddie Book Review of: An Archaeology of Asian Transnationalism. By Douglas E. Ross. Gainesville, FL, University Press of Florida, 2913. 245 pp. $103.95 cloth. In: B.C. Studies, Winter 2015/16, pp. 123-124. Although descriptive work on historic artefacts of Asian origin has been sporadically produced by American archaeologists since the 1960s, and by BC archaeologists since the 1970s, recent years have seen Asian archaeology in North America blossoming into a more humanities informed scholarship. By subjecting archaeological finds to historical (written and oral) documentation and to the analytical writing on diaspora and Transnationalism, Douglas Ross, in An Archaeology of Asian Transnationalism, develops a useful model for understanding historical Asian archaeology in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century British Columbia. Ross’s … Continue reading “Review of: An Archaeology of Asian Transnationalism. By Douglas E. Ross”

Aboriginal Use and Context of Pipes, Tobacco, and Smoking in Northwestern North America

Originally published in Perspectives on the Archaeology of Pipes, Tobacco and other Smoke Plants in the Ancient Americas. Interdisciplinary Contributions to Archaeology. Springer, Cham. 2016. By Grant Keddie 9.1 Introduction Aboriginal groups in the far northwest of North America were some of most northerly Native peoples throughout the Americas to use tobacco (Turner and Taylor 1972). This chapter provides an overview of tobacco consumption and smoking practices of Native peoples living in British Columbia, Canada, and the Northwest Coast of the United States. The discussion breaks the larger region into three subregions— the Interior Plateau of southern British Columbia, the Northern Coast of Alaska and British Columbia, and the Southern Coast of British Columbia—to compare and contrast the uses of … Continue reading “Aboriginal Use and Context of Pipes, Tobacco, and Smoking in Northwestern North America”

The use and distribution of labrets on the North Pacific Rim

Originally published in Syesis, 14, 59-80. 1981. By Grant Keddie This paper deals with the definition, categorization, and distribution of labrets. or lip plugs, and gives a regional synthesis of their history as known from both archaeological and ethnological studies on the Pacific Rim. from the Gulf of Georgia region in Canada to northern Japan. Key Index Worms: archaeology, categorization, distribution, labrets. North Pacific Rim Many problems are encountered when interpreting ethnographic, archaeological, and other written sources on labretifery. At present there is no consistent classification system used in describing labrets. A system of mutually exclusive terms is a necessity for entry into a computerized data base Part of the problem in the development of a classification system has been … Continue reading “The use and distribution of labrets on the North Pacific Rim”

Symbolism and Context: The World History of the Labret and Cultural Diffusion on the Pacific Rim

Paper originally presented at the Circum-Pacific Prehistory Conference Session VIII Prehistoric Trans-Pacific Contacts, Seattle Washington, U.S.A., August 1-6, 1989. By Grant Keddie Introduction The question of whether or not Asiatic cultures have influenced cultures of the New World is linked with the problem of how we tell whether cultural charge is internal or external. As Hodder points out “all change incorporates continuity and the archaeologist can emphasize one or the other at will”. The problem he suggests has been “the failure to identify continuity and change as social-symbolic processes”. There is, he argues, a “need for archaeologists to examine the origin and divergence of long-term cultural traditions” (1987a:8). I will present an overview of my ongoing studies on the long-term … Continue reading “Symbolism and Context: The World History of the Labret and Cultural Diffusion on the Pacific Rim”

A Chinese Coin to raise Canadian Dollars.

By Grant Keddie I was walking along a back lane in Edmonton, Alberta one day at the age of ten, when I noticed that the McLaughlin’s garbage can was knocked over. Spilled on the ground were three coins, two 19th century French and Portuguese coins and a Chinese brass, one cash piece with a square hole in the centre. I kept these coins, and later because of an interest in Chinese history, I took a special interest in collecting Chinese coins. When I searched further through the garbage can I found a signed blank check for fifty dollars. My mother suggested I should take the check back and to stop searching through garbage cans. Dorothy McLaughlin gave me 25 cents … Continue reading “A Chinese Coin to raise Canadian Dollars.”

The Question of Asiatic Objects on the North Pacific Coast of America: Historic or Prehistoric?

Originally Published in Contributions to Human History, 3. Royal British Columbia Museum. Grant Keddie May 1989 Abstract: Claims have been made that Native Indian cultures of the North Pacific coast of North America have been influenced by prehistoric contact with advanced cultures of China. Purported evidence has focused on the finding of ancient Chinese coins as well as literary references to early voyages and shipwrecks. These claims are dealt with in the context of examining the nature of the diffusion of Asiatic objects around the North Pacific Rim. Historic, protohistoric, and prehistoric events relevant to the interpretation of the evidence are discussed. Key Index Words: Alaska, archaeology, Asiatic, British Columbia, Chinese, coins, copper, diffusion, Fou sang, Huishen, iron, Japanese, North … Continue reading “The Question of Asiatic Objects on the North Pacific Coast of America: Historic or Prehistoric?”

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”

Bird Leg Rings

Bird Leg Rings on the Northwest Coast? 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). … Continue reading “Bird Leg Rings”