Category: Kwakwaka’wakw

Nettle Fibre Beaters in the Collection of the Royal B.C. Museum

There are three wooden artifacts in the RBCM Ethnology Collection known as Nettle Fibre Beaters. Nettle beaters are much lighter than whale bone bark beaters that are designed for pounded larger cedar bark material. (See Keddie 2025; 2024; 2018 and 2016 for related material on Stinging Nettle). The nettle beater, RBCM2071, was purchased May 20, 1914 at Fort Rupert (Port Hardy) by Charles Newcombe. He noted: “Ft. Rupert 20/V/14. Yakuglas” – “Beating stick used in making nettle string found in house rubbish of old foundation”. This was mistakenly labeled on the Museum database as “bark beater”. Later additions to the RBCM database had: Paddle shape nettle beater with design. Kwakwaka’wakw Yellow cedar. Fort Rupert. Tsaxis. RBCN2071 nettle beater is an … Continue reading “Nettle Fibre Beaters in the Collection of the Royal B.C. Museum”

Stinging Nettle. Indigenous Processing and Use

Stinging Nettle, in various species of the genus Urtica, was an important resource for Indigenous people across the northern hemisphere of the planet. Its new shoots were eaten in the spring as a source of vitamins and minerals and the string made from its stalk was used to make everything from nets to the foundations for light clothing. See Skoglund et. al (2025) for overview of European usage. As stinging nettle needs partial shade and mineral rich soil that contains potassium and uric acid, it grows profusely on the cultural deposits built up at old village sites. The importance of nettle (Urtica dioica) in southern British Columbia is made clear in letters between James Douglas and the Hudson’s Bay company … Continue reading “Stinging Nettle. Indigenous Processing and Use”

Indigenous Bark Beaters in Coastal British Columbia

Were they Introduced from Polynesia? Preface Over the years from the 1970s to 2000, I had interesting discussions with Thor Heyerdahl during his research visits to the Royal B.C. Museum. I came to have a good understanding of his changing philosophy. Thor began his interests in British Columbia when he visited Bella Coola in 1939-1940 to compare petroglyphs at Thorsen Creek with Polynesian art forms. Unlike some of his critics, I read his scientific publications as well as his popular books. He was, on occasion, dismissed in the academic world, for some of his ideas that he had long given up. I assisted Thor in examining Museum artifacts he was interested in for possible Polynesian connections and suggested some myself … Continue reading “Indigenous Bark Beaters in Coastal British Columbia”

Indigenous Combs of British Columbia

By Grant Keddie. Preface Combs are artifacts used by many cultures around the world over thousands of years. They are used primarily for disentangling and arranging the hair, but also as decorative items for holding the hair and head pieces, they have evolved into symbols of status or authority and cultural identity. To make a point, I show an extreme physical example of an Ashanti comb from Ghana in figure 1. Large Ashanti prestige combs were given by men to women as an act of devotion and commitment. In the 1970s, African combs took on a role in African American culture and politics where they became a sign of solidarity to the Black Power movement as a cultural statement. Combs … Continue reading “Indigenous Combs of British Columbia”

Disc-Shaped Stones

Originally published in The Midden, 43(4), 8-9. 2011. By Grant Keddie There are a large variety of stone objects in museums often referred to as “Donut Stones” or “Gaming Stones.” Two examples in the Royal B.C. Museum collection are unique and worthy of a detailed description. Artifact DkSf-Y:40 This artifact (Figure 1) was found in 1897 in a “shell-mound” in Comox by Walter B. An­derson, the son of Alexander C. Anderson of the Hudson’s Bay Company. This round, flat-sided, diorite-like stone (77mm by 28mm) has grinding around its edge consistent with the kind of wear pat­terns produced on a rotated grit stone wheel (Figure 2). The artifact weights 305 grams, and is like other similar shaped stones with a bipolar-pecked … Continue reading “Disc-Shaped Stones”

On Creating Unhumans

By Grant Keddie This article was presented at the Anthropology of the Unknown conference held at the University of British Columbia in 1978. It was published in: The Sasquatch and other Unknown Hominoids. Edited by Vladimir Markotic and Grover Krantz. Western Publishers, Calgary 1984. The other book published as a result of the 1978 Conference is: Manlike Monsters on Trial: Early Records and Modern Evidence. Edited by Margorie M. Halpin, University of British Columbia Press. 1980. By Grant R. Keddie On Creating Unhumans The aim of this paper is to indicate 1) that there are at least two different classes of “humanoid monsters’’ recognized in Indian traditions on the northern and central Northwest Coast; 2) that in some Northwest Coast … Continue reading “On Creating Unhumans”