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”

David Latasse

David Latasse. Of Saanich and Songhees Heritage Piecing together Outsiders Views 2016. By Grant Keddie David Latasse was a Tsartlip (W_JOLELP) First Nation. They are part of the Saanich (W_SANEC) peoples whose territory is centered on the Saanich Peninsula and southern Gulf Islands. Latasse gained notoriety from 1927-1936 as a speaker in his native language at ceremonies, the subject of an early movie maker and as a source of information via translators for newspaper reporters and at least one anthropologist. He was born about 1858-1863 and died May 2, 1936. For most of his life he lived near his mother’s relatives on the Tartlip Reserve located on the Saanich Peninsula north of Victoria. We are fortunate to have letter that was dictated by Latasse himself and addressed to the … Continue reading “David Latasse”

Changing the Weather in Songhees Tradition

2012. By Grant Keddie Special rocks were used in rituals by First Nations to change the weather and ensure safety in venturing out in pursuit of food or to create unsafe conditions for one’s enemy. One of these locations was recorded by Anthropologist, Franz Boas as being “not far” from the military gun batteries at Finlayson Point in Victoria’s Beacon Hill Park. First Nation advisors indicated that: “If a man desires a certain wind he moves one stone a very little from its place, each stone representing one wind. If he should move it too much the wind would be very strong” (Boas1991:578). It is uncertain whether these were special stones used for this purpose or whether they were some … Continue reading “Changing the Weather in Songhees Tradition”

James Squameyuqs

By Grant Keddie James Squameyuqs–Songhees Chief 1864-1892 James Squameyuqs (Grand fir tree), also spelt as Scomiak, Comey-uks, Kumayaks, Skomiax, Skomiak, Scomiax and Somiax, was born about 1797. On 12 November 1864 he became the second chief of the Songhees since the founding of Fort Victoria. “Comey-uks” is the second person listed on one of the aboriginal treaties made by Governor James Douglas in 1852. This treaty was called the South Saanich Treaty, but included the area south of the territory of the Saanich people, from Cowichan head to Mount Douglas. Songhees band member James Fraser related how his grandfather, the first Songhees chief, named Freezy, or Chee-al-thluc, “invited James Kumeyaks of Sidney Island to move to Victoria”. In 1867 Squameyuqs’s home … Continue reading “James Squameyuqs”

Random Thoughts on the Concept of Humans and Place

Oct 19, 1999. By Grant Keddie Places are like magnetic beacons on the runway of life. Humans are a product of the symbiotic interaction between mental and biological structures. Humans have developed a network continuum of symbolic features which some call “history”. History in this sense is like an umbilical cord to the world around us. Places provide attachments for the cord. Animals perceive place from the perspective of maintaining their species or individual existence. This involves: (1) a sense of security from injury (physical and psychological); (2) getting food; (3) reproducing (passing on genetic or other information believed to be of value to genetic survival). [One or a combination of the above may supersede the others at any given … Continue reading “Random Thoughts on the Concept of Humans and Place”

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”

The Archaeology and History of Macaulay Point.

By Grant Keddie. Inspired by the Landscape As Donald Macaulay with his Tsimshian wife Margaret and the first four of their six daughters Mary, Flora, Catherine and Sarah, gazed out at the beautiful ocean view and the fields draped with blue camas, he must have been reminded of his native home on the Scottish Isle of Lewis. It was 1850, and Macaulay was bailiff of the new 600-acre Viewfield Farm owned by the Puget Sound Agricultural Company. Macaulay could hardly have known that this landscape would one day be named after him. Or that it would become a popular military camp in the late 1890’s, where Victoria’s citizens flocked to witness regimental demonstrations. Macaulay Point was first named Sailor Point … Continue reading “The Archaeology and History of Macaulay Point.”

Wooden Self-Armed Fishhooks from the Salish Sea.

Chapter in Waterlogged: Examples and Procedures for Northwest Coast Archaeologists. Washington State University Press, Pullman, Washington, 2019. Edted by Kathryn N. Bernick. By Grant Keddie Wet sites contain many artifact types that link the archaeological and ethnographic records. Occasionally they also produce objects that do not match the known record. Here, I expand upon our knowledge of one unusual type, the self-armed wooden fishhook, and examine Croes’ (2003:52—55) hypothesis that the technology survived into postcontact times on the northern Northwest Coast but not in the south. This hypoth­esis assumes that self-armed wooden fishhooks were used for catching cod in both regions. However, ethnographic and ethnohistoric evidence for the northern coast indicates that self-armed wood hooks were used to catch sablefish rather than … Continue reading “Wooden Self-Armed Fishhooks from the Salish Sea.”

Wool Dogs of B.C.

Originally published in The Midden. Publication of the Archaeological Society of British Columbia, 25 (1), 3-5, February 1993. By Grant Keddie Prehistoric Dogs of B.C. Wolves in Sheeps’ Clothing? Throughout the history of North American we see many varieties of native dogs. In British Colombia we find the Bear Dog of the Northern Interior and parts of the northern Coast used for hunting and packing, and a coyote-resembling dog of the southern Interior and Coast used mostly for hunting. On the southern Coast we also find what has become known as the Salish Wool Dog, kept mainly for the production of wool from its thick soft inner coat. With the use of their hair to make of blankets and capes … Continue reading “Wool Dogs of B.C.”