ethnology - Grant Keddie

May 10, 2019. By Grant Keddie Introduction In 2006, the “Spirit bear” was adopted as the provincial mammal of British Columbia. The term “Spirit Bear” has to a large extent been overused as a media hype word. It has often been misinterpreted as a direct aboriginal name of a unique type or species of bear. The circular movement of information between indigenous peoples and popular writers, have created some modern myths such as comments that white bears, also referred to as “ghost bears”, were not traditionally hunted. Today they are referred to as a subspecies of black bear called Ursus americanus kermodei. The environmental movement of the western world has over-simplified the portrayal of all white coloured black bears by … Continue reading “Beyond “Spirit Bears””

Originally published in The Midden, 14(6). February 1983. By Grant Keddie Ritual Bowls of the Salish Indians: Some Theories Two questions I am commonly asked when giving public demonstrations in artifact technology revolve around the use of stone bowls and whether or not individuals or families specialized in making these and other stone tools commonly found by the archaeologist. The purpose of this article is to 1) provide a brief summary of Wilson Duff’s conclusions regarding his ethnographic survey of the use of human seated figurine bowls (as presented in Prehistoric Stone Sculpture of the Fraser River and Gulf of Georgia – Anthropology in British Columbia, No. 5, 1956); 2) to present two accounts of stone bowl use not mentioned … Continue reading “Ritual Bowls”