Tag: Nuu-chan-nulth

The Human And Natural Modification Of Bone Assemblages From Mountain Caves And Rock Shelters On Vancouver Island

By Grant Keddie. 1995. Primarily Vancouver Island Marmot with Bear and Deer. Preface This document is intended as a working technical manuscript from which information will be extracted for other reports and publications related to the Vancouver Island Marmot Cave Project undertaken jointly by Mammologist Dave Nagorsen and myself. The bone element database, metric summaries, analysis and biogeographical data on modern marmots is not included here. Introduction This study represents the physical examination of thousands of discarded bone remains found on the surface in caves or rock shelters at four high elevation mountain hunting locations: the Mariner Cave (elevation 1220M), on Mariner Mountain and the Golden Hinde Rock Shelter (1420m) on Golden Hinde Mountain, both in Strathcona Provincial Park; Clayoquot … Continue reading “The Human And Natural Modification Of Bone Assemblages From Mountain Caves And Rock Shelters On Vancouver Island”

Indigenous Peoples and Potato Cultivation

February 3, 2023. By Grant Keddie Introduction During the early period of European exploration and settlement, on what became the Colony of Vancouver Island, outsiders often spoke of the great skills of indigenous people in acquiring specific foods. However, the planning that went into Indigenous resource management practices was not recognized. Activities such as the organizing and placing of tied fir branches in inlets to collect herring eggs were not recognized as a form of aquaculture – which today they would be. Just as today we use the term oyster farms, would we not have to call the latter practice herring egg farming? The bias of Europeans as to what they considered forms of farming was clearly toward land-based agriculture. … Continue reading “Indigenous Peoples and Potato Cultivation”

Bullroarers in the Indigenous Collections of the Royal B.C. Museum

By Grant Keddie. 2020. Introduction The bullroarer is an instrument used by many cultures around the world. It comes in many sizes and dates back at least 20,000 years in Europe. In some parts of my ancestral Scotland the bullroarer was known as a “Thunder­spell” and in Aberdeen as a “Thunder-bolt”. It was used to protect people from being struck by lightning, but in one known case used by a farm boy to scare the cows home (Haddon 1898:222). It is classed as an aerophone musical devise as it is spun in the open air, as opposed to an instrument that is blown into. It involves the use of a piece of flat wood, bone or other material tied to … Continue reading “Bullroarers in the Indigenous Collections of the Royal B.C. Museum”