The river of mist, cultural change in the Tsimshian past

• Main Author: Martindale, Andrew R. C.
• Format: Thesis
• Language: English
• Published: 1998
• Subjects: Skeena; Skeena River; Gitnadoix River; Tsimshian; Tsimshian*
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/1807/12781; http://www.collectionscanada.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk1/tape10/PQDD_0001/NQ41231.pdf

grantor: University of Toronto This dissertation examines the archaeological data for the territory of the Tsimshian people of the Northwest Coast of North America. It focuses on the interior part of their territory within the watershed of the lower Skeena River. It presents data from surveys of the Exchamsiks and Gitnadoix River valleys and excavation data from the site of Psacelay (GbTh-4). These data have been combined with all previously identified sites from the study area to develop a six type classification scheme for archaeological sites. A two period, four phase chronology is proposed for this area dating from about 2000 BP to the early 20th century based on habitation sites. In addition, a new method for dating culturally modified trees is proposed. Excavations from Psacelay revealed a habitation site containing two large houses and associated features dating from the late pre-contact era up to the early contact period. The excavation data was analyzed using a research methodology based on household archaeology. The conclusions of this analysis were that the pre-contact Tsimshian were organized around socially and economically autonomous extended family households. The primary economic activities at Psacelay were subsistence food production during the summer and fall months. The most significant subsistence resources at Psacelay were berries, and there is evidence that these were produced for storage in large quantities. Spatial analysis of architecture, activity areas, and artifacts at Psacelay indicate that many elements of the ethnographic description of the Tsimshian, such as social stratification, were present prior to contact. However ethnographic descriptions of the Tsimshian seasonal round and interior settlement pattern seem to be conflations of three distinct phases. In particular, ethnographic descriptions do not account for the development of a regional settlement hierarchy in the post-contact era. Using documentary evidence and data from Tsimshian oral traditions, I argue that the settlement pattern changes in the post-contact era are evidence of increasing social complexity among the Tsimshian toward the development of an incipient paramount chiefdom. Ph.D.