Tsemsyaenhl-get: sixteen battles in the military history of the nine allied Tsimshian tribes

There is a deeply held bias in Northwest Coast scholarly literature that suggests pre-contact Indigenous warfare was primarily made up of simplistic nighttime sneak attacks to raid for slaves or treasure. This thesis examines sixteen battles in the pre-contact history of the Nine Allied Tsimshian Tr...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Buddenhagen, Jeremy
Other Authors: Lutz, John S (John Sutton)
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://dspace.library.uvic.ca//handle/1828/9043
Description
Summary:There is a deeply held bias in Northwest Coast scholarly literature that suggests pre-contact Indigenous warfare was primarily made up of simplistic nighttime sneak attacks to raid for slaves or treasure. This thesis examines sixteen battles in the pre-contact history of the Nine Allied Tsimshian Tribes to show that there were sieges, battlefield maneuvers were complex and coordinated with multiple forces, combat was well organised, had strong leadership, and the Nine Tribes utilised these sophisticated strategies and tactics in warfare to achieve broader geopolitical goals. Graduate