Portions of wood stake salmon fishing weirs have been recorded in the Nautley River of central British Columbia dating from roughly the 13th to early 20th century A.D. The factors contributing to the preservation and detection of these features are considered, along with their spatial arrangement, and it is argued they are the remains of wood fence and basket trap weirs used to harvest sockeye salmon. The early dates and the fact that these features have survived at all have significant implications for interpretations of the development of the ethnographically described salmon focused cultures of this area, and the network of relationships they developed to compensate for cycles in sockeye abundance. It is argued here that weirs are not a result of recent diffusions, and that there is potential for the remains of similar features to be found in other streams of the region, such that long-term cultural adaptations can be better defined.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AmesKenneth and MaschnerHerbert D. G.1999Peoples of the Northwest Coast: Their Archaeology and Prehistory, Thames and Hudson, London.
2.
AndersonAlexander Caufield n.d. British Columbia, Ms M 304, British Columbia Archives, Victoria.
3.
BernickKathryn1998aFishing Technologies on the Northwest Coast: Introduction, in Hidden Dimensions: The Cultural Significance of Wetland Archaeology, BernickK. (ed.), University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, pp. 175–179.
4.
BernickKathryn, editor 1998bHidden Dimensions: The Cultural Significance of Wetland Archaeology, University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver.
5.
BishopCharles1987Coast-Interior Exchange: The Origins of Stratification in Northwestern North America, Arctic Anthropology, 24:1, pp. 72–83.
6.
BoudreauKristann2005Nechako Watershed Council Report: Assessment of Potential Flow Regimes for the Nechako Watershed. Report on File With the Nechako Enhancement Society and Nechako Watershed Council, Prince George.
7.
BradfordMichael1994Trends in the Abundance of Chinook Salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha) of the Nechako River, British Columbia, Canadian Journal of Aquatic Science, 51, pp. 965–973.
8.
ByramScott1998Fishing Weirs in Oregon Coast Estuaries, in Hidden Dimensions: The Cultural Significance of Wetland Archaeology, BernickK. (ed.), University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, pp. 199–219.
9.
CaldwellMegan2011Fish Traps and Shell Middens at Comox Harbor, British Columbia, in The Archaeology of North Pacific Fisheries, MossM. and CannonA. (eds.), University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, pp. 235–246.
10.
CannonAubrey and YangDongya2006Early Storage and Sedentism on the Pacific Northwest Coast: Ancient DNA Analysis of Salmon Remains from Namu, British Columbia, American Antiquity, 71, pp. 123–140.
11.
CarlsonArne K.1996An Archaeological Potential Model for the Vanderhoof Forest District, B.C. Report on File, the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Vanderhoof.
12.
CARRIER-SEKANI TRIBAL COUNCIL (CSTC)2006Lho Dust'lus: Carrier Sekani Tribal Council Fisheries Newsletter, Volume 1, Fall.
CrannyMichael1986Carrier Settlement and Subsistence in the Chinlac/Cluculz Lake Area of Central British Columbia, M.A. thesis, University of British Columbia, Vancouver.
16.
DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS (DFO)2002Interior Fraser River Coho Salmon. DFO Science Stock Report D6-08. Report on File with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Vancouver.
17.
DEPARTMENT OF FISHERIES AND OCEANS (DFO)2007Information Document to Assist Development of a Fraser Chinook Management Plan. Report on File with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Vancouver.
18.
DonahuePaul19774500 Years of Cultural Continuity on the Central Interior Plateau of British Columbia, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
19.
DruckerPhilip1963Indians of the Northwest Coast, Natural History Press, New York.
20.
DuffWilson. n.d. Wilson Duff's Carrier Field Notes, Reel B6045, File 87, Car-A, British Columbia Archives, Victoria.
21.
Ecofor2004Fort St. James Forest District Archaeological Predictive Model Revision Project. Report on File with the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Fort St. James.
22.
EmmonsGeorge1991The Tlingit Indians, Douglas and McIntyre, Vancouver.
23.
FladmarkKnut2009People of the Rivers: An Introduction to the Pre-Contact Cultures of Subarctic British Columbia, in Painting the Past With a Broad Brush: Papers in Honour of James Valliere Wright, KeenlysideD. and PilonJ. (eds.), Canadian Museum of Civilization Mercury Series Paper 170, Hull, pp. 555–616.
24.
FraserSimon2007The Letters and Journals of Simon Fraser 1806-1808, LambW. Kaye (ed.), Dundurn Press, Toronto.
25.
GoldmanIrving1941The Alkatcho Carrier: Historical Background of Crest Prerogatives, American Anthropologist43:3, pp. 396–418.
26.
GreeneNancy2010Comox Harbor Fish Trap Site, Wetland Archaeology Project Web Report. Retrieved May 4, 2010 from http://newsWetland Archaeology Research Project.info
HarrisDouglas2001Fish, Law and Colonialism: The Legal Capture of Salmon in British Columbia, University of Toronto Press, Toronto.
29.
HudsonDouglas1983Traplines and Timber: Social and Economic Change Among the Carrier Indians of Northern British Columbia, doctoral dissertation, University of Alberta, Edmonton.
30.
KewMichael1992Salmon Availability, Technology, and Cultural Adaptation in the Fraser River Watershed, in A Complex Culture of the British Columbia Plateau: Traditional Stl'á tl'imx Resource Use, HaydenB. (ed.), University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, pp. 177–221.
31.
KobrinskyVernon1977The Tsimshianization of the Carrier, in The Athapaskan Question: Prehistory of the North American Sub-Arctic, HelmerJ. (ed.), University of Calgary Archaeological Association, Calgary, pp. 201–210.
32.
KsanPeople Of1980Gathering What the Great Nature Provided: Food Traditions of the Gitksan, Douglas and McIntyre, Vancouver.
33.
LoseyRobert2010Animism as a Means of Exploring Archaeological Fishing Structures on Willapa Bay, Washington, USA, Cambridge Archaeological Journal, 20, pp. 17–32.
34.
MacDonaldL. B.LeoneF. N., and RowlandD. E.1995Salmon Watershed Planning Profiles for the Fraser River Basin Within the Vanderhoof Land and Resource Management Plan. Report on File with Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Vancouver.
35.
MatsonR. G. and CouplandGary1995The Prehistory of the Northwest Coast, Academic Press, San Diego.
36.
MatsonR. G. and MagneMartin2007Athapaskan Migrations: The Archaeology of Eagle Lake, British Columbia, University of Arizona Press, Tucson.
37.
McLeanJohn1849Notes of a Twenty-Five Years' Service in the Hudson's Bay Territory, Volume 1, Richard Bentley, London.
38.
MILLENNIA RESEARCH LTD.1998Archaeological Overview Assessment of the Williams Lake Forest District. Report on File with the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, Williams Lake.
39.
MoriceA. G.1889The Western Dénés, Their Manners and Customs, Proceedings of the Canadian InstituteXXVI:52, pp. 109–174.
40.
MoriceA. G.1893Notes Archaeological, Industrial and Sociological on the Western Denes With an Ethnographical Sketch of the Same, Transactions of the Canadian Institute, Volume IV, Toronto.
41.
MoriceA. G.1978The History of the Northern Interior of British Columbia, Galleon Press, Fairfield.
42.
MossMadonna2013Fishing Traps and Weirs on the Northwest Coast of North America: New Approaches and New Insights, in The Oxford Handbook of Wetland Archaeology, MenottiF. and SullivanA. (eds.), Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 323–337.
43.
MossMadonna and CannonAubrey2011aThe Archaeology of North Pacific Fisheries: An Introduction, in The Archaeology of North Pacific Fisheries, MossM. and CannonA. (eds.), University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, pp. 1–15.
44.
MossMadonna and ErlandsonJon1998A Comparative Chronology of Northwest Coast Fishing Features, in Hidden Dimensions: The Cultural Significance of Wetland Archaeology, BernickK. (ed.), University of British Columbia Press, Vancouver, pp. 180–198.
45.
PrentissWilliam and KuijtIan2004Introduction: The Archaeology of the Plateau Region of Northwestern North America—Approaches to the Evolution of Complex Hunter-Gatherers, in Complex Hunter-Gatherers: Evolution and Organization of Prehistoric Communities on the Plateau of Northwestern North America, PrentissW. and KuijtI. (eds.), University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, pp. vii–xvii.
46.
PrincePaul2005Fish Weirs, Salmon Productivity, and Village Settlement in an Upper Skeena River Tributary, British Columbia, Canadian Journal of Archaeology, 29, pp. 68–87.
47.
PrincePaul2011Riverine Salmon Harvesting and Processing Technology in Northern British Columbia, in The Archaeology of North Pacific Fisheries, MossM. and CannonA. (eds.), University of Alaska Press, Fairbanks, pp. 148–180.
48.
PrincePaulKoulourisMaria, and DegrandprePauline2010Lithic Raw Material Usage on the Nechako Plateau of British Columbia, paper presented at the 35th Annual Canadian Archaeological Association Conference, Calgary.
49.
PrincePaul and McAvoyDeanna2012Where Are the Deer? Prey Selection and Taxonomic Representation in Faunal Assemblages from Central British Columbia, paper presented at the 37th Annual Canadian Archaeological Association Conference, Montreal.
50.
RahemtullaFarid2012Archaeological Research Investigations at Site GiSq-004 Located at Nilitkwa Lake in the North-Central Interior of BC. Report on File with the British Columbia Archaeology Branch, Victoria.
RickerW. E.1997Cycles of Abundance Among Fraser River Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Science, 54, pp. 950–968.
53.
RousseauMike2004A Culture Historic Synthesis and Changes in Human Mobility, Sedentism, Subsistence, Settlement, and Population on the Canadian Plateau, 7000-200 BP, in Complex Hunter-Gatherers: Evolution and Organization of Prehistoric Communities on the Plateau of Northwestern North America, PrentissW. and KuijtI. (eds.), University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, pp. 3–22.
54.
RudlandLenore1988Fort Fraser (Where the Hell's That?), D. W. Friesen and Sons, Cloverdale.
55.
SchellChris2003A Brief Overview of Fish, Fisheries and Aquatic Habitat Resources in the Morice TSA. Report to the Morice Forest District Office, Smithers. Retrieved July 20, 2012 from http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfd/library/ffip/Schell_C2003.pdf
56.
SchubertN. D.20001994 Stellako River Sockeye Salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) Escapement: Evaluation of Pooled Petersen and Stratified Mark-Recapture Estimates of a Known Population, Canadian Technical Report of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences 2303, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Vancouver.
57.
ShrimptonJ. Mark and HeathDaniel2003Census vs Effective Population Size in Chinook Salmon: Large and Small-Scale Environmental Perturbation Effects, Molecular Ecology, 12:10, pp. 2571–2583.
58.
StewardJulian1977Carrier Acculturation: The Direct Historical Approach, in Evolution and Ecology: Essays on Social Transformation, StewardJ. and MurphyR. (eds.), University of Illinois Press, Chicago, pp. 188–200.
59.
StewartHilary1982Indian Fishing: Early Methods on the Northwest Coast, Douglas and McIntyre, Vancouver.
60.
SwannellFrank1923Fishweir on Tachie River, Photographic Collection, I-33787, British Columbia Archives, Victoria.
61.
TobeyMargaret1981Carrier, in Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 6: Subarctic, HelmJ. (ed.), Smithsonian Institution, Washington, pp. 413–432.
62.
TRACES ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND CONSULTING2003Nadleh Whut'en Fish Weir Project. Report on File with the Nadleh Whut'en Band, Fort Fraser.
63.
TveskovMark and ErlandsonJon2003The Haynes Inlet Weirs: Estuarine Fishing and Archaeological Site Visibility on the Southern Cascadia Coast, Journal of Archaeological Science, 30, pp. 1023–1035.
