Recent geomorphic and hydrologic environments of a mid-latitude alpine basin are investigated under the integrative theme of paleohydrology. The aims of this research are: 1) to characterize the response of selected biological and geophysical elements to recent climatic change; 2) to determine the resolution and length of paleoenvironmental records in the study area; and 3) to ascertain the significance of observed and inferred environmental change over the Little Ice Age interval. Bella Coola River drains 5050 km² of glacierized mountains along the central coast of British Columbia. Biological elements examined on a basin-wide scale included: tree-growth in temperature and moisture-stressed environments, damage to trees in glacial and fluvial settings, pollen variations in a variety of sedimentary deposits and soil development. Geophysical elements include primarily glacio-lacustrine and floodplain sediments, glacier deposits and river channel morphology. A retrospective strategy was adopted by testing initially for the nature of relationships between synoptic climate, basin hydrology and element response during the period of instrument record (1900 AD to present). Inferences about pre-instrument environments were then made using the proxy data. Events of several types are characteristically mixed in a response record. Variations in Douglas and subalpine fir growth, glacio-lacustrine sedimentation rates, glacier fluctuations and shifting of the Bella Coola River reflect a combination of persistent and episodically extreme behavior. Glaciers appear to respond by advancing or retreating after departures in winter precipitation persistent for several years. Extreme events, particularly high-magnitude autumn floods, are not exclusively linked to a particular set of mean climatic departures. This makes inferences from proxy data such as floodplain deposits and flood-damaged vegetation difficult. Periods of increased flood frequency are supposed to relate to an increase in floodplain sedimentation. Except in very favorable circumstances, paleoenvironmental methods do not have the resolution promised. Climatic information recoverable from tree-ring data and glacio-lacustrine sediments is of considerably lower than annual resolution. Statistically based climate models using proxy data as independent variables produce low levels of explained variance. Proxy data sources in the basin were largely restricted to the last 300 to 4OO years or Little Ice Age interval. Most glaciers in the basin reached Little Ice Age maxima in the middle of the 19th century in response to below average temperatures and above average precipitation between approximately 1800 and 1855 AD. Tree-ring data and equilibrium line altitudes on glaciers indicate that precipitation was on average 25 to 30% greater than the 1951-1980 mean. Inferred below average temperatures in the early l8th century probably signaled the beginning of the Little Ice Age along the central coast; however, there was not a major response in glaciers until persistent positive departures in precipitation occurred. Recession of glaciers from Little Ice Age maxima was slowed by cooler and wetter conditions between I885 and 1900 AD. The persistence of warmer and drier conditions in the first half of the 20th century was exceptional in comparison with inferred climate of the last 330 years. Major floods in 1805/06, 1826, 1885 and 1896 correspond to intervals of increased precipitation. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The nature of local-level political activity in the rural community of Bella Coola is shaped by the satellite relationship of the community to national and international economy, society and culture. Foremost, Bella Coola is economically a satellite in that (1) it lacks local capital and (2) all the products and nearly all the profit of local industry leave the valley. It is not within the power of the local community members to make major economic decisions. Rather, they must constantly respond to external initiatives. Bella Coola occupies a satellite position in regard to formal social institutions in that the community itself supplies only the lowest level functionaries and workers. Its members have no control on major social policy and implementation. Bella Coola is a cultural satellite in that its members do not participate in the creation of the dominant culture but rather consume it. Local ideals of the good life, music, art, drama, and technical implements are all independent of local creation. The satellite nature of Bella Coola affects local level political activity in (1) regard to goals that succeed and (2) leadership and participation. The political goals that succeed in Bella Coola are those that increase access to the economic, social, and cultural centre (the metropolis). Successful local level political leaders come from those occupations that provide the highest contact with persons and institutions outside the community. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

The major factors which influenced the settlement system of the late prehistoric Nuxalk of the Bella Coola valley are examined in this study. Detailed data on settlement, subsistence, environment and the socio-political and socio-economic worlds of the Nuxalk are presented. Ethnographic, ethnohistoric, archaeological and environmental data have been compiled for this purpose. The theoretical approach applied in this thesis differs from other comparable studies on the Northwest Coast. Many studies are concerned only with the relationship between energy gains and settlement. In this study the potential determinants of settlement patterns are compiled from both the natural and cultural environment of the Nuxalk. Each determinant is examined within a cultural framework that would have been relevant to the Bella Coola valley Nuxalk. The nature of the analyses and methodology employed here also sets this study apart from other settlement studies. Salmon-settlement studies investigate the importance of a single species at several sites, while site catchment studies concentrate on the relative importance of several resources at a single site. Here, several different sites are compared according to eight different determinants (the presence of salmon, other aquatic resources, plant resource, animal resources, mineral resources, trade, shelter from the elements and protection from raiding); each determinant is measured in a different manner according to the nature of the data set. A rank order of each village location is produced according to its accessibility to each determinant analysed. From this, an overall ranking of settlements which combines all the determinants is generated. The Nuxalk results are then compared to the settlement systems of other Northwest Coast groups, as a means of identifying more general statements concerning the pre-contact settlement systems of Northwest Coast Native peoples. Results indicate that the presence of a range of food resources, especially plants and fish, was among the most important criteria for a preferred settlement location in the Bella Cool a valley. The presence of a variety of other resources and cultural attributes was the minimum requirement of a suitable Nuxalk village location. Among other coastal groups, preferred village sites were those which offered the greatest number of resources from a single location. In the instances where primary villages were situated in areas that did not offer a range of resources, other (cultural) factors seem to have influenced the decision to settle in a specific location. Additionally, it is hoped that this study contributes to the field of ecological anthropology by offering new methods for quantifying economically important plants. Previously uncollected information from Nuxalk elders adds to the body of knowledge concerning land use among the Nuxalk people specifically and the peoples of the Northwest Coast in general. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

The thesis attempts to fill one of the many gaps in the research of Northwest Coast Indian musics by providing the first study of Bella Coola songs as they have been preserved on tape. The work is based on my own field recordings and notes, the wax cylinder recordings and contextual reconstrucr tions of T.F. Mcllwraith, tapes made by the B.C. Indian Language Project, by Mildred Valley Thornton, by Philip Davis, and by the Bella Coola. themselves. Part One of the study describes the ethnographic context of the songs. A discussion of the situations in which they were used, the performance organization (principal performers, instruments and so on) with which they were associated, and the two types of compositional processes employed to create them is included. Part Two consists of an analysis of the music's structural characteristics. Modal and formal processes, drum rhythms, language-melody interactions, and style change (over a 51 year period) are examined. Dance, language, and histrionics played significant roles in determining certain of the music's attributes. The hierarchy of the music's structural characteristics was found to strongly reflect that of their functional categories. Finally, Part Three provides 73 original transcriptions that encompass a broad spectrum of the Bella Coola ceremonial and non-ceremonial repertoires. / Arts, Faculty of / Music, School of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

The eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus), a small anadromous smelt (Family Osmeridae) found only along the Northwest Pacific Coast, is poorly understood. Many spawning populations have suffered declines but as their historic status is relatively unknown and the fisheries poorly documented, it is difficult to study the contributing factors. This thesis provides a survey of eulachon fisheries throughout its geographical range and three analyses aimed at improving our understanding of past and present fisheries, coast-wide abundance status, and the factors which may be impacting these populations. An in-depth view of the Nuxalk Nation eulachon fishery on the Bella Coola River, Central Coast, BC, is provided. The majority of catches were used for making eulachon grease, a food item produced by First Nations by fermenting, then cooking the fish to release the grease. Catch statistics were kept yearly from 1945-1989 but have since, rarely been recorded. Using traditional and local ecological knowledge, catches were reconstructed based on estimated annual grease production. Run size trends were also created using local Fisheries Officers and Nuxalk interview comments. A fuzzy logic expert system was designed to estimate the relative abundance of fifteen eulachon systems. The expert system uses catch data to determine the exploitation status of a fishery and combines it with other data sources (e.g., CPUE) to estimate an abundance status index. The number of sources depended on the existing data and varied from one to eight. Using designed heuristic rules and by adjusting weighting parameters a final index was produced. Results suggest that there have been recent and extended declines in several eulachon rivers particularly the Klamath, California; Bella Coola, BC; Wannock, BC; and Kitimat, BC. Seven of the fifteen abundance time-series were used to evaluate the potential relationships between the declines and some of the factors that impact eulachon. Results suggest increases in shrimp and hake catches, seal and sea lion abundance, and sea surface temperatures were weakly associated with the declines. But contrary to expectations, adult hake biomass showed a positive association with four eulachon relative abundance time-series, suggesting that common environmental factors influenced both species.

The eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus), a small anadromous smelt (Family Osmeridae) found only along the Northwest Pacific Coast, is poorly understood. Many spawning populations have suffered declines but as their historic status is relatively unknown and the fisheries poorly documented, it is difficult to study the contributing factors. This thesis provides a survey of eulachon fisheries throughout its geographical range and three analyses aimed at improving our understanding of past and present fisheries, coast-wide abundance status, and the factors which may be impacting these populations. An in-depth view of the Nuxalk Nation eulachon fishery on the Bella Coola River, Central Coast, BC, is provided. The majority of catches were used for making eulachon grease, a food item produced by First Nations by fermenting, then cooking the fish to release the grease. Catch statistics were kept yearly from 1945-1989 but have since, rarely been recorded. Using traditional and local ecological knowledge, catches were reconstructed based on estimated annual grease production. Run size trends were also created using local Fisheries Officers and Nuxalk interview comments. A fuzzy logic expert system was designed to estimate the relative abundance of fifteen eulachon systems. The expert system uses catch data to determine the exploitation status of a fishery and combines it with other data sources (e.g., CPUE) to estimate an abundance status index. The number of sources depended on the existing data and varied from one to eight. Using designed heuristic rules and by adjusting weighting parameters a final index was produced. Results suggest that there have been recent and extended declines in several eulachon rivers particularly the Klamath, California; Bella Coola, BC; Wannock, BC; and Kitimat, BC. Seven of the fifteen abundance time-series were used to evaluate the potential relationships between the declines and some of the factors that impact eulachon. Results suggest increases in shrimp and hake catches, seal and sea lion abundance, and sea surface temperatures were weakly associated with the declines. But contrary to expectations, adult hake biomass showed a positive association with four eulachon relative abundance time-series, suggesting that common environmental factors influenced both species.

The eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus), a small anadromous smelt (Family Osmeridae) found only along the Northwest Pacific Coast, is poorly understood. Many spawning populations have suffered declines but as their historic status is relatively unknown and the fisheries poorly documented, it is difficult to study the contributing factors. This thesis provides a survey of eulachon fisheries throughout its geographical range and three analyses aimed at improving our understanding of past and present fisheries, coast-wide abundance status, and the factors which may be impacting these populations. An in-depth view of the Nuxalk Nation eulachon fishery on the Bella Coola River, Central Coast, BC, is provided. The majority of catches were used for making eulachon grease, a food item produced by First Nations by fermenting, then cooking the fish to release the grease. Catch statistics were kept yearly from 1945-1989 but have since, rarely been recorded. Using traditional and local ecological knowledge, catches were reconstructed based on estimated annual grease production. Run size trends were also created using local Fisheries Officers and Nuxalk interview comments. A fuzzy logic expert system was designed to estimate the relative abundance of fifteen eulachon systems. The expert system uses catch data to determine the exploitation status of a fishery and combines it with other data sources (e.g., CPUE) to estimate an abundance status index. The number of sources depended on the existing data and varied from one to eight. Using designed heuristic rules and by adjusting weighting parameters a final index was produced. Results suggest that there have been recent and extended declines in several eulachon rivers particularly the Klamath, California; Bella Coola, BC; Wannock, BC; and Kitimat, BC. Seven of the fifteen abundance time-series were used to evaluate the potential relationships between the declines and some of the factors that impact eulachon. Results suggest increases in shrimp and hake catches, seal and sea lion abundance, and sea surface temperatures were weakly associated with the declines. But contrary to expectations, adult hake biomass showed a positive association with four eulachon relative abundance time-series, suggesting that common environmental factors influenced both species. / Science, Faculty of / Resources, Environment and Sustainability (IRES), Institute for / Graduate