This thesis explores representations of Indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast within the discipline of Anthropology, with particular attention given to Hul’qumi’num’ speaking nations on Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands of British Columbia. Through a critical engagement with ethnography, linguistic, archival and oral history sources, I offer a critique of the harmful concepts of war and slave as mistranslations from Hul’qumi’num’ into English. The consequences of this mistranslation and lack of understanding permeate our social, cultural and political lives and relationships with settler society. By looking at the original Hul’qumi’num’ words, our laws, and our stories about inter-village relations, I will provide a healthy alternative understanding to the apocryphal representations of Coast Salish nations in Anthropology. I will conclude this discussion with revival of traditional Hul’qumi’num’ laws and practices of relationality and coexistence in marriage and exchanges. / Graduate / 0326 / 0740 / 0290 / flowersrachel@gmail.com

Evidence for the decline of marine biodiversity is being noted worldwide (Pauly and Watson, 2003). Indigenous peoples around the world have a key role to play in marine conservation efforts. With the collapse of many fisheries stocks, including stocks in the Georgia Strait of British Columbia, Canada, the Canadian Federal Government is pursuing conservation strategies such as Marine Protected Areas (MPAs). Section 35 of Canada's Constitution Act protects indigenous peoples' rights, such as the right to harvest natural resources for food, social and ceremonial use. Conservation efforts that potentially infringe upon Aboriginal rights secure a duty to consult and accommodate First Nations' interests on the Government of Canada. Indigenous peoples on Canada's West Coast ofen oppose the creation of MPAs as these have the potential to impact their indigenous rights. This opposition has contributed to the delay in the development of MPAs on the Pacific Coast of Canada. This research contributes to understanding of indigenous use of marine resources and how effective government proposed MPAs are in meeting the conservation goals and perspectives of the Hul'qumi'num peoples. First Nations' marine conservation and management principles, goals and objectives are explored, through a case study of a Central Coast Salish indigenous group, the Hul'qumi'num. These approaches are compared to current government principles and strategies. Some similarities exist between the two, although there are fundamental differences that may be dificult to reconcile. The Hul'qumi'num worldview that everything is connected has some similarities to ecosystem-based management where humans are viewed as part of the ecosystem. However, in a Hul'qumi'num philosophy, humans are a fundamental component of the ecosystem, whereas ecosystem-based management recognizes humans as part of the ecosystem in order to better manage anthropogenic impacts. Simply integrating traditional ecological knowledge in current management efforts does not go far enough to address the goal of reconnecting Hul'qumi'num Mustimuhw (people) to the marine environment and resources. Attitudes towards permanent no-take zones are influenced by beliefs such as limiting aboriginal rights by closing areas to harvesting. Participant support for permanent no-take zones was significantly increased if the notake areas were proposed and managed by Hul'qumi'num. Community-based management, where First Nations have a legitimate role in managing may begin to address this gap. Further exploration of how to accommodate First Nations' principles, goals and objectives directly in marine conservation and management of marine resources will increase the success of marine conservation eforts on the Pacific Coast of Canada. This thesis provides the beginning of a foundation to bridge between current government conservation strategies and traditional management systems. The integration of social sciences and natural sciences in conservation eforts will increase the acceptance and success of conserving marine ecosystems.

In 1864 William Henry Lomas preempted land in British Columbia's Cowichan Valley and began a complex relationship with the local Aboriginal people. As missionary, teacher, advocate and, from 1881-1899, Indian Agent, Lomas had allies and enemies among the Hul 'qumi 'num and Snuneymuxw. The latter turned the tables on him and tried three times to drive him from office by appropriating nineteenth century attitudes toward alcohol consumption and therefore highlighting the paradoxical tensions underlying Aboriginal prohibition and institutionalized tutelage. Their actions reveal strategies of resistance that invert Foucault's "panoptical principle" and suggest a retheorizing of dominant-subordinate relations between Aboriginal peoples and agents of the colonial state.

Hul’qumi’num communities on south eastern Vancouver Island have concerns about the status and safety of marine foods potentially impacted by environmental change and the urbanization and industrialization of their territories. Collaborative research undertaken with the Hul’q’umi’num’ Lands and Resources Society is part of a broader effort to revitalize cultural practices, language, and food systems. Lhuq’us (the Hul’q’umi’num’ language term for pohrpyra/pyropia spp. (commonly known as red laver or black gold)) is a flavourful and nutritious intertidal seaweed that grows on rocky beaches across the Pacific Northwest. Hul’q’umi’num’ language, cultural values, teachings, and family histories are all interwoven into the harvesting and consumption of lhuq’us in Hul’qumi’num territories. Lhuq’us is one of the species that have been persistently mentioned in conversations with state regulatory agencies and though these concerns have been raised for at least two decades there has been no systematic monitoring of the species. There are two broad streams of inquiry taken by thesis thesis. The first, employing ethnographic methodology including interviews and observant participation, seeks to both document the cultural values, oral histories, lived experiences associated with lhuq’us as well as concerns for the future collaborators have for lhuq’us and lhuq’us beaches. The second stream, based in a geographic approach, asks whether Unoccupied Aerial Vehicle (UAV) technologies could be employed to record the status of lhuq’us as a baseline for monitoring. Two study sites in the Salish sea were surveyed using UAV techniques: ȾEL,IȽĆ and St’utl’qulus. The overall accuracies of the UAV imagery classifications and the particular accuracies of the class representing lhuq’us suggest that UAV technologies paired with Google Earth Engine (GEE) object based image analysis (OBIA) methodologies can effectively detect lhuq’us. There are serious concerns and cultural values and practices deeply interconnected with culturally important species like lhuq’us. Through holding these concerns and values side by side with systematic observation and analyses maps and materials were created which communities can use to assert their rights, enact their own monitoring of territories and re-prioritize environmental decision-making done by federal, provincial, and municipal management agencies. / Graduate