To understand the system under which land rights are held in any pre—literate society, one must refer to the cultural background since primitive tenure is usually tied in with other aspects of culture. Thus, because a person may hold rights in land according to his social, political and economic status, it is necessary to obtain a clear picture of the social, political, and economic structure, Because a person may obtain or lose his rights according to a change in status, one must be familiar with the rules of succession and inheritance, marriage customs and lineage ties. Public ceremony and tribal mythology are often instruments for the validation of claims, while the means of guaranteeing rights in land are related to the system of social control. Moreover, the reasons for desiring land can only be fully explained by referring to cultural values. It follows that because of this relationship between land tenure and the rest of culture, a system of tenure will be affected by change occurring in cultural aspects with which it is linked. For instance, when a person holds rights in land by virtue of his membership in tribe and family, a breakdown of these groups will tend to invaliaate his claims. Again, when a shift in the political structure leads to new concentrations of authority, different means of controlling land may arise. A changing economy may free people from dependence upon the old social group and thus lead to the individualization of title. When ceremonialism plays an important part in the validation of land rights, its submergence tends to cause confusion of claims. In studying the effects of culture contact upon the Tsimshian system of land tenure during the nineteenth century) the writer began by examining the traditional system of tenure and its relationship to other aspects of culture. The place of the social, political and economic structure in the land tenure scheme was determined, as was the part played by ceremonialism, mythology and the system of social control. The nature of culture contact and its influence upon these aspects of culture was then reviewed. Finally, the writer attempted to determine to what extent the system of tenure was itself affected. / Arts, Faculty of / Sociology, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Anthropology, August 2000. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

The research question for this thesis is: How does vowel quality vary across Gitksan speakers, and what sociolinguistic factors may be influencing this variation? Answering this question requires both that I show what the variation is, and why it may be that way; I have approached these questions by conducting a study in two parts. First, I conducted a demographic survey and ethnographically-informed qualitative interview with nine Gitksan speakers. Second, I performed an acoustic analysis of vowel variation across these same speakers. The acoustic results lead me to conclude that the low and front vowels show the most variation between speakers. My findings allowed me to add to our understanding of individual variation across speakers and communities. Although further investigation is needed to come to a conclusion about the generalizability of these results, the overarching contribution of my work is to add phonetic detail to previous descriptions of variation between speakers within the Interior Tsimshianic dialect continuum. / Graduate

This thesis attempts to distinguish varying styles in a particular set of massive carvings from the Northwest Coast of North America, the totem poles of the Niska and Gitksan. The method of investigation is based on the use of hierarchical clustering and multi-dimensional scaling computer programmes. These programmes are of a type used in ecological, geological, and archaeological studies. Their purpose is to establish a numerical taxonomy from which inferences may be drawn. The data used in the study are based exclusively on photographs, and it is possible to include artifacts no longer in existence. There is an ethnographic record against which the success of the methodology is measured. It is concluded that there are four distinctive styles of carving and organizing the totem poles. Two of these are attributed to the Niska and two to the Gitksan. A rhythm of order is demonstrated in the placement of figures on the poles. It is concluded that the taxonomy gives positive support to the hypotheses of previous investigators in regard to clan formation: originally there was a two-fold rather than a four-fold division among these Tsimshian groups. Traits associated with individual artists are not defined by the programmes, although associated traits preferred in certain locations are described. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Metlakatla, British Columbia, an 'isolated' missionary village, was established in 1862 by William Duncan, an Anglican missionary, and a group of Tsimshian on the Northern Northwest Coast. The village was widely praised for its success in 'civilizing' its group of Northwest Coast Native people, but, by 1880, was plagued by turmoil between Duncan and Church and government authorities. The turmoil in Metlakatla, B.C. led to an unprecedented move when, in 1887, Duncan and the majority of the villagers relocated to Annette Island in Southern Alaska. Along with this move to United States jurisdiction came shifts in the construction and representation of the colonial project at Metlakatla. Metlakatla, B.C., represented as a model village of equal and subordinate workers, was full of internal fractures which could be viewed through disjunctures among the various representations of the site. With the move to Alaska, the representations of Metlakatla, once constructed in the vein of homogeneous worker's housing promoted in England during the era of Evangelical reform, shifted to present a middle class, American village which participated in capitalism and leisure activities. This thesis attempts to link the shifting representations of the colonial project of Metlakatla to both local and broader political movements. The shifts correspond to changing views toward the Indian and assimilation, shifts from a Canadian/British terrain to an American one, changing notions of the worker and emerging fears of communism, and shifts in the technology used to capture photographic representations of the site. In addition to these broad trends, the shifting constructions of the community of Metlakatla may have corresponded to the navigation of a very specific Alaskan political terrain and to changing dynamics within the community. Thus, through an examination of the visual representations of Metlakatla, B.C. and Metlakatla, Alaska, this thesis attempts to complicate the understanding of this well known colonial project on the Northern Northwest Coast. In addition, by relating these images to the broader political climate with which the site was engaged, the paper shows fractures within the community and possible explanations for the dramatic transition in the representation of Metlakatla in its second setting in the United States.

Metlakatla, British Columbia, an 'isolated' missionary village, was established in 1862 by William Duncan, an Anglican missionary, and a group of Tsimshian on the Northern Northwest Coast. The village was widely praised for its success in 'civilizing' its group of Northwest Coast Native people, but, by 1880, was plagued by turmoil between Duncan and Church and government authorities. The turmoil in Metlakatla, B.C. led to an unprecedented move when, in 1887, Duncan and the majority of the villagers relocated to Annette Island in Southern Alaska. Along with this move to United States jurisdiction came shifts in the construction and representation of the colonial project at Metlakatla. Metlakatla, B.C., represented as a model village of equal and subordinate workers, was full of internal fractures which could be viewed through disjunctures among the various representations of the site. With the move to Alaska, the representations of Metlakatla, once constructed in the vein of homogeneous worker's housing promoted in England during the era of Evangelical reform, shifted to present a middle class, American village which participated in capitalism and leisure activities. This thesis attempts to link the shifting representations of the colonial project of Metlakatla to both local and broader political movements. The shifts correspond to changing views toward the Indian and assimilation, shifts from a Canadian/British terrain to an American one, changing notions of the worker and emerging fears of communism, and shifts in the technology used to capture photographic representations of the site. In addition to these broad trends, the shifting constructions of the community of Metlakatla may have corresponded to the navigation of a very specific Alaskan political terrain and to changing dynamics within the community. Thus, through an examination of the visual representations of Metlakatla, B.C. and Metlakatla, Alaska, this thesis attempts to complicate the understanding of this well known colonial project on the Northern Northwest Coast. In addition, by relating these images to the broader political climate with which the site was engaged, the paper shows fractures within the community and possible explanations for the dramatic transition in the representation of Metlakatla in its second setting in the United States. / Arts, Faculty of / Art History, Visual Art and Theory, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Columbia University, 1929. / Without thesis note. Bibliography: p. [171]-172.

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

Anthropological inquiries into the human condition have long been tempered with a concern for the difficulties experienced by non-Western societies faced with prolonged contact with the expanding Western social systems. In economic anthropology, studies of contemporary tribal and peasant societies have turned to the literature on development and underdevelopment to explain the features and processes that are associated with that contact. This dissertation is the result of such research into the social and economic problems on the Northwest Coast. The work examines the history and ethhography of the Tsimshian Indians to determine the underlying social forces that led to and still maintain the underdevelopment of the social and economic potential of Tsimshian groups. Particular attention is given to the form and dynamics of the Tsimshian economy, of the regional expression of the expanding world market economy, and the relations between the two. The dissertation thus explores the socioeconomic aspects of the interlock between Indian development and the evolving development of capital. The Tsimshian village of Kitsumkalum was the focus of the inquiry. Using its history, I document how the changes which brought about an economic reversal for the native people were at the same time favourable to the establishment and growth of industrial capital in the region. Two sets of factors are critical for understanding.this shift: (1) new forms of property which, through government intervention, transferred ownership and control of the factors of production to the industrialists, and in the process redefined the resources, technology and labour in terms consistent with the development of capital; (2) the diversion of Tsimshian resources, technology and labour out of traditional production into the modern economy, where they were transformed and ultimately became dependent on the vagaries of a global market in which the Tsimshians had little or no control. The specific information in the dissertation explains how these processes occurred, how the independence of the old political economy was undermined, how an ostensibly "peaceful penetration" of the area occurred as a result, and how the Tsimshian responded by alternately accommodating and resisting the situation. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

Anthropological inquiries into the human condition have long been tempered with a concern for the difficulties experienced by non-Western societies faced with prolonged contact with the expanding Western social systems. In economic anthropology, studies of contemporary tribal and peasant societies have turned to the literature on development and underdevelopment to explain the features and processes that are associated with that contact. This dissertation is the result of such research into the social and economic problems on the Northwest Coast. The work examines the history and ethhography of the Tsimshian Indians to determine the underlying social forces that led to and still maintain the underdevelopment of the social and economic potential of Tsimshian groups. Particular attention is given to the form and dynamics of the Tsimshian economy, of the regional expression of the expanding world market economy, and the relations between the two. The dissertation thus explores the socioeconomic aspects of the interlock between Indian development and the evolving development of capital. The Tsimshian village of Kitsumkalum was the focus of the inquiry. Using its history, I document how the changes which brought about an economic reversal for the native people were at the same time favourable to the establishment and growth of industrial capital in the region. Two sets of factors are critical for understanding.this shift: (1) new forms of property which, through government intervention, transferred ownership and control of the factors of production to the industrialists, and in the process redefined the resources, technology and labour in terms consistent with the development of capital; (2) the diversion of Tsimshian resources, technology and labour out of traditional production into the modern economy, where they were transformed and ultimately became dependent on the vagaries of a global market in which the Tsimshians had little or no control. The specific information in the dissertation explains how these processes occurred, how the independence of the old political economy was undermined, how an ostensibly "peaceful penetration" of the area occurred as a result, and how the Tsimshian responded by alternately accommodating and resisting the situation. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate