This thesis explores the dialectical relationship between aboriginal and anthropological discourses of tradition and cultural performance. Specifically, I examine some ways in which concepts of tradition and culture are invoked in British Columbia's First Nations communities in order to negotiate, validate, and contest contemporary transformations to cultural practice. Two case studies of recent controversies within Kwakwaka'wakw communities are presented, one surrounding the bestowal of the Hamat'sa Dance on the pan-tribal American Indian Dance Theater for use in public presentations, the other involving the performance of the Hamat'sa— customarily a male prerogative— by women. This study addresses both local Kwakwaka'wakw dialogues about history and contemporary values, and the larger public, academic, and political environments in which those dialogues occur. This thesis takes as its broadest context these dialogues and shifts in the scale of identity and representation: between different native communities and different voices within them; between contests for local privilege and global control over "national" heritage; between indigenous peoples and the discipline of anthropology. I argue that tradition is best approached as a critical value emerging from these discourses, a concept which is intentionally used as a marker of present identity through strategic appeal to the past.

This thesis explores the dialectical relationship between aboriginal and anthropological discourses of tradition and cultural performance. Specifically, I examine some ways in which concepts of tradition and culture are invoked in British Columbia's First Nations communities in order to negotiate, validate, and contest contemporary transformations to cultural practice. Two case studies of recent controversies within Kwakwaka'wakw communities are presented, one surrounding the bestowal of the Hamat'sa Dance on the pan-tribal American Indian Dance Theater for use in public presentations, the other involving the performance of the Hamat'sa— customarily a male prerogative— by women. This study addresses both local Kwakwaka'wakw dialogues about history and contemporary values, and the larger public, academic, and political environments in which those dialogues occur. This thesis takes as its broadest context these dialogues and shifts in the scale of identity and representation: between different native communities and different voices within them; between contests for local privilege and global control over "national" heritage; between indigenous peoples and the discipline of anthropology. I argue that tradition is best approached as a critical value emerging from these discourses, a concept which is intentionally used as a marker of present identity through strategic appeal to the past. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate

This dissertation is concerned with the relationships of prehistoric lithic technology to past subsistence and settlement systems operative at upper elevations in the Southern Interior Plateau of British Columbia. It has both a methodological and a substantive aspect. From a methodological perspective, the research applies a linear model of chipped-stone tool manufacturing processes and multivariate data reduction techniques to a series of lithic assemblages from surface sites located in Upper Hat Creek Valley in order to study intersite variability of stone tool manufacture and use. In order to efficiently study differences in tool manufacturing sequences, potential attributes that may measure such technological variability were evaluated by a R-mode factor analysis of a small sample of the assemblages; This enabled the selection of a reduced number of attributes that measure the underlying patterns of relationships present in the sample. Tool classes based on overall morphology and working edge characteristics were employed to describe artifact use. Two site classifications, one based on lithic waste patterning and the other on tool assemblage variability, were established by cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling of the assemblages. The relative effectiveness of each site classification as a means of delineating settlement types was evaluated by the ability to interpret the results of the analyses with respect to such variables as the nature and intensity of occupation, and environmental relationships. Interpretations of each analysis tend to be in general agreement with each other, although some differences are present. In some cases, the debitage analysis provides a more detailed and complex perspective of the type of occupation.- Also, a larger amount of patterning with environmental variables is evident among the site groups based on technological variability. Nevertheless, interpretations of site utilization based on results of both analyses were much more comprehensive relative to those possible from the examination of each analysis separately. In addition to studying interassemblage variability, the analysis of debitage provided some insight into the quantitative patterning of technological attributes and their significance as measures of variation in manufacturing steps. In two specific instances, observed attribute patterning is opposite to that expected by present knowledge of lithic technology. The explanation of these differences indicates some directions to be pursued by future experimental studies. The empirical validity of each site classification was also investigated. A series of Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance tests was run on general lithic assemblage data and technological attributes to determine if the site groups defined are statistically significant. The tool-based site classification differentiates general lithic assemblage variability better than debitage however, this tends to reflect site size rather than technological processes. Both analyses support expectations based on ethnography that Upper Hat Creek Valley was likely utilized for seasonal hunting and plant gathering. These activities are reflected by the two main settlement types defined: 1) staging sites for hunting and butchering activities and 2) plant gathering and processing sites. Considerable variation with respect to the emphasis on extractive and maintenance activities is present within each type. This study has major implications for the future study of interassemblage variability where the predominant artifact class is lithic debitage. It has demonstrated that technological patterning is observable at the intersite level and that this can be accounted for in terms of subsistence-settlement activities. / Arts, Faculty of / Anthropology, Department of / Graduate