Where Did Our Belongings Come From? Identifying Long-Distance Transport of Obsidian Across in the Ancient Pacific Northwest Based on Indigenous-Led Research Initiatives

Green College Cross-Sectoral Series: Indigenous/Science Partnerships - Exploring Histories and Environments

This seminar will be on Zoom on January 15, 2021 at 3pm (PST):

Video link: Follow this link to see the recording of this presentation.

Rhy McMillan, Dominique Weis, Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research, UBC; Aviva Rathbone, Jason Woolman, Musqueam.

Indigenous oral history and archaeological evidence both support extensive long-distance trade and exchange networks in ancient North America. However, many Indigenous communities oppose the excavation, decontextualization, and analysis of their belongings (artifacts) and ancestral remains to document such activities for Rights and Title applications. In partnership with xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), an Indigenous community in modern-day Vancouver, BC, we are identifying ways by which previously-excavated materials can be analysed to support community-led research initiatives.

In this talk, we discuss our study of the geographic origins of 14 small (<1cm in length) fragments of lithic material (‘micro-belongings’) exhumed from c̓əsnaʔəm (Marpole), a key xʷməθkʷəy̓əm village site. long-distance transport of obsidian in antiquity supports the oral history and continuity of complex xʷməθkʷəy̓əm social and material networks, which still exist today, and provides key additional lines of evidence for how and from where ancient people procured resources in North America.