Abstract
Archaeological site DhRp-52 is a long-lived multi-component residential site situated in the Fraser River Delta, about 50 km upriver from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The wetland wapato (also known as Indian potato, xql̕s in hən̓q̓əmin̓əm̓, and Sagittaria latifolia in Latin) garden at this site was built 3800 years ago, and for the following 700 years residents of DhRp-52 managed the garden to mass produce the wapato’s wild tubers. The discovery of this garden is challenging conventional notions of Northwest Coast peoples as developing politically, ritually, and socioeconomically complex societies in the absence of farming. This paper tells the story about a time before memory when ancestors of contemporary Coast Salish q̓íc̓əy̓ (Katzie) people fell into a deep and mutual love with the wapato, building a life to accommodate their collective desires and needs. Katzie ancestors sustained their knowledge and appreciation of wapato through hundreds of generations. Today, this knowledge is being applied through experimental research and ecological restoration in Katzie territory.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 7-29 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | Archaeologies |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Apr 2018 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Conflict of interest This study was funded by the South Coast British Columbia Transportation Authority. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018, World Archaeological Congress.
Keywords
- Co-evolution
- Coast Salish
- Community archaeology
- Katzie First Nation
- Love
- Northwest Coast
- Root food
- Sagittaria latifolia
- Wapato