Going By Boat-Being: An Indigenous Ontological Approach to Human-Boat Relationships on the Pacific Northwest Coast

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Negotiating Watery Worlds: Impacts and Implications of the Use of Watercraft in Small-Scale Societies" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Canoes were central to watercraft cultures in subsistence activities, in hauling people and loads, in travel and recreation, and in warfare and ceremonies. However, to many people on the Pacific Northwest Coast, canoes were viewed, understood, and experienced as much more than just boats—they were humans and other-than-humans, and homologies of other beings, things, and actions. This paper explores the multidimensionality of human-boat relationships, to include other ways in which people used, thought, and interacted with boats, and how boats shaped human worlds. Centering canoes within the context of ontologies not only allows for new interpretations of the archaeological record but also contributes to the current Indigenous Movement in which canoes are a significant part of Indigenous resurgence, cultural revitalization, community healing, and the enrichment of Tribal identities.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Negotiating Watery Worlds: Impacts and Implications of the Use of Watercraft in Small-Scale Societies   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 36889.0