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Exploring Faunal Assemblages to Identify Ethnic Groups

Makahs, Quileutes, and Precontact Shell Middens on the Northwestern Olympic Peninsula, Washington

JONA Memoir 26

By Gary C. Wessen, Stephan R. Samuels, and David R. Huelsbeck

Ethnographic accounts of how the Makah and Quileute peoples of the Northwestern Olympic Peninsula used the marine environment suggest that these two groups targeted different combinations of the locally available fish, mammals, and birds. Vertebrate faunal assemblages from late precontact shell middens in each group’s territory are used to explore whether the reported differences are apparent in this data. The effort is complicated by substantial differences in the sample sizes currently available for each group and statistical tests are used in order to better understand these problems and make valid comparisons. The very large fish and mammal samples offer detailed insights, while the much smaller bird assemblages are more problematic. After detailed considerations of the bone assemblages directly, interpretations of the probable cultural behaviors of both late precontact Makahs and Quileutes are considered. While there are many strong similarities in the assemblages from the two groups of sites, some clear differences are apparent. Makah assemblages contain substantial evidence of both nearshore and offshore fish and a broad range of marine and terrestrial mammals. In contrast, Quileute assemblages contain a much higher proportion of nearshore fish and much more limited ranges of both marine and terrestrial mammals. The observed differences are largely consistent with the ethnographic accounts and suggest additional details about some of these behaviors that are not described in those sources. The authors believe that these conclusions are supported by the existing data sets but recognize that the substantial differences in the sample sizes remain a concern. As such, the authors offer recommendations for both further sampling of sites in both territories and further studies that can be done with the existing samples.

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Generationally-Linked Archaeology

“Living-Off-The-Land” for 4,000 Years on the Salish Sea

JONA Memoir 25

By Ed Eugene Carriere and Dale R. Croes

Generationally-Linked Archaeology: “Living-Off-The-Land” for 4,000 Years on the Salish Sea adds an innovative, easy to read, test of the authors' far-reaching Generationally-Linked Archaeology (GLA) approach, first developed with over 4,000 years of ancient Coast Salish basketry traditions (Carriere and Croes 2018), and now evaluated with Ed’s early use of 44 natural resources and evidence from over 4,000 years of hunting, fishing, and gathering from archaeological sites within 20 miles of his home. Since Ed was raised by his Great-grandmother Julia Jacobs (born 1874), they essentially “lived-off-the-land” using what anthropologists term their Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) with all the native resources to support themselves: shellfish, fish, ducks, mammals, and berry crops. Dale and Ed compare these practices with the archaeological fauna/flora analyses near his home allotment lands, including sites in the Seattle, Washington, area, for 4,000+ years. The results support their GLA basketry style linkage through time, upholding the hypothesis of cultural continuity and sustainability of Coast Salish subsistence, a process they term Generationally-Linked Ecological Knowledge (G-LEK), with similar resource use frequencies through these four millennium and two hundred generations of Coast Salish Peoples. Through Ed’s description of 44 natural resources, they provide information not preserved archaeologically: resource behaviors, capture techniques, preparation procedures, cooking, taste, and storage practices. The book is jargon-free and accessible to readers who do not necessarily have training in cultural anthropology or archaeology. Over 200 color photographs and illustrations of the 44 natural resources that Ed used and Dale’s archaeological wet and shell midden sites greatly enhance the text.

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JONA Memoir Series

The JONA Memoir Series offers a more thematic approach than the biannual issues, covering a range of topics relating to efforts of anthropological study in the Northwest.

Memoirs 1–6 are only available digitally.
Please contact our office if you are interested in obtaining one of these digital memoirs.

JONA Special Reprints