Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Ground Slate Transition On The Northwest Coast: Establishing A Chronological Framework, Joshua Daniel Dinwiddie

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis establishes the earliest appearance of ground slate points at 50 locations throughout the Northwest Coast of North America. Ground slate points are a tool common among maritime hunter-gatherers, but rare among hunter-gatherers who utilize terrestrial subsistence strategies; ground slate points are considered one of the archaeological hallmarks of mid-to-late Holocene Northwest Coast peoples. The appearance of ground slate points in the archaeological record is frequently marked by a concurrent decline in the prevalence of flaked stone points, a phenomenon often referred to as "the ground slate transition." Until now, the specific timing of the appearance of these tools …

Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) Ecological Knowledge Of Piñon-Juniper Woodlands: Implications For Conservation And Sustainable Resource Use In Two Southern Nevada Protected Areas, Brian John Lefler

Dissertations and Theses

Nuwuvi (Southern Paiute) have inhabited the southern Great Basin for thousands of years, and consider Nuvagantu (where snow sits) in the Spring Mountains landscape to be the locus of their creation as a people. Their ancestral territory spans parts of Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and California. My research identifies and describes the heterogeneous character of Nuwuvi ecological knowledge (NEK) of piñon-juniper woodland ecosystems within two federal protected areas (PAs) in southeastern Nevada, the Spring Mountains National Recreation Area (SMNRA) and the Desert National Wildlife Refuge (DNWR), as remembered and practiced to varying degrees by 22 select Nuwuvi knowledge holders. I focus …

Exploring Colonization And Ethnogenesis Through An Analysis Of The Flaked Glass Tools Of The Lower Columbia Chinookans And Fur Traders, Stephanie Catherine Simmons

Dissertations and Theses

At the end of the 18th century, Anglo Americans and Europeans entered the mouth of the Columbia River for the first time. There they encountered large villages of Chinookan and other Native Americans. Soon afterwards, the Chinookan People became involved in the global fur trade. Pelts, supplies, and native made goods were exchanged with fur traders, who in return provided Chinookans with a number of trade goods. Over the next 40 years, life changed greatly for the Chinookans; new trade and political alliances were created, foreign goods were introduced, and diseases killed large portions of the population (Hajda 1984; Gibson …

Building And Maintaining Plankhouses At Two Villages On The Southern Northwest Coast Of North America, Emily Evelyn Shepard

Dissertations and Theses

Plankhouses were functionally and symbolically integral to Northwest Coast societies, as much of economic and social life was predicated on these dwellings. This thesis investigates both plankhouse architecture and the production of these dwellings. Studying plankhouse construction and maintenance provides information regarding everyday labor, landscape use outside of villages, organization of complex tasks, and resource management.

This thesis investigates three plankhouse structures at two sites, Meier and Cathlapotle, in the Lower Columbia River Region of the southern Northwest Coast of North America. Methods consisted of digitizing over 1,100 architectural features, creating detailed maps of architectural features, and conducting statistical and …

Community Media As A Forum For Resistance: The Case Of The Romero Theater Troupe, Michael Kilman

Anthropology Theses

Over the past several decades, mainstream mass media is increasingly becoming a conduit for the consolidation of political power and not as a vehicle to support and maintain democracy. Representing aspects of a western homogenous culture, mainstream mass media often lacks a means for local representation and can obscure coverage of important local and community issues related to social justice and the effects of structural violence. The Romero Theater Troupe in Denver, Colorado serves as an example of community media that acts as a network of local resistance. The Troupe uses community members instead of actors and a consensus model …