Teaching Through Toponymy: Using Indigenous Place-Names In Outdoor Science Camps Karen Ann Heikkila B.A., University o f British Columbia, 1994 B.Ed., University o f British Columbia, 1995 Thesis Submitted in Partial Fulfilment o f The Requirements for the Degree o f Master o f Arts in Natural Resources and Environmental Studies (Geography) The University o f Northern British Columbia January 2007 ©Karen Ann Fleikkila, 2007 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la protection de la vie privee, quelques formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de cette these. While these forms may be included in the document page count, their removal does not represent any loss of content from the thesis. Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu manquant. i*i Canada Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Abstract The naming o f places, be they landforms, villages or cities, is a cultural phenomenon dating back to the earliest o f times. Naming to identify and differentiate places seems to be as basic a need as assigning names to the persons and objects that make up one’s world. In the T l’azt’en culture, where oral transmission was the means o f passing down knowledge, people developed particular strategies for recalling information. Routes to hunting grounds or fishing holes, for instance, were memorized with the aid o f place-names and through the narratives that illumined the named places. This study examines the potential o f Dakelh place-names as a tool for educating Tl’azt’en children and youth about the Tl’azt’en ancestral past, the Dakelh language and places on the land that have sustained Tl’azt’enne for generations. The processes o f colonization, resistance and cultural reclamation as observed in the naming and re-naming o f places provides a theoretical framework from which to explore the potential o f indigenous place-names to address issues o f cultural revitalization and identity-strengthening. Such theory enables understanding o f the importance o f indigenous language and places on the land in sustaining cultural identity and forming the basis for appreciating oral tradition. Nine o f the eleven toponyms selected by T l’azt’en Nation were used in this thesis research for analysis; interviews with TPazt’en cultural experts and secondary source material were used to assemble and verify the place-names information (their accuracy in terms o f location, spelling and meaning), their geographical referents as well as the topographic, biotic and cultural use descriptions for the places they mark. This thesis shows that there is a considerable wealth o f Traditional Ecological Knowledge contained in Dakelh place-names, namely knowledge linked to travel and subsistence, and information pertaining to spirituality and the ancestral past. Five guidelines for teaching i Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. about TPazt’en history, language and territory through Dakelh place-names are identified this thesis and illustrated with suggestions for implementation in the TPazt’en Nation outdoor science camp programme, Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o D u l’eh (We Learn from Our Land). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. For A ll who teach and make known the Dakelh language and culture Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Acknowledgements I would like to express my gratitude to the many people who have generously given their time to commenting on drafts o f this thesis and who have helped in other substantial ways in this project. Special thanks are due to my thesis supervisor, Professor Gail Fondahl, whose mentorship and supervision have been o f great help in bettering the research design and analyses o f the study. I am also grateful to the other members of my supervisory committee — Dr. Erin Sherry, Professor Angele Smith and Professor Catherine Nolin— for their constructive appraisal o f my work which served to improve the original manuscript. I am especially grateful to my Tl’azt’en partners, who have been a source o f support and assistance throughout my research. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to Beverly Bird, Beverly Leon, Morris Joseph, Deborah Page, Mona Anatole, Renel Mitchell, and Veronica Campbell who took the time and trouble to orientate me in the Dakelh language and culture, to provide feedback on the manuscript, and who also went out o f their way to assist me with the logistical portion o f the research. Several other people deserve to be acknowledged for their assistance: Susan Grainger and Dexter Hodder o f the John Prince Research Forest for their help with maps and information; Dr. William Poser for taking the time to correspond with me about Dakelh place-names; Michelle Lockhead o f the Takla Development Corporation for providing me with a Tl’azt’en Territory Dakelh place-names map and related information; Marlene Erickson o f the Yinka Dene Language Institute for providing me with a copy o f N a k ’albun/Dzinghubun W hut’en Bughuni; Christopher Harvey (“the Language Geek”) o f the Indigenous Language Institute for help with the Morice Phonetic and Carrier Linguistic Committee lettering in the thesis; and Kathleen Duncan and Nancy Black o f the University o f Northern British Columbia library, and Valerie Tomlinson o f the Aurora Research Institute library for graciously responding to requests for documents. I owe a particular debt to the Tl’azt’enne who contributed, through interviews and verification sessions, to the place-names content o f this thesis. My sincere thanks are due to Catherine Coldwell, Betsy Leon, Pierre John, Walter Joseph Sr., Robert Hanson, Stanley Tom, Alexander Tom, Margaret Mattess, Pauline Joseph, Helen Johnnie, Mildred Martin, Sophie Monk, Frank Duncan, Louise Alexis and Elsie Alexis, who were willing to participate in the research and who offered me the chance to learn about the Tl’azt’en people and territory through Dakelh place-names. Finally, I thank my family for their faith in me, and in particular, my husband, Dr. Jari Heikkila, whose mind, character and loving support offered solace and hope— our conversations were a constant source o f discernment which kept me inspired as the thesis gradually took form. This project was funded in part by a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Community-University Research Alliance grant, and by the Aurora Research Institute. iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract....................................... i Acknowledgements................. iii List o f Figures..........................vii List o f Interviews................... viii N otes............................................ix INTRODUCTION Chapter One: INDIGENOUS PLACE-NAMES: A CONTEXT FOR UNDERSTANDING CONQUEST, CHANGE AND LIBERATIVE ACTION THROUGH EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES Introduction Understanding Colonization Through Place-Names Imperial Benevolence and Representations o f “Other” in the Landscape The Totalizing Gaze and the Writing o f Power Place-Names as Text and Clues to Culture The Meaning o f Place and Place-Names to Indigenous People Locations o f Indigenous Identity Toponymy as an Articulation o f Indigenous Memoryscape Perpetuating Indigenousness through Re-Knowing the Land The Role o f Place-Names in Educating about Indigenous Knowledge Place-Names and Traditional Ecological Knowledge “Indigenizing” Science Education: Advantages and Obstacles “Indigenizing” Science Education via On-The-Land or Culture-Based Camp Programmes Conclusion 1 7 8 10 12 14 15 18 20 23 25 27 29 33 35 Chapter Two: THE TL’AZT’EN LANDSCAPE: AN OVERVIEW OF THE LAND, LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND HISTORY OF TL’AZT’ENNE Introduction 37 The Geography o f TP azt’en Territory 37 The John Prince Research Forest 39 People 42 Athapaskan Origins, Coastal Borrowings 43 The Significance o f Places to Tl’azt’enne as Relayed through Dakelh Place-Names 46 Dakelh Place-Names in Father M orice’s Writings 46 Dakelh Place-Names in the Works o f Steward, Kobrinsky, and Akrigg and Akrigg 49 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. 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Dakelh Place-Names in the Works o f the Carrier Linguistic Committee, N ak’azdli First Nation, Hall and Poser Regaining Place, Language and Identity Yunk ’ut Whe Ts ’o Dul ’eh Conclusion 52 57 59 62 Chapter Three: RESEARCH WITH TL’AZT’EN NATION: A COLLABORATION IN PLACE-NAMES RESEARCH Introduction 63 The Research Process 64 Collaborative Research with Tl’azt’en Nation 64 Selection o f Dakelh Toponyms to Research 65 Extant Sources o f Dakelh Toponymic Information 67 Participant Selection 70 Interviews 72 Data Management, Analysis and Verification 77 Content Analysis 77 Guidelines for the Incorporation o f Dakelh Toponymy into Yunk ’ut Whe Ts ’o Dul ’eh 80 Conclusion 82 Chapter Four: THE LAND IN LANGUAGE: DAKELH GEOGRAPHICAL NOMENCLATURE AND PLACE-NAMES Introduction Dakelh Geographical Nomenclature Geographical Terms Associated with Dakelh Toponyms Researched Tizdli (lake outlet) Took’eche (river mouth) 77 ’at (no English equivalent) ’Ukoh (river) Bunghun (lake) Noo (island) Dzulh (mountain) Profiles o f Dakelh Toponyms Researched Chuzghun Chuz tizdli K ’uzk o h Hadoodatelh koh Chuzghun koh Tesgha Bin tizdli Bintl’atn o o K ’azyus Conclusion 84 84 89 91 92 93 94 95 95 96 97 100 104 105 108 110 111 116 117 118 121 v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. 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Chapter Five: USING DAKELH TOPONYMIC KNOWLEDGE IN YUNK’UT WHE TS’O DUL ’EH CULTURE-BASED SCIENCE CAMP PROGRAMME Introduction 122 Categories o f Dakelh Toponymic Knowledge 123 Place-Names as Indicators o f Dakelh Geographical and Historical Knowledge 123 Place-Names as Navigational Aids 123 Place-Names Containing Environmental Information 124 Place-Names Offering Clues to the Dakelh Subsistence Round 126 Place-Names Commemorative o f the Ancestral Past 127 Place-Names Alluding to People and Events in the Past 127 Place-Names Associated with Narratives 129 The Role o f Place-Names in Educating About Land and Language 131 Patterns o f Land Use and Occupancy as Revealed through Place-Names 131 Toponymic Clusters 131 Toponymic Chains 132 The Functionality and Lyricism o f Keyoh Place-Names 133 Place-Names as Symbols o f Authority and Knowledge 134 Place-Names Illustrative o f the Intricacies o f the Dakelh Language 135 The Role o f Place-Names in Educating about Conquest and Re-Conquest 138 An Altered Landscape, An Altered Lifestyle, An Eroded Toponymy 138 Place-Names as Identifiers o f Belonging 140 Guidelines for Incorporating Dakelh Toponymy into the Yunk’ut Whe T s ’o D u l’eh Based Culture-Science Camp Programme 142 Conclusion 154 REFERENCES 157 APPENDICES APPENDIX A: Memorandum o f Research Ethics Board Review APPENDIX B: Interview Guide 169 170 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. List of Figures Figure 2.1 Tl’azt’en Villages 39 Figure 2.2 Location o f JPRF 41 Figure 4.1 A Sample o f Dakelh Geographical Terms 87 Figure 4.2 Dakelh Toponyms Examined in this Research 98 Figure 4.3 Dakelh Place-Names in the JPRF area 99 Figure 5.1 Guidelines for Incorporating Dakelh Toponomy in the Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o Dul ’eh Culture-Based Science Camp Programme 144 Figure 5.2 Sample Lesson Ideas for Incorporating Toponymy into the Yunk’ut Whe Ts 'o Dul ’eh Culture-Based Science Camp Programme 146 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. List of Interviews* DATE PARTICIPANTS 31 March, 2004 Catherine Coldwell (Bird) & Betsy Leon Theresa Austin 17 May, 2004 TYPE OF INTERVIEW Information session (Video-recorded; English & Dakelh spoken) Pre-test interview (Audio-recorded; only English spoken) 13 May, 2004 Morris Joseph 19 May, 2004 Margaret Mattess & Pauline Joseph Information session 2 June, 2004 Pierre John & Walter Joseph Interview Robert Hanson & Sophie Monk Interview 3 June, 2004 10 June, 2004 Information session Karen Heikkila & Morris Joseph Karen Heikkila (Not recorded; only English spoken) (Audio-recorded; English & Dakelh spoken) Interview 24 June, 2004 Louise Alexis & Elsie Alexis 25 June, 2004 Catherine Coldwell (Bird) Interview 21 December, 2004 27 & 28 April, 2005 Alexander Tom & Stanley Tom Interview Tl’azt’en PlaceNames Committee Verification session Tl’azt’en PlaceNames Committee Karen Heikkila (Audio-recorded; only English spoken) 23 June, 2004 Tl’azt’en PlaceNames Committee Karen Heikkila (Audio-recorded; only English spoken) Robert Hanson (cont. from 03/06/04) Frank Duncan (Anatole) 16 December, 2005 6 January, 2006 INTERVIEWERS/ FACILITATORS Beverly Bird (Audio-recorded; English & Dakelh spoken) Interview (Video-recorded; English & Dakelh spoken) Interview Karen Heikkila & Morris Joseph Karen Heikkila & Morris Joseph Morris Joseph & Karen Heikkila Karen Heikkila (Video-recorded; only English spoken) Karen Heikkila (Audio-recorded; only English spoken) Beverly Leon (Audio-recorded; only English spoken) (Video-recorded; English & Dakelh spoken) Verification session Beverly Leon & Deborah Page Deborah Page (Audio-recorded; English & Dakelh spoken) Verification session Deborah Page & (Audio-recorded; English & Karen Heikkila Dakelh spoken) * Audio- and video-recordings as well as transcripts o f interviews have been deposited at the TPazt’en Nation Natural Resource Office in Tache. viii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Notes Note on Orthography The T l’azt’en language is known as Dakelh. It is a language spoken across Central British Columbia, northwards to the Stuart-Trembleur watershed, and southwards to the Fraser-Nechako River and Blackwater River areas. In this thesis, Dakelh place-names are spelled using the orthography developed in the 1960s by the Carrier Linguistic Committee (CLC). While the CLC writing system is today the most widely used orthography to transcribe the Dakelh language, other systems for communicating the language in writing are still in use, namely, Dene Syllabics, the Morice Phonetic and the International Phonetic Alphabet. The former two systems were developed by Father Adrien-Gabriel Morice, and were available to Dakelhne (Dakelh speakers) through works like the Carrier Reading Book and the Carrier Prayer Book (third edition); however, it should be mentioned that the second system was used mainly in M orice’s scholarly works. Unofficially, there also exist other systems for recording Dakelh in writing— I have heard accounts through my experience working with Tl’azt’enne (the people of T l’azt’en Nation) o f individuals who have their own romanized systems for writing Dakelh. I have elected to use the CLC orthography for the reason that it is regarded by many Tl’azt’enne, particularly teachers o f Dakelh and those who have been involved in Dakelh language research, as the standardized writing system for Dakelh. This Dakelh spelling convention is used throughout the thesis to spell Dakelh place-names (unless otherwise indicated) and geographical terms, and to transliterate, for instance, placenames given in Morice Phonetic. Transliterations appear as CLC notation in brackets, followed by the proper or modem CLC spellings o f the place-names. For further information on the CLC writing system and Central Carrier grammar, see Poser (1998) and Antoine et al. (1974). Acronyms C LC - Carrier Linguistic Committee C PN I - CURA Place-Names Interview CPN IS - CURA Place-Names Information Session CPNVS - CURA Place-Names Verification Session CSTC - Carrier-Sekani Tribal Council CURA - Community University Research Alliance J P R F - John Prince Research Forest T E K -T ra d itio n al Ecological Knowledge YDLI - Yinka Dene Language Institute Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INTRODUCTION My interest in indigenous issues exists within the context o f what education can offer in effecting personal and social empowerment. From several years’ experience working as an educator in cross-cultural environments, I have witnessed Firsthand the potential education has in bringing about social change and equity, and it was through this experience that I began to appreciate the importance o f culturally-appropriate curriculum. Consequently, the opportunity to conduct cultural research with Tl’azt’en Nation, with the eventual aim o f applying the findings o f the research in education, was an appealing prospect to me. When I first began post-graduate studies, I spent a considerable amount o f time working on the idea o f Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and the implications o f incorporating such a body o f knowledge into school curriculum. Over time, my focus reformed when I learned that the TTazt’en community’s interests were proceeding in the direction o f recording, mapping and learning traditional place-names. The subject o f toponymy arose when my thesis supervisor, Dr. Gail Fondahl, and I met with Ms. Beverly Bird o f Tl’azt’en Nation to discuss possible topics o f a geographic nature related to TEK that might interest, or complement the needs of, Tl’azt’enne. At the time, the University o f Northern British Columbia (UNBC) was in the process o f establishing a conjoint project with Tl’azt’en Nation, and was in the midst o f preparing a Community-University Research Alliance (CURA) funding proposal. As traditional place-names were an important research consideration to the Tl’azt’en community, I was invited to work on toponymy in that it offered opportunities to link TEK and science education. Rather than having to abandon altogether my initial research questions, I soon discovered that they, in fact, were illumined 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. by the inclusion o f toponymy in my investigations into the value o f TEK in making education meaningful to indigenous learners. The allure o f place-names to many indigenous peoples can be understood in how indigenous toponymy performs far more than merely a designative function— indigenous place-names contain clues to the identity o f a people through their role as depositories o f information that link land, language and oral history. Through a consideration o f indigenous toponymy in my work, my research questions came to be aimed specifically at the TEK o f place and the importance o f indigenous geographical knowledge in locating not only places o f ecological significance but the ethics, modes o f land care and conceptualizations o f land that underlie the meanings o f place-names. Accordingly, the research questions that have guided this thesis are: • What are the types o f TEK that are reflected in Tl’azt’en toponymy? • What can Tl’azt’en toponymic information reveal about the natural and social history o f places? • From this information, what deductions can be made about T l’azt’en methods o f landscape management (revealing perhaps ecologically- sustainable concepts or an environmental ethic)? • In what ways can T l’azt’en toponymic information contribute to making the learning o f western science culturally-appropriate? In my reflections o f the significance o f indigenous place-names to Tl’azt’enne, I began to contemplate the significance o f learning traditional place-names, that is, placenames fashioned in the Tl’azt’en language, Dakelh. Several ideas occurred to me, informed by discussions with community members, including the need for present-day Tl’azt’enne to revive the Dakelh language and culture which was displaced due to colonization, the political 2 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. will o f TPazt’en Nation in asserting its aboriginal rights and title through demonstrating that its members have had a deep relationship with the land since time immemorial, and the urgency o f transmitting the Dakelh culture, language and worldview to the younger generation o f TPazt’enne who are steadily becoming estranged from their indigenous roots. Therefore, it is the aim o f this thesis to explore the meaning o f place and belonging to Tl’azt’enne through a study o f the Dakelh place-names found in the Tl’azt’en traditional territory, specifically those in the co-managed area known as the John Prince Research Forest. While the toponyms often describe physiography or the fecundity o f places in the context o f the Dakelh seasonal subsistence round, they ultimately point to the interdependence between people and places, illustrating how places on the land are nodes o f emplacement in the Tl’azt’en psyche, connecting events in the lives o f people to specific locations on the land. In this way, toponymy has the potential to enrich understandings o f local environments, history and sense o f place, and thereby, has an important role to perform in the creation o f culturally-appropriate curriculum. Chapter One provides an overview o f the ideas concerning the relationship between learning traditional place-names and regaining the land in a political as well as in a spiritual sense. While much can be said about the connection between the revival o f indigenous placenames and the assertion o f aboriginal title to land, this chapter demonstrates how places on the land, and the names that represent them, have a significant role in promoting cultural continuity and individual well-being. Commencing with a discussion on place-naming, mapping and the production o f knowledge, this chapter proceeds to explain how indigenous people were systematically dispossessed o f their lands through colonization. Place-naming, here, stands as a trope for both colonization and re-colonization as observed in the displacement o f indigenous place-names by European or anglicized indigenous names, and 3 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. the reinstatement o f indigenous place-names as part o f reclaiming and re-knowing the land by indigenous people. Through the idea o f “getting back the land” via educational projects that explore the significance o f places on the land, it becomes evident how toponymy can enhance the learning o f TEK associated with such places. In constructing a framework to appreciate the importance o f toponymy in indigenous ideologies and the benefits o f applying topoynmic knowledge in learning, the second component o f this chapter examines the literature on indigenous place-names as well as the educational projects undertaken by several indigenous communities in creating education that is culturally-relevant for children and youth. The review presents the necessary context to grasp the importance o f traditional place-names in helping modern-day indigenous children and youth in understanding the value of the land in terms o f not only being introduced to the body o f knowledge used by their ancestors to survive on the land but in understanding how places on the land continue to define and sustain them as a unique people. Chapter Two describes the Tl’azt’en as a people. The geography o f Tl’azt’en territory is discussed as is Tl’azt’en history, language and worldview. As land and language are intricately woven in the make-up o f traditional place-names, the meaning o f place to TPazt’enenne will be explored in this chapter through a review of literature that specifically addresses Dakelh place-names. The information on the Tl’azt’en past and the importance o f land in T l’azt’en social life will serve as a point o f reference in understanding T l’azt’enne in contemporary times. I discuss the community’s efforts towards self-determination, as observed in the educational, and language and cultural revival programmes that T l’azt’en Nation members have been involved in over the last decade. This discussion pays particular attention to Tl’azt’en N ation’s development and implementation o f Yunk’ut Whe T s ’o D u l’eh 4 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. (We Learn From Our Land), the Tl’azt’en cultural science camp aimed at providing children and youth with the opportunity o f learning about the land. Chapter Three outlines the methodology employed in this thesis research. The ideas o f cross-cultural and collaborative research methodologies will be examined from the perspective o f my fieldwork experience with the Tl’azt’en community. This chapter covers what I learned from the community having an active role in directing the research, namely, from determining the place-names to be researched to commenting on the wording of interview questions to selecting the people to be interviewed to verifying the place-names information collected and analyzed. Other aspects o f my research are also dealt with in this chapter such as an explanation o f the archival sources o f information used in assembling Dakelh toponymic knowledge based on nine place-names, the content-analysis methodology employed to analyze interview data, the themes that emerged from the content-analysis stage o f the research, and the process o f developing these themes into guidelines for incorporating Dakelh toponymy into the Yunk’ut Whe T s’o D u l’eh curriculum. Chapters Four and Five present and explain the findings o f the research. Each o f the Dakelh place-names studied will be described in terms o f how it linguistically represents the physical particulars, and indicates the resource, symbolic or spiritual value o f the place it marks. Narratives attached to these toponyms will also be presented and discussed in light o f their role in transforming places that exist as part o f the physical landscape to places that feed and instruct the moral imagination. To explain the significance o f the toponymic information profiled in Chapter Four, Chapter Five will concentrate on the four themes that arose from the content-analysis portion o f the research. The themes reflect a distillation and systematization o f interview data, allowing for an interpretation o f the data o f what constitutes Dakelh toponymic knowledge. In this way, the themes serve as a useful tool in the 5 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. drafting o f guidelines to incorporate toponymic information into Yunk’ut Whe T s ’o D u l’eh. The themes are concerned with several important issues that are applicable in the lives o f TPazt’en children and youth, and are therefore, greatly needed in enhancing the curricular content o f the science camp programme. These issues, which include Dakelh environmental knowledge, sense o f place, colonization, cultural survival and self-determination, revolve around the importance o f the land in the Dakelh worldview, and are requisite in creating learning that is inclusive, culturally-appropriate and just. Hence, the five guidelines found at the end o f the chapter resonate deeply with these issues, and offer the opportunity o f extending the limits o f knowing about our natural surroundings, primarily based on conventional scientific understandings, through learning about the land from an indigenous perspective. 6 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter One: INDIGENOUS PLACE-NAMES: A CONTEXT FOR UNDERSTANDING CONQUEST, CHANGE AND LIBERATIVE ACTION THROUGH EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMES INTRODUCTION This chapter provides a discussion of the ideas that have guided and shaped this research. To understand the potential indigenous toponymy has in enriching knowledge o f language, history and the environment, it is necessary to explore what places on the land mean to indigenous people. Part o f accomplishing this task is to consider the processes o f colonization, resistance and cultural reclamation as played out through the act o f naming and re-naming places. Hence, the chapter begins by situating the process o f naming places within a framework o f power and the contested identity politics o f people and place. This discussion then proceeds to an exploration o f the ways in which indigenous toponymy can be employed as a counter-hegemonic discourse in asserting and maintaining indigenousness, particularly in terms o f how learning and using the indigenous place-names o f one’s ancestral lands can be an expression o f indigenous rights. A survey o f literature on indigenous toponymy will be given to situate the significance o f place-names as a tool for learning about indigenous language, history and territory. Included in this discussion, is an assessment o f how formal schooling has been an agent o f indigenous alienation and suppression, and how the inclusion o f TEK in curricular initiatives can be a redemptive and empowering move towards acknowledging the merits o f indigenous ways o f knowing. The chapter concludes with a reflection o f how indigenous toponymy can perform a significant role in the construction o f 7 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. culturally-sensitive curriculum, in the sense that place-names as containers o f TEK1 can be utilized to educate about the land, indigenous language and oral history. The worth o f indigenous toponymy in “indigenizing” or making educational programmes relevant to the lived realities o f indigenous learners will be assessed through a consideration o f the ideas and debates that have shaped aboriginal education over the years. UNDERSTANDING COLONIZATION THROUGH PLACE-NAMES The process o f naming places is inextricably bound to relations of power and the contested identity politics o f people and place (Berg and Kearns 1996). The mapping and inscription o f names to places in the landscape can be read as a trope for the enfranchisement and legitimization o f spaces, physical as well as ideographic (Brealey 1995), and the sanctioning o f certain ways o f perceiving the landscape, which in turn has led to the production o f particular forms o f knowledge about the land and its original inhabitants. Hence, naming, mapping and the attendant production o f knowledge, rather than being ontological givens, are ideological weapons produced through complex power tactics (Berg and Kearns 1996). Since the naming o f places involves both a “politics o f space and a spatialized politics” (Berg and Kearns 1996: 111), naming is an act o f controlling space and infusing it with particular 1 Three terms used in Canada to refer to aboriginal peoples’ knowledge systems are: Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), Indigenous Knowledge (IK), and Traditional Knowledge (TK). There is no absolute definition for these terms (see McGregor 2000; Berkes 1993) other than they all indicate the knowledge held by a particular aboriginal community o f its local environment that has been transmitted through time and that assumes an emotional and spiritual connection with the local landscape. At times, the usage o f IK and TK is observed in contexts where there is a need to distinguish knowledge specific to indigenous communities from knowledge stemming from the western scientific tradition, while TEK, on the other hand, is used to refer more specifically to indigenous peoples’ knowledge o f their local environments, including their values concerning sustainable and responsible use o f natural resources (see Grenier 1999). To some, IK is more relevant than TEK in describing the knowledge o f aboriginal peoples; IK encompasses the spiritual as well as the physical, thereby describing the knowledge that aboriginal peoples hold as a way o f life rather than only a body o f knowledge about the environment (see McGregor 2000). TEK is the term that Tl’az’ten Nation has chosen to use to identify the knowledge o f its people (see Tl’azt’en Nation n.d. a; TTazt’en Nation&UNBC CURA 2005); hence, out o f deference to this choice, TEK is used in this thesis when discussing aboriginal knowledge, including the knowledge shared by Tl’azt’enne. 8 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. values and belief-systems. Thus, the politics o f those in power are legitimized through the control and strategic use o f space as a platform for their views. The “writing in” o f one set o f norms ultimately means the displacement o f another. Colonial toponymy and related cartography— precursors, in a sense, o f the reservation and residential school systems— speak o f how the land was divested o f indigenous people, indicate how indigenous traditions and ways o f life were vilified, and symbolize the loss o f indigenous language and cultural knowledge. An example o f the longreaching effects o f colonial toponymy and related cartography is observed in how indigenous territoriality, or the manner in which people envision, comprehend and interact among themselves in relation to the land they occupy, has been dislocated due to the commodified and oftentimes destructive ways the land has been managed, used and re-fashioned by colonial powers. Such changes to the land have resulted in places o f significant subsistence, spiritual and historic import being lost or drastically altered. While the twenty-first century seems far removed from the era o f colonialism that characterized the first five decades o f the previous century, forms o f conquest still exist, observed in the seeming tolerance for difference and otherness in settler civil societies. This outward display o f tolerance disguises a palimpsest2, defined by Herman (1997) as the “anticonquest” or “neo-colonialism”, that is present as part o f the societal subconscious o f settler nations. Herman (1999:78) writes, “unlike most forms o f colonialism, anti-conquest is never a conscious process...colonizers usually perceive it as paying genuine respect to the local culture, and would take offence if one were to confront them by suggesting their ‘gracious acts’ were in fact modes o f power.” Whether it has been the seeming benevolence o f early 2 This suggests that the landscape is a text to be read, albeit cluttered, as a result o f writings superimposed on cultural landscapes by a series o f occupations, leading to the erasure or concealment o f original or earlier writings (see Duncan and Ley 1993). 9 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. anthropologists and geographers in mapping and preserving indigenous place-names before they were thought to be lost for good or the appropriation o f indigenous toponymy by nation­ states in naming public places in the context o f forging a “unique” sense o f place and local identity for non-natives (as in the case o f Hawaiian place-names; Herman 1999), a form o f imperialism is evident in how space has been represented. Imperial Benevolence and Representations o f “Other ” in the Landscape At the start o f the twentieth century, investigations on North American indigenous toponymy featured significantly in anthropological studies (Thornton 1997a; Basso 1996). It was assumed that through place-names, links between human thought, language and the landscape could be made known. As a consequence, indigenous toponymy was o f great interest to early anthropologists and linguists such as Franz Boas, Edward Sapir, Alfred Kroeber, J.P. Harrington and Thomas Waterman. Boas found in indigenous place-names the geographical knowledge o f a people and their cosmography (Thornton 1997a:3). Sapir studied the relationship between language and the environment, and argued that geographical nomenclature provided vital clues to the way the natural world is perceived and factored into social life through language (Thornton 1997a:4; Basso 1996:43). Kroeber discovered that place-names were valuable in “identifying cultural sites, migrations, and land use patterns, and distinguishing between the centers and peripheries o f culture areas” (Thornton 1997a:5). Like Kroeber, Harrington’s interest in ethnotoponymy centred on the correlation between social group boundaries and place-name densities, and the way land was administered (Thornton 1997a:6). W aterman’s study o f native place-names led him to develop cognitive theories based on the semantic referents in toponymy (e.g., myths, plants, animals and human 10 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. anatomy) that connect the natural environment to aspects o f culture, which were instrumental in his development o f a typology or taxonomy o f Puget Sound Indian toponymy (Thornton 1997a). While much was accomplished in terms o f the documentation o f indigenous languages and cultures, the investigative work undertaken on indigenous groups, as discussed in the above paragraph is, according to Layton (1997:213), “ethnography...written by the dominant about the weak [whereby] the practice o f translation confers power” . The collection, classification and cataloguing o f place-names undertaken by early anthropologists and linguists, as part o f their examining indigenous place-naming traditions, can be likened to an urgent attempt to salvage for posterity remnants o f supposed dying or already extinct cultures and languages, and is thus akin to relic-hunting. The collection and recording o f indigenous place-names in this era can be said to symbolize a production o f indigenous culture, history and knowledge by outsiders, and can be read as an imposition o f the colonial mode o f representing space. Indigenous place-names, to pioneer anthropologists and linguists, were fascinating as they were thought to be the gateway to primitivism or a romanticized indigenous past, a time believed to be free o f “the degenerative influences o f modernism”.3 Consequently, these studies very likely abetted, through their treatment o f indigenous peoples as “constants” (i.e., unchanging or remaining forever the same), depictions o f indigenous powerlessness that must have been rampant at the time. The 3 Kroeber and Waterman (in Thornton 1997a:6), for instance, were very much against what they termed “folk etymologies” or explanations o f indigenous toponyms and the “legends” they contained by white settlers. Waterman, for instance, called these explanations “deceptive” although he contended that there was a “psychological factor” motivating these (supposed) embellishments. His comments on achieving an authentic American character through the use o f indigenous toponymy are also interesting: “The way we have o f ignoring Indian place-names and plastering the map with such atrocities as Brownsville.. .and silly names like Cloverdale and V ista.. .is to be deplored. Such a way o f naming places is certainly unsystematic and meaningless, indicating to the outside world merely that we have no ideas and certainly no place names o f our own. The primitive names o f every region always mean something, and there are countless o f them. Primitive geography is precisely characterized by a wealth, a redundancy o f names”. 11 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. implications o f a “depoliticized” ethnography, like that practiced by the early scholars, lie in precluding the agency o f indigenous peoples to interact, perceive, envision, organize and transform the landscape. Willems-Braun (1997) describes this as the naturalizing o f social relations and the erasure o f power, in that culture was fixed and made to seem unvarying, bounded and uniform, and incapable o f resilience. In this way, the “facts” produced in early indigenous toponymic work have played a part in “fixing” indigenous cultures, suggesting that the very identities o f these cultures were manufactured, controlled and explained in a discourse o f unbending “primordiality” . The Totalizing Gaze and the Writing o f Power Similar to the expeditionary mapping o f the Americas, the particularistic approaches employed in early toponymic traditions typify the “phallic order” o f the colonial system.4 Duncan and Ley (1993) contend that the goal o f European geography, as the Americas were being “discovered”, was to produce a mimetic and taxonomic representation o f the land so that the landscape could be fathomed in its entirety. Hence, indigenous ephemeral representations in the sand5 (Fossett 1996) or straight-line mapping (Binnema 2001) were dismissed by early cartographers as “crude” or “childlike” as the illustrations lacked scale and directionality. The importance o f place-names in tracing travel routes amongst aboriginal communities baffled the Europeans, in whose own “place-naming customs a mere list of 4 Herman (1999) uses the Lacanian concept o f “phallus” to refer to the authority o f deciding and establishing knowledge found in modes o f subjugation, such as imperialism. When this knowledge is written, systematized and pronounced, it assumes the power o f creating meaning and order. As Herman (1999:78) argues, “the Age o f Exploration can be understood as a phallic project to cover the globe with order, to subject other lands and peoples to names and categories, hierarchies and schema o f European design.” 5 An instance o f this method o f mapping was observed in how the Alaskan Inuit produced a map for the voyager Thomas Beechey in 1826. They drew “the shoreline with a stick in the sand, then piled pebbles and sand at appropriate areas to represent islands, hills, mountains, and river beds” (Fossett 1996:75). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. names would [have been] inadequate as a traveller’s guide” (Fossett 1996: 86). Fossett (1996: 85-86, emphasis in original) argues that in a convention where symbols had no role to play in “the oral transmission o f travel instructions, ... the memorized legend was the map [and] people placed more value on the ability to remember place-names in the correct order than they did on drawing skills”.6 The mapping agendas o f the two cultures, European and indigenous, were fundamentally different— one was to exert control over lands and resources through the “hyper-knowledge” gained from a graphic representation o f terrain, and the other, albeit with “distortions o f scale and distance, [was to reflect] a view o f the physical environment as a complex o f relative conditions important only insofar as they affected human activity” (Fossett 1996:83). Therefore, implicit in the map adhering to European cartographic standards is “a symbolic and technical language o f space” (Jacobs 1993: 100) premised upon a spatial logic that supports a totalizing process o f homogenizing and levelling the Other (Jacobs 1993). Likewise, early attempts at collecting and cataloguing indigenous place-names were by nature “phallocentric” (see Herman 1999), culminating in the assertion o f a foreign authority over the landscape, as place-names were “systematically” dislocated from their places and histories. Appraised and assessed according to a European episteme, the place- 6 Most explorers discounted the oral instructions that accompanied indigenous maps, thinking that an excessive amount o f talk was taking place at the expense o f detail that could be instead drawn (Fossett 1996). The indigenous maps were, in fact, o f no use without the verbal directions. 13 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. names were divested o f their original meanings and reduced to mere husks, valued for their “quaintness”, for the relics they were perceived to be. Indigenous place-names and their associated narratives were mapped into a “concocted antiquity” (Brealey 1995:154). Place-Names as Text and Clues to Culture The descriptive and explanatory authority7 in Anthropology and Geography eventually broadened to include a diverse set o f concepts to facilitate the investigation o f a range o f issues dealing with “the ways in which humans use landscapes to structure identity along with accounts o f the symbolic qualities o f landscape” (Norton 2000:270). The work taken up in the 1970s, therefore, emphasized “the ongoing cultural construction, representation and interpretation o f landscape, place and space...[leading to] humanistic interests in place and in human experience” (Norton 2000:270). Eventually, following from developments in British social geography in the 1980s, issues o f identity, difference and inequality further informed this debate on identity in landscape (Norton 2000). Toponymic inquiry within Anthropology and Geography was also influenced by these theoretical transformations in that place-names were now studied as a human endeavour and for their symbolic meanings or iconography. In taking on this strategy, landscapes were regarded as being “laden with meaning, reflecting the attitudes, beliefs and values o f occupying cultures” (Norton 2000:290). This approach was indeed a dramatic change from 7 Particularly with regard to studying place-names as indicators o f cultural differences through the naming o f sites in human settlements as well as the “natural” and “artificial” features o f their habitats so as to gain “retrospective knowledge” for reconstructions o f culture areas and movements. As with Waterman’s distrust o f “folk” etymologies (see Thornton 1997a), many anthropologists and geographers had hitherto displayed similar suspicions o f place-name investigations undertaken by “amateurs”; however, this gap between “professional” and “amateur” would be narrowed severely in the coming decades when Anthropology and Geography employed the approach o f studying the psychology behind the naming o f places, which included studying the affective ties that bind people to place, as well as the contested nature o f space and place. Perhaps most importantly, there was recognition o f the localization o f meaning and the relativism in human stories that make “ordinary” people worthy counterparts in the discussion o f lives lived in semiotic spaces. 14 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. focussing on references o f place-nam es to solely the physical qualities o f landscape or language (i.e., landforms or lexico-grammatical components) to considering how cultures express themselves ideologically in the landscapes that they create through the act o f placenaming. The particular context o f place-naming came to be understood as a basic human undertaking to signify social or cultural meaning in experiences o f the world, and placenames came to be appreciated as matrices o f language and the various cultural elements (including landscape) which compose a society’s way o f life (Nash 1993; Robinson 1996). Accordingly, toponymy was recognized as a means o f observing how people enter into a discourse with the landscape through the act o f place-naming, and how through the naming o f places, human knowledge o f and behaviour towards the environment is developed as people interact with places on the land. This perspective went beyond understanding placenames as revelatory o f clues to the human past to appreciating that place-names have a living or progressive role in investing human meaning in the landscape and in influencing human thought and action with regards to the landscape. THE MEANING OF PLACE AND PLACE-NAMES TO INDIGENOUS PEOPLE Place-names are significant in discourse surrounding identity to place, having the potential “to transform the sheerly physical and geographical into something that is historically and socially experienced” (Tilley 1994: 18). Because place-names are “texts and texture o f a people and their place” (Fair 1997: 478), their use can serve as a means o f relaying ideological meaning about place, and can therefore play a role in the process o f place-making itself. Equally important, given the ongoing reciprocity between people and the places they inhabit, is the idea that place is more than a material entity— it is a process, constitutive o f 15 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. identity. This quality o f place is reflected in the naming o f places, through which cultures express themselves in the landscape. Place-names, cultural artefacts in that they are culturally negotiated, gain significance in the ongoing exchanges between people based on their perceptions o f themselves in relation to the landscape. In this way, toponyms hold the clues to the human meaning that is invested in the landscape. The role o f place is inestimable to people who have had a long and intimate relationship with the landscape. Indigenous groups, for instance, have a deep attachment to places that can be traced to their worldviews. Rather than merely “a backdrop for human action” (Tilley 1994: 22), the landscape assumes a conscious form that takes an active part in establishing and maintaining individual and social identity (Tilley 1994). This idea is captured in indigenous toponyms via the narratives and events that surround them, which reflect culturally-defined notions o f physical space and beliefs about the material and social significance o f environmental features (Deur 1996). Place-based stories “have the function o f founding and articulating spaces— the narratives concern actions organizing more or less extensive social cultural areas” (de Certeau 1984: 123). Through the conveyance o f their related narratives, place-names participate in a situation, and become symbols o f “meaningmaking”, converting space into “a practice o f a particular place” (de Certeau 1984: 116). Stories situated in the tangible aspects o f places in the landscape are summoned, explored and visited through toponyms. It is this cogitative attribute o f place-names that makes them significant in understanding their importance in the living use and organization o f space by indigenous peoples. It could be argued that place-names function simultaneously as both “tours” and “maps” (de Certeau 1984). As “tours”, toponyms enable subjectivity, movement and the production o f geographies o f action. Promoting experience o f the world through movement 16 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and action, place-names also condition “maps”. Through place-name narratives, travellers make meaning through the practices they engage in as they negotiate the landscape. Placename narratives orientate and focus these journeys (de Certeau 1984:116), making placenames also function as “maps”, through which they speak o f “being”, “thereness” (Tilley 1994: 13-14) or “dwelling” (Tilley 1994: 13, drawing on Heidegger), and convey emplacement. In validating who people are, and what they are in relation to where they are (or where they are not) in space and time, emplacement informs identity. A means o f understanding belonging in places is through examining indigenous place-names, which embody the myths and experiences o f places (Cruikshank 1990, 1981; Basso 1996). Through memory o f sensory information, belonging is formed out o f an intimate knowledge o f places reflected in place-name narratives via the personification o f natural elements and features, and the frequency o f references to the landscape in the vernacular (Cajete 1999; Fair 1997; Basso 1996; Rosenberg andN abhan 1997; Salmon 2000). The importance o f the land in the make-up o f the indigenous worldview is articulated in the ecosystem-like concepts (see Berkes et al. 1998) that form the core o f people’s involvements with the land, such that the relationship between the land and some groups o f indigenous peoples can be said to be “kincentric” (see Salmon 2000) or familial. This idea may explain the concept o f mental maps (Brody 1981; Ridington 1990), and may have a strong influence on indigenous land tenure systems, which generally can be regarded as holistic in the sense that the land is perceived to be simultaneously a physical, spiritual and genealogical entity. The naming o f geographical locations is not just a means o f revealing use and occupancy o f land or a way o f organizing living space or territory. Place-names also aid in making the landscape available to indigenous people on both a material and symbolic level— 17 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. “people think and act with the landscape as well as about and upon it” (Momaday in Basso 1996:75). Likewise, people project themselves in the landscape through the act o f naming locations that are significant to them. O f equal significance are the narratives that accompany toponyms. Stories reveal the contiguous bond between people and the places they inhabit, a relationship forged through use o f land for social organization, subsistence, story-telling, and ritual. Stories in places have the effect o f linking the contemporary to the ancestral (Basso 1996, Cruikshank 1990) through their enactment in people’s interactions with the landscape. The named landscape is a container o f oral history, reminding indigenous people o f how the land and its inhabitants came to be (Cruikshank 1981), and how cultural continuity in places can be maintained (Muller-Wille 1985). Knowledge o f places is central to survival and embraces the philosophies and skills linked to the resource-harvesting as well as the careful husbandry o f natural resources, and on a symbolic level, this knowledge spans morality and knowledge o f self (Basso 1996; Cruikshank 1990). Through knowing the land intimately, and using the “symbolic resources o f language and land...to promote standards o f behaviour” (Cruikshank 1990: 54), people become one with the land, with rapport established between the self and a sentient landscape (see Anderson 1998). Therefore, place-names are at once material and metaphorical, substantive and symbolic (Nash 1999), and serve as repositories o f cultural identity through the stories they contain. Locations o f Indigenous Identity Identification o f place and self as one is described by Sack (in Osborne 2001:42) as stemming from “ .. .the use o f landscape as part o f memory in an oral society that must remember everything about itself and its practices... [therefore] place, o f necessity, must be 18 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. more intimately a part o f its culture.” Perhaps the idea o f oneness between place and self can be seen also as a covenant with the land, concretized through the treatment o f it as a “sentient being” (Anderson 1998) — in other words, the land will act benevolently and provide, as long as there is heedful use o f its resources. From this perspective, the earth itself narrates indigenous experience and worldview through the human act o f place-naming. Myths associated with toponyms refer to themes o f travelling through or being within the land, as opposed to merely existing on it. Basso (1996) in Wisdom Sits in Places recounts how the Apache invoke their terrain. Toponyms, although their precise origins may be lost, serve as cautionary or moralizing devices through the myths with which they are associated. The Apache, in Basso’s (1996:39) words, are “ stalked by stories” — landscape features o f mythico-historical importance serve a mnemonic function in their role o f warning against or promoting certain social behaviours. For instance, when the name o f a particular site is evoked to provide advice, the place-name projects in the listener’s mind the image o f the actual place, which “activates” its charter myth and the moral of the tale. Basso, following Heidegger, forwards a phenomenological analysis o f the complex array o f symbolic relationships with physical surroundings that are found among the Apache in their perceptions o f the environment. He writes that it is “[these] ideational resources with which [the Apache] constitute their surroundings and invest them with value and significance” (1996:66). The connection between place-names, oral history and daily life is intricate, a reminder that indigenous accounts of history are reckoned in largely spatial terms, divergent from the western linear and temporal organization o f past events (Cruikshank 1994). As containers o f oral history, place-names contribute to an individual’s sense o f place and belonging. Basso (1996:34) proposes that, “knowledge o f places is ...closely linked to knowledge o f the self, to grasping one’s position in the larger 19 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. scheme o f things, including one’s own community, and to securing a confident sense o f who one is as a person” . Toponymy as an Articulation o f Indigenous Memorvscape8 Indigenous place-names serve to connect people to the land, maintaining “rapport” with a sentient ecology. For example, the Tlingit (a people who have traditionally occupied the temperate rainforest o f the area extending from Alaska’s southern border with British Columbia to the G ulf o f Alaska) utilize two geographies, physical and social, to organize subsistence production and social structure (Thornton 1997b). These geographies are linked to the deployment o f place-names in rituals and other commemorative interactions. Tlingit social identity, itself, relies on placement within “a particular sociogeographic web o f relations indexed by geographic names”, o f which there are six major levels.9 At each level ties between the social and physical landscapes are expressed through place-names, so that “every time the clan name is spoken, the geographic associations are invoked in a way that merges the social group with the place” (Thornton 1997b: 2-3). Members o f a clan are able to affirm their emplacement or belonging on the land through situating themselves amongst the ancestors by learning their wisdom present in place-narratives. For instance, Yaaw Teiyi or Herring Rock, a fishing spot still in use today, is regarded as a “geographical and moral center o f the [salmon] harvest” because it evokes a tale cautioning against over-exploitation o f the resource (Thornton 1997b: 5). On the other hand, desecrated (through deforestation 8 A term coined by Nuttall (1992) to refer to the fusion o f time and space in the grounded memories o f place where contemporary, historical or mythical events that take place at certain points in the local landscape become an integral part o f understanding and knowing those places. This idea parallels Bakhtin’s (1981) “chronotope” as points in the geography o f a people where time and space intersect to produce a “fluid” and “personified” landscape for human meditation. 9 Tlingit social organization can be structured from “broadest to narrowest” as follows: nation, moiety, kwaan (translates as “to dwell”), clan, house group, personal name/title (Thornton 1997b:2). 20 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and mining) and abandoned sites like Kaawagaani H it and K a x’noowu are also commemorated and honoured as powerful icons with important social goals to achieve: ...in potlatches and other ceremonies in northern Tlingit land, Kaagwaantaan orators often use the phrase Ch ’a Tleix ’ Kox ’nuwkweidi (We who are still on People o f the Grouse Fort) to achieve at least three ends: 1) to promote solidarity and communitas among the now-dispersed Kax ’noowe clans; 2) to reiterate their inextricable ties to this historic, collective dwelling place; and 3) to metaphorically transport the listeners to this sacred landscape so that they may be reunited with their ancestors who likewise maybe summoned by name [Thornton 1997b:4], In this sense, the place-names marking these sites serve as a monument symbolizing the collective memory o f a group o f people, where “neither time nor space can be understood without reference to the other” (Thornton 1997b:4). This provides people with “symbolic reference points for the moral imagination and its practical bearing on the actualities o f their lives [so that]...the landscape in which people dwell can be said to dwell in them” (Basso 1996:111). Cruikshank (1990:54) also comes to similar conclusions regarding the internalization o f the landscape by people. From interviews conducted in the late 1970s with Athapaskan speakers in the Yukon, Cruikshank notes that attention to context is o f utmost necessity in appreciating the role o f place-names in instructing about people and places. All her informants recalled a story or song when a toponym was mentioned— remarkably, toponyms could not be discussed without “speaking with names” (see Basso 1996) via tales. The stories revolved around personal incidents that happened at a particular place, and occasionally a story from mythological time. From this observation, Cruikshank not only learns from her informants that an individual’s sense o f self and her or his history is deeply immersed in the landscape but discovers that there is a correlation between understanding the names and the stories, living as responsible human beings, and knowing the land as aboriginals. 21 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The idea o f knowing the land as indigenous people is addressed in Jett’s (1997) study on Canyon de Chelly Navajo place-names. The toponymic information gathered and analyzed in this study indicates a logic and way o f life that discloses the mindset o f this group o f people. Interestingly, only places carrying personal names in the Canyon de Chelly area were found to be relatively “modem” places like farmsteads, “possessable [sic] via usufruct, and ...nam ed for their users” . All natural features, with the exception o f three trails named for supernatural beings, carried literally descriptive names like Didse Sikaad Nastlah, which translates directly as “chokecherry [-bush]- is-standing-spread- out cove” (Jett 1997: 487). Jett draws two interesting conclusions about the Canyon de Chelly Navajo worldview from their toponymy. Firstly, on the basis o f the general absence o f commemorative or personal names in toponyms, Jett (1997: 486) writes, “Navajos normally do not name anything after a person unless it belongs to him .. .to the Navajo, a store can be owned but not the land or any part thereof’. Secondly, he remarks that “translatability seems to be a general Athapaskan characteristic” (1997: 486), so that the clarity o f referents, owing to the paucity o f the abstract or metaphorical in place-names, suggests that this “high degree o f literality no doubt reflects, at least in part, the well-known Navajo (and general Athapaskan) pragmatism” (1997: 491). To mobile peoples, as Athapaskan groups have been in the past (Jett 1997; Basso 1996; Cruikshank 1990), travel was facilitated through toponyms, serving as mnemonic devices and vividly encapsulating the most significant o f details. The stories situated in the tangible aspects o f places in the landscape were summoned, explored and visited through toponyms. In this way, the landscape has served as more than a part o f a people’s mental geography; it has also served to memorialize them as a distinct people (see Basso 1996). 22 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PERPETUATING INDIGENOUNESS THROUGH RE-KNOWING THE LAND Land and the persistence o f an indigenous identity constitute two o f the most fundamental and intertwined issues that underlie cultural survival. The “search and restoration o f place lost” (Jacobs 1993: 104) marks the reclamation o f rights that is couched within the geographical in both its physical and semiotic manifestations. The common experience o f having their indigenous autonomy suppressed and their lands and resources confiscated or appropriated by nation-states and corporate interests has brought about an indigenous sense o f political consciousness that involves the reclamation o f indigenous languages, customs (including TEK), and rights and title to land by indigenous groups. As Muller-Wille (2000: 150-151) argues, “If language remains an element o f cultural identity and distinction, the use and application o f all known [place] names within the traditional territory will contribute to the appropriate and proper representation o f culture and identity o f the people, thus supporting symbols that strengthen cultural and political self-determination.” In this light, toponymy acts as a counter-hegemonic discourse to assert and maintain aboriginality, and, thus, is an expression o f cultural sovereignty and aboriginal rights when the indigenous place-names o f one’s traditional territory are learned and used. As markers o f language and locality, place-names perform an immediate, applicative role when the names and meanings o f places are learned. This enables a more complete understanding o f indigenous languages and histories in the context o f the land. For peoples who have been denied their language and culture for generations, place-names offer a “compact” encounter with language, culture and land, establishing an understanding that is indigenous and entwined with place. In this sense, indigenous place-names herald the “re­ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. conquest” (Herman 1999) because the land can once again be known and claimed through the inheritance o f stories that establish rights to the land. The use o f powerful images from nature in the vernacular for didactic purposes shows how familiar landscape features become cultural symbols, allowing people a “living” association with their past or history, and the deepest values and aspirations it contains (Cruikshank 1994). Stories, spatially grounded through their connection with specific sites, become imbued with historically-constructed cultural meanings. When a site is named, it embodies symbolic value and becomes a marker o f place-based stories, fixing meaning to events through its functioning as a repository o f place-memories (Basso 1996). Oral narratives thus commemorated in place-memories, and embedded in toponyms, engender powerful feelings that bind people to place, and provide a “template for identities” (Osborne 2001:44). It follows, therefore, that storied landscapes, the aide-memoire o f a culture’s knowledge and understanding of its history and future, are monuments to a people’s identity (Osborne 2001). The call for enculturation through the re-naming o f places on traditional lands and learning those place-names is evidently based on a counter-hegemonic discourse tied to claims o f social justice and land rights. As a significant part o f enculturation lies in the demonstration of resilience and permanence o f TEK about place (Cruikshank and Argounova 2000), reconnecting with the indigenous ancestral past becomes an exercise for defining the present. Given the harrowing effects o f rapid modernization seen in the loss o f culture and homeland, there is an urgent need to remember and transmit the core values that have hitherto defined the indigenous identity and lifestyle. Such memory-making creates the scaffolding necessary for building a place-world, which is visualized from past events and presented through new possibilities that not only revive the historical but revise them, as well 24 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. (Cruikshank and Argounova 2000; Basso 1996). By way o f exploring how past happenings might differ from conventional understandings o f history, historical knowledge is placed in the everyday world o f people, a world o f places and place-worlds that act in concert to build personal and social identities (Basso 1996). THE ROLE OF PLACE-NAMES IN EDUCATING ABOUT TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE Ethnographic studies o f how children acquire knowledge have shown that there can, in fact, be multiple literacy and numeracy practices (Baker, Clay, and Fox 1996). With indigenous groups, in particular, knowledge seems to be based on the socio-cultural as well as the ecological, and is internalized, practised and transmitted in a “habitus” 10 governed by the subsistence way o f life (Sarangapani 2003: 203). Throughout the world, indigenous groups face the unremitting problem o f schooling their children. Like the development and modernization schemes in areas o f the world with surviving indigenous populations, formal education has played a part in the marginalization o f these peoples. As an agent o f “social control, containment and assimilation”, formal education has perpetuated the idea that indigenous peoples, their knowledge and way of life have no place in the present (Urion 1993:98). Unfortunately, this idea has gained momentum through the degradation o f indigenous homelands and the ensuing loss o f traditional occupations, which seem to appear to greater society as an inevitable process o f change. Given this general attitude, it is perhaps unsurprising that indigenous experiences and ways o f knowing are under-represented and seldom heard, written or taught. In the microcosm o f the classroom, an example o f such negation is the way indigenous groups are portrayed in textbooks. Aboriginal people have 10 Borrowed from Pierre Bourdieu (1991) to mean a framework for the objects o f knowledge consisting o f a society’s social, historical and political structures, perpetuated through performance. 25 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. been reduced to “a footnote in the history o f the European settlement o f this land” (Restoule 2000:39) with their knowledge and beliefs, in some cases, inaccurately described in the past tense (Ninnes 2000). Such depiction has had the effect o f impressing upon readers that indigenous cultures ended with the coming o f whites. Such thinking makes it difficult to appreciate the unceasing importance o f land and language to indigenous groups as symbols o f identity and repositories o f culture and knowledge. Consequently, there is much ignorance surrounding the idea that indigenous people have their own science and notions of environmental sustainability that continue to have relevance in their lives. The dearth o f indigenous representation in the curriculum compounded by the problem o f younger aboriginals growing up with hardly any knowledge o f oral tradition or life in the bush (Rosenberg and Nabhan 1997) makes the need for including aboriginal ways o f knowing in education a pressing priority. A means o f achieving this is through using indigenous toponymy to introduce the concept o f TEK. Through place-names, TEK can be learned in context to place, where environmental knowledge, language and oral history can be grasped as part o f learning about the significance o f places to people. As toponyms “represent a complex body o f knowledge... accumulated over long periods o f being part o f specific natural environments and ecosystems” (Muller-Wille 2000: 146), and “ ...constitute a detailed encyclopaedic knowledge o f the environment, [telling] much about how native people perceive, communicate about, and make use o f their surroundings” (Afable and Beeler 1996: 185)— they have a role in communicating TEK. Other than their capacity for relaying environmental information, place-names possess the potential to be employed in a post-colonial exploration and reclamation o f identity (Nash 1999). Such a quality contributes significantly to the construction o f culturally-sensitive curriculum. When places are referred to by their indigenous names, the social work o f memory operates to anchor indigenous 26 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. identity to place, replacing histories o f dispossession, and erasure o f indigenous language, culture and systems o f knowledge with accounts grounded in precise locations that re­ establish meanings locally (Cruikshank and Argounova 2000). This is when the symbolic resources o f toponymy and oral history play an important role in cultural self-determination, shifting the emphasis from retaining culture for reasons o f posterity to “developing mechanisms for its continued transmission: school curriculum projects, local museums, usable orthographies and training for Native people who want to work with and develop those materials” (Cruikshank 1981:86). Place-Names and Traditional Ecological Knowledge Indigenous toponymy, rarely commemorative or honorific o f humans, has a practical role in tracing landscape changes, locating food resources, and defining material culture and resource harvesting and preparation techniques. In this way, it serves as a repository o f TEK. Language, through the customary use o f toponyms, makes tangible the knowledge essential for survival (Hallowell in Thornton 1997a). Toponyms, therefore, identify the knowledge o f past generations o f places that have given (see Saxon et al. 2002), and assure people o f who they are and the importance o f detailed knowledge and skills. Brody (1976) observes that knowing the place-names o f the land’s features directs people’s movements in locating significant resource areas. Beardsall (1988) remarks on the pride felt amongst indigenous people on their ability to spot and interpret landmarks, and in using their knowledge o f placenames to travel with confidence through the land in finding their way home. Through these observations, it is evident that TEK functions not only as a science but also as a way o f life. 27 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Place-names also offer information on the way the land is managed, cared for and identified with. In some indigenous communities, the landscape is organized into clusters o f recurring names, each reflecting in name, a prominent or central natural feature (Saxon et al. 2002; Fair 1997; Afable and Beeler 1996; Rankama 1993; Muller-Wille 1985; Brody 1976). These place-name systems signal geographic concepts and perceptions, reflect focal points in cultures and, determine topography, fauna and flora to ease travel, hunting, fishing and gathering. Individual toponyms gain in meaning when they are regarded as part o f a placename system because then understanding o f place-names in context is possible. Saxon et al.’s research on Dogrib caribou place-names supports the idea o f looking at names within their toponymic systems. For example, although few Dogrib toponyms literally have the term “caribou” in their composition, there are quite a number o f names that intimate “caribou” through references to other food sources that could be relied upon in case caribou arrival in an area was overdue, points in the landscape where caribou are known to habitually cross, and caribou forage (Saxon et al. 2002: 57-58). These “indirect” place-names, as argued by Saxon et al., are potentially more informative than names that denote only “caribou”, as they contain descriptions o f bio-geographical surroundings. In turn, it might be argued that such toponyms illustrate how TEK operates through place-name systems. Cruikshank (1990, 1984, 1981) and Saxon et al. (2002) argue that toponymic information can be used to complement scientific understandings o f certain natural phenomena. Because place-names often correlate to geology, fauna, flora and material culture, they represent a means for not only verifying but also illuminating the scientific record with indigenous understandings o f nature and natural processes. N aludi’, the Southern Tutchone name for the Lowell Glacier in Yukon, is an example o f a toponym that provides confirmation o f scientific accounts o f phenomena recorded in the area it marks (Cruikshank 28 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 1990:63; 1981:87). N a ludi’— “fish stop”— tells o f the curse put on a b o y and his village, as a result o f his making fun o f a shaman who was balding. The shaman’s curse caused a glacier to surge across the riverbed and damn the river, stopping salmon from ascending the river. So today, while sea salmon are not found in the Alsek River, there are landlocked salmon further upstream. This local account complements the scientific account o f the surging o f the Lowell glacier and subsequent damning o f the Alsek River in 1852. Another toponym, Mezdih E ’ol, also known as Carcross (a contraction o f “caribou” and “crossing”), illustrates how place-name information supplements scientific knowledge (Cruikshank 1984:31; 1981:63). Although biologists are still trying to understand why the Porcupine caribou herd stopped coming to the Southern Yukon at the start o f the twentieth century, they can nonetheless, reconstruct the herd’s migration routes with the aid o f names like Mezdih E ’ol. The name translates as “place where caribou swim (across) in groups” (Cruikshank 1984:31) and marks the point on Nares Lake where the herd used to cross when they still migrated across Southern Yukon at the start o f last century. “INDIGENIZING” SCIENCE EDUCATION: ADVANTAGES AND OBSTACLES The literature on aboriginal education in Canada cites mathematics and science as curricular areas requiring considerable reform to help indigenous students succeed. Aikenhead (1997) and M aclvor (1995) point to the importance o f increasing the number o f indigenous youth in science and science-related programmes in view o f the impending post-treaty era, when there will be an urgent need for scientific and technical skills in aboriginal communities to execute local governance, and management o f lands and resources. It appears that low rates o f enrolment in senior secondary-level mathematics and science amongst indigenous students is 29 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. correlated with insufficient exposure to and experience in these subject areas during elementary-level schooling (M aclvor 1995). This disparity in acquiring basic skills in science and mathematics is due to the placement o f indigenous students in remedial programmes, “where ‘basics’ are stressed [and] science instruction is limited (Maclvor 1995: 84, emphasis in original). A weak foundation in science is also due to a lack o f proper facilities and equipment (particularly in rural schools), few indigenous role models in the field o f science, and the mistrust many parents have towards institutionalized education that limits family support for science learning (M aclvor 1995: 84). Battiste (2000), Cajete (2000), and Mackay and Miles (1995) attribute low attainment in mathematics and science to insufficient representations o f indigenous lifeways in the curriculum. As discussed, indigenous toponymy is a means o f offering an understanding o f the world encoded in logic different from that o f western science. Therefore, as a means of educating about TEK in the context o f particular places, the introduction o f toponymy in education can prove to be beneficial for indigenous children and youth, in light o f making learning more culturally appropriate. Snively and Corsiglia (2000) and Aikenhead (1997) stress the need to include TEK in science education to bring about a more critical and liberative approach to the teaching and learning o f school science subjects. Scientific literacy as taught in schools is largely representative o f western science, where science is conceptualized and conveyed as European, current, objective, value-free and precise; whereas, as Snively and Corsiglia (2000) and Aikenhead (1997) argue, it is really one o f many sciences, in that every culture has its own science, its own ways o f exploring, rationalizing and comprehending phenomena. While allowances are made in the curriculum for the teaching and learning o f indigenous languages and culture, indigenous perspectives as such are largely absent from core subjects like science and mathematics. Battiste and 30 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Henderson (2000:253) state that language learning without integrating “the indispensable role o f the land as the classroom in which the heritage o f each Indigenous people has traditionally been taught,” reduces language learning to a superficial study o f words and concepts that fail to capture the essence o f TEK. Hence, it is imperative that learners be able to make the connections between the learning that takes place in language lessons to other areas o f the curriculum. Any aspect o f TEK that is dealt with within the educational system must be woven into and across the traditional school subjects o f language, geography, history, science and mathematics. This results in a global or interdisciplinary approach to teaching and learning that not only helps students grasp “the big picture” o f the natural and cultural history o f their traditional lands but instils in them an appreciation for the intellectual traditions o f their own people (Snively and Corsiglia 2000; M aclvor 1995; Snively 1995). Through such an approach, TEK could be included in the curriculum more effectively, becoming the unifying and underlying concept o f all things studied at school (Aikenhead 1997). The reality of reforming the curriculum through the inclusion o f TEK is problematic. Given the newly emergent status o f cross-cultural education, and its concordant low priority in curriculum development schemes, the incorporation o f TEK in the curriculum is often treated as tangential to standard curricular mandates. While the Canadian school system is not without indigenous representation in its curricula, such inclusion is cosmetic and negligible in practice. For instance, the British Columbia Teachers Federation’s (BCTF) Policy Related to First Nations/ Aboriginal Education outlines the importance o f Headstart or early intervention programmes in introducing schooling as a positive aspect o f life and the recognition o f indigenous role-models within the formal school setting. The treatment o f aboriginal culture as an integral part o f the curriculum is “proven” in the manner First 31 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Nations curricular links are a part of, as opposed to just marginal appendices to, the provincial educational standards and guidelines, known as the Integrated Resource Packages. It is interesting to note, however, that one o f the BCTF’s policies is to increase “Aboriginal history and culture content ...in all subjects, with special emphasis on social studies...” [BCTF (n.d.)]. This policy statement can be interpreted in two ways. Seeing that the overall population o f First Nations people in British Columbia is relatively sm all", such a policy could be understood as a move by the BCTF to include TEK and indigenous values in the curriculum, in offering an alternative and even a more equitable account o f history. On the other hand, the policy reflects a failure in including TEK and indigenous wisdom as an integral part o f the co-construction o f knowledge in subject areas like science and mathematics. This trend is also evident in the 1998 Ministry o f Education guidelines aimed at integrating aboriginal content into the different subject areas. Shared Learnings: Integrating B.C. Aboriginal Content K-10, while a step in the direction o f encouraging inclusion o f indigenous content with its subject-specific guidelines, sample lesson plans and (largely Canadian) First Nations recommended reading and multimedia lists is unfortunately still not much more than a tenuous attempt at political correctness as it fails to render a thorough treatment o f TEK as a science. These guidelines focus primarily on introducing nonindigenous students to aboriginal art, customs and storytelling, and do not address in any concerted or meaningful manner the concept o f TEK as a “tried and tested” system o f acquiring and validating information about the world. Retaining the canonical nature of subjects such as science and mathematics only serves to reinforce the deeply-lodged popular belief that they are fundamental to human progress, thereby influencing what is taught and " 4.4% (all ages) o f the overall British Columbia population (2001 Census o f Population, Statistics Canada). 32 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. learned universally (Baker, Clay and Fox 1996) to the detriment o f other understandings and interpretations o f the world. Consequently, even if TEK seems to be part o f the curriculum, it is highly likely curtailed to indigenous language classes, the learning o f traditional stories as part o f Language Arts activities or to segregated hunting, fishing, trapping and gathering trips that entail a break from school (Aikenhead and Huntley 1999; Aikenhead 1997; McCaskill 1987). “INDIGENIZING” SCIENCE EDUCATION VIA ON-THE-LAND OR CULTURE-BASED CAMP PROGRAMMES Bamhardt and Kawagley (2004: 63) describe an effective indigenous school curriculum as one that is place-based, engages learners in “studies associated with the surrounding physical and cultural environment” and involves increased contact time with “elders, parents and local experts” (Bamhardt and Kawagley 2004: 63). From this perspective, indigenous cultural content is regarded as being complementary, rather than an appendage, to core subjects like science and mathematics (Bamhardt and Kawagley 2004: 59, 61), entailing a shift o f focus from “teaching about culture to teaching through culture” (Bamhardt and Kawagley 2004: 62, emphasis added). Bamhardt and Kawagley (2004: 63) describe five themes that are necessary in reforming the curriculum: 1) documentation and validation o f TEK; 2) defining and building upon indigenous pedagogy; 3) defining and setting in motion a culturally-sound standardsbased curriculum; 4) teacher support systems; and 5) determination o f culturally-sound assessment practices. While the implementation o f these themes suggests a drawn out process with a number o f extensive reforms to the curriculum, including changing the school culture by revamping the formal standards-based curricula to reflect local cultural values (Bamhardt 33 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and Kawagley 2004: 62), they can be effected on a small-scale level, in community-led educational initiatives such as on-the-land learning programmes. Such initiatives offer the opportunity for local empowerment where culture-based education can be instated without participation in the bureaucracy and red-tape associated with reforming the formal school curriculum. From a broader perspective, community-led educational initiatives symbolize the reclamation o f education, an institution historically linked to paternalism, racism and cultural dispossession, as a means to transmit cultural knowledge and values. Several indigenous communities across Canada have initiated their own on-the-land or culture-based camp programmes.12 These programmes while ranging in content and form (i.e., some stress a balanced academic/cultural curriculum while others place greater emphasis on the learning o f culture), take the notion o f counter-mapping to new levels. Information from indigenous-commissioned studies, once used to challenge state policies on lands, resources and basic human rights, are now being employed towards educating children about their birthright— their people’s culture, knowledge and place. The mapping o f indigenousness, as seen in cultural revival and continuity efforts, “allow[s] the emphasis to shift from de- to reconstruction, from map-breaking to map-making” (Nash 1993:54). On-the-land or culture-based camp programmes provide a much-needed space for experimentation into ways in which to introduce TEK to children and youth, and can be 12 Other examples o f on-the-land programmes, besides TTazt’en Nation’s Yunk'ut Whe Ts ’o Duleh (We Learn From Our Land)programme in British Columbia, include: the Rediscovery summer camps held in several parts o f Canada, the Reconnecting with the Land programme in Manitoba, the Big Trout Lake land-based programme in Ontario, the Nutchim iu-Attuseun Training Centre on-the-land programme in Quebec, the Avataq Cultural Institute Innujuaq and Kuujjuaq summer camp programmes in Nunavik, the M i’kmaq and Wuastukwiuk (Maliseet) cultural-enrichment summer camp in N ew Brunswick (INAC 2006). These programmes deliver traditional land-based skills and environmental and cultural education to children and youth o f aboriginal ancestry, and include the participation o f community elders as instructors. It should also be mentioned that on-the-land programmes are in some instances initiated by schools— in the Northwest Territories, for example, schools like Sir Alexander Mackenzie School (Inuvik), Chief Julius School (Fort McPherson), and Paul William Kaeser School (Fort Smith) organize outdoor experiential camps as part o f their curricula to teach students bush survival skills, environmental awareness and Traditional Knowledge. 34 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. understood as a transition13 step to revamping the formal curriculum followed in community or band schools. Culture-based programmes could be also called laboratories o f learning, as the successes and failures experienced through the running o f such programmes can prove to be important lessons for informing how a culturally-appropriate education should be modelled. Additionally, on-the-land or culture-based camp programmes provide a natural venue for increased community and parental involvement, where teaching takes place in an unofficial atmosphere, carried out by individuals other than trained or certified instructors or teachers. This way o f teaching is representative o f traditional ways o f imparting knowledge, harmonizing student-teacher-elder-parental relationships (Yamamura et al. 2003), and enabling direct interaction with the land and learning about the environment that is mediated by the cultural cognitive map (Kawagley 1999). CONCLUSION When indigenous communities play a part in the development o f their own curriculum projects and teach in a manner they determine, they increase their chances for cultural advancement and continuity (Dean 2004; Enkiwe-Abayao 2004). On-the-land or culturebased camp programmes symbolize, through their non-formal and extra-curricular nature, a space for enrichment and supplemental educational opportunities, providing hands-on science and conservation activities that also include enhancement o f indigenous lifeways and language skills. It also signifies a space where power changes hands, highlighting shifts from mere appropriation and appreciation o f indigenous content in the curriculum to 13 When the Department o f Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND) relinquished control o f Indian education to individual bands, a preparatory period or transition step was not provided to aboriginal communities, so that bands were faced with this herculean task overnight (York 1990). To this day, DIAND or INAC still legally controls education through the Indian Act, which maintains that the Minister has exclusive powers over decision-making and jurisdiction in all aspects o f Indian life, including educational programmes (Charters-Voght 1999). 35 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. accommodation o f localized knowledge within the context o f the land. The introduction o f indigenous toponymy in on-the-land or culture-based programmes is itself a stalwart proclamation o f the cultural in teaching science. Place-names lend an interdisciplinary flavour to scientific knowledge linking it to language, history, culture and politics, thus placing western science in the context o f one way o f understanding the world. This increases the holism o f science education, making it less abstract and obscure to students who have a non-western background. As complexes o f language, oral history and the land, place-names hint at the power that underlies understanding specific meanings that are attached to places so that they can be known and claimed from an indigenous perspective. In the following pages, a more detailed discussion o f the role o f indigenous placenames in enhancing on-the-land or culture-based programmes will be given based on my research with Tl’azt’en Nation. In providing a framework for appreciating the important role land plays in defining Tl’azt’en identity and worldview, Chapter Two will commence with an introduction to the Tl’azt’en socio-cultural and historical make-up, including descriptions o f territory, language, and the balhats and keyoh systems. Within this context, the potential o f place-names to address issues o f cultural revitalization become apparent in the way language and land represent and sustain cultural identity, forming the basis for understanding the continuing importance o f places in knowing and claiming the land as Tl’azt’enne. O f particular significance in this chapter is a look at Tl’azt’en Nation’s efforts in reviving the Dakelh language, culture and ways o f knowing among its children and youth, as seen through the creation o f the culture-based science camp programme, Yunk’ut Whe T s’o D u l’eh (We Learn From Our Land). 36 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter Two: THE TL’AZT’EN LANDSCAPE: AN OVERVIEW OF THE LAND, LANGUAGE, CULTURE AND HISTORY OF TL’AZT’ENNE INTRODUCTION The purpose o f this chapter is to introduce the TPazt’en, a Dakelh-speaking people o f the northern portion o f Stuart Lake, British Columbia, and to describe their territory, language, culture and history focusing on the enduring importance o f the land in Tl’azt’en life. Drawing on written accounts I hope to demonstrate the role o f places on the land in providing subsistence, in defining territoriality, in maintaining language and culture, and in the Tl’azt’en assertion o f its aboriginal rights to land, resources and self-government, including the right to educate TPazt’en children and youth in the language, culture and knowledge o f their ancestors. THE GEOGRAPHY OF TL’AZT’EN TERRITORY The TPazt’en community or Tl’azt’enne are the Dakelh or Carrier-speaking people o f the Stuart-Trembleur Lakes watershed concentrated in four villages: Tache, Binche, Kuzche (Grand Rapids) and Dzitl’ainli (Middle River) (see Figure 2.1). Located on the Nechako Plateau o f central interior British Columbia, the region was heavily glaciated, resulting in a landscape punctuated by multitudinous narrow stream valleys, lake basins, wetlands, rolling hills and sharply rising mountains (Hudson 1983; Carlson 1997). Two major river systems, the Skeena and the Fraser drain into the Pacific, and serve as migration routes and spawning habitat for a number o f anadromous and freshwater fish species, including salmon, sturgeon, rainbow trout, whitefish and char (Carlson 1997). The third river system, the Peace- 37 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Mackenzie, drains into the Arctic Ocean. The region experiences a typical continental climate, and a short growing season. In the spring, migrating waterfowl descend upon the region’s lakes to nest, which in the late summer become places o f refuge for birds such as swans, geese and ducks when they moult in preparation for migration southward (Morice 1897; N ak’azdli First Nation 2000; Hall 1990). Lakes, ponds, rivulets and rivers are also home to beavers and muskrats, prized for fur and flesh. Lying between the Subalpine and Montane regions, Tl’azt’en territory is blanketed by hybrid white and Englemann spruce, and Douglas fir (Hudson 1983). In areas that have been cleared, lodgepole pine, trembling aspen and paper birch are found. Along alluvial systems, black cottonwood and willow prevail. Besides providing habitat for game such as moose, mule deer and black bear, and fur-bearing animals like the marten, fisher and lynx, the forest is also a source o f plant products such as sap, berries and roots, materials for medicines, and traditional implements like nets, baskets and canoes (Hudson 1983; Hall 1990). 38 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Figure 2.1 Tl’azt’en Villages. SOURCE: JPRF archives, 2006. The John P rince R esea rch F o rest TPazt’en Nation traditional territory includes an area o f over 6,500 square kilometres to the north o f Fort St. James. In 1999, roughly 13, 000 hectares o f this territory were allotted to the establishment o f the John Prince Research Forest (JPRF), a co-management venture involving Tl’azt’en Nation and the University o f Northern British Columbia (UNBC) (see Figures 2.2 & 2.3). The nine place-names o f the present study lie in and around the research forest, which encompasses three keyohs or traditional management units used by the Tom, Monk and Pierre families. Among the JPRF’s research priorities is investigating and enacting the “role o f cultural values in education” (UNBC Press Release, n.d. a), which is in keeping with the 39 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. vision o f John Prince, in whose memory the research forest was named and who was “a strong advocate for the teaching o f traditional language, culture and land values to younger generations” (UNBC n.d. b). Accordingly, a goal o f the research forest’s education and training programmes is to develop capabilities among children and youth to pursue natural resource and other science-related careers in the future. Part o f this goal is being achieved through JPRF programmes such as the Yunk'ut Whe T s’o D u l’eh culture-based science camp programme (described below), and through research such as the present study that provides ideas into how to integrate Tl’azt’en cultural content into creating vital foundational knowledge for children and youth to learn in order to have a sound understanding o f their own traditions while mastering the conventional knowledge necessary to succeed in today’s world. 40 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Figure 2.2 Location o f JPRF. SOURCE: JRPF archives, 2006. 41 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PEOPLE Culturally, TPazt’enne are considered central Carriers along with people from N ak’azdli, Yekooche, Lheidli T ’enneh, Saik’uz, Takla Lake, Nadleh, Stellat’en, Cheslatta and Broman Lake (Fumiss 1986). The term Carrier, a translation from the French porteur, in turn a translation o f the Sekani aghelhne or the “ones who pack” 1, did not suggest socio-political or cultural-linguistic unity until the arrival o f the first Europeans in Carrier country. Rather people thought o f themselves (as they do today) as belonging to a regional social arrangement or band, comprising o f closely related families who shared the resources o f a specific region (Fumiss 1986). Accordingly, the names o f bands were patterned on the name o f a place with the suffix -whuten, meaning “people o f ’ (Kobrinsky 1977; Fumiss 1986). However, the bands were not isolated by any means; instead, they were closely linked through a network o f trade, kinship, language and culture created and reinforced through travel, intermarriage and reciprocal obligations (Fumiss 1986). Terms like “Carrier”, were in actuality generalized labels used by fur traders, missionaries and linguists for grouping together people who seemingly sounded, behaved and lived alike. 1This designation is believed to have been derived from an old Dakelh practice o f widows carrying their husbands’ cremated remains in a pouch on their backs (Poser 1998; Hall 1992; Fumiss 1986). 42 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The establishment o f new social categories was not o f European making alone; given the presence o f outsiders in their territory, the Carrier created new ways o f identifying themselves to others, using the term, dakelh (corrupted into “Tacully”) or the contraction o f ‘uda ukelh (i.e., “people who travel by water in the morning”) to distinguish aboriginals from whites (Fumiss 1986).2 A thapaskan Origins. C oastal B o rro w in g s 3 Archaeological, ethnographic and linguistic evidence suggest that the origins o f Dakelhne trace to parts o f Alaska, Yukon and the Northwest Territories, where Northern Athapaskan traditions and languages still prevail. Athapaskan expansion from northwestern North America took place throughout the subarctic forests, the Pacific Coast and the southwestern portion o f the United States. There are no definitive interpretations about Athapaskan arrival in central British Columbia (Tobey 1981). Some theories suggest that the migration took place in the Holocene some 9- 5,000 years ago following the retreat o f the glaciers (Carlson 1997). Others propose that Athapaskans arrived in the British Columbia plateau approximately 600-850 years ago (Donahue 1977). Early Athapaskans were likely foragers and hunter-gatherers, who led a generally mobile way o f life and whose social organization was that o f patrilocal hunting bands (Morice 1895; Jenness 1943; Donahue 1977; Hudson 1983; Fiske 1987). 2 Fumiss (1986) states that the modem usage o f “Carrier” implies kinship and cultural cohesiveness for people who think o f themselves as belonging to a greater Carrier nation. Among Tl’azt’enne, “Dakelhne” suggests panCarrier rather than pan-indigenous connotations, and has come to replace “Carrier” as the term to describe other peoples in Central British Columbia who share the same linguistic and cultural traits as themselves (see CarrierSekani Tribal Council (CSTC) n.d., and Poser 1998). Yinka Dene or Yinka Whut’en is another term that is used as a cover term by Dakelhne for the Athapaskan-speaking people o f Central and Northern British Columbia, including peoples like the Sekani and Tahltan (see Poser 1998). 3 It should be acknowledged that this section gives a reconstruction o f Dakelh pre-history based on outsiders’ rather than Tl’azt’en perspectives. Therefore, the material presented here should be regarded as a “working” history, to be enriched by Tl’azt’en origin and migration accounts. 43 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dakelhne relied on thorough understandings o f their surroundings in order to survive. Knowledge o f the land and its resources were valued over material accumulation, mirrored in Athapaskan subsistence technology, which “depended on artifice rather than artifact” (Ridington 1990:12). When travelling, having the know-how in order to hunt, fish and trap and to construct dwellings, weaponry and tools in unpredictable circumstances and severe conditions was indispensable to survival. Knowledge was regarded as stemming from two systems, yun and dune ''(Deborah Page, Tl’a z f en Youth Meeting, 27/02/04), which centred on the learning o f utilitarian skills as well as appropriate ceremonial and customary conduct. Children gained this knowledge through fulfilling gender-specified tasks: girls were taught to cook and preserve foods, basketry and other skills to maintain a household; boys learned hunting and fishing techniques and housing, tool and weapon construction (Jenness 1943). Besides the day-to-day survival skills, children were also taught stories and became familiar with their motifs and morals (Jenness 1943). Children learned to connect their present reality to myth time through the medium o f the story, as well as through guardian spirit or vision quests and dreams (Fumiss 1986; Ridington 1990). In general, these elements formed the rites o f passage to adulthood, helping the person to navigate the important aspects o f life in a hunting society: understanding the habits o f game, adhering to the proper methods o f harvesting, observing rituals and taboos, and following etiquette befitting social relations (Jenness 1943). In other words, stories, spirit or vision quests and dreams “drove home [the lessons]” (Jenness 1943:522) and helped individuals to place themselves within the community, and within the physical environment that sustained the community. 4 Jenness (1943) following the Bulkley River Carrier dialect, gives geretn ’e and gidet ’e as the systems o f secular and religious knowledge. 44 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Coastal enculturation took place at some point to reflect a blend o f Athapaskan and Northwest coastal customs in social organization (Ives 1990). In the case o f the central Dakelhne, coastal enculturation is thought to have come about as an appendage to, rather than a replacement of, the basic paternal group structure o f the bands. The matrilineal system, a vestige o f coastal influence that still plays a role in TPazt’en culture, is said to “function solely in the area comparable to a social welfare system, i.e., the potlatch system” (Walker 1974: 380), without significant alteration to the basic Athapaskan identity o f Tl’a z f enne. Over time, the ancestors o f present-day Tl’a z f enne, typical o f central and northern Dakelh bands, became gradually less mobile, established permanent villages at lake outlets and led an increasingly sedentary lifestyle due to the steady availability o f salmon (Carlson 1997; Fumiss 1986). With a dependable food source came an increase in population, which encouraged clusters o f villages along the salmon-rich drainages (Kobrinsky 1977). Villages located at the furthermost downstream locations had the largest number o f inhabitants and an abundant supply o f salmon because these locations marked the entryway for spawning salmon. People congregated in the villages from late-summer to mid-fall to harvest salmon and participate in potlatches and other clan ceremonies (Fumiss 1986). The Dakelhne also subsisted on large and small game, berries, roots and other plants, which were harvested after the salmon-fishing season was over. Each family had its own hunting and gathering territory known as the keyoh (Morris 1999; Fiske 1987; Fumiss 1986; Hudson 1983). The right to hunt and fish in keyohs could extend to individuals unrelated to members o f the families who “owned” the territories. Two social institutions, the balhats (potlatch) and clan systems, regulated rights to resources within the keyoh. Permission had to be sought o f keyoh-owning families to hunt and trap within these territories; it was considered a serious infringement if this arrangement was disregarded (Morris 1999). The 45 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. balhats was carried out in order to affirm property rights and resource use in the keyoh, in essence acting as a system o f balancing credit and debt that renewed alliances between people (Fumiss 1986; Morris 1999). THE SIGNIFICANCE OF PLACES TO Tl’AZT’ENNE AS RELAYED THROUGH DAKELH PLACE-NAMES The following discussion centres on eleven works that were examined in this research as part o f ascertaining the kinds o f published information available on Dakelh place-names. In understanding the significance o f the land to Dakelhne, including the role o f places in defining their worldview, these works are valuable sources o f information on the history, linguistic composition and meanings o f toponyms, which indicate how knowledge o f places is conveyed through naming, and in this sense, why toponyms are an important part o f Dakelh culture. D akelh P lace-N am es in F a th er M o r ic e ’s W ritings Undoubtedly, the earliest and most comprehensive records o f central Dakelh toponymy comes from the works o f (Father) Adrien Gabriel Morice, O.M.I. His Au Pays de L ’ours Noir- Chez les Sauvages de Colombie Britannique (In the Land o f the Black Bear- Am ong the Natives o f British Columbia) (1897), History o f the Northern Interior o f British Columbia (1978 [1904]), British Columbia Maps and Place-Names (1907), The Carrier Language (1932), and Carrier Onomatology (1933) all contain references to Dakelh place-names. The names appearing in History o f the Northern Interior o f British Columbia (1978) are those o f settlements and villages, sites o f battles, trading posts and fishing stations and even some pre­ contact locations o f Dakelh trade with coastal indigenous groups like the Tsimshian. 46 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Explanations o f the significance o f names are found sporadically throughout the book, as in the case o f the legend o f N ak’al and the abundance o f fish that the river Yokogh brings to the village o f Portage (Morice 1978). Likewise, In the Land o f the Black Bear (1897), which details M orice’s overland travels into central British Columbia, includes descriptions o f lakes, rivers and mountains and their names as well as the harvesting techniques his Dakelh companions used. In this work, Morice teaches that the indigenous place-names are illustrative and functional and that generally, places are not named after people. An example is the name Ukwe-ses-ne-re-thel-kreh-nu [Oogwususneghetelgehnoo] (“island over which the black bear uses to escape us”) (Morice 1897: 295-296), a prominently-sized island in a lake that eventually came to be called Morice Lake. The meaning o f the name o f the island hints at its enormity, in the sense that it is so large that a bear can effectively hide itself from hunters, and warns o f the difficulty o f bear-hunting on the island. Morice took an interest in Dakelh toponymy because it assisted in his explorations and mapping o f Dakelh country. He also found that place-names offered clues to understanding the intricacies o f the Dakelh language and the ways Dakelhne perceived their natural surroundings. The Carrier Language (1932), which Morice regarded as his magnum opus, refers to place-names for the purpose o f explicating the linguistic composition of Dakelh words. He discussed how Dakelh, like other indigenous languages o f the Americas, is principally a “concretizing and particularizing idiom” (Morice 1932: 95), and pointed to place-names as an expression o f this quality. While place-names are classified as proper nouns in English, they differ conceptually in Dakelh. The names o f places, like those o f stellar constellations, animals and plants, were explained, as being personified, the condition o f which is reflected in the existence o f toponyms as verbal nouns in the language. To put it another way, Dakelh place-names contain the “verbs o f locomotion” (Morice 1932:95), used 47 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. also to describe human action, and therefore have the ability o f portraying places as they appear to the eye. Morice gave several examples that demonstrates that Dakelh place-names are far from being “still-life” or “in stasis” descriptions o f places: Na-zkhoh ([Nazkoh] or Nazko or Blackwater River) = across-river; Yutsu ([Yoodsoo] or Cambie Lake) = way down towards the water; Ltha-khoh ([Lhdhakoh] or Lhtakoh or Fraser River) = one within anotherriver; Ni-tcah-khoh ([Nichahkoh] or Nichahkoh orN echako River) = rear-down against-river (Morice 1932:59-60). In Carrier Onomatology (1933) and British Columbia Maps and Place Names (1907), Morice gave further details about the meanings and linguistic characteristics o f Carrier placenames and geographical terms. O f interest are the three study place-names that are described in Carrier Onomatology. Thes-sra-pen ([Tessghabun] or Tesgha or Pinchi Lake), Kez-khoh ([K’uz koh] or Kuzkwa River) and Tces-ra-n-pen ([Chusghangbun] or Chuzghun or Tezzeron Lake) (1933: 647-648). While the meanings o f the first two names are uncertain, the third name is evocative o f travelling on water. According to Morice, the nam e’s constituent parts translate literally as “paddle after lake” or Paddle Lake (1933:648). A discussion o f geographical terms or the referents in place-names also appears in both these publications, five o f which are found in the study place-names: cces or yces ([shus\ or [yws], meaning a wooded knoll or crest o f hills), tzcel ([dzulh], meaning mountain above timberline), t ’ la ([tl'a ] or t l ’at, meaning extremity or lake end furthest from outlet), thiztli ([tizdli\, meaning the end o f the lake nearest to outlet or outlet itself), khoh (\koh\, meaning river or stream) and pehren ([bunghun], meaning lake) (Morice 1902:50-52; 1933:653, incl. Footnote 66). The first and last geographical terms deserve a little more explanation as they can change form when becoming a part o f place-names. Cces [shus] and yces \yus\ are allomorphs o f the word for knoll or an elongated chain o f hills. The former is used as a word in its own right (i.e., as 48 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. a word in a sentence), while the latter is used in toponymic compounds (Morice 1902; Poser 1998). Lake names can contain the whole term ,pehren [bunghun\, as in Tsa- pen- ren [Tsa bunghun] or variants o f the term, pen [bun] and - ren [-ghun]. Pen [bun] can only be used in a compound with other words to achieve full meaning as in bun-kut, which signifies a locative idea (Morice 1933:647, 653), that is, a particular part of a lake or the area surrounding a lake, as opposed to the lake proper. In toponyms, pen [bun] emerges at the very end. The suffix -ren [-ghun], although appearing at the end o f lake names, functions as a postposition that suggests “proximity, reference and connection” and supersedes the noun pen [bun] (Morice 1933:647). Stuart Lake orN a-kal-ren [Nak’alghun], for instance, differs from other lakes through its proximity to and metaphorical association with Na-kal ([Nak’al] or Mount Pope). D akelh P lace-N am es in the W orks o f Stew ard. K obrinskv. a n d A krig g a n d A krig g Other than their linguistic significance, as exemplified by the works o f Morice, place-names have been o f interest to anthropologists studying Dakelh land use patterns and social organization. Julian Steward, who carried out field research on Dakelhne o f Stuart Lake in the 1940s, studied the transformation o f the basic Dakelh social unit from looselycharacterized hunting bands to the hierarchical potlatch-rank system. Steward’s focus was on how such change had influenced the group’s notions o f territoriality in such a way that extended family-owned tracts o f land or keyohs came to be under the control o f individual or nuclear families. In his field notes (c.1940), there is a list o f Dakelh villages and camps on Stuart, Pinchi and Tezzeron lakes. Accompanying these place-names are annotations concerning their meaning, the resources found at the sites, permanent and temporary settlements, camps and the official names o f these places (where none existed, brief 49 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. explanations were given as to what the Dakelh names o f these places designated) (Steward c.1940). Names o f stream mouths and lake outlets constitute the majority o f toponyms on the list, which hints at the locations o f hunting and gathering territories along shores o f creeks or lakes, terminating at head o f lakes or the headwaters o f creeks. Although place-names do not figure, as such, in his publications, it is plausible that Steward used them in connection with data on resource harvesting and the seasonal mobility o f people in tracing the change from mutual to exclusive land tenure among the Stuart Lake Dakelhne.5 Vernon Kobrinsky’s The Tsimshianization o f the Carrier Indians (1977) is also focussed on reconstruction o f Dakelh social history and contains some discussion o f names in relation to the sept6 system. For example, N ak’azdli and Tache, the largest villages on Stuart Lake each comprise a sept, the members o f which are called Nag azdliy hwideyniy and Thace hwideyniy, respectively (Kobrinsky 1977:204). Being the most productive salmon harvesting locations, these downstream-located villages are also those with the largest number of 5 With the establishment o f the registered trapline system, a mechanism for administrating fiir harvesting, in 1926, the boundaries o f keyohs were inscribed within the government’s province-wide land management system (Morris 1999: 45-46). Under this new system in which Dakelh territory was divided between white and indigenous ownership, Dakelhne were allotted areas that partly covered their original keyohs (Fiske 1987: 195). Through the registered trapline system, keyoh lands, originally based on usufruct, were turned into “commodities for purchase and sale”, thereby, altering the Dakelh traditional land use system (Fiske 1987: 195). This change is embodied in the contemporary synonymous use o f “keyoh” and “trapline” among Tl’azt’enne, signifying the recognition o f keyohs based on the limits o f people’s registered traplines (Morris 1997: 47). It could be further argued that changes brought about by the registered trapline system to Dakelh land tenure were in fact preceded by those that took place in the days o f the fur trade. Fiske (1987: 188-189) notes the emergence, during the fur trade, o f “clan” or “company” lines, which were shared by members o f a phratry. Controlled by male phratry leaders, these trapping lines intersected keyoh territories and were devoted to fur production for commercial trade (Fiske 1987: 188). Essentially, “clan” or “company” lines demonstrate the shift from a primarily subsistence-oriented economy to one involving a mixed subsistence-commercial economy that, in turn, induced changes in the land use, settlement and lifestyle patterns o f Dakelhne. 6 Agglutinative to languages like Chilcotin and Sekani, Dakelh is a language with considerable dialectical variation. The main dialects o f the language are: northern (Babine), central (Upper) and southern (Lower), with further sub-dialects existing in each dialect group (Ives 1990). Septs are defined as groups o f villages sharing a standard dialect that is spoken with a degree o f variation depending on region (Tobey 1981). For example, the central Dakelh villages o f Nak’azdli, Tache, Binche, K ’uzche (Grand Rapids), Yekooche (Portage) and Dzitl’ainli (Middle River) each speak a sub-dialect o f the uniform version o f Dakelh that is trans-intelligible to all six villages. 50 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. members (Kobrinsky 1977). The life-giving quality o f places is monumentalized through place-names that acknowledge the rivers, creeks and lakes that connect, nourish and define people (Kobrinsky 1977). It is in this sense that sept nomenclature and geographical nomenclature are inseparable. Several Dakelh or Dakelh-originated place-names are featured in Philip Akrigg and Helen Akrigg’s British Columbia Place Names (1997). This book, published in various editions, includes about 2, 500 alphabetically-arranged entries explaining the names o f the geographical features, cities and towns o f British Columbia. Where applicable, the authors point out derivations from indigenous words in the place-names and supply the meanings, although the sources o f such information are not outwardly stated. They likely do not come from indigenous informants. A look through the Philip and Helen Akrigg fonds at the University o f British Columbia digitized archival collections (UBC n.d.) reveals the prolific series of secondary source materials such as articles, maps, correspondence and reports that were used in the authors’ research into the history o f British Columbia. Two o f the study place-names, Pinchi Lake and Tezzeron Lake, appear in British Columbia Place Names: the background for both names includes a simple description o f location (e.g. north o f Fort St. James), a statement that these names stem from Carrier Indian words or names, and an explanation o f their meanings (Tezzeron Lake is from the Carrier word that means “moulting lake” or where ducks and geese moult; Pinchi Lake is a Carrier place-name which means “lake outlet”). For Pinchi Lake, there are brief explanations about the place-name’s history: the name was already known as early as 1811 and recorded as “Pinchy” in the journals o f Daniel Harmon, a fur trader with the Northwest Company and one o f the first Europeans ever to settle in Dakelh country. Another fragment o f history relates M orice’s intention to change 51 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. the place-name from Pinchi Lake to Rey Lake7, which was, in the end, foiled by a decision from Victoria to maintain the Indian name (Akrigg and Akirgg 1997).8 D akelh P la ce-N a m es in the W orks o f the C arrier L in g u istic C om m ittee. N a k ’azdli F irst N ation. H a ll a n d P o ser A number o f works by Dakelhne themselves, or in cooperation with linguists, exist on their culture-history and language. In 1974, with research support from the Summer Institute o f Linguistics, the Carrier Linguistic Committee (CLC), a group o f N ak’azdli and Tl’azt’en language and cultural educators, produced a booklet o f Dakelh place-names and maps called Central Carrier Country. The toponyms in the book are those of the general, more major or noticeable landforms found in the N ak’azdli and Tl’azt’en traditional territories. Although the focus is broad and on widely-known geographical features, the work is the first modem compilation o f Dakelh place-names since M orice’s publications. The spellings o f placenames in the booklet follow the CLC writing system, a phonemic roman orthography developed as a standardized means for documenting central Dakelh dialects. Four maps found at the end o f the booklet represent the territories o f the main central Dakelh groups: N ak’azdli, Tache, Binche, Yekooche (Portage), K ’uzche and Dzitl’ainli. Place-names on these maps are also listed alphabetically by category (mountains, islands, etc.), conveniently allowing for identification o f such as the presence o f common root words, prefixes and 7 After Fr. Achille Rey, who was the Oblate Assistant Superior General during Morice’s years as a priest in Stuart Lake (“Correspondence, 1956, with G.S. Andrews regarding the names o f Fr. Morice’s maps which are Oblate names” by Gaston Carrierre, O.M.I. Tl’azt’en Natural Resources Office Collections). 8 Morice was determined to do away with the indigenous names o f places that were already part o f common usage in his time because he thought that the anglicized forms o f these names (created by provincial geological survey authorities) were erroneous and so far distorted from the original names to the point that they sounded ridiculous. This was often the reason given by him for striving to have these names replaced by the names o f notable individuals o f his era, specifically his Oblate superiors, contemporaries and friends. Morice was bitter about the province’s decision to keep the Indian names on the map; see his invectives against this move in his 1905 and 1933 papers. For a list o f names proposed by Morice and juxtaposed with the official map names o f places in the northern interior o f British Columbia, see T.P. Jost (1907). 52 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. suffixes. For instance, only Stuart Lake’s island names are listed in the booklet, but they proffer an interesting observation about the way they are named and where they are distributed. Out o f a total o f 17 island names, nine end with noo (the Dakelh word for island), five begin with noo, two have no reference to noo in their constructions, and one has the term cho attached to noo, as its ending. Looking on the map, islands with noo at the end o f their names are generally distributed throughout the lake, whereas those with noo at the start o f their names seem concentrated around points where rivers or creeks converge with the lake. Such patterns yield clues as to why places carry the names they do as well as their economic and cultural significance. The booklet lists 101 toponyms: 19 mountains, 17 islands, 53 lakes and 12 rivers. Four o f the study toponyms are included: Chuzghun, Tesgha, K ’uz Koh and K ’azyus. Place-names are encountered also in people’s recollections o f the past, as communicated orally and re-told in writing. In her book, The Carrier, M y People (1992), Lizette Hall describes the customs and subsistence lifestyle o f Dakelhne as well as the events marking the establishment o f European power in Dakelh lands through the fur trade, establishment o f Catholic missions, and the residential school system. Place-names are mentioned throughout the book in conjunction with the clan or phratry system, legends, the locations o f pre-contact village sites,9 past episodes such as massacres and the travels o f chiefs, and travel and trading routes. O f special interest is Hall’s description o f the traditional Dakelh livelihood, which contains information about the importance o f geographical features such as islands, river mouths and lake outlets in the subsistence activities o f fishing and netting waterfowl. The types o f harvesting technology employed at particular sites rely on 9 According to Hall (1992), the two lakes o f the study area, Tezzeron Lake and Pinchi Lake, were among eleven locations that served as ancient village bases. 53 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. factors such as the volume o f water, velocity o f the flow and consistency o f the river or lakebed. Such information allows an understanding o f the significance o f place-names as markers o f a site’s utility, including the conditions that contribute to its worth. In 2001, N ak’azdli First Nation published a booklet, N a k ’azdli t ’enne Yahulduk {N ak’azdli Elders Speak), consisting o f elder life histories and a glossary o f Dakelh terms, personal names and place-names used in each biography. The biography o f Betsy Leon, in particular, was o f interest as it contains information on the study area, and offers insight into how places acquire their names. Leon’s reminiscences centre on the seasonal subsistence round that entailed extensive travel and knowledge o f harvesting and food preservation techniques. Her stories also bring to life the people who once trapped, hunted and fished in particular places, and through her recollections of places, people and events, a picture o f the past emerges that highlights the importance o f the mountains, lakes and rivers to the survival o f Dakelhne. The place-names mentioned in Leon’s biography are often accompanied by gloss translations that aid in classifying the names. For instance, Sai-tel (“wide sand bar”), No Hair Island (named as such due to a general absence o f trees), and Lhezdulk’un (“red dirt”) mirror the appearance o f the places they mark. Alternatively, toponyms like Khasghaila (“fireweed”), Lhotsuli (“small fish spawn”, referring to pea-mouth whitefish), and Tesgha (“resting area for birds”) reflect the preponderance o f certain plant and animal species in places. There also exist place-names that act as landmarks or signposts, guiding people to other, perhaps more significant places like the oronyms (mountain names), Beti (“beneath it there’s a road”), and Lhodudul (“fish spawning”). In some cases, it is possible that placenames carry symbolic or historical associations such as the oronyms, Udzi (“heart”) and Duneza’ (“nobleman”) (Nak’azdli First Nation 2001). These names and their translations allow a glimpse into the types o f geographical features that are named, and the knowledge 54 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. that place-names unveil about the places they designate as well as the people who coined them. A total o f 157 place-names are found in N a k ’albun/Dzinghubun W hut’en Bughuni {Stuart/ Trembleur Lake Carrier Lexicon (1998)), the most recent version o f a bilingual dictionary for the Stuart-Trembleur dialect. Dr. William Poser, the linguist who worked on assembling the dictionary, began the project with primarily grammatical questions in mind. Although his initial plans did not include the compilation o f a dictionary, it arose as a by­ product o f the research material generated for the original project on Dakelh grammar (Poser, pers. comm., 24/10/04). Material for the dictionary comes from M orice’s writings, the Central Carrier Bilingual Dictionary (CLC 1974), N a k ’albun Whudakelhne Bughuni (Yinka Dene Language Institute (YDLI) and CLC 1991) and interviews with several native Dakelh speakers. Place-names were included in the lexicon along with other kinds o f cultural information such as the medicinal use o f plants and personal names (those o f distinctively Dakelh origin or borrowed from French or English). Such accommodations were made in the dictionary because it is the only available repository, at present, for such information (Poser, pers. comm., 24/10/04). Dictionary entries for toponyms contain a description o f location (including proximity and connection to other physiographic features), official and popular (unofficial) names, and on occasion, comments about etymology, folk interpretations and pronunciation. The most designated geographical features in the dictionary appear to be lakes, followed by islands, mountains and rivers. Thirty-three o f the 157 place-names are accompanied by etymologies, indicating that their meanings and linguistic constructions have been verified by T l’azt’en and N ak’azdli community language experts. The information provided on the place-names in the dictionary is useful in understanding the fine details o f Dakelh toponymy. When studying 55 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. the list o f place-names, it becomes apparent that many locally-used (unofficial) or popular names o f places are either translations or transliterations o f the original indigenous names. For instance, the Dakelh toponyms, Chuntsi Noo (“fir island”), Tsabunghun (“beaver lake”) and Dunih Noo (“kinnikinik island”) have English counterparts (or words borrowed into English such as “kinnikinik”, which is o f Algonquian origin), by which they are commonly known, that exactly reflect their translations. Other Dakelh place-names like Tootibun or Tooti, Ts’azcheh and Chuzghun have been borrowed into English and their sounds respectively transliterated (and indeed transformed) into the anglicized forms, Chuchi Lake, Kazchek Lake and Tezzeron Lake. Other interesting patterns concerning Dakelh toponymy emerge by way o f place-name referents. Oronyms, for example, seem to typically contain the terms, tse (“rock”), ti (“great”), dzulh (“mountain”), shus (“knoll”) or yus (the allomorph o f shus that appears in compounded forms o f place-names), as in Lhole Tse (no allogenous name), Sedlo Ti (no allogenous name), N ih Dzulh (no allogenous name), Shus Nadloh (Mount Milligan) and K ’azyus (Pinchie10 Mountain). As seen in earlier examples, not all place-names have referents indicative o f the physiographic features represented. Some examples o f toponyms that do not possess referents are N ak’al (Mount Pope), Tesgha (Pinchi Lake) and Tuseda (Tusayda Lake). However, some modem forms o f these original placenames affix referents to the names, reflecting perhaps the influence o f English place-naming conventions (Poser, pers. comm., 24/10/04). For instance, N ak’al is now alluded to as N ak’al Dzulh. and Tesgha, as Tesghabun. Further examples o f changes in names lie in how referents are altered in terms o f sound (and not meaning), as observed in the names, N ak’alghun 10 Poser (1998) uses two other spellings o f this name, Pinchi and Binche, in the lexicon. Binche is used to designate the village o f Binche, and is also (supposedly) the folk name for Pinchi Lake. Pinchie and Pinchi are used for the purpose o f differentiating between two similarly-sounding place-names that occur in two separate locations: Pinchie Mountain (K’azyus) situated in between Pinchi and Tezzeron lakes, and Pinchi Mountain (Betsen Dzulh), along the southern shores o f Pinchi Lake, in the area between Stuart Lake and Pinchi Lake. 56 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. (Stuart Lake), N ak’azdlung (outlet o f Stuart River, where the village o f N ak’azdli is located) and N ak’azlunkoh (Stuart River). The suffixes o f these names have fallen into disuse and have been replaced by other forms, so that they are now known as N ak’albun, N ak’azdli and N ak’alkoh (Poser 1998). Other than an opportunity to learn about Dakelh place-name trends, such as those discussed above, the dictionary also provides insight into a difference o f Dakelh placenames, which are rarely dedicatory o f people.11 Several names are, in fact, nominalizations o f verbs, which convey a sense o f vivacity. This characteristic, explored earlier in review o f M orice’s findings on Dakelh place-names, is worth illustrating further here, as names embody the distinctive quality o f communicating a complete thought (which sometimes covers quite elaborate information) in just two words: Ts’ulh Yalhduk (“helldiver speaks”), Duk’ai Dizti (“trout are expensive/ important”) and Sustunk’ut Nusuya (“a bear walked about on the ice”) (Poser 1998). While these are instances o f place-names that are based on nominalized verbs, the difference in tense between the first two names and the third is noteworthy. The past tense in the third place-name may indicate a happening o f historic significance, perhaps an exceptional event (as in the improbability o f bears being active in the middle o f winter) (Morris Joseph, CURA Place-Names Information Session (CPNIS), 13/05/04). REGAINING PLACE, LANGUAGE AND IDENTITY Despite the incursions o f government, missionaries, homesteaders and industry into their territory, T l’azt’enne have managed to negotiate a place for themselves in their territory (Morris 1999). Appeals to the government for more reserve land or to exchange existing 11 As exceptions, Jenicho Noo and Sisulk’ut are examples o f place-names that commemorate the elders who were once associated with these places. 57 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. reserves for more productive and valuable parcels o f land, the launching o f blockades and protests, seeking compensation for loss o f land and livelihood due to infrastructure development, securing timber rights through a Tree Farm Licence and the creation o f community economic development options summarize the strategies that have been employed by TFazt’enne to increase their land rights and to compel the government to recognize their aboriginal rights and title (Morris 1999). Since the rise o f native activism in the 1960s and 1970s, aboriginal groups have identified self-government as the basis for restoring and prolonging their cultures, traditional governance systems as well as their sense o f identity and worth (see McGregor 2000). To achieve control o f their own affairs, Tl’azt’enne have identified land, culture and education as the most critical components o f re­ building their community (see Tl’azt’en Nation n.d. b; CSTC 2006). The Treaty Negotiations Process Tl’azt’enne are presently involved in is based on the realization o f these selfdetermining components in the areas o f health, social welfare programmes, housing, economic development, conservation and ownership o f natural resources, and education. Two primary means o f achieving cultural continuity are being explored by T l’azt’enne: native language maintenance and the integration o f native language and culture in education (Tl’azt’en Nation n.d. b). Tl’azt’enne have been involved in language and cultural maintenance activities through the YDLI and the Chuntoh Education Society (Chuntoh). The YDLI represents speakers o f Carrier and Sekani, and operates in collaboration with government, tribal councils, schools and universities to address the issues o f native language revival, maintenance, documentation, teaching and curriculum development (YDLI, Current Projects n.d.). For instance, the Stuart-Trembleur lexicon project marks an important step in mapping the consistencies and changes in Dakelh grammar, usage, personal names and toponyms over time, and is o f considerable value in 58 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. terms o f the lexicon serving as a means o f preserving the N ak’azdli and T l’azt’en dialects in written form. The YDLI also serves as a depository o f linguistic and historical information on tape (YDLI, Current Projects 2004). For example, Dakelh language materials produced by the CLC (with funding from the Summer Institute o f Linguistics) in the 1970s are held by YDLI office in Vanderhoof, B.C. (Catherine Coldwell, pers. comm., 20/05/04). These materials offer a sample o f the pioneering work undertaken jointly by Dakelh speakers and linguists to record and teach the Dakelh language. Whereas the YDLI was founded by the CSTC and is an umbrella organization representing Carrier and Sekani speakers, Chuntoh specifically addresses Tl’azt’en needs in research and education. Like JPRF, Chuntoh is jointly managed by T l’azt’en Nation and UNBC, and is governed by a Board o f Directors with representation from these parties as well as School District 91. Concerned with promoting and supporting environmental education and cultural research, Chuntoh oversees outdoor experience programmes that combine TEK and conventional science concepts (Chuntoh Education Society pamphlet n.d.). A major project undertaken by Chuntoh is the running o f Yunk’ut Whe T s’o D u l’eh, the outdoor culture-based science camp programme offered to three local aboriginal schools and two local non-aboriginal elementary schools. Y u n k ’ut Whe T s ’o D u l’eh As with other aboriginal communities across Canada, Tl’azt’en Nation has recognized the crucial need to educate its children in the knowledge, language and values o f their ancestors. In 1995, Tl’azt’en Nation identified “[Tl’azt’en] culture and language [as] the fundamental building block for [their] future and survival as a Nation” (Tl’azt’en Nation 1995). In determining the means to ensure that Tl’azt’en culture and language learning continue among 59 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. younger Tl’azt’enne, Tl’azt’en Nation identified the need for the Dakelh oral tradition and the connection o f culture and language learning to seasonal activities related to land and water as essential parts o f developing a Tl’azt’en-centred education (TPazt’en Nation 1995). This need was put into motion through increased efforts in incorporating the Dakelh language and culture in the curricula o f both the Eugene Joseph School and the Tache Educational Centre. However, to bridge the gap between educating T l’azt’en children and youth in their culture and language, and motivating them to complete their basic education and pursue post­ secondary education, especially in the sciences and natural resource management, an on-theland programme was envisioned by TPazt’en Nation as an opportunity for cultural and scientific education in the context o f the land. In 2002, Chuntoh was established to address the need for an outdoor education programme that combines science and TEK. As part o f its goal o f promoting cross-cultural learning and stimulating interest in environmental studies, Chuntoh commissioned the development o f the Yunk’ut Whe T s’o D u l’eh outdoor culture-based science camp programme. The programme consists o f five modules based on the Dakelh seasonal round, which integrates TEK, technologies and subsistence activities with western science concepts and methods (Mitchell 2003). Offering hands-on learning activities targeted at Grades 5 and 6 students, the programme incorporates the British Columbia Ministry o f Education’s Prescribed Learning Outcomes for Science and Technology Studies (K-12). The topic content o f each module offers a rationale, learning objectives, a list o f suggested activities and resources, and corresponding grade-appropriate science skills that are addressed through the learning activities. For instance, Module 1, D a k ’et (Fall), introduces learners to the activities traditionally carried out by Tl’azt’enne during this season: the movement from summer fishing camps to keyohs\ subsistence activities engaged in during this season such as 60 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. fishing, trapping, and the gathering o f berries and other edible plants; and the instruction and training o f youngsters by means o f legends and stories, and through practical experience involving observing and tracking wildlife and manoeuvring a canoe. These traditional Dakelh activities serve as a basis for introducing conventional science topics such as ecology and species adaptation and interaction as well as the rituals associated with harvesting observed by generations o f TPazt’enne (Mitchell 2003). With funding from the First Nations Education Steering Committee in 2003, the D a k ’et (Fall) and Khit (Winter) modules o f Yunk’ut Whe T s’o D u l’eh were trialled with the participation o f school children from Tl’azt’en Nation, N ak’azdli First Nation and Yekooche First Nation. Since then, Chuntoh has received funding from Promo-Science, a National Science and Engineering Council o f Canada programme, for further development and implementation o f Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o D u l’eh (Sherry and Leon 2005). With ongoing financial support, the outdoor culture-based science camp programme can realize its long-term objectives o f increasing the participation o f elders and other cultural role models in the running o f the programme, training and employing community members in delivering programme modules, encouraging greater cross-cultural learning through the inclusion o f non-indigenous students in the programme, and promoting indigenous students with an exceptional interest in science in local environmental and monitoring projects. A critical means o f realizing particularly the last goal is by building into the Y unk’ut Whe Ts ’o D u l’eh programme a love for the land and a Dakelh sense o f place, which can be accomplished through teaching students the indigenous toponymy o f their territory. This study, through demonstrating the potential o f Dakelh place-names in educating about language, oral history and the land, points to the importance o f the land in giving Tl’azt’enne a sense o f cultural 61 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. identity and belonging. This understanding o f self is crucial for success in all aspects o f life, and carries immense implications in educating culturally and for individual empowerment. CONCLUSION Land is an indispensable part o f life for Tl’azt’enne. Today, Tl’azt’enne are active participants in protecting what remains o f their traditional territory and have entered into treaty negotiations as a means o f defining their future. The land remains the basis o f Tl’azten existence: people continue to depend on the land for subsistence, to define themselves, to communicate and to remember. Given that places on the land form a central part o f the Dakelh worldview, it is explicable that Tl’azt’enne see themselves as stewards o f the land, and their future defined through a greater role in maintaining their culture and way o f life by active participation in all aspects o f life, the foremost being education. To carry on teaching future generations about what it means to be TTazt’enne, places on the land must continue to exist. Without a land base, the power to self-determine, to find in indigenous language and culture the resources for building self-esteem and a positive indigenous identity, is undermined. The next chapter will present the methodology employed in this study. The chapter will outline the steps taken in working with TPazt’en Nation to compile and comprehend Dakelh toponymic knowledge. The process o f developing guidelines for the application o f this knowledge in the Yunk’ut Whe T s’o D u l’eh culture-based science camp programme will also be explained in Chapter Three. 62 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter Three: RESEARCH WITH TL’AZT’EN NATION: A COLLABORATION IN PLACE-NAMES RESEARCH INTRODUCTION Collaborative or cross-cultural research is a process whereby power is shared in the creation and validation o f knowledge (Gibbs 2001). When academics and indigenous groups choose to collaborate, not only are scholarly interpretations enriched to provide a broader perspective o f the issues under study; the opportunity for indigenous values, attitudes and practices to be brought to “the centre” is also engendered through such a partnership (Tuhiwai Smith 1999: 125). In late 2 0 0 3 ,1 was presented with an opportunity for collaborative research when UNBC was awarded a five-year Social Science and Humanities Research Council grant, the Community-University Research Alliance (CURA). The project, “Partnering for Sustainable Resource Management”, involves four research streams, defined by the Tl’a z f en as critical to their community sustainability: improved forest co-management, eco-tourism, science/environmental education and TEK (Tl’azt’en Nation &UNBC CURA 2005). This chapter describes the toponymy research that I undertook as part o f the Perpetuation o f T l’a z t’en Ecological Knowledge or TEK stream o f the CURA project. The methods employed in researching and documenting Dakelh toponymic information as well as the steps followed in applying this information will be discussed in this chapter. As a major objective o f the research conducted under the TEK stream is for T l’azt’en Nation to gather and transmit their cultural and ecological knowledge to all Tl’azt’enne, this chapter also serves as a guide for what to expect in terms o f the opportunities and challenges o f place- 63 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. names research, and offers a model for collecting, analyzing and interpreting place-names, which could prove beneficial for future work on indigenous place-names. THE RESEARCH PROCESS C ollaborative R esearch w ith T l’a z t ’en N ation Fieldwork entails a “betweeness o f place” (Perramond 2001: 154), much uncertainty and sites o f inquiry that are artificial in the sense that “the field” becomes dislocated from physical space and the flow o f time through the act o f marking boundaries, o f ascertaining “in” and “out” (Katz 1994:67). While a totally emic perspective is unattainable in research, an informed etic perspective is possible if the researcher is aware o f her/his own historical, gendered, political and cultural “situatedness” (Denzin and Lincoln 2000; Grenier 2000; Fair 1997; Baxter and Eyles 1996; Katz 1994). As an outsider, belonging to a different culture, I was aware that the study I was carrying out could be biased by my own perceptions o f how landscapes are perceived by the study community, the significance o f certain landscape features and ways o f interpreting place-name information. Throughout the research, I remained vigilant o f how such bias can influence the way data collection instruments are designed, which in turn influences responses (Dunn 2000). With the understanding o f how, in the past, research conducted in certain communities has had an adverse impact on people, becoming a means to repress and victimize (Gibbs 2001; Denzin and Lincoln 2000), this study tried to maintain transparency in all stages o f its inquiry. Throughout the fieldwork, I provided weekly reports to the CURA TEK Stream Tl’azt’en Leader Beverly Bird. This practice was an essential communication tool, and was circulated among a panel o f elders assigned to my project (see below) as well as Tl’azt’enne working on genealogy, education 64 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and place-names. In this way, the reports gave community members an opportunity to offer comments and corrections. To ensure that the study included and fairly represented TPazt’en perspectives, an atmosphere o f openness regarding the kinds o f information that were being collected, the goals o f the research and how the study could prove beneficial to the community was maintained throughout the research. Particularly during the fieldwork, it was possible for community members to question, scrutinize and offer suggestions concerning aspects o f the research that were either o f interest or concern to them. My draft thesis was also made available for review by Ms. Bird, Deborah Page (then CURA Science/Environmental Education Stream Tl’azt’en leader) and Beverly Leon (CURA Community Coordinator). Selection o fD a k e lh Toponvm s to R esearch In keeping with the principles o f community-based research (Gibbs 2001; Battiste and Henderson 2000; Grenier 1998; Tuhiwai Smith 1999; Hart 1995; Johnson 1992), of significant importance was conducting the study under the direction o f the Tl’azt’en community. The research methods and procedures, developed in adherence to protocol outlined in the T l’a z t’en Nation Guidelines fo r Research in T l’a z t’en Territory (TTazt’en Nation n.d. a,) were approved by both the UNBC Research Ethics Board (see Appendix 1) and TTazt’en Nation Chief and Council (Band Council Resolution no. 0520). To ensure community participation in the planning, execution and evaluation stages o f the research, the idea o f striking a steering committee made up o f community elders and researchers was proposed by Beverly Bird. The function o f the committee was intended as being two-fold: to choose the most suitable place-names for the study towards their incorporation into the Y unk’ut Whe T s’o D u l’eh programme as well as to provide advice as the research proceeded. 65 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. However, due to time and logistical constraints, Ms. Bird took on the responsibility of selecting the toponyms to be researched. This alteration in plans worked out well given Ms. Bird’s long-time involvement in Tl’azt’en cultural and treaty research and her lead role in the TEK stream o f the CURA project.1Ms. Bird was actively involved in disseminating information and seeking feedback about the place-names project, and was thus in regular contact with community elders and other cultural experts. One criterion used by Ms. Bird in selecting the toponyms was relative location: the practical consideration o f the proximity o f the named places to where the Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o Dul ’eh programme is held each year so that children who participate in this culture-based science camp programme can visit or at least see these places from where the camp is based. Hence, toponyms were chosen from within the John Prince Research Forest (JPRF) land base, the venue o f the Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o D u l’eh programme. Another criterion used by Ms. Bird was the physiographic or cultural-use descriptiveness o f place-names. Several types of watercourses, for example, were chosen because segments o f their names inform as to the direction o f the flow o f water. Place-names based on the types o f resources found on or near named features provided a third criterion. With these criteria in mind, Ms. Bird chose a total of nine2 place-names from within and adjacent to the JPRF for my study: two lakes (Pinchi and Tezzeron Lakes), one mountain (Pinchi Mountain), one island (no English or French 1It would be interesting to know how the suite o f study toponyms would have differed if the steering committee had chosen the place-names. However, given Tl’azt’en Nation’s determination to select the place-names for the study, it is understandable that the choice was in the end made by a community member, Ms. Bird, who is a geographer by training and who is well-versed in place-names research. 2 It should be noted that a trail was initially chosen by Ms. Bird; however, it was eventually omitted from the set o f study toponyms because o f the absence o f knowledge, among interview participants, o f its presence, exact whereabouts and name. A promontory on the western portion o f Tezzeron Lake was substituted for the trail but this place was also unfamiliar to interview participants, name- as well as use-wise, and thereby, eliminated from the set o f place-names. 66 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. name), two creeks (Hatdudatehl Creek and Tezzeron Creek), two lake outlets (no English or French names) and one river (Kuzkwa River).3 E xta n t Sources o f D a kelh T oponvm ic In form ation Over the years, T l’azt’enne have performed several studies either concerning or involving place-names. The band has built a 77 ’azt 'en Nation Place-Names Database, stemming from projects authorized and conducted by the band. The T l’a z t’en Place-Names Study (1996) and the T l’a z t’en Place-Names Project (2003) were specifically carried out to document Dakelh toponymy, the former concentrating on areas generally throughout the traditional territory, and the latter, the Stuart-Trembleur Lakes region. Two broader studies conducted by the Tl’azt’en Nation Treaty office— the Elders ’ Interviews (1984-1995)4 and the TT azt’en Traditional Use Study (TUS) (1998-1999)— produced some documentation o f Dakelh placenames in the context o f mapping land use and occupancy and elders’ life histories. A project carried out under the auspices o f the YDLI to compile a Dakelh language lexicon in 1994 involved verifying some o f Carrier place-names culled from the works o f the Oblate missionary, Adrien Gabriel Morice, and the recording o f additional place-names in interviews with Dakelh speakers. Other than these projects, maps created by the CSTC such as the Carrier- Sekani Territory Southern Section (1995) and the T T azt’en Nation Traditional Territory maps (2004) also make up sources o f Dakelh place-names and their locations. As a substantial collection o f place-names from within TTazt’en traditional territory has already been undertaken, my thesis research focussed on verification and content analysis 3 For a list o f the nine study place-names, see Figure 4.2 in Chapter Four. 4 A series o f interviews conducted to produce Tl’azt’en and Nak’azdli elder biographies. 67 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. o f the nine study place-names. A considerable amount o f primary source information came from the 1996 and 2003 projects, which produced an index card notation system o f placenames and mylar overlays depicting locations o f traditional toponyms. This method o f documenting toponyms was used in the T l’a z t’en TUS (1998-1999) and the T l’a z t’en PlaceNames Study (1996), cataloguing information by map number, landform, associated legend or myth, natural resource and cultural site. From these and various other cultural research projects spearheaded by Tl’azt’en Nation, the community has developed a computer database, known as the T l’a z t’en Nation Place-Names Database, which serves as a depository o f Dakelh toponyms collected from within the Tl’azt’en traditional territory. Base information on the study toponyms, such as map number, location, type o f feature, English name and translation, was obtained by Ms. Bird for my research from this database. Because information gaps exist in the database records o f the study place-names, it was necessary to review recordings and transcripts o f past interviews, particularly those conducted with keyoh family members whose lands fall within the study area. Interviews o f interest were those pertaining to folklore, oral histories and traditional use o f lands and resources projects such as the Elders Interviews (1984-1995) and 77 ’azt ’en TUS (1998-1999). I examined the transcripts o f these projects for references in the form o f legends, stories, environmental, cultural and traditional use information, to places and toponyms in the study area. In the past, individuals with an interest in the history o f their family’s keyoh have also collected keyoh place-names from their oldest living family members and used them to construct maps o f their hunting and trapping territories. While I was unable to view these 68 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. maps5, many o f my research participants talked o f there being such a thing as keyoh placenames, exclusive to family members who hold the territory. These place-names may exist outside the band’s place-names database. Published and other non-Tl’azt’en works containing reliable, thoroughly- researched and analytical information on Dakelh place-names are few. As described in Chapter Two, I identified eleven works that, refer to some o f the study place-names6: M orice’s Au Pays de L ’ours Noir- Chez les Sauvages de Colombie Britannique (1897), History o f the Northern Interior o f British Columbia (1978 [1904]), British Columbia Maps and Place-Names (1907), The Carrier Language (1932), and Carrier Onomatology (1933); Steward’s field notes (c.1940); CLC’s Central Carrier Country (1974); Kobrinsky’s The Tsimshianization o f the Carrier Indians (1977); Akrigg and Akrigg’s British Columbia Place Names (1986); H all’s The Carrier, M y People (1992); YDLI’s N a k ’albun/Dzinghubun W hut’en BughuniStuart/Trembleur Lake Carrier Lexicon (1998); and Nak’azdli First Nation’s Nak'azdli t ’enne Yahulduk- N a k ’azdli Elders Speak (2001). Each o f these works provides a piece o f the puzzle that is Dakelh toponymy.7 These works were helpful in obtaining background information on the study place-names as well as methodological suggestions about the kinds o f issues to consider when conducting research on Dakelh topoynmy. Location, alternate names, etymology, physiographic nomenclature, local geography and history, and variant spellings o f names are all useful in coming to a fuller understanding o f place-names. However, the information obtained on the set o f study place-names from these sources was 5 Tl’azt’en Nation has chosen to restrict access to some o f its internally-generated maps and documents during treaty negotiations, due to the potentially sensitive nature o f these materials. 6 Specifically, there was no published information available on four o f the place-names: Tezzeron Creek, Hatdudatehl Creek, the mouth o f Pinchi Creek and the island at the far eastern end o f Pinchi Lake. 7 See Chapter Two for a discussion o f each work. 69 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. basic and fragmented, and seldom went beyond a passing mention o f the names. It failed to uncover important particulars about oral history, the traditional subsistence lifestyle and the Dakelh language. Hence, after comparison o f information on the study place-names from extant materials (place-names database, folklore, elder life histories, and interview transcripts from cultural and forestry projects), it was evident that I needed to carry out interviews to seek the knowledge central to the aims o f my project. P articip a n t Selection Several facets o f the nine place-names had to be verified, including spelling, dialect, location, translation, meaning and whether the places were associated with any stories or legends. These gaps or discrepancies in the information called for interviews with cultural experts, TTazt’enne who are knowledgeable about the Dakelh language, traditions and life on the land. For this purpose, it was important first to gain an understanding o f the T l’azt’en-led place-names studies that had been undertaken to date through preparatory interviews with community researchers who were part o f these studies. As a result, I interviewed Renel Mitchell (Researcher, Traditional Use Study 1999), Margaret Mattess and Pauline Joseph (Researchers, Tl’azt’en Place-Names Project 2003) and Beverly Bird (Researcher, TTazt’en Place-Names Study 1996) about the purpose o f the TTazt’en place-names research projects, methodology employed, and areas o f interest within the TTazt’en traditional territory. I also asked for suggestions as to whom I should interview for my research; each person provided the names o f a number o f TTazt’enne who are either members of families whose keyohs belong in the study area or who are regarded by the TTazt’en community as being practised in the Dakelh language and culture. This list o f names served as a launching point for the recruitment o f participants for both the pre-test and formal interviews o f this research. 70 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. To ensure representativeness in the choice o f TPazt’enne to interview, I employed a “snowballing” technique based on a peer recommendation process.8 In streamlining lists o f potential interview participants to achieve a “requisite” list o f Tl’azt’enne who have knowledge o f places within or in the vicinity o f the study area, people were asked to rank their nominees according to two categories: Category I, comprising the five most important individuals to interview about Dakelh toponyms in the JPRF area, and Category II, comprising other individuals generally knowledgeable in the Dakelh language and culture. Originally, my plan was to invite persons receiving a nomination in Category I, and to those receiving two votes in Category II. Despite the lists o f potential interview participants seeming at first rather meagre, considerable overlap was obvious after the first five formal interviews had been held.9 The lists converged upon individuals (mostly elderly males)10 belonging to the Monk, Tom and Pierre families, whose keyohs are intersected by the study area. Accordingly, the list of Tl’azt’enne knowledgeable about the JPRF area was determined. 8 This is a modified version o f the process developed for a Forestry Innovations Investments (FII) project (Sherry and Fondahl 2004), which is in turn a modified version o f the Aboriginal Forestry Planning Process (AFPP) expert selection method that was developed by Dr. Erin Sherry and Melanie Karjala (Karjala and Sherry 2003). 9 A total o f twelve people were nominated as research participants; ten o f these twelve people were available to be interviewed. 10 Several people explained to me that knowledge o f the keyoh and livelihood related to hunting and trapping is passed down from father to son. My pool o f pre-test and formal interviewees involved individuals ranging from 40 to 80 years old, with the majority o f individuals being male. Only one younger male interviewee, Johnny Tom (early thirties), was nominated, and the general impression received from several community members was that he seemed to be “an exception to the rule”, in that most youth do not know the Dakelh language or the land as well as their fathers and grandfathers. 71 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Interview s The literature on working with indigenous peoples’ knowledge advises against the use o f formal questionnaires (Grenier 1998; Tobias 2000; Hart 1995; Johnson 1992). Research participants tend to be intimidated by such a mode o f idea exchange and alternatively, relate better to informal, “non-Cartesian” approaches to sharing knowledge through the medium o f stories and firsthand, personal experiences. Given the very specific task o f collecting information on nine place-names, I decided that the use o f an interview guide, consisting o f open-ended questions, would contribute both to consistent final documentation and provide my interviewees with the chance to freely express their understandings and knowledge o f places and place-names. Therefore, a set o f questions was devised, pre-tested and revised before interviews were carried out. The interview guide was designed to verify and expand on information from the place-names projects community members have carried out themselves or participated in, on the nine selected place-names in and around the JPRF. I wished to address the knowledge gaps in the information available on the chosen toponyms from published sources and Tl’a z f en-produced repertories (i.e., T l’a z t’en Nation Place-Names Database, place-names index-card notation system, maps and dictionaries) by eliciting additional information through interviews. Prior to pre-testing, the interview package (consisting o f letter o f introduction, project summary, consent form11 and questions) was distributed to Margaret Mattess, Pauline Joseph, 11 While some scholars (e.g. Davison et al. (2006)) question the cultural appropriateness o f the use o f consent forms, Tl’az’ten CURA research team members advocate the need for obtaining the consent o f community members who are participants in research projects. During the course o f this study, my Tl’azt’en collaborators (Beverly Bird, Morris Joseph and Beverly Leon) participated in vetting the wording o f the consent form used, and in explaining to participants its use in my research. Furthermore, the T l’a z t’en Nation Guidelines fo r Research in T T azt’en Territory (see Section 3) stipulate the obligation for researchers to obtain the consent o f Tl’azt’enne involved in research. 72 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and Beverly Bird for review. Their feedback with regards to the ordering and wording o f interview questions, content o f the letter o f introduction, and information layout and wording o f the consent form assisted in refining these documents for the purposes o f clarity, cultural appropriateness, and easy reading. Pre-testing was initially planned with three participants, using the questions and maps prepared for formal interview. To ensure age and gender representation, Beverly Bird recommended three persons. In the end, only one pre-test (with Theresa Austin) was carried out, due to the others’ unavailability.12 To compensate for the loss o f other opportunities to pre-test the interview questions, Ms. Bird delivered the interview guide for review to notable community members who have been involved in directing or running Dakelh language programmes or in Dakelh cultural research (Catherine Coldwell, Betsy Leon and Margaret Mattess). An evaluation o f the readability o f maps, content, wording and timing o f questions, as well as the length o f the interview was solicited from Theresa Austin and the other reviewers, and the feedback was used to fine-tune the interview guide as well as my interviewing technique. All research participants received an interview package, hand-delivered by Beverly Leon and Morris Joseph (Researcher, Tl’azt’en Treaty O ffice)13. The package consisted o f a letter o f invitation summarizing the objectives o f the research, an informed consent form, and a copy o f the interview guide (see Appendix 2). The chance to preview the interview questions helped nominees decide if they wanted to participate, and prepared them in advance for the kinds o f issues that would be discussed during the interview. 12 All those recommended by Ms. Bird did suggest names o f individuals to interview. 13 Mr. Joseph was assigned by Ms. Bird to my project as co-interviewer and translator. As former Tl’az’ten Band Chief (1990-1992), he is well-known and respected in the Tl’azt’en community. 73 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Formal interviews were then conducted with Pierre John, Walter Joseph Sr., Robert Hanson, Sophie Monk, Frank Duncan, Louise Alexis, Elsie Alexis, Catherine Coldwell, Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom.14 The interviews were held in Tache, either at the Tl’azt’en Education Library or in the homes o f interviewees, with the exception o f three: one was held at the interviewee’s home in Binche, the other two in Fort St. James, at the JPRF office and Camp Morice.15 During interviews, the participants were shown m aps16 o f the study area, and the toponyms o f interest were either pointed to or referred to by their allogenous (English or French) names. The participants were then asked for the traditional Dakelh names o f the nine places, any alternate names, dialectal affinity, and literal translations and glosses17. They were asked to expound on translations and interpretations in light o f the eco-cultural attributes o f the places, and to focus especially on those places they knew most about. The probes used to elicit information were: How long has this place-name been in existence? Is it known popularly by community members, young and old alike? Is it used elsewhere in the traditional territory? Are there any legends or stories connected to it? 14 All interviewees received an honorarium for their participation in the research. The pre-test interviewee’s, participation was acknowledged with a gift. TTazt’en researchers feel strongly about giving credit to TTazt’enne who have contributed their knowledge or perspectives to research projects, on condition that the participants are comfortable with having their identities revealed. The consent form used in this study gave interviewees the option o f electing to either have their name mentioned or withheld in the thesis and ensuing publications; all interviewees chose to be identified. 15 All participants were interviewed once, with the exception o f Robert Hanson, whose interview required two sessions. I interviewed all participants (with Morris Joseph’s assistance in three interviews), except for Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom, who were interviewed by Beverly Leon. 16 An orthophoto o f the JPRF area was also available to research participants as an extra recall aid; most participants preferred the map as a way to locate and remember places over the aerial depiction. TTazt’en Nation intended to provide ground photographs o f the nine places whose toponyms were under study but in the end, did not. 17 In the context o f toponymy, once the literal translation o f a place-name is obtained, it is oftentimes necessary to obtain a gloss or meaning o f the place-name based on its root words. This is important in making the placename understandable in English. An example is the Dakelh place-name Tsinteltehnoola, which literally translates as “burbot [lingcodj-underwater-island” (Poser 1998: 302). A gloss for this place-name, “island where lingcod are found underwater”, enables speakers o f English to form a general understanding o f this toponym’s meaning. 74 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. While the interview guide was always at the interviewees’ and my disposal, participants were free to converse about subjects not directly related to toponymy but all the same lent insight into the importance o f the land to Tl’azt’enne. Hence, the interviews contain sections where participants discuss life before the land was settled by Europeans, childhood days spent in the bush or visiting other villages, harvest activities, places in their own keyohs, changes to places on the land and the consequences these changes will bring to future generations. These episodes o f “straying” from interview questions not only proved to be an “ice-breaker”, allowing the opportunity for better acquaintance between researcher and participant, but provided the context for understanding “the ‘cultural logic’ on which ideas [stemming from the interviews] rest” (McCracken 1988:25, quotes in original). Impromptu and exploratory moments in the interviews presented opportunities to gain perspective on the cultural norms, symbols and ways o f knowing o f my research participants, which I believe has drawn me to a more inclusive understanding o f TPazt’en toponymy and its context. On a deeper level, these moments epitomized the idea that the landscape performs an important role in the make up of identity and sense o f place, rendering an understanding o f how places on the land are experienced and internalized by Tl’azt’enne. A challenge that I faced during the interviewing stage was “elder burnout” . Two nominated individuals refused to participate in the research, as they were weary o f being tapped for information. I also listened to many complaints from interviewees and colleagues at the Tl’azt’en Treaty Office that many elders felt that they were sharing their knowledge in research projects with no obvious or concrete returns to the community. It is clear that many are uncomfortable with the idea o f a formal, sit-down interview, and it is regrettable that given logistic and time constraints, other methods o f gathering information such as interviewing at fishing camps or while taking a tour o f the land, could not be arranged. These 75 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. opportunities may have helped in gaining further insight into indigenous conceptions o f place and may have lent an understanding, within the proper social context, o f the value o f such wisdom and its application (Johnson 1992).18Nevertheless, as the topic o f place-names was o f interest to the Tl’azt’en community at large, I was able to interview the majority o f recommended interview participants who imparted valuable knowledge on the place-names o f interest as well as information from their involvement in other place-names and Dakelh language projects. Therefore, although I could not experience in person the places whose names I studied, I learned about them through the knowledge and understandings shared with me by interviewees who have experienced them firsthand. Co-interviewing with a community member who is fluent in English and Dakelh and has considerable experience in the interviewing was a benefit to the research project. I was indeed fortunate to have been able to work closely with Morris Joseph. While most interviewees were able to understand the interview questions without hesitation and express themselves confidently in English, a few needed questions re-phrased or translated into Dakelh. Mr. Joseph’s presence at the interviews assuaged the formal “research atmosphere” with a measure o f conviviality and reassurance, and he was able to clarify responses as 18 In view o f the ambiguity that can arise from similar sounding English and Dakelh toponyms that designate entirely different locations or geographical features, it would have been very beneficial to have visited the place-name sites in person for the reasons given by Ludger Miiller-Wille (1985). Miiller-Wille (1985) points not only to the methodological importance o f documenting the precise locations o f place-names to avert the problem o f confusing the true whereabouts o f similar sounding names but stresses that noting the relative position o f the places in question to main reference points such as nearby mountains, lakes, rivers, etc. as well as characteristics o f the places themselves, would greatly add to building a context from which to understand how place-names work and their significance to people. Regrettably, in this study, GPS locations nor a visual record consisting o f photographs or video-recordings could be taken o f the place-name sites. It is quite possible that not seeing the places in person has resulted in only a partial appreciation, on my part, o f the place-names and what they mean to Tl’az’tenne. On the other hand, my not seeing the nine places has perhaps resulted in my putting less o f an outsider’s filter on what I heard in interviews; I was able to focus on what people were telling me about the places and their names without subjecting their words through particular notions I would have formed through seeing the places. 76 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. needed. Having a Tl’azt’en community member share in the query helped ensure that the research was a community-focussed project. The interviews ended with an invitation to participants to share other information about Dakelh place-names they felt important, and to recommend others to interview.19 Two interviews were video-recorded, the rest audio-recorded. Recordings were requested by TPazt’en Nation, for archival purposes as well as to allow the interviewers the opportunity to focus primarily on facilitating the interviews rather than note-taking. Mona Anatole, Tl’azt’en Treaty Researcher, and I transcribed the interviews with Morris Joseph’s assistance in translating the portions carried out in Dakelh. Original copies o f recordings and transcripts are archived at the TPazt’en Nation Treaty office. DATA MANAGEMENT, ANALYSIS AND VERIFICATION C ontent A nalysis Once interviews were translated and transcribed, content analysis began, whereby data were structured “to identify patterns within the text” (Kitchin and Tate 2000:225). This was accomplished through the coding and summarizing o f data, to ultimately arrive at “how participants coproduce ...m eaning” (Silverman 2000:831). Content analysis undertaken in this research, therefore, can be described as involving a “systematic study o f messages conveyed in the text” (Sherry 2004a:4), consisting o f three steps: “data reduction, data display and conclusion drawing” (Sherry 2004b:2). The first stage o f the content analysis process consisted of evaluating each preparatory, pre-test and formal interview transcript for key words or phrases. The utterances 19 Many interviewees named Chief Harry Pierre (then chief o f the CSTC, formerly chief o f Tl’azt’en Nation (2000-2002) as an individual to interview, particularly about the western portion o f the study area which embraces his family’s keyoh. Several attempts were made by myself, Beverly Bird and Beverly Leon to arrange a meeting with C hief Pierre but due to his schedule he was not able to meet. 77 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. o f interest to my study pertained to toponymy, geographical nomenclature, legends or stories, language, keyoh, subsistence or habitat information, and environmental, social and cultural change. As these utterances were flagged, general annotations were made for each word or phrase with m used to indicate memos or notes about the transcript data, and i used to indicate my own thoughts about the data (Kitchin and Tate 2000: 237-238).20 This exercise constituted a pre-analytical phase in the content analysis process with the recording o f “first impressions” o f transcript data. At this point, observations were made only on the basis o f individual transcripts to get a sense o f the assumptions and beliefs that spring from the key utterances contained in each (McCracken 1988). The next step was to undertake a comparison o f observations from each transcript in seeking links between them. Further annotation took place, giving rise to more developed observations. These observations, in turn, revealed that a process o f categorizing and linking was occurring, where the focus o f the analysis turned away from the main body o f the transcript to my own observations on the segments o f text from which they emerged (McCracken 1988). The assessment o f observations from each transcript provided a means to gain deeper insight into my data by stimulating thought on the grounds on which the data could be assigned to categories. This process involved considering my research questions together with my observations on the interview data to develop a series o f themes or master categories (Kitchin and Tate 2000). The final step in the content analysis stage consisted o f a review and categorization o f all the annotations I had generated. This entailed the coding o f observations, where utterances and 20 Annotations were initially made by hand in the margins o f downloaded transcripts. When these annotations were completed for all interview transcripts, they were compiled by interview with their corresponding utterances and typed in a Word document. The Word document for each interview consisted o f a two-columned table, where utterances were placed in one column, and their corresponding memos and ideas in the other column. The utterances and annotations were then numbered. 78 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. their corresponding annotations were grouped under themes. From this point onwards, it was possible to map out the linkages between themes (McCracken 1988) and to see the progression from the concrete and descriptive in the original transcripts to the abstract and interpretative in the themes developed (Holland 1995). After the interview data were analyzed, it was presented to the community for verification and feedback. Community review o f the content analysis was vital in terms o f ensuring that the information was accurate and interpreted properly, as complete as possible, and that the analysis was representative o f Tl’az’ten values (Sherry 2004b: 20). A copy o f the draft thesis was delivered to Beverly Bird for comment as well as to Renel Mitchell, Beverly Leon, and Deborah Page , who were identified by Ms. Bird because o f their knowledge o f Tl’azt’en culture and experience in the conduct o f qualitative research.21 A panel o f elder experts, known as the Tl’azt’en Place-Names Committee, was consulted to verify the findings on each study place-name. Chosen by Beverly Bird and Deborah Page, the Committee consisted o f Catherine Coldwell22, Mildred Martin, Pierre John, Sophie Monk, Helen Johnnie and Betsy Leon. The Tl’azt’en Place-Names Committee was asked to review my interpretation o f interview data on each place-name, and to respond to specific questions geared at addressing gaps in the research such as the uses o f places and 2IA11 four women have worked in various capacities in Tl’azt’en-led and Tl’azt’en-UNBC joint research projects. Deborah Page, then leader o f the CURA Tl’az’ten Science and Tradition (Education) research stream is a long-standing and active member o f the CLC, an independent advisory body that provides support to Dakelh language and culture programmes in the Nak’azdli and Tl’azt’en communities. She facilitates language meetings, as part o f the CLC’s efforts to maintain the Dakelh language. Renel Mitchell who has lived and worked for many years among TTazt’enne, has been involved in developing the Yunk ’ut Whe Ts ’o Dul ’eh culture-based outdoor science camp programme, and has worked on the CURA project as a community researcher. Beverly Leon is CURA Tl’azt’en Research Coordinator. Through her work in coordinating research and educational activities related to the JPRF, Ms. Leon has been an active promoter o f Tl’azt’en values in resource management. She has presented at conferences focussed on sustainable resource management and has also worked as a module instructor for the UNBC Field Applications in Resource Management course. 22 Mrs. Coldwell (nee Bird) is a founding member o f the CLC. She collaborated with linguists such as Richard Walker, David Wilkinson and Shirley Walker, and William Poser on dictionary, place-names and traditional plant use projects, and continues to be involved in Dakelh language and cultural programmes. 79 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. linguistic make-up and spellings o f place-names. I prepared a place-names verification document for this purpose, which was delivered to Beverly Leon and Deborah Page, who facilitated the verification sessions.231 believe this protected the indigenous concepts, terms and place-names used in the thesis from being misconstrued, misrepresented or ignored altogether. As far as minimizing error in the form o f inaccuracy, memory attrition or misrepresentation on the part o f interviewees, I was often struck by the level o f accuracy and honesty they strived towards. When a participant was doubtful about a place-name, its meaning, location or related narratives, he or she was inclined to not comment on it in the interview, and in some cases, even offered to consult someone else who might be more sure. As one participant emphasized during an interview, “I don’t know that one. I can’t just make it up. That wouldn’t be telling the truth” (Walter Joseph, CURA Place-Names Interview (CPNI), 2/06/04). G uidelines for the In corporation o f D akelh T oponym y into Y u n k ’u t Whe T s ’o D u l ’eh With the feedback from the Tl’azt’en Place-Names Committee, I revised my analysis accordingly (Chapter Four), and began work on developing guidelines for the incorporation of the toponymic information into the Yunk’ut Whe T s ’o D u l’eh culture-based outdoor science camp programme. In considering how toponymy offers opportunities to learn about land, language and oral history, I found Adele Pring’s (1999) paper inspirational. Pring’s ideas o f Mapping, Locational Distribution, Directional Skills and Decision-Making, on which 23 Two verification sessions were held. The first session was held 27-28/04/05 to address general questions I had on the study area as well as specific questions related to the each o f the study place-names such as physiographic and biotic descriptions, traditional uses o f the named place, spelling(s), and legends or stories associated with the named place. Beverly Leon and Deborah Page co-facilitated this session. After examining and incorporated this information into my thesis, I still had questions; thus, a follow-up session was arranged with the Tl’azt’en Place-Names Committee (16/12/05 and 6/01/06). Deborah Page facilitated the December verification meeting, she and I facilitated the January 2006 meeting together. The original tape recordings o f these sessions are housed at the Tl’azt’en Treaty Office. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. she has developed a basis for introducing TEK o f place in geography curriculum not only proved useful as a starting point in conceptualizing the drafting o f the guidelines but modelled a creative way to develop progressive approaches to teaching about the relationship between aboriginality and the land. The drafting o f the guidelines or curricular suggestions was based on four themes that emerged from the content- analysis stage o f the research: 1) Place-Names as Indicators of Dakelh Geographical and Historical Knowledge; 2) Place-Names Commemorative o f the Ancestral Past; 3) The Role o f Place-Names in Educating about Land and Language; and 4) The Role o f Place-Names in Educating about Conquest and Re-Conquest. As part o f this process, it was necessary to consult the British Columbia Ministry o f Education’s curriculum documents, the Integrated Resource Packages K-7, as well as, the Y unk’ut Whe Ts ’o Dul ’eh culture-based outdoor science camp programme, to ascertain how place-names could be drawn into the science camp curriculum. A battery o f prescribed learning outcomes was obtained from the Integrated Resource Packages K-7 to form an understanding o f the key concepts and skills that are taught in Grades 5 and 6 (the targeted grade level for the outdoor science camp programme). With this information, it was possible to gain insight into the Yunk’ut Whe T s’o D u l’eh programme participants’ knowledge base, skill level, and expected learning attainments, and to develop an understanding o f the types o f learning activities the participants would benefit from. Upon review o f the Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o D u l’eh programme, a list o f topics was identified according to whether they addressed water travel, traditional subsistence activities, and places o f cultural and resource importance to match the four themes generated from content-analysis o f the study place-names. Through this identification, it was then possible to create a five-step process that served as a method for supplementing the topics with place-names content (see Chapter Five). Additionally, a 81 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. sample set o f questions and activity ideas was developed on the basis o f one toponym to illustrate an application for these guidelines (see Chapter Five). It is hoped that these guidelines and sample lesson ideas will aid in making the place-names information gathered and analyzed through this research available in a variety o f ways to Tl’azt’en children and youth. Because o f the interdisciplinary nature o f the subject matter o f the study place-names (i.e., navigational, environmental, historical, and political), the information will find relevance beyond its environmental, science and social studies applications in the outdoor science camp programme. Hence, given that sense o f place is the underlying theme o f the toponymic information, its applicability is foreseen in daily school life, even in the humanities-based subjects o f language arts and fine arts.24 CONCLUSION This chapter, in detailing the methodology o f my study, has traced the collaboration between Tl’azt’en Nation and m yself in researching nine Dakelh place-names o f the JPRF area. From the study’s inception to its end, Tl’azt’en Nation members selected the research topic, choose the place-names to be researched, determined the participants to interview, and provided feedback as the research developed through the fieldwork, analytical and final write-up phases. In return, I have contributed to this partnership by modelling how toponymic information can be analyzed, interpreted, validated, and utilized in an educational programme, the Yunk’ut Whe T s’o D u l’eh culture-based outdoor science camp programme. 24 This expectation finds validity in TTazt’en Nation’s expression o f interest for the development o f educational materials such as a place-names workbook that can be used at the Eugene Joseph School in Tache (CURA Steering Committee Meeting, March 2006). The Chuntoh Education Society, which oversees the delivery o f educational programmes in the JPRF, and the CURA Science and Tradition (Education) research stream will take on the task o f creating such educational materials from the toponymic information produced through this research. A copy o f the draft thesis was sent for comment to both the Chuntoh Education Society and the CURA Education stream parties through Beverly Leon and Deborah Page. 82 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. In the following chapter, a profile o f each o f the nine place-names examined in this research is given. Through a reflection o f what each topoynm contains, it will become apparent why place-names continue to be an important part o f the Dakelh culture. The placenames examined function beyond merely marking or indicating places; rather, they are rich in information that relates the intricacies o f the Dakelh language, history, ancestral personalities, and the land. 83 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter Four: THE LAND IN LANGUAGE: DAKELH GEOGRAPHICAL NOMENCLATURE AND PLACE-NAMES INTRODUCTION This chapter offers a discussion o f the nine Dakelh toponyms that were examined in this research. A place-name profile will be given for each study place-name, consisting of linguistic, historical and social descriptions gathered from interviews as well as documentary sources o f Dakelh language and culture. In providing the necessary context from which to understand the nine Dakelh toponyms, this chapter will profile the geographical terms that are common to the place-names under study. It is important to consider these terms as they disclose topographic knowledge that is necessary for appreciating the environmental knowledge contained in or associated with the toponyms. The descriptions o f geographical terms are based on information gathered through the place-names verification process and written sources, and explain how the terms function as toponymic referents or designators. Through the profiles o f toponyms and geographical terms, Dakelh place-naming traditions are better understood, aiding comprehension o f the significance o f the land to Dakelhne. DAKELH GEOGRAPHICAL NOMENCLATURE From the way Athapaskan place-names are linguistically structured, it is apparent that the land is mirrored in language. Place-names, especially those designating water bodies, are often based on a system o f words indicating location, which are at times accompanied by affixes that delineate direction as well as distance (Henry and Henry 1969; Lord 1996). The system o f directionals is complex and defined according to the flow o f rivers or the main 84 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. waterways in a watershed that aid in orienting and guiding people as they travel between places, allowing for a depiction o f the geography o f Athapaskan movement and settlement through toponymy (Henry and Henry 1969; Munro 1945; Kari 1996a). The geographical terms in place-names, for instance, demonstrate how rivers and streams are designated, which is significant in view o f how major rivers or parts o f streams flowing past villages might have once been used to mark territorial boundaries as well as to determine one’s whereabouts (Munro 1945; Kari 1996a). Designated “the river”, these fluvial arteries likely symbolized the pathway o f commerce and contact between different groups o f people (Munro 1945). Hence, names o f major waterways such as Yukon, Tsutsi and Skeena all denote “the river” (Munro 1945) that served to transport people to and from other territories. If main waterways served as thoroughfares that linked settlements to distant territories, their tributaries were used to travel within local territories. These waters were part o f “everyday” survival systems, linking people to fish lakes, family hunting and trapping territories and other inland places. The toponyms o f tributaries reflect their function, suggesting the types o f subsistence resources found in them as well as in areas surrounding them (Munro 1945). In this sense, rivers and streams are akin to trails that facilitate travel and survival, each marking boundaries and directions through their names. Along with the toponyms that represent other geographical features, river and stream names form “multifunctional sign networks” that are part o f the make-up o f Athapaskan cognitive maps (Kari 1996b: 443; Kari 1996a). Directionals can be evidenced in geographical terms that act as the physiographic referents o f place-names (see Saxon et al. 2002). In TTazt’en territory where rivers and lakes abound, the most common directional terms are those that describe the course or flow o f streams and rivers (see Chapter Five). These trails o f water, which lead into or out o f lakes, operate much like a compass in describing the alignment and inter-connectivity o f places. 85 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. When common directional terms are coupled with prefixes and suffixes, they become specific, in the sense that location is dependent on the speaker’s (or traveller’s) perspective (Henry and Henry 1969; Jett 1997). A sample o f Dakelh geographical terms that are referents in the study place-names or connected lexically to these referents is given in the following table. For reasons of convenience, they are grouped according to whether they are water places, land places close to or on water, or terrestrial places. A close examination o f these terms reveals some interesting differences between Dakelh and English designations o f geographical features. For instance, in Dakelh, there are three different terms for river mouth, a term to indicate the point at which a river merges with a lake, a term to describe the reach o f a cliff into water, terms to distinguish between mountains that are treed and bare, and a term for rocks used to set fishing nets (Poser 1998). 86 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Water places ’ukoh (river, creek or stream) ’ukoh whuyaz (creek or stream) kootVat (headwater) Ihghaninli (meandering stream) Rivers/streams/creeks: Ihghaneninli (the end o f the current, the point at which the current o f a river is no longer discernible after the river enters a lake) talhtus (torrent or rapid) duyo (rapids, whitewater) River/stream mouths: nus suli (river mouth) took’eche (where a river/stream/creek ts’eninli-un (river outlet) enters a body o f water) Lakes: bunghun (lake) buncho (big lake) Ihutacho (middle o f lake) tizdli (outlet o f lake) bunyaz (little lake, pond) Bavs: tl'oh (bay) tatVoh (inlet) tVohwhucho (gulf) Land places on or close to water Islands: noo (island) nooyaz (islet) noo nulat-i (floating island) took’echenoo (river delta, island in the mouth o f a river) tachenoo (delta) Reefs: takadiz’ai (reef) tatse (rock in water) tandunit’ai (cliff goes into water) sainoo (shoal) Points: whulatoh (end, extremity, point o f land in water) 87 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Shores: taba (shore or beach between high-water line and water) tabasaik’ut (beach) busk’ut (riverbank) bunba (shore o f lake) ’ukooba (shore o f river) Extremities o f lakes: tatl’ah (understood as “head o f lake” in talhdzulh (outlet part o f lake) English but “end o f the lake” in Dakelh. taldzul (open water near outlet of -T l’a means “posterior” and indicates the lake which never freezes, though farthest point from the lake outlet) surrounded by ice) Land places Mountains: dzulhzai (bare mountain) dzulh (mountain above timber line) dzulh-eguz (valley or mountain pass) Knolls/Hills/Ridges: shus/yus (crest o f hills, timbered mountain, hill or knoll) handunit’ai-i (hill) hawhodit’ai (hill) haoodilyya-un (rolling hills) whenun (hillside) tl’ada (hilltop) Rocks: tse (rock) tsecho (boulder) tset’ezch ’eh (rock cliff) tsedlooh (rock anchor for fish net) tse’an (rock cave) tsewhedankat (crag) tsezus (moraine) Figure 4.1 A Sample o f Dakelh Geographical Terms. SOURCE: Poser 1998. 88 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. G eographical Term s A sso cia ted w ith D a kelh T oponvm s R esea rch ed The central place that landscape occupies in Dakelh thought can be witnessed in the Dakelh language through special terms used to describe the state o f geographical features. For example, there are several nominalized verbs used specifically to describe “contained” bodies o f water such as lakes and ponds as opposed to “flowing” bodies o f water like rivers and streams. In this case, the prefix, to-1, indicates the body o f water designated and the verb stem tells whether it is long or wide: Tanyiz= it (the lake or pond referred to) is long [dinyiz=long] Tantel- it (the lake or pond referred to) is wide \dintel=wide] Tadindat= it (the lake or pond referred to) is narrow [dindat=narrow] (Poser 1998:282-285) In addition, to- can be combined with d-, to give a more detailed description o f lakes and ponds. For instance, the d-form can show that some aspect o f a lake or pond is more important in distinguishing it from another lake or pond o f comparable dimensions: Tadinyiz= it (the long and narrow lake or pond referred to) is long [here the length o f the lake is emphasized over the width o f the lake] Tadintel= it (the long and narrow lake or pond referred to) is wide [here the width o f the lake is emphasized over the length o f the lake] (Poser 1998: 282-285) Other aspects such as a lake or pond’s volume and temperature are also indicated by nominalized verbs starting with to-: Tadizbun = it (the lake or pond referred to) is full Tanizul = it (the lake or pond referred to) is warm (Poser 1998: 282-285) These lake and pond terms hint at the richness o f descriptions o f water bodies in the Dakelh language. There is indeed an abundance o f hydronyms in the Dakelh language possibly owing to the pre-contact locations o f Dakelh villages, which were chiefly distributed by 1 It should be noted that the ta- prefix can also denote action, as in the case o f throwing something “into water”, and position, as in the case o f taba (“water edge” or “shore”) (Poser 1998:282). Ta- is also used to indicate that something is submerged in water as in the case o f tachun (“water log” or “deadhead”). 89 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. lakeshores, and water as the medium o f travel and subsistence. Early writings about the Dakelhne explain the significance o f lakes and rivers to people (Morice 1893; Harmon 1911). Morice (1893), for instance, writes o f the importance o f freshwater fishing to people, noting the detailed technology that existed for this occupation, which he maintained was dependent on the specific nature o f the fish creek and surrounding area. The Dakelhne had numerous models o f fish traps, which seemed to suggest the superiority of their fishing technology compared to that used for catching land animals. Migrating salmon have greatly influenced and dictated the Dakelh subsistence round. To optimize catches, people who were once nomadic, settled in places where the yearly salmon runs could be intercepted. This pattern o f settlement continues with the primary Dakelh villages o f the Stuart-Trembleur watershed such as N ak’azdli, DzintTainli, Yekooche, Tache, Binche, and K ’uzche, located at lake outlets and river mouths. Lake outlets have been principal harvesting points, guaranteeing the most successful catches. Although river mouths received fewer numbers o f salmon (see Hudson 1983) as a result o f interception at lake outlets, they nonetheless played a role in admitting the fish towards final spawning creeks. Lake outlets and river mouths are also places where waters remain open during winter while the rest o f the lake system freezes. Other than fishing, open water holds subsistence potential by attracting waterfowl and amphibious mammals (e.g., beavers and muskrats). Benefits to settlements being located at lake outlets and river mouths were probably also realized in the event o f failed salmon spawning runs. In such circumstances, people would have had the alternative to harvest other species of fish such as whitefish or spring salmon (Hudson 1983). To move between streamside-located villages or to move in and out o f a watershed to harvest different species o f fish, waterfowl and game, transport by water would have been key to people. Knowledge o f the lake outlet and river mouth parts o f 90 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. lakes, together with knowledge o f other geographical features (i.e., hills and peaks in the horizon, islands, bays, headlands, etc.) that landmark these parts, served as aids in water travel to both up- and downstream places. Examples o f environmental knowledge that exists in Dakelh terms for geographical features are given below. Tizdli (lake outlet). In place-names, lake outlets, or the headwaters o f a river are designated to aid in moving through a lake. This term contains the kinds o f information relevant to travelling towards the headwaters such as the direction o f water flow (CURA Place-Names Verification Session (CPNVS), 16/12/05). In the past, lake outlets were the gateway to downriver travel and also signalled the need for specific methods o f fishing which could take advantage o f the low volume and narrow course o f water associated with such places. The upper course o f streams, where waters directly discharge from lakes, enabled the construction o f weirs and the use o f fish-traps like k ’uncay [k ’oondzai] and nazxwet [nazghwut] (see Morice 1893). Other than salmon, these traps were used to catch smaller species o f fish like carp and kokanee (Hudson 1983; Morice 1910). Besides the term tizdli, there were also other terms to inform people, as they moved downstream, o f their impending exit from a lake. T s’eninli-un, w hot’a and kootl’at are terms used to generally designate that the outlet end o f the lake and headwaters o f a river or creek are to be encountered. The stem -ninli, for instance, means both “current” and “to flow” (Poser 1998: 229). When coupled with the prefix, t s ’e, -ninli can be interpreted both as “towards, to or at the current” and “towards, to or at the flow”, indicating movement downstream with the pull o f the river current (Poser 1998: 306). The final suffix, -un, attaches to ts ’eninli, to convert it to a noun or place where something happens. Combined with -un, ts ’eninli embodies the concept o f “lake outlet” or “the place where flowing occurs 91 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. or where there is current” (Poser 1998: 324). The terms, ko o tl’at and w h o t’a are terms that mean “headwaters o f a stream” and “outlet o f a lake”, respectively, and appear exclusively in the works o f Morice (1932: 81, 111). Just as the upriver sides of lakes are generally designated in Dakelh by the suffix, -t l ’at, ko o tl’at is a geographical term used by Morice that can be possibly glossed as “stream end”, referring to the headwaters o f a stream or the point at which waters pour out o f a lake. W hot’a, also appearing as hwo ’tat in another one o f M orice’s publications, literally translates as “down below”, referring to the downriver side o f a lake, where waters move downstream and eventually flow out o f the lake (Morice 1902: 51). T ook’eche (riv er m outh).2 Knowledge o f creeks or rivers flowing into lakes is also an important aspect o f travelling and subsisting; therefore, mouths of rivers or creeks are designated in Dakelh place-names. In analyzing the etymology o f to o k’eche, the term is broken into its constituent parts, to o k’et and -ch e (CPNVS, 16/12/05). Took’et generally hints at places where water can be obtained such as water holes, springs and wells (Poser 1998: 293), approximating the meanings, “water place” or “water on” or “water at”. The stem, -che, which literally means “tail” (Poser 1998: 68) is significant because it is an example o f the mnemonic quality that generally characterizes indigenous place-names. Therefore, like tizdli, took ’eche contains nested meanings. When streams flow into lakes, they terminate there or are at their “tail-end” (CPNVS, 16/12/05). At this point in the lake system, streams appear sluggish, although generally wider and deeper than when they began to flow from their source. In some cases, particularly when a river mouth is recognized for its potential as a fishery, a special term is used to mark its 2 It should be noted that the suite o f Dakelh place-names examined in this research did not include river mouths. A discussion o f river mouths is given here because the information completes the context from which to understand the workings o f geographical terms as water travel aids. 92 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. importance. The term, -che, used in place-names to represent the mouth o f a river is preceded by -koo when a fishery is designated. Tsaooche and Yekooche, both well-known fisheries, are examples o f Dakelh toponyms that incorporate -ko o (Poser 1998: 140; Hall 1992; Hudson 1983; Yekooche First Nation n.d.). Another geographical name for river or creek mouth is nus suli. Nus translates as “front”, and while suli seems to have no specific meaning on its own, nonetheless adds to the understanding o f streams entering a lake. A “forward” or “frontward” flow from the river mouth is indicated in this term, giving the direction o f flow as downriver or with the current. Tl’at (no standard English equivalent). -77 ’at is the stem in place-names designating the “end o f the lake” (see fond- du- lac in Morice 1933). Originating from t l ’a, which means “behind” or “posterior”, -tl’at is known as such because o f where it is located in the context o f the “forward” flow o f the lake. As the part furthest away from the lake outlet (CPNVS, 2728/04/05) where waters are calmer, “tail-waters” hint at floral and faunal potential. For instance, colonies o f bulrushes (Typha latifolia) thrive in such an area o f slow-flowing or standing water, and serve as a source o f habitat and food to waterfowl, wrens, blackbirds and muskrats (Mackinnon et al. 1999). Another species o f aquatic vegetation that grows abundantly in still waters is the water lily (Nuphar lutea spp.), which shelters small fish. Additionally, the leaves o f the water lily are a source o f food during the summer for moose. N ak’albun (Stuart Lake), Tesgha (Pinchi Lake) and Dzinghubun (Trembleur Lake) contain sites that take t l ’at as part o f their names. N ak’alat, Bintl’at and Dzintl’at are not only located away from the outlets o f lake systems to which they belong but also from principal villages located in each system. In this sense, the term t l ’at could also signify that travelling 93 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. to the “end” or “back” o f a lake is to move upstream and away from settlements. T l’at, therefore, serves an orientating function in travelling the waters o f Dakelh country. ’Ukoh (river). The basic form for “river”, “creek” and “stream” in Dakelh is ’ukoh (Poser 1998: 34). The term ’ukoh whuyaz, or its contracted form, ’ukohyaz, specifically denotes “creek”, “stream” (Poser 1998: 34) or “small river” as conveyed by the suffix -yaz, which means “small” (Catherine Coldwell, CPNI, 25/06/04). Only in distinguishing a river (big stream) from a creek (small stream) in conversation, would a speaker use ’ukoh whuyaz or ’ukohyaz. Otherwise, there seems to be no differentiation between “river” and “creek” in Dakelh, even with respect to place-names (CPNVS, 16/12/05). Unlike specific references to “river” and “creek” in English place-names, Dakelh stream names only carry the compounding form5, -koh (Poser 1998: 140), which can refer to either river or creek. The seeming unimportance o f whether a stream is a river or creek can be attributed to the function o f these waterways as connectors. Streams are akin to roads leading to settlement areas, hunting grounds and other areas o f cultural importance. With the understanding that the headwaters and mouths o f streams are consistently designated and named in the Dakelh language, it can be said that streams, regardless o f their size, are primarily significant for their role in enabling access to different parts o f the co u ntry/ In Dakelh territory, where settlements are typically located adjacent to lake systems, the places where streams enter or exit lakes make possible connectivity and contact. 3 With the exception o f Tanizul ’Ukoh (CLC 1974), all streams in the vicinity o f the study area are designated names that are compounded by the suffix -koh. 4 The size o f streams and other conditions would, however, dictate the mode o f travelling (e.g., from travel by watercraft to travel by foot along streams). Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Bunghun (lake). Several forms stemming from bunghun can be observed in Dakelh toponymy. -Bun, bunghun and - ghun are generally the particles that refer to “lake” in toponyms. Neither the first nor the third form can stand independently as words; rather, they have to exist in combination with proper nouns or, as is possible with Dakelh, nominalized verbs, in order to be understood as “lake” (Poser, pers. comm., 24/10/04). The context that determines the usage o f each o f these three forms is defined according to whether the lake in question is under communal or family use. It is thought that bun place-names generally belong to those lakes that are communally used, whereas bunghun place-names characterize the lakes, often small in size, that fall within a family’s trapline or keyoh (Morris Joseph, pers. comm., 26/03/04). Lake toponyms taking the suffix - ghun, denote those lakes that have been either communally used or “owned” but possibly also played a special role in marking or “proclaiming” culturally significant sites such as mountains and ridges (CPNVS, 2728/04/05; CPNVS, 16/12/05). Noo (island). The basic term for “island” in Dakelh is noo. However, another term, to o k’echenoo, exists to mark islands that are positioned at the mouths o f streams (Poser 1998: 236). Dakelh island place-names generally carry the geographical referent, noo, generally at the end, but occasionally at the beginning dependent on where the islands are distributed in a body o f water (Poser 1998: 293). From examining the distribution o f island names in Stuart Lake, a pattern emerges whereby place-names starting with noo like Noocho, Nootsul and Noo W hudin’ai are chiefly located in the mouths o f rivers. In contrast, islands found elsewhere in the lake have place-names that end with noo, like ‘Adih noo, K ’i noo and Jenicho noo. A possible explanation as to this difference is related to the importance o f islands to fishing, for instance, in the setting o f nets and fish traps. A connection between the 95 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. idea o f fishing and the adverb noo ’, which means “upriver” or “upstream” (Poser 1998: 236), implies the movement o f spawning salmon and indicates that islands in the mouths o f rivers may have been utilized as prime salmon fishing sites. As noo ’ is also the possessive form for “island” (see Poser 1998: 236), toponyms beginning with noo may also suggest that these places have been used or owned by certain families (see Morris 1999). Dzulh (mountain). Mountains are important places to the Dakelhne. They provided alternative subsistence resources to a people whose staple diet consisted o f fish. In the likelihood that salmon were late in coming or scarce, mountains offered a variety o f game, such as groundhogs, bears and mountain goats. People regarded them as places o f survival (Betsy Leon and Catherine Coldwell, CPNIS, 31/03/04). Mountains may have also been esteemed for the mysticism they imbued. They were remote places where the practice o f vision quests and rites o f initiation into adulthood occurred, where young men and boys came to receive visions o f their animal helpers and to dream about the hunt (CPNVS, 06/01/06). While dzulh is the common Dakelh term for mountains, more specific terms correspond to elevation. Very tall mountains that rise above the timberline are specifically known as dzulh whereas a timbered crest o f hills or long chains o f hills that increase in height are called shus_ (or yus when appearing in a place-name) (Poser 1998: 101, 281; Morice 1902: 50). On occasion, tse (meaning “rock”) is also found in mountain place-names (see CLC 1974). In some instances, mountain place-names do not carry dzulh, shus or tse and may appear as single or compound nouns, like Utzi and Whula jus, or a nominalized verb like, Na-hulte meaning “one that got thawed out” (Morice 1933: 656). 96 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PROFILES OF DAKELH TOPONYMS RESEARCHED The nine Dakelh place-names (Figure 4.2) that were examined in this research indicate information related to resource use, travel on water and the physical characteristics o f landforms. Like the other twenty-two place-names that have so far been documented in the study area by T l’azt’en Nation (Beverly Bird, pers. comm., 15/03/04), this sample o f names largely designates water places. Through presentation o f nine place-name profiles, this section builds on the previous discussion on Dakelh geographical place-name referents by linking the topographic particulars o f places with associated ethnographic and resource use information, gathered through interviews and written sources. Examination o f these nine toponyms reveals how place-names relay descriptions o f the physical and the biotic, and the historical and mythical in their function as locators o f places and memories. 97 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dakelh name Official name Other names Geographical feature represented Location (see Figure 4.3) 1.Chuzghun Tezzeron Lake Chuzghun bun Lake 2.Chuz tizdli None None Lake outlet 3.K ’uz koh Kuzkwa River None River/Creek 4.Hadoodatelh koh Hatdudatehl Creek Ningwus koh River/Creek 5. Chuzghun koh Tezzeron Creek Yuts’uzuk Y at’suzak Chuz koh River/Creek 6. Tesgha Pinchi Lake Lake 7. Bin tizdli None Bin koh Binche bun Tesgha bun Qez-ren [Juzghunl Bun tizdli Lake lies parallel to and north o f Stuart and Pinchi Lakes at the northern-most bounds o f the JPRF Far western end o f Tezzeron Lake; Kuzkwa River flows out o f Tezzeron Lake through Chuztizdli Stream flows out o f Tezzeron Lake in the northwestern portion o f the JPRF Stream flows into the middle o f Tezzeron Lake at its northern shore M eandering creek located at the far eastern end o f Tezzeron Lake; stream flows above Yatzutzin Lake Lake lies in between Stuart Lake and Tezzeron Lake 8. Bintl’at noo None 9. K ’azyus Pinchi Mountain Bintatoh B in ta ttl’at K ’uz yus Binche Dzulh Tesgha Dzulh N atadilht’o5 Lake outlet Island Mountain Southwest portion o f Pinchi Lake Far eastern end o f Pinchi Lake Mountain located in between Pinchi Lake and Tezzeron Lake Figure 4.2 D akelh Toponym s Examined in this Research. 5 The spelling o f this toponym has yet to be verified by the CLC. 98 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. K'uz koh Chuz tizdli Swamp O’ l s l a n d s y. \Hadoodatelh koh k Bin tizdli B intl’at noo ----- Figure 4.3 Dakelh Place-Names in the JPRF area. SOURCE: Tl’azt’en Natural Resource Office, 2006. 99 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chuzghun. Despite the etymology o f chuz, which translates as “snowflake” (Poser 1998: 71), the place-name Chuzghun refers to the idea that the lake is a “down feathers place”, commonly regarded as a nesting place for waterfowl (Catherine Coldwell and Betsy Leon, CPNIS, 31/03/04; CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). Chuz, in this context, refers to the moulting process water birds undergo after the nesting period (Catherine Coldwell and Betsy Leon, CPNIS, 31/03/04; CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). One way o f decoding Poser’s etymology is to consider the appearance o f bird down in water, which resembles snowflakes (Catherine Coldwell, CPNI, 25/06/04). Robert Hanson (CPNIS, 03/06/04) felt that the prefix o f the place-name, chuz, was amiss, and that it should rather read as ts ’uz, meaning “feather”. As ts ’uz is also the prefix o f the word tsuzchus, meaning “down feather”, this observation conforms to the idea o f a “moulting lake”, the term used by Akrigg and Akrigg (1997: 265) to describe Tezzeron Lake as a place “where ducks and geese moult”. 6 The suffix, -ghun, which is rarely7 found in Dakelh lake toponyms, was translated by the panel o f elder experts as “a lake located by or along a ridge” (CPNVS, 27 - 28/04/05). While the lake is a sanctuary for migrating waterfowl, there is an alternate interpretation for the etymology o f Chuzghun. According to Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom (CPNI, 21/12/04), keyoh holders, the place-name refers to old, hollow trees that line the lake. Since these trees grow thickly on the lake shoreline, they give the lake the appearance o f a basin when viewed from a distance, from on top o f an incline. The trees were described as “getting old and ...soft...[like] dry wood standing [or] a beetle infested tree...[they are] 6 “Tezzeron” was unanimously regarded by research participants as a corruption o f the native name, Chuzghun. Many instances o f the kinds o f corruptions produced by the early surveyors and travellers in Carrier territory are found in Morice (1933,1902). Some corruptions are based in inaccurate transcriptions o f the native name, which have the effect o f distorting or excluding the original sounds o f the name. Other corruptions are mistakes in interpretation such as designating whole geographical features by a name reserved for a part on or within them, or giving a native geographical term o f a feature as its proper name. 7 The only other lake in TTazt’en territory known to carry the suffix -ghun is Stuart Lake. The lake used to be once known as Nak’alghun (Poser 1998) but has since been replaced by the name Nak’al Bun. 100 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. hollow and fall apart when [struck]”. The interviewees gave the meaning o f the prefix, chuz, as “soft wood” and the suffix, -ghun, as “area”, subsequently translating the whole name as “a body o f water surrounded by trees” (CPNI, 21/12/04). Also significant is the consideration o f the short forms or contractions o f place-names that are used by Dakelh speakers as an alternative to the complete forms o f names. Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom suggest that Chuzghun derives from a special term, chunzool, “hollow wood”, which is contracted to chuz in the place-name Chuzghun (CPNI, 21/12/04). Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom’s description o f the trees that grow along the lake suggests black cottonwood (Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa), which can be found growing on low to medium elevation, on moist to wet soil (Mackinnon et al. 1999: 19). When old, the bark o f these trees is dark grey in colour and deeply furrowed. Interestingly, the name “cottonwood” was applied to these trees because they produce seeds with cotton-like hairs that drift through the air like “giant summer snowflakes” (Mackinnon et al. 1999: 19). This phenomenon may correspond to the idea behind “Snowflake Lake” , the etymology for Chuzghun provided by Poser (1998: 67). Traditionally, cottonwood would have been utilized in several ways: tall trees would have been hollowed out to make dug-out canoes, the cambium layer o f the tree would have been eaten and the tree would have also been used as a fuel source (MacKinnon et al. 1999 Hall 1992). M orice’s interpretation o f the etymology o f Chuzghun is also worthy o f note. He gives the meaning o f the name as “paddle after lake” or Paddle Lake (1933: 648). Discrepancies, however, exist between M orice’s translation and that espoused in succeeding Dakelh language and cultural research. The main discrepancy lies in how the sounds in the place-name were recorded in writing. For instance, Morice transcribed the prefix of Chuzghun as tees, which, according to the CLC transcription rubric (see YDLI 2000) 101 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. corresponds to chus rather than chuz (Poser 2000). The word, chus, does mean “paddle” and may reflect M orice’s familiarity with local knowledge o f the lake as a place to obtain wood for making canoes and paddles. This may have had an influence on how he transcribed and interpreted the name. Another discrepancy is M orice’s recording o f the name o f the lake as Tces-ra-n-pen [Chus-gha-ng-bun], whereas the CLC (1974) and Poser (1998) give it as Chuzghun. Poser (pers. comm., 24/10/04) remarks that the name Chuzghun is sufficient in itself, and that the addition of bun (meaning “lake”) to the name is unnecessary, perhaps indicating the influence o f English. In interviews, research participants generally used both forms of the name interchangeably, although most were in agreement, as was the TPazt’en Place-Names Committee (CPNVS, 27-28/04/05), that the correct form is Chuzghun. The suffix -ghun was a point of obscurity in the place-names verification process, as none o f the Tl’azt’en Place-Names Committee members could confidently explain the meaning o f the term (CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). Speculations, for instance, were made about ghun being a short-form such as bun for bunghun. However, while all three terms are common designators in lake names, there is a difference in usage among these terms (Morris Joseph, pers. comm., 26/03/04). The explanation hinges upon the size o f lakes, and accordingly, bun and -ghun are both representative o f big lakes like N ak’albun and Chuzghun, while bunghun is a designator for smaller lakes found within keyohs. Maps o f Dakelh place-names (CLC 1974; CSTC 2004) seem to complement this perspective with bun and -ghun apparently referencing lakes o f considerable breadth, and bunghun, the smaller lakes that intermittently dot the landscape. Chuzghun is the setting o f a legend that involves mystical power. In prefacing the legend, Robert Hanson (CPNI, 10/06/04) shared his reminisces o f a miraculous event that 102 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. took place on his father’s keyoh at Queht’tsuhl’tsun’ket8, near Babine Lake. As a child, Mr. Hanson had witnessed his uncle, Joe Hanson, saving the life of a man who accidentally swallowed a rabbit bone and was choking to death. Joe Hanson was a powerful medicine man and a dreamer o f the giant fish that lives in Chuzghun. Mr. Hanson was summoned by his uncle to fetch a pan o f water and to watch the water intently for a sign. As Joe Hanson ministered to the choking man, a snake suddenly appeared in the pan o f water. Despite it being a cold winter’s day, the snake swam around vigorously, and it was taken as a good omen. Joe Hanson then placed his mouth on the man’s throat for a considerable length o f time, and when he finally spat into the pan o f water, the snake had disappeared, leaving in its place, the rabbit bone. This was how the dying man was saved. Chuzghun is believed to be where a giant Dolly Varden trout lives. According to the legend as told by Robert Hanson (CPNI, 10/06/04), people were afraid o f the fish and travelled the waters of Chuzghun with caution. One day, the chief o f Chuzghun, Soon Dayi, set out in his birch bark canoe to travel to the other side o f the lake. Before he left, his people had a ceremony to honour him for his wisdom and bravery. They drummed for him and gave him the song called, “Big Dolly Varden Is Swallowing Me”. The chief sang the song as he paddled his canoe, when all o f a sudden, a big fish slammed against the side o f the canoe, causing it to sink. Someone cried out, “Soon Dayi, what’s wrong with you? I thought they had a song ceremony for you?” 9 It was at this instant that the chief recovered from fright. He deftly placed his paddle on top o f the canoe, dipped his hand in the water and rubbed the side 8 The spelling o f this toponym has yet to be verified by the CLC. 9 When this story was re-told a second time by Robert Hanson, a name, Bah’eel’doh, was mentioned. From the manner the story was relayed, this character might have been the ch ie fs travelling companion, and a medicine man. Bah’eel’doh may have conjured up the giant fish to test the c h ie fs mettle. 103 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. o f the canoe. At this moment, the canoe took on a life o f its own and jolted off like a speedboat. As a result, the chief was saved. Chuz tizdli. The outlet o f Chuzghun is called Chuz tizdli, indicating the outflow or downstream movement o f lake waters into K ’uz koh (Kuzkwa River). The suffix o f the name, tizdli, signals exit from a lake, as one travels downstream with the current. Tizdli is also the point o f exit for species o f fish, such as kokanee, that swim with the current and leave the lake system to spawn. Chuz tizdli, therefore, is a prime fishing area during the kokanee spawning season. The stream issuing from the lake carries the fish downstream until the mouth o f the stream at K ’uzche is reached, where spawning takes place (CPNVS, 2728/04/05). While tizdli is lexically understood as “lake outlet” (i.e., the noun designating the place where a river originates), research participants translated the term in an evocative manner that summoned the specific attributes o f the lake outlet. Tizdli was explained as “that flows out”, “starting to flow” (Catherine Coldwell, CPNI, 25/06/04); “flowing creek” (Sophie Monk, CPNI, 03/06/04); “water running out o f a lake”, “beginning o f a running river”, “river running out o f a body o f water”, “flowing away from a body o f water” (Stanley Tom, CPNI, 21/12/04); “running water” (Alexander Tom, CPNI, 21/12/04); “where water runs out” (Walter Joseph, CPNI, 02/06/04). From these translations, it is apparent that the Dakelh term for “lake outlet” is much more than a mere label for a place on a lake— tizdli indicates a transformation from the state o f water in an enclosed body to that which is outward- and freeflowing, and moving. It is not surprising then that the term is classified as both a noun and a verb (Poser 1998), which express the dual nature o f tizdli as a sign as well as an animated entity. 104 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The prefix o f this place-name is the same as that o f the lake itself, showing belonging in the Chuzghun lacustrine system. Traditional use information recorded for this area suggests that geese and ducks are found in abundance here, where they utilize the shoreline around the lake outlet for nesting (Robert Hanson, CPNI, 10/06/04). While Chuzghun as a whole freezes during the winter, certain areas around Chuz tizdli are known to be ice-free and open (CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). Unfrozen stretches o f water enable the over-wintering o f some species o f waterfowl: their presence, in turn, attracts fur-bearing predators to the lake outlet. Thus, lake outlets are known as places for harvesting waterfowl and fur-bearers. The chief harvesting activity that was performed in the past in the Chuzghun area, as a whole, was the netting o f waterfowl. People caught water birds using nets made o f hide or willow, cut into strips and dried, and then woven together to form a net. Nets were left dry for they are lightweight in this state and easy to transport, and only soaked when it was time for them to be set in lakes (CPNVS, 27- 28/04/05). Once the nets were set on the water, people in boats drove the fowl into the nets, and slaughtered them by wringing their necks (Hall 1992; Morice 1897). Fittingly, Chuz tizdli is associated with a legend about netting ducks (CPNVS, 27- 28/04/05). According to the legend, a man was netting ducks near the lake outlet and had several successful catches. However, he was ruthless in his determination to catch even more ducks, and rashly, dived into the water with his net. The man was never to be seen again, as he was swept away by the current. This calamity would never have taken place if it were not for the man’s greediness. K’uz koh. The river trailing out o f Chuz.tizdli has been described as going “downing down” until it meets the Tache River (Robert Hanson, CPNI, 10/06/04). The use o f “down” as a verb, in its progressive form, to describe the flow o f K ’uz koh is significant. Such a term is 105 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. evidence o f how people continue to think in Dakelh, despite conversing in English. “Downing” seems to be the literal translation o f the Dakelh verbal noun that implies motion as well as direction. While the source o f K ’uz koh or Kuzkwa10 River is Chuzghun, the river is thought to have acquired its name from its terminus, K ’uzche village (Pierre John, CPNI, 02/06/04). A plausible reason as to why the river is so named might be K ’uzche’s importance in the yearly sockeye salmon harvest. The waters o f K ’uzche teem with salmon every autumn as the fish ascend Tache River, eventually making their way upstream via Kuzkwa River (CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). Located at the intersection o f the two rivers, K ’uzche is a wellknown fishery, where people used to construct weirs to harvest salmon. This important food source and the place where it can be obtained plentifully resonate in the name, K ’uz koh. The river’s connection to K ’uzche is observed in how it plays a role in sustaining the sockeye salmon cycle as it acts as both a channel and spawning bed for the migrating fish (CPNVS, 27- 28/04/05). The banks o f K ’uz koh abound with fur-bearing species such as muskrat, otter, beaver, mink, marten, fisher and lynx (CPNVS, 27- 28/04/05). The river shore is also known to be a nesting area for waterfowl (Robert Hanson, CPNI, 10/06/05). The whole length o f the river, therefore, is a prime trapping area, and has been an important Dakelh subsistence survival area like other riparian areas in the traditional territory adjoining lake inlets and outlets (CPNVS, 27- 28/04/05). Although the river is shallow, people have travelled on it using canoes, and this draws links to how the river may have been used to transport people 10 “Kuzkwa” is believed by research participants to be a corruption o f the native name, K ’uz koh. While this is likely to be the case, it should be noted that the -k w a suffix is the common designator for “river” or “creek” in the Babine language (Poser, pers. comm., 24/10/04; Morice 1902). It is not known at this time if the western portion o f Chuzghun and K ’uzche village itself were once occupied by Babine speakers, either through intermarriage or reciprocal use o f these areas by Babine families. Further research will hopefully yield greater insight into the etymology o f Kuzkwa. 106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. upstream to the outlet o f Chuzghun and beyond, or downstream to K ’uzche and other settlements located at river mouths or lake outlets such as Tache and Teeslee. The etymology o f the prefix o f K ’uz koh remains baffling. Morice (1933: 648) mentioned this toponym in the context o f his discussion o f the fluvial arteries o f Stuart, Trembleur, Pinchi and Tezzeron lakes but was unapprised as to the meaning o f k ’uz. Informants interviewed in past T l’azt’en traditional use and place-names projects as well as part o f this study have also found the prefix obscure and untranslatable. However, one participant (Walter Joseph, CPNI, 02/06/04) did venture a hunch based on his understanding o f the place-name K ’uzche and the course o f K ’uz koh as it flows by the village. K ’uzche was translated as “half a tail” as k ’uz11 sounds like the Dakelh word for “h a lf’, ’u ’k ’uz, and as -ch e is the literal meaning for “tail”. Considering that K ’uz koh flows by K ’uzche and then makes a loop outwards when it joins the Tache River, the translation “half a tail” may refer to the incomplete or brief emergence o f the river at the village site before being swallowed up by its bigger counterpart. The word, 'u ’k ’uz also means “a side of fish” (Poser 1998: 36), possibly referring to a division o f the salmon spawning pathway through K ’uzche and K ’uz koh. A further implication o f k ’uz is the idea o f “parts that make up a whole” 12 (Poser 1998:149), as in the case o f K ’uzche and K ’uz koh, which are “paired” or “harmonizing” sites due to their proximity to each other, the wildlife and fish they sustain, and especially the salmon that they harbour every fall. " It is likely, from noting this trend in other Dakelh place-names and generally in Athapaskan place-names, that k ’uz is the contracted or short form o f ’w ’k ’uz. 12 This is Poser’s definition for k ’uz when it is used as a suffix. However, the definition is nonetheless important to consider as it is related to that o f ’u ’k ’uz. The underlying concept o f both terms refers to a whole composed o f two corresponding parts that are suited to each other, and intended to be used together. 107 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Hadoodatelh koh. Flowing from its source, Hadoodatelh, a small lake lying in between Inzana Lake and Tezzeron Lake, Hadoodatelh koh (Hatdudatehl Creek) enters Chuzghun at its northern shore. The creek has been described as being long and wide, flowing over a great distance from the north (Robert Hanson, CPNI, 10/06/04). While the creek is too shallow to be navigable, there are trails along the creek (CPNVS, 27-28/04/05) that can be used to reach its upper portion. Hadoodatelh koh is a place that has been utilized for berry-picking. Blackberries, cranberries and soapberries are some o f the species found growing along the creek, and in the past, people came to this area from Fort St. James and Binche village to harvest them (Robert Hanson, CPNI, 10/06/04). Interestingly, an alternate name for this creek, Ningwus koh, reflecting its value as a berry-harvesting site, was recorded in previous Tl’azt’en cultural research. Ningwus koh, literally translates as “soapberry creek” (PlaceNames Study 1996). Besides berries, the creek holds other kinds o f food resources such as char and whitefish as well as waterfowl (Robert Hanson, CPNI, 10/06/04). Hadoodatelh koh was generally alien-sounding to all research participants, with many confused by the name’s sounds. Catherine Coldwell remarked that the name sounded like a Sekani word that could have become part o f Dakelh usage through contact with the Sekani people from the Nation Lakes area (CPNI, 25/06/04). In tracing the etymology o f the name, Morris Joseph (CPNIS, 13/05/04), Robert Hanson (CPNI, 10/06/04), and Catherine Coldwell (CPNI, 25/06/04) felt that the name might be representative o f lake bottoms. The connection with lakes comes from the fact that the creek takes its name from the lake it flows out from (Catherine Coldwell, CPNI, 25/06/04). The same individuals also thought that something was irregular about the last syllable o f the name, telh13, which seemed incongruous and 13 Telh is a word in Dakelh meaning a small hand-held basket used while collecting berries. However, the presence o f telh at the end o f the place-name seemed out o f place and wrong to many interviewees. 108 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. untranslatable. Morris Joseph and Robert Hanson felt that teh was a more reasonable substitute as it literally means “underwater” or “the bottom o f water” (CPNI, 10/06/04). The term teh, in other words, denotes “lakebed”, and fits within the context o f the toponym being originally a lake name. Catherine Coldwell thought the name pertained to the ground or bottom o f the lake being soft (CPNI 25/06/04).14 According to the Tl’azt’en Place-Names Committee, the toponym makes reference to the land, the significance o f which can only be grasped through visiting the creek area (CPNVS, 27- 28/04/05). While this is undoubtedly true, given that indigenous toponyms largely describe the physical environment, it may be possible to get a preliminary idea o f the name through studying its constituent parts and through comparing the name with other similarly constructed Athapaskan n a m e s.H e n c e , the linguistic make-up o f Hadoodatelh koh together with the descriptions o f the geography o f the creek area, including the lake from which it originates, may provide an initial translation of the place-name. Hatdudatehl Lake has no linkage to any major rivers in the Inzana Lake area, except for the river that flows out o f it, and is likely a spring-fed lake (CSTC 2004; B.C. Ministry of Sustainable Resource Management 1999; CPNVS 06/01/06). A breakdown o f the toponym tends to support this idea. The prefix, ha-, means “out, from” (Poser 1998:106), and indicates the presence o f something outside a container after it has moved or been moved out from the container (Poser 1998: 509). -D oo, the second syllable, can be traced to ndo, meaning “up or above” (Poser 1998: 84). -D a, the third syllable, refers to “surface o f water” (Poser 1998: 14 The softness o f the lakebed refers to its muddy or silt-like quality, where sediment is either suspended or settled (Catherine Coldwell, CPNI, 25/06/04). 15 For instance, in the Dogrib language, several prefixes can be attached to root words to form one large word (Saxon et al. 2002: 22). The term -?aa, for example, which translates as “extending (or going out) over space” can be coupled with prefixes such as ho- and go- to describe trails, landforms and other areas on land which are distant but situated in a line (Saxon et al. 2002: 23). When the prefix ta- is included, the name refers not only to pieces o f land near water but also to bodies o f water like lakes and rivers (Saxon et al. 2002: 24). 109 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 73), and teh (“/” sound omitted in accordance with interviewees’ thoughts about the final syllable) refers to “underwater” (Poser 1998: 287). A rough translation for Hadoodatelh, according to this analysis, might be “from the bottom o f the lake to the surface o f water and over”, indicating the underground spring that drives the lake water up and over into the rivulets and the creek that flow off the lake. Chuzghun koh. There are three Dakelh names for Tezzeron Creek, the meandering creek that empties into Chuzghun. In general, interviewees for this study were not sure about the Dakelh name for this creek but Morris Joseph, Robert Hanson, and Stanley Tom reasoned that since the river leaving Tezzeron Lake at its western end is not named after its source, the creek coming into the lake, then, had to be its namesake (CPNI, 10/06/04 and 21/12/04). Hence, Chuzghun kohi6 and Chuz koh were given as the Dakelh names for Tezzeron Creek (Morris Joseph and Robert Hanson, CPNI, 10/06/04; CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). The creek winds its way into Chuzghun from the north-easterly portion o f the Tl’azt’en traditional territory, and is said to be too shallow to navigate completely (CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). Alexander Tom recounted a time when he travelled by motorboat on the creek with an older person who warned him o f the danger o f being mired (CPNI, 21/12/04). The elder used a special name for the place, which consisted o f the word d esk’ut. The term, d esk’ut literally means “it is shallow” (Poser 1998: 81), referring to the swampy and muddy stretch o f the land that the creek cuts through and merges with, as it makes its way down into 16 It is not clear as to whether this is a direct translation into Dakelh o f the English place-name, Tezzeron Creek, or if this is the original Dakelh name that was appropriated and altered by the first Europeans who came to Dakelh territory. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chuzghun. 17 The creek is thus risky to travel, necessitating the use o f a name that serves a cautionary function. Provided that Chuzghun koh is a difficult creek to navigate, landing places on firm, dry ground must have been staked out to either land boats or to get ashore to tug marooned boats to open water. Therefore, unsurprisingly, there exists a place-name recorded for this creek that hints at the idea o f a boat landing area. Yuts’uzuk (CSTC 2004) or Y at’suzak (Tl’azt’en Nation 2003), as this creek has been alternatively called, may denote “swooping upwards from water” (Morris Joseph, CPNIS, 13/05/04). This gloss translation refers to the act o f bringing a boat or canoe ashore. Further examination o f this name reveals that it does not designate the whole creek as such; rather it marks a specific site on its right bank that was used as a boat landing area, where people gathered before travelling downriver into Chuzghun (CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). Tesgha. This lake is officially known as Pinchiw Lake, and as noted earlier in this thesis, the name “Pinchy” was already in use when the first fur traders came to Dakelh territory. Akrigg and Akrigg (1997) assert that Pinchi is the Dakelh term for “lake outlet”, although others have found differently. In presenting Pinchi Lake, Morice (1933), for instance, began his discussion o f Pinchi Lake by pointing to Pinche (Binche), the Dakelh village on Stuart Lake. While he explained that the village o f Pinche is located at the mouth o f the stream that flows out o f Pinchi Lake and empties into Stuart Lake, Morice hinted at a further connection 17 Poser (1998: 80) gives another term, dehooska, for shallow water that pertains especially to navigability. Perhaps the place-name containing d esk ’ut has an added significance, implying the kinds o f biota that are characteristic to this area or the types o f subsistence technology required to harvest in such an environment. This is highly likely given that Chuz koh is a resource-rich area— it is a spawning creek for kokanee, lake trout and rainbow trout, and also supports a number o f fur-bearing species (CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). 18 Alternatively spelled Pinche, Pinchie and Binche. The first two spelling variants are due to Morice’s transcription system for Carrier used in his scholarly works. This system was very likely replicated in part by provincial geographers and surveyors who mapped and named places in British Columbia. The last variant is the CLC’s transliteration o f Morice’s Pin-tce (1933: 647). Ill Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. between the village o f Pinche and the lake. The implication rests on the idea that the name, Pinchi, was given to the lake by some o f the first Europeans who arrived in the area. It might have seemed commonsensical to the newcomers to name the lake and its out-flowing stream after Pinche village since the area in the vicinity o f the village became associated with furtraders and missionaries who either used or occupied the area. Pinchi, in this regard, came to landmark the European presence in Dakelh country. A Hudson’s Bay Company guardhouse, built under the order o f Chief Factor Gavin Hamilton to intercept fur- trading between Pinche natives and free traders, stood near the Pinchi Lake outlet (Morice 1978; Munro 1945). In 1869, upon their arrival in Dakelh country, Fathers Lejac and Blanchet built a cabin on the east bank o f Pinchi Creek, at the point where it empties into Stuart Lake (Hall 1992). The name Pinchi became especially famous when in 1937, cinnabar was discovered at the north end o f Pinchi Lake; subsequent to this discovery, a mercury mine was opened on the shores o f the lake, around which a new village, called Pinche Lake village, began to prosper (Munro 1945). Theresa Austin believes that the original name o f the lake was substituted for Pinchi because it was obscure and unpronounceable to the first Europeans to come to Dakelh territory (CURA Pre-Test Interview, 17/05/04). Morice gives the Dakelh name for Pinchi Lake as Thes-sra-pen [Tes-sgha-bun], which was the same name recorded by the CLC in 1974 (Morice 1933; CLC 1974). The only difference in the name recorded by the CLC is that it lacks the suffix -bun, which is the place-name referent meaning “lake”. Research informants also provided Tesgha as the Dakelh name for Pinchi Lake, with Catherine Coldwell commenting that it is one by which the older people knew the lake (CPNI, 25/06/04). However, other participants were divided in their opinions as to the correct form o f the name, oscillating between the use o f Tesgha and 112 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited w ithout permission. Tesghabun79 in their conversations about Pinchi Lake. Like Morice (1933:647), they were unsure about the etymology o f the name, with Morris Joseph and Alexander Tom venturing that the prefix, tes20 hints at the bottom or bed o f the lake, while the suffix, -gha, points to the “hairy”, “furry” or “mossy” quality o f the lakebed (Joseph, pers. comm., 10 /06/04; Tom, CPNI, 21/12/04). The idea o f the name’s meaning being related to the “hairy” condition o f the lakebed is further connected to the kinds o f animal life that are found in the lake system. Robert Hanson stated that the lake is called Tesgha because it harbours plenty o f fish, particularly whitefish (CPNI, 04/06/04). Catherine Coldwell and Betsy Leon remarked that Tesgha, like Chuzghun, is a place o f refuge for migrating waterfowl, and as a consequence of this shared function, the lakes are thought to be connected (CPNIS, 31/03/04).27 Tesgha was also compared by the interviewees to Vanderhoof, a town approximately 70 km south o f Fort St. James with acres o f open fields, where geese congregate and rest before their northbound migration. Hence, the name was interpreted as “overnight resting” (Betsy Leon, CPNIS, 19 The problem with changes to Dakelh place-names due to the ever-expanding influence o f the English language was discussed previously in Chapter Three. Tesghabun is an example o f a changed place-name, as the addition o f -bun to the name is unnecessary, likely reflecting English usage. Keeping in mind that not all placenames carry referents, Morice’s inclusion o f -bun to both Tesgha and Chuzghun is likely idiosyncratic, intended as a way o f normalizing the Dakelh lake names in his publications. Poser (1998) also gives Tesghabun for Pinchi Lake, which may be a result o f accommodating his Tl’azt’en and Nak’azdli collaborators’ preference for the newer form o f the name. 20 In view o f the interpretation o f Tesgha as a place o f refuge for waterfowl, Morice Joseph (pers. comm., 10/06/04) remarked that since tes literally means “bed” or “bedding”, the place-name, as a whole, could refer to the lake being a “bedding” or resting place for waterfowl. Another possible signification for Tesgha, adhering to the understanding o f it as “hairy or furry bed or bedding”, is the human use o f grasses, sedges and rushes, found in shallow areas o f the lake, for food preparation, flooring and bedding (see Mackinnon et al. 1992). 21 Yet another indigenous name for Pinchi Lake is discovered in Morice (1932: 59). Its form hints at an even further connection between Pinchi Lake and Tezzeron Lake. The name is given as Qez-ren [Juz-ghun], the prefix o f which is indistinct to Morice, even as the suffix approximates “after”. Although more information is required to understand this inferred connection, it is interesting that it may refer to the concept o f “paired sites” observed in other Athapaskan place-naming traditions. “Paired sites”, in relation to Dogrib toponymy, are places that are closely located, are named similarly, and which commemorate culturally and historically significant sites (Saxon et al. 2003: 48-49). The portage area between Pinchi and Tezzeron Lakes is likely an area with significant cultural value (i.e., presence o f pit-houses, pictographs, old trails, medicinal plants and stories o f giant animals), and the idea o f the lakes bordering this area may qualify them as “paired sites”. 113 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 31/03/04) and “resting area for geese” (Catherine Coldwell, CPNIS, 31/03/04). During the verification stage o f this research (CPNVS, 27-28/04/05), a name not previously recorded for Pinchi Lake was provided. Elder experts who were consulted gave the name Bin koh as the Dakelh name designating the entire lake (CPNVS, 27- 28/04/05). The experts concluded that Tesgha was the place-name used to designate only a portion of Pinchi Lake, namely where there is a lush or abundant growth o f underwater plants and weeds. They remarked that such an area sustains whitefish, and would typically also be an important fishing site. The area possibly envelops shallow bays with emerging weed growth or sandy bottoms found at the eastern end o f Pinchi Lake.22 Bin koh, as a lake name, is an anomaly as -ko h is the generic term for streams in Dakelh place-names. Kari (1996b) notes a similar inconsistency in the Koyukon lake toponym, N iq’e Xose, which carries a stream, rather than a lake, designator. Literally meaning “great stream”, N iq’e Xose designates a large lake at the head of the upper Hotolno River, its etymology remaining a mystery. The same holds true for Bin koh, for which the elders have no explanation. The first part o f the toponym, bin, has been a point o f ambiguity to generally all research participants with Sophie Monk commenting that it is a strangesounding name (CPNI, 03/06/04) and Catherine Coldwell remarking that it could be the name o f a person whose keyoh used to belong in the area (CPNI, 25/06/04).22 Poser gives bin as “middle o f the lake” but this translation may be based on folk etymology, in the sense that the meaning o f bin may have been concocted based on something that is familiar or part of 22 Pinchi Lake is a relatively shallow lake with a mean depth o f 23.9 m, and includes a shoal that is 760 ha. in size at its eastern end (BC Adventure Network n.d.). This area has also been described by Alexander Tom as the shallow end o f the lake (CPNI, 21/12/04). 23 Morice (1933: 648) also found the meaning o f the name, Pin-tce [Binche] difficult to analyze. He offers that the first syllable in the name, pin [bin\ comes from the final syllable in impih [imbing]. This word refers to “dove” in Dakelh, which Morice (1933: 648) describes as “a bird now perfectly unknown to the country, but quite abundant two or three generations ago”. 114 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ordinary life (Poser 1998, pers. comm., 24/10/04). Binche, the name o f the village located at the mouth o f the creek that flows from Pinchi Lake into Stuart Lake, offers clues concerning bin. From its location on Stuart Lake, Binche seems as if it is situated in the middle o f the northern shore o f the lake. Because Pinchi Creek flows past Binche village, Stuart Lake appears as if it has a tail24 in the centre o f its upper shore. Another possible understanding for bin as “middle o f the lake” touches on the mid position o f Pinchi Lake flanked by Tezzeron Lake to the north, and Stuart Lake to the south. The presence o f bin as a referent in Babine lake toponyms (Bear Lake and Bums Lake region) is common (see CSTC 2004). It is likely, then, that bin found in Binche and Bin koh is an alternative form o f the Dakelh bun,25 the formative indicating “lake” in place-names (Poser, pers. comm., 24/10/04). As observed above with regards to the place-name Kuzkwa, Bin koh may carry vestiges o f Babine influence; the reasons behind or means by which this influence occurred is not fully known. Perhaps the advice of Catherine Coldwell to consult the Tl’azt’en and N ak’azdli genealogies in seeking the origins o f bin would yield some answers to these questions (CPNI, 25/06/04).25 Yet another name recorded for Pinchi Lake by Morice (1932: 59) speaks to the lake’s proximity to Pinchi Mountain. As with Dakelh toponyms for Stuart and Tezzeron lakes, M orice’s recording o f Qez-ren [Juzghun] for Pinchi Lake conforms to a pattern found in 24 As previously explained the suffix -ch e in place-names refers to the mouth o f a river, where a river ends or flows into another body o f water. -C h e , in this context, has a riddle-like semblance because it can also be interpreted as the “tail-end” o f a river, as it flows to its terminus. The translation, “river mouth in the middle o f the lake”, given by Poser (1998:49) corresponds to this idea. 25 The term bun as seen in TTazf en and Nak’azdli lake toponyms may have variants in the Southern Carrier region. For instance, in the Nazko-Blackwater region, several lake names start with pun, including Punchaw Lake, Pungut Lake, Punti Lake, Puntzi Lake and Punchesakut Lake. These names are possibly the anglicized forms o f native names or geographical terms. 26 Tl’azt’en oral tradition recounts the movement o f Babine people to Stuart Lake during a period o f famine. This likely happened in the last half o f the nineteenth century, when indigenous peoples in the British Columbia interior were devastated by the measles and smallpox epidemics as well as by a scarcity o f food (Hudson 1983). 115 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. names o f lakes that are adjacent to mountains. The suffix - ghun, as discussed earlier, signifies that a lake lies in the vicinity o f a mountain, and is allied to it. Links between mountains and the lakes that border them could be metaphorical, referring to events in myth time. Other links may be commemorative, heightening awareness o f the subsistence potential or spiritual implications o f places associated with the lake-mountain complex, as in the case o f Pinchi Lake and Pinchi Mountain. Tesgha, like Chuzghun, is steeped in mysticism. Stories and legends associated with the lake deal with medicine power and mysterious happenings. Stanley Tom related how his father suffered from severe shock when he came face-to-face with a grizzly bear while setting traps along the lake (CPNI, 21/12/04). Soon after, he became extremely ill and was almost on his deathbed, but was cured by a medicine man. Another story concerns an elderly man who was ice-fishing with a gaff (CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). He suddenly lost grip o f his gaff and found that the fish that he was trying to catch had swum away with it. The man thought that he would be able to find his gaff once winter was over and the ice was gone. He thought that the gaff would float to shore. When spring came, he looked for his gaff in vain. By mid­ summer, however, the man heard that someone had found a spear at a spring near Honeymoon Island on Stuart Lake. He travelled to the island and found, to his surprise, that it was indeed his gaff. Many people wondered at this strange occurrence and some even concluded that the gaff was brought to the spring by the “little people” or dwarves who are believed to live in N ak’al (Mount Pope). Bin tizdli. Just as Chuz tizdli signals the outlet o f Chuzghun, Bin tizdli marks the outlet of Tesgha or Bin koh. The prefix, bin, comes from the name, Bin koh, and the suffix, tizdli, refers to where the waters o f Bin koh begin to flow. An alternative to this name was provided 116 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. by Stanley Tom, who stressed that the correct name for the lake outlet is Bun tizdli. He further remarked that the name Bin tizdli is a “short form” or contraction o f Bun tizdli (CPNI, 21/12/04).27 Bin tizdli is associated with a myth that binds it with Stuart Lake. Like the legend associated with Tesgha, this legend’s plot begins near Bin tizdli but unravels in Stuart Lake. A rock painting depicting the legend is located near Bin tizdli, which is also where the protagonist o f the legend, a giant frog, lives. The frog is said to hide itself underground and only appears above ground at certain times o f the year. It is believed to be harmless, and is said to possess magical qualities, which enables it to help people. According to the legend, in times past, there were clusters o f islands all over Stuart Lake. One day, a big frog appeared at the lake, and scared all but two o f the islands upstream, towards the end o f the lake (where places like Tache and Yekooche are found today). This is why, nowadays, only two islands remain downstream, close to Fort St. James (Robert Hanson, CPNI, 10/06/04). Bintl’at noo. This name designates an island that is located at the far eastern end o f Tesgha, where lake waters shoal. A sandbank in this area connects Bintl’at noo to the mainland at low water, making it possible to walk from island to mainland and vice versa (Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom, CPNI, 21/12/04). The island is forested and once served as a year-round 27 Contracted forms o f place-names are also found in other Athapaskan languages like Apache (see Basso 1996) and Dogrib (see Saxon et al. 2002). While it is not evident what situational or logical contexts dictate the use o f toponymic contractions, some explanation o f their uses is given for both the Apache and Dogrib place-naming traditions. Basso (1996: 90) states that the short-forms o f place-names are used in normal, everyday conversations such as relating where one has been or where one is going. On the contrary, when there is a need to inspire or inculcate, as intended in the imparting o f a moral, the full versions o f place-names are provided. Saxon et al. (2002: 40) argues that like the short-form o f “town” seen as the abbreviated “-ton” in longestablished English language place-names like Kingston and Washington, compounded or old Dogrib placenames have been made shorter over time. The meanings o f contracted place-names are difficult to decipher because the roots o f words and the indicators that are contained in them become gradually lost, presumably due to changes in culture and language. 117 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. traditional camp that was used as a base for fishing and hunting activities. The name, B inti’at2*, is also used to designate the farthest end o f Pinchi Lake (CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). The prefix o f the name, bin, comes from the name o f the lake, Bin koh, and the suffix - tl ’at, refers to the end or “posterior” o f the lake. The term, - tl’at, seems to be tacit, and is translated by speakers of Dakelh as “the end o f the lake”, without specifying which end o f the lake is indicated. Clarification is found in Morice (1902), where t l ’a is described as being the designator for the upstream part o f a lake. As upstream travel in Dakelh country is concurrently a movement further away from settlements, the subtext o f “posterior” or “backside” that - tl ’at accommodates is fitting. Essentially, as one travels upstream away from settlement areas, one journeys into the “backwaters” o f the country, towards hinterland places. Another name for the island is Bintatoh (Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom, CPNI, 21/12/04). This name refers to the location o f the island “ in between” or “in the middle o f ’ or “among” where lake waters shoal. In this sense, the island stands as a “buoy”, signalling the shallowness o f the lake. The suffix -toh means “among” or “amid” , a form observed also in the name N ak’altoh (in Stuart Lake), which refers to the “widest part o f the lake” (Poser 1998: 292). When occurring in lake place-names, -toh likely means “among waters” or “ in the middle o f waters”. This interpretation is compelling because the name Bintatoh acts not only as the name for the island but the name for the widest part of Pinchi Lake. K ’azyus. Also spelled K ’uz yus (Tl’azt’en Place-Names Database 2003), this mountain consists o f a brecciated fault (Pinchi Fault), a narrow limestone escarpment that defines the western boundary o f the JPRF, and a ridge that runs between and slopes down to Pinchi and 28 Bintl’at is possibly a contraction o f the name, Bintat tl’at, whose particle, -tat, may in turn be a short form o f tat'tloh meaning “inlet” or “bay” (Poser 1998: 286). Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom gave the name Bintat tl’at, explaining that it was used to specifically designate a bay at the end o f Pinchi Lake (CPNI, 21/12/04). 118 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Tezzeron Lakes (UNBC n.d. c). Rocky outcrops originating from the limestone escarpment are found along the course o f K ’uzkoh, the river that flows into K ’uzche (BC Ministry o f Sustainable Resource Management 1999). K ’uz koh, K ’azyus and K ’uzche are all linked in name, indicating a relationship between the mountain, river and village. Trails are found all over K ’azyus, revealing how the mountain was once trekked for gathering medicinal plants, hunting and trapping (CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). Besides its role in indicating places and resources, K ’azyus possesses an additional significance. If N ak’al or Mount Pope is used as a basis for comparison, seeing that it is also a feature after which other features are named, it would seem that mountains connected with places that replicate their names are imbued with mystical significance. N ak’al, the focal name-giving feature o f the Stuart Lake area, according to Morice (1933: 647), assumes this role because o f its physiography and its associated myth. N ak’al is emulated in place-names like N ak’al bun, N ak’al koh, N ak’altoh, and N ak’azdli, which lie in the general vicinity o f the mountain. These places not only bring to mind the mountain but also resound with anecdotes based on the legend about dwarves. Similarly, stories associated with K ’azyus tell o f medicinal plants, snake pits, swamps, and magical and giant animals (Robert Hanson, CPNI, 10/06/04; Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom, CPNI, 21/12/04). People are said to display both reverence and caution when visiting places on the mountain. Indeed, certain places are altogether taboo, and to risk venturing into these places is to court ill fortune. The etymology o f the prefix k ’uz was discussed earlier (see K ’uzkoh). While most participants were able to give the name K ’azyus as the Dakelh name for Pinchi Mountain, most were unsure about the meaning o f the prefix o f the name. In general, participants were 119 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. confident about the meaning o f the suffix, -yus29, which was described as “hill”. Catherine Coldwell expanded on this concept, explaining that -yus is an archaic Dakelh form meaning “ridge” (CPNI, 25/06/04; see above discussion on yus vs. dzulh, p. 61). An alternate name for Pinchi Mountain was supplied by Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom whose family keyoh belongs within the study area (CPNI, 21/12/04). Natadilht’o was given as the mountain name, which makes reference to the area between Pinchi Lake and Tezzeron Lake. According to the Toms, the name, which means “water rising” or “flooding”, points to the abundance o f water in the area around the mountain. From the vantage point o f Pinchi Mountain, myriad bodies o f water give the impression that the surrounding land is inundated by water — the geography o f the portage involves multitudinous ponds, small lakes, swamps and streams. Additionally, as Pinchi Mountain used to be blanketed by deep snow (Robert Hanson, CPNI, 03/06/04), the spring thaw could have resulted in cascades o f water flowing down the mountainside causing floods to break out. The name Natadilht’o suggests an alternate understanding o f the significance o f the mountain, namely as a place where flooding was a phenomenal and spirited spectacle. 29 Morris Joseph (CPNIS, 13/05/04) who never hunted or trapped in the study area, and was therefore unfamiliar with places there, translated yu s as “snow”. His translation was totally reliant on seeing the name in writing. Without the aid o f another Dakelh speaker who knew the area well, Mr. Joseph could not tell whether the word referred to “snow”, “ridge” or “w o lf’. This problem points to the importance o f sounding out names to understand their meanings. Even with a standard orthography in place, the CLC Writing System, many Dakelh speakers still rely on oral transmission to communicate in their language. Mr. Joseph literally translated K ’uz yus as “on the side o f snow”, and explained its meaning as “on one side o f the mountain there is snow”. Interestingly, he translated k ’uz as a member or part o f a totality, which is similar to the translation given to the word in the toponym, K ’uz koh. 120 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CONCLUSION This chapter has demonstrated that a wealth o f information can be obtained about places on the land through toponyms and the geographical terms that make up their structure. Dakelh toponymy, as discovered in this research, seems to be patterned according to water bodies, particularly lake systems and the rivers or creeks that flow into or out o f them, and orography (mountains, hills, ridges, etc.). Such information, when pieced together with ethnographic details from Dakelh oral history and written versions o f Dakelh history and antiquity, allows a more complete perspective o f T l’azt’en physical and cultural geography. The purpose places have served in subsistence and travel, and in the ways people think o f themselves and the landscape that sustains them, can be understood through the names given to geographical features and sites. This chapter, therefore, shows that it is necessary to include the social and historical contexts o f places in the linguistic investigation o f place-names to arrive at a deeper understanding o f how T l’at’enne have relied on the natural environment for physical sustenance as well as for self-definition and identity. Through this approach, toponymy can be utilized to understand the special function o f the land in aiding remembrance of, and connection with, indigenous history, culture, knowledge and language. This idea will be considered in greater depth in the next and final chapter o f this thesis, where the toponymic information presented thus far, will be conceptually developed and organized according to four themes, demonstrating a methodology for analyzing, interpreting and utilizing placenames information in community educational initiatives such as the Tl’azt’en Nation Yunk’ut Whe Tso Dul’eh culture-based science camp programme. 121 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter Five: USING DAKELH TOPONYMIC KNOWLEDGE IN YUNK’UT WHE TS’O DUL ’EH CULTURE-BASED SCIENCE CAMP PROGRAMME INTRODUCTION As observed in previous chapters, toponymy offers the opportunity to explore the past, and to understand how the physical landscape was relied upon to survive, move between places and to assert territoriality and identity. For people like the Tl’azt’en, who lived a semi-nomadic lifestyle and to whom material accumulation was o f little importance, place-names constitute a means to appreciate the knowledge, memory, and value o f the land. In terms o f present-day reality, with the deterioration, on a global scale, o f the majority of indigenous languages and means o f livelihood, oral tradition — the traditional medium o f teaching and learning about aboriginal knowledge and history — is threatened. A case in point is Tl’azt’en Nation, whose younger generation is increasingly unable to speak Dakelh and removed from on-theland activities. This has created a void in cultural continuity, where Tl’azt’en children and youth are not receiving a comprehensive education, that is to say, one that involves a specifically Tl’azt’en sense o f knowledge, history and identity. This final chapter considers the potential o f Dakelh toponymy in educating about Tl’azt’en language, culture and TEK, and offers ways to incorporate toponymic knowledge into educational programmes, such as the Yunk’ut Whe T s’o D u l’eh culture-based science camp programme, aimed at creating awareness among indigenous children and youth about their cultural heritage. At the analytical or content-analysis stage o f this research, four main themes were discovered and formulated to understand the importance o f traditional place- 122 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. names to the TPazt’enne: 1) Place-Names as Indicators o f Dakelh Geographical and Historical Knowledge; 2) Place-Names Commemorative o f the Ancestral Past; 3) The Role o f Place-Names in Educating about Land and Language; and 4) The Role o f Place-Names in Educating about Conquest and Re-Conquest. The themes facilitate an understanding o f what life would have been like in the Dakelh past, and more importantly, provide insight into the seemingly inherent “environmental consciousness” (including morals related to personal and community well-being) that is said to be characteristic o f indigenous cultures. The chapter ends with a series o f recommendations in creating a place for toponymy in the Yunk ’ut Whe Ts ’o Dul ’eh culture-based science camp programme. It offers guidelines for a methodology in using Dakelh place-names when teaching children about the science behind physical and biotic processes and phenomena to provide them with Dakelh environmental knowledge that is specific to place - the thesis’ original goal. In addition, the guidelines focus on more multi­ disciplinary applications for the use o f Dakelh topoynmy, such as educating on the role o f land in defining the Tl’azt’en as a people, and understanding the effects o f colonialism on land, language and oral history. To exemplify the guidelines I offer sample lesson ideas based on one study toponym. CATEGORIES OF DAKELH TOPONYMIC KNOWLEDGE P lace-N a m es as In dicators o f D a kelh G eographical a n d H isto rica l K n ow ledge Place-Nam es as N avigational Aids Dakelh topoynms are aids in travel on water and on land. Some o f the study toponyms were found to exhibit particles that act as directionals. For instance, place-names with the particles, -che and tizdli, are directionals indicating direction into or out o f a lake system (see Chapter Four). These particles, unlike the global direction given by a compass, give direction from a 123 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. local vantage point. In the Dakelh culture, where rivers and creeks were the primary mode o f travel in the past, these particles intimate people’s reliance on waterways to leave and return to their home territory. Another example o f a directional is -tl ’at, a suffix sometimes found in lake place-names that denotes “the end o f the lake”, referring to those areas that are found upstream from major settlement areas. This particle seems to indicate to travellers on water that a movement away from a settlement into more remote areas is occurring. Conversely, for travellers coming downstream, the place-name suffix -tl ’at would have signalled imminent arrival at a settlement. Together with the aid o f other landforms (such as mountains, hills, islands, coves, etc ), knowledge o f the -che, tizdli and - t l ’at parts o f lakes guided travellers on water to both up- and downstream places. Place-Names Containing Environmental Information Biotic information that hints at the resource-potential o f places can also be found to reside in place-names. In this study, toponyms carrying -ch e and tizdli particles, as well as the placenames Chuzghun and Tesgha contain environmental information pertaining to faunal life cycle, and critical habitats such as nesting and refuge sites. Serving as navigational aids, -che and tizdli place-names also suggest opportunities for hunting, snaring and fishing by the very nature that the places marked by these names are typically those that remain open or ice-free during the winter. River mouths and lake outlets attract species o f birds and mammals, and allow for certain methods o f fishing even when lakes are mostly frozen. In some cases, as with the toponym Chuzghun, stages o f the life cycle o f animals are evoked. Chuzghun summons up the yearly migration o f waterfowl northwards, the birds’ need for shelter in lakes and slow-moving rivers and creeks, and the processes o f moulting and nesting that the birds undergo after they find refuge. Perhaps the most obvious example is the literal 124 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. translation o f Chuzghun, “Snowflake Lake” (Poser 1998: 67), referring to “where ducks and geese moult” (Catherine Coldwell and Betsy Leon, CPNIS, 31/03/04; CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). This information on waterfowl is part o f Dakelh knowledge relating to subsistence. Through observing the seasons, habits and habitats o f the birds, it was possible to predict their arrival, to locate when and where they nest, and to develop efficient harvesting strategies. At the time o f the moult, waterfowl are at their most vulnerable, being largely grounded and awkward away from water. Accounts o f the traditional means o f clubbing or netting waterfowl in the moulting stage are given in Morice (1897) and Hall (1992). Tesgha (meaning “hairy or furry bed or bedding” (Morris Joseph, pers, comm,, 10/06/04/; Alexander Tom, CPNI, 21/12/04)), the lake that lies parallel to Chuzghun, is also associated with waterfowl, in terms o f it serving as an “overnight resting” place (Betsy Leon, CPNIS, 31/03/04). The lake is known to be where geese and ducks flock before flying off to other lakes in the vicinity to nest because parts o f the lake are shallow enough for grasses and other semi-aquatic plants to flourish. Such an ecosystem sustains a variety o f waterfowl as well as whitefish fry, which typically use the blades and stalks o f the grasses to hide (CPNVS, 27-28/04/05). According to Dakelh knowledge, the shallow eastern portion o f Tesgha is habitat for whitefish, which head towards these shoal waters to spawn (Robert Hanson, CPNI, 10/06/04). The island, Bintl’at noo, located at the eastern end o f Tesgha, once served as a fishing and hunting camp: this lake system was associated with the autumnal activities o f harvesting whitefish and waterfowl. 125 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Place-Names Offering Clues to the Dakelh Subsistence Round Environmental and historical information are also found to exist in Dakelh place-names. At times such information is indirect, implicative o f the activities and events that have taken place in the areas toponymically marked. For instance, the toponym Bilhk’a (Whitefish Lake) translates literally as “snare1 and arrow” (Walter Joseph and Pierre John, CPNI, 02/06/04), indicating the kinds o f traditional technology used in subsistence activities. Oral history and historical accounts elucidate the types o f activities that were performed at the places marked by these place-names. Dakelh material culture, in particular traditional subsistence equipment, was often economical in both design and purpose: a single tool fulfilled a number o f functions. For example, nets used for fishing could also be used for catching waterfowl or beaver, and the materials and methods used to fashion a net were also those that could be used to create a battle shield (see Hall 1992). From the 1900s to 1940s, Bilhk’a played an important role as a source o f whitefish to people from throughout the Stuart-Trembleur watershed (Hudson 1983). Bilhk’a was also associated with hunting and trapping (Robert Hanson, CPNI, 10/06/04). The name o f the lake emphasizes the value o f the lake and its surrounding environs as a place where it is possible to hunt, trap and fish. People travelled to this lake in the fall, when whitefish were plentiful in areas o f the lake where spawning occurred (Sophie Monk, CPNI, 03/06/04). The wooded recesses o f the periphery o f the lake contributed to Bilhk’a ’s significance as they provided access to other subsistence resources, namely small and large game. Place-names can also refer to the resources needed to fashion traditional tools or other items. The toponym Chuzghun carries an alternative meaning to “where ducks and geese moult”— “soft wood” (chuz\ Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom, CPNI 21/12/04). Black 1 The term “snare” is an all-embracing term for any device that snags or catches, and includes such implements as snares, snare wire, nets and webs (Poser 1998: 60). 126 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. cottonwood, which grows abundantly along this lake and whose wood is highly pliable, was used to make dugout canoes and paddles (Hall 1992). Through a reflection o f Dakelh material culture in place-names, the richness o f the traditional subsistence round is relayed. Dakelh toponyms are occasionally literal, textual representations o f landscape features, describing the terrain or topography as it appears to the eye. In the case o f Hadoodatelh koh (Hatdudatehl Creek), the role o f place-names as descriptors o f the landscape is glimpsed. The name, consisting o f adverbial particles, describes the creek as it pours out o f its source, Hadoodatelh (Hatdudatehl Lake), spilling up and over the almost shoreless lake2, and flowing downwards into Chuzghun. These characteristics are reflected in the name Hadoodatelh, which translates roughly as “from the bottom o f the lake to the surface o f water and over” (CPNVS, 06/01/06). P lace-N am es C om m em orative o f the A n cestra l P a st Place-Names A lluding to People and Events in the Past Place-names contain historical information in relation to the sites where people became known through certain events or the activities they customarily engaged in. Some placenames like Houniyelwhodistine and Tsasdeskodestse3 (Walter Joseph and Pierre John, CPNI, 02/06/04) bring back memories o f individuals who were associated with certain practices that were carried out at specific places, making a piece o f the past accessible through toponyms. Houniyelwhodistine, for instance, is the name o f a place where, a long time ago, a man called Houniyel hung a rock lashed with a strip o f red willow on the branch o f a tree. This name 2 Hadoodatelh was described as a lake that freezes early due it being located at an elevation (CPNVS, 06/01/06). It was also remarked that the name, Hadoodatelh relates to the lake’s depth and to the fact that there is hardly any shoreline to it, so much so that people have never set nets at the lake, and have only relied on hooks when fishing (CPNVS, 06/01/06). 3 The spellings o f these toponyms have yet to be verified by the CLC. 127 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. continues to occupy the imagination o f people who visit the place today so much so that they are said to look up into the trees to try to spot the suspended rock. Similarly with Tsasdeskodestse, the life o f a man is commemorated through the specialty he was known for, namely the cooking o f bear fat; however, the name o f the man is not part o f the place-name, which gives the impression that the preparation o f bear fat somehow takes precedence over the doer o f the activity. These last two place-names, although not part o f the suite o f toponyms examined as part o f this research were discussed during interviews, participants emphasizing that traditional place-names are still important to T l’azt’enne due to the function o f toponyms as repositories o f memories. They often remarked that every place on the land is named and that the names, besides describing topography or resources found in places, commemorate and celebrate the past and the people who once lived o ff the land. Unsurprisingly then, there are places like Houniyelwhodistine and Tsasdeskodestse that are named after people and the practices o f long ago that have become part o f Dakelh identity through remembrances. These names appear to be o f special significance to Tl’azt’en elders because they evoke memories of people who were alive when the first Europeans came to Dakelh territory, and life as it was before contact. In place-names discussions, it was typical for interview participants to connect the names with past experiences o f travelling on their keyohs. Names were remembered in the context o f the activities performed at places or through the legends and historical events that are associated with places. Participants, when asked about the toponymy o f their land, offered stories of childhood travels, hunting and camping trips, berry picking and medicinal plant gathering as well as o f other work carried out in the bush, such as cutting cordwood and clearing land. Place-names are obviously remembered in the context o f performing on-the- 128 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. land activities, an idea which would find application in a culture- based outdoor education programme such as Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o D u l’eh, given that learning about indigenous language and oral history cannot take place fully without a personal connection with the land. Place-Names Associated with Narratives Occasionally, place-names evoke narratives bordering on the mythic and/or involving the superhuman. These accounts, in providing the context needed to understand the significance o f places-names and the places they mark, give topoynms depth. Explaining the origins o f places and phenomena, being prescriptive and cautionary, or allowing a momentary view o f mystical power, these stories carry a subtext that demonstrates the strong spiritual ties between people and the places they depend on. The place-names Chuzghun and Bin tizdli, for instance, are associated with accounts o f giant animals that tell not only o f medicine power but show how the land is sacred. The presence o f animals such as giant Dolly Varden trout and frogs (see Chapter Four) suggests an offsetting o f human might and a creation o f balance in the interactions between humans and animals. Giant animals serve as powerful reminders that not all things in nature can be controlled or known with surety. It is in this regard that places exude a kind o f importance or sacredness, which creates awareness and respectfulness in people as they travel through the country. A cautionary message often underlies tales o f giant animals. One episode o f the story o f the giant frog o f Bin tizdli tells o f a time when a man came to seek the frog with the intention o f capturing and selling it to a zoo (Robert Hanson, CPNI, 03/06/04). What ensued was a catastrophe, where the man drowned during a sudden squall that blew in over the lake. The story warns o f the consequences that can befall those who trespass or exceed the bounds o f another’s space and privileges. The place-based legends dealing with giant animals (see 129 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter Four) seem to also relate to a time in the past when animals were extraordinary and endowed with special powers that could either aid or thwart humans. For fear o f suffering misfortune, people travelled with caution through places associated with such animals, always respecting their existence and space. Such stories emphasize the importance o f knowing where one was going, respect for all life, and respect for the land. Giants as well as giant forms o f animals are also featured in narratives relating to the origins o f places. Ulhts’acho, an island upriver from the village o f N ak’azdli on Stuart Lake is the namesake o f an ogre whose tragic death caused its formation (Catherine Coldwell, CPNI, 25/06/04). The story not only tells o f the origin o f the island as well as a nearby islet with which it is paired, but relays a moral about respect for life and land. Gluttony made Ulhts’acho kill his dog— his only companion— to get at the lingcod livers in its stomach. On his binge, Ulhts’acho carelessly flung the carcass o f his dog into the lake, and when he finally realized what a heartless deed he had committed, he waded out to retrieve the body o f his dog. He never returned. His body, like his dog’s, after being tossed by the waves and swept along by the current, finally settled and became an island. The story o f Ulhts’acho exemplifies the interdependence between humans and animals, and cautions against impulsivity, greed and mistreatment. Above all, the story touches on the continuity between life and the earth— people and animals can be transformed after death into landscape features that endure through the seasons, and that stand sentinel at the coming and going of generations o f Dakelhne. Despite the instructive and deterring nature o f the stories contained in place-names, they also exist for enjoyment and in marvel o f the various phenomena in nature. A playful episode o f the legend surrounding the giant frog o f Bin tizdli recounts how the frog stealthily made its way one day to the mouth o f Pinchi Creek, and without warning showed itself to a 130 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. cluster o f islands near the mouth o f the creek (Robert Hanson, CPNI, 10/06/04). The islands were in such a state o f alarm that they leapt upstream and clear away from where Pinchi Creek flows into Stuart Lake. This is the reason why there are no islands nowadays near the mouth o f Pinchi Creek nor are there many downstream from the creek entrance. The R ole o f P lace-N am es in E d u ca tin g a b o u t L a n d a n d L anguage Patterns o f Land Use and Occupancy as Revealed through Place-Names Toponvmic Clusters Toponymy can assist in tracing the ways the land has been used by people (Muller-Wille 1984; Rankama 1993; Kari 1996 a&b; Collignon 2006). In the Dakelh physical landscape, toponyms seem to take on two basic patterns depending on where they are distributed. A general examination o f place-names maps (CSTC 1995 & 2004; CLC 1974) reveals that there are systems o f place-names in areas near settlements and hinterland areas. Toponyms are numerous around village sites like N ak’azdli and Tache. The clusters o f names indicate visibly prominent topographic features such as mountains, lakes, creeks, rivers and meadows. These names appear to be “regional” toponyms that may be part o f the general knowledge o f Dakelhne o f the Stuart-Trembleur watershed (CPNVS, 6/01/06). As the features and their names seem to be generally known, it is plausible that these areas have been under communal appropriation, that is to say, they have been used by the general Dakelh populace o f the Stuart-Trembleur watershed irrespective o f village or keyoh affiliation. Renel Mitchell (pers. comm., 23/10/03) remarked that toponyms around village sites seem to frequently evoke legends, in contrast to place-names located at a distance. A preliminary supposition, which further research will substantiate concerns people’s intense familiarity, through use or remembrances or both, with these places. Presumably, the mountains, lakes and rivers around 131 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. villages were the first landmarks that people learned as children to orient themselves as they travelled overland, as well as on lakes and rivers. These places can be thought o f as “identifiers” or “pathfinders” that guided people as they journeyed to and from their base villages. As a system o f “beacons”, it is likely that these places were simultaneously conceived o f as sacred due to this auxiliary role. The deified eminence accorded to landscape features was possibly concentrated in, and heightened through legends. As legends were told and re-told, they became a part o f people’s knowledge o f the landscape, increasing familiarity with and understanding o f the natural world. These myths give topoynms their mnemonic quality, whereby physiographic features locate and fasten happenings in the past. Such is the transformative role o f the landscape in transcending its physical magnitude to existing as a realm o f reflection, imagination and possibility. Toponvmic Chains A second basic toponymic pattern found in Dakelh country is one o f “chains”. This system o f place-names is characteristic in areas where keyohs are found. The “chain” pattern is found in the study area, where place-names can be traced around specific portions o f lakes and rivers or creeks, giving the effect o f an elongated thread o f names. This pattern is due to the presence o f place-name locations around lakes and along rivers and creeks, where people set up bivouacs and positioned nets, snares and traps (CPNVS, 6/01/06). Place-names in the key oh are representative o f “topographic minutiae” consisting of such landscape features as capes, bays, ponds or pothole lakes, islands and knolls, the names o f which are remarked to be known only to the keyoh holders whose lands include these features (Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom, CPNI, 21/12/04; Robert Hanson, CPNI, 10/06/04; Walter Joseph and Pierre John, CPNI, 02/06/04). As those who hunt, fish, gather and trap in customarily-defined areas 132 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. inherited from elder male relatives such as fathers and uncles, keyoh holders are intimately familiar with their territories. Places within keyoh territories are regarded as having been named by the male progenitors o f current keyoh holders, and thought to be a sign o f the deep knowledge o f the land possessed by the earlier keyoh holders (Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom, CPNI, 21/12/04; Walter Joseph and Pierre John, CPNI, 02/06/04). Because o f the keyoh ’s importance in providing members o f a family with a variety o f food, places could be named to reflect either directly or indirectly the types o f subsistence resources they harboured. Additionally, as the ownership o f a keyoh is normally delegated to members o f a family, the events (corporal as well as spiritual) that have taken place within its bounds are also inherited through place-names. The Functionality and Lyricism o f Keyoh Place-Names As with many o f the study place-names within the JPRF, keyoh toponyms show a utilitarian quality: they often designate the subsistence-related aspects o f places. For instance, the keyohs east o f Stuart Lake contain several small lakes whose names announce their subsistence value. Lake topoynms such as D uk’ai Hooni (“there are rainbow trout there”), D uk’ai Dizti’ (“the rainbow trout are precious there”), Lhooz Lai Unli (“there are a lot o f chub in there”), and Lhotsuli (“where the fish spawn”) literally label the usefulness o f the lakes from a subsistence standpoint (translations provided by Catherine Coldwell, CPNI, 25/06/04). At times, features that are recognized communally as a landmark and concurrently claimed as part o f someone’s keyoh, carry more than one name, indicating a variety o f views as to the value o f the features. Landmarks may carry metaphorical rather than utilitarian names. Heightening their mnemonic capacity, metaphorical names can consist o f hyperbole 133 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and puns related to the shape o f the landscape feature. On the other hand, the different names attached by keyoh holders to these well-known landscape features indicate a specific type o f knowledge, related to the resource importance o f the features, to their role as keyoh boundary markers or to episodes concerning the features in some way. K ’azyus (Pinchi Mountain), located between Chuzghun (Tezzeron Lake) and Tesgha (Pinchi Lake), is an example o f a feature that carries an alternate keyoh name. While the name o f the mountain is generally known as a spiritual marker (see Chapter Four), the Tom family identifies this feature as Natadilht’o, a name which refers to the annual flooding at the base o f the mountain. It is an episode with which this family is well acquainted, given their occupation o f this area for generations. The mountain may also perform a role in denoting the margins o f the Tom family’s keyoh. Place-Names as Sym bols o f Authority and Knowledge Keyoh territories are defined according to both physical and social bounds. On a material level, keyoh limits are marked by “posts”, or “topographical partitions” by way o f hills, mountains, watersheds, meadows, and trails (Margaret Mattess, CPNIS, 19/05/04). Lakes and islands, which can also be claimed as part o f a family’s keyoh, are also used as posts (Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom, CPNI, 21/12/04). Although keyohs are thus demarcated, there remains a degree o f reciprocity in sharing land and resources (see Chapter Three). This is observed in the social ties between keyoh holders and others. On a social level, keyoh boundaries are maintained through respect and deference towards the family members who have disposition rights to the piece o f land. In interviews conducted as part o f this research, participants were reluctant to talk about places in somebody else’s keyoh. This reluctance seems to be steeped in anxiety o f 134 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. trespassing on and misrepresenting another’s authority over and knowledge o f a specific area used for subsistence. The unwillingness to discuss another’s keyoh was explained cogently by Walter Joseph, who remarked that talking about places in someone else’s keyoh is an intrusion synonymous to crossing or cutting through the keyoh without having first informed the owner (CPNI, 02/06/04). While keyoh boundaries are not absolute, there is an unspoken rule between keyoh holders and others that obtaining permission to use or travel through the keyoh is obligatory. This is a tacit acknowledgement o f the keyoh holder’s tenure and authority over the keyoh. Even conversing about the place-names in another’s keyoh is a breach o f respect and trust because the place-names can be specific to the keyoh in which they belong, forming not only a part o f the owner’s knowledge o f the keyoh but standing also as authoritative symbols o f that knowledge. Place-Names Illustrative o f the Intricacies o f the D akelh Language Place-names play a role in illustrating the complexities o f the Dakelh language. Through this study’s place-name interviews, it became apparent that T l’azt’en elders actively engaged in a unique means o f conveying their thoughts. Although the medium o f communication in the interviews was largely English, participants nonetheless used the language in a “Dakelh sense”, indicating how deeply immersed they still are in their own language and culture. An interesting phenomenon that arose repeatedly in interviews was the phrase “to hunt fish”, which seemed to hold a larger meaning than that presumed in the literal, verbatim understanding o f these words. The term “hunt”, as used by interview participants, allows for an examination into Dakelh traditional subsistence. In Dakelh, “hunt” seems to be synonymous with “subsist on”, “survive on”, “be nourished by” or “live on”, and includes fish and game-based subsistence- 135 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. related occupations without there being any distinguishing terms for them except syntactically when these activities are understood according to context as “hunt”, “fish” or “trap” (Poser 1998: 107). Rather than being simply a word describing a certain type o f subsistence activity, “hunt” seems to be a metaphor for adapting to one’s environment. This idea would correlate with the theory o f Athapaskan pre-historical social units o f small hunting bands, whose members travelled extensively in search o f food, particularly large game. Perhaps, over time, as people such as the Dakelhne came to settle at mouths o f rivers and creeks, the term “hunt” began to assume a generalized meaning, used to signify other ways o f surviving on the land such as fishing and the snaring o f small game. People may have depended on fish as an alternate source o f food when game was scarce (Ives 1990; Vanstone 1974). It is also likely that the same hunting implements used for game, such as spears, were also used for fish. Discussions with Tl’azt’en elders about topoynms also point to other interesting aspects o f the Dakelh language such as dialects and sub-dialects, which are apparent only to a trained ear that can identify variations in the manner words and names are pronounced. The ability to recognize dialectical differences is valuable in analyzing the mixing o f dialects, loan words and pronunciation differences in the Dakelh language, including place-names. To encapsulate such language phenomena, the formative -b in as observed in several placenames within the Tesgha (Pinchi Lake) system (i.e., Binche bun and Bin koh (two o f the five recorded names for Pinchi Lake), Bin tizdli and Bintl’at noo), remains obscure as it is a term with no apparent meaning to the Dakelh speakers o f the Stuart-Trembleur region. 136 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. As discussed in Chapter Four, the origins o f -bin might be traced to Babine territory4; however, more investigation is required to ascertain if this is the case or if the term was appropriated from the name o f a person whose keyoh was at Tesgha’s outlet. As region dictates how Dakelh is spoken in various villages, further research may determine if variations in the standard dialect o f a village are attributed to inter-marriages between members o f different Dakelh bands, in-migrations o f people from other bands, or borrowed terms from other groups (e.g. coastal aboriginal groups, Europeans). This knowledge may help to trace genealogies, kinship ties, and to piece together details that provide context to past events. Place-names are a vital part o f understanding and remembering the Dakelh language and culture. Elders, who travelled and worked on the land in their younger days and whose parents led a bush lifestyle, are clearly those who remember the traditional Dakelh placenames and who still speak the Dakelh language fluently. To them, place-names comprise a kind o f lingua franca, where the names serve as a tool for communicating about the past. Through the “language o f place-names” , past events and people who once lived off the land are memorialized in present-day conversations. Oftentimes, the knowledge o f place-names held by elders is enigmatic to younger people who lack the language proficiency and experience o f working on and travelling through the land. Therefore, the substance placenames offer in knowing the land the way the Dakelh ancestors once did is only available in its profundity to the initiated, specifically elders and those raised in the bush way o f life. 4 O f special interest is Leslie Main Johnson and Sharon Hargus’ (2006) research on Witsuwit’en ethnogeography, through which a number o f Witsuwit’en geographical terms have been studied. In drawing connections to the origins o f -bin , it is worthy o f note that the Witsuwit’en concept o f “creek flowing out o f a lake” has been documented by Johnson and Hargus to exist in the terms bin ts ’anli or bin tezdli. 137 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The R ole o f P lace-N am es in E d u ca tin g a b o u t C onquest a n d R e-C o n q u est A n Altered Landscape, A n Altered Lifestyle, A n Eroded Toponymy Through the interviews conducted as part o f this study, it became clear that etymological analysis o f toponyms alone is insufficient to grasp the full meaning o f names. Rather, the physical attributes o f a place, the activities carried out there and the people linked to it comprise information that is necessary to achieve the full meaning o f toponyms. Place-names research, such as this study, builds an understanding o f the role place-names have played in the lives o f Dakelhne through a consideration o f linguistic as well as ethnographic evidence. When the voyageurs, trading company men, missionaries and settlers came to Dakelh territory, they picked up the indigenous names o f places albeit in pidgin, which eventually became mapped and transcribed. The corruption o f sounds in Dakelh names was thus made official, displacing the essence and original meanings o f the names. These corruptions represent a loss o f indigenous language and culture, and contribute to the overarching process o f colonization, where one’s own language and worldview become alien and meaningless. The anglicized versions o f Dakelh names symbolize an erosion o f ancestral knowledge. The landscape as the elders once knew it, through firsthand experience or through stories about it that they were told as youngsters, is not the same entity that is available to present-day Dakelhne (Margaret Mattess and Pauline Joseph, CPNIS, 19/05/04; Walter Joseph and Pierre John, CPNI, 02/06/04). Certain irrevocable and large-scale changes brought about by resource development schemes, compounded by an alteration o f lifestyle whereby people have become less reliant on the land for their livelihood, have alienated the younger generation o f Tl’azt’enne from drawing on the land for a sense o f self (Walter Joseph and Pierre John, CPNI, 02/06/04). When the land and people are thus changed, it is 138 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. perhaps inevitable that place-names are not understood anymore according to their original contexts (Walter Joseph and Pierre John, CPNI, 2/06/04). A significant part o f comprehending the full meaning o f Dakelh toponyms is to know the places they depict. As remarked upon time and again by the elders who were interviewed as part o f this study, the land is indeed a visual reference o f place-names. When the landscape’s hues, textures and forms are seen firsthand, place-names begin to make sense to the observer (Margaret Mattess and Pauline Joseph, CPNIS, 19/05/04; Catherine Coldwell, CPNI, 25/06/04; CPNVS, 06/01/06). So important is this visual referencing that it could be said that without experience o f the actual places, toponyms are nothing more than husks. This is why the land has to be travelled and experienced firsthand in order for places and placenames to be remembered and understood, a notion that suggests the immense value o f outdoor education programmes such as Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o D u l’eh in helping indigenous children and youth to engage with the land. However, gaining knowledge through spending time on the land may not be as straightforward as in the days when British Columbia was still largely “uncharted territory”, and when places remained untouched by logging, mining and road building. Research participants recalled changes in cherished and familiar places such as ancient trails cut up by modem roads (Theresa Austin, CURA Pre-Test Interview, 17/05/04), and the drying up o f a swamp, a treasured Labrador tea harvesting place, caused by intensive logging around the area (Margaret Mattess, CPNIS, 19/05/04). Such disturbances or changes to the landscape have resulted in memories o f places gradually dimming because alterations to a place affect its environment (Walter Joseph, CPNI, 02/06/04). For people who have relied on the predictability o f faunal and floral resources that places have offered over time, changes to places can cause a loss o f livelihood and certainty (Walter Joseph and Pierre John, CPNI, 139 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 02/06/04). This is the point when a place is truly abandoned, ceasing to have meaning to people (Walter Joseph and Pierre John, CPNI, 02/06/04). In this situation, toponyms marking such places would eventually lose their meanings, too, for the basic reason that the sources o f their very existence are changed or destroyed (Walter Joseph, CPNI, 02/06/04). Today, most Dakelh place-names remain largely incomprehensible and even arcane to the younger generation due to their not knowing the Dakelh language and the limited time they spend on the land (Catherine Coldwell, CPNI, 25/06/04; Robert Hanson, CPNI 03/06/04). Nonetheless, there is an increasing sense o f cultural pride amongst the younger generation o f Tl’azt’enne about their heritage. An example o f such resurgence is evinced by the use o f a unique suite o f toponyms by younger Tl’azt’enne. These toponyms are direct translations o f the English place-names in T l’azt’en territory (William Poser, pers. comm., 24/10/04), and while not bona fide traditional Dakelh names, their presence indicates the fervour amongst younger people to regain the language and culture of their ancestors. Examples include English names like Pinchi Mountain and Tezzeron Mountain, which have been translated verbatim into Dakelh as Binche Dzulh (or Tesgha Dzulh) and Chuzghun Dzulh, respectively (William Poser, pers. comm., 24/10/04). Place-Names as Identifiers o f Belonging The keyoh, while existing on a functional level as a “larder”, carries symbolic meaning in how it acts as a vessel o f tradition. It is frequently referred to as “a place for survival” (Walter Joseph and Pierre John, CPNI, 02/06/04; Catherine Coldwell, CPNI, 25/06/04; Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom, CPNI, 21/12/04; CPNVS, 27-28/04/05) but the meaning o f this phrase surpasses its subsistence importance. On a social level, keyohs symbolize family and personal autonomy in the sense that they are places o f belonging within the greater 140 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Dakelh social structure. In short, keyohs are places where it becomes possible for individuals to attach in a personal way to the land. Other than being places to hunt, fish, gather and trap, keyohs offer respite and retreat (Stanley Tom and Alexander Tom, CPNI, 21/12/04). It is in this sense as a place for self-restoration, that the word “survival”, used to describe keyohs, is fully realized. Toponyms play a role in the notions o f belonging and individual autonomy through the kinds o f places they mark. Through naming, people endow places with significance and power (Basso 1996; Thornton 1997b). In Tl’azt’en territory, the internalization o f the land by people is observed in the way the landscape features are thought about— an unequivocal example is how mountains are thought to be incarnations o f ancestors or characters from well-known legends (Renel Mitchell, pers. comm., 23/10/03; Walter Joseph, CPNI, 02/06/04; Morris Joseph, pers. comm., 10/06/04). In essence, to know the land is to know oneself and one’s ancestors. Place-names figure in an important way in this knowledge as they anchor particular pieces o f information to particular places on the land (Basso 1996). In short, the names o f places function as repositories o f memories. As people move through the land, they gain experience o f it as well as knowledge o f their ancestry and history. To have gained experience o f the land is to have gained knowledge o f the names o f its places and attendant narratives, which creates a sense o f home and rootedness. This is why Tl’azt’enne, once a nomadic people, can be said to have regarded every place travelled regularly to as “home” (Teresa Austin, CURA Pre-Test Interview, 17/05/04). Knowing the land continues to be important, given the pervasive onslaughts on indigenous culture. As people confront a past o f occupation, racism and alienation, newer forms of conquest must also be contended with. There are a myriad o f ways in which the land can be taken away from Tl’azt’enne besides large-scale forestry and mining endeavours. A 141 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. seemingly benign encroachment on aboriginal culture is the “cocacolonization” that is found the world over, where youth are exposed to and mimic popular culture, which has at its roots a set o f norms for social living that differ from indigenous culture. As indigenous children and youth subscribe to these assimilative trends, they increasingly become dissociated from the land, their birthright (see “Statement o f Philosophy”, T l’azt’en Nation 1995). GUIDELINES FOR INCORPORATING DAKELH TOPONYMY INTO YUNK’UT WHE TS’O DUL’EH CULTURE-BASED SCIENCE CAMP PROGRAMME Learning and using indigenous place-names is a means o f revitalizing indigenous language and culture. As repositories o f language, land and oral history, place-names bridge the present with the past, enabling an understanding o f TEK in the context o f how landscape features functioned as travel aids, and markers o f subsistence sites and historical events. It is through an appreciation o f the ancestral past that the present generation o f indigenous people form an appreciation o f who they are today; in this way, place-names have a role in sustaining cultural identity and therefore, have much to contribute to indigenous education. As indigenous place-names promote understandings that are aboriginal and entwined with place, they stand as a powerful medium for educating about conquest, social justice, and indigenous rights and title. A significant part o f the Tl’azt’en-initiated Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o D u l’eh culture-based outdoor science camp programme (see Chapter Two) lies in its goal o f creating an opportunity for youth to become immersed in the land and the Dakelh culture. To teach about the land in the context o f the Dakelh culture, it is crucial to introduce learners to how Dakelhne conceive o f the land and their place within the landscape. Place-names are valuable aids as they make the land accessible in human terms, as signs, pathfinders, containers of 142 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. knowledge (e.g. environmental, historical, geographical), and meditations o f events and people o f long ago. In teaching Tl’azt’en youth to re-connect with the land, place-names have an inestimable importance because they are tangible markers o f places on the land that give substance to the culture o f their people. Therefore, incorporating Dakelh topoynmy in educational programmes, such as the Y unk’ut Whe T s ’o D u l’eh programme, has the effect o f re-instating Dakelh names on the map, o f keeping the land from being lost to Tl’azt’enne (Pauline Joseph, CPNIS, 19/05/04). The guidelines offered below (Figure 5.1) for including Dakelh toponymy in the Y unk’ut Whe Ts ’o D u l’eh programme are meant as broad recommendations to be utilized and adapted as needed in teaching the Dakelh subsistence round-related modules o f the programme (see Mitchell 2003). Following the guidelines is an example using one Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o Dul ’eh unit, and focusing on the toponym Chuzghun, to demonstrate possibilities for the implementation o f the guidelines in developing lesson ideas (Figure 5.2). 143 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Step 1: Determine a set of guiding questions for each toponym. In deciding how to introduce Dakelh toponymy to students, it is important to devise a set o f guiding questions to frame the lessons. These questions will serve as a basis for determining the focus o f teaching about Dakelh land, oral history and language through toponymy. Step 2: Identify units from Yunk’ut Whe Ts’o D ul’eh to introduce the toponyms. Several units in Yunk’ut Whe T s’o D u l’eh lend themselves to exploring many o f the placename elements that stemmed from the content-analysis stage o f this research, including: Dakelh knowledge related to travel and subsistence; sense o f place; and sense o f environmental responsibility. Appropriate units to select will be those that conceptually match the guiding questions developed in Step 1. Step 3: Determine a list of skills that students should gain from toponymy learning activities. In determining the types o f skills that students should gain from toponymy learning activities, the British Columbia Ministry o f Education’s Prescribed Learning Outcomes (K-7) for Science and Social Studies can be used as a guide to setting grade-level appropriate goals and expectations. It is also important to identify cross-curricular linkages to these subject areas that would allow, for example, for the strengthening o f literacy and numeracy skills. Above all, the identification o f skills specific to Dakelh knowledge o f the land (yuri) must be undertaken with the assistance o f elders and other cultural experts in order for students to receive a solid on-the-land education. As a starting point to developing a list o f culturally-specific skills and experiences, the Tl’azt’en Culture and Language Program goals and subject area learning outcomes could be consulted for direction as they outline, from a Tl’azt’en perspective, curricular objectives that are important for children and youth to attain in knowing and living their cultural heritage (see T l’azt’en Nation 1995). Step 4: Determine a set of toponymy learning activities. Toponymy learning activities should be aligned with the guiding questions developed in Step 1 to demonstrate to students that the information contained in place-names indicates Dakelh knowledge o f the landscape. Mapping activities should be planned to teach students the locations o f placenames as well as the geographical terms for landscape features. In order to get a “true sense” o f the places mapped, site visits should be organized with the assistance o f elders or keyoh holders. As those who know the Dakelh language and the territory visited, elders and keyoh holders will be invaluable in sharing their knowledge about the importance o f places. In addition to recognizing and placing toponyms through maps and site visits, Dakelh place-names should be used to teach Dakelh. Through place-names, students gain the opportunity o f learning the Dakelh language in the context o f the land. Language lessons based on toponymy and planned in conjunction with teaching students about the land and the subsistence lifestyle o f Dakelhne are vital in demonstrating the idea that the landscape is mirrored in the Dakelh language, which contains words and terms for understanding the intricacies o f the geography o f Dakelh country. Some possible aspects o f the Dakelh language that can be taught through toponymy include compound words, contractions, nominalized verbs and directionals. 144 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Step 5: Determine a set of toponymy reflection activities. An important consideration when indigenous toponymy is taught is the idea o f how place-names came to be and how they have undergone change or become displaced. Exploring the issue o f indigenous toponymic change should be placed within historical context, so that students can gain perspective on the circumstances that may have contributed to such change. Instructional approaches could be framed according to specific places, events that took place there, how these places underwent a name change, and how, as a result o f namechanging, the indigenous meanings invested in places became misplaced or eclipsed by the European names ascribed to places by explorers, fur-traders, missionaries, settlers and government. To portray a balanced perception o f the past, it is crucial that students are encouraged to explore the contributions o f Dakelhne who have striven to keep the Dakelh language and culture alive through these waves o f colonization. An important point to address to students at this stage is how learning Dakelh place-names is a way o f returning to the land, the Dakelh language and oral history. Another important consideration when teaching Dakelh toponymy is the idea that people have engaged with the land by observing specific codes o f behaviour. These codes o f behaviour are intimated in place-name narratives, which relate the Dakelh cultural mores o f respect and care for the land and cooperation amongst people. Such stories could be employed to instil in students a sense o f environmental responsibility, and to help them appreciate that their people have used the land in a sustainable manner. Figure 5.1 Guidelines for Incorporating Dakelh Toponymy in the Yunk’ut Whe T s’o Duleh Culture-Based Science Camp Programme. The following sample lesson ideas provide a look at how the toponym Chuzghun might be used to supplement a lesson unit on waterfowl using the above guidelines. The lesson approaches focus on introducing students to: the notion that Dakelh place-names, like other indigenous place-names, assume more than a designative or dedicatory role, and largely encapsulate information about the land; and the idea that place-names are an important part of the Dakelh culture because they chronicle the Dakelh language, narratives and places on the land. 145 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Place-name Chuzghun (Tezzeron Lake) Guiding Questions 1) How have indigenous place-names been used in naming places? (Focus: Naming as a way o f “bookmarking” places on the land that are indicative o f routes and resources) 2) How have European place-names been used in naming places? (Focus: Naming as a way o f commemorating historical personages, dedicating places in the “new world” to places in Europe (e.g., Kingston, London, St. Petersburg, Athens)) 3) What is the literal meaning o f this place-name? (Focus: What Dakelh words are found in the name? What do they mean?) 4) How does this place-name relate to the names o f other nearby places (e.g., Chuz tizdli, Chuz koh, Tesgha)? 5) How is the literal meaning o f this place-name reflected in what the place signifies to Tl’azt’enne (e.g., in terms o f hunting, fishing, snaring and gathering)? 6) What kinds o f Dakelh knowledge o f the land (environmental, navigational, etc.) are contained in the place-name? 7) What relationship does this place-name have to the natural and social history o f the place? Units from Yunk’ut Whe Ts’oDul’eh to include learning activities about Chuzghun 1) Birds (Module 4: Shin De) Learning Skills (GeneraH Possible community-established learning outcomes dealing specifically with toponymy may include: 1) Understanding that Dakelh place-names are a form o f Dakelh history. 2) Learning that there may be more than one Dakelh place-name for a place due to the special names keyoh holders attribute to places as well as the more generally known ones. 3) Understanding that different groups o f Dakelhne are named after places such as rivers/creeks, points farthest away from river mouths, river mouths, lake outlets and the confluence o f rivers (e.g., Nazkot’enne, Tl’azt’enne, Yekooche t’enne, N ak’azdli t’enne, Lheidlit’enne). 4) Learning Dakelh geographical nomenclature as a means to identify the physiographic features referred to in place-names and to tell the direction o f water flow in a lake (i.e. through -ch e and tizdli). 5) Learning the Dakelh names for important landmarks (e.g., hills, mountains, islands, shoals and points) used in travel and to locate other important places. 6) Learning the Dakelh names for camping and fishing areas. 7) Learning the Dakelh names for historically-used places including trails, medicinal plant gathering sites, and places connected to legends. 8) Understanding the concept o f “user’s right” with regards to keyoh lands, and learning the protocol associated with obtaining permission to use these lands.________________________ 146 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Possible community-established extension learning outcomes* relating to toponymy may include: 1) Learning about different kinds o f water (e.g., the running water o f rivers vs. that o f contained bodies o f water vs. the standing water o f marshes, swamps and bogs). 2) Learning the characteristics o f lakes and rivers (e.g., streams and parts o f lakes that remain ice-free during the winter; velocity o f water flow in lakes and rivers based on season and shape o f shoreline; presence o f vegetation and other life forms). 3) Learning rules for safety when travelling on rivers and lakes (e.g., during winter freezeup and freshet, different ice conditions, finding direction, paddling on fast rivers, knowing the locations o f currents and large waves, gauging water depth). 4) Learning about natural and anthropogenic influences on lake and river systems (e.g., water erosion on land and rocks; effects o f human refuse, industrial pollutants, water diversion mechanisms such as dams on water bodies and the flora and fauna they sustain). 5) Learning about traditional land use etiquette related to harvesting. *Adapted from Dene Kede (1993). Toponymy Lesson Ideas Using Chuzghun to teach about Dakelh knowledge of geese and duck migrations and habitat in Birds (Yunk’ut Whe Ts’o Dul’eh Module 4: Shin De): Introductory exercise: Students are supplied with a black and white Tl’azt’en Traditional Territory map with names o f lakes in Dakelh. With the aid o f a map key containing English translations o f these place-names, students are instructed to colour lake topoynms relating to fish using one colour, names relating to waterfowl another colour, etc. Such an exercise would bring about instant comprehension that place-names contain information related to the environment, and could be followed by a discussion on where place-names come from, why so many places in the Tl’azt’en Traditional Territory are named after subsistence resources, what a name like Duk’ai Hooni (“the rainbow are precious there”) could possibly indicate in terms o f the quantity as well as the quality o f fish, and what particular characteristics o f the lake make it such a rich habitat for fish. Depending on age and maturity level, this mapping exercise could be supplemented by introducing students to a map o f the same area but with the official or generally-known English, French or anglicized indigenous names for places. Students could be assigned small group work with some groups given the task o f examining the Dakelh place-names on the first map in classifying them according to similarities they find in terms o f prefixes, suffixes and root words. The same task could be assigned to other groups for the placenames on the second map. Students can then compare their classifications o f place-names, taking note o f how certain names are descriptive o f the landscape and others commemorative o f people, how certain names seem to consist of two or more words and others unintelligible, meaning-wise, etc._____________________________________________ 147 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Cross-curricular applications: Mathematics- students could be asked to calculate the percentage o f “bird” place-names vs. the percentage o f “fish” place-names and to depict this information using a bar graph or pie-chart. Language Arts- students could be asked to compose a story around the origins o f one Dakelh or allogenous place-name. The story could take the form o f a legend, travel narrative or diary entry, where the main elements o f the story (characters, setting, plot) would have to be mind-mapped first. M ain exercise: Now that students have some idea o f the kinds o f information Dakelh place-names contain, Chuzghun (Tezzeron Lake) can be introduced to them in some depth. The lesson should start with general orientation questions to locate the lake on the map. Here, students should be encouraged to respond using the geographic vocabulary (e.g., cardinal directions) they have already learned in school (e.g., “to the north o f Pinchi Lake”, “eastwards o f Trembleur Lake”, etc.). Students should also be asked if they have ever visited the lake and to describe the environs o f the lake in as much detail as possible. To elicit detailed descriptions o f the lake, students could be asked first to draw and label parts o f the lake, and then to share what they remember o f the lake with other students. An important question to address to students is if they know who the keyoh-holding families o f the area are. This could spark discussion on subsistence hunting, which could serve as a good lead-in to introducing students to the resource value o f Chuzghun, and to how the keyoh system functions (both before and after traplines became registered). A short language activity consisting o f examining Chuzghun and two other place-names, Chuz koh and Chuz tizdli, which share its noun stem (chuz) can be carried out with students to arrive at an understanding as to how this stem has come to signify two meanings: 1) “where geese and ducks moult”, “moulting lake”, “down feathers place” (a general TPazt’enne interpretation); and 2) “soft and hollow trees” (a keyoh holder’s interpretation). From here, students can be introduced to the etymology recorded for Chuzghun (“Snowflake Lake”) and both meanings can be compared to this etymology to consider how they may relate. Chuzghun contains environmental information relating to habitat, life cycle and animal migration. These three terms should be defined with students and could be a part o f an ongoing activity, where students have access to a bulletin board or blackboard to list reallife examples relating to each concept. Chuzghun refers to the stage o f moulting in the duck and geese lifecycle, which provides the context for also teaching about habitat (i.e., nesting, feeding, and timing o f the moult), and migration (i.e., the moult typically precedes migration). Students could be asked for examples o f animals that moult (e.g., snakes shedding skin, moose shedding hair, etc.) and for reasons why they do so. The discussion could then be brought to considering why and when ducks and geese moult. 148 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Students should be informed that some northern species o f drakes, for instance, often have colourful plumage during mating season but that this is moulted away in the summer to give the male ducks a more subdued, female-like appearance. Students could be asked to research the lifecycle o f ducks and geese, paying special attention to why moulting is part o f the birds’ lifecycle, and how this stage affects the birds’ ability to function (i.e., fly, swim, feed, defend itself, etc.). Through the latter question, students could be encouraged to think o f the birds’ habitat— the types o f places they would need to be in, when moulting, to improve their chances for survival. The kinds o f habitats found in the Chuzghun area should be explored with students so that they can connect the name Chuzghun (i.e., “where ducks and geese moult”) with the particular characteristics o f the lake that sustain waterfowl. Elders and keyoh holders should be invited on tours around Chuzghun to teach students about these places. A connection could also be made to Tesgha when teaching about Chuzghun as habitat for ducks and geese. Tesgha is associated with migrating waterfowl, with its name referring to portions o f the lake that are characterized by weedy aquatic vegetation, typically places where ducks and geese take refuge. The activity ideas in this section provide the opportunity for students to understand that place-names not only record the Dakelh language but also ancestral knowledge o f the resource value o f places. Accordingly, students should be led into discussion on the following points: 1) What were our ancestors doing at the time o f year when ducks and geese moulted? 2) What plant and animal resources were they using at this time o f year? 3) Why might knowledge o f where geese and ducks can be found when they are moulting have been important to our ancestors? 4) What did they know about Chuzghun that helped them survive? 5) How do you think they might have used this information to help them care for the land, plants and animals? Reflection exercise: To reinforce the idea that place-names reveal the importance o f the land as a basis o f identity and survival to Dakelhne, students should be taught the narratives that are contained in place-names. One narrative that can be used to illustrate the timehonoured value o f respect for nature is the story associated with Chuz tizdli, the outlet of Chuzghun. “The Man Who Dived for Ducks” is a cautionary tale that instructs about the consequences for being greedy. To hone students’ Dakelh language listening skills, the story could be related first in Dakelh, and then in English, and then in Dakelh again. After listening to the story, students could be asked to create a storyboard, illustrating the story’s beginning, middle and end. For each portion o f the story, students could create a short description o f the events taking place. This could be done in English as well as Dakelh. Discussion o f the story could revolve around the following questions: 1) Why was the man diving for ducks? 2) What time o f year could this have been? 3) Why was he using a net? 4) What materials were used to make the net? 5) What are some other ways he could have used to catch ducks? 6) What may account for the tragic ending o f the story? 7) What lessons can we learn from the story? Students could then be asked to reflect on ways that 149 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. they can apply these teachings in their own lives, at school, in their community, and when out on the land. Project ideas: 1) Students could be assigned to record and map the place-names o f their keyohs. They may focus on one or more sets o f toponyms, including the names o f water bodies, landmarks, fishing spots, etc. As part o f documenting knowledge o f the land and oral history contained in place-names, students could interview parents, grandparents and others knowledgeable about the keyoh about the meanings o f and stories associated with the toponyms collected. The information gathered on keyoh place-names may then be displayed in the form o f a booklet with maps, stories and a glossary o f place-name meanings. 2) Students could be assigned to research other place-based stories known in Tl’azt’en territory. Students could research what the stories teach about the fauna, flora, or other resources o f a particular place, as well as what the stories impart on a moral level. The stories could be written and illustrated by the students for presentation to children in lower grade levels (e.g. Kindergarten, Grades One and Two). For enrichment, the students could be asked to compare the stories on the basis o f plot, characterization, setting and theme. The stories could then be grouped according to shared motifs (i.e., stories involving only animal characters, stories involving a journey, stories involving medicine power, stories that tell o f the origins o f a place, etc.). With the use o f map symbols to denote story categories, this information can then be displayed on a map to obtain a visual representation o f the location and distribution o f stories in Tl’azt’en territory. 3) Students could be assigned to research the place-names o f other Dakelh regions. A map showing the toponyms o f Dakelh-speaking areas o f British Columbia can be provided to students to learn the names o f geographical features in other dialects, which may indicate boundaries o f land tenure. For instance, in the case o f Dakelh lake toponyms, students will discover patterns that map the traditional spaces o f other Dakelh-speaking peoples bun (Stuart-Trembleur watershed); -bin (Babine-Witsuwit’en); and -pin (Nazko, Ulkatcho). Students could be asked to select one or two names from each region to study. Some possible questions to help them focus their investigations are: 1) Does the name indicate a water or land place? 2) Is it a compound form (i.e., a name consisting o f two or more words)? 3) What do the words in the name mean? 4) What does the nam e’s prefix and/or suffix refer to (e.g., adverbial particles, geographical terms, directionals)? 5) Does it resemble any Dakelh names found in Tl’azt’en territory? For enrichment, students could search to see if an official name exists for each Dakelh place-name being studied. The official names could be researched to determine if they are allegenous names or anglicized Dakelh names. By tracing the etymology and contextual information (i.e., land use activities performed at the place, people who used the place, events that occurred at the place, etc.) of the place-names, a history of place, reflecting Dakelh and European perspectives, could be created. Figure 5.2 Sample Lesson Ideas for Incorporating Toponymy into the Yunk 'ut Whe Ts ’o Dul ’eh Culture-Based Science Camp Programme. 150 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The guidelines and lesson approaches mentioned above are meant as general recommendations for including toponymic information in instruction. They should be treated as a starting point and should be adapted to the particular programme’s workings (i.e., length of camp, venue, teaching personnel, students’ learning levels, etc.). Indeed, as the Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o Dul ’eh programme is run and taught mostly by individuals who are not trained teachers and therefore not well-versed in the British Columbia school curriculum, the guidelines were developed in a “commonsensical”, lay format. They offer a step-by-step approach in conceiving ideas and strategies for including toponymic information into an existing teaching framework. However, as mentioned in Step 3, the Integrated Resource Packages for Science and Social Studies (B.C. Ministry o f Education n.d.) might be consulted for direction in terms o f the learning content and skills that should be covered by grade level. The ideas provided here take into consideration that trips onto the land to observe wildlife, gain outdoor survival skills, and tour culturally important places as part o f the overall operations o f the science camp will be more meaningful after children learn the significance o f places on the land to Dakelh cultural continuity. To this end, visiting the places will inculcate a Dakelh sense o f place in students, in that places will become concrete points o f their own history. The cooperation o f TTazt’en elders, cultural experts, keyoh holders and Eugene Joseph School teachers will be invaluable towards helping students learn about the land through place-names. Elders, cultural experts and keyoh holders should be relied upon to teach certain aspects o f toponymy lessons, particularly in explaining the language o f placenames and the traditional use information contained in place-names. If possible, these individuals should accompany students on tours o f the places, to point out how people have lived on the land, and how landscape features were used as landmarks while travelling on the 151 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. land and as markers o f subsistence resources. School teachers can provide support to camp instructors in determining grade-appropriate learning content, instructional strategies and activities, and to develop the home-school-science camp relationship, by carrying out preparatory and follow- up activities based on the learning content to be addressed in the science camp. Specifically, in regard to toponymy, teachers can assist by teaching or revising, for instance, basic map-reading and map-making skills; concepts o f ecology, habitat and niche; and historical events related to the fur trade, settlement and the establishment o f missions in central British Columbia. Such work undertaken with students prior to and following their participation in the science camp not only helps them gain mastery o f the content taught during camp but also provides a way for teachers and parents to become a part o f the science camp learning experience. Student projects designed as part o f preparing for and following up on the science camp should factor in parental participation, where parents are able to play an active role in helping their children learn about on-the-land activities, the Dakelh language, and Tl’azt’en history as understood through the balhats or clan customs and the keyoh system. In the process o f generating greater understanding and awareness o f Dakelh placenames, this study has met with two key limitations, namely, my inability to communicate in Dakelh, and to gain Tl’azt’en perspectives o f the landscape and place-names by engaging in dialogue with my research participants out on the land. The limitations o f the study may be overcome when Tl’azt’en Nation trials the place-names analysis methodology proposed in this research in initiating its own examination and analysis o f other names in its traditional territory. Future studies should consider on-the-land tours with Tl’azt’en elders and keyoh holders as the primary means o f gathering knowledge about Dakelh place-names. These place-names knowledge gathering sessions should also be carried out in Dakelh whenever 152 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. possible to capture more fully the concepts related to Dakelh place-names and Tl’azt’en conceptions o f the land. As intergenerational transference o f language and culture is o f great concern to Tl’azt’enne, Tl’azt’en youth should actively collaborate with elders and other Dakelh language and cultural experts in verifying and analyzing place-names. These experiential means o f documenting knowledge and wisdom o f toponyms will result in more holistic understandings o f Dakelh place-names, which may be otherwise truncated due to reliance on maps as a means for orientation and remembrance. A recommendation with regards to further supplementing the Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o Dul ’eh programme with toponymic information involves including the names o f landforms that have been used by Tl’azt’enne as landmarks and subsistence sites. This study was based on toponymic information that originated from largely water or water-related features; hence, it would be also useful to include for study the names o f land-related (e.g., hills, boulders, mountains, eskers, etc.) features, as they may expound on the workings o f landscape features as landmarks or points o f reference that are used when travelling on or by water and on ice. Another consideration for studying the names o f land-related features is their potential in marking subsistence or culturally-significant sites. Thus, it is o f key importance to locate toponyms connected to plant gathering sites and places where certain animals are known to consistently visit (e.g., mineral licks, berry patches, etc.) for inclusion in the Yunk’ut Whe T s ’o D u l’eh programme in view o f the potential layers o f meaning (e.g., women’s and keyoh holders’ knowledge o f the land) that can be introduced in the science camp curriculum. 153 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. CONCLUSION Through the development o f place-names information gathered through this research in four themes— 1) Place-Names as Indicators o f Dakelh Geographical and Historical Knowledge; 2) Place-Names Commemorative o f the Ancestral Past; 3) The Role o f Place-Names in Educating about Land and Language; and 4) The Role o f Place-Names in Educating about Conquest and Re-Conquest— this final thesis chapter has demonstrated the means by which toponymy can be utilized to educate about land, language and history. As discovered in this research and explored fully in this chapter, Dakelh toponyms continue to occupy an important place in the make-up o f Tl’azt’en identity— place-names aid remembrance o f people and events in the past, and are markers o f a continued Tl’azt’en presence on the land. Knowledge o f toponyms demonstrates personal experience with the land, and to learn placenames is to learn about the land. The Tl’azt’enne who were interviewed during the course o f the research have indicated that place-names represent much more than the places themselves; to know place-names is to be also acquainted with the narratives and memories linked to the places marked. In this way, toponymy contributes to the continuity o f oral tradition: place-name referents, meanings, attendant narratives and memories are relayed when people know and use toponyms. An interesting point that interviewees brought up time and again during the research was the notion that travelling to named places is o f utmost importance to appreciate the essence o f place-names. This point supports the idea that to truly know place-names, one must have a relationship with the land: travelling on and harvesting from the land are ways o f establishing a personal connection with the land. Travel entrenches patterns or systems o f place-names in people’s consciousness, binding them with places on the landscape, which serve as repositories o f ancestral knowledge. 154 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. The toponymic information dealt with in this research also suggests, upon review of anglicized Dakelh place-names or official or allegenous place-names for landscape features in Tl’azt’en territory, that toponymy has a part to play in evaluating the past, in appreciating the varied perspectives o f historical events that have taken place in the area. Given that toponymy can assume this explicatory role, it is a valuable tool for teaching children and youth about their ancestry. This thesis exemplifies the utility o f indigenous toponymy to create awareness o f indigenous environmental knowledge as well as to unveil the processes o f colonization that have contributed to overshadowing such knowledge. In this regard, the methodologies described in this thesis for analyzing, and utilizing toponymy in education can be employed generally, that is, in educational endeavours involving other indigenous as well as non-indigenous place-names. Taken as a whole, this thesis has revealed how the notion o f belonging and home is intimately linked to human understandings o f place, conceived of in this research through a consideration o f toponymy. Knowing the earth and rocks, water and sky, the plants and animals, and the events and stories o f a place, make the place a part o f those who inhabit it. For Tl’azt’enne, to whom the land is an indispensable part o f cultural identity and heritage, the link between rights to land and rights to language and culture is embodied in the idea o f remembering places and using Dakelh place-names. As demonstrated through this thesis, place-names provide the opportunity for Dakelh language maintenance and the learning o f oral tradition, both vital issues underlying Tl’azt’en cultural continuity. Furthermore, to know one’s language and culture is to know oneself and to know with confidence where one is going in life. Knowing the place-names and stories o f one’s homeland is part o f knowing one’s language and heritage. But the intensity o f the connection between knowing the toponymy and stories o f one’s homeland and knowing one’s language and heritage depends 155 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. on the health o f the land and the intactness o f places on the land. The well-being and completeness o f places are vital not only for place-names to be known and stories to be remembered but ultimately for the continuity o f TEK and indigenous identity. Therefore, utilizing indigenous toponymy in a community-driven educational project like the Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o Dul ’eh science camp programme promotes knowing, cherishing and protecting places through direct, personal involvement with the land. While this thesis concentrated on a very small suite o f Dakelh place-names, it has produced two methodologies for working with toponymy: 1) to analyze extant written source and TTazt’en Nation project materials relating to Dakelh toponymy; and 2) to develop guidelines for incorporating toponymic information into curriculum. It is hoped that these methodologies will serve as a model for T l’azt’en N ation’s own examination of, and inclusion into educational projects, the six hundred-odd Dakelh place-names that have been collected to date by the community. As the guidelines, offered in this thesis, for incorporating Dakelh toponymic knowledge into curricular initiatives will be eventually trialled by the CURA Education Stream in including Dakelh place-names content into the Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o Dul ’eh programme, it is envisioned that TTazt’en Nation will have a more consultative role in fine-tuning the guidelines in meeting the community’s own specific educational aims. Consequently, the value o f this thesis to TTazt’en Nation lies in its explication o f how placenames can be examined for information concerning the environment, language and history, and how such information can be applied in education. The thesis marks a starting point in TTazt’en N ation’s efforts at making the place-names o f its territory known and used by its children and youth. 156 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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Barron eds (Saskatoon: University of Saskatchewan Extension Press) Mitchell, R. 2003 Yunk’ut Whe Ts ’o D u l’eh (We Learn From Our Land) Discussion paper and culture-based science camp curriculum development prepared for the Chuntoh Education Society, Tache, British Columbia Morice, A.G. 1893 ‘Notes Archaeological, Industrial and Sociological on the Western Denes’ Transactions o f the Canadian Institute 4, 1-222 1895 ‘Three Carrier M yths’ Transactions o f the Canadian Institute 5, 1-36 1897 In the Land o f the Black Bear- Among the Natives o f B.C.- Narratives o f a Missionary by the Rev. Fr. Morice- Oblate Missionary o f Mary Immaculate Translated 163 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. from the French by Dwight Dodge in 1997 [available from the Williams Lake Public Library, British Columbia] (Paris: Delhomme et Briguet) 1902 ‘British Columbia Maps and Place N am es’ A First Collection o f Minor Essays, Mostly Anthropological by the Rev. A.G. Morice (Quesnel, British Columbia: Stuart’s Lake Mission) 44-54 1910 ‘The Great Dene Race’ Anthropos 5, 113-142, 419-443, 643-653, 969-990 1932 Carrier Language Anthropos, Tome X, Vienna 1933 ‘Carrier Onomatology’ American Anthropologist 35, 632-658 1978 The History o f the Northern Interior o f British Columbia, 1660-1880 originally published in 1904 (Smithers, British Columbia: Interior Stationery) Morris, P. 1999 Negotiating the Production o f Space, T l’a z t’en Territory, 1969-1984, M.A. thesis, University o f Northern British Columbia Muller-Wille, L. 1985 ‘The Legacy o f Native Toponyms: Towards Establishing the Inuit Place Name Inventory o f the Kativik Region (Quebec)’ Onomastica Canadiana 65, 2-19 2000 ‘Nunavut- Place Names and Self-Determination: Some Reflections’ in Nunavut: Inuit Regain Control o f Their Lands and Their Lives J. Dahl, J. Hicks and P. Jull eds (Copenhagen: International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs) 146-151 Munro, J.B. 1945 Language, Legends and Lore o f the Carrier Indians, Ph.D. dissertation, University o f Ottawa N ak’azdli First Nation 2001 N a k ’azdli t ’enne Yahilduk (N ak’azdli Elders Speak) L. Sam ed (Penticton, British Columbia: Theytus Books Ltd.) Nash, C. 1993 ‘Remapping and renaming: New cartographies o f identity, gender and landscape in Ireland’ Feminist Review 44, 39-57 _______ 1999 ‘Irish Placenames: Postcolonial Locations’ Transactions o f the Institute o f British Geographers 24, 457-480 Ninnes, P. 2000 ‘Representations o f indigenous knowledges in secondary school science textbooks in Australia and Canada’ International Journal o f Science Education 22, 603-617 Norton, W. 2000 Cultural Geography: Themes, Concepts, Analyses (Toronto: Oxford University Press Canada) Nuttall, M. 1992 Arctic Homeland: Kinship, Community and Development in Northwest Greenland (Toronto: University o f Toronto Press) 164 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Osbome, B.S. 2001 ‘Landscapes, Memory, Monuments, and Commemoration: Putting Identity in its Place’ Canadian Ethnic Studies 33, 39-78 Perramond, E.P. 2001 ‘Oral Histories and Partial Truths in M exico’ Geographical Review 91, 151-157 Poser, W 1998 N a k ’albun/Dzinghubun W hut’en Bughuni (Stuart/ Trembleur Lake Carrier Lexicon) (Vanderhoof, British Columbia: Yinka Dene Language Institute) Pring, A. 1999 ‘Indigenous Australian Cultural Perspectives in the Study o f Geography’ Geographical Education 12, 56-62 Rankama, T.1993 ‘A Study o f Sami Place-Names in Utsjoki, Finnish Lapland’ Inuit Studies 17, 47-69 Restoule, J.P. 2000 ‘Walking on one earth: The Akwesasne Science and Math Pilot Project’ Environments 28, 37-48 Ridington, R. 1990 Little Bit Know Something: Stories in A Language o f Anthropology (Vancouver: Douglas and McIntyre) Robinson, T. 1996 ‘Listening to the landscape’ in Setting fo o t on the shores o f the Connemara (Dublin: Lilliput Press), 151-164 Rosenberg, J. and Nabhan, G.1997 ‘Where Ancient Stories Guide Children Home’ Natural History 10, 54-61 Salmon, E. 2000 ‘Kincentric Ecology: Indigenous Perceptions of the Human-Nature Relationship’ Ecological Applications 10, 1327-1332 Sarangapani, P. 2003 ‘Indigenising Curriculum: Questions posed by Baiga Vidya’ Comparative Education 39, 199-210 Saxon, L., Zoe, S., Chocolate, G. and Legat, A. 2002 Dogrib Knowledge on Placenames, Caribou and Habitat Final report for the Dogrib Treaty 11 Council and West Kitikmeot Slave Study Society Sherry, E. 2004a ‘What is content analysis?’ in Introduction to Content Analysis Training, Criteria and Indicators o f Joint Forest Management training materials, Northern Land Use Institute, University o f Northern British Columbia 2004b ‘Content Analysis o f Co-management Criteria and Indicators’ in Introduction to Content Analysis Training, Criteria and Indicators o f Joint Forest Management training materials, Northern Land Use Institute, University o f Northern British Columbia 165 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Sherry, E. and Fondahl, G. 2004 Methods fo r Developing Local Level Criteria and Indicators o f Joint Forest Management, Draft report, University o f Northern British Columbia Sherry, E. and Leon, B. 2005 ‘Community News: Chuntoh Education Society Awarded Grant for Outdoor Education Program’ Partnering fo r Sustainable Resource Management 2 , 1-8 Silverman, D. 2000 ‘Analyzing Talk and Text’ in Handbook o f Qualitative Research N. Denzin and Y. Lincoln eds (Thousand Oaks: Sage), 821-834 Snively, G. 1995 ‘Bridging Traditional Science and Western Science in the Multicultural Classroom’ in Thinking Globally about Mathematics and Science Education G. Snively and A. MacKinnon eds (Vancouver: Research and Development in Global Studies Centre for the Study o f Curriculum and Instruction, University o f British Columbia), 53-75 Snively, G. and Corsiglia, J. 2000 ‘Discovering Indigenous Science: Implications for Science Education’ Science Education 85, 6-34 Statistics Canada 2002 2001 Community Profiles released 27 June 2002 last modified 30 November 2005 Statistics Canada Catalogue no. 93F0053XIE retrieved on 7 August 2006 from http://wwwl2.statcan.ca/english/ProfilO 1/CPO1/Index.cfm?Lang=E Steward, J. ca.1940 ‘Field notes and other material— Carrier’ National Anthropological Archives Smithsonian Institution File 7053 T l’azt’en Natural Resources Office Collections Thornton, T.F. 1997a ‘Anthropological studies o f Native American place naming’ American Indian Quarterly 21,1 -23 1997b ‘Know Your Place: The Organization o f Tlingit Geographic Knowledge’ Ethnology 36, 1-12 Tilley, C. 1994 ‘Space, Place, Landscape and Perception: Phenomenological Perspectives’ in A Phenomenology o f Landscape: Places, Paths and Monuments (Oxford: Berg), 7-34 Tl’azt’en Nation 1995 ‘Tl’azt’en Culture and Language Program’ T l’a z t’en Free Press June, 1-12 _______ 2003 77 ’azt ’en Place-Names Project M ap Tl’azt’en Natural Resources Collections _______ n.d. a Traditional Ecological Knowledge retrieved on 1 August 2006 from http://www.tlc.baremetal.com/TEK.htm _______ n.d. b About Us retrieved 1 August 2006 from http://www.tlc.baremetal.com/About%20Us.htm 166 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ________ n.d. c T l’a z t’en Nation Guidelines fo r Research in T l’a z t’en Territory available from http://cura.unbc.ca T l’azt’en Nation and UNBC CURA 2005 Partnering fo r Sustainable Resource Management retrieved on 3 May 2005 from http://cura.unbc.ca Tobey, M. 1981 ‘Carrier’ in Handbook o f North American Indians. Volume 6, Subarctic J.Helm ed (Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution), 413-432 Tuhiwai Smith, L. 1999 Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples (New York: Zed Books) University o f British Columbia n.d. 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APPENDIX A Memorandum of Research Ethics Board Review U N IV E R S IT Y O F N O R T H E R N B R IT IS H C O LU M B IA R E S E A R C H E T H IC S B O A R D MEMORANDUM T o: K a re n A n n H e ikkila G ail F o n d a h l, S u p e rv is o r Fro m : A le x M ich a lo s, C h a ir R e s e a rc h E th ics B oard D ate: F e b ru a ry 2 7 , 2 0 0 4 Re: E th ics R e vie w E 2 0 0 4 .0 2 0 4 .0 1 0 T e a c h in g T h ro u g h T o p o n ym y: U sing In d ig e n o u s P la ce N a m e s in O u td o o r S c ie n c e C a m p s T h a n k yo u fo r su b m ittin g th e a b o v e -n o te d p ro p o sa l to th e R e se a rch E th ics B o a rd fo r review . A p p ro v a l h a s b e e n g ra n te d . G o o d lu c k in y o u r rese a rch . S in ce re ly, ( i , V,, A U t, k , I. A le x C. M ich a lo s, C h a ir R e se a rch E th ics B o a rd ^------------ Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. APPENDIX B Interview Guide INTERVIEW QUESTIONS N.B. Sections A&B to be asked of Walter Joseph, Sophie Monk, Robert Hanson and Pierre John. Only Section B to be asked of all other interviewees. A. The following questions address your involvement in place-names work carried out within Tl’azt’en traditional territory: 1) Have you carried out your own place-names project? a) When was your project carried out? b) Why did you choose to do a project on place-names? c) Which areas did your project cover? d) How did you get information on place-names? (Who did you talk to? Were they your family members? Did you use a map? Did you go out on the land? Did you take any photos?) e) What kinds o f information on place-names did you get? (Did you get any legends/stories? Can you give some examples o f place-names that contain myths/stories? Why do you think that some come with myths and others don’t? ) f) Did you record this information? (Where is this information kept? Can I take a look at it?) g) What did you do with this information? (Did you put the names on a map? Do you plan to put it into a book?) 2) Have you been involved in other place-names projects? a) Which ones? b) How were you involved? (Which areas were you interviewed on? What sorts o f questions were you asked? Did you look at a map or photographs? Was it easy to remember places using that map? Why/Why not?) c) Which areas did these projects cover? d) Why were these projects carried out? (When were they carried out?) 170 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. B. The following table provides the English name and location of the place-names you will be asked about: DAKELH PLACENAME 1. ENGLISH PLACENAME Kuzkwa River (Two separate features: the mouth o f the river and the cove closest to the mouth) 2. 3. Tezzeron Creek Tezzeron Lake Hatdudatehl Creek 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Pinchi Lake Pinchi Mountain LOCATION 93K15- north on east bank off Tache River 93K15- outlet o f Tezzeron Lake, far western portion o f lake 93K9- Tezzeron Creek 93K9- Tezzeron Lake 93K9- North o f Tezzeron Lake 93K9- west side o f creek, at mouth of Pinchi Creek at Pinchi Lake/ mouth o f river on Pinchi Lake Island, southeast Pinchi Lake Trail, north o f Pinchi Lake, south o f Pinchi Mt. 93K9- Pinchi Lake 93K9- northeast o f Pinchi Lake South o f Tezzeron Lake, north o f Pinchi Lake 1. Do you know the Dakelh/traditional place-name for this place? (Point to features on map, show photos/orthophoto) 2. Is this a Tl’azt’en or N ak’adzli place-name? 3. Is this place known by any other (alternate) name than what you just gave? 4. Can you translate (give a ‘word for w ord’ translation of) any o f these Dakelh names into English? 5. What do these translations mean or refer to? (Why do you think it’scalled this?/ Why is this place named this way? What does it tell about the place? Does it tell anything about the plants or wildlife that belong to this place?) 6. Which o f these places do you know best or most about? 171 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. a) Do you know how old the names o f these places are or how long people have been using them? b) Are these names known by most Tl’azt’en and N ak’adzli community members? What about among young people? c) Do you agree with where these place-names are located? Do you know o f a different location for these names? Or, are there other places that are called by these names? d) Do you know any stories or legends about any o f these placenames? 7. Not all places have names. In your opinion, what kinds o f places have names? (What do place-names say about the land/environment? Why are place-names special to people?) 8. Have people ever been named after places? 9. Have you noticed any changes in the use and meaning o f place-names? 10. Is there any other information you'd like to share about Tl'azt'en place-names? 11. Who do you recommend I talk to about place names in and around Pinchi Lake and Tezzeron Lake? Who is most knowledgeable about these places-names? 172 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.