NORTHWEST ARCHAEOLOGY THESES AND DISSERTATIONS
Universities are increasingly putting graduate theses online and available to the public. This page collates links to theses and dissertations of interest for Northwest Coast and Northwest Interior archaeology. Right now they are in alphabetical order by author, but that may change.
Each link should go to a page where you can read the abstract and choose to download the thesis free of charge, unless otherwise noted (a few are direct downloads). Some of the older SFU ones have no date and are marked n.d. for the ones where I didn’t bother downloading the PDF and the date wasn’t given on the landing page. Many SFU theses also have no abstract. Relatively speaking the SFU system is less good: the search is not full text, and many of the landing pages are weak; they also disallow printing and cutting-and-pasting though googling for ways around this is productive. On the other hand, the SFU archive goes back much further: there are few theses before about 2000 available on either UVIC or UBC dSpace though retro-digitization projects are in place at both institutions. Relevant theses are also online at places like University of Calgary and Toronto, but are limited to institutional subscribers. However, the intention of this page is to only link to those theses which are publicly available to anyone. I am just beginning to list theses available through the Theses Canada Portal and not elsewhere. Theses are in Anthropology or Archaeology unless otherwise noted.
Updated March 17th, 2010
Adams, Amanda 2003. UBC M.A. thesis: Visions cast on stone : a stylistic analysis of the petroglyphs of Gabriola Island, B.C.
Ames, Christopher 2009. McGill M.A. thesis: From chipped to ground: the spatio-temporal systematics of 9,000 years of archaeological change in southwest British Columbia (direct download)
Angelbeck, William 2009. UBC Ph.D. dissertation: “They recognize no superior chief” : power, practice, anarchism and warfare in the Coast Salish past
Ball, Bruce. n.d. n.d. SFU M.A. thesis: Regional sampling in a forested situation : archaeology and the northeast coal study
Barton, Andrew 1994. SFU M.A. thesis: Fishing for ivory worms : a review of ethnographic and historically recorded Dentalium source locations
Beattie, Grant 1996. UBC M.A. thesis: Archaeological landscapes of the Lower Mainland, British Columbia: a settlement study using a Geographic Information System
Beckwith, Brenda 2004. Ph.D. dissertation: (Biology): The queen root of this clime : ethnoecological investigations of blue camas (Camassia leichtlinii (Baker) Wats., C. quamash (Pursh) Greene ; Liliaceae) and its landscapes on southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Bedard, Elisabet 1990. SFU M.A. thesis: The historic and ethnographic background of Fort d’Epinette (HaRc 27) : considerations for the archaeological determination of ethnicity
Beram, Luisa Jane 1990. SFU M.A. thesis: The Capital Regional District parks : a case study in archaeological resource management
Brelsford, Karen 2001. UVIC M.Sc. thesis (Geography): Dendroarchaeological and contextual investigations of remote log structures in Jasper, Banff, and Kootenay national parks, Canada (very large PDF)
Breffitt, John Robert. 1993. SFU M.A. thesis. The Skoglund’s Landing complex : a re-examination of the transitional complex of artifacts from Skoglund’s Landing, Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia
Brown, Douglas 1996. UBC M.A. thesis: Disposing of the dead : a shell midden cemetery in British Columbia’s Gulf of Georgia region
Brown, Kimberley 2009. UBC Ph.D. dissertation: “To fish for themselves” : a study of accommodation and resistance in the Stó:lō fishery
Byun, Ashley 1998. UVIC Ph.D. Dissertation (Biology): Quaternary biogeography of western North America [microform] : insights from mtDNA phylogeography of endemic vertebrates from Haida Gwaii (direct download)
Caldwell, Megan 2008. Manitoba M.A. thesis: A view from the shore: interpreting fish trap use in Comox Harbour through zooarchaeological analysis of fish remains from the Q’umu?xs Village site (DkSf-19), Comox Harbour, British Columbia
Chapman, Margaret n.d. SFU M.A. thesis: Archaeological investigations at the O’Connor Site, Port Hardy, British Columbia.
Charlton, Arthur 1977. SFU M.A. thesis: The archaeology of the Belcarra Park site : a contribution to Strait of Georgia prehistory
Copp, Stanley n.d. SFU M.A. thesis: Archaeological excavations at the McCall site, south Okanagan Valley, British Columbia
Copp, Stanley 2006. SFU Ph.D. dissertation: Similkameen archaeology (1993-2004)
Crellin, David 1994. SFU M.A. thesis: Is there a dog in the house : the cultural significance of prehistoric domesticated dogs in the mid Fraser River region of British Columbia
Crosby, Marcia 1994. UBC M.A. thesis: Indian art/Aboriginal title
Cross, Guy 1995. UBC Ph.D. dissertation (Geophysics): Re-evaluation of reflection seismology for archaeological investigation
Curtin, A. Joanne 1984. SFU M.A. thesis: Human skeletal remains from Namu (ELSx 1) : a descriptive analysis
Dahm, Inge 1994. SFU M.A. thesis: Cultural and social dimensions of the prehistoric Gulf Islands soapstone industry.
Darwent, John 1996. SFU M.A. thesis: The prehistoric use of nephrite on the British Columbia plateau
De Paoli, Maria 1999. UBC M.A. thesis (Planning): Beyond tokenism : aboriginal involvement in archaeological resource management in British Columbia
Devinney, Eileen 1997. UBC M.A. thesis: Consultation, collaboration and community participation : the archaeological excavation of two prehistoric Inupiaq burials at Kotzebue, Alaska
Fafard, Melanie 1999 Alberta M.A. thesis: Dechyoo Njik (MIVm-4) and the traditional landuse patterns in the southwestern portion of the Old Crow Flats, Yukon Territory (direct download)
Fenn, Catherine 1993. UBC M.A. thesis: Life history of a collection: the Tahltan materials collected by James A. Teit
Fortney, Sharon 2009. UBC Ph.D. dissertation: Forging new partnerships : Coast Salish communities and museums
Franck, Ian 2000 SFU M.A. thesis: An archaeological investigation of the Galene Lakes area in the Skagit Range of the North Cascade Mountains, Skagit Valley Park, British Columbia (direct download)
French, Diana 1995. UBC Ph.D. dissertation: Ideology, politics and power: the socio-historical implications of the archaeology of the D’Arcy Island leper colony, 1891-1924
Friele, Pierre 1991. SFU MSc thesis: Holocene relative sea-level change : Vargas Island, British Columbia
Gowan, Evan James 2007. M.Sc. thesis (Earth & Ocean Sciences): Glacio-isostatic adjustment modelling of improved relative sea-level observations in southwestern British Columbia, Canada
Gray, Brendan 2009. UVIC MA thesis: Sampling methods in Northwest Coast household archaeology: a simulation approach using faunal data from the Ozette site.
Hall, David 1998. SFU M.A. thesis: Tsini Tsini: a technological analysis of a biface production centre in the Talchako River Valley, British Columbia (direct download)
Hannah, John 1996. SFU M.A. thesis: Seated human figure bowls : an investigation of a prehistoric stone carving tradition from the Northwest Coast
Hiwasaki, Lisa 1998. UBC M.A. thesis: Presenting unity, performing diversity: Sto:lo identity negotiations in venues of cultural representation
Holman, Leah 1996. UBC M.A. thesis (Planning): When it’s gone it’s gone : assessing the effectiveness of heritage conservation support
Huculak, Shauna 2005. SFU M.A. thesis: Middle period hunter-gatherers of the Thompson River drainage, British Columbia : a critical review
Imamoto, Shirley 1974. UBC M.A. thesis: Analysis and interpretation of faunal remains from a complex site in the Fraser-Delta region of British Columbia : Glenrose Cannery, DgRr 6
Jackson, Dawn Skee 1996. UBC M.A. thesis: Tsaagwaa Yeigi in the spirit of the Hood Bay family : repatriation of a Tlingit burial chest
Karpiak, Monica 2003. SFU M.A. thesis: Modelling Nuu-chah-nulth land use : the cultural landscape of Clayoquot Sound
Keighley, Diane 2000. UBC M.A. thesis: “Almost lost but not forgotten” : contemporary social uses of Central Coast Salish spindle whorls
Kimball, Vaughn 2005. WASU M.A. thesis: Variability in late prehistroic prey-use strategies of the Southeastern Columbia Plateau : a test using the Harder Site faunal assemblage
King, Shannon 2007. SFU M.A. thesis: What’s the point? A morphological study of small bone points from Nuu-chah-nulth territory, Vancouver Island, B.C.
Klimko, Olga 1994. SFU Ph.D. dissertation. The archaeology of land based fur trade posts in western Canada : a history and critical analysis
Kusmer, Karla 1986. SFU M.A. thesis: Microvertebrate taphonomy in archaeological sites : an examination of owl deposition and the taphonomy of small mammals from Sentinal Cave, Oregon
La Salle, Marina 2008. UBC M.A. thesis: Beyond lip service : an analysis of labrets and their social context on the Pacific Northwest Coast of British Columbia
Lindsay, Corene 2003. SFU M.A. thesis: Investigations into the ethnographic and prehistoric importance of freshwater molluscs on the Interior Plateau of British Columbia
Little, Tamara 1995. UBC M.A. thesis: Reaffirming cultural identity : a case of stó:lo pithouse reconstruction
Lundy, Doris 1974. SFU M.A. thesis: The rock art of the Northwest Coast.
Lyons, Natasha 2002. SFU M.A. thesis: Investigating ancient socioeconomy in Sto:lo territory : a palaeoethnobotanical analysis of the Scowlitz site, southwestern B.C (direct download).
Maas, Alexandra. 1994. SFU M.A. thesis: The adoption and use of 19th century ceramics at Old Bella Bella, British Columbia
MacKay, Glen 2004. UVIC MA thesis. The Nii’ii hunting stand site : understanding technological practice as social practice in subarctic prehistory
Marshall, Amanda 2002. SFU M.A. thesis: Culturally modified trees of the Nechako Plateau: cambium utilization amongst traditional Carrier (Dakhel) peoples (direct download)
Marshall, Yvonne 1993. SFU Ph.D. dissertation: A political history of the Nuu-Chah-Nulth people : a case study of the Mowachaht and Muchalaht tribes
Martindale, Andrew 1998. Toronto Ph.D. dissertation: The river of mist, cultural change in the Tsimshian past WARNING DIRECT DOWNLOAD
Mason, Andrew 1994. UBC M.A. thesis: The Hatzic Rock site (Fraser Valley)
Mathews, Darcy 2006. UVIC M.A. thesis: Burial cairn taxonomy and the mortuary landscape of Rocky Point, British Columbia.
McCuaig, Shirley 2000. SFU M.Sc. thesis (Geology): Glacial history of the Nass River region (direct download)
McKechnie, Iain 2005. SFU M.A. thesis: Five thousand years of fishing at a shell midden in the Broken Group islands, Barkley Sound, British Columbia
McLaren, Duncan 2009. UVIC Ph.D. thesis: Sea level change and archaeological site locations on the Dundas Island Archipelago of north coastal British Columbia.
McLay, Eric 1999. UBC M.A. thesis: The diversity of northwest coast shell middens : late pre-contact settlement-subsistence patterns on Valdes Island, British Columbia
McMillan, Alan 2004. SFU Ph.D. dissertation: Since Kwatyat lived on Earth : an examination of Nuu-chah-nulth culture history
McMurdo, John. n.d. SFU M.A. thesis: The archaeology of Helen Point, Mayne Island.
Mitchell, Lesley Susan 1996. SFU M.A. thesis: The archaeology of the dead at Boundary Bay, British Columbia : a history and critical analysis
Mohs, Gordon 1985. SFU M.A. thesis: Spiritual sites, ethnic significance and native spirituality : the heritage and heritage sites of the Sto:lo Indians of British Columbia
Monks, Greg 1977. UBC Ph.D. dissertation: An examination of relationships between artifact classes and food resource remains at Deep Bay, DiSe 7
Morin, Jesse 2006. UBC M.A. thesis: Non-domestic architecture in prehistoric complex hunter-gatherer communities : an example from Keatley Creek, on the Canadian Plateau of British Columbia
Morrison, Sandra 1997. UBC MA thesis: Household archaeology at the Scowlitz site, Fraser Valley, B.C.
Morrow, Trelle 2009. UBC M.A. (Interdisciplinary): Stoneware for body and soul : a social interpretation of the Chinese stoneware record in British Columbia 1858-1958
Muckle, Robert 1985. SFU M.A. thesis. Archaeological considerations of bivalve shell taphonomy
Munson, Thomas 2006. UVIC M.A. thesis (Environmental Studies): Assessing impacts on Ktunaxa Nation cultural resources from ecological restoration timber thinning and prescribed burning in the Rocky Mountain Trench, southeastern British Columbia
Oetelaar, Gerald 1981. SFU M.A. thesis. Deer remains in archaeology with special reference to the mandible of mature Rocky Mountain mule deer
Orchard, Trevor 2000 UVIC M.A. thesis: The role of selected fish species in Aleut paleodiet (direct download)
Oriente, Damon 2000. M.Sc. thesis (Forestry): A predictive model for archaeological potential for a locality in the Interior Plateau of British Columbia
Ormerod, Patricia 2002. UBC M.A. thesis: Reading the earth : multivariate analysis of feature functions at Xá:ytem (the Hatzic Rock Site, DgRn 23), British Columbia
Parslow, Carla n.d. Manitoba M.A. thesis: Identifying past hunter-gatherer settlement patterns in the southern Yukon, a geographical information systems approach
Peacock, Sandra 1998. PhD. dissertation UVIC (Interdisciplinary): Putting down roots: the emergence of wild plant food production on the Canadian plateau (direct download)
Pegg, Brian 1999. SFU M.A. thesis: The taphonomic history of the vertebrate faunal assemblage from British Camp, San Juan Islands, Washington (direct download)
Perreault, Pamela 2002. UBC M.Sc. thesis (Forestry): Culturally modified tree (CMT) management in Nlaka’pamux territory : shaping First Nations participation through consultation
Perry, Sara. 2006. UVIC M.A. thesis: Picturing prehistory within (and without) science: de-constructing archaeological portrayals of the peopling of new territories
Pokotylo, David UBC Ph.D. 1978. Lithic technology and settlement patterns in upper Hat Creek Valley, B.C.
Pomeroy, John 1980. SFU Ph.D. dissertation: Bella Bella : settlement and subsistence
Poulsen, Michelle 2000. UBC M.A. thesis 2000. Making choices : examining Musqueam agency at Stselax village during the post-contact period
Prager, Gabriella n.d. SFU M.A. thesis: Behavioral implication of cultural formation processes : an example from fur trade archaeology
Pratt, Heather 1992. UBC M.A. thesis: The Charles culture of the Gulf of Georgia : a re-evaluation of the culture and its three sub-phases
Prince, Paul 2000. McMaster Ph.D. dissertation: Settlement, trade and social ranking at Kitwanga, B.C. (Direct download)
Rahemtulla, Farid. 2006. SFU Ph.D. dissertation: Design of stone tool technology during the Early Period (CA. 10,000-5,000 B.P.) at Namu, central coast of British Columbia
Reimer, Rudy SFU M.A. thesis: Extreme archaeology: the results of investigations at high elevation regions in the Northwest (direct download)
Sanders, Adrian 2009. UVIC M.A. thesis: Exploring the utility of computer technologies and human faculties in their spatial capacities to model the archaeological potential of lands: Holocene archaeology in northeast Graham Island, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada
Schaepe, David 1999. SFU M.A. thesis: Recycling archaeology [microform] : analysis of material from the 1973 excavation of an ancient house at the Maurer site (direct download)
Schaepe, David 2009. UBC Ph.D. dissertation: Pre-colonial Sto:lo-Coast Salish community organization : an archaeological study
Schultz, Elaine 2008. UBC M.A. thesis: A partnership of peoples : understanding collaboration at the Museum of Anthropology
Smith, Nicole 2004. UVIC MA thesis: A geochemical approach to understanding raw material use and stone tool production at the Richardson Island Archaeological Site, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia.
Solomonian, Adam 2008. UBC M.A. thesis: Reclaiming the gaze : examining contemporary Nuxalk perspectives on Harlan I. Smith’s fieldwork photographs, 1920-1924
Spafford, James 1991. SFU M.A. thesis: Artifact distributions on housepit floors and social organization in housepits at Keatley Creek
Speller, Camilla 2005. SFU M.A. thesis: One fish, two fish, old fish, new fish: Investigating differential distribution of salmon resources in the Pacific Northwest through ancient DNA analysis
Spurgeon, Terry 2001. SFU M.A. thesis: Wapato (Sagitaria latifolia) In Katzie Traditional Territory, Pitt Meadows, British Columbia
Spurling, Brian 1986. SFU Ph.D. dissertation. Archaeological resource management in Western Canada : a policy science approach
Steffen, Martina 2006. UVIC M.A. thesis: Early Holocene hearth features and burnt faunal assemblages at the Richardson Island Archaeological Site, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia
Storey, Jennifer 2009. UVIC MA thesis: An analysis of the unifacial tool assemblage from the Richardson Island site, Haida Gwaii, British Columbia.
Thom, Brian 1995. UBC M.A. thesis: The dead and the living : burial mounds & cairns and the development of social classes in the Gulf of Georgia region
Trost, Theresa 2005. SFU M.A. thesis: Forgotten waters: A zooarchaeological analysis of the Cove Cliff site (DhRr 18), Indian Arm, British Columbia
Vallieres, Claudine 2004. SFU M.A. thesis: The Paleoindian Bison Assemblage from Charlie Lake Cave
Vanags, Anthony 2001. UBC MA thesis: An archaeological perspective on alpine/sub-alpine land use in the Clear Range and Pavilion Mountains, south-central British Columbia
von Krogh, George Henning. n.d. SFU M.A. thesis. Archaeological investigations at the flood and pipeline sites, near Hope, British Columbia.
Weiser, Andrea 2006. SFU M.A. thesis: Exploring 10,000 years of human history on Ebey’s Prairie, Whidbey Island, Washington
West, Robert 1995. UBC MA thesis: Saving and naming the garbage : Charles E. Borden and the making of B.C. prehistory, 1945-1960 (a historical overview of part of the career of a founding BC Archaeologist)
White, Cliff 2001. UBC Ph.D. dissertation (Forestry): Aspen, elk, and fire in the Canadian Rocky Mountains
White, Elroy (Xanius) 2006. SFU MA thesis: Heiltsuk stone fish traps: Products of my ancestors’ labour
Wilkerson, Emily Anne 2010. UBC M.A. thesis: Delineation of site chronology and spatial components using macroscopic lithic analysis at DhRp-52 (Fraser Valley)
Willerton, Ila 2009. UVIC MA thesis: Subsistence at Si•čǝ’nǝł: the Willows Beach site and the culture history of southeastern Vancouver Island.
Winter, Barbara J. 1996 SFU Ph.D. dissertation: Out of sight, out of mind : the reposition of archaeological collections in Canada
Wollestonecroft, Michele 2000. SFU M.A. thesis: The fruit of their labour: a palaeoethnobotanical study of site EeRb 140, a multi-component open-air archaeological site on the British Columbia Plateau (direct download)
Wright, Kristine 2000. SFU M.A. thesis: Mortuary patterning: a burial analysis from Northwest Coast archaeological excavations
Thanks for taking the time to compile this excellent reference collection. Brett
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well was very happy to read these theses from this web site they helped me alot in doing my literature review on my bachalor degree in arcaheology at catholic university of malawi
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Tanks QM – I’ve now got an excellent description of the early component at Namu to compare with our Little John material.
Have a great field season – Norm Easton
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awesome page, I found great utility in many of these works! thanks
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Fantastic – thanks!
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Having spent a couple of years living on Gabriola Island, I read Amanda Adams’ MA thesis on the rock art of that Island (Visions Cast in Stone: A Stylistic Analysis of the Petroglyphs of Gabriola Island) with great interest. In general, I was disappointed with both the scope of the work and many of the conclusions. I do agree with her conclusion that many of the petroglyphs there, especially those in the vicinity of False Narrows, were likely made by the occupants of the False Narrows village site excavated by Burley (1989). This connection of “dirt” archaeology with rock art is a welcome addition to our understanding of Northwest Coast rock art.
Regarding the shortcomings of the thesis, my main criticism is that all the rock art is not presented, and the reader cannot refer to the data to confirm or disprove her conclusions. I also feel that the thesis would have been much stronger if she has taken the time to include data from other Nanaimo area rock art sites, which I believe shed a great deal of light on the patterns of rock art on Gabriola. Adam’s proposal that the majority of Gabriola Island rock art was created by a limited number of specialists during a fairly short period of time might be harder to support when similarities with Vancouver Island sites is taken into account. Unfortunately, there also exists the problem of the attitudes of many Nanaimo Elders who evidently feel it improper to document the rock art images and publish these images in a scientific paper. This limitation however, could have been largely overcome by utilizing excellent data already published by Mary and Ted Bentley in their book Gabriola: Petroglyph Island, and the data from Vancouver Island published by Beth and Ray Hill in 1974.
Regarding specific problems with the text, I will mention a few examples: Adams states that anthropomorphic figures are always rendered frontally, ignoring the two face profiles illustrated by her in figure A10, also that the nearby petroglyph on Protection Island is not similar to Gabriola Island petroglyphs (I believe there are some similar petroglyphs on Gabriola Island, but here we have the problem of her lack of illustrations), and ignores the clear stylistic similarities of a fish tailed zoomorph profile with historic grave markers from the lower Fraser River. She also, in my opinion, misses a very clear representation of “rattlesnake woman” (her figure A11b– original drawing by me incidentally), a figure with a toothed vagina which may well be related to myths documented by Teit and quoted in Images Stone BC. A very “modern” (i.e. ca. 200 BPE) looking carving located at DgRw 198 was also not documented (perhaps she was not even aware of it), which tends to support the hypothesis that the Gabriola Island petroglyphs continued to be made right up until the contact period. These specific points might have been caught and addressed if the thesis had included a thorough inventory of petroglyph images, enabling a more rigorous analysis of both style and content.
I do not like to be so negative, but I have spent a number of years visiting these and other Coast Salish rock art sites with Beth Hill, Richard McClure and other archaeologists and as well have documented a great deal of Salish Rock art. It presents us with many tantalizing clues regarding its origins and meanings, but a deeper understanding of this scientific and cultural treasure will not yield up its secrets easily. A rigorous analysis of all the available data should be the first step.
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Wow! This is a great resource. I’m looking forwarding to reading through a number of these. Thank you!
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Thanks for these contents from Siberia!
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Has anyone ever produced a research paper on etched stones on the Northwest Coast?
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Bill, good question. Other folks sometimes call them ‘incised pebbles’ . George MacDonald (1983:114) interprets incised stones as associated with fishing rituals and notes similarities between sandstone and siltstone. There’s undoubtedly much more out there but this is my momentary knowledge.
MacDonald, George F.
1983 Prehistoric Art from the Northern Northwest Coast. In Indian Art Traditions of the Northwest Coast, edited by Roy L. Carlson, pp. 99–121. Archaeology Press, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby.
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Twoeyes,
Thanks for the citation I am working on a NRHP nomination for Tsewhitzen. The shear number of etched stones in Washington State from this site is enormous. Do you have any etched stone numbers for sites in Canada?
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Hi Bill,
I recall that Morley Eldridge encountered a number of incised stones on a Denman Island site, associated with production of bifaces i believe. I think his interpretation was ‘hunting magic’. It was an older site i think ~3000 BP.
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Bill, I’d recommend getting in touch with Grant Keddie at the Royal BC Museum just across the strait in Victoria. All the best with that important task.
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Jesse,
This interpretation is consistent with what Klallam Tribal members have told me. However some of the etched stones are covered in ochre and associated with burials.
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It is very nice to me and provided me a lot of information God bless you…
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