the Digger     

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA

Nanaimo Branch Fall 2002

President's Message:

Welcome to ASBC-NB's 11th year! I will begin with a brief introduction of myself. My name is Stephen Colborne, and I have had a life-long love for everything archaeological: from Northwest Coast prehistory, to historical settlement patterns on the Canadian prairies, to industrial archaeology. I have been a student at Malaspina University -College for the past several years, and have recently acquired an education in Geographical Information Systems (GIS) from BCIT.

ASBC-NB has close to 40 paid members ranging from Duncan to Parksville. One of our goals is to expand and increase our ‘active member’ list. Another is to resolve some of the many political issues that have arisen over the last year that are of concern to all ASBC members. Of prime importance is the direction and relationship of the ASBC and its Branches (Victoria and Nanaimo). These issues will be considered in the upcoming weeks, as ASBC-NB is requesting that a Special Meeting be held with ASBC members from Vancouver Island and from Vancouver. This is an effort initiated to clear up questions stemming from Andrew Mason's letter regarding the dissolution of ASBC Branch Executive Committees, the loss of control of branch funds, and the possibility of breaking away from the ASBC.

I hope to meet you all on September 13 th at our first lecture of the Bones, Totems, and Middens Lecture Series for 2002 when Mary-Lou Florian will be our first speaker.

Special Meeting

Stemming from a discussion at the August 9th organizational meeting regarding the future relationship of the ASBC-Nanaimo and ASBC-Victoria with the Vancouver ASBC, we have found it necessary to request a Special Meeting as per Article VI of the Society's By-Laws. The ASBC-NB Executive has listed several items for review and asked for input from the ASBC in Victoria and Vancouver prior to the meeting. ASBC-NB proposes that the Special Meeting be held at Malaspina in Nanaimo, sometime during the early weeks of September. Potential topics to be discussed are as follows:

-Access to ASBC (Vancouver) Minutes

-Discuss issues associated with the constitution, and concerns regarding the status of amendments

-Concerns regarding liability (primarily an ASBC Vancouver concern, as the parent organization)

-Power and responsibilities of branches

-Branch representation on the ASBC Executive

-Stephen Colborne

FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT

The BC Archaeology Forum will be hosted by Snuneymuxw First Nation and the Department of Anthropology, Malaspina University-College in Nanaimo. Mark your calendars for the weekend of October 25-27. Registration begins the evening of Friday, October 25, with a no host bar at the Dorchester Hotel. The meetings will be held on the Saturday, with the morning devoted to "show and tell" projects. For the afternoon, we plan to schedule three panel discussions. If you have suggestions for thematic topics, please contact us. Saturday's activities will be rounded out in the evening by a salmon dinner. For Sunday morning, a guided tour of Gabriola Island petroglyphs is planned. We will send further details along with a pre-registration form in early September. A website for further information, including pre-registration form and list of hotels/motels, will be available at this same time. Please forward this message to anyone who would be interested in receiving this, or send us their email address.

Gay Frederick <frederig@mala.bc.ca>
Imogene Lim <limi@mala.bc.ca>
Bjorn Simonsen <bjorns@islandnet.com>

Bones, Totems and Middens

2002 - 2003 ASBC-Nanaimo Branch Lecture Series

All lectures are held at Malaspina University-College in the Education/Social Sciences Building (356) in Room 111 from 7-9 PM. Lectures are open to everyone. Membership for the year (includes the full lecture series and the quarterly publication The Midden) is as follows: $24 Family, $19 Individual, and $14 Student/Senior. Non-members will be asked to pay $5.00 per lecture at the door. Refreshments are available.

September 13, 2002

SPEAKER: Mary-Lou Florian

Topic: The Role of Vegetation in the Deterioration of Cultural Remains.

Mary-Lou Florian has held the position of Conservation Scientist and Chief of Conservation Services of the Royal British Columbia Museum in Victoria.

October 18, 2002

SPEAKER: Dean Hildebrand (a specialist in forensic science)

Topic: TBA

Nanaimo District Museum ASBC-NB

"Discover Archaeology" Interactive Bone Display

In February 2002, the ASBC-NB was invited by the Nanaimo District Museum to organize an archaeological display as part of their 35th Anniversary celebration, which took place on August 17. Thinking caps were hauled out of storage and we decided to put together an interactive bone display to introduce the public to archaeology through hands-on materials. The bone display focused on how bones can give us clues about the archaeological record, such as seasonality and subsistence. An area for manufacturing stone and bone tools was suggested so that the public could try their hand at making their own artifacts. A crackerjack team of individuals was assembled: Colleen Parsley, Dallas Dowson, Daphne Paterson, Dorothy Young, Gay Frederick, Imogene Lim, Julie Cowie, Lorrie Hayden, Nadine Simpson, and Susan Jones. Brains were humming as we hammered out the details, due partly to the great food at the potluck organizational meetings.

At last, the appointed day arrived and the display was constructed at the Nanaimo District Museum. It involved the skeletal remains of a variety of species, from a whistling swan to a beaver. A replica of a skeletal human arm and leg were brought to illustrate that though many species have bones, not all are arranged or look the same way. It was a very effective learning tool. We also featured the stratigraphy and archaeological principles display constructed for the Sharing Memories event last January. Many archaeological books were also available for the public to browse through.

Although there were not many visitors to the Museum that day, those who did arrive to view the ASBC-NB display were impressed and asked many questions. Outside, the stone and bone tool manufacturing was a hit with the children as they could try their hand at making their own tool. They all chose to make bone tools but Julie, Dallas, and Nadine had a smashing time illustrating knapping techniques. Note: when using obsidian, wear gloves!

All in all, the display was a great success and the Nanaimo District Museum was very impressed with the quality of the display and the turnout of volunteers from the ASBC-NB. Hats off to those who helped and participated in the display. As always, the ASBC-NB has produced a high quality display that is not only informative but fun as well.

-Julie Cowie

AGM

The Annual General Meeting was held on Saturday, June 8th at Malaspina University College. We had a lively meeting, elected a new executive committee (listed below), ate a superb potluck lunch, then attended a fascinating lecture by Dr. Steven Earle about the changing sea levels and effects of glaciation on Vancouver Island. Dr. Earle led us on a short fieldtrip to Dufferin Crescent to view a fossil beach - demonstrating a shift in sea level.

Executive Committee 2002 - 2003

                    Tel Fax email

President

Stephen Colborne

756-0530

 

stcolborn@shaw.ca

Past President

Lorrie Hayden

754-6862

 

lalo@shaw.ca

Vice President, Treasurer

Nadine Simpson

 

 

nadinesimpsonis@yahoo.ca

Secretary

Eleanor Routly

758-6433

 

asbcnb@nisa.net

Web Master

Julie Cowie

 

 

j-jcowie@shaw.ca

Membership

Pat Knowles

722-3909

754-3191

dgveng2@island.net

Program coordinator

Colleen Parsley

 

 

parsleycolleen@hotmail.com

Newsletter

Jan Blackbourn

758-4319

 

asbcnb@nisa.net

Public Relations

Mary Perdios-Vassilopoulos

751-2322

 

maryvas@shaw.ca

Directors:

Julie Cowie

 

 

j-jcowie@shaw.ca

Imogene Lim

753-3245 x2840

 

limi@mala.bc.ca

Barrie McDonald

 

 

canamhara@shaw.ca

Doug McLeod

(250) 746-7939

 

chicken@cow-net.com

 

ASBC-NB Youbou Mill Assessment

In March 2002, the ASBC-NB was contacted by Darreld Rayner, concerned citizen and member of the Youbou Timberless Society, about the possible existence of Chinese graves on the former Youbou Mill site near Youbou on southern Vancouver Island. His concern was that the dismantling of the Youbou mill and the construction of a go-kart track might threaten the graves, and alluded to the existence of many other gravesites near the property.

Historically, there were many Chinese, Japanese, and East Indian workers at the mill and they lived in their own bunkhouses on the mill property. It was believed that these graves might be associated with the Chinese bunkhouse. As I live near Youbou, it was decided that I correspond with Mr. Rayner, and attempt to discern the validity of his claim. Corinne Pratz, president of the Cowichan Valley Heritage Preservation Society, was contacted to see if she knew about the existence of these gravesites. She knew of one grave marker, and was happy to approach Timberwest (the owner of the mill property) to arrange a site visit. Steve Lorimer, Public Liaison for Timberwest, was contacted, and a meeting was arranged for May 16. I acquired a recent orthography image of the area from Timberwest for mapping purposes, as well as a historic photo, in hopes that it might help pinpoint earlier structures. ASBC-NB members Dorothy Young, Gay Frederick, Imogene Lim, and I met with Ms. Pratz and Mr. Lorimer on the mill property. They showed us the grave marker, which was hidden among some broom, and attached to a fence post by some wire. It was constructed of concrete, (historically) not commonly used, and incised with Chinese characters, which translated to "Year 14 of the Republic Jeng Wui Geng" (surname Jeng, which I believe can also be written as Cheung; the date converts to 1925).

Further research has not discovered the identity of this individual, or any record of his death in the provincial records. The original position of the marker is in doubt due to rumour of how it was discovered. Thus, the actual grave location is anyone’s guess, but a possible location was suggested not very far from the fence where the marker was ‘stored’. We walked to the possible location of the Chinese bunkhouse, now a wonderful field of mint and very old apple trees. No structures can be discerned due to bulldozing of the site after dismantling of the buildings. Timberwest was concerned about possible pot hunting, as some individuals had found bottles and other artifacts at the site. In our brief examination, we did not see any "mined" areas. The remains of an interesting mattress were found partially imbedded in the soil not far from the orchard area. Pictures were taken and samples of the springs were taken in hopes of determining some sort of date. Surface finds, such as bottles and old washbasins were found scattered in the forest adjacent to the orchard area. It was suggested that the ‘orchard area’ might warrant further investigation should Timberwest wish to develop. This is also true of the original grave marker location. A resistivity study might indicate whether there is any patterning suggesting a cemetery. It was recommended to Mr. Lorimer that the area that has attracted bottle hunters be monitored. We also suggested that since the grave marker is no longer in situ, that it be donated to the local Cowichan Lake museum for safekeeping. It is not certain if this has yet to been done although Mr. Lorimer has been informed that individuals have been looking for the marker. Location maps were produced digitally with the orthographic photo as a base; these were supplied to Mr. Lorimer and the Archaeology Branch (Victoria).

- Julie Cowie