Repatriation as Social Drama: The Kwakiutl Indians of British Columbia, 1922-1980

Abstract

The Kwakiutl Indians-who live at the north end ofVancouver Island and the adjacent mainland of British Columbia-are well-known from the extensive collections and writings of anthropologist Franz Boas.1 They also are the subjects of a classic and well-documented case of the repatriation of artifacts from museum collections. This essay will recount the history of this process of inter-cultural definition and negotiation, and consider some of the more general features of Native American repatriation. The first Westerner the Kwakiutl encountered was British trader James Strange in 1786.2 Although they participated actively in the maritime fur trade that followed in the early nineteenth century, the Kwakiutl did not experience substantial culture change until 1849 when the Hudson's Bay Company established a post at Fort Rupert. Situated on the northeast end of Vancouver Island, Fort Rupert had not been a traditional village site, but Kwakiutl soon settled around it to take advantage of trade with the whites. By the late 1890s, the village had been supplanted as the principal site of acculturation, with the growth in another new settlement, Alert Bay on nearby Cormorant Island. Established in the 1870s as a salmon saltery-soon replaced with a cannery-Alert Bay became the focal point for Kwakiutl participation in a rapidly expanding commercial economy of fishing and logging. Their success at the new ways led to a period of great prosperity (19001920s) and a shift to new forms of clothing, housing, and tools. The town was also the site for intensive culture change through an Anglican mission and school. Governmental controls came in the form of an Indian agency and the creation of reserves, small portions of aboriginal territory that were recognized by the federal government. At the same time, Kwakiutl population declined steadily and swiftly throughout the century, due largely to disease.