Great Marpole Midden
| Marpole Midden National Historic Site | |
|---|---|
 1908 excavation | |
| Location | Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada |
| Type | National Historic Site of Canada |
| Website | |
| Official name: Marpole Midden National Historic Site of Canada | |
| Designated: | 1933 |
The Great Marpole Midden (also known as the Eburne Site, or Great Fraser Midden), is an ancient Musqueam village and burial site located in the Marpole neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia.
History
The site was inhabited by Coast Salish people beginning at least 4,000 years ago, until about 200 years ago, with the arrival of smallpox on the Northwest Coast.[1] During that time it was a village known as c̓əsnaʔəm.[1] According to BC Heritage Industry Canada site, the Marpole Culture Type dates between 2400 BP and 1600 years BP.[2]
In 1884 the midden was discovered during the upgrading of Garypie Farm Road, and was the site of archaeological excavation throughout the subsequent decades. American Museum of Natural History archaeologist, Harlan Ingersoll Smith, participating in the Jessup North Pacific Expedition from 1897 to 1899, mined the Marpole site for skeletal remains.[3][4] In the 1920s and 1930s, Charles Hill-Tout did extensive excavations at the site for the Art, Historical, and Scientific Association of Vancouver.[3][5] In the 1950s and 1960s UBC professor Charles Edward Borden undertook salvage archaeology projects at the site. Borden "was the first to draw links between contemporary Musqueam peoples and excavated remains."[3][5]
The construction of the Fraser Arms Hotel in the 1950s destroyed much of the site.[6]
On May 25, 1933, the Marpole Midden was recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada,[7] although the historic marker is located in nearby Marpole Park, while the midden itself is located a few blocks away, between Montcalm and Milton streets, south of Marine Drive.[8]
Condo development controversy and protests
In December 2011, a development permit was issued for the construction of a 108-unit condominium project. Intact remains were found in January 2012 during an archaeological dig as required by the permit. In March 2012, members disrupted planned digging, claiming there was no consultation prior to the permit being issued in December, and in protest over the continued lack of dialogue.[8]
There was a cooling-off period while waiting for negotiations to occur, but protesters returned to the site because in their opinion, there had been no meaningful progress. Musqueam Band members and the supporters of the Musqueam band staged a series of protests to raise awareness about the site in May 2012. These included a rally at Mountain View Cemetery on May 29,[9] and a blockade of the Arthur Laing Bridge between Richmond and Vancouver on May 31.[10]
References
Citation
- Burley, David V. (1980), Marpole: Anthropological reconstructions of a prehistoric Northwest Coast culture type (8), Burnaby, B.C.: Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University
- "Gateway to Aboriginal Heritage: Harlan Ingersoll Smith", CMC (Gatineau, PQ: Canadian Museum of Civilization), nd, retrieved 2 December 2013
- Charles, Andrew (December 1972), "Amateur archaeologists discover past, Pride", Nesika: the voice of BC Indians (Vancouver, BC) 1 (3)
- Fournier, Suzanne (29 May 2012). "Musqueam protest condo plans on First Nations graveyard in Marpole". The Province. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
- Knickerbocker, Madeline (2012), "Review of Susan Roy's These Mysterious People: Shaping History and Archaeology in a Northwest Coast Community", BC Studies The British Columbian Quarterly (174)
- Mitchell, Donald (1990), "Prehistory of the Coasts of Southern British Columbia & Northern Washington" (PDF), in Wayne Suttles, Handbook of North American Indians 7, Washington: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 340–358
- "Musqueam: a living culture", Musqueam Indian Band (Vancouver, BC), 2011, retrieved 2 December 2013
- "Marpole Midden National Historic Site of Canada at Parks Canada". Parks Canada.
- "Canada's Historic Places: Marpole Midden National Historic Site of Canada", Canadian Register (Parks Canada), 2010
- Puri, Belle (12 March 2012). "Protesters block Vancouver building project". CBC News. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
- Roy, Susan (Winter 2006/2007). ""Who Were These Mysterious People?" -- ç¢sna:m, the Marpole Midden, and the Dispossession of Aboriginal Lands in British Columbia". BC Studies (152): 67–95.
- These Mysterious People Shaping History and Archaeology in a Northwest Coast Community, McGill/Queen's University Press, October 2010, p. 240, ISBN 9780773537217
- Staff Reporter (31 May 2012). "Musqueam block Arthur Laing Bridge in property-development protest". The Province. Retrieved 3 June 2012.
- "kosapsom", BC Heritage, Canada's Digital Collections program, Industry Canada, 1999
External links
- c̓əsnaʔəm at the Musqueam Band web site includes a brief history of the site and recent issues surrounding potential development on the site.
Coordinates: 49°12′14″N 123°08′19″W / 49.2040°N 123.1386°W
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