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The Squamish: study of changing political organisation
Academic Work
The field work for this study was carried out during the period December 1954, to April 1956, in whatever time I could spare from my studies at the University of British Columbia, and from my summer employment. While attending the University during the fall term of 1953, I had paid occasional visits to my Squamish informants living in the Mission and Capilano Reserves, North Vancouver.
During the summer of 1955, at my request, Mr. Tim Moody, Secretary of the Squamish Band Council, kindly invited me to be a guest in his house. This gave me an opportunity to develop first-hand acquaintance with Squamish family life, and to make the friendly contacts so useful for this kind of field work. To him and his family, I am very much indebted for generous hospitality and many other acts of kindness which made my stay in his house enjoyable and profitable.
I attended six meetings of the Band Council and one general meeting of the Band, in which I was introduced to everyone present. Besides this I talked to about eighty members of the Band with conversations lasting from two or three minutes to three hours. Techniques employed for obtaining information included observation, for example, observing a meeting of the Band Council; participant observation, for example, participating in a house party; and interviewing with a minimum of direction, for example, letting the informant talk freely without breaking his narrative with frequent questions. No formal questionnaire was used. Instead, with the help of a general guide containing a list of topics and questions, I steered the conversation to elicit the information I needed.
Notes were taken in longhand during the interviews. These notes were rewritten as soon as possible. An effort was made to retain the original wording of the informants. However, sometimes in the interest of clarity, and brevity, I have found it necessary to alter the wording of my informants, but always care has been taken to retain the original meaning. When necessary, in order to conceal the identity of my informants, I have used fictitious initials.
Political scientists and anthropologists have generally neglected the study of the political organisation of the North American Indians. To be sure, scattered references to political organisation occur among the published works of many students of North American Indians: but studies specifically devoted to political organisation are rare. In particular, no comparative study of the magnitude of the "African Political Systems," by Portes and Evans-Pritchard, has so far been published. Bearing in mind this gap, this study has been undertaken with the hope that it would be of use not only to students of contemporary Squamish culture, but also to students of comparative political organisation and culture change in general. I hope that the general hypotheses suggested by this study will be found worthy of being tested by the latter.
The study provides a description of Squamish political organisation before White contact, as well as of that which exists today. As to the first, my information has been mainly obtained from one informant and from available published works on the subject. Of course I talked to other informants, but foundt hem confused, vague, and in general of not much help in providing specific details.
On the other hand, I found my main informant Louie Miranda honest, accurate, well-informed, quick to follow questions, precise in answers, and very willing to help. He welcomed my questions because they helped him remember the things which he was on the verge of forgetting. Others from whom I obtained from useufl information about the pre-contact Squamish include Tim Moody, Andrew Paull, Mrs. Christine Jack, Isaac Jacob, and William Baker Sr. To all these, and in particular, to Louie Miranda and Andrew Paull, my grateful thanks. The information about the present was obtained from informants too numerous to mention by name. I am grateful to all of them for their willing cooperation.
Many thanks are due to members of the Squamish Band Council, officials of the Indian Affairs Branch, and many others who helped in numerous ways.
It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to Professor Harry B. Hawthorn for valued counsel and guidance throughout the study. Without his encouragement and generous support, it would not have been possible to complete this study. I am particularly grateful to Professors Belshaw, Jamieson, Maegele, and Suttles for providing information, encouragement, and many helpful suggestions. In addition, I am indebted to Gloria Cranmer for the typing of the preliminary draft and to Surjiet Johal and Elvi Waik for the final copies.
During the summer of 1955, at my request, Mr. Tim Moody, Secretary of the Squamish Band Council, kindly invited me to be a guest in his house. This gave me an opportunity to develop first-hand acquaintance with Squamish family life, and to make the friendly contacts so useful for this kind of field work. To him and his family, I am very much indebted for generous hospitality and many other acts of kindness which made my stay in his house enjoyable and profitable.
I attended six meetings of the Band Council and one general meeting of the Band, in which I was introduced to everyone present. Besides this I talked to about eighty members of the Band with conversations lasting from two or three minutes to three hours. Techniques employed for obtaining information included observation, for example, observing a meeting of the Band Council; participant observation, for example, participating in a house party; and interviewing with a minimum of direction, for example, letting the informant talk freely without breaking his narrative with frequent questions. No formal questionnaire was used. Instead, with the help of a general guide containing a list of topics and questions, I steered the conversation to elicit the information I needed.
Notes were taken in longhand during the interviews. These notes were rewritten as soon as possible. An effort was made to retain the original wording of the informants. However, sometimes in the interest of clarity, and brevity, I have found it necessary to alter the wording of my informants, but always care has been taken to retain the original meaning. When necessary, in order to conceal the identity of my informants, I have used fictitious initials.
Political scientists and anthropologists have generally neglected the study of the political organisation of the North American Indians. To be sure, scattered references to political organisation occur among the published works of many students of North American Indians: but studies specifically devoted to political organisation are rare. In particular, no comparative study of the magnitude of the "African Political Systems," by Portes and Evans-Pritchard, has so far been published. Bearing in mind this gap, this study has been undertaken with the hope that it would be of use not only to students of contemporary Squamish culture, but also to students of comparative political organisation and culture change in general. I hope that the general hypotheses suggested by this study will be found worthy of being tested by the latter.
The study provides a description of Squamish political organisation before White contact, as well as of that which exists today. As to the first, my information has been mainly obtained from one informant and from available published works on the subject. Of course I talked to other informants, but foundt hem confused, vague, and in general of not much help in providing specific details.
On the other hand, I found my main informant Louie Miranda honest, accurate, well-informed, quick to follow questions, precise in answers, and very willing to help. He welcomed my questions because they helped him remember the things which he was on the verge of forgetting. Others from whom I obtained from useufl information about the pre-contact Squamish include Tim Moody, Andrew Paull, Mrs. Christine Jack, Isaac Jacob, and William Baker Sr. To all these, and in particular, to Louie Miranda and Andrew Paull, my grateful thanks. The information about the present was obtained from informants too numerous to mention by name. I am grateful to all of them for their willing cooperation.
Many thanks are due to members of the Squamish Band Council, officials of the Indian Affairs Branch, and many others who helped in numerous ways.
It gives me great pleasure to acknowledge a debt of gratitude to Professor Harry B. Hawthorn for valued counsel and guidance throughout the study. Without his encouragement and generous support, it would not have been possible to complete this study. I am particularly grateful to Professors Belshaw, Jamieson, Maegele, and Suttles for providing information, encouragement, and many helpful suggestions. In addition, I am indebted to Gloria Cranmer for the typing of the preliminary draft and to Surjiet Johal and Elvi Waik for the final copies.
AW.00066
1956
Anthropology
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10.14288/1.0107017
Thesis / Dissertation
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