Settling the record: 3,000 years of continuity and growth in a Coast Salish settlement constellation

Abstract

For Indigenous people across the globe, being connected to traditional lands and histories continues to be of paramount importance. To document this connection on one river system in the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America, we compiled archaeological evidence from 14 settlements occupied between 3,000 years ago and the early 20th century. We demonstrate how households and lineages persisted inter-generationally, expanded demographically and geographically over time, and forged diverse and nested social groupings and networks. We find compelling evidence for the emergence of a “settlement constellation” that formed through long-term processes of social fissioning. Our analysis moves between social, spatial, and temporal scales, tracking changing settlement patterns and demographic trends to the present day, emphasizing persistent occupational and social continuity between the Sts’ailes today and their ancestors. Extraordinarily long-lived house occupations and settlements are a feature of the Northwest Coast of North America, and may be a significant aspect of settlement constellations more generally.