Documenting Aboriginal Trails: Issues and Perspectives from Southern Interior British Columbia

Conference Paper

Documenting Aboriginal Trails: Issues and Perspectives from Southern Interior British Columbia

Diana E. French

Abstract

This paper will evaluate the various approaches used by geographers, historians, anthropologists, archaeologists, and foresters in documenting aboriginal trails. Methodological challenges in finding and recording trails in the field will then be discussed. The importance of First Nations input is emphasized. Lastly, perspectives on the significance of aboriginal trails as indicators of pre-contact land use, and the utility of identifying these networks for heritage resource management purposes will then be presented.