Abstract

Of the many deep midden, village sites at Prince Rupert harbour on the northern Northwest Coast, the Boardwalk site is special. Boardwalk is much larger than other recorded village sites in the region, has a deeper history of occupation, and its occupants, at least in the later period, appear to have exercised regional control of key subsistence resources. In addition, Boardwalk has yielded to excavation many more artifacts symbolic of wealth and high social status than other Prince Rupert area sites. In this paper, we present evidence from recent excavations at Boardwalk related to the control of subsistence resources, in particular sea mammals. The implications of this resource control in terms of social and political organization are also discussed.