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Topic

Fathoming Empire: Marine Knowledge and Colonial Navigation in an Indigenous Seascape, 1825-1906

Department of History

Date & location

• Monday, March 17, 2025
• 10:00 A.M.
• Clearihue Building, Room B017

Examining Committee

Supervisory Committee

• Dr. John Lutz, Department of History, University of Victoria (Supervisor)
• Dr. Jason Colby, Department of History, UVic (Member)
• Dr. Joshua Reid, Department of History, University of Washington (Outside Member)

External Examiner

• Dr. Helen Rozwadowski, Department of History, University of Connecticut

Chair of Oral Examination

• Dr. Martin Scherwath, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, UVic

Abstract

Oceans connected populations and markets to an unprecedented degree in the era of sail and steam, but intricate coastlines, dense fogs, powerful tides, and hidden hazards made marine environments potentially devastating spaces for the uninitiated. Seldom considered in recent scholarship, the navigational infrastructure introduced to alleviate such risks was fundamental to imperial efforts to incorporate the vast stretches of North American coastline to which the United States, Britain, and Canada laid claim in the nineteenth century. This dissertation presents a new history of waterborne colonialism in the Northeastern Pacific, including coastal waters from the Columbia River to Haida Gwaii. Where previous scholars have examined naval power and marine harvesting, this study innovates by focusing on the exchange of navigational knowledge and practices between Indigenous and colonial mariners in what became known as the “Graveyard of the Pacific.” The earliest European and American mariners to arrive on this uncharted and treacherous coast understood better than most that “knowledge is power.” The opposite is also true, however. Geographic ignorance shaped and restricted the unfolding of colonialism in coastal spaces that were often illegible to newcomers. This project looks past received narratives of “exploration” to evaluate four stages in imperial efforts to “fathom” the coast: early voyages of reconnaissance, hydrographic charting, the lighthouse service, and marine lifesaving, arguing that Indigenous knowledge, labour, and technologies underpinned the success of colonial navigation at every turn. By revealing how these interventions allowed colonialism to take hold and thrive, “Fathoming Empire” exposes the long-term consequences of maritime imperialism while showing how colonial aspirations were modified according to local circumstances and Indigenous agendas. In doing so, it provides a crucial historical perspective on recent Indigenous assertions of jurisdiction over the management of marine traffic in these still contested waters.