On Evaluating Ethnographic Representations: The Case of the Okanagan of South Central British Columbia

Abstract

A number of ethnographers over the past century have written about the traditional social or­ganization of the Okanagan of south central British Columbia. This article compares the ac­ counts of four of these, one by James A. Teit, one by L.V.W. Walters, one by Verne Ray, and another by Peter Carstens. While the first three share much in common, the one by Carstens is strikingly different. The former, for example, depict a communitarian social structure with an emphasis on equality for everyone. Peter Carstens, on the other hand, de­ scribes it as a stratified society (comprised of chiefs, headmen, commoners, and slaves) with a strong emphasis on rank and prestige. The objective of the article is to show how ethnog­raphy is affected by personal bias and ideology, particularly when attempting to understand otherness. At a time in history when white representations are called into question by Na­tive peoples themselves, and when they are being used against living peoples injudicial and other highly charged settings, this examination allows us to appreciate the strengths and the limits, the volatility of the ethnographic process itself.