Abstract
Complex watercraft were central to the functioning of many Indigenous coastal and
island communities around the world. These communities, however, are often assumed to
be small-scale bounded social entities adapted to local ecosystems, especially in comparison
to land-based agricultural societies, states, and empires. In this paper we seek to understand
how regional interactions helped create and sustain systems of Indigenous social and cultural
diversity by taking a fresh and comparative look at the “active” role played by local boatbuilding
traditions in the networks and social dynamics of Indigenous coastal communities.
We argue that one critical yet often overlooked aspect of the use of watercraft is the capacity
for advanced boat technologies to have “transformative” impacts on local communities
by creating new kinds of social relations and networking opportunities. In this paper we
undertake a comparative analysis of two Indigenous boat-building traditions, one in southern
California and the other in Northeast Asia. We examine how innovation in maritime watercraft
technology contributed to the formation of wide-ranging interaction spheres where participation
by Indigenous communities helped shape the history of the wider region. We suggest that
innovations in boat technologies led to positive-feedback loops of social intensification which
significantly contributed to the historical trajectories of both world regions.
