Dear reader,
The Fort Saint Joseph
Archaeological Project is very special to me.
It is possible that it is so important to me for one of the same reasons
that you have found yourself on this blog post.
The City of Niles has been my hometown for all twenty-one years of my
life. It was while I was a student at
Ring Lardner Middle School that I decided I loved history, and while I was a
student at Niles Senior High School that I decided I loved archaeology. What better way to appreciate history than to
study the physicality of it, the proof of days and people past?
I left Niles, then, for
four years to pursue an undergraduate degree in anthropology/archaeology in
Erie, Pennsylvania. This past spring, I
graduated and returned to Niles with a degree in… hospitality management? It’s funny to me, looking back over the past
four years, that I found my passion and had everything I needed to pursue it. I, in no way, am implying that I fear I have
made the wrong choices, and I would argue that my decision to complete a degree
for event planning with a minor in anthropology and archaeology resulted in my
direct involvement in the Project today.
It's easy to overlook the
incredulity of something in your own backyard.
Its normalcy has clouded its value.
I wonder if the lucky people who live in far-away destinations look
outside and sigh and fantasize about great pines and two-story houses as the
pyramids crumble on their doorstep… It
seems trivial, maybe. The world is so
vast for the simplicity that comes with being human. And yet, simple as we may be, there is much
to be said for the refreshing new views that accompany a homecoming. It was with fresh eyes that I returned to the
city that has always been my home – the boring, quiet, redundant city on the
state line. Niles hadn’t changed at all,
but I had, for my greatest worries of what would become of “home” had never
come to fruition.
This is where you, dear
reader, along with the Fort Saint Joseph Archaeological Project, come in. I said that the Project was special to me,
which may be an understatement. In my
foolish younger years, I had mistaken my own familiarity of the site with
growing public disinterest for a truly amazing project. The way that other publics from other places
saw history was disheartening. The
archaeology sites in my textbooks were riddled with problematic politics; so
much so that when my professor in Erie recommended that I apply to work at the
site in my hometown, I had many, many fears.
 |
| Fort St. Joseph is right along the St. Joseph River. We have many idyllic views! |
Imagine, if you will,
leaving your hometown for four years and experiencing the lack of awareness,
and sometimes care, for an area’s history by its own residents. Imagine changing your major so that your
studies can be more relevant and being told how silly it is to maintain a minor
in the field you love. Imagine being
told “the past is in the past, so keep it that way”, when you know well that
those who do not know history are condemned to repeat it.
Now, imagine coming home
to see that not only is the public archaeology project that you remember still
in effect, but that the community continues to support it! Imagine going to an event a half an hour
north of the City of Niles to promote this same project and seeing how excited
everyone (children and adults alike) is about the site! Imagine meeting the newest class of students
attending the field school – students who have never been to Niles – and
hearing them say how excited they are to learn about the community!
I see in this project the
potential to bring a community together in the form of public lectures, open
houses, and social media – just as you are here! – and to also promote the
study of archaeology and public (our)
history. Such is the nature of public
archaeology: not to find treasures, but to treasure the stories the finds tell. That is why I could not turn down the
opportunity to work for this Project, to promote it to the public, to preserve
the very practice that is preserving the past.
That is why I came home.
Thank you all for your continued support,
Eleanor Hein
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