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| The food was excellent! |
Each year, the Center for French Colonial Studies holds an
annual meeting to encourage scholarship, foster learning, and hear
presentations on topic related to the French in the New World. Dr. Nassaney and I attended this year's
conference on September 28 and 29 in beautiful Bloomington, Indiana, sponsored
by the Mathers Museum of World Culture & the Glenn A. Black Laboratory and
Indiana University.
The weekend
began on Friday with a workshop in the Great Lakes Ethnohistory Archives in the
Glenn A. Black Laboratory. Participants had the opportunity to examine the
incredible collection of primary and secondary resources assembled on behalf of
the U.S. Department of Justice for the Indian Claims Commission. Intended to
provide evidence for cases of Indian land claims and treaty infringements, this
unique assemblage of indexed documents and microfilm is invaluable for
researchers who wish to learn more about any of the sixteen Native tribes
referenced there, as well as those who want to learn more about the people with
whom the French would have interacted during the fur trade.
In the
evening, the Laboratory, with our host Dr. Timothy Baumann, graciously provided
a delicious spread of appetizers as well as a fascinating exhibit on the French
military post of Ouiatenon and the artifacts that were excavated there. Many of
the artifacts found there were similar to those found at Fort St. Joseph,
including lead shot, ceramics, and straight pins, but there were other unique
items as well: combs, a repurposed gun barrel transformed into a hide scraper,
and a bison bone that was used as a paint brush, following Native
tradition. Dr. Terry Martin, our bone
specialist from Illinois is especially excited about this last – no other
brushes have been found this far East! Perhaps next year we will find one at
Fort St. Joseph.
Saturday
was the day of presentations. Dr. Baumann gave a general introduction on
culture and the creolization that took place in the New World among the French,
Natives, and Africans. He and Dr. Christina Snyder introduced speakers and
moderated the interesting discussions that arose after presentations. Members
listened attentively to speaker after speaker for a greater understanding of
the French in the New World. The
presentations were all excellent, with topics ranging from the French language
and its linguistic descendants in Francophone Louisiana from Dr. Kevin Rottet,
to interpretations of material culture and its relation to identity in New
France from Dr. Sophie White, to an examination of the ethnohistoric materials
on the Sioux as documented by the French from Dr. Raymond J. DeMallie, Jr.
Topics of
considerable interests to followers of Fort St. Joseph were Dr. Kathleen
Ehrhardt's discussion on metal consumption and trade to Indians (so much metal has
been found at Fort St. Joseph, including the possible cache of the blacksmith)
and Dr. Diana DiPaolo Loren's work on “The Archaeology of Colonial Sounds.”
(What might have been heard at the fort on an everyday basis? The splash of
oars, the music of glass seed beads and tinkling cones, the rustling of
garments, and the loud calls of trade.) Dr. Terry Martin also spoke about how
we might interpret the animal remains found at archaeological sites of French
forts, including Fort St. Joseph. These animals were used for their pelts in
trade, for their bones as various tools, and for meat, but also for fats and
oils – which may have been used to make food a bit tastier.
After the
presentations, a brief business meeting was held with a presentation on the venue
for next year's meeting: Austin, Texas. This conference will be especially
meaningful as it is being held at the opening of the exhibit there on Sieur de
la Salle's lost ship: La Belle. The exhibit looks visually striking with
an amazing selection of the estimated one million artifacts found on the ship,
including 800 axe heads, thousands of glass beads, three bronze cannons, and
perhaps 1,500 Jesuit rings. Interested parties are strongly encouraged to
attend!
In the
evening, a magnificent repast of food and entertainment was laid out for
conference-goers. Before we were
dismissed for dinner, however, we fêted the retiring president Ruth A. Bryant for her many accomplishments as
president of the Center. Under her leadership, new technologies have been used
to connect members through the website and print publications for members on a
simpler and more cost-effective basis. Dr. Karen
Marrero, the new president, presented gifts on behalf of the Center: fragrant
soaps, imported from France from the same manufacturer who made soap for
Napoleon.
Dinner
was next, and was nearly indescribable in its excellence. Dr. Baumann had
provided a list of ingredients available at the time to the chefs of Indiana
University, and they poured all their creative energies into a meal of
succulent venison, roasted root vegetables, braised duck in polenta, and for
dessert, blueberry cobbler. The only
thing that could top dinner was the entertainment that followed, and no one
could be disappointed by Dennis Stroughmatt and his French Creole music. Along
with Rob Krumm and a sound system that could not keep up with the awesomeness,
Dennis demonstrated various folk tunes that he had learned in areas of French heritage in the Midwest
and Louisiana, and which he had performed all over the country and beyond,
including at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival this past year. The lively French music, which inspired both
vocal participation and dancing, was a fantastic way to end an amazing
conference.-Sarah Oren
