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Kaministiquia River from the observation deck at Fort William Historical Park |
After a very successful field season at Fort St. Joseph (2013),
I eagerly began my sabbatical leave research for the 2013-14 academic year. I have been invited by the University Press
of Florida to write a comprehensive overview of the archaeology of the North
American fur trade that will appear in my edited book series, The
American Experience in Archaeological Perspective. Thus far, there
have been 12 books published in the series (with two more in press). As you might
guess, Fort St. Joseph will feature prominently in my book, which will explore
the contributions of historical archaeology to the study of the fur trade and
demonstrate how the fur trade contributes to a better understanding of the
American experience.
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Modern day "fur trader" in Hovland, Minnesota |
I was approved for funding through a
Support for Faculty Scholar Award from Western Michigan University for research
travel to examine archaeological collections related to the fur trade in
Minnesota. I am particularly interested in what we can learn about the fur
trade from archaeology, including the types of goods that Natives
acquired in the fur trade and how they were modified to reflect a Native
worldview.
With those
goals in mind, I spent a week visiting several sites and collections in
Minnesota where there is ample evidence of the fur trade. Not only did French
and English traders operate in this region of the western Great Lakes—fur
trading continued well into the 19th century with the establishment
of the North West Company and the Hudson’s Bay Company after their merger.
My trip
began with a visit with two well-known fur trade archaeologists: Rob Mann, who
is now teaching at St. Cloud State University and Doug Birk, a founder of the
Minnesota Institute for Archaeology. Doug showed us around a site he had
investigated in Little Falls in the Elk River Preserve that represented a
wintering post occupied in the third quarter of the 18th century. I
had read about Doug’s work, so it was great to get a guided tour of the actual
site with the excavator. After being given full access to Doug’s library the
following day, I made my way to Grand Portage along the northwest shore of Lake
Superior.
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The North West Company post along the Snake River, Pine City, Minnesota |
Grand
Portage is a 8.5 mile trail used by voyageurs to get around the 120 foot
waterfalls on the Pigeon river, currently the boundary between the US and
Canada. At the mouth of the river is the Grand Portage National Monument
operated by the National Park Service. I met with the park historian and local
archaeologist who gave me a tour of the reconstructed depot consisting of the
Great Hall and attached kitchen. This was the place where the shareholders of
the North West Company from Montreal would meet with their men in the field to
insure smooth economic relations, quality furs, and a good profit. The
interpretive center houses a wonderful collection of artifacts from the depot,
as well as objects that have been recovered along the portage at posés, or resting places for voyageurs carrying heavy loads of furs
and trade goods. At the end of the portage, trade goods would be loaded onto
canoes in the Pigeon River to be taken further inland to Native villages and
encampments. Of course, not all goods made it into the canoes, and some have
been found lying at the bottom of the river. Doug Birk and his team recovered
scores of 18th and 19th century objects through
underwater archaeology in the 1970s. Image my astonishment when the park
interpreter allowed me to inspect a perfectly preserved canoe paddle and
fragments of a birch bark canoe that had been used by French voyageurs over 200 years ago!
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Reconstructed Great Hall at the Grand Portage Depot with the kitchen in the background. |
The
following day I made a foray into Wisconsin to the Yellow river, site of the
1802-05 Ojibway Indian/North West Company-XY Company fur-trading outpost known
as the Forts Folle Avoine (French for “crazy oats” referring to the wild rice
that was an important food resource in the region). The site is run by the
Burnett County Historical Society and features a reconstruction, first-person
interpretation, and a small museum with displays of materials from the 1970s
excavations. John Sayer, a NWC partner who resided at the site, also
established another post about 30 miles to the west along the Snake River now
in Pine city, Minnesota. Archaeology had also been conducted there to expose a fortified
settlement with a row house consisting of six rooms that housed voyageurs, a
clerk, Sayer, and a storehouse. Interestingly, the rooms and associated materials
show that Sayer, who was a share-holding representative of the NWC, was
afforded different amenities than his subordinates. Information on the
location, size, layout, and architecture of the fort were all derived from the
archaeological remains and led to a reconstruction. Fur trade life and its role
in the context of Native American and Euro-American interaction are currently
being interpreted at the fort and in very modern, interactive, and
comprehensive museum exhibits by the Minnesota Historical Society.
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Reconstructed wigwam ay Forts Folle Avoine |
All this
travel and sight seeing invigorated me in preparation for continued research on
the archaeology of the fur trade. If that was not enough, on September 27 I was
given the Service-Learning Award from the WMU Office of Service-Learning in
recognition of my work on Fort St. Joseph. Later that evening I accompanied
Dorilee Schieble of the Fort St. Joseph Archaeology Advisory Committee to a
banquet held by the Historical Society of Michigan (HSM) where we received an
award for Fort St. Joseph’s archaeology education program. I’m thankful to
Dorilee for preparing the nomination. The following day my colleagues José António
Brandão, Tim Bober, and I discussed the history, public education, and
archaeology of Fort St. Joseph to over 50 HSM members at their annual
conference in Kalamazoo.
As you can
see, the start of my sabbatical leave has been stupendous!
Michael S.
Nassaney, Ph.D.
Professor of
Anthropology
Principal
Investigator
Fort St.
Joseph Archaeological Project
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The 120' falls along the Pigeon River. |
