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| The commemorative boulder marking the location of Fort St. Joseph before it was unveiled in 1913 |
Hello!
We, Alyssa and
Stephanie, are Western Michigan University students enrolled in Dr. Nassaney’s
Anthropology in the Community class (ANTH 5030) this semester. As part of the
class we are working on a semester long project in association with the Fort
St. Joseph Archaeological Project. Our goal for the class is to begin establishing
partnerships with community groups in Niles, Michigan to help benefit not only
Niles but WMU as well. What we mean by community is any group of people who either
live in the same place or have common interests. We hope that the partnerships we
build will help strengthen relationships between these communities well into
the future. We want to explore areas of mutual interest to determine how we can
enhance what community groups do through our work investigating one of the most
important archaeological sites in the western Great Lakes region. While there
are various communities in Niles, students selected the following due to
limited time and human resources: Indigenous peoples (Ashley, Alyssa, Kourtney,
Stephanie), Educational communities (Amber, Stefan), Religious communities (Meghan,
Hailey), History enthusiasts and the re-enacting community (Jenifer, Jeff, Josh),
and the local Recreation and Natural History community (Kyle, Chris). You’ll be
hearing from all of us in the near future.
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| These corn cobs recovered from Fort St. Joseph represent an important Native food source provided to the French in the 18th-century fur trade |
The two of us are
focusing specifically on areas of common interest between Indigenous peoples
and Fort St. Joseph archaeologists. How are our histories intertwined past and
present and how might we collaborate? We have identified the Indigenous community
in the area to be the Pokagon Band in the St. Joseph River valley and are eager
to learn more about their history and contemporary concerns. This will help us to
disseminate information about their community and increase appreciation among
the many stakeholders who care about local history and the role it plays in the
present. We hope to meet with members of the Band to explore these and other
issues, along with other possibilities for collaboration. We are excited to
begin working with them and to share what we have learned about the history and
archaeology of the fur trade and colonialism in this area.
