OPENing the Doors to my HOUSE Away from Home

Hello Fort St. Joseph community! This is Melanie writing to you all about the archaeological event from last weekend. Open House weekend is the culmination of the Fort St. Joseph archaeologists’ summer work, and this year we were all so excited to share our findings with the public. After a few weeks of working and living together, learning about archaeology and the history of the fur trade in Michigan, we acquired new knowledge and an enthusiasm about the project. Being able to interact with the public and inform them about our endeavors delving into the past was a unique and incredible experience. For this year’s Open House, students and staff organized a variety of activities in order to present our discoveries to the community in a fun and educational way. From pit tours to children’s activities to artifact cases, the Fort St. Joseph archaeologists, along with a few dozen historical interpreters, brought the eighteenth century fort to life once again.

FSJAP student Melanie rocking her 2018 Field Season Shirt and prepping for pit tours.

Every day in the field, students practiced explaining their units to the rest of the group and any guests visiting the site. Along with communicating new and important information, this allowed us to practice how to explain archaeology to those who do not know anything about it. Over the course of the last few weeks, we have had many visitors who came to the site and listened to our interpretations of what we have been finding. The local Pokagon Band of the Potawatomi brought their youth to the site, and our summer campers also participated in pit tours during their time working with us. Getting accustomed to talking in front of a group of curious people and explaining our newly acquired knowledge of the history of Fort St. Joseph increased our confidence and our eagerness of sharing historical information. During Open House weekend, we had continuous pit tours throughout the day where students presented information about their assigned unit to any interested guests. We utilized our summer’s worth of new information, as well as interpretive maps, to piece together a picture of the fort for the public and future archaeologists.

Historical reenactor and all around awesome ally to the FSJAP, Lynn!

One of the most exciting parts about the Open House was how interested the community was this year about the Project. There were many in-depth questions that guests asked us during the Open House at every station. One of the children’s activities, bead bartering, encouraged the kids visiting the site to ask questions to students, staff, and reenactors. We allowed young children to participate first hand in learning archaeological activities to introduce them to interpreting the past. I was able to cement my newly acquired knowledge by answering questions, and I even learned new facts about the fort from inquiring guests.

The historical reenactors also played a major role during the Open House by teaching us all about eighteenth century life. I was able to speak with quite a few of them, and they were happy to explain the activities that they were doing. One of the ladies was spinning thread and explaining the development of the various technologies that were used in the past. Another reenactor was a black smith, and he told me about the technologies that he uses to work an iron object. Free canoe rides were also available for the public during the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Open House. The rides were led by a reenactor who used chants that the French fur traders of the eighteenth century would have used while paddling the St. Joseph River. From dancers to priests, the historical interpreters really made the past tangible to us living now in the twenty-first century.

The 18th-century partners with the 21st century for dancing lessons.

With the help of our various supporters, the staff and the field school students were able to successfully teach nearly nine hundred people about the archaeology of Fort St. Joseph. All of us put in a lot of time and effort over the past few weeks in order to host an educational and interactive Open House for the people of Niles. We enjoyed seeing the community as excited about the past as we are, even though the heat was almost unbearable. Each year, the Open House is where all of our work comes together—from previous field seasons and the most recent—and we are able to pass on our enthusiasm to the public. Together our understanding of the fur trade and life at Fort St. Joseph gets deeper with every passing year. Over the past twenty years, there have been many questions that we have been able to answer, and many more questions that arise from these new answers. There is still a lot of work to do, and a lot more information to learn, and we look forward to continuing our research of the site and sharing that knowledge with all of you.