Hi everybody, this is Cameron. I’m coming back to you again, and this
time as a staff member this field season. I am grateful to be back working in
Niles amongst a very welcoming and neighborly community, especially as an
archaeologist excavating at a site that has a lot of meaning for so many of
you.
Just to get you guys caught up with my life since my last
blog, I have just recently graduated this past spring with my undergraduate
degree in anthropology from Western Michigan University, and fortunately I have
been able to maintain employment as an archaeologist for the past three months.
Over the past year I worked in the lab at Western Michigan University as an
independent study student under the guidance of Doctor Nassaney. My job was to
create a digital inventory for an artifact collection from a field school back
in 1998, and to deaccession any redundant artifacts from that collection which
had no research value. Anyways, after I graduated I was offered a job doing
this same task. It was a temporary position that lasted for two months. And
during that time back in May, I was invited to come to the site in Niles while
the trenches were being dug into the old dump site. A few other students and I
dry screened for artifacts that were taken from core samples from the bottom of
the trenches. And as many of you already know, these samples were positive, and
they yielded eighteenth century materials such as wampum, lead shot, and
calcined bone.
Fast forward to the end of June and I was offered employment
working as a field assistant as Fort St. Joseph, which I did not hesitate to
accept. And since that time I have been living and working right here in Niles.
My role as a field assistant is to work along side the students assisting them
with excavating their unit, mapping, filling out paperwork, and supervising
during lab time while they wash artifacts. And I also work with Gary by
prepping the site for pit tours and the upcoming open house next Saturday. The
site was littered with debris from the dump, and sprawling with brush. But
between the collective efforts of the staff, students, and volunteers, the site
is safe and navigable for the public to visit during the open house.
I should also mention that since I have began working as a
field assistant this season, I have also accepted another job here in Niles
working at the History Center. I will be there every Saturday working at the
front desk, greeting visitors, educating myself about the history of Niles and
Southwest Michigan, and digitizing field notes from the past field seasons at Fort
St. Joseph. This is another wonderful opportunity that I am more than grateful
to have been offered. And if you happen to be in the area, come visit me so we
can catch up or become acquainted.
Working at both the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project,
and in the Niles History Center, are both learning experiences that will help
me traverse my through my journey of life, and which I have no doubt will help
me grow as a person. I can not succeed on my own, and I owe it to the people
who have guided me along the way. I am indebted to the community of Niles and
the faculty from Western Michigan University for everything they have done for
me in my past, my present, and my future.
Hasta
Luego,
Cameron
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