Clues From The Past

 Hey everybody, Carson again!

Today I want to share an intriguing artifact with you that was found at Fort St. Joseph. The artifact is made of copper alloy, about 5 cm long and 1 cm wide. It was folded together by whoever created this piece  about halfway through to form its tallest part at 1.5 cm tall. Otherwise, the artifact is pretty flat except for in the center where it is slightly shaped into a "U" and the tallest part has a hole drilled through both sides. The artifact does not appear to be complete as it seems to have been attached to something on the thicker end and broke in half on the other end. 

Due to the strange shape and structure of the artifact and the lack of the other missing pieces of this artifact, we are uncertain as to what exactly this item is. However, I have begun hypothesizing on what the possible artifact could have been when it was used over 200 years ago at Fort St. Joseph. My first hypothesis is that it could be an eighteenth-century kettle lug piece. I thought this may be possible because of the holes located at one end where a handle may have been attached. My second hypothesis is that it is a broken priming pan from an eighteenth-century flintlock. We originally tossed around the idea that it may be a gun part after we recovered it through excavation, but we weren't sure exactly what it was. During the Archaeology Open House, one living history reenactor suggested a priming pan and after performing some research I also believe that may be what this artifact is. My third and final hypothesis is that the artifact is a broken eighteenth-century ramrod guide due to the shape, size, and overall weight of the object. If you have any other leads on what this artifact may be, please reach out. Otherwise, the research continues. 

That's all for now!

    Carson

Sources:

Baez, Kevin. “Weapons of War (1600-1800).” Smithsonian Learning Lab, https://learninglab.si.edu/collections/weapons-of-war-1600-1800/HUoHq60eaAj1UKyz

Fuhring, John. Shooting and Maintaining a Flintlock, www.geojohn.org/BlackPowder/Musketoon/ShootingTheFlintlock.html.

Nassaney, Michael S., et al. “Archaeological Evidence of Economic Activities at an Eighteenth-Century Frontier Outpost in the Western Great Lakes.” Historical Archaeology, vol. 41, no. 4, 2007, pp. 3–19., doi:10.1007/bf03377292.

If You Like It You Should Have Put a (Trade) Ring on It

Hello! 

It’s Kylie again! During our last week of excavation, I found a “Jesuit” trade ring in my unit S5 W18 while wet screening. These types of rings are typically made of copper alloy and the bezels can be found in numerous shapes such as round, oval, octagonal, etc (Hulse 1977: 396). Other popular rings, included glass insets made to look like precious stones instead of the bezel. The ring I recovered is made out of copper alloy and has a heart-shaped bezel on the band (see below). 

In New France, these iconographic "Jesuit" rings were used for trade and were likely an inexpensive form of jewelry. They were decorated with a variety of motifs that had religious and/or sentimental meanings (Mercier 2011). Mercier (2011) examined several "Jesuit" rings and categorized their chronological and geographical distribution across New France based on a technological typology: cast rings, cut and soldered rings, and stamped and soldered rings. She recognized three main phases for the rings use: introductory (1575-1650), peak (1650-1715), and decline phase (1715-1780) (2011: 33). The introductory phase is when rings, specifically the cast rings, were first appearing in the St. Lawrence River Valley (Mercier 2011:34). The peak of the trade rings was shown through the increased volume and varieties available in New France (Mercier 2011:35). For instance, Mercier (2011) recognized that cast rings, cut and soldered rings, and stamped and soldered rings have been recovered archaeologically the peak phase and their distribution extends beyond the St. Lawrence Valley into the western and southern regions of New France. There were several changes in the economy during this time that likely contributed to the peak phase. For instance, the creation of the royal government during the second half of the seventeenth century led to new governing over the colony and increased trade. The number of expeditions also grew, stimulating trade throughout New France. In the early eighteenth century, the use of "Jesuit" rings began to decline slowly, disappearing almost completely in the 1780s (Mercier 35-36). 

Overall, "Jesuit" rings have been recovered from seventeenth- and eighteenth-century sites like Fort St. Joseph throughout New France. They appear to have been used during both the French and British occupation, with a higher concentration during the French period (Stone 1974: 131). All three of the iconographic ring technological types (cast rings, cut and soldered rings, and stamped and soldered rings) are present in our Fort St. Joseph collection. Some have been recovered archaeologically at the site, while others were donated in the early twentieth century. Examples of each type can be found on display at the Niles History Center for those who have a chance to visit.

This has been my favorite find this season and I am so excited I got to share it with you! Look out for more updates.

Sincerely, 

            Kylie

Sources: 

Hulse, Charles 

1977 An Archaeological Evaluation of Fort St. Joseph: An Eighteenth Century Military Post and Settlement in Berrien County, Michigan. Unpublished M.A. thesis, Michigan State University, East Lansing.

Mercier, Caroline 

2011 "'Jesuit' Rings in Trade Exchanges Between France and New France: Contribution of a Technological Typology to Identifying Supply and Distribution Networks," Northeast Historical Archaeology: Vol. 40, Article 2. https://doi.org/10.22191/neha/vol40/iss1/2

Stone, Lyle 

1974 Fort Michilimackinac 1715–1781: An Archaeological Perspective on the Revolutionary Frontier. The Musuem, Michigan State University, East Lansing.

Open House 2022!

 Hello everyone! 

     I wanted to pop in to tell everyone about the 2022 Fort St. Joseph Archeology Open House! Saturday, August 6th was a busy day at the open house. Many people walk around the site learning about wet screening, recently found artifacts, unit tours, and interacting with the reenactors! One of my favorite parts was seeing how so many people from the area have been coming to these open house events for many years. I truly felt supported by the community and praised for my hard work. I was able to expand my public archeology knowledge throughout this event as well. Saturday night my team celebrated with a great meal, axe throwing, and musket shooting! Sunday was sadly cut short because of the rain but we still made the best of the day! Many people were able to make it out before the rain hit! After the rain stopped my team got to celebrate yet again with a canoe ride with the French voyageurs! Many of my duties throughout both Saturday and Sunday revolved around unit tours and sitting at the artifact case station! It was great to have conversation with the community about the units and the artifacts in the case. Overall, it was a great weekend, and thank you to everyone that was able to make it out! The support we felt this weekend does not go unnoticed. We appreciate all of you and we hope you enjoyed our open house event!

Sincerely,

            Olivia Crandall

Around S5 W11

 Hello Fort fans! 

    We have had a busy week so far preparing for the open house this weekend, August sixth and seventh. I wanted to take a moment and update everyone on some great finds from Mary and my unit, S5 W11. Today we powered through another five cm across our entire one-meter by two-meter unit. We found a variety of artifacts including teeth and bone from deer and beaver, seed beads, lead buckshot, a possible flint core rock, and a beautiful Jesuit ring! The ring itself is a very exciting find because it represents a possible piece of evidence that women lived in the fort when it was in use. It is so rewarding to look at our unit and think back to when we were struggling to dig through the roots at the surface and were hoping to find something interesting. Now it feels like we really have a good hold on what we are doing and are finding artifacts of historical value. I am very proud to be a part of this field school and to have the opportunity to contribute to the history of Fort St. Joseph. Everyone in the field school has been working very hard to put together events, tours, demonstrations, and a display case of our discoveries this year for the open house. I have heard that there will also be food provided by a local boy scout troop and live historical reenactors. As an Eagle Scout myself it is a great feeling to see young men of the community come out to events like this build memories that I know they will take with them for the rest of their lives. I hope I get to see a great turn out this weekend and get to share the joy of history with the greater Niles community. 

        Prost! 

               Matthew Runk

Updates from South 9 West 21

    Hello, Carson Manfred here again this last week on the dig site my Unit South 9 West 21 has made some interesting discoveries in our unit. We are currently at Level 7 40 cmbd and are moving onto Level 8 which is 45 cmbd. We are still in the plow zone and in our East half of our unit we have begun to unearth an unidentified bone currently. Some other interesting recent finds at our unit have been a lead musket ball and a pipe stem but overall Unit South 9 West 21 is still having less artifacts found than surrounding units. Now over these last two weeks at Fort St. Joseph, we have had Middle School and Highschool campers come on site with us to help us excavate. These students did excellent on site doing stuff such as excavating out units alone and with help from staff while also wet screening the dirt that was being excavated from these units. I think everyone could agree though that the students favorite thing was finding artifacts especially the middle school group they would get really excited when they found artifacts. Overall, I would have to say that being able to show and talk to the students about archaeology was very enjoyable for me and the rest of the FSJ Crew.

Can't wait to see everyone at the open house!

        Carson Manfred

Mole Team

 Hi there! 

     It is Katy writing to you from unit S5W7! Cole and I have been busy at our unit this week as we continue to find a wide range of artifacts. With help from the middle school campers last week and the high school campers this week, we have made it to 30cmbd level all around. Getting to excavate in the floodplain has been an exciting experience for sure. Excavating in uncharted territory has led us to some potential answers about the size of Fort St. Joseph, which is our main goal for the 2022 field school season. In our unit, Cole and I have hypothesized that it could have been a potential structure, or place where the cooking was done based upon the variety of artifacts that have been found thus far. For example, we have been finding teeth both from deer and beaver, bone, calcined bone, pottery, redware, lead shot, hand wrought nails, lead, a possible kettle lug, seed beads both regular and tubular, along with a clear mulberry bead, a possible piece of a clay pipe stem, gunflint, a couple larger structural stones which have since been removed from the plow zone, and 18th century window and container glass. Getting to work with the campers these past two weeks has been great! They are all super eager to learn and excavate the units down in the floodplain. Some challenges that the campers and I ran into were having to dig around the structural stones and bioturbations within the entirety of our unit. We have a larger bioturbation in the N1/2 of the unit that goes down roughly 20cm. We also had some unusual soil changes that we were instructed to excavate around just in case it was a potential feature underneath. The soil went from a dark brown to a lighter yellowish color which was sandy in texture. Around 25cmbd was when we learned that the soil changes were not crucial to our unit, and they were dug through until our unit was level at 30cmbd. Our next goal is to excavate further and attempt to make it to the occupation zone by next week. Overall, Cole and I are having so much fun this field school season and are excited to see what else we can discover and reveal about Fort St. Joseph. Thank you for reading!

Katy Dreger

Updates from S5 W11!

Hi everyone!

    Here’s a small update on Matt and I’s unit! So far, we’re at 25 cm bd on the North half and around 23 cm bd on the South half! We’re currently getting about 5 cm done each day in the field. Once we complete 25 cm bd on the South half, we’re going back to the North half and going to either 30 cm bd, or where we can see a distinct change from the plow zone (or Level 2) to the occupation zone (or Level 3).

So far, we’re finding some really cool artifacts! We’ve found many seed beads, most of them are white but I managed to find a blue seed bead in the wet screen! We’ve found many bones, and even some teeth. There’s glass, and some slag, which is the core or remnants of burned charcoal. We’ve also found an awl and a few nails! The awl and one of the nails are in pretty good condition, the awl is 11 cm long and has very little corrosion. Both in the wet screen and during excavation, we’ve found multiple lead shots and even a musket ball. Those are my favorite to find because they’re so small but because they’re made of lead, they’re so much heavier than they look! Remember your lead wipes!

    Matt and I are getting a lot done and have developed a pretty good system to be as efficient as we can! We dig together in the mornings, and I take our dirt up to the wet screens in the afternoons. This way, we get as much dirt excavated in the morning while it’s cooler as we can while not getting backed up on buckets of dirt! Overall, S5 W11 is cooking with gas and finding some really cool things! Check back soon for more unit updates!

        From,

                Mary

Middle Schooled

Hi everybody!

    My name is Isaac Strodtbeck. I am a senior at Western Michigan University, and I currently plan to graduate next spring with a bachelor’s degree in Anthropology. My minor is Music, and that is primarily what I studied at Jackson College for two years before transferring to Western. I am from Spring Arbor, Michigan, which is about ten minutes from the city of Jackson. Later in life, I hope to study ethnomusicology, which would involve researching how different cultures develop, notate, and perform music. It may be a bit obvious, but cultural anthropology is my favorite type of anthropology, though archaeology is a close second. This is my first experience being enrolled in any kind of field school, and when I heard about the program, I was eager to sign up. So far, it has been a valuable learning experience for me, and I think other students in the program would agree. What made week 3 interesting was that we were no longer the only students digging on the site.

     We were joined for the week by an archaeology day camp comprised of middle schoolers. They visited us in the afternoon during lunch from Tuesday to Thursday, then stayed with us all day on Friday. The general expectation I held was that we would be supervising the students while teaching them how to perform certain archaeological techniques around the site. Skimming dirt with a trowel and washing artifacts at the wet-screens were the primary focus for the middle schoolers. My expectations were blown away, however. As it turns out, there were some students among them who have been into archaeology longer than I have, and it showed.

    There were a couple of middle-schoolers who had discovered lead seals in the wet-screens, which still remain some of the most exciting and significant artifacts discovered this year. Other middle-schoolers I had worked with were way more proficient with using trowels than me. Every day, I had always felt like I was learning more from them, which was a pleasant surprise.    

    Week 4 is when we will be visited by a camp of high-schoolers. If I have already learned this much from middle-schoolers, then I cannot wait to see what the following week brings!

With regards,

Isaac Strodtbeck

Neshnabe

Bozho jayek. Cole Rattan nde zhnekas. Gigo o ndodem. Bodewadmi ndaw. Tecumseh, Oklahoma ndoch bya. Shawnee, Oklahoma nde da. Shishibeniyek Ndebendagwes. 

   Hello everyone! My name is Cole Joseph Louis Rattan. I am enrolled Citizen Band Potawatomi (historically referred to as the St. Joseph Band of Potawatomi) and I belong to the Moutaw, Welch, Ouilmette, and Chevalier families. I am a cultural resource management major at East Central University in Oklahoma. I have always had a love for history and a dream of becoming an archaeologist. The research areas I want to focus on are the Algonquian speaking peoples, anything to do with the 3 Fires Anishinaabek (Ojibwe, Odawa, and Bodewadmi), the French fur trade, and the Great Lakes region. This is not my first field school, and I am not here by coincidence. My ancestors are Francois Peirre Chevalier (Metis) who was a headman for the Potawatomi who married Chopa Neeboash, daughter of Potawatomi Chief Naunongee (prominent Gigo Clan member) who fought and died at the Battle of Fort Dearborn. I'm proud of my heritage. I know I'm connected to the Chevalier family that was at Fort St. Joseph. I just don't know how yet because the connections haven't been made certain for Francois' lineage (Chief Shobbonier). 

  I am fortunate and thankful to all who have made it possible for me to attend this field school. It was a 15 hour drive from Oklahoma. I wouldn't be here if Justin Neely Zagnenibi, our language director of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, wouldn't have put the word out that I needed a place to say. Then, Nicole Keith Wasnode, food sovereignty director of the Nottawaseppi Huron Band of Potawatomi, said I could stay in her game room at the Pine Creek Indian Reservation. I also wouldn't have made it without my grandpa Don Moutaw who gave me the funds to get up here to the Home Land. Igwiyen! I'd lastly like to thank Dr. Michael Nassaney (who discovered the Fort's location in 1998) and field director Erika Hartley for letting me be a part of the 2022 Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Field School.

Thank you all!

Cole Rattan

Awl That and More!

 Hi there!

   

    My name is Matthew Runk. I'm a senior at Western Michigan University majoring in Hydrogeology with a minor in Anthropology. I have an associate degree in Sustainable Brewing from Kalamazoo Valley Community College and took a year off school to brew beer in Sacramento, California before coming back to WMU in 2021. The 2022 field school has just finished up our second week on site and we are all pretty excited to share what we have been finding so far. My unit is designated South 5 West 11 based on its location on the search grid that has been laid out for the site. So far, we have found a good amount of animal bone, glass fragments, nails, and white seed beads in S5W11, but a recent find from Thursday this week had everyone smiling. We found a leatherworking and sewing tool called an awl that was still sharp to the touch on one end and had very little oxidation that can be common with metal tools and nails in a wet area like our site. The awl is roughly fourteen centimeters long with a clearly intentional bend in the middle. There would have been a wooden or cloth handle on one side to protect the user from blisters and cuts from the metal. Awls are used for a variety of craft activities ranging from punching holes in leather, to scoring wood for further tooling, to etching designs into wood/metal/leather, and many finishing sewing stitches are made easier with the use of the awl. This is an exciting discovery because it lends evidence to craft production activities being done around our excavation area. To find tools, beads, and glass along with the awl is a good collection of evidence to draw from. There is the possibility of this being a residential location where fort residents engaged in home craft production for themselves and other members of the community. This falls directly in line with our research objective for this field school. We are trying to discern how large the footprint is for the fort so that a more systematic excavation can be designed for future field schools. Hopefully as we continue to dig deeper to out unites, we will be able to confirm the existence of residential habitations in this area or other evidence that will be able to help us better define our hypothesis. This course has been tremendous fun and I have enjoyed all the support and outreach from the community of Niles. Thank you for your interest in this project and for allowing me the opportunity to spend my summer with amazing people stepping through parts of history.

Have a great day!

Matt

Week One Fun

Hello everyone, it's Katy again!

June 30th was the kickoff for our 2022 field school season. We began with two days of orientation which allowed all of us to become educated on the site and some of the techniques used on site. We also were able to become closer with each other and be able to find a working niche. Day two of orientation we worked on finding our pace, mapping and setting up coordinates for our units. In my group I learned that my pace for 15 meters was roughly 23 steps! After the holiday, it was time for the first day in the field! We got our pit partners and quickly set off to set up our units. My pit partner Cole and I are stationed at South 5 West 7 which is where we began to excavate. Day two in the field it was a forecast of rain, so we set off to The History Museum in South Bend, Indiana. Here we got to look at the collections donated from different families of the artifacts found at Fort St. Joseph by "treasure hunters". Some of my favorite artifacts in the boxes were the thimbles, the sewing scissor, and the bone beads made from duck and swan bones.

The exhibit within the museum was also interesting to visit due to the large amount of information learned within. I liked getting to look at the different person adornment artifacts, as those were my favorite. We also were able to get a tour of the mansion on the grounds. Within the mansion, all of the objects were originals which was really amazing to see. At the end of the day two we went back to the lab to learn how to properly clean the artifacts. I personally enjoy doing this as it is detail oriented and requires you to really pay attention to the artifact and the process. 

Day three we were able to head out to the field again! It was a beautiful day to excavate! All of our groups made great progress and made it down to 10 centimeters below datum or more by the end of the day. There were some artifact finds such as red ware pottery, 18th century glass, and animal bone in the majority of the units. It was extremely exciting to find artifacts, plus it increases the motivation to keep digging and find more! Dr. Nassaney was on site that day as well, providing us students with tips and tricks in the field, while also providing us with some future career tips. Day four was also held in the field. That day we set up the tents over the units and quickly got back to work. Our goal was to make it to roughly 15 centimeters below datum by the end of the day. All of us also began to wet screen the dirt we were digging up. In the wet screens a lot of us found lead shot in our units which was exciting! There were also white seed beads found in two units, along with a couple pieces of glass from wine bottles. It was a very eventful day!

Until next time,

Katy 

Field Fun at Fort St. Joseph

 Hello everyone!

   

    My name is Olivia Crandall. I'm a senior at Northern Michigan University. I will graduate in December with a forensic anthropology and criminal justice degree. I was very excited to hear that Western Michigan University was holding a field school because I am originally from Kalamazoo and can spend time with family during these eight weeks of excavating. I was very appreciative when I found out I was able to participate in the WMU field school and learn about the history of the site, proper excavation techniques, and artifact processing.

    Over the second week of the field school, my pit partner Carson and I made it to level 2 of our unit. We have found lead shot, calcined bone, spall gun flint, nails, structural stone and seed beads. By Tuesday, Carson and I made it to 20 centimeters below datum and finished level 2 of our unit. We were able to map our unit, take soil descriptions, and complete our notes before starting level 3 on Thursday. Wednesday, we had our first official lab day. We did artifact cleaning and a lot of planning for the open house such as t-shirts, kids activity planning, artifact case planning, and so much more! We ended Wednesday night with a lecture by Cathrine Davis about lead seals. Thursday, half of our day was spent in the Niles District Library doing a zooarchaeology lab. The other half was excavating at Fort St. Joseph. We ended the week strong with a full day in the field on Friday working on level 3 of our unit!

    Overall, I have enjoyed my time at field school so far. I have learned so much in two weeks. I truly enjoy the people I have been able to meet and learn from here at the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project.

See you soon!

Olivia

Notes from the field!

Hello!

My name is Kylie Krueger. I am a senior at Western Michigan where I major in Anthropology and minor in Environmental and Sustainability Studies. I am originally from Michigan City, Indiana, and this is my first time attending a field school. After our first field day on Tuesday, the next day called for rain, so we went to The History Museum in South Bend, Indiana. They first took us on a tour of the Oliver Mansion, before going to look at the artifacts from Fort St. Joseph that the museum held. One of my favorite artifacts we looked at were the beads made from swan bone. This was excellent opportunity to get to know my fellow field school classmates along with looking at artifacts found at the Fort. The next two days we were in the field working on excavating our units. My pit partner, Isaac, and I were working on our unit South 5 West 18. On Thursday, Dr. Nassaney visited us in the field and gave advice on excavating our units. He found the first artifact in our unit, calcined bone, which is cooked animal bone. This was especially exciting because this year we are digging in a section that has yet to be explored!

This week has been overall great besides the weather playing tricks on us! Everyone has been welcoming, at the museums and our team. I look forward to seeing what the coming weeks here have in store.

Look out for more updates from us!

Kylie

My First Week in the Field

 Hello,

   

My name is Carson Manfred, I am 18 years old and live in Edwardsburg, Michigan. I am currently a sophomore at Western Michigan University where I major in Anthropology with a minor in Sociology. This is my first year and first time ever attending a field school. I had a very interesting and enjoyable week learning about the history of the site and meeting my fellow classmates, especially my dig partner Olivia Crandall. On our first day of excavating, Olivia and I chose our excavation unit at the location South 9 West 21. We began to remove the first layer of soil, the alluvium, which has been deposited from the St. Joseph River. This soil zone went down to about 14 centimeters below our unit's datum. In this layer, we didn't find any eighteenth-century artifacts since these deposits date after the fort's occupation, but we did uncover some older animal bones. We both thought that these animal bones were very cool and interesting first finds, serving as a good learning tool for future finds that could be from the fort's time period. Currently, we are now excavating in our Level 2 and have reached the top of the plow zone so we have begun wet screening for artifacts. All in all, I believe that this is going to be a very enjoyable six weeks and I can't wait to see what all we find. 

Sincerely, 

    Carson

Orientation Review

 Hello!

    I'm Mary and I'm a senior at Western Michigan University and this is my first year as a field school student! I'm studying Anthropology and Political Science. I enjoy all anthropology sub-fields, but I'm especially interested in evolution and archaeology. On Thursday June 30th, we kicked off our two-day orientation for this summer's field school! We've been able to have zoom meetings and exchange emails, but this was our first time meeting in person as a group. We started by going over the course packet and what to expect this summer. Then we learned about the history of Fort St. Joseph and look at maps of the site. This helped us see where we are going to be digging this year and where previous artifacts and features had been found. Next, Erika and Chloe taught us about how we excavate and story the artifacts that are taken from the site. On Friday, we were shown how to properly stake and measure our units, use compasses, how to use total stations, and other skills we'll need during our excavations this summer!

    I found orientation to be extremely helpful! We learned a lot about the site and the history of it, research design, tools we'll be using this summer during our excavations, how proper excavations work from start to finish, and of course- got to know our new field school classmates!

Stay tuned this summer for more updates on this year's WMU field school findings!

Mary

Life of a Public History Intern

Hi,

I am Katy, a senior at Western Michigan University studying Public History with a minor in Anthropology! I have always been interested in history and wanted to study it more since the sixth grade. I have a couple fields of interest; the 1700s and 1800s being my top two favorite time periods, with the 1920s being a close third. I like finding out the stories behind the artifacts and more about the people who created or used them. The lives of ordinary people, not the rich and famous, interest me more as their stories are not always told or valued. I also have an interest in early hominins and the evolution process over time. My favorite species being the Homo floresiensis, which was found on the island of Flores. The species was nicknamed the “hobbit” due to its short stature, which had been affected by island dwarfism which I think is kind of cool. 

If you can’t tell, I love learning new things and I am beyond excited to experience the archaeology field school at Fort St. Joseph this summer. I started getting interested in the field school and Project through my Intro to Archaeology class on campus with Erika Hartley. I recently began an internship with her through the Niles History Center in the beginning of summer to further my knowledge in the Archaeology/Anthropology field, and further my knowledge upon the artifacts found at the Fort St. Joseph site. I have been helping with the artifact inventory process in Niles and on campus at WMU. My favorite collection so far are the shell beads, as they have a more unique look. I have visited Niles, Michigan many times and have enjoyed seeing the Niles History Center and some of the artifacts that were discovered at the site. I am very excited to begin working with everyone in the field school and bring to light more stories about the people who inhabited the area. 

Some things I like to do outside of school are reading, being outside, gaming, spending time with friends, and spending time with my little brother Joseph. Fun fact about me is that my brother is 11 months old, and I am 21! He is the sweetest little baby and is fun to chase around the house. After I graduate in the fall, I plan on applying to the Henry Ford Museum, as I have always loved the exhibits and the environment there. 

I am looking forward to having a great summer and to meeting everyone and working onsite!  

Katy

Summer at FSJ

Happy summer for followers! 

The summer sun is setting into Fort St. Joseph, and we are ready to get back out there! This is your intern Chloe signing on to tell you some important and exciting updates about the project this summer season and about myself as well! The first thing I would like to announce is that I will be taking the lab coordinator position for Western Michigan University’s archaeological field school! The transition from intern to staff is something I’m very honored to be doing and I cannot wait to continue serving this community and this incredible project. Last year's field school solidified that archaeology was the right career for me. I owe a lot of my successes to Fort St. Joseph, all the incredible staff/volunteers, and you! PS: Featured is a picture of me from last season on my very first field day!

As I am finishing up my internship, I am reflecting on my time as a field school student. My fondest field school memories definitely had to be involving the open house and most excavation days (when it wasn’t raining). Excavation days were always filled with laughter and learning and as much as it’s cliché to say, I miss my field school colleagues! You really do gain lifelong connections and friendships at FSJ. The open house is always such a joyous time to show off all of our hard work and perseverance. I love being able to display the history that I am a part of. Just as a reminder, this year our open house will be held on August 6th and 7th. 

My time finishing up my internship was spent organizing boxes of artifacts, but more specifically beads. During this time studying beads, I decided that doing an undergrad thesis on the beads of Fort St. Joseph would be super interesting. My end goal hopefully is to get my doctorate, so I better get writing sometime! I will be working on it through the course of my senior year at WMU and hopefully will have enough to share with you all by the time I graduate. This Project has given me so many opportunities to write and research that I am overwhelmed with information. Just wanted to say another quick thank you to all the people who support this Project over the years. I definitely would not be here without you, nor would this incredible program. I am very excited to be a part of another successful field school season.

- Chloe Trinka

Spring Has Sprung

 Hi there fort followers!

    This spring season the Project has a lot of exciting events taking place! While the weather seems to have difficulty climbing in temperature, we are not letting that hold us back! This Spring is jam packed with exciting outreach events and other opportunities to connect with the Project before our field season begins.

    One of the major upcoming events is a book signing event taking place at the Niles District Library on May 4th at 5:30 pm. Michael Nassaney, Erika Hartley and other contributors to the newly released Project booklet People of the Post will be holding a small event where readers (like you!) can discuss the material and ask questions. This is a great opportunity for community members to come out and meet the authors, get their FSJ publications signed, and discuss the research with those who did the work. I hope to see you there!

    Another outreach initiative occurring at the Niles District Library is a small artifact exhibit!! Erika and I have spent the last month or so diligently piecing together a spectacular artifact display that was installed last week. This display revolves around our theme 'People of the Post' and will feature some of our more recent finds at the site. I am very excited for people to see this exhibit as it is the first artifact display I have contributed to! 😊

   In addition, we have been working on outreach events for WMU that showcase the Project, our research, and recent discoveries. I recently attended an admitted student event in Grand Rapids where I was able to represent the Institute for Intercultural and Anthropological Studies, and the Project, by showcasing our work to attendees. This was a good opportunity for me to interact with future students, tell them just how important this Project is to WMU, and discuss the opportunities they have to get involved. 

   As our busy summer quickly approaches, I just want to say a simple thank you to our supporters. The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project has supplied countless students including myself with opportunities so that I can be a contributing archaeologist. Without you loyal supporters and readers, this Project would not be the wonderful example of public archaeology that it is. 

That's all for now! Can't wait to update again soon,

Chloe Trinka

Events, events, and more events!

 

Hi Fort Friends, 

              It’s me, your intern Chloe! The past few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind consisting of float samples and artifact displays. I have been diligently working in the FSJ lab on Western Michigan University's campus during the off season. Today, I want to tell you about what I have been up to as well as what we are doing in order to prepare for the annual WMU archaeological field school and upcoming outreach events.

In the past few months, I have been working on sorting through a flotation sample taken from one of the excavated units during the 2021 field season. I am currently separating all of the artifacts and ecofacts in order to for someone to further analyze them in the future. By doing this small and tedious task, we are able to get a better sense of what was happening on the land where this unit was dug. Although I am not quite finished yet, there seems to be a lot of charcoal popping up. What other artifacts and ecofacts do you think I'm finding? Share your ideas in the comments!

The next task that I am involved in is working on alongside Erika to prepare an artifact display for an upcoming event that will be held at the Niles Public Library. On May 4, 2022, at 5:30 pm, the Project will be hosting a "Book Signing and Meet the Authors" event with its partners the Niles District Library and the Niles History Center. The coauthors and collaborators of Fort St. Joseph Revealed and the newly released People of the Post will be available to sign your copies and answer questions. Attending this event would be a great opportunity to learn more about the Project, current research goals, and how you can get involved!

Erika and I have also been working on preparing for this summer's field season. Beginning on June 30, 2022, our annual Western Michigan University archaeological field school will commence! This marks WMU's 46^th annual field school and it will once again be held at the historic site of Fort St. Joseph. We will be bringing back even more events that had been previously cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. For example, the in-person archaeology summer camps are back! Three one-week camps will be held for middle school students (July 18-22), high school students (July 25-29), and lifelong learners and educators (August 1-5). Campers will learn about archaeology, the history of Fort St. Joseph, and our Project's research goals. They will also be able to come work alongside excavating with Project members and university students! How fun is that! Visit the Niles History Center's website to register and for more information. 

We are constantly updating our Facebook (The Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Site) and Instagram (@fsjarchaeology) pages with the latest information on all these events. Make sure to subscribe to our newsletter so that you can also follow the events tab and like us on Facebook! Thanks so much for reading and stay tuned for more updates.

Stay safe,

Chloe