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