The French fur trade post of Fort Ouiatenon was founded more than 300 years ago on the Wabash River in what is now Tippecanoe County, Indiana. The History and Archaeology of Fort Ouiatenon is a multidisciplinary exploration of the fort, from its founding in 1717, through its historical significance over the years, and up to its present-day use. Covering a variety of historical, archaeological, Indigenous, and living history perspectives on Fort Ouiatenon, as well as the fur trade and New France, this collection is the first volume dedicated to this important site. The volume is written with a wide audience in mind, ranging from academics to historical reenactors, Indigenous communities, and those interested in local history.
Preface, by Vergil E. Noble
Introduction, by Misty M. Jackson and H. Kory Cooper
Part I: History and Archaeology
1 Fort Ouiatenon: Three Hundred Years from the Founding, Loss, Rediscovery, and Archaeology, by David M. Hovde
2 The History of the Archaeology of Ouiatenon, by Kelsey Noack Myers
3 Outside the Fort: Completing the Picture of the Ouiatenon Landscape, by Michael Strezewski
4 French Colonial History and Archaeology at Fort Miamis and Vincennes, by Michael Strezewski
Part II: Artifact Studies
5 Use of Animals at Fort Ouiatenon, by Terrance J. Martin
6 Symbolism, Nationality, Identity, and Gender as Interpreted from an Eighteenth-Century Ring from Fort Ouiatenon, by Misty M. Jackson and H. Kory Cooper
7 Buckles from Fort Ouiatenon: Searching for Interpretive Clues in the Documents and Testing for Their Composition, by Misty M. Jackson, Lina C. Patino, and David W. Szymanski
8 Flintlocks on the Frontier: A Case Study of Fort St. Joseph (20BE23), Niles, Michigan, by Kevin P. Jones
Part III: Community, Stakeholders, and Preservation
9 Myaamiaki (Miami People): A Living People with a Past, by Diane Hunter
10 The Feast of the Hunters’ Moon: A Commemoration of the History of Indiana’s First European Settlement, by David M. Hovde
11 Connecting the Song to the Artifact at the Feast of the Hunters’ Moon, by Ronald V. Morris and Leslie Martin Conwell
12 Preserving the Past for the Future: Sustainable and Responsible Curation of Colonial Archaeological Collections in the Midwest, by Erika K. Hartley, Christina H. Arseneau, and Michael S. Nassaney
13 At the Edge of Forever: Preserving Fort Ouiatenon and the Creation of the Ouiatenon Preserve, a Roy Whistler Foundation Project, by J. Colby Bartlett
Acknowledgments
Contributors
Index
Misty M. Jackson is founder and principal investigator for Arbre Croche Cultural Resources. She currently serves on the boards of the Center for French Colonial Studies, the Register of Professional Archaeologists’ Standards Board, and the Center for Maritime and Underwater Resource Management. Her interests include French colonial archaeology, Native American agriculture of the treaty and post-treaty periods, concealments in structures, Underground Railroad sites, and utilizing the arts as a means for preservation of maritime resources.
H. Kory Cooper is an archaeologist and associate professor in the department of anthropology at Purdue University. As an archaeometallurgist, he uses both anthropology and materials science methods to investigate the ancient and historic use and innovation of metals. He has worked in Alaska, California, Jordan, Sudan, and Indiana. Cooper currently is working on the indigenous use of native copper in the far north of North America, and historic metallurgy at fur trade sites in the Midwest and Alaska.
David M. Hovde is professor emeritus of library science. Hovde retired from Purdue University in 2017 after serving in various capacities in the Purdue University Libraries since 1989. Most recently he was the research and instruction librarian in the Purdue University Libraries Virginia Kelly Karnes Archives and Special Collections Research Center.