The History and Archaeology of Fort Ouiatenon: 300 Years in the Making

by Misty M. Jackson (Editor), H. Kory Cooper (Editor), David M. Hovde (Editor)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612498768
Publisher:	Purdue University Press
Publication date:	01/15/2024
Pages:	368
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

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, professor emeritus, served in the Purdue University Libraries from 1989 until his retirement in 2017. He has authored or coauthored more than seventy books, book chapters, scholarly articles, conference proceedings, occasional papers, monographs, and scholarly web publications in the areas of archaeology, ethnohistory, history, and library and information science. He serves on the board of the Tippecanoe County Historical Association.

Table of Contents

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

Editorial Reviews

"An expansive exploration of one of the most important and well-preserved colonial forts in the French pays d'en haut (upper country), the long existence of which spanned French, British, and American struggles over an Indigenous homeland. This book contextualizes the material legacies of the fort and nearby Indigenous villages, brilliantly juxtaposing studies of material belongings with historical documents, tribal history, museum collections, and its impressive living history festival, the Feast of the Hunter's Moon." —Douglas C. Wilson, Adjunct Associate Professor of Anthropology, Portland State University

"Ouiatenon was an important site of cultural interaction between the Wea, French, and British. This volume brings decades of historical and archaeological research and public interpretation of the site together. It will appeal to archaeologists, historians, and heritage management professionals interested in eighteenth-century colonial encounters, economic exchange, and military activities in midwestern North America. It is wonderful to see the story of this important site widely shared." —Lynn L. M. Evans, Curator of Archaeology, Mackinac State Historic Parks

From the Publisher