Despite extreme winter weather conditions, 14 faculty, students, and alumni who have worked on the project traveled to Quebec City in early January for the 47th annual Conference of Historical and Underwater Archeology.
Western came back to Kalamazoo with several awards from the annual photo competition, including two second-place and two first-place prizes. Katelyn Hillmeyer, graduate student, snapped the photo that won first place in the diversity category, pictured. In the photo, students are being offered Semaa (tobacco in Anishnaabemowin).
"The students are being led by fellow student Seth Allard who was sharing part of his Native American heritage," explains Hillmeyer. "...Tobacco is a very important item for Ojibwa, and to offer tobacco when receiving a gift is to let the spirit of what you have taken know that you do not accept the gift lightly, but with gratefulness, and an understanding that the gift is to be used accordingly and not wasted.
"We took plants, altered earth, and also gained knowledge through the data collected—and at the same time altered the environment of the forest. We then acknowledged both the sacrifice of the plant and animal life we disturbed, as well as receipt of necessary data, which was then used to help us on our path of greater understanding… In response, we showed our gratefulness and humility, promising our use of these gifts in a responsible manner."
Additionally, Andrew Beaupré (MA '10, Anthropology) organized a session highlighting the forts and families of New France that included paper presentations by Beaupré, LisaMarie Malischke (MA '09, Anthropology), and a co-authored paper by Alex Brand, Erin Claussen (MA '10, Anthropology), Ian Kerr (student), and Michael Nassaney (professor, anthropology).
Dr. Nassaney, principal investigator of the project, presented a second paper in a session on critical reflections on the fur trade organized by Amelie Allard of the University of Minnesota. His paper examined significant questions concerning fur trade archaeology, extracted from his forthcoming book on the same topic. Terry Martin also presented a paper featuring Fort St. Joseph archaeology in a symposium dedicated to the historical archaeology of French Colonial America.
The University has been involved in the project since 1998, and works with the City of Niles, the Fort St. Joseph Museum, Support the Fort, Inc., and other community groups. To learn more about the Fort St. Joseph Archaeological Project, please visit their website at wmich.edu/fortstjoseph.
Conference attendees included: Andrew Beaupré (MA '11, Anthropology), Erin Claussen (MA '10, Anthropology), Erica D'Elia (student), Catherine Davis, James Dunnigan (student), Anna Gerechka (student), Jayne Godfrey (BA '12, Anthropology), Joseph Hearns (student), Terry Martin, Michael Nassaney (professor, anthropology), Emily Powell (student), LisaMarie Malischke (MA '09, Anthropology), Andrew Robinson (student), Andrew Zink