Interpreting The Architectural And Colonial Palimpsests Of The Fort Vancouver Village

Summary

In the mid-19th century, the Fort Vancouver employee Village was one of the most diverse settlements on the Pacific Coast. Trappers, tradesmen, and laborers from Europe, North America, and Hawaii worked and lived within a highly stratified colonial social structure. Inspired by an 1845 description of the Village, with houses that were "as various in form" as their occupants, this investigation examined community-level social relationships in the Village through vernacular architecture and landscape. Their homes have been the site of archaeological research for nearly 50 years, but the architectural features and artifacts have until now received limited attention. This paper presents a possible life history of the Village, with a focus on the architecture of the houses and the arrangement of the community. Do the houses and vernacular landscape reflect processes of creolization and community development, or distinction and segregation among the Village residents?

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2015   •
• Landscapes of Colonialism in the North American West

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 393