The Coins of Kam Wah Chung, John Day, Oregon: Persistence of Chinese Culture Reflected Through Non-Monetary Uses of Chinese coins.

Summary

Kam Wah Chung was a frontier Chinese medical clinic, general store, community center and residence of two Chinese immigrants, Ing "Doc" Hay and Lung On, located in the frontier eastern Oregon town of John Day, Oregon. "Doc" Hay practiced traditional herbal medicine and Long On was proprietor of their general store. Left untouched for decades, Kam Wah Chung State Heritage Site is a remarkable time capsule capturing the life and times of the late 19th and early 20th century Chinese community. Chinese coins found within the building and their unique uses and contexts reveal much about the cultural uses of numismatic material culture as these two men maintained aspects of traditional Chinese culture, religion, ritual behavior, and medicinal practices. Like an archaeological site, the surviving Kam Wah Chung building historic site was carefully documented and the re-purposed coins were found in unique contexts that allow meaningful interpretation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Numismatic Archaeology of North America - Contributions, Progress, and Prospects   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2017

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 118