Don’t put your village where the land grows : Early state presence in Eastern James Bay, Canada and the settlement history of the Wemindji Cree Nation

Summary

Archaeological evidence suggests that there is a long-term relationship between settlement location and regional scale variability in shoreline stability in isostatically uplifting landscapes such as Eastern James Bay. The arrival of the Hudson’s Bay Company in James Bay resulted in the establishment of a number of trading and settlement centers that have very different topographical profiles than documented prehistoric settlements in the region. During the 19th and early 20th century, a Cree community grew around such a site, the Hudson’s Bay post of Old Factory. When the post became less important in the 1950’s the community voluntarily relocated to it’s present location in Wemindji, a place which is topographically much more like the known prehistoric settlements than Old Factory. Through the example of Wemindji, we will explore the potential impact of early state presence on the history of settlement in the Wemindji area.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014   •
• State formation in the Circumpolar North since the 15th century

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-34,06