Another Look at Fort Ouiatenon: Native-European Creolization and the Frontier Meat Diet

Summary

Newly excavated faunal remains from an 18th century Native structure near the walls of Fort Ouiatenon have been considered alongside previously excavated Native, European and Euro-American materials excavated in previous decades from the fort site and its environs. The excavation of Native contexts, particularly structures, from this temporal period in the Midwest is rare. The fort was built on the northern banks of the modern day Wabash River in Indiana in 1717 by the French and saw successive and concurrent use by ethnically French traders and settlers, American settlers, the British military, and surrounding local Native groups including the Wea. The European settlers and military troops who conducted trade with the Natives in this area did so without seeking to directly affect the cultural operations of the groups with which they made contact. It has been suggested that both Native and non-Native groups existed on a ‘level playing field’ in terms of cultural exchange and domination. The interesting cultural implications of these circumstances also provide a unique view of the population at Ouiatenon through its subsequent archaeological remains.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Poster Session   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): POS-99,15