The Women of Fort St. Joseph, a French Colonial Settlement on the North American Frontier

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Recent Colonial Archaeological Research in the American Midcontinent" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Forts and fur trading posts conjure images of intrepid soldiers and jovial voyageurs engaged in masculine activities that implicated material objects like firearms, ammunition, smoking pipes, alcohol containers, and trade goods. Male colonial ambitions also structured many of the accounts that persist into the present. Yet, archaeological and documentary records from Fort St. Joseph, an eighteenth-century French mission, garrison, and trading post complex in southwest Michigan, provide ample evidence of women who played an important role in daily life. While much of the evidence is domestic and personal in nature, it nevertheless underscores the significance of women in the success of this colonial enterprise.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Recent Colonial Archaeological Research in the American Midcontinent   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 37916.0