Resurrecting Kaskaskia: A GIS and Archival investigation of the Multiethnic Town of Kaskaskia, Illinois

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.

Kaskaskia, Illinois, was established in 1702 as a Jesuit mission to the Kaskaskia. Through time it expanded into a large multi-ethnic fur trading and farming community that served as the gateway for the entrance of African slaves into Illinois. By the 1750s almost half of the town’s population consisted of African peoples making it Illinois’s largest African Diaspora site. Other residents included French, metis, creole, and Native American peoples. Heavily damaged by the Mississippi River in 1881, Kaskaskia declined over time until it today consists almost entirely of agricultural fields. The disappearance of the above ground structures has led to the widespread perception that Kaskaskia has been completely destroyed. However, by overlaying archival eighteenth and nineteenth century maps over the modern landscape we demonstrate that large sections of the town potentially still exist as archaeological sites. Among these are house sites identified on an 1830s map as the homes of African-American and metis residents. We are now in the process of confirming the locations of these house sites through land owner, archaeological survey, and potentially remote sensing and test excavations as well as conducting research into records contained in the Jesuit Archives regarding their involvement with slavery in Kaskaskia.

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)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38161.0