Date of Award
6-2009
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Anthropology
First Advisor
Dr. Michael S. Nassaney
Second Advisor
Dr. Bilinda Straight
Third Advisor
Dr. Jose Antonio Brandao
Access Setting
Masters Thesis-Campus Only
Abstract
Fort St. Joseph (1691-1781) in Niles, Michigan, was a French and later an English fort built along the St. Joseph River. It had a military presence, but the majority of its activity involved the fur trade. A variety of French, French-Canadian, Native and Metis people called this fort locale home, which led to a blending of cultural practices. Documents such as the baptismal register for the fort suggest this site hosted daily interactions between the French inhabitants and the neighboring Miami, Potawatomi, and Sauk peoples. New forms of cultural interaction affected the participants as they negotiated their individual and group identities in a changing world.
This project examines the collection of beads excavated in 2002, 2004, and 2006 from Fort St. Joseph. This thesis demonstrates that: (1) beads can be viewed as more than chronological markers, (2) beads in colonial New France had multiple uses, and (3) beads were markers of social identity for the people of Fort St. Joseph. Lastly, this thesis discusses how the exchange of bead practices illustrates intercultural behaviors that contribute to the process of ethnogenesis at this frontier fort.
Recommended Citation
Malischke, LisaMarie, "The Excavated Bead Collection at Fort St. Joseph (20BE23) and Its Implications for Understanding Adornment, Ideology, Cultural Exchange, and Identity" (2009). Masters Theses. 236.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/236