Decolonizing Archaeological Theory at Fort St. Joseph, An Eighteenth-Century Multi-Ethnic Community in the Western Great Lakes Region

Archaeology, Heritage, and Public Participation

“…Finally, we cannot depend exclusively on our community partners to point out the shortcomings of white, Western, normative practice because many of these populations are already disempowered and often under siege (Nassaney 2012). Moreover, we fail to be accountable if we do so.…”

Sustaining an authentic community partnership through the Fort St. Joseph archaeological project

“…Although a multi-ethnic community occupied the fort, dominant colonial narratives have emphasized the French efforts to civilize the wilderness and Christianize the pagan inhabitants of the region, paying little attention to the cultural, spiritual, and political lives of Native peoples (Nassaney 2008). Colonial narrative still permeates local understandings of the fort because efforts to challenge the narrative, decolonize the history of Fort St. Joseph, and recognize the agency of indigenous peoples remain in their infancy (Low 2018;Nassaney 2012Nassaney , 2017; see also Harrison 2013, 22). More inclusive interpretations are emerging as we collaborate with and learn from various community partners.…”

“…Despite their representation on the advisory committee since its inception, they are understandably reticent to participate fully in archaeology and rightly question the motives of archaeologists. Consequently, we collectively decided against efforts to locate and evaluate eighteenth-century Native American sites, although the hope is that archaeology will someday be seen as a tool that can assist Native peoples in recovering aspects of their histories that have been erased by dominant narratives (see Cipolla and Quinn 2016;Low 2018;Nassaney 2012;Nicholas 2008).…”

Ethics and Archaeological Praxis

“…But in the exchanges between those who see archaeology as science under siege, and archaeology as an activist practice that has to be engaged beyond archaeology, there is a signifi cant divide in even basic core understandings of what archaeology is and does, and what its role is or should be in contemporary society (compare, for example, , to Colwell-Chanthaphonh et al 2010Nassaney 2012 ). While abstract theoretical wars over what archaeology is and how it makes meaning may have waned in the last decade, this more fundamental difference makes it diffi cult to contemplate imagining the ability to bridge or fi nd some common ground … with fellow practitioners, let alone those outside archaeology.…”