October 2, 2017
Purdue to host Midwest Historical Archaeology Conference
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Tippecanoe County Historical Association and Purdue Department of Anthropology will co-host the 13th annual Midwest Historical Archaeology Conference Oct. 13-15 at Purdue University.
The conference theme is “Reconstructing, Representing and Reenacting: Historical Archaeology and Public Education.” Speakers, discussions and workshops will address the history and cultures of the Midwest through archaeology, with a focus on the fur trade, Fort Ouiatenon and the Feast of the Hunters' Moon. A full schedule of events can be found here.
The conference is free and open to the public, but advance registration is encouraged. Registration can be found here. There is a $5 charge for the Sunday morning bus tour of Fort Ouiatenon preserve and other Tippecanoe County historical sites.
The conference will feature two keynote speakers.
J. David McMahan is a retired Alaska state archaeologist and deputy state historic preservation officer. He will present “Exploring the Archaeology of Colonial Russian America,” examining multidisciplinary archaeological investigations into 18th- and 19th-century Russian America.
Doug Wilson works for the National Park Service and Portland State University. He will present “Interpreting Fur Trade Sites: A View from the Pacific Northwest,” exploring the interactions between interpreters and archaeologists in interpreting material culture and history.
This year marks the 300th anniversary of the founding of Fort Ouiatenon, a French fur trade post in Tippecanoe County, and the 50th anniversary of the Feast of the Hunters' Moon, one of the largest annual re-enactments of the 18th century fur trade in the United States.
Writer: Kelsey Schnieders, kschnied@purdue.edu
Source: H. Kory Cooper, associate professor of anthropology, hkcooper@purdue.edu