These Knots Cannot Be Untangled: An Exploration of Intersectionality and Identity Formation at Wiawaka Holiday House, Lake George, New York

Abstract Queer theory in archaeology has matured from exploring nonnormative genders and sexualities to an intersectional framework that interrogates and challenges categories long held as natural and essential. Using this framework, I apply the theories of Butler and Bhabha to explore the intersectionality of class, gender, and race and how they form in context and in concert with each other. Wiawaka Holiday House, founded in 1903 on Lake George, New York, is used as a case study. Middle- and working-class women stayed together at Wiawaka, ostensibly free from the corrupting influences of men and urban environments. Archaeological excavations at the site recovered cosmetics and toiletries from a mid-1910s–1929 midden deposit. Viewed through a queer lens, these artifacts demonstrate the intersectionality inherent in the creation and performance of gender, class, and race. Both Butler’s and Bhabha’s theories are explored in the contexts of multiple axes of identity and beyond binary construction, respectively.