More than a Fort: Métis Archaeology at pehonanik (FfNp-1)

In this thesis I examine the presence of Métis women at pehonanik through the belongings recovered from archaeological excavations in 2021-2023 by the teams from the University of Saskatchewan and the Saskatchewan Archeological Society. pehonanik, a Cree name meaning “the waiting place” was an area occupied and used as such long before the development of the Western Canadian fur trade. From 1810 to 1885, Fort Carlton (FfNp-1) was established and operational in the pehonanik area along the North Saskatchewan River, approximately 100 kilometers north of Saskatoon. While the goal of this thesis was to identify Métis presence through ceramic pattern analysis, I also aimed to find patterns in other categories of belongings which may indicate the presence of Métis women and their families at the fort and provide insight into their daily lives. I identified 61 patterns from the total 1628 ceramic sherds. I also examined belongings from several categories such as beads, personal adornment and religious iconography, tool and equipment, birch bark, and children’s belongings. Using my own kinship connections along with an Indigenous and feminist theoretical approach, I draw from the Métis and Cree concept of wâhkôtowin “the state of being related” to guide my research. Doing so allows me to shift the fur trade archaeology narrative to include Métis women and their stories. With this I am able to determine the presence of the Métis at Fort Carlton and argue that many fur trade posts, including Fort Carlton, are not just European sites but also Métis sites.