Sarah Pledge Dickson, LJI Journalist
For the last two weekends, archaeologists and members of the public have been carefully and diligently scraping and sweeping away layers of dirt covering the foundation of a building that was likely used as a trading post on the Ottawa River somewhere from 1800 to 1837.
Local non-profit group Friends of Chats Falls organized the public dig for the first time last year at the site on Ponte à l’Indienne, a small peninsula which sticks out into the Ottawa River just upriver of Quyon. It is part of the group’s larger Archéo-Pontiac project, which aims to engage the public in uncovering the archaeological history in the Municipality of Pontiac.
This year, two archaeologists were back to keep unearthing the history of this building and the site on which it sits.
Friends of Chats Falls also invited Algonquin artist Pinock to attend the event and teach people about some of the objects that may have passed through the site of the trading post before European settlers began their journey up the Ottawa River.
Luce Lafrenière-Archambault and Gina Vincelli, archaeologists with Artefactuel, were on site leading the dig.
“There’s very little density of trees on this property,” Lafrenière-Archambault explained to guests, giving insight into how the site was found by the archaeologists in the first place. “The land is also uniquely bumpy and not very level. These are all signs that something different is going on beneath the surface.”
Citizen diggers were set up with a bucket, a foam seat on which they could kneel, and a metal trowel for digging.
They were instructed to hold their trowel horizontally and gently scrape off dirt and loose rocks from a rectangular hole that had been carved out of the field. Then, they were to collect the dirt in a dustpan and store it in a bucket, keeping an eye out for anything that might be human-made, or bone. Once their buckets were full, they were to take them to a sifter to shake out the dirt and collect any missed bits of history.
As the day’s diggers worked away, the archaeologists shared what they knew about the history of the site. They said that according to old maps of the area, there was a trading post on the Pointe à l’Indienne, so they had reason to believe that this was it.
“We think that the building is about 9.6 metres long, which is about 29 feet,” said Lafrenière-Archambault. “And we know from the records that there was a building here that was described as being 28.5 feet by 60 feet.”
The maps offer evidence there were at least two buildings, but likely more, on the site. Lafrenière-Archambault said that the maps were likely incomplete because they would have needed other buildings like a woodshed and an outbuilding to store gunpowder, which may not have made it into the historical records.
The structures were located along what we now call the Ottawa River, but what has been called the Kit-chi’sippi, or Great River. Maude Lambert, a local historian and member of the Friends of Chats Falls, explained there was a homestead built on the site somewhere around 1786. Later the site became home to a trading post, which changed ownership multiple times before finally, in 1821, being taken over by the Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC).
“This area you can tell is the perfect spot,” Lambert said. “They were in the perfect location to see people coming to or from the portage across the river and be seen by people passing by.”
While the records show that the trading post officially closed in 1837, there’s evidence that the building continued to be used for other purposes for at least the next 20 years.
“Up until the 1850s, we have evidence of the building still being in use from finding pieces of windows, cutlery and dishes,” Vincelli said. “Those are the items that we found that are the most recent despite the trading post closing by 1837.”
But there’s also evidence that the trading post wasn’t the first time people came through the Pointe à l’Indienne.
We think that the first evidence of someone arriving here was in 1786,” Lafrenière-Archambault said. “So we know that there’s a strong possibility that there were Indigenous peoples who passed by the Pointe Indienne here regularly.”
This year’s dig spanned two weekends, Sept. 21 and 22, and Sept. 28 and 29. Student trips came on Sept. 23 and 24.
Ingrid Khol, 14, Lambert’s daughter, was one of the students who came with her class during the student trips. Ingrid’s class was learning about Indigenous history and the fur trade in Canada, so she suggested that they come visit the site.
“I contacted my history teacher because the subject of this year is talking about the Indigenous peoples in Quebec and Canada,” Ingrid said. “I thought it was a good place for the students to see what we’re learning about in class.”
Ingrid and her brother Anton, 10, came back with Lambert to continue digging in the dirt.
“I really like just being here to dig and see if I can find things,” Ingrid said. “You can dig for hours to pass the time and you’re all dirty but it’s super fun. I also met a lot of people last week and heard a lot of stories that I didn’t know about.”
In attendance to share some of the lesser-known histories that have touched the site was Pinock, the Algonquin artist from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation near Maniwaki.
He builds canoes and is particularly interested in Algonquin birchbark canoes, which he explained are held together by pressure from curved pieces of birch bark and wood, as well as secured by tying pieces together with spruce roots.
“When you use birch, it fights back,” Pinock said. “If you poke a hole in it, the membrane will tighten back up. When you put a spruce root through the bark, it will be secure.”
He said he’s proud of the ingenuity of his ancestors.
“I’m very proud of the canoe because it’s a North American Native design, my ancestors invented this. Even just the materials they chose made it possible because they had no tools.”
Pinock said that even today, when crafting, he uses minimal tools because it’s not necessary with the types of materials.
He said that growing up on the reservation, his family still used these types of canoes.
“It was a real poor community,” he said. “People had to do this to go fishing because there was no money and no work. We weren’t allowed to hunt or fish outside the 10 square miles of the reservation. It was like a prison.”
At the public archeological dig, Pinock showcased a miniature canoe, and various drums and furs, all items that could have passed through the trading post in the 1800s.
Ingrid, who hopes to grow up to be an archaeologists as well, said that seeing all these artifacts, new and old, make people interested in the story of the Pontiac.
“Seeing the artifacts that you found, these things that are here where you live, you get to learn more about your home,” Ingrid said. “And there are a lot of people interested in that story.”
Now that the public dig has concluded for this year, a geo-textile has been placed over the uncovered area. Dirt that has been shifted through has been replaced on top to protect the discoveries and small rocks pulled out of the ground laid on top. For now, that’s all that will happen at the site, but the team may be back next year.
