62 Ontario Archaeology No. 77/78, 2004
Recreating Home? A Consideration of Refugees, Microstyles and Frilled Pottery in Huronia
Alicia L. Hawkins
This paper revisits explanations for the presence of large quantities of frilled pottery at certain seventeenth century Wendat sites. It considers the ways in which the traditional Wenro refugee explanations are prob- lematic. An analysis of decorative microstyles is outlined, with the goal of determining whether pots from BeGx-25 (identified in the literature as Ossossané village), both with and without frills, were decorated by the same potters. The relationship between forced migration and material culture is examined and a sec- ond explanation for the presence of frilled pottery is offered. The results of this analysis are considered in light of what is known of how contemporary refugees manipulate material culture.
Introduction (Trigger 2001). Whether the pottery was pro- duced by Wenro refugees or not, the appearance One of the themes in contact-period Wendat of a large quantity of pottery with unusual deco- archaeology has been the identification of villages ration holds potential for more detailed under- and missions documented in the Jesuit Relations standing of the dynamics of Wendat society in (for a review of such work see Latta 1985). In the early to mid-seventeenth century. This paper western Huronia, the work of Kidd (1953) and outlines analysis aimed at determining if the dec- Ridley (1947) served to identify a village referred orators of typical Wendat pottery were also the to as Ossossané, occupied from 1623 to 1634, decorators of unusual, frilled pottery, and and the associated 1636 ossuary. It should be explores why new styles may have been intro- noted, however, that Sagard and Le Caron refer duced and adopted. to the village of this period as Quieuindahian (Trigger 1976). While Latta (1985) argues that Background identification of Jesuit missions associated with different Wendat tribes can be a useful archaeo- The Wenro migration question is outlined in logical tool for interpretation and study of earli- detail elsewhere (Hawkins 1992, 2001), and will er material culture, some other archaeologists be briefly discussed. According to the Jesuit have used identification of sites and their traits Relations (Thwaites 1896-1901:15:159, 17:25- mainly as confirmation of the historical record. 29), a group of over 600 refugees migrated to An example of such work is Ridley’s (1964) iden- Huronia in 1639, having negotiated the move in tification of the Ossossané village(s) and the link advance. The group arrived first at Ossossané he made between frilled pottery from that site and included many people who were ill and from the Edwards site (BeGx-27) with (Thwaites 1896-1901:17:25-29). Interpretations Wenro refugees (Ridley 1973). Archaeologists of the Jesuit Relations and archaeological remains tend to accept the latter hypothesis (Garrad and have led researchers to place the Wenro home- Steckley 1998; Hawkins 1992; Jackson and land in the Niagara frontier and other locations Merritt 2007; MacDonald 1991), but it does not in New York state (Bradley 1987; Niemczycki account for all of the evidence (Hawkins 1984; White 1961,1978) (Figure 1). 2001:32-33). Furthermore, in the time since In 1973, Frank Ridley published a description Ridley’s publication, contact period studies of the of material recovered from the Edwards site and Wendat have moved from confirmation of histo- from BeGx-25, the site that he identified as the ry as understood from documentary sources to Ossossané village of 1623-34. These sites both interpretation and explication of the past contain high proportions of pottery with basal Hawkins Refugees, Microstyles and Frilled Pottery in Huronia 63
Figure 1. Map showing possible Wenro homeland locations based on interpretation of historical documents. collar modification (hereafter referred to as (not Bordenized) and chemical analysis of mate- “frilled pottery,” although notched, frilled and rial from BeGx-25 and Leonard (Figure 1). All of nocked pots are all referred to using this term) these collections, even the ones with few frilled and pottery with decorative rim motifs different pots, show considerable variability in the decora- from others common to contemporary sites in tion of the upper rim; these include the method Huronia. Ridley suggested Wenro migrants pro- of fashioning the frill as well as the nature and duced the frilled pottery, which occurs in high application of upper rim decoration. These rim- proportions. Although not explicitly stated, he focused analyses did not entail examining the assumed that pottery decoration reflected the pots for potentially informative differences in ethnic identity of the potters. He believed that paste composition, vessel size, vessel shape, body the Wenro came from somewhere near the decoration or function. The results suggest pro- Seneca (Ridley 1973). duction by more than one individual and/or Following up on Ridley’s work, I conducted experimentation with frilling as decoration. The stylistic analyses of material from a number of compositional analysis indicates that frilled pots Wendat sites: Leonard (BeGx-22), Ellery (BdGx- and those with more typical decoration do not 8), BeGx-25, Charity (BeHb-4), and Orr Lake differ chemically (Hawkins 2001:28-32). Pottery 64 Ontario Archaeology No. 77/78, 2004 from the Genoa Fort site in New York State, put forward his Wenro refugee hypothesis. however, has a different chemical signature than Frilled pottery accounts for 18 percent of the that from Ontario (Hawkins 2001:28-32). I sherds in the assemblage, while high collared interpret this to indicate that the frilled pottery sherds make up another five percent. This is a was made from the same local clays as pots deco- conservative estimate of the proportion of frilled rated in more typical fashions. sherds because children’s pots and castellations Production of pottery locally in Huronia by a were included when making the calculation. number of individuals appears consistent with However, it should be noted that this is the pro- what we would expect from a refugee popula- portion of frilled sherds at Orr Lake, not the pro- tion. However, in the time since Ridley’s publi- portion of frilled pots. Sampling may account for cation, the archaeological records in Ontario and high proportion of frilled pots from Edwards, New York state have been more fully investigated but it seems unlikely that in the other cases exca- and some possible problems with Ridley’s vators chanced upon middens with unrepresen- hypothesis arise. Furthermore, refugee studies tatively high amounts of frilled pottery. have emerged as a discipline (Ager 1999; Black The suggested location of the New York home- 2001) and may provide models for how forced land of the Wenro is based on interpretation of migrants may alter their material culture as a documents and archaeological evidence (Figure consequence of displacement. 1). According to White (1961:37) the most like- ly location of the Wenro prior to 1639 is in the Problem One: Large Amounts of Frilled Pottery Niagara frontier region, between the Seneca and and No Clear Homeland the Attiwandaronk (Neutral confederacy). Sites If frilled pottery is a marker of Wenro-ness, then, such as Silverheels, Kleis and Ellis have percent- unless explained further, we would expect to find ages of frilled ceramics that range from 8 to 19 a Wenro homeland with frilled pots similar to percent (Bursey, personal communication 2005). those found in Huronia. Furthermore, if Wenro Englebrecht (personal communication 2001) potters continued their potting traditions in their reports that between 13 and 25 percent of sherds new home, we would expect that the proportion from sites east of the Niagara River and south of of frilled pottery at sites in their homeland would Lake Erie fall into the Seneca Barbed and Genoa be greater than at Wendat sites where Wendat Frilled types. Although Noble (1980:52) reported women would, presumably, produce pots in their “a sizeable quantity of Genoa Frilled pottery” at traditional styles. Sites in Huronia with frilled the Thorold site on the west side of the Niagara pottery include BeGx-25, Edwards and Orr river, only eleven frilled pots (about 6 percent) are Lake, among others. According to Ridley (1973), present in the assemblage and several of these are 72 percent of the pots from Edwards are frilled so similar in decorative motif and method of and when he includes high collared material in manufacture that it is likely a single individual his calculations, the percent of “foreign” pottery produced them. The percentage of frilled pots in at Edwards reaches 91 percent. The high propor- this collection is an estimate because time con- tions of frilled ceramics may be a product of sam- straints did not allow me to group typical sherds pling at Edwards. However, this is unlikely to be into pots. Neither the decorative motifs nor the the case at BeGx-25. Examination of excavation method of manufacture of frill on the Thorold reports and provenience information on sherds pots is similar to that known from Wendat sites shows that Ridley excavated two main areas 100 (Figure 2). In sum, if Wenro refugees produced feet apart, and frilled pottery was found in both frilled pots in the same proportions in Ontario as of these places (Hawkins 2001; Ridley 1964, they did in New York, then we would expect to 1965). Ridley (1975) re-located the Orr Lake find only small proportions of the Ontario site, but the collections at the Royal Ontario assemblages composed of such pots. This is not Museum are the product of other collectors what we find. Ridley acknowledges this problem (Kidd 1950) and were made long before Ridley when writing about Orr Lake: Hawkins Refugees, Microstyles and Frilled Pottery in Huronia 65
Figure 2. A comparison of the frilled pottery from Thorold (left) with that from Ossossané (right).
As with several historic Huron sites, the from Thorold differ from those found at Wendat strange Seneca-like pottery, that seems sites in that they have more complicated designs intrusive, appears in considerable quanti- on the collar and the frills appear to have been ties and is now attributed to the Wenro, manufactured mainly by notching, rather than who migrated to Huronia in the year modelling (see Figure 2). If the Wenro came 1639. The quantities of such pottery on from somewhere in the Niagara frontier or upper these sites seems unduly copious, since New York state area, and brought with them the Wenro migration consisted of only six their pot decorating traditions, we would expect hundred souls. However the Wenro were to find examples of complicated designs on the said to have been impoverished and prob- collars of frilled pots from Wendat sites, and we ably had to continue the use of their own might expect to see examples of frilling using hand made clay vessels, whereas their similar methods to those found in the Niagara Huron hosts would be enjoying the use of frontier or New York state. Although the lack of European brass kettles and trade goods in some of these elements might be explained by comparable prosperity. (Ridley 1975: 6) the “founder effect,” one wonders why none of the frilled pots from Thorold were similar to the Ridley’s explanation does not account for the pots found at Wendat sites. ethos of sharing among the Wendat (Trigger 1990:48), nor for the fact that brass kettles Problem Three: The Wide Distribution of Ceramic appear to have been used in ritual contexts and as Decorative Elaborations a source of raw material (Anselmi 2004). Ridley’s hypothesis that Wenro migrants to Huronia produced frilled pottery does not Problem Two: Different Types of Frilling account for the widespread nature of a variety of Frilling of pottery from Wendat sites differs signif- elaborations in decoration, including frilling, icantly from frilling of pottery from Thorold on which occurs in the early to mid-seventeenth the Niagara peninsula, and from Haudenosaunee century through the Northeast. As outlined by (League of Five Nations) sites in the Finger Lakes Lizee (1995), frilling and notching of collars, district (MacNeish 1952; Niemczycki 1984; Wray, castellations, high collared triangular plat motifs, et al. 1991). Examination of pots in the Rochester and effigy decorations occur through much of Museum of Science showed that, for specimens the Northeast at this time. It is noteworthy that from the Finger Lakes, decoration of the collar is other elaboration types do not co-occur with more common, includes horizontal motifs, may frilling on the same vessel: I have found no exam- be more complicated and sometimes includes ples of castellated frilled sherds, high-collared decoration on the frill or barb itself. The frills frilled sherds, or frilled sherds with effigy decora- and barbs are more widely spaced. Frilled pots tions. MacNeish (1952:52) associates Genoa 66 Ontario Archaeology No. 77/78, 2004
Frilled pottery with the contact-period Cayuga frilled pots are shell tempered, while Seneca and and noted that it “has no antecedent in the Cayuga ones are grit tempered suggests different Cayuga sequence, and its ancestral or develop- châines opératoires and, consequently, that the mak- mental predecessor is unknown.” De Orio ers of Susquehannock frilled pottery are not simply (1980:77), a number of years later, also indicates transplanted Wenro. Furthermore, the trade net- that frilled pots occur “for either the first time or work explanation does not explain the widespread in larger quantities…on historic sites.” An exam- nature of other types of elaborations cited by Lizee. ple of such a site is Genoa Fort, which he esti- mates dates to A.D. 1600-1620. This suggests Problem Four: Which Ossossané is BeGx-25? that this method of decoration may be as much a The Jesuit Relations clearly place the Wenro migra- seventeenth century innovation in the tion at 1639. In the 1964 excavation report on his Haudenosaunee area as it is in Huronia. work at Ossossané, Ridley identified BeGx-25 as Similarly, the Susquehannock frilled pot type, the Ossossané village occupied between 1623 and Blue Rock Valanced, becomes more common 1634. The geographic setting of the site served as after A.D. 1600 (Kent 1980:103). the main basis for this identification. The widespread nature of frilling and other If Ridley’s identification of the site is correct, elaborations was remarked upon by Kent, as long however, why was the supposedly Wenro-pro- ago as 1979: duced pottery present in a village that dates to Purely Seneca or Cayuga grit-tempered ves- before their arrival? Although the Jesuit Relations sels are occasionally found at Susquehannock (Thwaites 1896-1901:17:29) indicate that the sites. Similarly, a few shell-tempered Wenro were given “the best places in the cabins,” Susquehannock pots occur in sites of the for- it is possible that the site identification is correct, mer. In view of their obviously different pref- that the pots were produced by Wenro and the erences for tempering materials, the travel reason that they are found there is that the distance between the two areas, and the fre- refugees occupied the abandoned village. The quent conflict between them, we are struck occupation dates of the site ought, however, to be by the remarkable similarity between certain clarified based on the glass bead chronology. Seneca-Cayuga pottery types and those of the Susquenhannocks. Schultz Incised…and Problem Ithaca Linear (and in some cases Cayuga Horizontal), except for their temper differ- In light of these unresolved questions, other expla- ences, often appear indistinguishable from nations for the appearance of filled pottery should one another. The same is true for Blue Rock be considered. In doing so, I make the assumption Valanced and Genoa Frilled. (Kent that people actively manipulate material culture as 1980:103) a method of transmitting messages, often about the identity of the producer or the user of the item Although the presence of frilled pottery in the (e.g., Hodder 1982:128-132; Wobst 1977). This Susquehannock area may lead researchers to sug- perspective entails a consideration of the role of gest that frilled pots and/or Wenro originated pottery in everyday life when suggesting reasons for there, in the Susquehannock area the appearance of unusual decoration. Iroquoian people used pots for frilling also dates to the early seventeenth century. both storage and food preparation, with ethnohis- In the case of Susquehannock frilled pottery, toric accounts clearly indicating the use of clay pots one can make an argument on technological for cooking (Parker 1983; Waugh 1973). While grounds that the pots are made locally and are not storage vessels may have been located in places imports. While Bursey (personal communication where they were not seen regularly, cooking vessels 2005) puts forward an intriguing explanation for would have been visible and important in both the the widespread occurrence of frilling that relates daily lives of longhouse inhabitants and in hosting to trade patterns, the fact that Susquehannock of guests (Parker 1983). Such vessels would have Hawkins Refugees, Microstyles and Frilled Pottery in Huronia 67 carried decoration deemed appropriate by the 4. Frilling, along with other forms of elab- potters and users of the pots. Johnson (1999) oration in decoration, had an indige- argues that because of the visibility of pots and nous Wendat origin, possibly inspired the importance of food in Mohegan ritual and by the different material culture of political negotiation, one of the important con- Europeans with whom they interacted. siderations for potters would have been the social This explanation requires significant information that the pot would carry. Pots would communication amongst groups in the have had a similar role in the Wendat life and, in Northeast. light of this, other explanations for the high pro- portions of frilled pottery on Wendat sites If we allow that Wendat women produced frilled require consideration. Four possible explanations pottery, we must consider why they might have are: done so. Iroquoian women had, and have today, a 1. Wenro refugees were present at the significant role in political life (Trigger 1990). sites in question and did produce Frilling and notching is widespread in the frilled pottery. Possibly they also came Northeast in the early to mid-seventeenth century, from a homeland in the Niagara fron- being known from sites of the Susquehannock tier region. The reason for the inflated (Kent 1980), Mohegan-Pequot, Narragansett and proportion of frilled pottery in Wampanoag (Goodby 1998; Lizee 1995), and Ontario compared with sites in the Haudenosaunee (MacNeish 1952). Geographically, Niagara frontier is that refugee women the closest makers of such pottery are the chose to emphasize a distinctive aspect Haudenosaunee, specifically the Seneca and of their material culture to underscore Cayuga, people with whom the Wendat were war- their different identity. ring in the seventeenth century. While frilled pot- tery does not, in MacNeish’s (1952: 52) opinion, 2. Wendat potters produced the frilled have predecessors in Cayuga territory and thus its pottery. Although archaeologists fre- appearance there may be coeval with the appear- quently associate Wendat women with ance in Huronia, other pottery with basal collar the domain of the longhouse and the modification does. Why, then, might Wendat village, and men with the world women have made pots in the style of their ene- beyond the village, at least one histori- mies? cal document indicates that Iroquoian Goodby (1998) examines a similar issue in the women did travel (Bogaert 1988). Mohegan-Pequot, Narragansett and Wampanoag Thus, Wendat women may have had tribal areas in present-day New England. Like opportunities to see the pottery styles the Iroquoian-speaking groups in Ontario and of people living south of the Lake New York state, these three groups spoke closely Ontario themselves. “Captive brides,” related languages and followed the same subsis- although I do not consider them to be tence strategy (Goodby 1998:163). As a result of the producers of all frilled pottery in colonization during the seventeenth century, Huronia, may also have showed or relations among these three groups were tense described to Wendat women the styles and marked by war and murder (Goodby of their pots. 1998:164-165). At the same time, however, social ties between the members of the three 3. A group of people not documented in groups persisted. Goodby’s (1998: 168-175) the Jesuit Relations joined the Wendat analysis of ceramics from Narragansett and sometime before 1634, bringing with Wampanoag sites showed that they did not differ them their pottery decoration. Possibly stylistically or technologically. The formation of these new designs were observed and tribal boundaries in New England occurs at the replicated by Wendat potters. beginning of the seventeenth century (Goodby 68 Ontario Archaeology No. 77/78, 2004
1998). In Ontario, archaeologists have tended to demonstrating that participants in experiments extend the tribal designations known from sev- consistently varied in how they applied decora- enteenth century ethnohistoric writing (Wendat, tion that they were asked to copy. Further, the Attiwandaronk) backward to the fifteenth century. work of these individuals could be sorted cor- However, archaeologists now acknowledge that rectly using statistical analysis of a series of ratio these confederacies may be relatively recent politi- scale measurements. Hill (1977), Martelle cal groupings (Ferris and Spence 1995:115). (2002), and Van Keuren (1994), among others, Goodby (1998:76) proposes, with respect to focus on variables of painted and incised or the Narragansett and Wampanoag, that: stamped decorative motifs to isolate individual …there was an important debate ongoing microstyles. Such analyses employ small differ- during the seventeenth century about the ences in the nature of the motifs and their appli- nature of relations between native peo- cation, including the order of application of dif- ples.… [C]eramic style was used by women ferent elements. In pots with little or no decora- in a debate over the unity among native tion, variables related to forming of the vessel peoples…arguing through their expressions have been applied (Espenshade and Kennedy of unity in ceramic design that unity among 2002:230). These include the method of forming native peoples was a desired social end. the pot, shape of the foot, and the method of producing the lip. Heidenreich (1990:489) points out that a recur- Such researchers often equate clusters of similar ring theme in the Iroquois wars was the unification artifacts with individual artisans, as I do below. of all Iroquoian-speaking people into one nation. There are other explanations for similarity; for The possibility that Wendat women made frilled example, in social contexts that prioritize con- pottery (as well as high collared pots with triangu- formity we would expect variation between indi- lar plat motifs) as an expression of pan-Iroquoian or viduals to be slight. At the same time, this analysis pan-aboriginal identity and unity deserves further does not attempt to group all of the materials that exploration, given both the outstanding problems a person might produce because it is likely that with the Wenro refugee hypothesis listed above and stylistic micro-variation could be affected by a the fact that this hypothesis treats Iroquoian range of factors: age, illness, weather, paste condi- women as active manipulators of material culture. tions, exhaustion, and even time of day. For this Earlier examination of the frilling at BeGx-25 reason, I attempt to isolate “analytical individu- showed that there is a great deal of variation in the als,” who I assume represent individuals or method of producing the frill (Hawkins 2001: 22- socially close individuals. The possibility remains 23), such as one would expect if potters were exper- that different clusters may include objects crafted imenting with methods, or production was in the by the same person at different times (e.g., Potter hands of a number of individuals, or both. A may have produced pots in Clusters 1 and 3); however, for the purposes of this analysis this Methods possibility is set aside. Although ethnoarchaeo- logical investigation could provide insight on the Work by Martelle (2002) suggests that it may be range of variability in the work of a single artisan, possible to identify individual Wendat potters. cross-cultural variation is likely to be great. Thus, with a reasonably large ceramic collection, I undertook preliminary analysis using materi- we may be able to determine whether potters al from the Leonard site, and this entailed meas- who made vessels with more typical Wendat dec- urement of a series of nominal, ordinal and ratio oration (collared and collarless vessels with scale variables that were subsequently analysed oblique stamping and incising on the upper rim statistically. The results were less than satisfacto- and lip) also made frilled pottery. ry, likely because of the small collection used: Hill (1977) established the theoretical and resultant grouped sherds, when directly com- methodological basis for this type of analysis by pared, included many dissimilar ones. Hawkins Refugees, Microstyles and Frilled Pottery in Huronia 69
The second analysis proceeded in a more intu- pots, 31 are Sidey Notched, and 111 are itive fashion. I used the larger BeGx-25 collection Huron/Lawson Incised pots. Plain frilled pots are because there is a greater probability that the col- grouped into 13 “tentative microstyles,” listed in lection contains more than one pot produced by an Table 1, and an example is shown in Figure 4. individual potter. In addition, I incorporated into Where multiple pots are grouped into a tentative the analysis variables related to the method of man- microstyle, size is a major distinguishing factor. ufacture of the frill. Given my earlier unsatisfacto- Measurements to determine if pots in tentative ry results, the analysis proceeded in several steps in microstyles are also grouped statistically are order to allow me to check that the selected vari- shown in Table 2. To avoid clustering based only ables clustered pots into groups of like objects. on size, I calculated and compared proportions. The stages of analysis are represented in the flow Two variables that are particularly useful for clus- chart shown in Figure 3, which makes reference to tering are the angle of the centre of the notch and other figures and tables. A few points bear discus- the ratio of frill width to notch width (Figure 5). sion. The analytical pot is the basis of analysis. Size, Hierarchical cluster analysis based on angle of paste characteristics, shape of the rim, and decora- notch, frill width/notch width, lip thickness/col- tion all contributed to grouping of sherds into lar base thickness and frill spacing/collar base pots. A large number of sherds from the BeGx-25 thickness resulted in clusters of pots that in some collection were not part of this analysis because its cases correspond with the microstyles, but in goal was to determine if the microstyles of frilled other cases pots fall into larger groups that incor- pots are the same as the microstyles of plain pots. porate several microstyles (Figure 6). Most decorated frilled pots are decorated with a Inclusion of decorated frilled pots into tenta- simple design of oblique incisions or stamps on the tive microstyles defined for plain frilled pots collar; thus, only plain pots with the same type of (Table 3) resulted in the addition of decorated decoration are part of this analysis. pots to only a few of the existing microstyles (Microstyles 4a and 6a with microstyles 4 and 6). Analytical Results Further, the grouping of decorated frilled pots resulted in a large number of microstyles (15) for The analysed portion of the BeGx-25 collection the number of pots (25) (Figure 7). A number of comprises 203 analytical pots, of which 36 pots them are clearly unique, and were excluded from are “plain frilled pots,” 25 are decorated frilled further analyses.
Figure 3. A schematic description of the analysis procedure. 70 Ontario Archaeology No. 77/78, 2004
Table 1. Tentative microstyle assignments for undecorated frilled pots from Ossossané. Microstyle No. Method of Frilling No. of Pots 1 Thickening of collar and subsequent cutting out of clay 3 2Impressed U-shaped notch 5 3Impressed notch followed by modelling 1 4Modelled 2 5 Clay cut out of thickened collar in a wave shape 5 6 Thickened collar notched by pushing clay to right and left 4 7Impressed U-shaped notch 1 8Impressed V-shaped notch angled to the left 5 9Modelled, widely spaced 1 10 Impressed V-shaped notch, angled to the right 1 11 Impressed U-shaped notch, angled to the right 1 12 Impressed V-shaped notch, angled to the right 1 13 Impressed V-shaped notch, vertical 3
Figure 4. Tentative microstyle 5 (clay cut out of thickened collar in a wave shape).
Table 2. Variables measured on frilled pots (decorated and undecorated). Primary Variables of Shape Measured on Frilled Pots Derived Variables Frill spacing Frill width/Notch width Width of frill Frill spacing/Collar base thickness. Width of space Angle of right side of frill at the top Angle of left side of frill at the top Angle of the notch Height of frill Primary Variables of Shape Measured on All Pots Derived Variables Lip thickness Lip thickness/Collar base thickness Collar base thickness Neck thickness Collar height Angle of lip to interior wall Because it is not possible to link plain and deco- sure that my analysis had not been affected by the rated basally modified pots based on the method of presence of decoration. I plotted the notch angle frill production, before continuing, I wanted to be vs. frill spacing as I did with the plain pots. As with Hawkins Refugees, Microstyles and Frilled Pottery in Huronia 71
Figure 5. Scatterplot showing the relationship between the angle of the notch and the frill width to notch width ratio on frilled undecorated pots. Numbers indicate the tentative microstyle each pot was assigned to (see Table 1). 6a is a pot with decoration on the collar that was tentatively associated with microstyle 6. Microstyles 4, 9 and 11 are not represented because the variables in ques- tion could not be measured on those pots or the piece was too small for measurement.
Figure 6. Dendrogram showing the results of a cluster analysis of vessels grouped into tentative microstyles. 72 Ontario Archaeology No. 77/78, 2004
Table 3. Tentative microstyle assignments for frilled decorated pots from Ossossané. Microstyle No. Method of Basal Collar Modification No. of Pots
14 Impressed V-shaped notch, vertical angle on collar with only slight thickening at the base of the collar 1 15 Modelling or appliqué of frill angled to the extreme right 2 16 Modelled and pulled down 2 17 Substantial thickening of the collar base and notching 2 18 Modelled or appliqué and pushing of frills to the right 4 19 Modelling and pulling of frills forward 1 20 U-shaped notching of a thickened lip 1 21 Cutting away of triangular notch 2 22 Extreme thickening of the lip and V-shaped notching 1 23 Relatively shallow diagonal gash at low angle 4 24 Impressed V-shaped notch and pulling of clay downwards on right side 1 25 Appliquéd and modelled, pulled down 1 26 Pulled over or appliquéd thickened collar with V-shaped notches angled right 1 27 Shallow impressed U-shaped notch at slight left angle 1 28 Incised U-shaped notch at collar base angled right 1
Figure 7. Tentative microstyle 23 (relatively shallow diagonal gash at low angle).
the plain collared pots, these variables grouped typical pots. This proved challenging because the some of the pots in the same clusters as the method variables used to group frilled pots are related to of production (Figure 8). However, combining the shape and method of production of the frill. decorated and undecorated frilled pottery resulted Further, it is likely that variables of collar shape in less than satisfactory results for each of two clus- (e.g., lip orientation, lip shape and interior profile) ter analyses performed. would differ because of the presence of frills. The At least two explanations exist for the lack of next analytical steps entailed: overlap between the plain and decorated frilled 1. Exclusion of pots without decoration pots, if one accepts that the method of frilling is a because after preliminary examination reasonable way to distinguish potters: (1) some- there appeared to be no decorative thing in the application of decoration required or attributes shared by plain frilled and resulted in different methods of frilling; (2) differ- non-frilled pots. A detailed paste analy- ent potters produced these two groups of pots. I sis could be useful in future analysis; prefer the second hypothesis because it is difficult to see how pots such as those shown in Figure 4 could 2. Division of pots without frilling into not have been decorated by stamping or incising. two groups: those with stamped deco- The next step in the analysis entailed attempting ration and those with trailed/incised to determine whether frilled pots grouped with decoration; Hawkins Refugees, Microstyles and Frilled Pottery in Huronia 73
Figure 8. Scatterplot showing the relationship between the angle of the notch and the frill width to notch width ratio on frilled decorated pots. Numbers indicate the tenta- tive microstyle to which each pot was assigned (see Table 3).
3. Examination of each group for varia- pre-existing class, this was noted. tion and development of a taxonomic Where they did fit into a pre-existing classification for the pots (Table 4). The class, the objects were compared to classes may include pots made by more determine whether similarities did than one potter, but the effort in classi- exist, and whether other variables, not fication was to continue subdividing considered in the classification, had groups until the remaining pots formed the same values. a homogeneous group in style of deco- ration, excluding attributes of size. Pots decorated by stamping are a minority of both the standard Wendat pots and the frilled pots. 4. Classification of frilled pots using this Stamped pots included those with symmetrical V- system. Where they did not fit into a shaped grooves and those with asymmetrical
Table 4. Example of the taxonomic classification of decorative microvariation. Attributes of Tool, Technique and Motif Typical Pots Frilled Pots Stamped decoration V-shaped tool Symmetrical V groove Groove wide at top and tapered at bottom yes Groove approximately same width throughout yes Tool flat Groove deep yes 3 Medium depth groove no 1 Groove shallow yes Tool slightly curved yes Asymmetrical V groove angled right Shallow (smoothed over) yes Medium groove yes Tool flat yes 1 (d) Tool curved yes Deep groove yes Asymmetrical V groove angled left 1 (d) 74 Ontario Archaeology No. 77/78, 2004 grooves. Four pots with basal collar modification, frilling appropriate for decorated pots was con- assigned to two microstyles, were decorated by sidered to be different than the method of frilling stamping to produce a V-shaped symmetrical appropriate for undecorated pots. At this time, it groove. Three of them fall within a class defined is not possible to suggest which explanation is for unfrilled pottery (Figure 9). These pots share more likely. the attribute of the lip being pushed down after Within each of these two general groups, there stamping with three non-frilled members of this are sets of pots that are similar in terms of class. method of production and proportions of the Incised and trailed pots showed considerable upper rim. Each set may be the product of an variation in the depth of the groove, width of the individual potter (or analytical individual). This groove, whether attention had been paid to suggests that there were many women producing cleaning the clay that is pushed up as a result of frilled pottery at Ossossané. incising, the shape of the tool, the regularity in Comparison of decorated frilled pots and typ- the spacing of the obliques and the placement of ical pots showed that there are similarities in the the obliques on the collar. Some frilled pots bore application of collar decoration that could indi- similarities to pots without frilling, but others cate potters were producing or decorating both did not. In one case, the lack of similarity frilled and plain pots. Interestingly, pots assigned between the two groups may arise from the dif- to different microstyles on the basis of frill pro- ference in the morphology of the decorated duction method tended to group together when piece. The lines on some of the frilled pots are collar decoration was considered. Was more than broken, whereas this was not observed on non- one person involved in the production and deco- frilled pots. ration of a single pot? One of the striking aspects of the BeGx-25 Discussion of Analytical Results assemblage is the great variation in the way that frilling was accomplished. There are at least two The frilled pots from BeGx-25 fall into two possible explanations for this, and they are not broad groups: those with decoration on the col- mutually exclusive. A number of different potters lar and those without. The methods of produc- were producing frilled pots, or potters were ing frills or barbs differ between these two experimenting with frilling, or both. Such exper- groups. Two explanations for this are (1) differ- imentation may have occurred if Wendat potters ent potters were responsible for production of were attempting to replicate pot styles that they the different groups, and (2) the method of were unfamiliar with. Alternatively, if mainly
Figure 9. Frilled decorated pot with typical decorated pot of the same decorative class (see Table 4). Hawkins Refugees, Microstyles and Frilled Pottery in Huronia 75 inexperienced potters produced pots found on by different stresses: pre-flight, flight, temporary mid-seventeenth century Wendat sites, as sug- settlement, and resettlement or repatriation gested by Martelle (this volume), either Wenro or (Ager 1999:3-11). Of these phases, temporary Wendat potters may have been attempting to settlement and (re)settlement are relevant to this determine how to frill a pot. While there is only study. One of the stresses related to settlement one good example of a pot with exfoliated frills arises from the integration of one group with in the BeGx-25 assemblage, the series of pots another, which Shanmuraratnam et al. (2003) that appear to have been decorated by a single describe as a “social interface situation:” person but have frills produced in different ways …a critical point of intersection between supports experimentation as an explanation. different life worlds or domains where In sum, it would appear that many potters discontinuities exist based on discrepan- frilled pots, that potters frilled them in different cies in values, interests, knowledge and ways and that the decorators of frilled pots were power. More concretely, they characterise also the decorators of plain pots. How can this social situations wherein the relationships help us to better evaluate the Wenro refugee between actors become oriented around hypothesis? the problem of devising ways of ‘bridg- ing,’ accommodating, or contesting each Contemporary and Past Refugees others’ different social and cognitive worlds” (Long 2000:198) (quoted in One of the problematic areas in Ridley’s identifi- Shanmugaratnam et al. 2003:12). cation of the makers of frilled pottery as Wenro refugees is that it lacks any consideration of what In the case of the Wenro, we may tentatively it means to be a refugee, how refugees under- suggest that their values and interests may have stand their identity, and the use of material cul- been broadly similar to those of their hosts. They ture to underscore or bury identity. The twenti- would, however, have been faced with issues of eth century saw unprecedented numbers of peo- knowledge and power so that even if there were ple undertake forced migration, and so we have kin ties between the Wenro and Wendat, it is numerous examples of studies of uprooted peo- likely that there would have been points of social ple that may help us to understand the seven- difference. teenth century Wenro and evaluate the hypothe- Malkki (1992) argues that the sedentary world sis they were the producers of the “strange has pathologized displacement, having natural- Seneca-like pottery.” ized attachment to a particular territory. In light Although refugees are traditionally defined as of the fact that seventeenth century Iroquoian people who are forced to flee from their home peoples could be considered semi-mobile, it is country, or who live outside its boundaries and possible that the stresses that the Wenro would cannot return to it for fear of persecution (Ager have faced were mainly related to social difficul- 1999:1; Black 2001:63), forced migration also ties associated with integration, rather than sepa- occurs among people who do not live in state ration from a specific territory. New to Huronia, societies. People who migrate within national however, they would still have encountered prob- boundaries because of political or ethnic conflict, lems of arising from lack of knowledge of local known as “Internally Displaced Persons” (IDPs), climate and resources. may provide better analogies for the seventeenth Chan and Loveridge (1987), reporting on the century Wenro. Frequently, IDPs “self-settle,” a refugee experience in Hong Kong, write that pattern that “seems especially prevalent where “bewildered and isolated in his confusion…the there are close kinship ties between the refugee refugee’s first inclination is to preserve what group and the local population” (Ager 1999:9). remains of his identity by burying it.” Is this nec- The refugee experience is often discussed in essarily the case? Are there circumstances in terms of a number of phases, each accompanied which the refugee does the opposite, actively 76 Ontario Archaeology No. 77/78, 2004 asserting her identity? The degree to which the context, the invention of a new form of expres- migrant population wishes to, or is under pres- sion is linked to the economic conditions of sure to assimilate with the host population likely camp life – refugees found that the story clothes determines how the refugee presents her or his sold well, thus providing them currency when identity. The outcome differs depending on they did not have access to wage labour outside whether integration is an acceptable option to the camp. both the host and migrant. Ethiopian Jews who These several examples show that the way that migrated to Israel are an example of migrants refugees treat material culture after settlement, or who wished to identify themselves with their temporary settlement, is dependent upon a num- hosts. To this end, symbolic behaviour associated ber of factors, including economic ones, but also, with Judaism was altered (Edelstein 2002). The importantly, the relationship between the host incidence of tattooing, claimed to be performed and refugee. for medicinal purposes and common among The Wenro appear to constitute an example of Christian Ethiopians, is much less common self-settling; friendly relations between the among Ethiopian Jews in Israel than in Ethiopia Wendat and Wenro are suggested by the refer- (Edelstein 2002:159-160). The reasons for ence to Wendat having travelled to provide assis- changes in material culture may be complex: the tance in the move. The depopulation that result- coffee ceremony is an important part of ed from disease at this time likely increased the Ethiopian culture but presents a dilemma to desire of the Wendat to include the Wenro in the Ethiopian Jews in Israel because it cannot be per- confederacy. The host population was possibly formed on Shabbat (Edelstein 2002:161). welcoming and wished to make the move as easy Although this ceremony is an integral part of as possible for the migrant group. This may Ethiopian identity, the desire to conform to explain the description of the welcoming of the Judaic laws appears to be greater. Wenro: “the best places in the cabins were given A second example from Israel illustrates how to them, the granaries or chests of corn were maintaining a different identity can be accept- opened and they were given liberty to dispose of able for both the host and the migrant. While them as if they were their own.” (Thwaites 1896- questions may arise about the authenticity of 1901:17:29). In light of this, I would suggest Ethiopian Jews, the same is not true for Karaite that there is no reason why the Wenro should try Jews, who migrated to Israel mainly from Cairo. to demonstrate that they were authentically In this case, the minority migrant population “Wendat” in fact it is clear that they are not. steadfastly defended their community from pres- Indeed, it is interesting to note that even 30 years sure to conform to practices that could dilute after the dispersal, a man still identified himself their identity, such as intermarriage with as Wenro (Thwaites 1896-1901:57:197). Rabbinate Jews (Hirshberg 1989). In some cases, completely new forms of mate- Conclusions rial culture have been invented as a result of involuntary migration. An excellent example of How does this analysis and consideration of this can be found among the Hmong, refugees refugee manipulation of material culture help us from Laos living in Thailand (Conquergood to evaluate Ridley’s Wenro refugee hypothesis? As 1992). Prior to migration, textiles produced by outlined in earlier works, and confirmed by this Hmong had geometric motifs. A few years after analysis, the frilled pottery from BeGx-25 is very camps were established, Hmong began produc- likely to have been produced by a number of ing story cloths, many of which documented people. This is consistent with an immigration of their journey. The precise history of these cloths potters but could also be explained by Wendat is unknown, but Conquergood (1992:209) spec- potters adopting the style in a widespread fash- ulates that books used for teaching English as a ion. Those who favour the idea of an immigrant second language served as the inspiration. In this group joining the Wendat must consider that the Hawkins Refugees, Microstyles and Frilled Pottery in Huronia 77
Wenro are one possible group, but there are oth- provided funding for this research. I thank Jamie ers. In light of the issues of dating and the lack of Hunter and the Huronia Museum for the loan of a Wenro homeland in the Niagara frontier area, the Ossossané and Edwards material, Susan it is possible that a different group, such as the Jamieson and the Anthropology Department at Susquehannock (Bursey, personal communica- Trent University for the loan of the Leonard Site tion 2005), introduced frilling. artifacts, and Aubrey Cannon and Meghan The production of both frilled pots and pots Burchell of McMaster University for allowing me with typical Wendat decoration by the same to examine the Thorold material. Holly Martelle’s group of people could simply indicate that work on individual variation in decoration of refugees, wherever they may be from, also pro- Wendat pots inspired me, but clearly any mistakes duced pots similar to Lawson Incised or Huron that I have made in attempting such an analysis are Incised types as part of their suite of pottery. my own. Meghan McMillan and Holly Nicholls However, the possibility that there was interplay assisted with the analysis. Kristin Thor assisted between potters from different traditions is hint- with background research on the timing on differ- ed at and makes sense in terms of what we know ent occupations of Ossossané. Andrew Stewart about how refugees use material culture. Frilled assisted with production of Figure 1. decorated pots fall into a large number of microstyles for the number of pots in the assem- References Cited blage, compared with frilled pots without deco- Ager, A. ration. This could be a matter of sampling, but it 1999 Perspectives on the Refugee Experience. In may also reflect the practice of Wendat potters Refugees: Perspectives on the Experience of experimenting with decorations introduced by Forced Migration, edited by A. Ager, pp. 1- newcomers. Such playing with new styles could 23. Pinter, London. be one way of bridging the gap between host and Anselmi, L.M. guest, particularly when incorporation of the 2004 New Materials, Old Ideas: Native Use of new group is desirable, and when it is not neces- European-Introduced Metals in the sary for the incoming group to bury its identity. Northeast. Unpublished PhD dissertation, Department of Anthropology, University of It is a truism to state that relations among Toronto, Toronto. Iroquoian groups in the seventeenth century were Black, R. complex. To try to gain insight into these relations, 2001 Fifty Years of Refugee Studies: from Theory future studies need to investigate the entire suite of to Policy. International Migration Review material culture from sites contemporary with and 35:57-78. earlier than BeGx-25. Ceramic analysis provides us Bogaert, H.M. with one small window; analysis of other artifact 1988 A Journey into Mohawk and Oneida Country, classes and more precise dating are necessary before 1634-1635: The Journal of Harmen we can state with any certainty that particular arti- Meyndertsz van den Bogaert. Translated by C.T. Gehering and W.A. Starna. Syracuse fact types are representative of refugees or that they University Press, Syracuse. constitute innovation or experimentation by Bradley, J.W. Wendat people themselves. 1987 Evolution of the Onondaga Iroquois. Syracuse University Press, Syracuse. Acknowledgements. Martha Latta introduced me Chan, K.B., and D. Loveridge to contact period Wendat archaeology, to ceramic 1987 Refugees “in Transit”: Vietnamese in a analysis and to Hill’s work on individual variation Refugee Camp in Hong Kong. International in application of decorative motifs. I thank Pat Migration Review 21:745-759. Reed and Mima Kapches for organizing the session Conquergood, D. 1992 Fabricating Culture: The Textile Art of in honour of Marti at the OAS-ESAF symposium. Hmong Refugee Women. In Performance, I thank Peter Ramsden and Jeff Bursey for their Culture, and Identity, edited by E.C. Fine and thoughtful reviews of an earlier version of this J.H. Speer, pp. 206-248. Praeger, Westport. paper. The Laurentian University Research Fund 78 Ontario Archaeology No. 77/78, 2004
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Cet article révise les explications qui ont justifié la présence d’une grande quantité de poteries ondulées (ondulations apparaissant sous le parement) dans certains sites wendat du XVIIe siècle. On considère les raisons pour lesquelles les explications classique faisant appel à des réfugiés wenro sont problématiques. On délimite l’analyse des microstyles décoratifs dans le but de déterminer si les vases, avec ou sans ondulations, provenant de BeGx-25 (identifié dans la littérature comme le village Ossossané), ont été décorés par les mêmes potiers. On examine les liens entre les migrations forcées et la culture matérielle et on propose une deuxième explication pour justifier la présence de la poterie ondulée. On considère les résultats de cette analyse à la lumière de ce qu’on connaît des manipula- tions de la culture matérielle de la part des refugiés contemporains.
Alicia L. Hawkins Anthropology Department Laurentian University 935 Ramsey Lake Road, Sudbury, Ontario, Canada P3E 2C6 [email protected]