IN FOCUS: ARCHEOLOGY IN PARK MANAGEMENT 19

Ojibwe cultural landscapes of Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota By Andrew LaBounty

OR SEEING THE BIG PICTURE, enon to gauge tree height in 1927 and to so to speak, archeologists turn to diff erentiate bare earth from thick stands Abstract Faerial imagery. For examining cul- of vegetation in these black-and-white Appreciation and preservation of Ojibwe cultural resources are a major focus of tural landscapes over a large area, such photos. The simulated three-dimensional Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota. view also made it possible to distinguish as at Voyageurs National Park in Min- Stereo pairs of 1927 International nesota, historical aerial imagery supplies pit features, buildings, and other Ojibwe Joint Commission aerial photography an incredible wealth of information. cultural features from natural variations in were compared to archeological site Although Voyageurs was not established topography. locations recorded over the last 30 years as a national park until 1975, the earliest to identify more than 250 historical features. These features reveal otherwise aerial photographs were taken in 1927 as a Digital, georeferenced copies of the 1927 isolated archeological sites as a system result of a fl ight conducted by the Interna- aerial photos were simultaneously created of contemporaneous and interrelated tional Joint Commission (IJC) to manage by the Minnesota Department of Natural occupations. Through the identifi cation the waterways between Canada and the Resources and overlaid with archeological of structural features and vegetation United States (Bullard and Scovil 1930). site locations provided and maintained differences, Ojibwe archeological sites are newly associated with one another by Under conditions of high water and inten- by the Midwest Archeological Center in trails, piers, portages, and other landscape Lincoln, Nebraska. Using this combina- sive logging (see Lynott et al. 1986), the IJC features. By combining and overlaying inadvertently captured not only the status tion of data, we selected salient pairs of these data in a GIS along with modern of the waterways, but also aerial images aerial photographs for examination under imagery, historical Ojibwe occupation can containing more than 250 cultural features the stereoscope, accurately recorded all be better understood and interpreted by related to Ojibwe land use. Using a stereo- observed cultural features in a GIS, and park staff as a complex and persistent cultural landscape spanning the lakes of scope in combination with modern GIS compared the observed historical features Voyageurs National Park. The results of techniques, it is now possible to investigate with previously identifi ed archeological this research are therefore a combination and record the cultural landscape of nearly sites. We further based interpretations of of archeological and nonarcheological 200 years of historical occupation by the observed features on Ojibwe oral histo- data sets, repurposed and recombined to Bois Forte band of Ojibwe as it appears in ries and extensive research into historical the benefi t of the park as a whole. these early photographs. Ojibwe land allotments (Richner 2002), Key words resulting in a powerful way of viewing the cultural landscape, geographic Stereoscopes have been in use since 1838, historical landscape of Voyageurs National information system (GIS), homesteading, often as a recreational device. These units Park. International Joint Commission, logging, mimic binocular vision by feeding a sepa- Midwest Archeological Center, Ojibwe, rate image to each eye through mirrors and Results: Alligator Bay photographic analysis, stereoscope, Voyageurs National Park lenses. When used to view one scene at Nearly the entire park area exhibits some two slightly diff erent angles, a stereoscope form of cultural activity in 1927. Most of allows the brain to see a 2-D image in three dimensions. In this case, an airplane took a series of pictures as it fl ew over the international boundary in 1927, with no By using a combination of old and new technologies, thought to later viewing them in 3-D. Each successive picture is therefore at a slightly this research provides a glimpse into the past cultural diff erent point of view, but two adjacent landscapes of Ojibwe residents, enhancing preservation pictures still contain the same features, so overlapping features can be seen in three of the land with a deeper understanding of its meaning. dimensions with the stereoscope. Our research took advantage of this phenom- 20 PARK SCIENCE • VOLUME 30 • NUMBER 2 • FALL 2013

Figure 1. Alligator Bay, 1927. Notable cultural features are highlighted in red and include uncut pine stands in tract 01-101 and an overland winter trail from Crane Lake to Alligator Bay and King Williams Narrows. the results from this preliminary investiga- the remains of a major Virginia and Rainy historical Ojibwe owners in perpetuity, but tion can be associated with Ojibwe activity Lake Logging Company camp. The 1927 is managed by the National Park Service specifi cally, but of those, only one will be manifestation of these is remarkable, and because it falls within the boundaries of presented here to illustrate the results of several additional features are revealed in the national park. Based on archeological the research. the historical imagery (fi g. 1). and historical research, the land appears to have been a historical Ojibwe dwelling Prior to this investigation, notable features Tract 01-101 within Voyageurs National established under the Homestead Act of at Alligator Bay—named for the amphibi- Park is currently held in trust by the Bu- 1862 (Richner 2002, p. 76). Its proximity ous logging vessel rather than the animal— reau of Indian Aff airs (BIA), meaning the to the King Williams Narrows suggests included several archeological sites and land is owned by the BIA on behalf of the that the land may have been claimed by IN FOCUS: ARCHEOLOGY IN PARK MANAGEMENT 21

a family member of Joe King Williams Bay. On an even larger scale, this winter These results also inform future research Bego, an Ojibwe man for whom the strait trail may be part of the Mukooda Portage, by combining old and new data to repre- is named. In claiming such an allotment, which provided, even until recently, access sent otherwise unidentifi ed features in a Ojibwe families subjected themselves to to the Lac la Croix First Nations to the practical, manageable way. We combined the requirements of homesteading and east (National Park Service, Voyageurs stereoscopic photo analysis with GIS- gave up their claim to reservation land National Park, Mary Graves, Chief of based documentation, which proved to and the associated annuities, choosing Resources, e-mail dated 12 June 2013). be an eff ective way to derive information instead to claim ownership and develop- from even poor-quality aerial photo- ment rights on a particular parcel of land Implications for management graphs. This made it a simple (if time-con- (Richner 2002). On this particular tract, Alligator Bay is a small area with rela- suming) process given the tools and the virgin pine is obvious in the simulated tively few visible cultural features dating resource, and allows for the addition and 3-D stereo view, terminating precisely at to 1927. Elsewhere throughout the park, recombination of additional information the tract boundaries that are still in eff ect this research identifi ed trails, structures, through GIS technologies. Most impor- today. A nearby, deeply cut logging road culturally managed vegetation (e.g., log- tantly, however, by using a combination of (not highlighted) attests to the volume of ging or lack thereof), and docks. At many old and new technologies, this research wood removed from nearby tracts, and locations, past logging activities still exert provides a glimpse into the past cultural bare earth can be seen extending south a dominating infl uence over the landscape, landscapes of Ojibwe residents, enhanc- and west from tract 01-101. Combined with as evidenced in historical clear-cutting ing preservation of the land with a deeper tract 01-101’s current BIA trust status, these and abandoned road and rail networks. At understanding of its meaning. features suggest that it was protected from other places, thick stands of pine suggest clear-cutting through private ownership, (and physically obscure) Ojibwe owner- References providing further visual evidence in sup- ship and land use. In still other areas, Bullard, P. C., and S. S. Scovil. 1930. Preliminary port of the archeology that the land was extensive logging reveals the bare-earth report to International Joint Commission an off -reservation allotment to a native expression of a long history of Ojibwe relating to offi cial reference regarding levels Ojibwe family as of 1927. In addition, the use through standing structures, mounds, of Rainy Lake and other Upper Waters. aerial photographs demonstrate a contrast trails, and portages. F. A. Acland, Printer to the King’s Most Excellent Majesty, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. between Ojibwe and some European land Manuscript on fi le at Voyageurs National management practices, and provide ex- The 1927 cultural landscape of Voyageurs Park, International Falls, Minnesota, USA. planations for why the vegetation on tract National Park is more evident today as a 01-101 remains so diff erent from the rest of result of this research and demonstrates Lynott, M. J., J. J. Richner, and M. Thompson. the park today. a variety of Ojibwe cultural connections, 1986. Archeological investigations at including water travel, family lands, social Voyageurs National Park, 1979 and 1980. Occasional Studies in Anthropology To the south of tract 01-101 is a set of over- connections, and vegetation manage- Number 16. National Park Service, Midwest land trails that appear to follow drainages ment. These fi ndings directly apply to Archeological Center, Lincoln, Nebraska, and skirt high ground. Although archeo- resource management and the way the USA. logical sites are known in the vicinity of park interprets the culturally modifi ed the trail, there was nothing to link these spaces between archeological sites. As Richner, J. J. 2002. People of the Thick Fir sites interpretively. Given the clear evi- another example, the trees at Alligator Woods: Two hundred years of Bois Forte Chippewa occupation of the Voyageurs dence of traffi c between the northern and Bay were known to be virgin timber. We National Park area. Special Report Number 3. southern shores, however, it now seems now understand how and when they were National Park Service, Midwest Archeological that previously disparate archeological protected from logging, lending his- Center, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA. sites may indeed be part of a community torical and cultural value to an otherwise or network of habitation sites. Moreover, natural resource. For natural resource About the author it is known that King Williams Narrows management itself, there is evidence of Andrew LaBounty (andrew_labounty@ does not freeze completely in the winter fi re throughout the park, contributing to nps.gov) is an integrated resources because of its rapid fl ow, and is there- the establishment of a fi re history and the technician at Voyageurs National Park in fore unsafe as a winter walking trail. It is relative ages and burn frequency of old International Falls, Minnesota. therefore likely that the trail seen in the growth at Voyageurs. 1927 aerial photos is the traditional winter passage between Crane Lake and Alligator