“A PLEASURE GARDEN IN THE DESERT, TO WHICH I KNOW NO COMPARISON IN THIS COUNTRY”: SENECA IROQUOIS LANDSCAPE STEWARDSHIP IN THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Peregrine A Gerard-Little May 2017 © 2017 Peregrine A Gerard-Little ii “A PLEASURE GARDEN IN THE DESERT, TO WHICH I KNOW NO COMPARISON IN THIS COUNTRY”: SENECA IROQUOIS LANDSCAPE STEWARDSHIP IN THE 17TH AND 18TH CENTURIES Peregrine A Gerard-Little, Ph. D. Cornell University 2017 In this dissertation I model dynamism in 16th–18th century Seneca Haudenosaunee landscape practices through a multiscalar approach that combines archaeological data, textual sources, insights from Haudenosaunee scholars, and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) mapping. This landscape was formed by indigenous processes at the ‘periphery’ of colonial control where the effects of colonial military actions variably affected Seneca communities. Within the context of the 200-year Seneca site sequence, my material analyses focus on identification of archaeologically-recovered charcoal from three sites—Ganondagan, White Springs, and Townley-Read— successively occupied by the same community under variable political and economic conditions (ca. 1670–1754 CE). Finding strong evidence for contextually different uses of wood and forms of Seneca landscape stewardship, I conclude that that the Seneca community maintained and re-created certain kinds of relationships with the landscape through a period of difficulty and change. This research emphasizes the agentive action of Haudenosaunee people and highlights the necessity of addressing the role of past human-landscape processes in shaping not only environments encountered by early colonial figures but also those we live with today. iii BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Peregrine Gerard-Little received her B.A. in Environmental Science and Archaeology from Columbia University in the City of New York in 2008, an M.A. in Archaeology from Cornell University in 2011, an M.A. in Anthropology from Cornell University in 2013. iv For Tatyana v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This project would not have been possible without the support and contributions of many individuals and institutions. I would like to thank both the Cornell Institute of Archaeology and Material Studies and the Hirsch Fund for granting funding which allowed me to carry out and complete this project. Cornell’s American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program graciously funded consultation with Seneca community members and tribal museum and archaeology officials. The assistance of Michael Roets and Dr. Andrew Farry of the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation with the collections and materials from Ganondagan was much appreciated. Dr. Jack Rossen and Dr. Paula Turkon of Ithaca College, through their assistance with flotation of White Springs samples, made much of this analysis possible. Dr. Carol Griggs and Dr. Sturt Manning of the Cornell Dendrochronology Lab kindly provided space for charcoal analysis and assistance. Jamie Jacob’s assistance with Seneca language was invaluable. I would also like to thank the 2014 and 2015 White Springs crew who persisted in surface survey, despite minimal findings: Megan Conger, Dan Hall, Natalie Hill, Skye Hart, Taylor Hummell, Dr. Catherine Kearns, Cindy Kocik, Morgan Michel-Schottman, Samantha Sanft, and Rabindra Willford. Of course, I am deeply indebted to my committee. Dr. Kurt Jordan’s exacting scholarship has been my aspirational model, and I am grateful for his generous reading and ever-ready green pen. Thank you to Dr. Adam Smith, for always asking the ‘so what?’ question, and Dr. Jon Parmenter for being a close reader and an historian who cares about archaeology. Without the support of a community of writers, this dissertation would likely have taken considerably longer, and I am especially thankful for the suggestions and ideas (and proofreading) of Jenny Carrington, Eilis Monahan, Katherine Jarriel, and vi Kathryn Weber. The funding from the Society for the Humanities that allowed me to share work with Dr. David Blome, Dr. Carrie Fulton, Dr. Jacob Nabel, Katherine Jarriel, and Dr. Catherine Kearns, over a more delicious lunch than any of us usually had, was also much appreciated. I am also incredibly grateful to have had the friendship, intellectual companionship, and models of Dr. Catherine Kearns and Dr. Jeffrey Leon throughout my time at Cornell. Bonus points to both for introducing me to my most faithful reader and optimist-against-all-odds, Conner Wiktorowicz. I am thankful that my parents did not try too hard to dissuade me from getting a Ph.D., and to my grandmother for giving me the archaeology bug a long time ago. Of course, I bear sole responsibility for any and all errors in this work (and attempting it in the first place). vii TABLE OF CONTENTS BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ......................................................................................... iv DEDICATION .............................................................................................................. v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES ...................................................................................................... xi LIST OF TABLES ...................................................................................................... xii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 Setting ......................................................................................................................... 3 Archaeological Interpretation of Landscape Practices ............................................... 7 Iroquoian Landscapes Through Time ......................................................................... 8 Troubles with Text ..................................................................................................... 9 Landscape Lifecycles ............................................................................................... 12 Communities on the Move ....................................................................................... 13 Charcoal and Its Possibilities .................................................................................... 14 The Pleasure Garden ................................................................................................. 15 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 16 CHAPTER 2: PROCESS AND PERMANENCE: A FRAMEWORK FOR ARCHAEOLOGICAL INTERPRETATION OF LANDSCAPE STEWARDSHIP... 18 Politics of Archaeology ............................................................................................ 20 Theoretical Framing ................................................................................................. 23 Addressing ‘Things’ in Iroquoian Archaeology ....................................................... 31 Haudenosaunee Perspectives .................................................................................... 34 CHAPTER 3: ARCHAEOLOGY OF IROQUOIAN LANDSCAPES ........................ 41 Repurposing Existing Data ....................................................................................... 41 Protohistoric (1500–1630 CE) .................................................................................. 45 Settlement Structure ............................................................................................. 46 Flora ...................................................................................................................... 49 Fauna .................................................................................................................... 50 Burning ................................................................................................................. 52 Climate ................................................................................................................. 56 Postcolumbian (1630–1779 CE) ............................................................................... 56 Settlement Structure ............................................................................................. 57 Flora and Fauna .................................................................................................... 60 Burning ................................................................................................................. 66 Land Surveys ........................................................................................................ 67 Climate ................................................................................................................. 72 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 72 CHAPTER 4: NIGAY¨ËNO’D¨Ë:H, THE STEPS TAKEN: UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE-CYCLE OF A SENECA LANDSCAPE ................................................... 75 viii Introduction .............................................................................................................. 75 Writing the Lifecycles of Seneca Landscapes .......................................................... 77 Landscape Clearance and Settlements ...................................................................... 78