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The Charity Site Guide to a 17th Century Huron Village on Christian Island |
Drawing by Cathy Merritt
Introduction | What Is The Charity Site | The Final Years In Huronia | Prisoners On Christian Highland | The Final Retreat | Charity Site: The Excavation | Future Work & Acknowledgments
CHARITY SITE: THE EXCAVATION
The history of these years is largely known to us from the records left by the Jesuit priests living amongst the Huron had the time. But these reports have always been questioned. Can it be possible that the Jesuits could accurately the pit events and cultures so wholly foreign to them? The story that Christian Island has to tell is a truly important and intriguing one. The Jesuit accounts just scratched the surface, giving us a time line, and a single dimension of these events. In this case, are to logical investigation allows us to experience the physical, human side of the story. Every bit of data recorded and all artifacts recovered actually played a part in the drama. Our excavations of the Charity Site should be seen as a powerful tool to help us rediscover what has been lost and forgotten about an important chapter in the history of Ontario.
The Charity Site was discovered in 1987 during an archaeological survey of the Christian Island Reserve by the London Museum of Archeology. In 1991 Northeastern Archaeological Associates was awarded the contract to expand investigations of the site. Our task was to train a large group of native excavators in archaeological techniques while we explored the nature of the village.
The evidence of Charity provides clear indications that its residents were a population living under great stress. The remains of the three longhouses excavated contrast with what is knowen to be typical of Huron dwellings in this period. Charity's longhouses where much narrower and shorter and unusually close together.
There were also indications that food was scarce as very little burned animal bones were recovered. The startling scarcity of acorns, corn, and animal bones fragments strongly suggest a very short occupation of the sites, and a restricted food supply.
Other artifacts recovered include a large number of pottery vessel fragments, includes over 100 decorated rim sherds, over 100 ceramic pipes sections, more than 60 glass beads and fragments and a considerable amount of metal, mainly copper of European origin, use and modified by the Huron inhabitants.
The 1991 excavations have begun to throw light on a tantalizing mastery, of which we are only beginning to see the outlines. The Charity Site is vital to any understanding of the major of your own life and relationships with the French in the mid 17th century. Until these excavations, much of what was known about the demise of the Huron Nation was taken solely from the not necessarily reliable Jesuit Relations. Charity provides us with a unique opportunity to combine historical accounts with our geological data. The creation of the Charity Site Exhibit gives the public access to forgotten artifacts that have played a fascinating part in Ontario's pass.
