Peterborough Chapter - Washeo Whiskiheggan: A Hudson's Bay Company Post on the Severn River

Speaker: Katherine Davidson

Talk: Washeo Whiskiheggan: A Hudson's Bay Company Post on the Severn River

This thesis is an examination of the assemblage from the Hudson’s Bay Company Post site (GlIv-1), located in Fort Severn First Nation in Northern Ontario. Using a two-part approach, this thesis first conducts an analysis of the historic archaeological materials which were surface collected from the site between 1950 and 2017. It then discusses the results of a community engagement project which was conducted with classes from Wasaho Cree Nation School. The aim of this research is to understand more about life at a northern fur trade post, and what meaning the site and the collection has for the community.

Katherine Davidson is a recent graduate in the MA program in Anthropology at the University of New Brunswick. She first joined the OAS in 2014 during her second year in the Archaeology program at Trent University. Originally from Ottawa, she has spent her summers working for the Canadian Museum of History as a summer student and contractor, and volunteering with the Pinhey’s Point Foundation by helping to run public excavations. As part of her studies, she has participated in archaeological research projects in Ontario, Belize and Ireland. Her research interests include archaeological ethics, historic archaeology, public engagement, community based participatory research and addressing the curation crisis in Canadian collections.