1. In terms of both subsistence and settlement behavior, it is true to say that the people of the archaeological Berrien phase and the historic Potawatomi appear to have adapted to the southwestern Michigan landscape is much the same way because prior to being forced out to Wisconsin, they seem to have been pro – Potawatomi.
2. According to Ron Mason, pottery very much like Berrien phase ceramics from sites in southwestern Michigan can be associated with the historically documented Potawatomi occupation of the Rock Island II site on an island in the mouth of Green Bay during the French period. This can be explained to mean that the pottery used by Berrien phase ceramics were basically similar to those of the Potawatomi. They made use of what they had to relocate with.
3. It is false to state that the Miami Indians have been accorded priority in the St. Joseph region on the basis of LaSalle’s having encountered a group of them on the St. Joseph-Kankakee portage in 1679 since fort Joseph was built on 1692, and what Cremin claims happened in the same area where a fort Joseph was in 1679.
4. The Berrien phase occupation of the Moccasin Bluff site on the St. Joseph River possibly represent a Potawatomi summer agricultural village predating their relocation to Wisconsin because they were the original people to live in that area before relocation as they escaped the Iroquoian war.
5. Observations made during the 2002 excavations at the site of Fort St. Joseph that may attest to friendly and mutually beneficial relations between the French and their Native neighbors include a gunsmith’s repair kit and a smudge pit implies that there was French protection for the Indians who were conducting fur trade.
6. a) Preserve on Galien sites: Refers sites on the Galien county around lake michigan
b) Fort Miami at St. Joseph Michigan: was a fort established in 1679 by a band of French explorers at the present day site of the city of St. Joseph Michigan.
c) Sturgeon: Refers to some species of fish.
d) Voyageur: Refers to the Indians who transported fur by canoe as a trade.
7. It is false to state that the Miami Indians encountered by LaSalle in 1679 did not long remain on the portage. In 1681-1682, he induced them to move to his newly constructed fort ( St. Louis) at Starved Rock near Utica, Illinois, where a number of tribes were uniting under the French flag to resist Iroquois incursions. They remained at Fort St. Joseph for the next 70 years after the French arrived, and provided them with protection this long!
8. The finding of the brass item at this time is interesting. The Potawatomi forcefully moved out to Wisconsin at around 1640. This was because of the invasion by the English. This is a clear indication that there was conflict between the Potawatomi and Europeans prior to their eviction, and this might be the source of the brass Item. I also think that it doesn’t necessarily mean that the Potawatomi were there all this time, I think this was a transition period as they were relocating.
9. The discovery and excavation of the Berrien phase Schwerdt site on the lower Kalamazoo River in the late 1970s identified a previously unrecorded type of Summer agricultural village. This is because the settlement is recorded to have been there for two centuries, which predominant with such settlements.
10. It is true to say that the size of Fort St. Joseph and its resident population overwhelmed Native residents of the valley and served to ensure the safety and prosperity of this French outpost on the frontier. The fort provided security against English intrusion and with the increase in interactions with the valley’s Native residents, at first the Miami and later the Potawatomi, saw the Potawatomi, in 1695, begin the reoccupation of their homeland!. This could have been due to overpopulation.
References:
Barrien, C. (2012). Barrien County: About this region. Retrieved from http://www.berriencounty.org/parks/?dept=1&pid=185
Nelly, C. (2012). Home: About. Retrieved from www.nps.gov/voya/
Natgeo. (2012). Environment: Sturgeon. Retrieved from environment.nationalgeographic.com//lake-sturgeon/
