Lithic Organization, Mobility, and Place-Making at the Frog Bay Site: A Community-Based Approach

Abstract

The Frog Bay site (47BA60) has been excavated for three field seasons. Excavations in 1979 located the site and continued in 2018 – 2019 by the Geté Anishinaabe Izhichigéwin community archaeological field school. This program commenced from a sovereignty initiative surrounding the creation of the Frog Bay Tribal National Park directed by the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa. Within the park, the Frog Bay site represents a multicomponent shorebased camp that was occupied numerous times during the Archaic and Woodland stages (ca. 3000 BC – AD 900). Structured through a community-based Indigenous theoretical framework, lithic analysis and community input are used to research long-term practices of mobility, land use, and place-making associated with the Frog Bay site. These methods offer a “braided interpretation” of the activities and occupation trends at Frog Bay and explore the intrinsic value that the site continues to hold for the present-day Red Cliff community.