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HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
The location of Fort Vancouver was chosen because of the
geography and natural resources of the Columbian River. This is a great River in
the North West and drains into the Pacific Ocean. This allowed shipping goods
in and out of this area an easier task. Many diverse cultures came to this area
to work: English, Scots, French-Canadians, Hawaiians, as well as approximately
30 Native American tribes that were already using this area for trading. Under
John McLoughlin?s leadership these cultures worked peacefully together.
Native
groups lived along this river for many years. Fishing, hunting and gathering
activities were determined by the seasons. Chinook Indians lived in the lower
part of the Columbia where they traded salmon, sturgeon and berries with the
Clatsop, another local tribe. The Chinook women played a role in the trading
process. Trade could not be possible without the use of the canoe; some
measuring forty to fifty feet long could carry thirty people.
In the early
1800?s The Hudson?s Bay Company (HBC) was commission by the British Crown to
move into Canada and dominate the western fur trade. George Simpson, a Scotsman,
governed the HBC in North America, which consisted of Fort George, Fort Nez
Perce, Spokane House and Kootenai House. Simpson explored the area and
discovered what would become Fort Vancouver, the hub of trading and supply for
all of the companies. John McLaughlin became Chief Factor for the Fort, as a
physician. He spoke English, French languages, and Chinook Jargon, the trading
language. He was fair and well liked by many. He traded with Indians and
Trappers and provided supplies for Settlers. He was a man of rules and kept to
them, which proved successful at the Fort.
Fort Vancouver was to supply England
and other countries with fur. The trappers were French and Scottish, known as
Voyageurs. Their physical appearance, short and muscular, was considered ideal
for long hours in the canoes and for times when canoes were carried over the
waterways. Voyageurs were the backbone of the trade, forming a strong
transportation system for moving freight and personnel. Voyageurs were
encouraged to take Native American wives because the HBC wanted to keep the
trade peaceful. Wives and children would help by cleaning and tanning the furs,
harvesting, cooking food, and hunting. Indians greeted brigades with trust. HBC
also provided them with supplies like four-point blankets, beads, mirrors and
bells. Marriages to the Native Americans helped the brigade?s success.
Trading
was not the only opportunity at the Fort, but needs for manpower was required as
well. Hawaiians worked as general laborers. English ships stopped in the
Sandwich Islands, now the Hawaiian Islands, to take on food and water, where
natives were offered jobs. The English found that the Hawaiians (Kanakas) were
skilled on the ships and could swim, unlike the other sailors. At Fort
Vancouver, Hawaiians became the backbone of the lumbering crews, preparing and
managing rafts of lumber that floated down the Columbia. French-Canadians were
the farmers and harvesters of fruit. Generally, skilled craftsmen, such as
coopers, blacksmiths, carpenters and sawyers, were from Europe. All of these
groups kept the Fort running and McLoughlin helped settlers as they crossed the
Oregon Trial to find a place to settle. He would provide wagons, fresh horses,
food, and other supplies needed to finish their trip, at the displeasure of the
leaders of the HBC.
Fort Vancouver and the Kanaka Village were stable during
the trading period (approximately 1820-1845). During this period, about 30
gentlemen from the HBC resided inside the walls of the Fort, while 600 - 1000
men, women and children lived in the village. The village was called Kanaka
village meaning person or human. The people of these diverse cultures had to
learn about each other?s cultures and customs while working and living
together.. Although not much is known about this village, there is evidence
telling of these cultures and how they contributed to the live of the Fort.
This lesson is about these cultures and how they managed to get along during
this period with little conflict. They managed to get along in a small area
along the Columbia River. The history of Fort Vancouver and the Kanaka Village
are reflected at the historical site today and its connection to the Pacific
Northwest in general.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
1. To identify the ethnic groups
and nationalities residing in and around Fort Vancouver from its creation in the
1820?s to 1860.
2. To understand why Fort Vancouver became the crossroads for
many ethnic groups and nationalities in the Pacific Northwest during this time
period.
STUDENT MATERIALS:
Maps referred to in the Getting Started &
Locating the Site sections of this lesson.
Pictures referred to in the Visual
Evidence section of this lesson.
Access to the internet for additional research
(some recommended websites are listed in the Supplementary Resources section of
this lesson.)
GETTING STARTED ACTIVITY:
http://content-dev.lib.washington.edu/cgi-bin/viewer.exe?CISORO
OT=/loc&CISOPTR=2171&CISOMODE=grid
INQUIRY QUESTIONS:
1. What seems to
be the center of this picture? Explain why you think this.
2. Describe what
else is in this picture. (What details, such as people, objects, landscape ?
do you notice?)
3. Describe what is happening in this picture. (Define the
activities occurring.)
4. Identify the pathways leading to and from this
settlement.
5. Identify the importance of the wagons in this picture and
describe their pathways.
6. What questions do you have about this lithograph?
How might you find answers to these questions?
SITE LOCATION:
Northwest
Hudson's Bay Company's operations in western North America
(click on image for
an enlargement in a new window)
http://www.nps.gov/fova/gmp/gmp0.htm
1. Locate Fort
Vancouver. The fort is located in what current day state?
2. How do you think
the proximity to water ways affected its success as a major trading post? How
might other natural features have affected the settlement of this area?
3. How
do you think goods were transported in this area?
4. How might its general
isolation have led to cooperation of the various groups in the area?
Look of
the Village
http://www.nps.gov/fova/villagelook.htm
1. Are there
various neighborhoods in the village? Looking at families last names, are the
neighborhoods broken down by ethnicity? List the names of the families and what
cultural background they might be a part of.
2. Looking a the different areas
of the village who do you think would have lived in each area. What kinds of
jobs would each group have had?
3. Why do you think that the historical focus
in this century has been the fort, when the village and general settlement
extended well beyond the walls of Fort Vancouver itself?
PLACE DESCRIPTION:
In 1805 on his way to the Pacific Ocean, Meriwether Lewis described a bend in
the Columbia River as "the only desirable situation for a settlement on the
western side of the Rocky Mountains" and in less than twenty years his insight
proved to be true as a vibrant trading village sprung up here around the Hudson
Bay Company?s Fort Vancouver. This site, in the shadows of Mt. Hood & Mt. St.
Helens and along the mighty waters of the Columbia, allowed access to and
control of the pathways reaching inward to the riches of interior North America
and outward to the bountiful northern Pacific waters full of otter, salmon, and
international trading vessels. Along these paths, the English, Native
Americans, French-Canadian voyageurs, Russians, Americans, Scots, the Métis,
and native Hawaiians converged on the village linked together by a cooperative
interest in maximizing the trading potential of the natural resources found
throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Chinookan traders along the Columbia had
long served as middlemen in local trade, but the arrival of the Hudson Bay
Company truly internationalized this trade and brought a confluence of cultures
into the area. The surrounding, fertile fields full of wapato and camas
nourished the growing village. It was not uncommon to find in the prosperous
village intermarriages between the traders and native women, a Chinookan Jargon
allowing communication between a potpourri of languages, Catholic missionaries,
numerous tradesmen and laborers, and a colorful Hawaiian contingent who lent
the village its name- Kanaka.
In a truly unique way, Kanaka thrived as a
cooperative crossroads driven by trade. This lasted up until around the opening
of the Oregon Trail. This new pathway, teeming with American settlers and the
U.S. Army marked the beginning of a new direction for the Crossroads of the
Columbia as the legacy of the cooperative village was soon left behind.
DETERMINING FACTS:
COPY OF ORIGINAL CENSUS TAKEN IN 1850
BY JOSEPH MEEK
Statistics of the First Federal Census of Oregon Territory, Free Inhabitants of
Clark County. Enumerated, beginning October 30, 1850.
House and Family no.
Name of family Age Sex Color Occupation Est. real value Birthplace
1 Antoine,
Gober 52 M M Farmer 2000 Canada
Arshela G. 28 F M OT
Antoine Jr. 5 M M OT
Mary G. 3 F M OT
Joseph G. 1 M M OT
Julia G. 8 F M OT
Baptista G. 10 M M OT
2 Peter O. Bunlord 25 M Sailor 1000 Scotland
T.M.
Wallace, 45 M Cabinet Maker
VT
Isabelle W. 31 F Scotland
Sally W. 9 F MO
Rosetta W. 4 F OT
Fernando W.
1 M OT
KEY/ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
1. Color: M=Mixed
2. Birthplace:
OT=Oregon Territory
3. Fort Vancouver is in Clark County, Washington.
Questions
1. What type of information does this graph give us?
2. After
reading the graph, how would you describe the first family? The second family?
Can you determine the ethnicity of the members of both families?
3. Why is the
"color" or ethnicity of the second family blank?
4. Based on your
understanding of the people who lived in the Fort and the Village, where do you
think these two families lived?
VISUAL EVIDENCE:
IMAGE #1: Outside the
fort 1845-46 view of Fort Vancouver attributed to John Mix Stanley
http://www.nps.gov/fova/hsr/images/fig1-15.jpg
1. What do
you think this is a drawing of?
2. What time period do you think it takes
place it? Support your ideas with evidence from the drawing?
3. What type of
area do you think it is? Support your ideas with evidence from the drawing.
IMAGE #2: http://www.nps.gov/fova/hsr/images/fig1-26.jpg Sketch of
Fort Vancouver from the Northwest, c .1860, by Lieut. John W. Hopkins
1. Look
closely at the drawing of Kanaka village. What compare it to Map 2 of Kanaka
village what is different from the two drawings?
2. What does the difference
say about what is important to the people who live there?
3. What do you think
happened to the people who lived in the village
SUMMARY ACTIVITIES:
Activity #1 : Characters in Fort Vancouver and Kanaka Village (Alyson Baker)
After becoming familiar with the subject and maps, have the students begin to
research the diverse cultures on this area. Providing some information for
research to start and support them in their endives of their own studies.
Students will be put into groups of four and be given a culture in which they
will research. After they have gather information they will be given a 5x7
card. On this card they will: draw their character in their customary clothing
on one side, on the other side they will give a name, age, occupation,
characteristics, where and what they lived in the village or fort. After the
students will share about their character and show on the map where they may
have lived.
ACTIVITY #2: ECONOMIC TRADE BETWEEN THE FORT & THE KANAKA
VILLAGE (Beth Doman)
The goal of this lesson is to get students to consider
the value of items that individuals had to trade at Fort Vancouver during the
1840s. Students should consider the difficulty of acquisition of their items
and its inherent value.
Have student do research on the items offered for
trade at Fort Vancouver during this time period. The teacher can research this
information ahead of time and provide the information for the students, or
allow them to research this information on their own on the internet (begin
with the Fort Vancouver website http://www.nps.gov/fova/).
Divide students into groups
of 3 - 4. Identify some of the groups as Native Americans, Hawaiians, or other
groups from the Kanaka Village. Assign the remaining groups to be traders
inside the HBC Store inside the fort. Minimize the number of items that are to
be traded from each side, so it does not get overwhelming to the students.
Pair up the groups (one group of Village traders to be matched up with one
group of HBC store traders). Instruct each side to get the best trade
possible. Each side should explain the value of their trade items and get the
most possible. Allow the groups about 10 minutes to complete their trades.
After the trades have completed, have each group report back the results.
Also, have the students discuss the process ? did arguing erupt? Did they feel
that they got the best trade possible? Also, discuss their overall opinions
regarding the opposing groups ? would they be willing to trade in the future?
Remind the students that relationships between the groups were very important
at Fort Vancouver and Kanaka Village, and long term trade relationships were
more important than one time trade needs.
ACTIVITY #3: PATHWAYS TO KANAKA
(Ray Fini)
Explain to the students the diversity of cultures found at Kanaka
and Fort Vancouver. Focus on how each of these groups has traveled along or
back and forth on a "pathway" to arrive at the trading village. What was the
group traveling to the village to get? What skills/goods/resources were the
groups bringing to the village to share/trade?
How did they travel along their
pathway and from where were they coming from?
The students will be broken
into groups of 3-4 to investigate each one of these groups.
The following
groups could be examined:
Kanakas Voyageurs Chinook English gentlemen( HBC
men)
Native American wives interior tribes(ex. Nez Perce) coastal tribes
American settlers U.S. Army Russians
Métis Catholic missionaries
Comparative posters could be completed to highlight the similarities &
differences between these groups. Suggested focus could be on the following:
1.
Benefits: how this group benefited from the village. Resources received, jobs,
status gained, etc.
2. Contributions: what this group contributed to the
community as a whole. Ex.?s-trading items, diversity, job skills, order,
providing transportation, bridging of cultures, etc.
3. Struggles: describe
what this group struggled with and what they had to overcome or what they were
not able to overcome.
4. Map: create a map showing the pathway(s) the group
would take to get to the village. Clearly label the relevant places and route.
ACTIVITY #4 - Research on the inhabitants of Fort Vancouver and the Village (
Mark Cross)
This activity will provide you with a link to research the
inhabitants of the Fort and Village from 1845 to 1855. The purpose of the
activity is for you to determine as much information as possible about these
people, e.g., where were they born, what was their occupation, what was their
religion, etc.
http://www.vancouver.wsu.edu/crbeha/browse.htm
1. Go to
the above link and research the 2 groups: people from Scotland and from Hawaii.
Find as much demographic information about these two groups of people using
the above link.
2. Is one group easier to research than the other? If so, why
do you think that is true?
ACTIVITY #5- Crossroads Journal (Toby Edwards)
Explain to the students that much of what we know about the village comes from
primary sources, including written sources. Yet many groups have not left
behind a written trail either because of an inability to write or because they
rely on an oral tradition rather than a written tradition.
After fully
investigating this topic the student will create this missing history by
completing a series of journal entries. The entries should capture the
observations of the individual as they go through their everyday life in and
around the village. Focus can be put on interactions within their cultural
group and their perceptions of and interactions with the many other cultural
groups. The writing should emphasis the feelings, emotions, biases, worries,
fears, doubts, and observations that this individual is experiencing.
The
series of entries should follow the individual along the pathways that took
them to and from Kanaka village and describe the experience they had once they
got there.
Suggested Topics to include in journal entries:
1. Route: describe
the route taken to the village.
2. Connection to the village: their
role/occupation/status within Kanaka
3.
Feelings/Emotions/Anxieties/Hopes/Biases
RESOURCES:
Armitage, Susan and
Elizabeth Jameson. The Women's West. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press,
1987.
Kanaka Village-
www.columbian.com/reflections/kanaka1.html
Oregon
Historical Society, Oregon History Project-
http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/index.cfm
American Indians of the Pacific Northwest- http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/award98/wauhtml/aipnhome.html
Kanaka Village at Fort Vancouver-
www.runningdeerslonghouse.com/webdoc392.htm
Fort Vancouver-
http://www.nps.gov/fova/
Oregon Territory, created by the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1841 (Map)-
http://www.ohs.org/education/oregonhistory/historical_records/d
spDocument.cfm?doc_ID=000E7F40-CFFB-1DBD-BB3880B05272FE9F
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR:
Alyson Baker: 8th grade SS, Battle Ground, WA.
Mark E. Cross: 11th &
12th grade, St. Louis, MO.
Elizabeth Doman: 8th grade SS, Battle Ground, WA.
Toby Edwards: 5th, 6th, 7th grade, Marshfield, MA.
Ray Fini: 8th grade
Geography, St. Paul, MN.
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