lO SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 66 



The oldest site is to be found covering a large area about two and 

 one-half miles northeast of La Pointe village. The anciently occupied 

 area extended from the southeastern shore to the 'northwestern 

 shore at this point. ( See map 2, p. 9.) By the year 1 500, in all proba- 

 bility, the Ojibwa had estabhshed themselves in this area. They 

 continued to occupy it and adjacent territory to the southwest until 

 1620. This territory to the southwest of the oldest site is referred 

 to elsewhere in this paper as the " French Fort Site." Though 

 geographically and chronologically a subdivision of the larger and 

 older site northeast of it, the French Fort Site was occupied long 

 after the oldest site had been deserted. In fact, the French Fort 

 Site was the seat of the Ojibwa tribe until well along in the nine- 

 teenth century. The last, and the least important, Ojibwa site and 

 burial ground on La Pointe Island is that immediately to the north 

 of the " Old Mission." It is small, and, because recent and Christian, 

 it is not of archeological interest. 



Almost all of the oldest site is covered by woods. Some of'it is in 

 farms. Where fields now exist, the writer learned, the plentiful 

 skeletal material is in fairly good condition owing to the fact that the 

 sun dries out the sandy soil and the bones it contains. In the woods, 

 conditions are probably less favorable, owing to roots and, above all, 

 to dampness. 



A serious difficulty on the island, however, is the question of labor. 

 The mixed-bloods refuse to disturb the graves of their ancestors, 

 and white laborers in the region of Chequamegon Bay were found 

 to be few, expensive, and of doubtful quality. 



Two or three miles south of the French Fort Site lies Long Island, 

 where the Ojibwa first camped, about 1490. There are few trees 

 upon Long Island, and the northwestern extremity of it, on which 

 the village was, seems an ideal place for the archeologist. Because 

 of its remoteness it is not, like the sites on La Pointe Island, liable to 

 hostilities on the part of the half-breeds of La Pointe, who, Mr. 

 Salmon assured me, would not hesitate to attempt a forcible preven- 

 tion of excavations which they consider sacrilegious, at least on the 

 more recent French Fort Site. 



So much for present conditions on La Pointe Island and on Long 

 Island. 



The following table gives a brief chronological recapitulation of 

 the various sites. 



