W8banaki Subsistence Patterns During the 18th and 19th Centuries at the Fort Odanak Site, Québec, Canada

Built in the early eighteenth century on the banks of the Saint-François River (Québec, QC, Canada), the fortified Jesuit mission of Saint-François-de-Sales was an important W8banaki centre during the colonial period. Between 2010 and 2021, archaeological excavations conducted by the W8banaki Nation led to the discovery of the mission's remains at the Fort Odanak site (CaFe-7) in the historical centre of the village of Odanak. They revealed numerous pit features (used for food storage or refuse disposal), post moulds and hearths, along with diverse artifact assemblages. The analysis of plant macro-remains found in six pits and two hearths at the site was undertaken to document the evolution of culinary practices at the mission and to reconstruct the local environment and its exploitation by the mission's inhabitants. Results suggest the persistence of traditional Indigenous subsistence patterns during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries as well as the integration of European foods into the Abenaki diet via trade and close contact with Canadien (i.e. French Canadian) farmers in the region.