Celebrating Pontiac archeology
Dale Shutt
Local Journalism Initative
QUYON: On November 29, at the Quyon Community Centre, educator Audrey Lapointe, historian Maude Lambert, and Friends of Chats Falls president Deborah Powell presented the findings from an archeological dig conducted at Indian Point near Chats Falls on the Kichi Zībī / Ottawa River.
Chats Falls, now the site of the Chats Falls Dam, was originally a 35’ waterfall. The falls presented a significant obstacle to all travellers on the river, forcing Anishinabe Algonquin, coureur des bois, and voyageurs alike to portage around it.
The community volunteer group Friends of Chats Falls, supported by the MRC Des Collines and Municipality of Pontiac, recognized that this obstacle site could also provide archeologists and citizens the opportunity to discover the area’s history.
Over two weekends in September, archaeologists, historians, community members, and local students gathered for the second year of digs at Indian Point. Their findings unearthed various artifacts, and more significantly, the foundations of a building. The original building, deemed a homestead circa 1786, later became the site of a series of trading posts ending with the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1821.
The artifacts found at the site include pottery, china, glass, brass buttons, metal objects, and clay pipes used by the voyageurs who plied the waterway – all of which speak volumes about the people who passed through or lived there.
The original area surveys show that the site at Indian Point is not the only potential place of interest. The group hopes that further research will be undertaken, perhaps in collaboration with representatives of the Historical Society of Outaouais, the Outaouais Regional Museum and the MRC Pontiac, which attended the presentation and expressed interest in the Indian Point project.
Information about the project and any further projects is available at the Friends of Chats Falls website and Facebook page.
Photo – Educator Audrey Lapointe, historian Maude-Emmanuelle Lambert, and Friends of Chats Falls president Deborah Powell give a presentation on the findings of the 2024 Archéo-Pontiac dig, Nov. 29, at the Quyon Community Centre. (DP)
