A $10,000 Heritage Preservative Grant administered by the Minnesota Historical Society was used to perform a Phase II archaeological site evaluation of a portion of the St. Francis Xavier Church site at Chippewa City.
The purpose was to characterize archaeological deposits near the foundation wall of the church as well as the extent of soil disturbance from previous work on the foundation.
The project also provided an understanding of the church yard’s archaeology as a whole while ensuring that any future work on the building doesn’t inadvertently disturb potential deposits, including graves.
The Grand Portage National Monument employees and volunteers conducted an archaeological survey and inventory within the yard of the historic St. Francis Xavier Catholic Ojibwe church. They performed the work on behalf of the Grand Portage Tribal Historic Preservation Officer and the Cook County Historical Society.
Three weeks were devoted to shovel testing, unit excavation, and metal detecting to determine foundation depth and stability and to explore whether archaeological remains with integrity and significance remain in the area.
Nothing much of interest was found during the dig, said Cook County Historical Society Executive Director Carrie Johnson.
“The reason the project was done is because the church is in need of repair, and we wanted to make sure there was nothing in the church yard that would be disturbed if foundation repair and big machinery was required,” added Johnson.
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