The 2015 Preliminary Archaeology Report on the study of the Port Blakely Yama historical site has just been released. The report summarizes the field research conducted this summer by the Olympic College Archaeology Field School in collaboration with the BI Historical Museum, BI Metro Parks & Recreation, BI Japanese American Community, BI Historic Preservation Commission, and Kitsap County Historical Society and Museum. Over the 8-week summer program, participants mapped the turn-of-the-last century settlement of Blakely Mill workers of Japanese descent and their families, recovering nearly 2,500 artifacts in the process.
Now you can find out what the archaeologists found out. Dr. Robert Drolet, Professor of Anthropology at Olympic College, will be sharing the findings this next Monday, October 12, at St. Barnabas Parish Hall, from 7 to 8 p.m.
In the 1990s, archaeologist William Daugherty conducted initial inspections and surface artifact collection at the 7-acre site. In 2012 and 2013, Bainbridge Island Historical Museum staff including Curator Rick Chandler continued the preliminary work. Their work sparked an effort to protect the site and further investigate it.
Drolet was inspired by the findings to create a multi-year research design for the site and to establish a new Olympic College Archaeology Field School and have the course certified by the Register of Professional Archaeologists, a national organization sponsoring archaeological training in the United States. The Field School and its partners were then able to secure a permit from the Washington State Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation to initiate the site investigations.
In his report, Drolet laments the loss of of the historical record over the last 40 years to looting. Nevertheless, he explains, “Yama represents one of the only immigrant Japanese settlements left in the Pacific Northwest.”
This summer’s 8-week Field School season participants conducted the first systematic survey of the site. The Olympic College part of the project was designed for student training as well as public participation. Drolet, Professor of Archaeology Floyd Aranyosi, Japanese research assistant Etsuko Evans, and field/lab supervisors Victoria Wellington and Hanna Reynolds were joined by 15 students enrolled in the OC Archaeology Field School course. The majority of students were local, but some came from universities and colleges in California, Colorado, Iowa, and Wyoming.
The research grants that supported the 2015 archaeology field school season were awarded by the Bainbridge Island Parks Foundation, the Bainbridge Island Rotary, and the Bainbridge Island Community Foundation. Additional funding was provided by the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum, Olympic College, and the Olympic College Foundation. Cultural Resource Consultants, Inc., the City of Bainbridge Island, and Yama Project institution partners provided fieldwork equipment.
Laboratory work on the Yama collection will be completed in the next few months. Fieldwork is scheduled to continue each summer through 2017.
Droplet’s talk starts at 7 p.m. October 12 at the St. Barnabas Parish Hall, 1187 Wyatt Way NW. The event is free to the public.
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Photo by Sarah Lane.