User:Lulj2/Fort Ross, California

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Fort Ross (Russian: Форт-Росс), originally Fortress Ross (pre-reformed Russian: Крѣпость Россъ, tr. Krepostʹ Ross), is a former Russian establishment on the west coast of North America in what is now Sonoma County, California. It was the hub of the southernmost Russian settlements in North America from 1812 to 1841. Notably, it was the first multi-ethnic community in northern California, with a combination of Native Californians, Native Alaskans, and Russians. It has been the subject of archaeological investigation and is a California Historical Landmark, a National Historic Landmark, and on the National Register of Historic Places. It is part of California's Fort Ross State Historic Park.

Conflicting Views on the Excavation
When archaeologists began excavating the cemetery, there were many stakeholders they had to consider. Fort Ross is owned by the state of California and is operated by the department of parks and recreation, so they had to give permission in order for the excavation to occur. Also, the Fort Ross Interpretive Association (FRIA), who work with the park to communicate the history to the public were a part of it. Since Native American remains were involved, archaeologists had to get permissions from the nearest descendants they could find; in this case, it was the Kashaya Pomo. Another group that had a part in the excavation was the Kodiak Area Native Association (KANA), because remains of Alaskan natives were buried in the cemetery. The Russian Orthodox Church was also involved because the fort was a Russian outpost; however, there were two separate groups within the church that both laid claim to the cemetery, so archaeologists consulted with them both as to avoid friction.

With all of these different groups involved, there were a few conflicting views on what to do with the remains and how to treat them. For instance, the Russians thought that everyone buried in the cemetery, including the Kashaya and Alaskan natives, were a part of the Orthodox religion, meaning they had converted. However, many of the Kashaya did not agree with this; they had oral accounts saying that the Kashaya had moved bodies from the Russian cemetery to be buried in a more traditional manner. (Kashaya traditional burial requires that the bodies be cremated.) While some elders were curious about the excavation, to see if the archaeological evidence supported their accounts of Kashaya being removed, the majority did not want their burials excavated. Archaeologists agreed, and said they would do their best to not excavate any Kashaya graves--and if they did, they would rebury them. Later analysis would show that none of the exhumed graves were Kashaya. In contrast, the Russians supported the excavations, but wanted all of the remains reburied in the graves from which they came.

Fort Ross State Historic Park
The 3,000 acre site was purchased in 1906 by the State of California, to preserve the archaeological remains of the area. Later, more land was purchased and the park now includes some of the surrounding lands which although not originally part of the compound, still hold valuable archaeological evidence.

Threats to Preservation
Fort Ross is located on the coast, meaning it is vulnerable to erosion and other natural processes, such as acidic soil, wildfires, and even the destruction of animals like gophers. The other possible disturbance comes from cultural processes; that is, humans and their actions. Harmful activities include illegal collecting and, more generally, the wear and tear that occurs simply from people visiting the site.

Earliest Peoples
The earliest people who lived in the Fort Ross area were not the Russians; rather Native Californians. The first people who lived at the site were there during the Upper Archaic period (1000 B.C. - A.D. 500) and the Lower Emergent period (A.D. 1500 - 1500), but the main occupation began at A.D. 1500 and continued through 1812. Archaeological and ethnographic evidence suggest that the Native Californians lived in large and mostly permanent villages. In summer months, they had "special purpose camps" they would go to in order to get certain resources. This area was one of such camps, used for its access to tidal and marine resources.

Ethnographic evidence suggests that the Fort Ross area was a large part of Kashaya Pomo territory. They had their own name for the site: "Metini." Their exact arrival date is unknown, but according to linguistic and archaeological data, they moved to Metini sometime between 1,000 and 500 B.C. Archaeological data shows that the Kashaya Pomo increased their subsistence activities upon arrival at this site and gained greater diversity in their tool kits.