Native Responses to the Russian Mercantile Colony of Fort Ross, Northern California

Abstract

Fort Ross served as the commercial center for the Russian-American Company in California from 1812 to 1841. The company employed a mixed workforce of Europeans, Creoles, native Alaskans, and native Californians as administrators, craftsmen, fur hunters, and agricultural laborers. An on-going archaeological investigation is examining local native responses to Russian colonial practices in northern California. We present the results of an archaeological survey of the Fort Ross State Historic park. These data are employed to address research questions concerning the acculturation process among native workers in a mercantile colony, and the long-term effects of multi-ethnic interaction and cohabitation as sources of cultural change.