A New View of the Battle of the Wabash

FAIN: GE-261129-18

Ball State University (Muncie, IN 47306-1022)
Christine K. Thompson (Project Director: January 2018 to October 2022)

Planning for a traveling exhibition and related public programs about the Battle of the Wabash, a 1791 Native American military victory over the U.S. Army.

Ball State University, Department of Anthropology, Applied Anthropology Laboratories (AAL) and the Ohio History Connection request a $74,875 exhibition planning grant to plan A New View of the Battle of the Wabash, a traveling exhibition that will be displayed at the Ohio History Connection and multiple American Indian tribal museums throughout the nation. The format of A New View will include both museum exhibits and associated public presentations by humanities scholars and American Indian tribal members co-created and co-designed with descendant tribes. A New View will be a traveling exhibition for this significant Northwest Indian War battle, created with tribal communities for tribal communities.

Associated Products

A Walking Tour of St. Clair's Defeat / Battle of Fort Recovery Battlefield (Film/TV/Video Broadcast or Recording)
Title: A Walking Tour of St. Clair's Defeat / Battle of Fort Recovery Battlefield
Writer: Christine Thompson
Writer: Kevin C. Nolan
Director: Christine Thompson
Director: Kevin C. Nolan
Director: Bob Dawson
Producer: Bob Dawson
Abstract: This video is a 15-minute walking tour of the battlefield of St. Clair's Defeat and the Battle of Fort Recovery, located in Fort Recovery, Ohio. The video was shown at the virtual Ohio Tribal Nations Conference in October 2021.
Year: 2021
Primary URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0GyuCBwGsw
Primary URL Description: YouTube link for "A Walking Tour of St. Clair's Defeat / Battle of Fort Recovery Battlefield"
Format: Web

Engaging Communities through Conflict: A Case Study in the Development of Truly Engaged Scholarship in Two Communities (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: Engaging Communities through Conflict: A Case Study in the Development of Truly Engaged Scholarship in Two Communities
Author: Christine Thompson
Author: Kevin C. Nolan
Abstract: Initiation of community engaged scholarship is not an event. It is often a long-term developmental process, requires recursive planning and assessment, and often engages multiple communities. We present a case study of a research project that grew into a community and collaborative archaeological endeavor that balances engagement between two descendant communities of opposing sides of St. Clair’s Defeat, and the Northwest Indian War. Bridging the cultural gap between these two communities while maintaining commitment to accurate retelling of historical narrative presents many challenges. However, these challenges present direct opportunities to use anthropology in the public sphere to foster empathy and understanding through historical archaeological context. We engage with the popular, but uncritically one-sided, narrative represented in historical public interpretation and even school curricula. We confront this narrative with the full context of the historical and archaeological record. This confrontation facilitates frank, educational discussions about the innate humanity of the other side, leading to reflections about assumptions and a critical assessment of identity and self-history. These reflections enable engagement of both communities with the history and consequences of colonization for American Indians formerly of the Northwest Territory and beyond.
Date: 3/16/2021
Conference Name: Society for American Archaeology, 86th Annual Meeting

A New View of the Battle of the Wabash: NEH Public Humanities Project update (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: A New View of the Battle of the Wabash: NEH Public Humanities Project update
Author: Christine Thompson
Author: Kevin C. Nolan
Abstract: A New View explores the battle via a new interpretive model based on recent archaeological results, framed in community-engaged scholarship. We build up and upon trusting relationships with tribal partners to co-create and co-design a traveling exhibit that truly represents and reflects the views of American Indians. The end product will be a traveling exhibit and presentations created with tribal communities for tribal communities.
Date: 10/24/2019
Conference Name: Ohio Tribal Nations Conference, sponsored by the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Ohio History Connection

St. Clair's Defeat Battlefield Tour and National Endowment for the Humanities Grant Kickoff (Conference Paper/Presentation)
Title: St. Clair's Defeat Battlefield Tour and National Endowment for the Humanities Grant Kickoff
Author: Christine Thompson
Author: Kevin C. Nolan
Abstract: A New View explores the battle via a new interpretive model based on recent archaeological results, framed in community-engaged scholarship. We build up and upon trusting relationships with tribal partners to co-create and co-design a traveling exhibit that truly represents and reflects the views of American Indians. The end product will be a traveling exhibit and presentations created with tribal communities for tribal communities.
Date: 10/18/2021
Conference Name: Ohio Tribal Nations Conference, sponsored by the Ohio Department of Transportation and the Ohio History Connection

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