Sun, Mar. 25 2012 / 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM / Cost: FREE!
101 Second Street SE / Rochester, MN
Event Contact: programs@olmstedhistory.com
Olmsted County‘s First Residents:
Archaeology Overview and Recent Survey Results
Constance Arzigian, Ph.D.
On Sunday, March 25, at 2 p.m., the Rochester Public Library will host the first Wasi Oju lecture of 2012. Dr. Constance Arzigian, Mississippi Valley Archaeology Center senior researcher and associate lecturer in Sociology and Archaeology at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, will offer an overview of past cultures in our area, from big-game hunters at the end of the Ice Age to the first farmers at 1000 A.D.
In 2010, as part of the Statewide Survey of Historical and Archaeological Sites, Dr. Arzigian received a grant from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund to study previous archaeological findings in Olmsted County and conduct a new survey of the region. This lecture will present her findings and interpret them within the broader context of research on Native cultures of our region.
Among the topics she will address are:
- How have people adapted to this region over these millennia?
- What has made it special?
- What was learned during the 2010 Olmsted County survey?
Dr. Arzigian will illustrate the lecture with slides taken during her field work and examples of artifacts, and will take questions from the audience. All participants will be able to meet and enjoy Dakota refreshments after the lecture.
Dr. Constance Arzigian received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Her research interests include the use of plants by past cultures, settlement systems, and burial practices. She is lead author of the book Minnesota’s Mounds and Burial Sites.
2012 Wasi Oju lectures are intended to educate the Rochester community on the history and culture of the Native American tribes of Minnesota. Free and open to the general public, the series is presented in partnership with the History Center of Olmsted County, the Rochester Heritage Preservation Committee, the Friends of Indian Heights, the Rochester Public Library and Celebrate Dakota!, a Mayo Clinic diversity networking group.
Wasi Oju, the Dakota name for the Zumbro River, means “pine clad” or “place of the pines.”
