Interpretations of Native North American Life: Material Contributions to Ethnohistory Paperback - 2003

From the jacket flap

Bringing together the perspectives of archaeologists, ethnohistorians, and art historians, these tightly integrated case studies highlight the significance of material objects to the study and interpretation of Native North American culture, history, and identity. Each chapter begins with discussion of concrete, tangible products of Native American activities that were made and used to meet basic human needs or to participate in social and religious life -- objects that nonliterate societies often relied on for communication. The studies, drawn from throughout the continent, demonstrate some of the ways in which archaeological remains and ethnographic specimens can be analyzed in conjunction with other sources of historical data such as written texts and oral history. The theoretical approaches and research methodologies provide a blueprint for interdisciplinary work that will appeal to a range of specialists both within and beyond anthropology, history, and Native American studies. With broad implications for studies anywhere people left material traces of their lives, this work expands our understanding of Native culture change and continuity from the pre-Columbian era through the present.