Archaeology, colonialism and 17th-century Native America: towards an alternative interpretation

Abstract

There is a growing concern in archaeology and related disciplines about the interpretation of Native America in the 17th century. What is being questioned is the manner in which the history of Indian people has been rendered and how their relations with Europeans have been portrayed (Axtell 1978, Cronon 1983, Fitzhugh 1985, Jennings 1975, Kehoe 1981, Martin 1987, Trigger 1980, Wolf 1982). In spite of these concerns, archaeological enquiry and interpretation have been slow in offering viable alternatives, i.e. which do not mirror the dominant society’s convenient justification for colonial expansion and settlement. By casting Indians and their actions according to images defined by popular stereotypes and those dictated by the paradigms operative in archaeological science, archaeology has contributed to the support and verification of versions of the 17th-century history that fail to recognize the identity of native Indian groups, their autonomy or their ability ‘to counter the cultural offenses of Europeans’ (Axtell 1985, p. 4).

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