American Indians and the Market Economy, 1775-1850
152 pages, 6 1/8 x 9 1/4
15 illustrations
Paperback
Release Date:14 Jan 2011
ISBN:9780817356262
American Indians and the Market Economy, 1775-1850
University of Alabama Press
Provides a clear view of the realities of the economic and social interactions between Native groups and the expanding Euro-American population
The last quarter of the 18th century was a period of extensive political, economic, and social change in North America, as the continent-wide struggle between European superpowers waned. Native groups found themselves enmeshed in the market economy and new state forms of control, among other new threats to their cultural survival. Native populations throughout North America actively engaged the expanding marketplace in a variety of economic and social forms. These actions, often driven by and expressed through changes in material culture, were supported by a desire to maintain distinctive ethnic identities.
Illustrating the diversity of Native adaptations in an increasingly hostile and marginalized world, this volume is continental in scope—ranging from Connecticut to the Carolinas, and westward through Texas and Colorado. Calling on various theoretical perspectives, the authors provide nuanced perspectives on material culture use as a manipulation of the market economy. A thorough examination of artifacts used by Native Americans, whether of Euro-American or Native origin, this volume provides a clear view of the realities of the economic and social interactions between Native groups and the expanding Euro-American population and the engagement of these Native groups in determining their own fate.
The last quarter of the 18th century was a period of extensive political, economic, and social change in North America, as the continent-wide struggle between European superpowers waned. Native groups found themselves enmeshed in the market economy and new state forms of control, among other new threats to their cultural survival. Native populations throughout North America actively engaged the expanding marketplace in a variety of economic and social forms. These actions, often driven by and expressed through changes in material culture, were supported by a desire to maintain distinctive ethnic identities.
Illustrating the diversity of Native adaptations in an increasingly hostile and marginalized world, this volume is continental in scope—ranging from Connecticut to the Carolinas, and westward through Texas and Colorado. Calling on various theoretical perspectives, the authors provide nuanced perspectives on material culture use as a manipulation of the market economy. A thorough examination of artifacts used by Native Americans, whether of Euro-American or Native origin, this volume provides a clear view of the realities of the economic and social interactions between Native groups and the expanding Euro-American population and the engagement of these Native groups in determining their own fate.
. . . a valuable addition to the literature on the archaeology of colonialism because it fills a geographic and temporal gap in the archaeological study of the dynamics of intercultural interactions in North America.' —Southeastern Archaeology
A significant contribution to both archaeological and Native American studies.’ —Heather A. Lapham, author of Hunting for Hides: Deerskins, Status, and Cultural Change in the Prehistoric Appalachians
Lance Greene is assistant professor of anthropology at American University in Washington, D.C.
Mark R. Plane is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Mark R. Plane is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
