Biographies of Northwest Coast Copper: A material investigation

Summary

This paper explores indigenous use of copper metal on the Northwest Coast of North America, and the impact of colonial contact on established cultural practices. Prior to contact (late 17th to early 19th century), native copper was collected, traded, and manipulated by indigenous communities that considered the material animate and powerful. Following the introduction of foreign trade materials, copper continued to be used to create culturally significant artifacts, however, strict frameworks of interaction with the metal shifted to accommodate the new materials and social relations brought by contact.

This investigation adopts a biographical approach, placing indigenous artifacts and the relationships within which they are entwined at the center of the study, allowing us to address particular associations and practices with materials, objects, and assemblages. Analysis includes the combination of archaeological, ethnographic, and traditional indigenous data coupled with a detailed investigation of individual objects, including non-destructive material characterization, to identify procurement, production, and consumption strategies. In this way, it is argued that the study of copper in the Pacific Northwest aids the understanding of aspects of social, economic, and political change set in motion by the contact period.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 82nd Annual Meeting, Vancouver, BC (2017)   •
• Developing Approaches in the Study of Prehistoric Copper in North American Archaeology

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 14853