Household Spaces: 18th- and 19th-Century Spatial Practices on the Eastern Pequot Reservation

Summary

Native American populations living on colonially created and governed reservations, such as the Eastern Pequot in Connecticut, contended with settler and colonial policies and practices on a daily basis in the 18th and 19th centuries, long after «contact.» Using the colonial environment and the inherently spatial restrictions of the Eastern Pequot reservation as frameworks, this paper addresses the daily aspects of Eastern Pequot families living and working within their household spaces during a tumultuous time in the colonial period. This research is theoretically grounded in broader themes regarding the household, conceived of as a space within which social agents create and reproduce social identities, relationships, and meanings. Within the context of the household, archaeology can be utilized to explore how social processes are lived out not only through the material world but also in architecture and refuse patterns at a local scale. Analysis of three house sites on the Eastern Pequot reservation, spanning from the mid-18th century to the mid-19th century, highlights how the structure and spatial patterning at these domestic sites retain consistent Pequot characteristics.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Applying Contemporary Perspectives to New England Historical Archaeology   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2014

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): SYM-18,07