The Materiality of Authority: I7th Century Native Leadership in Colonial New England through the Lens of Value Theory

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The practices of men and women leaders in Native Southern New England pose a number of interesting questions for scholars interested in the intersection of materiality and value. In the 17th and early 18th century, Native leaders claimed authority through descent, colonial patronage, and/or religious practice. Central to their success moreover, was presentation and performance, marked by the deployment of distinctive dress and other salient objects. This paper employs documentary, archaeological and comparative ethnographic data to explore the variety of ways in which Native leaders negotiated the upheavals of the early Colonial period through strategic performative display.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24594