Description
Native Peoples of Southern New England, 1650-1775 by Kathleen J Bragdon, Professor of Anthropology at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, offers a new volume about the various Nations of the New England region during the American colonial period. Many people believe that First Nations living in this territory at the time of contact and thereafter readily declined in population following the influx of settlers but this new volume dispels this idea by drawing on recent research in archaeology, linguistics and the historical record. The chapters are organized by theme and describe settlement, agriculture and trade, work and gender, language, livelihood, the role of leaders, kinship, cosmology and religion. Numerous maps illustrate the book. Despite the efforts of colonization the First Nations of New England adapted to the changes and worked to maintain their communities and families.