Abstract

The effects of Native and European contact on Native communities during the Early Contact Period (c. 1500- 1650 A.D.) in the Northeast has long been of interest to archaeologists and anthropologists. For many years, investigations into these effects have been contained within an acculturation framework. However this framework, as it has been employed, has often limited the acknowledgment of Native choice with respect to what European items and ideas were adopted into Native cultural practices and to what manner these items and ideas were used. I suggest that different theoretical constructs, such as practice theory and agency, may be more proficiently used to support future research into the effects of Native and European contact. This paper demonstrates one way that these constructs may be used, taking as an example the manner in which Wendat artisans manufactured copper and copper-alloy artifacts from European kettles that were traded into the Northeast region during this period.