INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMI films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Oversize materials (e.g., maps, drawings, charts) are reproduced by sectioning the original, beginning at the upper left-hand comer and continuing from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. Each original is also photographed in one exposure and is included in reduced form at the back of the book. Photographs included in the original manuscript have been reproduced xerographically in this copy. Higher quality 6” x 9” black and white photographic prints are available for any photographs or illustrations appearing in this copy for an additional charge. Contact UMI directly to order. Bell & Howell Information and Learning 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 USA 800-521-0600 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INDIAN TRADE SILVER AS INTER-CULTURAL DOCUMENT IN THE NORTHEAST by Laureen Ann LaBar-Kidd A thesis submitted to the Faculty of the University of Delaware in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts with a major in Early American Culture Spring 2000 Copyright 2000 Laureen Ann LaBar-Kidd All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. UMI Number 1398899 Copyright 2000 by LaBar-Kidd, Laureen Ann All rights reserved. UMI” UMI Microform 1398899 Copyright 2000 by Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. Bell & Howell Information and Learning Company 300 North Zeeb Road P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. INDIAN TRADE SILVER AS INTER-CULTURAL DOCUMENT IN THE NORTHEAST by Laureen Ann LaBar-Kidd Approved: J. Ritchie Garrison, Ph.D. Professor in charge of thesis on behalf on the Advisory/Thesis Committee Approved: J. Ritf hie Garrison, Ph.D. Acting Director of the Winterthur Program in Early American Culture Approved: Conrado M. Gerhpesajy/I, Ph.D. Vice Provost for Academic Programs and Planning Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. PREFACE For the purposes of this thesis, the terms Indian, Native American and Native are synonymous. Unfortunately, I am bound to offend someone regardless of which word I use. One member of the Penobscot Nation told me he prefers the term Indian; his niece on the other hand, prefers Native American. As a result, and for variety's sake, I have opted to use the three terms interchangeably. I also use the terms to refer to those members of various First Nations who lived in what is now Canada. While it might be more accurate to say “Native Americans and Native Canadians,” I use the three terms to mean representatives of cultures whose ancestors lived on this continent before the arrival of Europeans. When I refer to Europeans, I mean individuals who were recent arrivals in North America. The term Euroamericans generally refers to descendants of those Europeans. For the most part these people were permanent settlers, whose lives were tied to this continent, and who saw themselves as natives of Massachusetts and Montreal, and not simply as Englishmen or Frenchmen. Here again, when discussing people of European cultural descent on both sides iii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. of what is now the border between the United States and Canada, I use the term Euroamericans, for simplicity’s sake. If I refer only to silversmiths in Montreal, however, I use the term Euro-Canadian. These terms should be clear within the context of any given sentence or paragraph. The trade silver within this study was used in an area bounded on the south by New York City, on the west by Niagara, on the north by Montreal and on the east by Maine. For this volume, that area defines the Northeast. While some of the silver I discuss was made in Philadelphia, I am more concerned with the area from near Albany, New York to Maine and Montreal. Although the time period that I am most concerned with is well into the Historic Period, I also provide background information about Native metal use, extending back to the late Prehistoric Period. The Prehistoric Period is the time before Native contact with Europeans or their trade goods. The Historic Period refers to that time when European or Euroamericans were the dominant culture in a particular locale. The difficulty with “Periods” is that they typically have dates attached to them. However, terms such as Historic, Prehistoric, Protohistoric and Contact Period refer to interactions between different peoples, as opposed to the reign of a monarch or the popularity of a style of furniture. Thus, these terms are somewhat fluid. Native groups living along coasts and major rivers interacted with Europeans before their inland neighbors did. The Contact Period covers the time between first contact between Indians iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. and Europeans, and when Europeans became a major presence in a given area. The Protohistoric Period overlaps with and includes the early Contact Period. In some cases, Indian villages acquired European trade goods from Native American middlemen years before they encountered Europeans themselves. I include this scenario in the Protohistoric, along with the period in which the same group had rare or intermittent contact with Europeans. Just as the Queen Anne or baroque style of decorative arts might linger longer in fashion in a more rural or conservative area, the Protohistoric and Contact Periods began earlier in some areas and lasted longer in others. Frontiers are also fluid. The semantic concern with the term has less to do with that mobility, and more to do with what the word implies. A frontier is the border between “civilization” and “wilderness,” two other words with negative connotations. The frontier as an area of often intense interaction between Native American and European groups. It is the place where the lifeways of the Contact Period intersect with those of the Historic Period. In some cases, the problem with terminology is simply the spelling. The Iroquois village of Caugnawaga, near Montreal, has been spelled Caughnawake and Kanawake, along with other, phonetic variations on the name. In other, similar cases, I have used the spelling of the source I cite. The topic of trade silver is vast. My advisor, Ritchie Garrison, helped keep me focused throughout the writing process. George Hamell and Penny v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Drooker at the New York State Museum helped me find that focus. I deeply appreciate their help, enthusiasm and encouragement. Bruce Bourque, Steve Cox and George LaBar reviewed the manuscript and provided helpful advice, all of which I heeded, even if I was not able to include it all in the final product. I anticipated that research and writing would be solitary occupations, but my great joy throughout this endeavor has been the collegiality I have encountered. Individuals at institutions and private collections from Delaware to Montreal and Maine gave generously of their time and knowledge and provided access— sometimes repeatedly—to their collections. They include: Becky Cole-Will, Abbe Museum; Dana Lippett, Bangor Historical Society; John Bauer; The Brick Store Museum; Fort Johnson; Mr. and Mrs. Richard Godfrey; Bonnie Pulis, Johnson Hall; Joyce Butler and Stephanie Philbrick, Maine Historical Society; Edwin Churchill, Maine State Museum; Moira McCaffrey, McCord Museum; Lou Stancaril, National Museum of the American Indian, Smithsonian; George Dalgleish, Lynn Wall and Maureen Barrie, National Museums of Scotland; The New York State Museum; Melissa Wagner, Bill Wierzbowski and Lucy Fowler Williams, University of Pennsylvania Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology; Pennsylvania Museum of Art; Judy Guston, The Rosenbach Museum and Library; Laurent Beauregard, Tarratine Club; Don Fennimore, Jan Carlson and Susan Newton, Winterthur; Fred Wiseman; and Pat Kane and Dennis Carr, Yale University Art vi Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Gallery. I owe a special debt of gratitude to the archaeology staff at the Maine State Museum, Bruce Bourque, Steve Cox and Bob “Ernie” Lewis. Without their open files, good humor, good advice, and excellent photography this tome—and my purse— would have been poorer. Brian Robinson of the University of Maine and Winterthur aiumnae Martha Gandy Fales and Deborah Smith offered encouragement, sources, references and publication tips that smoothed my path considerably. Neville Thompson, Jeanne Solensky and the staff at the Winterthur library were generous, supportive and patient, as were the reference librarians at the Maine State Library. While these individuals all contributed to the success of this research, any errors or omissions I must claim as my own. If one can owe a debt of friendship, I do, to my classmates at Winterthur. I will sorely miss the camaraderie and the joy of working such kindred minds.