Archaeological research is uniquely positioned to show how native history and native culture affected the course of colonial interaction, but to do so it must transcend colonialist ideas about Native American technological and social change. This book applies that insight to five hundred years of native history. Using data from a wide variety of geographical, temporal, and cultural settings, the contributors examine economic, social, and political stability and transformation in indigenous societies before and after the advent of Europeans and document the diversity of native colonial experiences. The book’s case studies range widely, from sixteenth-century Florida, to the Great Plains, to nineteenth-century coastal Alaska. The contributors address a series of interlocking themes. Several consider the role of indigenous agency in the processes of colonial interaction, paying particular attention to gender and status. Others examine the ways long-standing native political economies affected, and were in turn affected by, colonial interaction. A third group explores colonial-period ethnogenesis, emphasizing the emergence of new native social identities and relations after 1500. The book also highlights tensions between the detailed study of local cases and the search for global processes, a recurrent theme in postcolonial research. If archaeologists are to bridge the artificial divide separating history from prehistory, they must overturn a whole range of colonial ideas about American Indians and their history. This book shows that empirical archaeological research can help replace long-standing models of indigenous culture change rooted in colonialist narratives with more nuanced, multilinear models of change—and play a major role in decolonizing knowledge about native peoples.

This 1970 memorial volume is a tribute to the scholarly interests of Victor Purcell in China and South-east Asia.

COEXISTENCE OR CONTROL? Many Chinese have worked and lived in the countries of South- East Asia for generations, and are part of the much larger diaspora of ethnic Chinese worldwide. They make their livings generally from business, farming, fishing: while a few enjoy high-profile wealth, the vast majority do not. THE CHINESE OF SOUTH-EAST ASIA shows just how varied are the experiences of the ethnic Chinese in the ten states of the region. Some coexist reasonably well with the majority population in their country; elsewhere, ethnic tensions have brought outbreaks of violence and discrimination against them. Some communities have limits placed on their access to Chinese language education; others have not. Some governments have encouraged ethnic Chinese participation in the economic arena while others have controlled or restricted their business activities. This report illustrates how much the future of South-East Asia’s ethnic Chinese is bound together - politically, economically and culturally - with the majority population and other minority ethnic groups within each country. Written by four experts on the region, this is an essential survey of the history and present circumstances of the ethnic Chinese as they strive to foster and enjoy stability, trust and growth. Please note that the terminology in the fields of minority rights and indigenous peoples’ rights has changed over time. MRG strives to reflect these changes as well as respect the right to self-identification on the part of minorities and indigenous peoples. At the same time, after over 50 years’ work, we know that our archive is of considerable interest to activists and researchers. Therefore, we make available as much of our back catalogue as possible, while being aware that the language used may not reflect current thinking on these issues.