Contrastive Subsistence Strategies and Land Use as Factors for Understanding Indian-White Relations in New England

Bibliographic Data

ID2739224
AuthorsPeter A Thomas (0000-0003-3115-3301, corresponding author)
Year1976
Volume23
Issue1
Pages1
Publication date1976-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueEthnohistory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0014-1801 • E-ISSN: 1527-5477
PublisherJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/481048
OpenAlexW2079960177
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited1

During the seventeenth century, European colonists employed many arguments to rationalize the dispossession of the Indians in New England. One such contention maintained that the native populations failed to improve their land [in a European manner] and, therefore, the settlers should have fair claim to this unused territory. Was this actually the case? What were the exploitation strategies employed by both cultures? Were they complementary or competitive? Was there room for accommodation? It is the view of this writer that there is a close interrelationship between environment, subsistence and society, and that this interrelationship is systemic. From this theoretical perspective, a closer look at the juxtaposition between colonial and Indian subsistence patterns and environmental limitations may help to answer the questions noted above, as well as contribute to a more objective evaluation of the Indian-European contact situation in New England. Since ethnohistorical analyses have traditionally been focused on coastal patterns, the following discussion draws from such data, but its thrust is specifically oriented towards interior patterns in the Connecticut River Valley. Early English Agricultural Strategies in New England On May 14, 1636, eight settlers, led by William Pynchon, drew up an agreement to form a town. Although Pynchon wished to establish Springfield, Massachusetts as the location for a trading post to expand his own economic ventures into the Connecticut River Valley, the plantation at and over against Agawam was, nevertheless, a corporate enterprise whose purpose was to settle a community with a sufficient population of independent farmers to support a local government and a church. The original document of intent stated that the town should consist of not less than forty, nor more than fifty ETHNOHISTORY 23/1 (Winter 1976) 1 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.147 on Wed, 21 Sep 2016 06:02:17 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms

Agriculture · Archaeology · Colonialism · Economics · Economy · Ethnology · Geography · Government (linguistics · New england · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Population · Sociology · Subsistence agriculture · White (mutation · Demography · Historical and Cultural Archaeology Studies · History · Law

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