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|Across this vast Turtle Island, different Peoples develop and express their own complex technology. Types of craft specialization are influenced by the different environments people live in, and by trade and information networks -- these technologies are the product of thousands of years of expertise, oral traditions and continuity.|
NativeTech is an educational web site that covers topics of Native American technology and art with an emphasis on the Eastern Woodlands region. The web site is organized into categories of Beadwork, Birds & Feathers, Clay & Pottery, Leather & Clothes, Metalwork, Plants & Trees, Porcupine Quills, Stonework & Tools, and Weaving & Cordage. Instructional information about how some of these materials are used by Natives is coupled with detailed background on the history and development of these kinds of Native technologies. NativeTech hopes to show both change and continuity from pre-contact times to the present. NativeTech is dedicated to revising the term 'primitive' with respect to peoples' perceptions of Native American technology and art.
The presentation of NativeTech, made possible through my volunteered efforts and by webspace and support provided by NativeWeb, is my way to thank all those individuals who have helped me to learn the little bit that I know. The best way I know to thank a teacher is to share that knowledge with others in a good way.
I've tried my best to illustrate as many topics as I can; my learning is continually ongoing and new sections will eventually make their way to NativeTech. The information at this website has been gathered using museum and archaeological collections, published literature, and personal communications with contemporary Native Americans. The material presented at NativeTech so far doesn't even come close to representing all the different technological aspects of Native American Indian peoples; this website represents only one person's efforts to build an internet resource for indigenous 'ethnotechnology'.
My experience is limited primarily to the geographic region of southern New England. I sincerely welcome contributions to the NativeTech pages of information or images of traditional or contemporary Native American technology and art. Please feel free to contact me to submit material for your own web presentation at NativeTech.
Thank you ~ Tara Prindle.
Text and Graphics
© 1994 - Tara Prindle
unless otherwise cited.