Inconstant Companions: Archaeology and North American Indian Oral Traditions

One of the most significant theoretical issues in contemporary American archaeology—the role of oral tradition in scientific research.

Ronald J. Mason explores the tension between aboriginal oral traditions and the practice of archaeology in North America. That exploration is necessarily interdisciplinary and set in a global context. Indeed, the issues at stake are universal in the current era of intellectual "decolonization" and multiculturalism.

Unless committed to writing, even the m...