No. 2 – October 1990

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VOLUME 51. NUMBER 2 93
our archaeological resources. Unless we are able to utilize our collective talents to address the
rate of site destruction, I fear we may find ourselves in a cyclical spiral where we will again,
armed with trowels and rusting ideals, be steps ahead of the bulldozers "salvaging" whatever
we can of the past. We should be beyond that. We encourage the formation of a panel to
consider the need for a crisis intervention plan and pledge the active involvement of The
Public Archaeology Laboratory.
I'll end this letter from the front with the observation that Contract Archaeology has come
far as a profession in the past ten years. I would caution that we have a long way to go. Ours
is a fragile existence. Archaeology in the early 90's will have to be both responsive and
far-sighted. At The Public Archaeology Laboratory, Inc. we look forward to the challenge.
BOOK REVIEW: Native Writings In Massachusett, by Ives Goddard & Kathleen J. Bragdon.
Memoir 185. American Philosophical Society, Philadelphia, 1988. Two vols., xxiv + 790 pp.,
photographs, appendix and references.
George F. Aubin
With the appearance of this two-volume set, scholars interested in the early contact history
of New England have a major new source of materials available to them. Indeed, it would not
be at all surprising to see this publication soon become a standard reference, taking its place
alongside such well-known works as Eliot's translation of the Bible and Trumbull's Natick
Dictionary, for example.
The heart of the Goddard and Bragdon work consists of all the known manuscript writings
by native speakers in Massachusett; no writings by non-native speakers are included. The
publication of such a corpus, while perhaps not unprecedented, is decidedly noteworthy, all
the more so since it makes documents in a now extinct Eastern Algonquian language widely
accessible. Although it has long been known that some writings of this type survived, the
number located must nonetheless be considered surprising: 154 documents of diverse
provenance are presented, along with some other writings found in books (Bibles for the most
part). Goddard and Bragdon carefully situate these documents in their historical and
ethnographic context in a concise introductory section which presents a useful overview of the
establishment and governance of the numerous Indian reservations or 'praying towns' in early
Massachusetts.
The documents themselves are presented in a 'diplomatic' edition, with a photograph for
virtually every document; illustrative photographs of the marginalia are also included. The
detailed comments on each document discuss a wide range of pertinent issues: the physical
condition and content of the document, its background, the author's penmanship, an analysis
of the writing, including suggested readings of unclear or damaged letters, and so forth.
Copyright 1990 George F. Aubin