This is a comprehensive study of American Indians of Southern New England from 1500 to 1650. Focusing on Natives in their own right, rather than on their relationship with Europeans, this book portrays a unique people who maintained and developed their own culture despite the advancement of colonisation. Ninnimissinuok is the term the author uses to designate the Natives of Southern New England, who include the Pawtucket, Massachusett, Pokanoket, Niantic, Mohegan and Pequot. Kathleen Bragdon discusses the common features of these groups, as well as their significant differences. To draw such a complex portrait, she makes frequent reference to the writings of European observers, but balances that perspective with important evidence, some of it entirely new, from archaeology and linguistics. As a result, she corrects stereotypes of American Indians, both negative and positive, that originated from outsiders and persist to the present day. Although she acknowledges the impact of the Europeans, Bragdon shows how internally developed customs and values were the primary determinants in the development of Native culture. Employing current theory in anthropology and ethnohistory, this book illuminates various aspects of Ninnimissinuok life, such as: diet, farming and hunting, trade, diplomacy, politics, language and spirituality. Of particular interest is the analysis of the role of Ninnimissinuok women, who contributed to the economy of the region, yet whose status was not commensurate with that of men. Kathleen Bragden is co-author of "Native Writings in Massachusett".