The thesis is a comprehensive critique and reassessment of the mortuary archaeology from Algonquian seventeenth century southern New England, as well as a critical reassessment oi primary ethnographic sources. An innovative mediodology is created in order to adopt ways of entering into past Native American existence and philosophies that can accord with the way contemporary Native Americans are accessing their own past, and can contribute to a reintegration of mortuary studies into current archaeological research on past belief and identity.