This monograph is an impressive work informed by a perspective gained over a lifetime of research. Temporally, it picks up where James Bradley's 1987 book, Evolution of the Onondaga Iroquois: Accommodating Change 1500–1655, left off, covering the latter part of the seventeenth century and the eighteenth century up to the American Revolution. It differs from this earlier work in that it does more to integrate archaeological, historical, and spiritual information pertaining to the Onondaga. Typically, the historical record for Onondaga informs the archaeological record, but Bradley notes cases of the reverse, as in his discussion of village relocation where archaeological information clarifies contradictory historical statements. In similar fashion, historic records indicate the absence of elk and beaver at Onondaga, yet they are present in faunal remains from several archaeological sites. Although Bradley acknowledges that we cannot always understand the spiritual connotations of material objects, he offers many thoughtful observations on this subject and provides examples of comparable iconography to that in historic Onondaga in other times and places. A major strength of Bradley's discussion of archaeology, history, and spirituality is the broad spatial and temporal context in which he situates these topics.

Bradley points out that the Iroquois Confederacy was not a monolithic entity. Composed of the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk, each nation faced somewhat different pressures and differed in its responses to the French and English. Due in part to geographic location, the Seneca tended to interact more with the French, whereas the Mohawk interacted more with the Dutch and then the English. During much of the period covered by this volume, the Onondaga strove to balance the competing imperial interests of France and England.

Bradley carefully discusses several hot-button issues among contemporary scholars, including the antiquity and meaning of two-row wampum belts, the possible influence of the Iroquois Confederacy on the Constitution of the United States, and past excavations of Onondaga burials. Human remains excavated in the past from Onondaga sites have now been repatriated.

The book is lavishly illustrated (n = 363) on high-quality paper. The illustrations of historical figures and scenes add interest, and the artifact illustrations often complement technological description in the text. Many images of significant historic Onondaga artifacts appear in print here for the first time. The odd page of each chapter is marked by an image in the upper-right corner that stands as a symbol for the chapter—a nice touch. There are also many regional maps. Although a map of Onondaga fishing sites is provided (p. 38), surprisingly, there is no map showing the general location of the major historic Onondaga sites discussed. Also useful would be a chronological chart of the estimated time span of these sites early in the volume, although dating information is provided within the narrative for each chapter. The endnotes are extensive, running to 135 pages. These provide support for the discussion in the text and useful supplemental data for the specialist.

Much of the archaeological data discussed was gathered over the last 40 years by Greg Sohrweide, a dentist and knowledgeable avocational archaeologist who freely made his material available for study and provided the site plans for many of the sites central to Bradley's narrative. The collaboration of Bradley and Sohrweide (also longtime friends) provides an outstanding example of avocational/professional cooperation. Since Jim Tuck's work on earlier Onondaga sites in the 1960s, there has been little professional excavation in the region, and what has been done has generally not been reported. Although Bradley expended a great deal of effort to record all available archaeological material from a variety of individuals and institutions, the provenience of these is not always clear. It is unfortunate that large samples from extensive excavations of historic Onondaga sites do not exist, because temporal changes from site to site could then be more fully documented. However, Bradley has made maximum use of the archaeological data that are available.

Any future work discussing the archaeology or history of the Native Northeast and adjacent portions of the Midwest during the period covered by this book cannot be considered complete without referencing it. The period is one in which the Onondaga were forced to adapt to dramatic changes in their world. It was a world largely unknown to the present day—but one that Bradley has sensitively brought back to life.