The Covenant Chain: Indian Ceremonial and Trade Silver

The covenant chain is the symbol of a pledge of friendship. Historically, it represented Indian-European alliances in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century New England and New York. Symbolically, it has come to mean much more. This exhibition and its catalogue shed new light on a previously unexplored aspect of the fur trade in North America. In presenting a different perspective on eighteenth-century Canadian silversmiths, we can see the far-reaching implications of the fur trade. Also revealed are the close links between the sophisticated colonial craft of silversmithing and the evolving material culture of the North American Indian.