@article {24662,
	title = {Function, meaning and context: Ambiguities in ceramic use by the Hivernant M{\'e}tis of the north-western plains},
	volume = {23},
	year = {1989},
	note = {Academic research article},
	pages = {97-106},
	publisher = {Historical Anthropology},
	abstract = {The 19th-century Hivernant M{\'e}tis of the western Canadian plains and parklands followed a way of life cantered on communal bison hunting and frequent mobility. Contrary to what might be expected, excavations at five Hivernant wintering sites in Saskatchewan and Alberta consistently have recovered a variety of fragile, transfer-printed, earthenware ceramics. In this context, ceramics, as a form of material culture, incorporate an ambiguity in function and meaning. In exploring this ambiguity, it is suggested that M{\'e}tis ceramic use originates with an initial concern for female status and etiquette in Red River fur trade society. Ultimately, ceramics assumed a much greater symbolic role, integral in Hivernant M{\'e}tis social interaction and integration.},
	keywords = {bison hunting, ceramics, M{\'e}tis, Red River fur society, social organization},
	author = {Burley, David V.}
}
