THE TALE OF THE KETTLE - ODYSSEY OF AN INTERCULTURAL OBJECT

This article seeks to explain why the European-made kettle became inve sted with cultural identity for Quebecers after having made a detour a mong Amerindian groups. The uses to which the object was put in the cu lture of origin are reviewed; its transcultural pathway is retraced; a nd, finally, its new functions in the culture of reception are identif ied. The approach is modeled on the so-called historical-geographic me thod developed in the study of folktales. It is assumed that the mater ial object, no less than the orally transmitted tale, bears the mark o f the use made of it, and situating a single object in the context of its production and reception seems to be the most reliable way to unde rstand the role of objects in the construction of cultural identity. T wo principal sources are used to illustrate the material aspects of th is process: the travel accounts from New France and the museum collect ions derived primarily from archaeological excavations over the past h undred years or so of Amerindian contact sites in northeastern America .