Documents a recent revival of research in copper manufacture, use, and trade among Native American peoples of the northeastern United States. The first section examines the reasons for a lack of attention to studies on this subject through the last century; the second section discusses present and future research trends along three main points: 1) the source of and accessibility to metal resources; 2) the techniques and skills of the Native copper craftspeople; and 3) the social function of copper. The third and final section presents two case studies: 1) the hunter-foragers who buried their dead with significant amounts of copper in Vermont during the Early Woodland period; and 2) the resources, methods, and uses associated with two object types among the agriculturally based Iroquois in New York during the Early Contact period.