Long before the arrival of European settlers, Native Americans in the Lake Superior basin mined and worked copper and traded it well beyond the region. They directed white settlers to copper lodes and explained the mineral's significance and "wonderful power." Wonderful Power examines the archaeological record to relate the story of that unique industry. Susan Martin has collected critical but scattered information about the uses of ancient copper to address long-standing puzzles over how long it had been used, where it was mined, and who these ancient coppersmiths were.