Cameron Strang, University of Texas
MCEAS seminar of the Library Company of Philadelphia
Time: 3:00pm
Location: The Library Company of Philadelphia
This essay examines a 1790 scientific expedition in Spanish East Florida. Through storytelling, a Creek Indian named Yaolaychi motivated this expedition, influenced how its members pursued and narrated knowledge in the field, and shaped how officials and men of science in St. Augustine analyzed and acted upon the information the expedition generated. Tracing the presentation and reception of Yaolaychi’s stories reveals how geopolitical power and knowledge production were interconnected in some of the southeast borderlands’ many geographical and social contexts. These included spaces in which Indian political power and approaches to nature were preeminent, particularly the Florida interior, as well as sites like St. Augustine where European rule had a stronger foothold. This microhistory suggests that power, place, and narrative—and not any set difference between Indian and European epistemologies—shaped the pursuit, circulation, and validation of natural knowledge in the Florida borderlands.