On Savage Shores: How Indigenous Americans Discovered Europe

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In this insightful book, an underwater archaeologist and survival coach shows how understanding the collapse of civilizations can help us prepare for a troubled future.

Though part of the wider story of slavery, the enslavement of Indigenous American peoples is an aspect with which many in Europe might not be so familiar. What can you tell us about it?I teach on a range of early modern, Indigenous, American and colonial topics, as well as on public history and questions of decolonisation. I particularly enjoy encouraging students to engage with the relevance of history in the contemporary world. Teaching activities Undergraduate: Dodds C (2008) Sexuality and Gender in Mexico In Smith MD (Ed.), The Greenwood encyclopedia of love, courtship, and sexuality through history (pp. 150-1). Her own work in the book does not prove this. Over and over again the scant evidence in the records were that of the Natives begging the Crown for their OWN FREEDOM! Their inheritance, begging for alms, etc. I n 1550, two groups of indigenous Brazilians, ‘all naked … without anything to cover the part that nature commands’, fought a pitched battle on the banks of the Seine. Arrows flew, parakeets shrieked, marmosets scurried up trees and flames consumed rows of wooden huts. From a distance, King Henri II, his wife, Catherine de’ Medici, and the assembled French court watched in fascination. Yet in spite of the noise, havoc, fire and fury, no Brazilian appears to have been killed in the exchange. The entire tumult was a spectacle staged by the city of Rouen to flaunt its mariners’ achievements in negotiating the deeps of the Atlantic and returning with flora, fauna and humankind never before seen in France.

This whole approach to history follows a powerful modern mantra: we must restore “agency” to people in the past. Looked at in one way, the principle is obviously right: where traditional, one-sided accounts have obscured the active role people really played, we should correct that error. Yet the modern tendency goes much further, privileging any interpretation, however strained, that can turn people from patients into agents. The cause may be a generous moral impulse on the part of the historian; but the consequence, all too often, is more error, just of a different kind. I n June​ 1616 the Virginian princess Pocahontas arrived in Plymouth and travelled to London. With her came her husband, the English tobacco planter John Rolfe, and several members of her Native American family. Done up in embroidered silks and Flemish lace, she enjoyed – if that’s the right word – the adulation of the crowds and an audience with James I. She was not, in fact, a princess, however much it suited the Virginia Company to pretend she was. Nor was her name Pocahontas, which means ‘playful girl’ and like so many other aspects of Indigenous culture had been misunderstood. Yet the name is a fitting symbol of her plight and short life. She was known previously by her childhood names Amonute and Matoaka, and later by her Christian baptismal name, Rebecca, with her husband’s surname: everything about the experience of Native Americans in Europe was caught between the Old World and the New, awkwardly and usually unhappily. This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by The progressive left has gone Race Crazy—and they want to take America down the same path of insanity. If you are new to the subject of Indigenous Americans this might be a good place to start, especially with this specific area of inquiry.Inspiring and important . . . Expertly researched, convincingly argued, erudite yet readable, and introduces new readers to the reality of Indigenous American experience” ― HISTORY TODAY The book explores stories like those of Nutaaq, a tiny Inuk (Inuit) baby, who is represented in the paintings of John White. Brought to England in 1577, he was put on display at a London pub, but tragically died after only eight days in the capital. He was buried in an unmarked grave at St Olave’s, a tiny church that still stands on the corner of Seething Lane in the City. Deftly weaves diverse and fascinating tales of the exciting adventures, complex diplomatic missions, voyages of discovery, triumphant incursions, and heartbreaking exploitations – of the many thousands of Indigenous travellers to new lands. Essential reading for anyone interested in how the events of the “Age of Exploration” shaped the modern world”— JENNIFER RAFF, author of ORIGIN I was so excited to dive deep into this book. The synopsis was so tantalizing....what did Native Caribbean, Native Americans, Native South Americans think of Europe when they were brought there against their wills? Indigenous peoples were a vital part of the networks that created the cosmopolitan world we know today, bringing commodities like chocolate, tobacco, potatoes and tomatoes. They were translators and diplomats, representing their peoples and nations to crowns and courts. They travelled to Europe as family members, friends and servants, and their bodies and cultures were displayed for the curiosity and entertainment of Europeans, but most often, they were enslaved, kidnapped and shipped far from their homes, and forced into bondage at the heart of the empire.

Have scientists really found the germ responsible for killing 15m Aztecs?’, The Conversation (January 2018) I love the basic idea: find the voices of indigenous peoples as they traveled to Europe (sometimes voluntarily). Sure, white people described themselves as being seen as gods by indigenous people; almost certainly that's not what indigenous people thought.Why do you think history has traditionally focused on the experiences of the Europeans rather than those of the indigenous peoples? Sculpted face of Francisca Pizarro Yupanqui on the facade of the Palace of the Conquest in Trujillo, Spain. Photo: Alamy My first degree was Ancient and Modern History at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, where I stayed on to read Women's Studies (MSt) before receiving my D.Phil. in Aztec history in 2004. Having been a Temporary Lecturer and then Research Fellow in Cambridge, I spent three years as Lecturer in Early Modern History at Leicester before moving to the lovely city of Sheffield, where I’ve been happily settled ever since. Research interests On Savage Shores is a work of historical recovery . . . few books make as compelling a case for such a reimagining" — David Olusoga , GUARDIAN, Book of the Day On Savage Shores offers a welcome non-Eurocentric narrative about how the great civilisations of the Americas discovered Europe . . . an important book" ― INDEPENDENT