Through storytelling, a Creek Indian named Yaolaychi motivated a 1790 mineralogical expedition in Spanish East Florida, influenced how its members pursued and narrated knowledge in the field, and shaped how officials and men of science in Saint Augustine analyzed and acted on 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 geographic 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 such as Saint 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.
...MoreDescription On how a Creek Indian on a 1790 mineralogical expedition in Spanish East Florida, narrated knowledge in the field.
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