When we explore the history of early America, we often look at people who lived in North America. But what about the people who lived and worked in European metropoles?
What about Native Americans?
Today, we explore early American history through a slightly different lens, a lens that allows us to see interactions that occurred between Native American peoples and English men and women who lived in London.
Our guide for this exploration is Coll Thrush, an Associate Professor of History at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver and author of Indigenous London: Native Travelers at the Heart of the Empire.
This episode originally posted as Episode 132.
About the Show
Ben Franklin’s World is a podcast about early American history.
It is a show for people who love history and for those who want to know more about the historical people and events that have impacted and shaped our present-day world.
Each episode features a conversation with a historian who helps us shed light on important people and events in early American history.
Ben Franklin’s World is a production of the Omohundro Institute.
Episode Summary
Coll Thrush, an Associate Professor of History at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver and author of Indigenous London: Native Travelers at the Heart of the Empire, leads us on an exploration of Native American and European interactions that took place in London.
During our exploration, Coll reveals when and why Native Americans started to visit London; How Londoners expected Native Americans to act and what Native Americans thought of London and Londoners; And how Coll went about uncovering and recovering the voices of early Native American travelers to London.
What You’ll Discover
- When Native Americans started visiting London
- Why Native Americans visited London
- Details about some of the Native Americans who went to London
- Voyages to London
- Social roles Londoners expected Native American travelers to fulfill
- How Native American voyagers interacted with European expectations of them
- The idea of the “noble savage”
- How London learned to be “colonial”
- How the experiences of Native American travelers to London changed over time
- The Four Kings
- How the English tried to make sense of Native Americans through artwork and literature
- The role of religion in English encounters with Native Americans
- Native American participation in the Enlightenment
- Whether Native Americans ever attempted to colonize London
- What native voyages to London reveal about early American history and the early days of the British Empire
- What present-day native communities think about the voyages and experience of their ancestors
- How Coll uncovered and recovered the voices of Native Americans who voyaged to London
Links to People, Places, and Publications
- Coll Thrush
- Coll’s University of British Columbia’s webpage
- Indigenous London: Native Travelers at the Heart of the Empire
- Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place
- Gerald Visner
- Jace Weaver,The Red Atlantic: American Indigenes and the Making of the Modern World, 1000-1927
Sponsor Links
- Omohundro Institute
- BFWorld Newsletter Signup
Complementary Episodes
- Episode 079: Jim Horn, What is a Historic Source? (Jamestown and Pocahontas)
- Episode 198: Andrew Lipman, The Saltwater Frontier
- Episode 170: Wendy Warren, New England Bound: Slavery in Early New England
- Episode 184: David J. Silverman, Thundersticks: Firearms and the Violent Transformation of Native America
- Episode 191: Lisa Brooks, A New History of King Philip’s War
Time Warp Question
In your opinion, what might have happened if Native Americans had never traveled to Europe? How would relations and diplomacy between Native Americans and Europeans have been different during the 17th and 18th centuries?
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