TY - JOUR
T1 - Creating Mosquitia
T2 - mapping Amerindian spatial practices in eastern Central America, 1629-1779
AU - Offen, Karl H.
N1 - Funding Information:
Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the conference Social Histories of Space in Latin America at Yale University in October 2005, and at the XXVI International Congress of the Latin American Studies Association in San Juan, Puerto Rico in March 2006. At the former I would like to thank participants and especially the organizer Ray Craib and discussants Nancy Lee Peluso and Matthew Edney. At the latter, I would like to thank all my co-presenters, but especially Jordana Dym. In Oklahoma, ongoing conversations with Bob Rundstrom and Joshua Piker have significantly contributed to this paper. I must also thank three anonymous reviewers and David Robinson for their helpful suggestions. Funding for this research has come from a J.B. Harley History of Cartography Fellowship, the University of Oklahoma Research Council, and Fulbright grants to Colombia (2004) and Nicaragua (1996–1997).
PY - 2007/4
Y1 - 2007/4
N2 - By examining the spatial practices of Mosquito Indians, this paper contends that colonial maps reflect the activities of colonized peoples. Situated between the Spanish and British empires in eastern Central America, the Mosquito carved out an independent kingdom for themselves between 1629 and 1779, and far beyond. My argument is that many period maps respond to, and re-present, Mosquito spatial practices. I define a spatial practice as any political feat, economic activity, forceful claim, or social performance that asserts and demonstrates authority over people and space. Through a chronological and thematic reconstruction of primary documents, my objective is to show that colonial subjects in general, and the Mosquito in particular, can and do contribute to their own spatialized representations through their actions and discourses. Without Mosquito spatial practices, there would have been no Mosquitia to map, only some other place.
AB - By examining the spatial practices of Mosquito Indians, this paper contends that colonial maps reflect the activities of colonized peoples. Situated between the Spanish and British empires in eastern Central America, the Mosquito carved out an independent kingdom for themselves between 1629 and 1779, and far beyond. My argument is that many period maps respond to, and re-present, Mosquito spatial practices. I define a spatial practice as any political feat, economic activity, forceful claim, or social performance that asserts and demonstrates authority over people and space. Through a chronological and thematic reconstruction of primary documents, my objective is to show that colonial subjects in general, and the Mosquito in particular, can and do contribute to their own spatialized representations through their actions and discourses. Without Mosquito spatial practices, there would have been no Mosquitia to map, only some other place.
KW - Central America
KW - Colonialism
KW - History of cartography
KW - Mosquito Indians
KW - Spatial practices
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jhg.2006.05.003
DO - 10.1016/j.jhg.2006.05.003
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33947176315
SN - 0305-7488
VL - 33
SP - 254
EP - 282
JO - Journal of Historical Geography
JF - Journal of Historical Geography
IS - 2
ER -