Scholars@Hallwalls: Robert Caldwell, "Iconic American Indian Tipi in Spain's Second Age of Discovery"

In the popular imagination, the tipi is both the stereotypical home in which all American Indians once lived and a near universal symbol of Indianness. While many assume that the stereotype of the Tipi with Indians in general came about during the 19th-century Anglo-American westward Imperial gaze, my research shows otherwise. This research examines the context of the introduction and use of the tipi as a map icon in the 18th-century by Spanish and argues that this coincided with the rise of Comanche power in New Spain’s northern borderlands.

About Robert B. Caldwell Jr., PhD FRGS, Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies

Robert Caldwell studies Indigenous history, particularly the history of tribal Nations of what is now the Southeastern U.S. Some of his interests include cartographic history, ethnohistory, foodways, the history of the social sciences, the study of colonialism, imperialism, race and indigeneity, and the history of migrations. He has published two books and articles focusing on his own tribe, the Choctaw-Apache Community of Ebarb, LA. His manuscript Indians in their Proper Place, which details the historical evolution of linguistic and ethnological maps is under contract with the University of Nebraska Press.