Cartographic Encounters: Perspectives on Native American Mapmaking and Map Use (The Kenneth Nebenzahl, Jr., Lectures in the History of Cartography)

Ever since a Native American prepared a paper "charte" of the lower Colorado River for the Spaniard Hernando de Alarc n in 1540, Native Americans have been making maps in the course of encounters with whites. This book charts the history of these cartographic encounters, examining native maps and mapmaking from the pre- and post-contact periods.

G. Malcolm Lewis provides accessible and detailed overviews of the history of native North American maps, mapmaking, and scholarly interest in these topics. Other contributions include a study of colonial Aztec cartography that highlights the connections among maps, space, and history; an account of the importance of native maps as archaeological evidence; and an interpretation of an early-contact-period hide painting of an actual encounter involving whites and two groups of warring natives.

Although few original native maps have survived, contemporary copies and accounts of mapmaking form a rich resource for anyone interested in the history of Native American encounters or the history of cartography and geography.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0226476944
• ISBN13: 9780226476940
• Release Date: September 1998
• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Length: 338 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 8.5" x 9.3"