The Individual and the Group at 17th Century Mission Santa Catalina de Guale

Summary

The individual as an entity in the past and an object of anthropological and archaeological study has often been debated. In this paper I consider the presence and role of the individual as an actor within colonial contexts. Using the methods of social network analysis, I explore the relationship between groups, individuals, and objects at 17th century Mission Santa Catalina de Guale, a Franciscan mission located on St. Catherines Island, GA. I argue that the methods of social network analysis can be used to identify and explore the roles that individual mission neophytes played in colonial interactions. Using these methods I examine how objects and individuals were involved in the material manifestation of social identities as pluralistic native communities aggregated in the Spanish missions of La Florida. Further, I consider the role of the individual in relation to broader frameworks of colonial interaction, examining how individuals engaged in sociopolitical negotiations and interactions within the processes of ethnogenesis and colonial identity formation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Society for American Archaeology 83rd Annual Meeting, Washington, DC (2018)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 20317