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"Indispensably necessary": Cultural brokers on the Georgia frontier, 1733--1765

Crutchfield, Lisa Laurel
Abstract
This dissertation examines the people who brokered cultural exchange among the various groups in and around Georgia from 1733--1765. Populating the territory were Europeans, Indians, and Africans who interacted frequently with one another despite disparate cultural traits. Cultural brokers not only brought members of each society together but did so in a manner that allowed the groups to achieve a level of understanding that would have been otherwise impossible.;The project concentrates on four categories of cultural brokers: Indian traders, military personnel, missionaries, and the Indians themselves. Members of each of these groups played critical roles as intermediaries between the natives and the newcomers. In addition to directing the material exchange between the two groups, they conveyed ideological values and diplomatic information as well. Cultural brokers served as interpreters, escorts, and emissaries. They relayed messages, invitations, and military intelligence. They explained one side to the other, interpreting language, protocol, and meanings. They consequently had an invaluable effect on maintaining positive relations between the Indians and the colonists during Georgia's first thirty years.;All of these mediators lived and worked on the frontier, but that does not mean that they were on the fringe of society. In fact, Georgia's cultural brokers enjoyed a favored position, respected for their abilities to move between Indian and colonial worlds. They were equally comfortable in each society and were fully accepted by both.
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2007-01-01
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American Studies
DOI
https://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21220/s2-pb88-6r72
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https://scholarworks.wm.edu/handle/internal/5619
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