This topic has been fascinating. There have been so many contributions that
there is danger of losing track of all the points that have been made. Has
anyone got the time to put together a note pulling all the contributions
together.
Sean
----- Original Message -----
From: "Angela Allison" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, June 25, 2009 1:35 PM
Subject: Re: New Exhibit at Smithsonian
there are many instances of women who sailed (trnas-ocean as well as
inland/coastal navigators) under the guise of being men. At least three
of these are black.
There are at least three well know female pirates - all white.
Angela
On 25 Jun 2009, at 12:47, Herman Ross wrote:
> The two instances of your saying Man in place of human are a point but the
> other concept of mariners, which you used quite a few times, hopefully is
> not the reason for the criticism because mariners is generic, meaning a
> person who sails (or, even though I don't like to mention it much,
> ,motors) aboard vessels on, and these days, in the mar, sea.
>
> The reason I bring this point up is that when I first went to the Cayman
> Islands, some thirty years or so ago, to do the research for a book on the
> Caymanian mariner and their vessels, one of the first questions I asked
> was, "Can you direct me to a woman sailor?' and the response I continually
> received was that there were no women sailors in the Cayman Islands. On
> returning a few years later to the Caymans I happened to catch a few words
> in an interview with a Cayman Catboat builder and I asked him to claify
> what he had just said, which was that he had been taught to sail by Valma
> Hew. Some Caymanian names are what we usually consider a woman's name so I
> asked if she was a woman and he thought I was stupid for not knowing of
> Valma..
>
> Valma turned out to be in her seventies and sailed on the first Catboat in
> our first Catboat race, and won. But, the main point was that she referred
> me to a lot of other women who were sailors, but did not talk about it
> because of a lesbian stigma attached to women who sailed.
> I went for almost nine years not knowing how at ask the question about
> women who sailed in the Caribbean but I never stopped looking for them. In
> our sailing programmes girls and women were the first to jump aboard. The
> men thought it wasn't cool when you coulld be pressing a button and
> shooting off to the roar and rattle of an engine.
>
> Unfortnuately, many historians have left off women in the art, sport and
> occupation of sailing and sometimes their is the assumption that because
> there is no word such as mariness or seafaress or the like that one might
> not be referring to women in the term mariner. The fastest single-handed
> sail around the world is presently held by a woman, as is the more recent
> Race Around Britain, by an all female crew, and I would call them
> mariners.
>
> While we are on the subject and whoever is still reading this is still
> reading this- if you know of any women who sail, either during this time
> or times past please send me a reference. We are trying to start up a
> research programme and women under sail throughout history might be a
> category for the youth we hope to mentor.
>
> Ross
>
> --- On Thu, 25/6/09, Cliff Pereira <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> From: Cliff Pereira <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Re: New Exhibit at Smithsonian
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Date: Thursday, 25 June, 2009, 10:54 AM
>
>
> Yes Martin,
>
> You are absolutely correct. I feel that the exclusions I mentioned are
> part of the resaon of the exclusion of women - after all how could
> Pacifiic Islanders - for example, populate those islands. And the role fo
> women on board vessels - an area that we are still uncovering in the UK.
>
> Thanks for pointing out my ommision.
>
> Cliff
>
> > Date: Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:40:21 -0700
> > From: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: New Exhibit at Smithsonian
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> >
> > In your response there seems to be an absence of women!
> > Surely we talk of human beings or men and women these days.
> > Martin
> >
> > --- On Wed, 24/6/09, Cliff Pereira <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> >
> > > From: Cliff Pereira <[log in to unmask]>
> > > Subject: Re: New Exhibit at Smithsonian
> > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > > Date: Wednesday, 24 June, 2009, 1:18 PM
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > #yiv1536184217 .hmmessage P
> > > {
> > > margin:0px;padding:0px;}
> > > #yiv1536184217 {
> > > font-size:10pt;font-family:Verdana;}
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > Hi Ross,
> > >
> > >
> > > I have had a good look at the site and these are some of my
> > > overall opinions/criticisms:
> > >
> > >
> > > 1) I think with regards to the Smithsonian - I would have
> > > expected a more worldly introduction viewpoint so I
> > > would have mentioned;
> > >
> > >
> > > * Mans emergence from Africa and his migration across the
> > > globe that HAD TO involve at some point travel over bodies
> > > of water.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > * The arrival of man into North America could have been by
> > > a coastal route (during the Ice Ages) as well as a land
> > > route (The Bering Crossing).
> > >
> > >
> > > * There is no mention of the
> > > Malayo-Polynesian mariners who covered the
> > > earth from Madagascar to Hawaii and New Zealand. (guess
> > > Hawaii is not part of the US)
> > >
> > > * There is no mention of the Caribs
> > > who voyaged up from South America through
> > > the Antilles. (guess Puerto Rico is not part of the
> > > US Commonwealth and the US Virgin islands don't
> > > exist)
> > >
> > > 2) I think it is odd that the time-line starts at
> > > 1450.
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > * There is no mention of the maritime traditions of the
> > > Inuit/Eskimo/Aleutian peoples (guess Alaska
> > > is not part of the US)
> > >
> > >
> > > * There is no mention here of the Viking, Basque
> > > and Galician arrivals at Newfoundland and Labrador,
> > > and the "Cod Banks"
> > >
> > >
> > > * There is a big jump from the Santa Maria (1492) to the
> > > Susan Constant (1607). (I guess the Spanish
> > > were not in Florida and the French
> > > had not setteled Fort Tadoussac in Quebec)
> > >
> > >
> > > 3) Sailors of the Atlantic World.
> > >
> > >
> > > * I also find the absence of any reference to the
> > > Kru of West Africa astonishing - The
> > > Portuguese and British (and probably the Danes and Dutch
> > > too) used them. They were probably among the first of the
> > > free Africans in US port cities
> > >
> > >
> > > * what I also find strange is that sailors fo the Atlantic
> > > World makes no mention of the Indian, Malay and
> > > Chinese Lascars who were clearly on board
> > > Portuguese, British, Dutch and French east India Company
> > > vessels.
> > >
> > >
> > > 4) 1800-1850 Defending Independence.
> > >
> > >
> > > * No mention of the free and enslaved
> > > Africans that served on both sides and built and
> > > repaired ships at the naval yards for both sides.
> > >
> > >
> > > * No mention that the "The Defence" - better
> > > known as the "Star Sprangled Banner" was written
> > > on board the HMS Minden at Chesapeake Bay in 1812. the
> > > Minden was a British Royal Navy vessel built by the
> > > Wadia's at Bombay!
> > >
> > >
> > > * No mention of the Sultan of Zanzibar's ship - the
> > > Sultannah that was the first "Arab" vessle to
> > > arrive in North Atlantic waters. She came to London and went
> > > on to New York and Canton.
> > >
> > >
> > > 5) 1850-1920 Fishing for a Living
> > >
> > >
> > > * Though the Azores and Cape Verde islands are mentioned
> > > there is no refernece to the whaling industry as the origin
> > > of the Cape Verdean diaspora in Boston.
> > >
> > >
> > > 6) Inland Waterways 1820-1940
> > >
> > > * This really puzzles me - did the First Nations not
> > > originally use the great rivers? Also no mention of the
> > > First Nations, the Metis and the French in
> > > the mapping and development of the major waterways of North
> > > America.
> > >
> > > Overall I think the site is well designed. But it considers
> > > the Atlantic as an isolated body of water - which it
> > > isn't from any perspective. It also fails to cover the
> > > maritime contribution of First Nations, Inuit,
> > > Aleutians and Pacific Islanders.. Additionally it is
> > > extremely Eurocentric - if not Anglocentric in terms of its
> > > timeline and content. It also gives the impression that the
> > > African contribution was minimal and in some areas
> > > non-existant. The focus on the Atlantic has resulted in the
> > > exclusion of the Pacific and the Spanish narrative in the
> > > Southwest. I am no specialist on American history - but I
> > > can back all of the socio-historical points I make.
> > >
> > >
> > > Cliff
> > > BASA Chair
> > >
> > > Date: Tue, 23 Jun 2009 03:11:35 -0700
> > > From: [log in to unmask]
> > > Subject: New Exhibit at Smithsonian
> > > To: [log in to unmask]
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > >
> > > I would appreciate your input on this exhibit that is
> > > at the Smithsonian National Museum of American
> > > History.
> > > http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthewater/
> > >
> > > Thanks,
> > > H.E. Ross
> > >
> > > View your Twitter and Flickr updates from one
> > > place - Learn
> > > more!
> > >
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> View your Twitter and Flickr updates from one place – Learn more!
>
>
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