Elizabeth N. Ellis, Associate Professor of History, Princeton University
Commentators: Dr. Arianne Urus, University of Cambridge; Professor Joy Porter, University of Birmingham
Room 2, Yusuf Hamied Court, Christ’s College | 10 February 2025 | 4–5pm
In her book, The Great Power of Small Nations: Indigenous Diplomacy in the Gulf South, Ellis examines the history of the smaller Native American nations of the Lower Mississippi Valley and highlights how these groups shaped and challenged the development of colonial Louisiana. Central to this story is the movement of these Indigenous groups and practices of providing refuge for one another, creating new communities of multiple nations, cultures, and languages.
She argues that these relations between nations both contributed to their resilience in the face of colonial violence and can tell us about Indigenous nation building, diplomacy, and power in this region. Ellis also demonstrates how understanding the history of these smaller nations is vital in the present day as Indigenous communities continue to fight for sovereignty and resist further dispossession.
View the full schedule of the Cambridge American History Seminar 2024-25 here.
