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Introduction

• Exploration of slave women's perceptions of wilderness in the nineteenth century.

• Emphasis on the power dynamics and control experienced by enslaved women through their environment.

Historical Context

• Patricia Reaux's Activism (1979):

  • Led a community fight against environmental racism in Houston, linking racial dignity to surroundings.

  • Legal case spurred the environmental justice movement.

• The activism of black women like Reaux is rooted in historical interactions with their environment.

Varied Views of Environment by Race and Class

• Perceptions of nature were influenced by factors such as:

  • Time Period: Different eras have distinct environmental perceptions.

  • Race: Racial backgrounds influence views on nature.

  • Gender: Different experiences for men and women in their relations to nature.

• Nineteenth-century white male views often regarded nature as a resource to be controlled.

• In contrast, Native Americans and Africans generally saw nature as sacred, fostering conservation and respect.

Slave Women's Experience with Nature

• African-American slave women had unique interactions with their environment, often seeing it as both empowering and oppressive.

• Due to the lack of written records, the understanding of these experiences largely relies on narratives from former slaves.

Knowledge and Use of Wilderness

• Mixed Perceptions of Wilderness:

  • Enslaved women viewed the wilderness as both a refuge and a site of fear.

  • Some found means of solace, strength, and a source of life in the environment.

• Cultural Roots: Their views were shaped by African traditions of land use, where land was seen as a communal and sacred resource.

Wilderness as a Source of Power

• Wilderness enabled practices such as:

  • Medicine: Slave women used knowledge of natural resources for healing remedies. For instance:

    • Use of various herbal teas for ailments (e.g., red oak bark, sassafras tea).

  • Food Sources: Hunting and gathering provided vital nutrition, supplementing poor diets typically offered by masters.

    • Wildlife contributed significantly to protein intake, with slave families often hunting for raccoons, deer, etc.

• Escape and Resistance:

  • Woods offered hiding spots for runaways and acts of resistance.

  • Examples of temporary escapes show awareness of using wilderness strategically.

Fear and Dangers in the Wilderness

• Parental Warnings:

  • Fear was instilled in children to deter them from straying too far into the woods.

  • Dangerous creatures, snakes, and imagined supernatural threats were emphasized.

• Enslaved individuals recounted personal experiences with dangers such as panthers and snakes, provoking fear.

Influence of Supernatural and Cultural Narratives

• Ghost Stories and Ancestral Connections:

  • Tales of ghosts often circulated in the context of wilderness, reflecting fears and societal norms.

  • Stories were used to convey cultural values and warnings, linking to broader narratives of community and control.

Control through Narrative

• Southern white women utilized tales of danger to maintain control over their slaves.

  • Stories served to reinforce racist stereotypes and assert authority.

  • White mistresses often conveyed their power through the moral lessons embedded in tales of nature.

Conclusion

• Slave women's interactions with the wilderness were complex, revealing both sources of fear and empowerment.

• Wilderness served as a site of cultural continuity, resistance, and power, paralleling contemporary environmental activism.

• Knowledge of the natural world granted enslaved women autonomy within the constraining structures of slavery.