Description
Like many Indigenous visitors to London, the Cherokee Beloved Man Adgalgala and his compatriots faced a grueling itinerary. In addition to Windsor Palace, their tour in 1730 included performances at Sadler’s Wells, the Royal Hospital at Greenwich, fairs at Croydon and Tottenham Court, Bedlam Hospital, and numerous other sights and sites. While the intention of British “handlers” was always to impress, Indigenous travelers could put the experience of their time in London to good use; Adgalgala, for example, told a colonial governor a quarter-century later that “I am the only Cherokee now alive that went to England,” highlighting the cultural and political capital he had earned from the journey , while simultaneously warning the official that he was no rube.
Bibliographic sources
Thrush, Indigenous London, 82-91. Image credit, the British Museum.