Piracy, Slavery, and Eating in the Southern Pacific, 1580s-1720s

My paper is set in the Southern Pacific, or the part of the ocean that connected East Asia to Central and South America, from the late-sixteenth to the early-eighteenth century. With merchant vessels loaded with American silver, African slaves, and global luxury goods circulating throughout the region, it was one of the most active commercial zones in the world. And for Spain's European rivals, it was an attractive target for incursions. Yet among the European pirates and privateers making their way into the region, satisfying hunger was a surprisingly difficult - and distracting - part of their experience at sea. With little knowledge of their own about what was safe to eat, they had to rely on outsiders to help them gain access to food. This group primarily consisted of black men and women taken captive during raids of slave ships, merchant vessels, and Spanish-American port cities, who possessed the local and scientific ability to determine which parts of which plants, fruits, and animals could be eaten or even treat diseases. In drawing upon the accounts of those Europeans, my paper centers the intellectual labor of African-descent men and women, highlighting the ways they deployed their knowledge in service to their captors, often against their will but also as a means to secure their freedom. It also considers the risks involved in such efforts, given the possibility of making mistakes that could endanger the health of their captors and in turn put their own lives in further danger.