Comekala and Ranald MacDonald: Making Pacific Worlds Through Indigenous Exploration

This presentation examines how Comekala, a Mowachaht from Vancouver Island, and Ranald MacDonald, a Chinook from the Columbia River, shaped history through their explorations of the Pacific during the long nineteenth century. Separately, their ocean-spanning mobilities exemplify their efforts at shaping Indigenous futures while bringing the people and places of the Pacific Ocean into world history. This event is part of the annual Sherman & Mabel Smith Pettyjohn Lecture on Native American History.