Florida Natives Welcome the Returning French

THEODORE DE BRY, The Natives of Florida Worship the Column Erected by Commander on His First Voyage (1591)

As with the Aztec image in the preceding source, this engraving is of European origin, from the pen of Theodore de Bry, so the story it tells privileges the European perspective. Here we see the Timucua, a Native American people in what is now north Florida, welcoming the return of a group of French explorers. An earlier French explorer had erected the column as a monument to the French king, but the native people are shown worshipping it as if it were a god. The column has been wreathed with native garlands, and the foreground showcases North American foodstuffs offered to the visiting Europeans.

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