Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America, in the Years 1766, 1767 and 1768 — Story, Setting & Ideas

Dietary Contrasts and Cultural Assumptions

In Chapter VI, Carver describes the eating habits of the Naudowessies (Dakota) and other nations, noting that they neither use bread, salt, nor spices. He remarks that they eat wild rice boiled alone, and consume maple sugar by itself, without using it to sweeten other foods. Carver is struck by the absence of milk in their diet, despite the availability of buffalo and elk, and observes that they consider milk only proper for the young of those animals. He admits that he could not perceive any inconveniency from the disuse of articles esteemed so necessary by Europeans, and notes that the Indians are in general healthy and vigorous. This passage reveals Carver's struggle to reconcile his own cultural expectations with the apparent well-being of the people he observes. He also describes a dish called Succatosh, made from unripe corn and beans boiled with bear's flesh, which he finds extremely palatable. Carver's attention to such details provides a window into Indigenous foodways, but his framing often implies a hierarchy of civilization.

Hospitality and Social Customs

Carver emphasizes the hospitality of the Indians, stating that no people are more hospitable, kind, and free. He notes that they will readily share the last part of their provisions with any of their own tribe, and even with those of a different nation, if they chance to come in when they are eating. This observation counters European stereotypes of savagery, yet Carver also records that the lower ranks are exceedingly nasty in dressing their victuals, while some chiefs are very neat and cleanly. Such distinctions suggest a social hierarchy that Carver is attuned to. He also describes the practice of dancing before or after every meal, which he interprets as a cheerful sacrifice to the Great Spirit, more acceptable than a formal thanksgiving. The separation of men and women at feasts, but their eating together in domestic settings, further illustrates the complexity of social norms that Carver attempts to document.

Linguistic and Ethnographic Gaps

Carver includes vocabularies of the Ojibwa and Dakota languages, reflecting an interest in linguistic documentation that was typical of Enlightenment-era travelers. However, his account also reveals gaps in his knowledge. For instance, he describes a bark that the Naudowessies eat in the spring, but admits he could neither learn the name of it nor discover from whence they got it. He notes that it was of a brittle nature, easily masticated, and in flavor not unlike a turnip. This admission of ignorance is rare in Carver's narrative, which often presents itself as authoritative. Similarly, his description of the Naudowessies' use of a forcible aspiration sounding like an union of the letters OAH at the end of periods indicates an attempt to capture phonetic details, but the transcription is necessarily imprecise. These moments remind the reader that Carver's account is filtered through his own perceptions and the limitations of cross-cultural communication.

Carver's Travels is a document of its time, offering a blend of observation and assumption that rewards careful reading. Readers should attend to the moments where Carver notes what he does not know, as these often reveal the limits of his perspective. The text is best approached as a primary source for understanding how an eighteenth-century British traveler interpreted the peoples and landscapes of the interior, rather than as an objective record. The inclusion of language glossaries and descriptions of daily life provides valuable data, but always within the framework of Carver's own cultural lens.

Reading about Carver’s patient waiting at the portages brought back a train ride I once took through the Dakotas, watching the plains blur into sameness. It felt like the land was holding its breath. Later, Aspects of nature, in different lands and different climates (Vol. 2 of 2) with scientific elucidations — Reading Companion gave me that same quiet sense of being small inside a vast, breathing system.