Towards a revision of the history of Southern Plains-New Mexico relations: Lipan Apaches and Southern Plains ecology, 1500-1720

Authors

William Carter, University of Texas-Pan American

Date of Award

5-1992

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS)

Department

History

First Advisor

Dr. Christopher L. Miller

Second Advisor

Dr. Robert Salmon

Third Advisor

Dr. Thomas Pozorski

Abstract

This study argues that the history of the sixteenth and seventeenth century Southern Plains-New Mexico region can be significantly revised if approached from an epistemology founded on William James's doctrine of radical empiricism. Such an epistemology seeks out empirical data and interpretations of that data from a variety of disciplines, and by casting a wider net, empirically and metahistorically, provides for a "more true" conception of the past. It is argued that previous interpretations of this history have missed a larger understanding of changes occurring in the region due to a variety of limiting perspectives, which has included interpretations imbued with presentist, teleological, ethnocentric, or anthropocentric epistemologies. Focusing on the Lipan Apaches, this study uses historical documents, interpretations, and data amassed from anthropology and the natural sciences to reconstruct a more rich, full, and inclusive history of the region.

Comments

Copyright 1992 William Carter. All Rights Reserved.

https://www.proquest.com/dissertations-theses/towards-revision-history-southern-plains-new/docview/220032677/se-2?accountid=7119

Granting Institution

Pan American University