Native Common Pots and English Towns: The Space of Early New England
Listen to the lecture “Native Common Pots and English Towns: The Space of Early New England” in the media player below or via Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.
Listen on Spotify or Apple Media.
Transcript of lecture:
Quick links to some interesting sources: accompanying webpage and maps for Lisa Brooks’ Common Pot
As a reminder, the learning goals of the lecture are:
…for learners to be able to explain McLuhan’s concept of towns as a medium; to describe 1-2 attributes of Puritan towns, including meetinghouses; and to explain Lisa Brooks’ concept of the common pot and give examples of it.
Discussion questions and forum:
- Examine this 3D view of Old Ship Church, a meetinghouse in Hingham, MA (https://www.360cities.net/image/old-ship-church-one-a-1). Analyze the layout of this building according to McLuhan’s ideas and your own. How does it organize the way that people relate to one another? What kind of actions does it make possible? What kind of work can people do through this building, or what kind of activities become available?
- Optional: Consider McLuhan’s words in your analysis: “A triangle follows lines of force, this being the most economical way of anchoring a vertical object. A square moves beyond such kinetic pressures to enclose visual space relations, while depending upon diagonal anchors. This separation of the visual from direct tactile and kinetic pressure, and its translation into new dwelling spaces, occurs only when men have learned to practice specialization of their sense, and fragmentation of their work skills” (125).
- Lisa Brooks cites Victor Lytwyn’s work about the common pot in her book. Lytwyn’s discussion provides us with some more context. He uses the term “dish with one spoon” to describe the “common pot”: “The words dish with one spoon and other similar terms have been used since time immemorial by aboriginal people in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence valley region to describe agreements concerning shared hunting grounds. The dish symbolizes a common hunting ground, while the spoon denotes that people are free to hunt within it and to eat the game and fish together” (Lytwyn 210). Lytwyn also notes that the words for “bowl” or “kettle” were used, too. Where else in literature, culture, or other parts of your life have you seen a related concept about common, cooperative spaces in which people realize their interdependence? Keeping in mind that the common pot concept arises from distinctive Native traditions in the Northeast and is rooted in particular times, places, and Native peoples, compare the common pot paradigm with the other concept you identified.
Respond to these discussion questions (or other topics of your choosing, relating to the lectures) here: