Botany of colonization: indigenous knowledge and scientific appropriations in the Pacific Scientific Commission

Abstract

This article aims to expand the analysis of the pluralities that characterized the Scientific Commission of the Pacific (1862–1865), focusing on the contribution of Brazilian indigenous peoples and the relationship between their knowledge and botany in the identification of medicinal plants collected and sent to Spain. Botany played a key role in 19th-century Spanish politics, serving as a fundamental component of health reforms and the program for cataloging South American plant species. The research approaches the Commission’s journey as a space of contact, construction, and circulation of knowledge, highlighting the
transnational networks established between scientists and indigenous peoples. The sources used include the journals of botanists Juan Isern and Marco Jiménez de la Espada, letters, photographs, and travel notebooks. Methodologically, an approach that problematizes the center-periphery relationship is applied, examining how indigenous knowledge was integrated and circulated in the documents and exhibitions of the period.