Depicting Mexican Nature: Science, Visuality, and the Natural World in the Construction of Indigeneity

In recent decades countries and international pharmaceutical corporations have debated who has the right to exploit the botanical resources found within the national space. At stake is whether a nation can claim the botanical resources growing within its territory as national patrimony. This struggle has a longer history than most people recognize. Through a focus on indigenous and creole botanical draftsmen during the Hernández expedition of the 1570s and the Sessé and Mociño expedition from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, as well as the long-term influence of both expeditions into 19^th and 20^th century processes of national formation, López’s presentation considers the connection between the scientific study of plants, claims to political and cultural indigeneity, and rights over nature.