Ceremonies of Possession by Patricia Seed

Alysha Kurani In Patricia Seed’s Ceremonies of Possession in the Europe’s Conquest of the New World: 1492-1640, several different “possession methods” were displayed from the different groups that conquered the new world. Ranging from artwork, to astrological maps, to a reading of submission, each group devised their own technique when claiming a new land. Physical demarkation was the main practice the English used to symbolize the ownership of new land. The methods they used to mark such territory were the building of houses, gardens, and constructing fences. Houses created a legal right to the land. As declared by Seed, “ building the first house was critical to the initial stages of English settlement in the first place because of their cultural significance as registers of stability , historically carrying a significance of pertinence missing even elsewhere in continental Europe.”. In chapter one Seed maintains that “to build a house in the New World was for an Englishman a clear and unmistakable sign of intent to remain.” Another known English symbol of possession was to erect fences. This was the second most common boundary marker . Fences specifically symbolized private ownership of land. This process was called the “enclosure movement”. It stated that “collective owners were to exchange their shared rights in a large piece of land for private rights in a smaller piece.” This movement gained momentum in establishing individual ownership of land. Fences ultimately signified constrictive ownership of land and property. Land could also be rightfully possessed by planting a garden or using land for other agriculture. Seed believed, “ownership of land could be secured by simply using it, engaging in agricultural or pastoral activities.” The planting of gardens quickly became an “art form” for the English. The reasoning behind possession of gardening was signified as “a critical difference between savage (uncontrolled) and civilized.” Since many natives