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American Cows in Antarctica: Richard Byrd's polar dairy as symbolic settler colonialism

journal contribution
posted on 2023-05-26, 10:18 authored by Elizabeth LeaneElizabeth Leane, Hanne NielsenHanne Nielsen
Few people are aware that dairy cows form part of Antarctic exploration history. Richard Byrd's second expedition of 1933‚Äö-35 took with it three Guernseys, ostensibly to provide milk for the men. We outline the cows' Antarctica experience, discussing the way in which their celebrity benefited the expedition and its sponsors. Contextualizing the episode within the cultural history of milk in the US, we suggest some lenses through which the Guernseys can be read. These cows, we argue, enabled Byrd to enact a form of symbolic settler colonialism on the Antarctic continent.

History

Publication title

Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History

Volume

18

Article number

2

Number

2

ISSN

1532-5768

Publisher

John Hopkins University Press

Publication status

  • Published

Repository Status

  • Restricted

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