ABSTRACT
R.O. Marsh's search for the white Indians of Darien blends sublimely with his account of the spectacularly successful rebellion of the Cuna, as if the very search for that whiteness secreted in the jungle had predetermined such an extraordinary political event. Eroticization of the whiteness of Indians punctuates Marsh's revelation in several places. On account of Baer's illness he had had to plead with Marsh to continue with the expedition, stating that "this was the greatest scientific opportunity of his life. The lay of the land is crucial to the emplotment of Indianness as elusive, white, and female, against a gathering storm of blackness. "The timing of the Swedes was perfect" this scholar observed, for the chief was "involved at time with a project to record the traditions, and had been encouraging those Indians with writing skills to copy all the sacred knowledge of the tribe into notebooks."
