Palace of Westminster

Westminster Palace, one of the oldest structures in London, is also the site of Indigenous London’s beginnings; it is where three men, likely Inuit (although also claimed variously as Beothuk or Mik’maw), appeared in 1501 or 1502. Brought back possibly as early as 1497 and probably by Bristol merchants, two of these men were observed two or so years later, dressed as English gentlemen and conversing together in the corridors of power. While this image—and this story—is entirely arresting, it is also indicative of the fragmentary nature of the archive, as this is all we really know about them, making getting “beyond the spectacle” for some of these visitors very difficult indeed.