This article assesses the cultures of assembly in the Dutch global sphere of influence. It focuses on so-called landdagen (‘land days’), formal assemblies of Dutch provincial communities. While originating in the late medieval Low Countries, several such bodies were instituted in Dutch colonies in the seventeenth century. This article is the first to compare contemporary reflections on three such land days, namely that of the province of Guelders in the metropole, and those in New Netherland (North America) and Formosa (now Taiwan) in overseas territories. These three assemblies offer an illuminating case study, for, while differing in some respects, they possessed similar powers in the political structure of the Dutch Republic. This article examines how the Dutch traditions of assembly interacted and/or hybridised with other European parliamentary cultures and Indigenous traditions of assembly in overseas contexts. It argues that early modern Dutch perceptions of the genesis and functions of the landdagen reveal a pragmatic commingling of different assembly traditions, calculated to foster a shared sense of political community.

In March 1645, a large number of Potiguara people from various regions of north-eastern Brazil gathered in the aldeamento (Indigenous settlements under colonial control or supervision) of Tapesserica on Itamaracá. The primary objectives of the assembly included the establishment of Indigenous câmaras (municipal councils) and deliberations on the law of native freedom. Notably, in this period, some Indigenous people in Brazil were still held as slaves in territories under Dutch jurisdiction. The Tapesserica Assembly produced a remonstrance (‘remonstrantie’), which was delivered to the Dutch government in Recife by the Potiguara. This article scrutinises the Potiguara Assembly, the earliest recorded Indigenous assembly in Brazil, and reconstructs its connections to Indigenous political culture predating the European arrival in Brazil. It explores the Indigenous perspective on the Dutch–Portuguese wars and demonstrates the role of the Potiguara as historical agents, navigating the complexities of conflict and decision-making processes that ultimately shaped their destiny.