Project 562

The photography project entitled Project 562 was started by a young woman named Matika Wilbur in 2012. Wilbur bought an RV after selling everything in her apartment and travels the country visiting different groups of Native Americans. In her own words, her mission with the project is "to unveil the true essence of contemporary Native issues, the beauty of Native culture, the magnitude of tradition, an expose her vitality" (Matika Wilbur). The basic structure of the projects are the portraits taken of Native Americans. Accompanying the photos on the Project 562 website are stories and quotes from the people in them. This allows Matika to achieve her goal of "unveiling the true essence" of the Native Americans.

Photograph of Tatanka Means by Matika Wilbur

Along with the portraits of Native Americans featured on the Project 562 website are portraits in a blog post entitled "5 Positive Representations of Native Americans". This blog post by Wilbur consists of more portraits with people's stories, but these stories counteract the stereotypes that are given to modern day Native Americans. One of the pictures of a man named Tatanka Means has a quote under it where Means talks about how he doesn't drink or do drugs. This is against the modern stereotype that Native Americans are drunks and stoners. This blog post is only one of many that Matika Wilbur has created for Project 562.

Other blog posts that exist on the Project 562 website are informative for events going on in the Native American community that "outsiders" might not know much about. One blog post was entitled "Still Native Land: Understanding the Movement at Standing Rock". Throughout this blog post, Matika describes the event in ways that are more easily understandable for someone who is not part of the Native American community. These blog posts exist to further help Matika Wilbur achieve her goal for the project.

Matika Wilbur with her RV "Big Girl" and her Camera

Wind River

Map of the Wind River Indian Reservation

The Wind River Indian Reservation is known for it's large crime rates. One of the articles that I read was from CNN and was about the murder of three young girls. On the day of their murder they were planning on having a sleepover. Their parents were extremely hesitant about it because of their location in the Wind River Reservation, they were concerned for their children's safety. That night, all of the girls were murdered by young boys, who had no real motive and received little punishment for their crimes. Another crime on the reservation that I read about from the New York Times was one where a young girl was murdered by her brother. While this crimes had what could be seen as a motive (the girl was caught by her brother having an affair with her step-cousin), the punishment for the crimes wasn't as severe as it would be expected to be.
I first started looking more into why all of these crimes were happening. I found out that there are less than ten police officers to patrol the area which is the size of both Rhode Island and Delaware combined. The lack of law enforcement officers makes the large crimes rates nearly impossible to handle. It is also difficult to get federal law enforcement onto reservations to handle crimes as well. I learned from the FBI that for a while, federal officers weren't allowed on reservations land, but there was a law passed that allows them to be present under certain circumstances to assist in the investigation of crimes.

Police Officers on the Wind River Indian Reservation

Another major issue involving the law enforcement of the area is the jurisdiction of the officers on reservation land. Federal law enforcement officers can only have jurisdiction if crimes are committed between two people in which one of them is an "indian" on the reservation and the other is someone of any other race. Most of the crimes at Wind River appear to be "indian" on "indian", which means that federal law enforcement has no jurisdiction over these crimes and can not assist in the investigation, be it with officers or equipment. This means that these "indian" on "indian" crimes are left up to the small amount of officers on the reservation and to the "indians" themselves. The officers on reservation lands don't have the expensive equipment or the people to use it to conduct intense investigations, and finding criminals can be difficult at times without the help of federal officers. The "indians" are not capable of doing much besides attempt to draw attention to the situation, which is seen by the parents raising awareness about the three girls that were murdered in the CNN article.
In the movie "Wind River", the director Taylor Sheridan opens up a window into the world of Wind River. He shed lights on the fact that the lack of data about the crimes in the area make it nearly impossible to speculate as to why all of these crimes are happening besides the lack of lack enforcement.

Western Letter

One letter that I found written by Mark Twain to his Mom from Carson City in the Nevada Territory. He is answering her request for him to tell her about the country, saying that he is only going to use facts and no "nonsense". He talks about a place called "Gold Hill", that is named for its abundant gold bearing and because it is the best Gold producing place in the area. He lists the various resources and types of people that are abundant there, such as marble, granite, slate, thieves, murderers, and lawyers. He mentions that it never rains and there is no green anywhere. He describes the types of plants that grow there and then describes the landscape. He talks about the town and where it is built. He then mentions a place called King's Canon, making sure to put the proper pronunciation (can-yon) in the letter, where all of the ranches and farms are because things actually grow there. He describes the houses as "framed" and "paper-covered" by flour sacks. Depending on the brand of flour sack it would show your wealth. He says there are also stone houses. After describing the city, he moves on to the other questions his mom asked. He doesn't go to church regularly, and in Carson they only have not-in-business Catholic church and a Protestant service every Sabbath in the school house. He says there are many ladies, and then calls them handsome. He says the people are generally moral and religious. Lastly, he tells her that if people ask, he is enjoying his life in Nevada. He says it's really dusty, but that he likes dust. The days are hot and the nights are cold. It doesn't rain, but he like it because he dislikes mud. There are scorpion and spiders, but he doesn't mind because he doesn't like spiders. Overall, this letter has a really descriptive narrative of Carson City, Nevada and it is really useful for finding out what the West was like back then.

Letter Writing in America

The article "Letter Writing in America" talks about the changes in letter writing throughout history. The article starts out by talking about the letters from people exploring the new world. The explorers were being paid, and sent updates back to their bosses. The article says that because of this, the letters that were being sent from the new world frequently described "Eden-like surroundings", a plethora of available food and resources, and cordial and cooperative natives who came across as though they wanted to convert to Christianity. (Letter Writing in America) From here, postal services were created such as the British Colonial Post. The downside to this was that postage was expensive and many people were illiterate. Most letters being sent were either from wealthy upperclass citizens or were secret letters sent by the government or military. Newspapers then started publishing letters. After this, Westward Expansion made it popular for letters to be send back to family from the West, either as updates or often news of death. The railroads made letters faster to send and receive. During the civil war, letters were often sent between soldiers and their families, and there were often letters from former slaves. Letters of a particular time tend to show the issues that were present during that time period, such as letters from immigrants to their families and letters about feminism. Throughout the World Wars and the Great Depression, more letters are sent between soldiers and their families; letters also show up in newspapers regarding personal inquiries. In the modern times, letter writing has decreased significantly because of technology such as telegraphs, E-mail, and phones. Letters are still written mainly to petition the government, for business transactions, and as an art form. As for the future of letter writing, the article states that it is unknown.

Newspaper Research

I read a weekly paper from Prescott, Arizona called The Weekly Arizona Miner. The political issues that were being discussed were mainly about the rules of the area. Since Arizona was not yet a state, the people were trying to figure out a way to govern and make rules for themselves. There were also lots of stories of crime and scandal. There were mentions of murder, rape, assault and battery, fraud, and others. What particularly grabbed my attention in this paper was how murderers often got less sentence than people who committed other smaller crimes. Another thing that caught my attention was some of the laws that were being passed and removed at a quick pace. There were laws to regulate the herding of sheep, prevent gambling with minors, prevent the destruction of fish, and amend lawful fences and animal trespassing. These laws make me want to know what happened to cause them to be put into place. This newspaper is useful to learn about the area because it provides insight into the political decisions that were being made as to how the area was to be governed. It also provides insight into the legal system and what kinds of crimes were being committed and how they were being handled.

"12 Years a Slave" Essay

While watching the film 12 Years a Slave, I spent a good deal of time wondering how accurate the film was to the real historical events that took place. Turns out, they were very accurate, and some parts were taken directly from Solomon Northup’s own words. After watching this movie and learning about the history behind it, I came to the conclusion that history can be learned from film if the time and effort is put into making sure the tools used to make the movie engaging do not compromise the accuracy of the story.

Soloman Northup and Epps in "12 Years a Slave"

The movie “12 Years a Slave” is a moving film about Solomon Northup’s story. However, it is also a film about the overall treatment of slaves. The New York Times has a review of the movie that references this idea, writing about how the story becomes more deep and then proceeds to become more compact once on Epp’s plantation. Epp’s plantation is also where the truth about being a slave for hours, decades, and generations is shown, sometimes through scenes of the slaves that are Epp’s property being whipped, one example being Epp’s “brutalized favorite”, Patsey, who is played by Lupita Nyong’o. (NY Times Movie Review) The New York Times considers this film accurate to the history, but so do the people that were a part of the making of it. In an interview for Vanity Fair, Lupita Nyong’o said, “Because it’s not about getting it right, it’s about getting it true.” (Vanity Fair Interview) Nyong’o says that while filming the movie the main focus was the accuracy of the history, not the accuracy of the acting. The director wanted the movie to be more true to the history instead of being a perfect Hollywood production that lost all of the realness to the story.

The movie is based off of Solomon Northup's personal narrative of his time as a slave. Having never read his narrative, I spent the entirety of the movie wondering if some of the scenes were based off of real life situations or if they were added to make the film more interesting to watch. I was very happy to find out that important parts of the film were completely real and accurate. Solomon writes in his narrative that Patsey’s back was covered in nearly a thousand scars from a whip. These were not because she was not working diligently or because she was careless and defiant; they were because she had an amoral master and an envious mistress. She was small in the “lustful eye” of her master, and at risk of death at the hands of her mistress, and she was “accursed” between the bother of them. There were loud arguments in the great house for days at time where she was the reason without having done anything. The mistress was happiest when she was suffering. On more than one occasion, Patsey attempted to bribe Solomon to kill her in secret and bury her body in a secluded area of the swamp when Epps denied his wife’s wishes to sell Patsey. (Solomon Northup’s Narrative) Not only was Patsey’s situation in the film accurate to her real life experience, but it provides insight into how other slaves were treated similarly. Harriet Jacobs, another slave, spoke about how a mistress would mistreat slaves whom their husbands were treating their slaves in a similar way Patsey was treated. Harriet said, “The mistress, who ought to protect the helpless victim, has no other feelings towards her but those of jealously and rage.” (Harriet Jacobs' Narrative) The film provides the viewer with an accurate representation of how Patsey was treated, and also of how other slaves were treated who weren’t parts of Solomon's story.

Time and effort was certainly put into the creation of “12 Year a Slave” to make it a film that was both engaging for the viewer, but also true to history. The scenes in the movie can be fact checked by looking through Solomon Northup’s narrative, and they are portrayed accurately based on his descriptions. Some of the scenes and lines are taken directly verbatim from Solomon’s book. After watching this movie and doing the research on slave narratives, I think that history can most definitely be learned through film. It is certainly easy to alter the story to make it more interesting, but that is not always the case. I believe that as long as the movie is made accurately and stays completely true to the history, then film is a fantastic way for people to learn about past events.

Citations:

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/pds/maai/enslavement/text6/masterslavesexualabuse.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/18/movies/12-years-a-slave-holds-nothing-back-in-show-of-suffering.html

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/01/lupita-nyongo-12-years-a-slave-interview

Slave Narratives

I read the list of Slave Narratives regarding slave holder's sexual abuse on slaves. Everything that I learned while reading this is awful. I'm surprised that some of the women were willing to talk about their experiences and speak up, although they did seem to have a harder time discussing the topic than the men did. It's so incredibly sad that these women had to go through the hardships that they did because if they refused they were punished in a worse way or sometimes killed. Not only did they have to deal with the men, but their wives made it worse. One of the excerpts talks about how the mistress would beat or throw objects the woman that her husband was forcing to submit to him. It's an issue that no person should have to deal with, especially not in fear of their life or further punishment. When giving yourself up to these kind of actions is the better option of being beaten or death, it can't be imagined what these women went through unless you are placed in the situation yourself.

A few of the questions I have.
1. Why do the slave owners get married if they have intentions like these?
2. Why do women marry the men knowing that they are more than likely not going to be loyal to them, and then why don't they leave them?
3. Were there any instances where someone stood up for themselves and fought back or where others fought back for them or with them?

Self Assessment

Throughout this first part of the year I think I've learned a lot. I learned how to write good thesis statements for history and how to properly paraphrase and quote authors. I think these are really important skills to have developed before we start working on more research projects. I'm also really into psychology so I loved doing the Choices work. I'm looking forward to the police things that we talked about at the end of class today. I'm interested in learning about it and how police actions affected history and how their past decisions effect how people feel about police today.

Reflection of Paraphrase Practice

Reflection

I learned a lot today. I was nervous paraphrasing would be something I couldn't do very well, but I actually enjoyed doing it and I think I did a fairly good job at it. It's helpful to know when to use a quote and when to just reword what the author was saying because I don't think I fully understood when to use each before. I used to just use a quote to help an argument but now I realize that I can paraphrase the quote and still help the argument which makes an actual quotation more powerful because it adds more meaning. I also know to always cite the author no matter if it is a paraphrase or a quotation. Hyperlinking is also really cool and super easy to do. I feel really good about doing all of this and I think this activity was really helpful.



This What I learned Today

• Only use a direct quote when it adds power and style to my writing.
• Always make it clear, from context, that I understand the full meaning of the quote.
• Whether I quote or paraphrase, I must always be transparent about the source and how I'm using it.
• If I use another author's exact words or phrases, to any extent, I have to use quotation marks and give credit.
• If I use another author's presentation of facts or ideas, but put their ideas in my own words, (paraphrase) I better have a good reason for doing so, and I MUST give credit.
• Hyperlinking is so easy, there is no excuse for not being transparent about my sources.

I understand how to do all of these things and I feel confident that I can do them well.

Practicing Incorporating a Quotation

While reading A.O. Scott's review of the movie Lincoln, he uses a lot of style in his writing. Scott writes, "A flock of first-rate character actors parades by in the heavy woolen plumage of the past." Scott uses this figurative language to introduce a metaphor that relates the characters to birds.


The quote that I chose is from the paragraph that I paraphrased. While trying to paraphrase it I had difficulty rewording it, so I thought it would be a good quote to put in directly instead of trying to put it in my own words.

Paraphrase Practice

Excerpt from A.O. Scott's review of the movie "Lincoln":

After a brutal, kinetic beginning -- a scene of muddy, hand-to-hand combat that evokes the opening of "Saving Private Ryan" -- "Lincoln" settles down into what looks like the familiar pageantry and speechifying of costume drama. A flock of first-rate character actors parades by in the heavy woolen plumage of the past. The smaller, plainer America of the mid-19th century is evoked by the brownish chiaroscuro of Janusz Kaminski's cinematography, by the mud, brick and wood of Rick Carter's production design and by enough important facial hair to make the young bear farmers of 21st-century Brooklyn weep tears of envy.


Paraphrase:

The movie "Lincoln" begins with a scene reminiscent of the beginning of "Saving Private Ryan". The movie opens with a violent, dynamic, and muddy hand-to-hand combat scene. After this dramatic opening, the movie moves to the more familiar look of movies about the past, particularly to do with the costumes and sets. The characters wear the heavy wool coats that people of that standing wore during the time period. Janusz Kaminski uses his skills in cinematography to create a shaded and brown look that makes the movie feel more like mid-19th century America. Production designer Rick Carter also helps to do this with the mud, brick, and wood that he used throughout the movie and also the facial hair that 21st-century bear farmers in Brooklyn would be jealous of.


Revised:

The movie "Lincoln" begins with a scene reminiscent of the beginning of "Saving Private Ryan". The movie opens with a violent, dynamic, and muddy one-on-one combat scene. After this dramatic opening, the movie moves to the more familiar look of movies about the past, particularly to do with the costumes and sets. A group of some of the best theatrical professionals processes by throughout the movie wearing in costumes that look like the clothing of the time period. Janusz Kaminski uses his skills in cinematography to create a shaded and brown look that makes the movie feel more like more simple mid-19th century America. Production designer Rick Carter also helps to do this with the normal building materials of the time period that he used throughout the movie and also the facial hair that modern day Brooklyn hipsters would be jealous of.

Civil War Era Letters

All of the letters in this collection are written to one Jasper N. Betram by his friends in the years 1864 and 1865. A common theme throughout all of the letters is the Civil War that was currently going on, which makes sense since they were all written during that time period. All of them also include some form of personal information, be it an opinion or just discussing the author's personal life. As far the exchange of information, a couple of the letters discuss the current affairs of the time period, such as updates about soldiers that knew Betram and the assassination of President Lincoln. The places the letters came form varied, however, most of them were from places in Tennessee and Kentucky. Is there a particular reason these are where the majority of the letters came from? All but one of the letters was written to Betram by fellow soldiers. The only letter that wasn't was from a woman. It isn't surprising that all the men were in the military because most young men of that time fought in the war. This set of letters offers an insight into the life of a soldier that otherwise may have been forgotten.  Jasper N. Betram isn't a Civil War soldier that most people come across in their lifetime, but through letters that were written to him, he can be remembered in the modern era.

Lucinda J. Tolle writing to Jasper N. Betram on May 6th, 1864 from Glasgow, Kentucky.

Captain Isaac N. Chenoweth writing to Jasper N. Betram on August 24, 1864 from Fort Sterling, Kentucky.

Henry B. Tolle writing to Jasper N. Betram on April 16, 1865 from Taylorville, Indiana.

Henry Sheak writing to Jasper N. Betram on April 10, 1865 from Jonesboro, Tennessee.

J. H. Barbour writing to Jasper N. Betram on August 3, 1864 from Hospital No.3 in Lookout Mountain, Chattanooga, Tennessee.

History of the American Flag

When and where does the flag originate?
 I found on PBS that no one knows the true origin of the first American flag. Some people think that the first flag was designed by Francis Hopkinson, a Congressman in New Jersey, and sewn by Betsy Ross, a seamstress in Philadelphia.

When and why has it evolved? Note eras of significant and permeant change.
There haven't been very many substantial changes to the flag, most of them are the addition of stars and/or stripes because of new states being admitted into the country. There have been a lot of different flags and different changes to the flag which I found on a timeline of the flag's history. A majority of the changes are a star being added because of the addition of a new state. An interesting fact that I found on the timeline was that there was never a flag with 39 stars because it was thought that the two Dakotas would be added as one state instead of two.

Why does it use the shapes, colors, and arrangements of stars, stripes, red, white, and blue? Is there a history and purpose to these graphic choices?
I found on USFlag.org what each of the colors mean. The red stands for hardness and valor, the white stands for innocence and purity, and the blue stands for vigilance, perseverance and justice. I also know that the stripes stand for the thirteen colonies and the stars stand for the fifty states. For most of the flags history, the stars have represented the states and the stripes the colonies.

What does the flag seem to mean or say?
The flag represents the country as a whole and everything that it stands for. I think the flag is universally a symbol for all of the freedoms and rights that we have here.

What do the different names of the flag seem to suggest about it's meaning or purpose? Where do these nicknames originate from?
I found on PBS that the nickname Old Glory came from a sea captain who gave that name to his flag. His flag survived many attempts at being defaced and the name stuck around. This nickname suggests that the flag is old and brave. The nickname the Star Spangled Banner came from the song that is about it which is the countries national anthem.

Can you find any evidence that the flag itself is a controversial image? Or is it widely understood to be positive? What evidence suggests that it is widely understood as something worthy of respect that normally isn't given to a piece of fabric?
I couldn't find any evidence that suggests the flag is controversial. I think everyone pretty much agrees it is a good thing. I think that since we have so many rules surrounding it it shows how much we respect it. There are rules such as not to deface it in any way which I think goes to prove how much the flag is respected and loved.

What is culture? What is my culture?

cul·ture

ˈkəlCHər

noun

1. 1.

   the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively.

Here is how I see American culture. Everyone in America loves their rights. People enroll in the military to fight for our freedom. When someone's rights are taken away, there are protests in the streets to have it restored. If people in the government or law enforcement are treating someone unfairly, people will fight to make sure that they are punished for their wrong doings. Lots of people are really patriotic and would do anything for the country that has given them the life that they live. Everyone is also unique. Everyone has their own style of doing things that is distinctly them. People are all different nationalities, have all different religions, have all kinds of different ancestry, talk differently, use different slang, have different friends, have different jobs, have different goals in life, and so much more. People are constantly expressing themselves through art and fashion. Art and fashion are also a way for people to rebel against the social norm and to stand out in a crowd or expose something to the public. People in America are also all about opportunities and most hate the idea of missing a once in a lifetime experience that could potentially change their life forever. Another one of the best things is the food. America has all kinds of absolutely amazing food. Not only is there the stereotypical american food like hamburgers, but there's food from all over the world and from all different cultures. Worked into the country are all kinds of other cultures besides it's own, like China Town and Little Italy in New York. Although American culture is very distinctly "American", it has all other kinds of culture woven through it to make it something even more unique.

The only experience I've ever had that could be considered a culture shock is when I went to Germanfest in Wisconsin this summer. I've always been told that I'm German on my mom's side of the family, my Grandmother escaped Germany through the Berlin Wall, but I'd never really done anything "German" with that part of my family. I really had no idea what to expect from a festival about German heritage except maybe a bunch of German people who had had a little too much to drink, which turned out to be very accurate. I spent the next 6-8 hours listening to German music and even learning some of the lyrics, learning the dances to the German songs, watching people walk past wearing traditional German outfits, dancing with random strangers who were just there to have fun, eating German food, and so much more. It was easily the biggest party I've ever been to and potentially the most fun I've ever had. I didn't end up getting back home until two in the morning but I wasn't tired at all, I'd spent the entire night in what seemed like a constant adrenaline rush and the next morning I couldn't walk because of all the dancing I did. It was all definitely worth it though. Going was an amazing experience and I would love to go again next year. I had never really witnessed anything German before despite the fact that my family is German and it was so much fun that I can't wait to do it again.