The Indian Issue

During our last class meeting, we discussed the history of Native American reservations, when and why they were established, and how they have changed throughout the years. As settlers in America moved West beginning in the 1850s, they began having issues with the natives of the region over natural resources. The settlers considered the natives savage, almost inhuman creatures and as a result, President Ulysses S. Grant instituted the “Peace Policy” in the late 1960s. The policy relocated the Indians to reservations where they were “civilized” and taught Christianity. And although the policy was meant to help the Indians by readying them for citizenship, it did more harm than good. This is because the Indians did not want to leave their homeland. They were forced onto reservations where the conditions were poor despite the stipends that the tribes received. Since they were away from their homeland, the Native Americans also experienced a sense of loss, a disconnection, that was compounded by the fact that they were unable to practice many of their age old rituals and cultural traditions. As a result, many of the Indians attempted to flee the reservations and this led to wars between them and the settlers, which resulted in utter devastation. The most infamous of these wars are the Sioux Wars on the northern Great Plains, which killed hundreds and hundreds of Indian men, women, and children.
In all, the Native American wars killed thousands upon thousands of Indians and those who weren't killed were still subject to hardship. The severity of this great tragedy is revealed not only in the numbers but also through its lasting effects, which can still be seen on modern Indian reservations and in the Indian community in general. The current state of most reservations do not show improvement as poverty, alcoholism, and unemployment are rampant throughout them. As the Indians are desperate for money, they also have resorted to building casinos to generate revenue. In addition, the Indians have lost many aspects of their culture and rarely practice the rituals and traditions that distinguish them from other tribes and peoples. And these are just a few of the effects of the great devastation. One could go on and on.
As a result, although we are not directly responsible for the tragedy, our ancestors were, and so I believe that it is our generation's duty to help the Native Americans in any way possible. I realize the state of our current economy is poor and I understand that our government cannot afford to give large sums of money to the reservations. However, there must be something we and our government can do. We must not merely discuss why and how the great devastation happened. The psychology of why it happened and what justification the settlers felt they had in relocating the Native Americans to reservations far away from their natural landscape and entirely altering their way of life is worthy of discussion. However, exploring the reason for the devastation is not what will help the Indians now. Rather, we should establish government committees and local organizations that will focus on the question of how to solve the problem because that is the only thing which will help the Indians now. Although we cannot take back what our ancestors did to the Native Americans, we have the capacity to help the tribes financially and we should. It is the least we can do.

House of Straw

I was very interested by the Green Architecture post from a few weeks back, so I have been looking into this growing industry and some of its ingenious building designs. I stumbled across this encouraging article about a straw and hemp-panel house that recently became the first of its kind to pass inspection. The "Balehaus", a research project conducted by the University of Bath in the UK, was a collaborative effort between White Design(Bristol, UK) and Integral Structural Design(Bath, UK). The eco-friendly house was the brainchild of a research initiative studying renewable building materials and the ways in which the can be employed in future homes. This excellent and encouraging example of green architecture is comprised of "prefabricated cells of timber filled with straw or hemp, rendered with a lime-based coat," so it is an entirely sustainable building design manufactured from wholly renewable resources.

The building has been, and will continue to be monitored and tested by researchers Katharine Beadle and Christopher Gross of the Building Research Establishment Centre in Innovative Construction Materials for the following year. Most recently, the researchers conducted a heat resistance test in which the housing panels withstood 1,000 temperatures(Celsius) for over two hours, far more than the industry regulated standard of 30 minutes. The house has also passed structural testing on load-bearing elements , so the technology certainly seems to be a viable step forward for green-architecture and a sustainable building future. Over the course of the next year, Beadle and Gross will test the house for insulating properties, humidity levels, air tightness, and sound insulation, to ensure the new house and its accompanying technologies pass all industry standards before becoming commercially available. Kevin McCloud, a TV presenter and proponent of the design, discussed the success of the research initiative, remarking on the crucial technologies which allow us to "minimize the use of highly processed materials in building and genuinely make use of such sustainable building materials." I have to say I couldn't agree more with McCloud, this is a very exciting development in an industry appears to be growing exponentially, hoping to create sustainable buildings and, ultimately, a sustainable future.

Loss of Hawaiian Culture

After our discussion in class on Thursday, I thought it would be interesting to talk a little bit more of Hawaii’s history and how it is similar in certain aspects to Native American history. Like the Native Americans, the Native Hawaiians have been an oppressed race for over a hundred years. My ancestors always believed that living off the land was extremely important, and it played an important role in our culture. After the introduction of western foreigners, the Hawaiian population started declining drastically, and the knowledge of our culture was slowly forgotten.

Hawaiians were restricted from speaking in their native tongue, and were forced to give up certain practices such as hula dancing and religious ceremonies to the gods they believed in. Culture was such an important aspect of life; when the foreigners stripped them of these practices, they felt as if their identities were being taken away. Most of these foreigners were missionaries whose intentions were to do more good than harm. Unfortunately, these missionaries brought not only their new ways of life, but also diseases that never were introduced to the islands before. These diseases nearly wiped out the Hawaiian population.

Queen Lili’uoukalani, the reigning monarch at the time, saw her people suffering, but could do nothing about it. Unfortunately, things got worse and the U.S. Government overthrew the monarchy illegally and established a provisional government. Soon after, Hawaii became a territory and then later a state.

It’s sad to know that my ancestors were affected in such a way that caused them to lose a sense of self. Our culture has become so diluted with the influence of foreigners that it’s difficult to find people who have authentic knowledge of Hawaiian practices. Today, Hawaii is like a melting pot. It’s hard to find a Hawaiian that doesn’t have any other ethnicities as well. I went to a private school for Native Hawaiians called Kamehameha Schools. Out of over 2,000 students, there was not a single student who was what one would call a “pure” Hawaiian. This school encourages students to practice and be educated about our culture. I feel that up until the 7th grade when I was accepted into this school, I was deprived of my Hawaiian culture. Kamehameha Schools offers the same type of curriculum as any other college prep school except in addition to that, they have classes aimed specifically for students to engage in cultural practices.

No one besides that particular race will ever know the struggles that both the Native Americans and Native Hawaiians had to endure. Though the Native Hawaiian struggle wasn’t as difficult as the Native Americans’, it still was a big enough struggle for my ancestors to be worried about future generations. There is so much to explain about Hawaiian history that can’t all fit in this blog, but this is it in a nut shell.

Save the Bees!

When I think of bees, I generally think of dull gold and black striped insects that can cause pain if disturbed. I also think of them of as friends of flowers, due to their role in nature as one of many pollinators. Bees play an important role when it comes to farming. Without bees, we wouldn't have the means necessary to grow crops properly or get food. According to an article posted by the Washington Post in 2006, Honeybees are used to pollinate over 90 different kinds of crop and in California, for example Almond Farmers, often times need as many as 1.4 million honeybee colonies in order to pollinate the 550,000 Acres of trees and it is projected that the demand for bees will increase for the need to pollinate over 800,000 acres! Yet it's not the high demand for bees on our farms that is causing a problem, it's the fact that a decline in the number of bees in the past years that has farmers and researchers alarmed. This decrease could greatly damage great numbers of important crops and cause other problems for other animals in the environment. The Washington Post noted that the problem was so bad in fact, that many farmers in the United States had to import honeybees from Europe last year in order to meet the demands necessary for their crops. There are a number of factors that have been contributing to the honeybee decline. Pesticides are believed to be the biggest contributor to the shrinking population problem, since most farmers use pesticides to keep their crops safe from pests and costly damage, and yet not realizing they're harming more than just pests. Other factors include parasites and diseases, such as the Varroa mite, which suck the "blood" out of the adult drones and leave open wounds, leaving the bees vulnerable to infection. Even the importation of honeybees has contributed to the decline because of the diseases and other bee harming parasites that have been imported have also had a significant impact on the country's population. Bees are not only important for crops but they are also important for pollinating essential plants in the wild that other animals may depend on. We depend on bees for so many things and to lose them would sure throw everything out of balance. What can you do to help? You can plant pollinator gardens, which are gardens that have native plants from the surrounding area and have nesting boxes for solitary bees. Other things one can do to help the bees are by supporting your local beehive and relocate hives you find near your home, don't exterminate! For more information as to what you can do to help the bees, please checkout http://savethebees.com/.

Can Birds Enlighten the Day?

I was thinking about the poem, The Darkling Thrush, by Thomas Hardy, and the real meaning of it. There is no real meaning, it can be interpreted in many different ways, depending on the person who is reading it. This got me thinking about how we view nature and animals.

I thought that this poem was about a person living a long time ago. It is described as a very dark, cold, and scary place, with words that imply death. The people in this town seem to be very depressed, and that is why they are all inside their houses, with their fireplaces. They don't want to go outside because of the bad vibe everywhere. After the setting is described, he starts to describe this old, and tiny bird that is singing. It is implied that since this bird is so small, and does not have a lot of energy he has to "fling his soul", which means that he has to try very hard to accomplish it. But then the speaker goes about reflecting on this little creature making such beautiful sounds in such a gloomy place. He says that there is no need for this singing, but the bird sings anyways, because the thrush has hope. Finally, at the end he really lets the reader know what he thinks by saying that he was unaware of this hope.

This ties into my understanding of how people think of animals. In our society, we are taught that certain animals are good, and pretty, while others are not. Usually, birds, dogs, cats, rabbits, etc are considered to be nice, gentle, and loving animals, while in contrast, spiders, flies, rats, and cockroaches, are not. But on a dark, rainy day, when things seem to be bad, when we see a bird singing, or a puppy, it seems that the animal enlightens the day, and brings some sort of happy feeling inside of us. I know that when I had a bad day, and the weather is not so great either, if I see a bird outside, that will make my soul feel happy. It is something about their songs and melodies. But this speaker in the poem did not feel that a little bird, that was old, could bring any hope to such a depressing place. It was not enough for him, because compared to everything else, he was too small to make a change. In our society, animals are very important, and they can be very symbolic. Certain animals are seen as hope, and as a good thing for people. People like to go camping, and when they do, they like to see all of the animals. They like to be in nature. This ties into Thoreau's understanding of nature. He goes to live in the woods to live a simple life, and to see all of the natural things. Well, animals, including birds, are pleasant to be around.

Environmental Awareness through Music

For the first half of the year in this class we have focused on problems facing our environment and how to protect it. We have discussed Global Warming and our diminishing resources. We’ve posted blogs about alternative forms of energy, light pollution, green architecture, and much more. But something we haven’t really addressed is the different ways people and organizations are making others aware of these problems. For me, one of the most interesting, and I think successful, ways people are creating environmental awareness is through music.

Modest Mouse is one of these musical groups many of you probably know about. Using their fame and musical talent, they wrote a song titled “King Rat” on their new album, ‘No One’s First, and You’re Next’. Modest Mouse got together with Heath Ledger soon after they wrote “King Rat” and worked to produce a video. If you click on the link below you can watch the video they created. As you can see the video, along with the song, addresses whaling and its horrors in a clear and vivid way. With graphic images of people being harpooned by whales it challenges the viewer’s perspective. People are accustomed too seeing whales being harpooned, but suddenly when the situation is reversed, it’s not so easy to watch. This video was hard for me to watch, especially when the whales were skinning the humans, even though it is just a cartoon. But it really made me think about how horrible whaling is and made me want to stand up against it; I’m sure it has motivated many others as well.

Another example of people using music to create awareness can be seen even with college kids like us. If you go to the YouTube link I have attached, you can watch a video of my boyfriend’s roommates down in Santa Monica. They are aspiring artists who call themselves Last Name Basis. This song they wrote is about conservation and just a way for them to let people know, mainly their fans, what’s going on in the environment. It’s entertaining, funny, and has a good message. Things like this really show me that anyone can have an effect whether it is large or small.

I am not trying to call anyone into action with this blog post. I just want to let people know how easy it is to get involved and help save the environment in their own way. You can use the talents you have or take something you’re interested in and find a way to help save or educate about the environment.

http://vodpod.com/watch/2009757-modest-mouse-king-rat-directed-by-heath-ledger-vdeo-demyspace-australia-vdeo-do-myspace

Generation Solitude

A hundred year ago, the Greatest Generation ruled America. In the 21st century, a new generation is rising to power, even larger in size than the baby boomers. Generation We is the upcoming generation of our era. We are known as the millennials, and we will be the largest voting group in 2016. Generation We is comprised of people born between 1978 and 2000 and currently we are 95 million strong. As a generation, we have the potential to make great change through our political involvement and technological innovation. We have many positive characteristics that separate us from previous generations and give America hope for change. However, along with our incredibly high educational level, philosophical understanding, and great community service involvement, our independence is greater than ever before. We are a generation of growing independence with less and less human interaction on a day to day basis, and increased time spent alone. We were born to get educated, better the world around us, and to be successful. For what? The focus and motivation of Generation We is going to make great revolutionary accomplishments in our era, but how are we going to feel in 70 years? Communication has reached a new level that is more shallow than ever before. With new technological innovations rapidly taking over, society has adapted to the facade. Text message, email, video chat, online chat, and more are new methods of communication used uniformly throughout society in Generation We, none of which involve any form of human interaction. In the largest generation of United States History, kids feel more lonesome than ever before. In Walden's Solitude from The Portable Thoreau, he explains the importance of being truly alone and the importance of being in real company. "I love to be alone. I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude. We are for the most part more lonely when we go abroad among men than when we stay in our chambers." In the 21st century, we have solitude and companionship reversed. Instead of being alone and enjoying pure solitude, we are accompanied by technology that does not allow kids to ever be alone. On the other hand, when we seek companionship, we look in all the wrong places, resulting in only a semi-satisfactory feeling. Text messaging is one of the main modes of communication today, and it does not satisfy the crave for companionship that humans all love and need, especially the children of Generation We. We must work together to rework our altered society for better communication methods which will result in more substantial companionships. Generation We has a great challenge ahead of them to refuel American society both technologically, socially, and philosophically.

Generation WE

This film was made prior to the presidential election, however I still think it is an inspiring short film and I'm sure many of you have already seen it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vknHKTy1MLY

Wind Farms

I took this photograph from the inside of a moving bus, yet it is one of my favorites from my year in Spain. It is a snapshot of a wind farm at La Muela, which is located in the province of Zaragoza, about thirty kilometers outside of the city of Zaragoza (the city in which I lived). Passing the windmills at La Muela was my favorite part of the five hour bus ride to Madrid; yet, only recently did I realize that I know very little of the wind farms in Spain—or in the United States as well as other parts of the world—and their impact on making the world a “greener place.” So, in researching them, this is what I found:

A wide variety of factors go into the planning of a wind farm, most specifically in their location. Sometimes, wind farms are constructed near the shore of a lake or ocean to take advantage of the winds generated by such an area, but often this leads to the disruption of a picturesque landscape. Although frankly, this is the biggest complain of wind farms today.

Yet the benefits of wind farms greatly exceeds their small drawbacks. According to Mark Diesendorf in Why Australia needs wind power, published in Dissent, “The impact made on the environment is very little when compared to what is gained.” It only takes a couple of months once a wind farm is operating before the energy consumed to build the farm is reproduced by the farm.

As of today, there are three types of wind farms: on-shore, near-shore, and off-shore. (This list does not count airborne, yet those are not in commercial operation yet). On-shore wind farms are those set typically in hilly regions on land; near-shore farms are those between three kilometers from a body of water to ten kilometers from a body of land; and off-shore farms are those at least ten kilometers from land (i.e. fully within a body of water). Floating wind turbines, just as their name implies, are set in off-shore locations where winds are strong but water depths make mounting them impossible; these generate, for the most part, more wind than those closer to shore; energy then travels back to shore through underwater cables.

Up until 2008, the United States came in second place for the most energy produced by wind farms in the world; now, the U.S. ranks first, Germany follows in second, and, ironically, Spain comes in third.

Deserts of Energy

“Within six hours, deserts receive more energy from

the sun than humankind consumes within a year”

The world’s population is growing at a dramatically increasing rate. By 2050 the world population is estimated to reach ten billion. The current world population is 6.5 billion and is depleting the earth’s resources by using fossil fuels that in turn make carbon dioxide levels rise. This contributes to major pollution and increases climate changes worldwide. Fossil fuels are a depleting answer to supply to the world and its future generations. There is a plan, however, to use deserts to supply parts of the world with eco-friendly alternatives to fossil fuels. The Sahara desert, which occupies most of northern Africa, is the largest desert in the world. A project called Desertec is intending to use this vast desert. A four hundred billion plan created by the German Aerospace Center says that within forty years, solar thermal power plants will be capable of generating more than half the electricity needs in Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa.

“Over ninety percent of the world’s population could be supplied with clean power from deserts by using technologies that are available today”

By stretching power lines across the Sahara desert and Mediterranean Sea, Desertec Industrial Initiative could supply fifteen percent of Europe’s electricity by 2050. These High-Voltage Direct Current transmission lines (HVDC) can transport electricity over long distances and produce very little smog. Concentrated solar power (CSP) will be placed in the Sahara “using mirrors to concentrate the sun’s rays on a fluid container. The super-heated liquid then drives turbines to generate electricity. The advantage over solar voltaic panels, which convert sunlight directly to electricity, is that if sufficient hot fluid is stored in containers, the generators can run all night”. This method is not new; it has been used in deserts in California since the mid-1980s. It is the first, however, to be implemented at such a large size.

Deserts never really seem to cross my mind. I know they’re there, but the desert just seems so empty and lifeless to me. I am glad to see that the desert is being implemented into an eco-friendly and sustainable way. This way I can think of the desert once in a while and know that it isn’t just a place that is hot, it’s a place that is helping other countries live in a way that will be beneficial for future generations.

Mutant Message

I read a book a few years back called Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan in which she told of her journey with the Australian Aborigines. An Aboriginal is an indigenous inhabitant or original inhabitant of Australia and the surrounding islands. There are many different Aboriginal groups which they classify as communities, who each have a different language, as many as 250 prior to the European's arrival. Many Aboriginal communities are still living in the desert. This is the type of community Marlo was welcomed into. When Marlo first arrived to Australia, she thought she was there to accept an award, but she later found out that she was joining the Aborigines on their journey through the Australian desert. She was told to"cleanse herself" meaning she had to remove all of her clothing, jewelry, and leave her purse and all belongings behind. As she traveled with them for three months she learned about their culture. The Aborigines are so well connected to the earth, they travel in 100-130 degree weather for months on end, with no food and water, they are able to find these so called necessities on the way. I say so-called necessities, because to them it is not necessary to eat and drink water on a daily basis, it is something they do when it is available to them. They explain the American's need of food and water an addiction, which I found to be a very interesting way to phrase it. We have lived our entire lives by the belief that we must drink water daily because it has been scientifically proven that we will die without it. The Aborigines have proved this to be absolutely false. When they need water they are able to find water in the smallest plants, that we would never expect to find abundant amounts of water in. When one of the community members is not up to par with the rest of the group they leave them behind. They are not obsessed with the idea that we have of burial and letting the people in the last chapter of their lives leave with love surrounding them. This is related to Kathleen Jamie's Pathologies in which she asks when "nature will be allowed to take its course" and how death has turned into strictly ritual, giving a funeral, and showing our deepest feelings for the person, and then figuring out how they died through autopsy. For the Aborigines, death is natural and when it is coming they let the people to die in peace, after all if they keep stragglers following behind them they will be slowed down and the strength of the group will diminish. The differences in culture are amazing, and though Morgan was reluctant to join on this trip, she learned so much that she needed to learn about the world and the Earth without the interruption of cars and buildings and toxic fumes.