US. Country Studies: 2011

четверг, 17 ноября 2011 г.

Tunica Tribe

The Tunica people were a group of linguistically and culturally related Native American tribes in the Mississippi River Valley, which include the Tunica (also spelled Tonica, Tonnica, and Thonnica); the Yazoo; the Koroa (Akoroa); and possibly the Tioux.They first encountered Europeans in 1541 - members of the Hernando de Soto expedition.
Over the next centuries, under pressure from hostile neighbors, the Tunica migrated south from the Central Mississippi Valley to the Lower Mississippi Valley. Eventually they moved westward from the river and settled at present-day Marksville, Louisiana.

Since the early 19th century, they have intermarried with the Biloxi tribe, an unrelated Siouan-speaking people from the vicinity of Biloxi, Mississippi and shared land. Remnant peoples from other small tribes also merged with them. The Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, which shares a reservation, was federally recognized in 1981.
To find more about the history and the origins of this state, click on this sites:
http://www.knowla.org/entry.php?rec=623

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunica-Biloxi#History

It was extremely interesting for me was to read about the treasure of this tribe. So, I would like to share with you some information, which you can read on this link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tunica-Biloxi#Tunica_treasure

I am sure, that curios people would like to know a bit more information about the style of life, which this tribe has been leading till nowadays. That's why, I have selected issues, which were especially interesting to me and can make a wider understanding of Tunica's life.

How do you pronounce "Tunica"? What does it mean?
It's pronounced "too-nih-kah." It comes from a word in their own language that means "the people."

What language do the Tunicas speak? Most Tunica people speak English today. Other Tunicas, especially older people, speak French. In the past, Tunica Indians spoke their own Tunica language. The Tunica language has not been spoken since the early 1900's, but some Tunica people are trying to learn their ancestral language again. You can read a Tunica picture glossary here.

What was Tunica culture like in the past? What is it like now?
Here is a link to the Tunica-Biloxi Tribe of Louisiana, where you can learn about the Tunica people past and present: http://tunicabiloxi.org/

What were men and women's roles in the Tunica tribe?
Tunica men were hunters and sometimes went to war to protect their families. Tunica women made pottery and did most of the child care and cooking. Both genders took part in farming, storytelling, music, and traditional medicine. In the past, Tunica chiefs were always men, but today, both men and women participate in Tunica tribal government.
What were Tunica homes like in the past?
The Tunica people lived in villages of thatched houses. One Tunica family lived in each house. Some Tunica villages had palisades (reinforced walls) around them, to guard against attack. Today, the Tunicas live in modern houses and apartment buildings, just like you.

What was Tunica clothing like? Did they wear feather headdresses and face paint?
Tunica men wore breechcloths and leather leggings. Tunica women wore wraparound skirts made of deerskin or woven fiber. Shirts were not necessary in the Tunica culture, but men and women both wore mantles in cooler weather. The Tunicas also wore moccasins on their feet. Here are some photographs and links about Indian apparel in general.
The Tunicas didn't wear long headdresses like the Sioux. Most of the time they went bare-headed, but Tunica warriors sometimes did wear a porcupine roach. Both men and women usually wore their hair long. The Tunicas didn't usually paint their faces, but they did decorate their bodies with tribal tattoos. Both men and women wore tattoos in the Tunica tribe.

Today, some Tunica people still wear moccasins, but they wear modern clothes like jeans instead of breechcloths... and they only wear roaches in their hair on special occasions like a dance.
What are Tunica arts and crafts like?
The Tunicas were known for their pottery, baskets, and woodcarvings. They also made textiles from mulberry bark, which they used to weave clothing and blankets.
What kinds of stories do the Tunicas tell?
There are many traditional Tunica legends and fairy tales. Storytelling is very important to the Tunica Indian culture.

Learn More About The Tunicas

пятница, 28 октября 2011 г.

The state of Georgia

Susie Baker King Taylor

I would like to share with you a story of one women people still remember.

Susie Baker King Taylor was the first African American to teach openly in a school for former slaves in Georgia. As the author of Reminiscences of My Life in Camp with the 33rd United States Colored Troops, Late 1st S.C. Volunteers, she was the only African American woman to publish a memoir of her wartime experiences.
Susie Baker, the daughter of slaves, was born in Liberty County on August 6, 1848. When she was about seven years old, her owner allowed her to go to Savannah to live with her grandmother. Despite Georgia's harsh laws against the formal education of African Americans, she attended two secret schools taught by black women. From them she gained the rudiments of literacy, then extended her education with the help of two white youths, both of whom knowingly violated law and custom.
More about this story you can find on these links:

Women were there...

The Civil War brought enormous hardship and tragedy to America's female population. Yet, it also provided women of all races and social classes with unprecedented opportunities to participate in civic, economic, and military activities that had previously been closed to them. Although officially banned from serving in combat by both the Union and Confederate governments, women played a vital role in their side's war efforts.
During the bloodiest conflict in U.S. history, some risked their lives as spies, scouts, and saboteurs, and in some instances, even disguised themselves as men to challenge their nation's foes directly on the battlefield.

Women from the state of Georgia provide a stark reminder of the Confederate perspectives on the war. Among those included are Sarah Thompson, the Union spy and nurse who brought down the famous raider John Hunt Morgan; Elizabeth Van Lew, the Union spy who was instrumental in the success of the largest prisonbreak of the Civil War; Sarah Malinda Blalock, who fought for the Confederacy as a soldier and then for the Union as a guerrilla raider; Dr. Mary Walker, a doctor for the Union and the only woman to receive the Congressional Medal of Honor for her service during the Civil War; and Jennie Hodgers, who had the longest length of service for any woman soldier, was the only woman to receive a soldier’s pension and the first woman to vote in Illinois.

Others produced and donated desperately needed supplies for the troops, or cared for ill and wounded soldiers. Those at home kept farms and businesses running while their male relations were off fighting.

You can find more about women in the Civil War here:

I am just amazed at how many women posed as men so they could fight on both sides of the Civil War! The courage and bravery of these women who were also spies and smugglers was astounding.

The Years of War

On January 18, 1861, Georgia seceded from the Union during the American Civil War but kept the name "State of Georgia", and joined the newly formed Confederacy in February. During the war, Georgia sent nearly 100,000 soldiers to battle, mostly to the armies in Virginia. The state switched from cotton to food production, but severe transportation difficulties eventually restricted supplies. Early in the war, the state's 1,400 miles of railroad tracks provided a frequently used means of moving supplies and men but, by the middle of 1864, much of these lay in ruins or in Union hands.
Thinking the state safe from invasion, the Confederates built several small munitions factories in Georgia, as well as housing tens of thousands of Union prisoners. Their largest prisoner of war camp, at Andersonville, proved a death camp because of severe lack of supplies, food, water, and medicine.
During the Civil War lots of battles took place in this state. Georgia was relatively free from war until late 1863. A total of nearly 550 battles and skirmishes occurred within the state, with the vast majority in the last two years of the conflict. The first major battle in Georgia was a Confederate victory at the Battle of Chickamauga in 1863—it was the last major Confederate victory in the west. In 1864 William T. Sherman's armies invaded Georgia as part of the Atlanta Campaign. Confederate general Joseph E. Johnston fought a series of delaying battles, the largest being the Battle of Kennesaw Mountain, trying to delay Union armies for as long as possible as he retreated toward Atlanta. Johnston's replacement, Gen. John Bell Hood, attempted several unsuccessful counterattacks at the Battle of Peachtree Creek and the Battle of Atlanta, but Sherman captured Atlanta on September 2, 1864.

For more information about battles visit these links:
http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/cwbattle.htm
If you want to remove in that time, you can visit this site, which contains photographs and images of Georgia in the Civil War:
http://georgiainfo.galileo.usg.edu/cwphotos.htm

Mayflower

Visiting this sites:
http://www.thanksgivingnovember.com/thanksgiving-mayflower.html
http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_(ship) ,
you’ll be able to find more information about The ship 'Mayflower', which has played a very significant role in the history of Thanksgiving, because it was the historic ship that took the Pilgrims to America in 1620.
These sites were very interesting for me. Especially cognitive was the fact, that there were many ships, which were known by the name of 'Mayflower' because it was a very common name for the ships. But what makes this 'Mayflower' different from other 'Mayflowers' is the fact that the Pilgrims used this 'Mayflower' to complete their historic journey to America.

Population

There are nice schedules about the population of Georgia. To see them, click on these web sites:
http://www.classbrain.com/artstate/publish/article_1231.shtml
http://www.statereports.us/2011/01/population-georgia/

It was very interesting for me to read, that over many centuries, Georgia gained a reputation for tolerance of minority religions and ethnic groups from elsewhere.
You can find this fact and others there:
http://countrystudies.us/georgia/24.htm

Reading about this state in general, it’s important and interesting to know, that the Culture of Georgia is a subculture of the Southern United States that has come from blending heavy amounts of rural Scots-Irish culture with the culture of African slaves and Native Americans.
If you want to find out more information about culture of this state, I advice you to visit this site:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Georgia_(U.S._state)

Thank you for your attention. I hope, you will like my information.

History

Here you can find detail information about history of Georgia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(U.S._state)#History

Personally, I was interested in reading about Early Exploration and Conflicting Claims on this site:
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/us/A0858375.html
It is written, that the Creek and Cherokee inhabited the Georgia area when Hernando De Soto and his expedition passed through the region c.1540. The Spanish later established missions and garrisons on the Sea Islands. In 1663, Charles II of England made a grant of land that included Georgia to the eight proprietors of Carolina. However, Spain claimed the whole eastern half of the present United States and protested the grant. The English ignored the protest, and the English-Spanish contest for the territory between Charleston (S.C.) and St. Augustine (Fla.) continued intermittently for almost a century. England became interested in settling Georgia as a buffer colony to protect South Carolina from Spanish invasion from the south.

Also the most exciting for me was to read about The Struggle for Racial Equality. You can also find this information on this site:
http://www.thingstodo.com/states/GA/history.htm

Opening this site, you’ll have a possibility to look at the timeline (the most important dates in Georgia’s history):
http://www.thingstodo.com/states/GA/history.htm

It was new and curious for me to find out, that an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement - Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Georgia. That’s why, I couldn’t miss a possibility to share some information (his biography) with you.

You can find it, visiting this site:
http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1964/king-bio.html
Also you can see his photos. Just click on:
http://www.google.ru/search?hl=ru&newwindow=1&prmd=ivns&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&q=Martin%20Luther%20King%20Jr.

Geographic position

Here you can find a map of this state:
http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/states/georgia/georgia-map.html
Visiting these sites:
http://www.netstate.com/states/geography/ga_geography.htm
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/us/A0858372.html
you’ ll find out information about climate, which is humid subtropical with mild winters and hot moist summers is characteristic of most of Georgia; and basic facts, such as total area, highest and lowest point, major rivers and lakes.(Major Rivers: Chattahoochee River, Savannah River, Suwannee River; Major Lakes: Clark's Hill Lake, West Point Lake, Lake Hartwell).

I was impressed by the number and the breath – taking beauty of rivers and landscapes, which are located within the territory of the State.
The list of the rivers you can find here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_rivers_of_Georgia_(U.S._state)

Each region has its own distinctive characteristics. For instance, the Ridge and Valley, which lies in the northwest corner of the state, includes limestone, sandstone, shale and other sedimentary rocks, which have yielded construction-grade limestone, barite, ocher and small amounts of coal.
More information about landscapes you can find here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(U.S._state)#Geology_and_terrain
You also can view the Map of elevations in Georgia here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_of_Georgia_elevations.png

Examining information about natural resources of this state, I was interested in a diverse mix of flora and fauna. I would like to share my impressions with you. So, read it, please, there:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(U.S._state)#Flora
(The State of Georgia has approximately 250 tree species and 58 protected plants.)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georgia_(U.S._state)#Fauna
(The northern mockingbird and Brown Thrasher are among the 160 bird species that live in the state.)

четверг, 17 ноября 2011 г.

пятница, 28 октября 2011 г.

вторник, 4 октября 2011 г.

четверг, 17 ноября 2011 г.

пятница, 28 октября 2011 г.

вторник, 4 октября 2011 г.