Welcome. Haunted Alameda contains a collections of recollections, of growing up on the Alameda Indian Burial Mounds. And other, strange encounters.
Month: December 2020
What is the “Urban Reservation”?
The Urban Reservation
Parsing History from Actuality
First post. And a definition of the concept of an, “Urban Reservation”.
The Urban Reservation, to me, is a place that can be quickly defined as analogous to the American idea of the “ghetto“. The distribution of ethnicity is unimportant; the defining point is that these areas do not offer enough food [external], jobs, or services (ranging from water & sanitation, to healthcare.)
Let’s be clear, though: American Ghettos were created by Redlining, Segregation, “Black-listing”, White Flight, just… rampant racism.
Here’s an article from EconoFact.org, “Concentrated Poverty and the Disconnect Between Jobs and Workers“, which is pretty detailed. I pulled together a couple of other articles, and linked them at the bottom of this page.
Other forms of ghettos exist. Some rural areas closely match the defining properties of ghettos. The only difference is that these areas suffer because of low population density–State and Federal funding is usually allotted by population; therefore, less populated areas receive less funding. Smaller populations also do not attract large corporations. Industry in rural areas is generally mineral, and agriculturally based; and introduces pollutants, and negatively impacts community and environmental health in myriad ways.
(more…)East Bay Parks
First post. Necessary to lock down the links to this section.
I’m going to use the blog entries to write travel essays about my Survey of the East Bay Regional Parks; posts will include pictures. I think I’m going to use galleries to present the Top 10 Pictures of each park.
Stay tuned.
Alameda Native History Project: Shellmounds
Aside from this being my first post in this category; this is to announce that I’ve finished working on the Alameda Shellmounds project pages, of the Alameda Native History Project section of this website. Woo!
The history of the Alameda Shellmounds, presented with research, and excerpts of historical sources, and some interpretation. The project is being presented on 3 pages. So, get your reading glasses, ready. I’ll also be making another page in the ANHP section specifically to showcase ANHP maps. Historical maps can be seen in the Alameda Native History Project Wiki.
More to come. Stay tuned.
Maps!
Been working on moving all of this website from the Google Sites, over to AlamedaNativeArt.com. One of the largest components of the Alameda Native History Project apparatus is the Maps Section.
There were certain limitations to using google maps. Various licensing considerations that became really complicated; and super expensive. I had found OpenStreeMaps when I was doing initial research into the best ways to display the data I’ve found. But… it seemed too complicated to try and configure in the time limit I was working with.
But now that I’ve had an abundance of time, due to COVID-19, I’ve been able to think about this project a little more.
The first thing I had to do was create the website. Like I said, I’m working section-by-section. Creating and tailoring the content I have to fit here. I am doing my best to not make the experience overwhelming. But… You have to understand, I have a lot of content.
So much content that I’m going to use a Wiki for reference, for the maps, and probably for other things on this site, too. It will be a good tool to keep track of my own citations, as well. Which are going to be kept as plain-english as possible.
Anyway, I stopped to write this. I’m in between having completed the maps, and starting the Wiki.
I might get some caffeine; and food. And toilet paper, or something. All of California is on lockdown, now. I actually think states and federal governments should be able to declare some form of “Martial Law” to stop a disease from spreading like wildfire. I think the 85% FULL trigger to lockdown should have been somewhere between 35-55%. It’s in the public interest to restrict the freedoms of citizens, to prevent them from spreading the disease.
Some of you never played Plague Inc., and it shows.
First Post
There’s always a first post, post. This is it. My first post.
I will be using post pages to share:
- Articles
- Essays
- Updates
- Stories
And other things of interest. Re-posting articles from other sources, sharing news from Native America, and around the world. Rants. (That should have been in the list.)
Anyway, this website is still under development. I’m working on it section-by-section.
I’m just glad I have most of the content created. Most of the work right now is on curation. Once I get the structure of the website, menus, and pop-up configured, I’ll go live. But, for now, I’m just gonna make a couple of blogs posts to let you all know this project is still being worked on; and more updates will come soon.
Tentative ETA: December 24, 2020.