User:Tovarfederica/sandbox

Article Evaluation
A link to the article I evaluated for the week 3 assignment:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Indian_boarding_schools

All the information found in this article is relevant to the topic, but I was expecting more from the section titled "History of Education of Native Americans," as it is mostly made up of quotes instead of discussing how native americans were educated prior to entering the boarding schools. They also could have contrasted the history of Indigenous education with how they are educated on their culture today within their reservations or beyond.

The balance of the viewpoint is fine, but I think they could have added more on the side of the people who ran these schools as well as information on how these schools are viewed in the reservations today.

The article is well-referenced and all the links I checked worked as they should, there is also a list of many native american boarding schools and colleges, although there is not a lot of information on these, which could've been something for the creators of the article to expand on.

There is a ton of information on the implications of assimilation which I think is good considering that is why the schools were created in the first place.

Overall, this article has a C rating. It is a part of three WikiProjects: Indigenous Peoples of North America, Education, and United States.

Article Improvements
Links to the articles I evaluated for the week 5 assignment:

Judy Baca

In analyzing improvements that could be made to this article on Judy Baca, who is the artist behind "Memorias De Nuestra Tierra," I realized that there is a lack of diversity of articles or books cited/referenced in order to produce the Wikipedia page. A lot is pulled from a book called Biography Today. Said this, more research should be done across different works to see if you can find diverse points of view or new insights on what is mentioned currently in the article.

In addition to that, when the article discusses her art, you get a few lines explaining what it is and where it is located but there are no pictures of her work, and there is a lack of analysis regarding how her upbringing and her knowledge of indigenous Chicano culture might play into her creative process.

Cultural assimilation of Native Americans

This article is actually quite good, in my opinion. It has a ton of relevant information, diverse sources and suggested further readings to help readers gain a deeper understanding of the topics. One thing I did notice, whoever, is that the portions of the article dedicated to the effects of assimilation and efforts of cultural preservation today are quite short, so it could be interesting to do further research on that, as well as the living conditions of the natives because of these issues. Also, it would also be interesting to delve a bit more into different rituals or beliefs and how they were affected by the process of assimilation.

in terms of the design of the article, it couldn't hurt to have a couple more maps that where indigenous communities were originally located and where they were relocated to, as well as photos of modern-day reservations.

La Memoria De Nuestra Tierra (Calif. 1996) (Draft)
La Memoria De Nuestra Tierra: California 1996 is an eighteen-by-nine-foot rectangular mural, currently located in the University of Southern California's Graduate Student Lounge within the Ronald Tutor Campus Center. The mural was pained by artist Judy Baca in collaboration with students from the University of Southern California Roski School of Art and Design. This piece shows the Chicano history of southern California through the depiction of various images inspired by the native history of the land and the more modern conflicts and issues Latinos have suffered.

Judy Baca
Judith Baca was born in 1946 and grew up in Los Angeles, California in an entirely female, Mexican-American household. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in Studio Art from California State University, Northridge in 1969, and she began painting her notable murals in 1971. Since then, Judy Baca has painted many powerful, prominent, and political murals, which have caused her to be regarded as a distinguished artist and activist during the Chicano Movement.

Mural Dedication

La Memoria de Nuestra Tierra was commissioned by the University in July of 1995 and dedicated on December 5, 1996.

The creation of the mural was sparked by a number of concerns and demands made by Latino and Chicano students during the 1993-1994 academic year. The University received 45 different submissions before choosing Baca, who was widely known for the creation of “The Great Wall of Los Angeles.” The mural was installed in USC’s Student Center in August of 1996.

Baca’s mural was then rededicated on Sept. 30, 2010 at the grand opening of the Ronald Tutor Campus Center.

Name and significance

La Memoria de Nuestra Tierra translates to English as The Memory of Our Land. As its name suggests, the piece was created to celebrate Latino and, more specifically, Chicano culture and influence at The University of Southern California and in Los Angeles. The mural depicts central aspects of Mexican culture and religion, such as the Kiva, as well as instances and actors that played key roles in the interconnection between Mexican and American culture, such as the conquistadors and the U.S.-Mexico border.

Baca also created a mural under the same name that is currently on display at Denver International Airport. This mural, however, is more personal, depicting her grandparents journey from Mexico to Colorado.

Kiva

The Kiva, a Native American ceremonial structure, is the central image of the Mural. This represents the native, religious and nurturing characteristics of Latino and Chicano culture. Based on this idea of the caring nature of the culture, the river flows from the kiva and onto the land,  eventually turning into a paved road on the U.S side of the border, signaling the difference in culture. Corn also grows around the structure of the Kiva, supporting the idea of the Kiva as a provider of nutritional, religious and cultural nourishment for the community.

Kivas, which can be built above or below ground, were used for both religious and day-to-day domestic activities depending on the community that was utilizing them. Smaller Kivas often served as single-person homes, while those that were solely used for ritual purposes tended to be larger than multi-use structures.

Conquistadors

At the center-left of the mural, on the Mexican side of the land, there is an illustration of a conquistador’s head. The image of the conquistador has a helmet and is holding a weapon, which is pointed at the workers depicted on the right edge of the mural. The conquistador is depicted as an illustration because there was a time during colonization when all people spoke different languages, making illustrations the chosen mode of communication over verbal communication.

The Conquistadors are major players in Latino history, making the way that the conquistador is depicted in Baca’s work very important in understanding the Latino/Chicano experience. As mentioned above, the conquistador is pointing a weapon at the workers, which is supposed to show these men’s need to show power and assert control over the native people because they had different cultures and practices that were misunderstood as that of “savages.”

U.S.-Mexico Border

The U.S Mexican border is clearly marked in the mural by a flowing river turning into a paved road, as previously mentioned, and it is easy to see the contrast of the two lands because the Mexican side is untouched or underdeveloped, while the U.S side shows development, crops, and greenery.

The larger meaning behind this mural is a sort of celebration of the importance of the land. On the far right of the mural we see a sleeping woman that wakes up displeased to realize that the border has become a part of her. Also on the far right, at the front of the line of workers, there is a man wearing a hoodie who is running from immigration officers.

All of these elements depict the history of the U.S.-Mexico border and the culture of migration across it. Mexican migrants and workers are often synonyms of criminality for border agents even though most people cross the border for economic and social reasons, searching for a better life in a land that once was their own, while still maintaining a strong connection to their homeland.

Chicano Activists
In the lower right corner of the mural, Baca depicts many artists and activists among the Chicano community. These activists include David Alfaro Siqueiros, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, the United Farm Workers, and the Chicano Moratorium.

David Alfaro Siqueiros (1896-1974) was a Mexican artist and activist. Siqueiros painted many murals and helped begin the mural movement in Mexico. He engaged in political activism through his art as well as in his day to day life, particularly democracy and workers’ rights.

Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was a Mexican artist and activist. Kahlo stood up for many social justice issues both physically and through her art. Her art includes messages of Mexican nationalism, Marxism, and feminism. She also protested US intervention in Latin America.

Diego Rivera (1886-1957) was a Mexican artist and activist. His art is very political, and through it he has supported the Mexican Revolution and the socialist revolution while condemning colonialism, capitalism, and imperialism.

Cesar Chavez (1927-1993) and the United Farm Workers were Mexican-American activists who protested farm workers’ treatments and advocated for their rights.

The Chicano Moratorium was an anti-Vietnam War protest that occurred in Los Angeles, California on August 29, 1970. The demonstration included approximately 30,000 Mexican-American activists.

Los Ranchos
In the lower left corner of the mural, Baca paints the los ranchos. This land is typically viewed as a symbol of Hispanic California. The los ranchos are often romanticized and viewed with a sense of nostalgia by many Hispanics. The land is reminiscent of a time before European-American settlers colonized the territory.

Sonora Town
The left portion of the mural features the image of the deteriorating houses which represent Sonora Town. Sonora Town is referred to as Los Angeles’ first predominately Spanish-speaking neighborhood, or barrio, and has seen a variety of changing populations throughout the course of history. All of Sonora Town’s inhabits have faced various social and economic issues that plagued the barrio. Following its initial development in 1899, the people of Sonora Town suffered extreme poverty, crime, and hazardous environments while receiving little aid or recognition from the government. The decrepit houses of Sonora Town illustrated in Baca’s mural call attention to the state of California’s neglect of this population of Spanish-speaking individuals.

Silver Dollar Bar
In the mural, an image of a soldier is located along the illustration of a river. The soldier is labeled with the title “The Silver Dollar”, referencing the Silver Dollar Bar, which played a significant role in sparking the Chicano Movement of the 1970’s. The Silver Dollar Bar marks the location when Chicano activist and journalist Ruben Salazar was murdered in an act of police brutality. The death of Salazar marked the official beginning of the Chicano Movement in Los Angeles and inspired Mexican Americans to actively protest violent police behavior. Baca’s reference to the Silver Dollar Bar in the mural recognizes the history of police brutality against Mexican Americans and pays homage to the efforts of Chicano protestors who advocated for a safer and more just future.

Santa Barbara Missions:


Two Chumash people are illustrated in the lower left corner of Baca’s mural. These individuals represent the near extinction of a native people due to the intervention of colonists. The Chumash were native individuals of the California coast whose population and culture were greatly disturbed by European intervention and colonization. With the Santa Barbra missions came oppression, murder, and unbearable living conditions. These conditions allowed for the vast spread of disease, including dysentery syphilis, which drastically increased mortality rates and led to over a 50% decrease in the Chumash population. Baca symbolizes this widespread genocide with the depiction of Chumash corpus in the lower left of the mural.

Rachel
 * 1) Jump up ^
 * 2) Jump up ^
 * 3) Jump up ^
 * 4) Jump up ^ JACKSON, ROBERT H. (1990). "The Population of the Santa Barbara Channel Missions (Alta California), 1813-1832". Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology. 12 (2): 268–274.

La Memoria De Nuestra Tierra (Calif. 1996) (Discussion Section)
Hey guys!

So I was looking at our Bib and thought a good breakdown for our article would be as follows: Feel free to change/ edit all you want here, I just wanted to throw some ideas out there, but there's definitely more that can be done. Also, I created this section for discussing layout and the like, and then once we want to start actually drafting we can do that above! Federica.
 * 1) Intro
 * 2) About Judy Baca / about her other artwork, particularly La Memoria De Neustra Tierra in Denver and how they are connected
 * 3) About the artwork (location, size, etc.) -- this sort of integrates two parts of the bibliography breakdown but I think it works better because it looks more concise/put together. Thoughts?
 * 4) Analysis (subheads: Kiva, Conquistadors, Immigration and Naturalization, Activists, Torch Macaw, Los Ranchos, Sonora, Silver Dollar Bar, Two Chumash)

Ok so I added the potential outline to the draft section that I've been working on. Definitely up for changes and suggestions!

Brief Explanation of Artwork:
La Memoria De Nuestra Tierra: California 1996 is an eighteen-by-nine-foot rectangular mural, currently located in the University of Southern California's Graduate Student Lounge within the Ronald Tutor Campus Center. The mural was pained by artist Judy Baca in collaboration with students from the University of Southern California Roski School of Art and Design. This piece shows the Chicano history of southern California through the depiction of various images inspired by the native history of the land and the more modern conflicts and issues Latinos have suffered.

Information about the murals location and dedication
(aka the stuff about its change in location and more about how USC commissioned it along with dates)

Information about Judy Baca: (aka the stuff person A researched)
Judith Baca was born in 1946 and grew up in Los Angeles, California in an entirely female, Mexican-American household. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in Studio Art from California State University, Northridge in 1969, and she began painting her notable murals in 1971. Since then, Judy Baca has painted many powerful, prominent, and political murals, which have caused her to be regarded as a distinguished artist and activist during the Chicano Movement.

Name and significance:[edit]
Translation of the name and mention Baca's other mural of a similar title

Meat of the Article:
(for these we should explain where each item is found or referenced in the artwork and then its historical significance and what influenced Judy Baca to include it)

Chicano Activists:
In this mural, Baca depicted many artists and activists among the Chicano community. These activists included David Alfaro Siqueiros, Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, the United Farm Workers, and the Chicano Moratorium.
 * Cesar Chavez and United Farm Workers
 * Frida Kahlo
 * Diego Rivera
 * etc

Torch Macaw:

 * had trouble finding information on this during my research

Los Ranchos:

 * setting & significance

Silver Dollar Bar:
In the mural, an image of a soldier is located along the illustration of a river. The soldier is labeled with the title “The Silver Dollar”, referencing the Silver Dollar Bar, which played a significant role in sparking the Chicano Movement of the 1970’s. The Silver Dollar Bar marks the location when Chicano activist and journalist Ruben Salazar was murdered in an act of police brutality. The death of Salazar marked the official beginning of the Chicano Movement in Los Angeles and inspired Mexican Americans to actively protest violent police behavior. Baca’s reference to the Silver Dollar Bar in the mural recognizes the history of police brutality against Mexican Americans and pays homage to the efforts of Chicano protestors who advocated for a safer and more just future.

Santa Barbara Missions:
Two Chumash people are illustrated in the lower left corner of Baca’s mural. These individuals represent the near extinction of a native people due to the intervention of colonists. The Chumash were native individuals of the California coast whose population and culture were greatly disturbed by European intervention and colonization. With the Santa Barbra missions came oppression, murder, and unbearable living conditions. These conditions allowed for the vast spread of disease, including dysentery syphilis, which drastically increased mortality rates and led to over a 50% decrease in the Chumash population. Baca symbolizes this widespread genocide with the depiction of Chumash corpus in the lower left of the mural.

Rachel