European Exploration of North America

Many different European nations were apart of the exploration of North America. Many of them sent forth different explorers, most of whom made contact with the first nations and discovered many things about the new land. Some of these explorers included Christopher Columbus who sailed from Spain in 1492, John Cabot who sailed from England in 1497, Jacques Cartier who sailed from France in 1534-1535, Hernando De Soto who sailed from Spain in 1539, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado who sailed in 1540-1542 from Spain, Henry Hudson who sailed in 1609 from England, Samuel de Champlain who sailed in 1609-1616 from France, and Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet who sailed in 1673 from France. All of these explorers were very influential in the discovery and colonization of North America. Although there were many more explorers, the majority of them came from England, France, and Spain.

The effects that came from this interaction of the European explorers and the First Nations people are still evident today in many ways. For example, the horse is very prominent in First Nations societies, but the horse actually came from European history. When they came across the ocean, they brought horses with them, introducing the animal to the First Nations people. They also brought things like guns and metal knifes, both of which are still used today by both First Nations and Europeans.

Many European nations were involved in the exploration and colonizations of North America as well as other places in the world such as India, Australia, and New Zealand. This exploration of the world by different European nations has helped lead to the colonization of the world.

Secularism in France

In 2004, the French Government passed a law banning religious symbols in school areas. This included Christian crosses, a Muslim hijab, a Jewish yarmulke, and any other type of religious attire. Students wearing this attire could be punished, or even expelled. I think that this is a very unfair law and it should be done away with. Religious items are a very important part of many peoples cultural identity. They reflect what you believe in and what you value.

France has a long history of secularism. They have been trying to have distinct and total separation between state institutions and religion for many years. They have made it so that religious symbols are not permitted in any state funded buildings. This may be a good thing for it will help protect people from discrimination based on religion, but it will also interfer with a students right to free education and a students right to freedom of thought and religious expression. This law was also passed to promote the integration of different religions in French society. The youth forced to follow this law will grow up used to not wearing relgious symbols, so they will be less likely to wear religious items in the future. As a result, the youth will integrate with each other as they will not have a choice in the matter.

I think that this law is not a good thing as it will diminish the cultural identity, and religious identity of many people.

The Lubicon Land Claims

The Lubicon Lake Nation has lived on traditional Lubicon lands in Northern Alberta for many years. However, when the demand for oil increased because of the growing economy, Deep Well Oil and Gas leased the traditional Lubicon Lands from the province of Alberta, and began to clear the forest in this area. The province had leased the land to Deep Well Oil and Gas, even though the Lubicon people lived there. The Lubicon Lake Nation protested this action for legal, territorial, and environmental reasons.

In 1939, the government of Alberta visited the Lubicon Lake and decided that the Lubicon's were entitled to a reserve. However, WWII interrupted these plans, and the Lubicon reserve was put on hold. Some years after the war ended, the government discovered a large oil reserve at Lubicon Lake. Due to this find, they were unwilling to give the Lubicon's a reserve like they had promised. Instead, about 400 oil wells were dug on this land between 1979 and 1982. After about 70 years, the Alberta Government still refuses to give the Lubicon's their reserve.

The Lubicon Lake Nation has lived at Lubicon lake for about a century. They have raised many generations there, and that is where their roots are. When Alberta's government found oil on that land, they went in and started digging, practically kicking the Lubicon nation off of the land that they have lived on for many years. They disrupted their way of life. Although the Lubicon's never officially owned the land, it should have rightfully been theirs, since the government went back on their promise to the Lubicon's.

When 400 oil wells were dug between 1979 and 1982, they were dug within 24km of the Lubicon community. This disrupted the Lubicon's environmentally in a very big way. The moose population died down considerably, causing the local trappers to go from about $5000-$400 in their sales. This loss of income resulted in over 90% of the people living on social assistance. In 2005, when Deep Well Oil and Gas began clearing forest for oil wells, they caused many environmental problems as well such as a loss of natural habitat. They came in and ruined part of the land after they broke their agreement to put the Lubicon's on a reserve.

The Lubicon Lake Nation has lived on that land for over a century. They have tried over and over to get a reserve for themselves, but the government has kept putting this off because of the large oil supply on their land. The Lubicon's have been hurt legally, territorially, and environmentally because of the government. They have been there a long time and they have been ignored for a long time. I think that Lubicon lake Nation has been through enough, and they deserve a reserve.

National Sorry Day

Every year in Australia, on May 26, National Sorry Day is held. It is a day in which the people come together to remember the Indigenous Australians who were taken from their families; the stolen generations. These children were taken from their families to be assimilated during the 1950's and 1960's. They were brought up in institutions or by non-Indigenous families. This was official government policy in Australia until 1969. In the 1980's, welfare groups started to speak out against this practice. They said the government had been discriminating against the Indigenous people and that they should apologize. In 1999, The government issued a statement of regret for what they had done. However, they did not apologize. Many groups continued to protest, saying that the government needed to apologize. On February 13, 2008, Australia's Prime Minister Kevin Rudd officially apologized to Australia's Indigenous people, especially the stolen generations. They even proposed for a stop to the differentiating between life expectancy, educational achievement, and economic opportunity between indigenous and non- indigenous Australians. Now every year on May 26, all Australian's, both Indigenous and Non-indigenous remember the stolen generation. They have barbecues, concerts, street marches, flag raising events, dinners, and speeches from community leaders. Schools have essay contests and show films. Thousands of Australians sign "sorry books", books filled with the apologies of many different people. All of this is done in an effort to say sorry.

Aboriginal names in sports

Aboriginal Sport Names

Article #1:

-Hyperlink: http://thesportdigest.com/article/aboriginal-stereotypes-sports-intentions-gone-horribly-wrong

-Title: The Sport Digest

-Publisher: United States Sports Academy

-Ariticle Type: This is a secondary source because the author is explaining other peoples feelings about the use of aboriginal names for sports teams.

-F vs O: Opinion based on fact. It is the opinion of the author that it is wrong to use names from aboriginal culture as the name of sport teams. the authors opinion is based on the fact that many people don't appreciate their name used for sports teams, and many other people think its perfectly fine.

-Facts: Many teams are called names from other cultures. Many people find this use of their names to be offensive. Many people think the use of these names is perfectly fine.

-Opinions: It is racist to call teams after things from other cultures. Teams shouldn't be called names after other cultural things.

-Credibility: I feel that this is a reliable source because it is an official sports webpage and it has many references listed.

Article #2:

-Hyperlink: http://www.bluecorncomics.com/mascots.htm

-Title: Team Names and Mascots

-Publisher: Robert Schmidt

-Author: Dr. Cornel Pewewardy (Comanche / Kiowa)

-Article Type: This is a primary source, because the author is a native writing about schools and teams using aboriginal names and how he and others feel about that.

-F vs O: This article is made up of a whole bunch of opinions about aboriginal stereotype, based on the facts about aboriginal stereotype.

-Facts: Many people think its okay to use names from aboriginal cultures as team names. There are many teams called things like Indians, Braves, and Chiefs. Many people feel that having these names is direspectful. Many places use Aboriginal outfits for there mascots

-Opinions: Having these names is disrespectful. Having mascots dressed as natives is disrespectful.

-Credibility: I feel that this is a reliable source because it is written by an aboriginal doctor, so he knows what he's talking about.

Article #3:

-Hyperlink: http://www.aimovement.org/ncrsm/index.html

-Title: American Indians are People, Not Mascots

-Publisher: National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media

-Author: Charlene Teters, Vice President of the National Coalition on Racism in Sports and Media (NCRSM)

-Type: This is a primary source because it is from the VP for the NCRSM, a coalition working to stop the racism towards the Natives.

-F vs O: This article is also of the opinion that teams and mascots should not use aboriginal names. It is based on the fact that many teams are called aboriginal names and many people find that disrespectful, while many others don't care.

-Facts: Many teams are called aboriginal names. Many places use aboriginal characters for their mascots. Many people find this disrespectful. Many people don't care either way.

-Opinions: It is racist to call teams after aboriginal names. It is racist to use aboriginal characters for mascots.

-Credibility: I feel that this is a credible source because it was written by the VP of a coalition that is working to stop the racism.

The poll

I voted in the poll on whether or not Laura Dekker should sail solo around the world.

Kids and Choices

I think that, in the end, it usually boils down to the child having the last choice. However, that choice is usually affected by what the parents have taught the child, and what their wishes are. I think that although the child has the last choice, it might as well be the parent, because kids often do what their parent wants to avoid getting in trouble. The child has the choice, but the parent has choices also. They can choose to punish the child if they think the child made the wrong decision. Usually the parents are right. They have already been kids. They know what is best for their kids. I think that although the child has the last choice, it is often actually the parent who is making the choice for their child.

Nobel Prizes

The Nobel Prize is awarded to those individuals or societies who have made a difference. They are awarded for contributions in chemistry, physics, literature, peace, and physiology or medicine. They Prizes were created in 1895 by Alfred Nobel. It was his will that the prizes should be awarded to those who help society. The Nobel Peace Prize is awarded to the individual or society that has put a large amount of work into creating peace between nations. The Peace Prize has been awarded to 96 individuals and 20 organizations since 1901. In order to receive a Nobel Peace Prize, you must be nominated by the Norwegian Nobel Committee, a committee appointed for this purpose by the Norwegian Parliament.

There are a large variety of people who have won a Nobel Prize. Those who have won it this year include Elizabeth H. Blackburn, Carol W. Greider and Jack W. Szostak for discoveries in Physiology or Medicine. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath won for discoveries in Chemestry. Charles K. Kao, Willard S. Boyle and George E. smith won for discoveries in Physics. Herta Muller won for her writings in Literature.

Free the Children and We Day Vancouver

We Day Vancouver and Free the Children is a program to help raise awareness about what is happening in other countries. In other countries, many children do not have the things that they need. They have no educational opportunities, no clean food, and no water. We Day Vancouver gathered 16 000 youth together for a rock concert that promoted awareness about the situations in other places. Other places have been doing things like trick or treating for non perishable food items or running food drives. Free the children is the program that inspired all of this in an effort to help the children.

Moana Maniapoto

Q#1

Moana Maniapoto is a Maori songwriter, performer, and activist. She wrote a song called, "Moko" about the importance of Ta Moko in the Maori culture. In this song, she makes it very clear what the difference is between Ta Moko and tattoos. Ta Moko symbolizes the religion, war, death, love, life, genealogy, rank, accomplishment, masculinity, beauty, warrior hood, identity and many other aspects of the life of a person. It is important to understand the difference, because tattoos are merely decoration, while Ta Moko sybolizes everything that the Maori are. In her song "Moko", Maniapoto includes many facts that bring to life the importance of the Ta Moko to the Maori people. I think that she is directing this message to the people who do not understand the importance of the Ta Moko.

Q#2

In Maniapoto's song, she uses mainly facts. This makes the song more touching because it the facts make it more realistic and important to the people listening to it.

Q#3

Maniapoto seems to think that globalization is not a good thing. However, she seems to want to send her message to the world. She has many songs on things like free trade, Timor, and maori traditions. She does not want people mistaking an important part of her culture, the Ta Moko, for something else, like tattoos. I think that she wants to keep her cultural identity, and thinks that globalization will take it away from her.