Japanese American Internment

The Alien Enemies Act of 1798 was a law most notoriously used to incarcerate American citizens of Japanese descent during World War II. The Act is a wartime authority that allows the President of the United States to “detain or deport the natives and citizens of an enemy nation.”

The United States rounded up 120,000 of its own citizens and placed them in concentration camps around the country beginning in 1942.

One of those camps was Manzanar, on the rugged Eastern side of the Sierra Nevada mountains.

The above animation is based on an incredible photograph made by Toyo Miyatake, who smuggled a lens and film into Manzanar, then made a camera out of scraps of wood.

The Alien Enemies Act may be invoked again on the day of this writing, this time to justify deporting hundreds of thousands of immigrants in the United States.

Even though we are not at war with Mexico, Honduras or even Venezuela, the current U.S. administration is determined to use a wartime authority to expel people who came to this country to flee violence and oppression, or simply to seek a better life.

Black Cowboys

According to the Smithsonian, one in four cowboys was Black.

It sure doesn’t look that way if you look at the hundreds of cowboy movies popularized in American cinema. The actual history of cowboy culture in this country is a lot more interesting — and complex — than what has been represented in popular culture.

It’s not surprising that in the era of slavery, the Wild West must have looked pretty darn good in comparison.

Needless to say, the Civil War really changed the landscape for many Black cowboys. In 1860, census reports listed 182,566 slaves living in Texas, most who worked in cotton fields but also many working herding cattle.

After the Emancipation Proclamation, many white ranchers had to hire former slaves to help herd cattle.

In his book Black West, William Loren Katz writes,

“Right after the Civil War, being a cowboy was one of the few jobs open to men of color who wanted to not serve as elevator operators or delivery boys or other similar occupations . . .”

After the Emancipation Proclamation — and before a widespread rail network was developed — was the time to be a Black cowboy, as cattle ranching spread into the Northern states.

Take that, John Wayne.

Haida Gwaii

Haida Gwaii is the ancestral territory of the Haida Nation. This storm battered archipelago of 150 rocky islands off British Columbia’s West Coast is tricky to access at times, which only adds to its allure. With its diverse plant and animal life (the area is nicknamed Canada’s Galapagos), and monumental poles and longhouses, there is something new to learn for everyone. 

The islands are home to dramatic landscapes, abundant wildlife, and some of the world’s richest heritage, home to more than 500 archeological sites.

Lowriders

In the mid-twentieth century in Southern California, colorful painted classic cars would cruise the boulevards. From Cadillac El Dorados to Chevy Impalas, these lowriders were rolling art installations with chrome rims and white wall tires, with the cars meant to be driven "low and slow" as they hugged the pavement.

Set on hydraulics, the cars would be able to, in the flip of a switch, become lowriders one second and street-legal vehicles the next.

Surf Culture

Long before the Beach Boys encouraged an entire generation to catch a wave, Pacific Islanders were surfing—and explorer James Cook was one of the first Europeans to see it.

James Cook’s voyages to through the Pacific are credited with “helping to guide generations of explorers, as well as with providing the first accurate map of the Pacific,” writes Biography.com. His diaries and those of some crew members are still used by historians of the Pacific region, and his influence on Pacific history is felt up and down the coast. One little-known area of history that his crew members documented was surfing.

The Hero Twins

The story of the Hero Twins is one of the most famous myths in Maya mythology and is featured in the Popol Vuh, a sacred text of the Quiché Maya that was created in the mid-1500s.

Hunahpu and Xbalanque were the names of the second set of hero twins, the first having been defeated in a ballgame in the underworld, where they were summarily sacrificed.

Their offspring had much better luck playing ball with the lords of the underworld, or Xibalba, and outsmarted the Xibalba lords and went on to progress from Hero Twins to becoming the sun and the moon.

Scrambling the Past to Make Way for a $55 Million Development

In Marin County, California, not too many years ago, a “treasure trove” of Coast Miwok artifacts was dug up and reburied to make way for a new multi-million dollar housing development.

Developers of the Rose Lane project had a problem: their housing site was also the location of a rich archaeological record of the land’s previous inhabitants.

According to one of the few archaeologists who briefly studied the site, the archaeological record on-site was “staggering.”

The San Francisco Chronicle wrote that there were,

“…600 human burials, tools, musical instruments, harpoon tips, spears and throwing sticks from a time long before the introduction of the bow and arrow. The bones of grizzly and black bears were also found, along with a ceremonial California condor burial.”

All of that was dug up, moved nearby, and reburied.

The developer claims they did nothing wrong because the removal and reburial of all the remnants of this rich Coast Miwok site was overseen by the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria.

But now, you can buy a 4-bedroom home with “peace, luxury, amidst suburban charm” on Rose Lane for around $5 million.

Teotihuacan

Teotihuacan, which means “place where the gods were created,” is located just outside Mexico City and is made up of a sprawling complex of breathtaking monuments and pyramids.

The massive structures, constructed around 100 BCE, are arranged based on astronomical and spiritually important axes.

The city of Teotihuacan was one of the largest cities in Mesoamerica, with a population archaeologists estimate ranged from 25,000 to 150,000, depending on the time period.

The Pyramids of the Sun and Moon are just two structures along the expansive Avenue of the Dead which features numerous artifacts and clues to how people lived in this ancient metropolis.

Unfortunately, Walmart added another structure nearby more recently.