Cultural Crossroads Contract First Draft

— End of week Six —

Update on the Project’s Contract

The following is the summary of our project’s contract as it has been created and updated thus far; this is a rough draft and the information is subject to change or be amended.

Contents

  1. Project Description
  2. Tools to be Utilized
  3. Work to be Completed by Team Members
  4. Schedule of Milestones
  5. Full Research Proposal

Project Description

The purpose of this research project is essentially designed around and intended to uncover the historical significance and further influence Native American Indian Tribes had in the Northern Frontier of Texas. More specifically tied into our project is the surrounding rhetoric and memorabilia found in the City of Wichita Falls towards the Wichita, and their forced migration patterns as seen in the late and early 19th and 20th century to and from Wichita Falls, Texas. As noted, this project intends to place the Wichita and other regional populations into the appropriate historical context, ranging from their initial presence through forced migrations and ending in their continued influence on regional culture even after their departure. Academic research has been produced in regards towards the Native American groups found in the Western Texoma region and the area surrounding Wichita Falls, TX.

Continue reading Cultural Crossroads Contract First Draft

Understanding Copyright Issues, and what this means for me.

— Beginning of week Six —

 

I think one of the things I have never considered up until this point was the concept of copyright issues in regards to our project. It’s somewhat often left unspoken, and never truly addressed in conversation unless it is something you sit down to think about and how it will affect you. Whether or not citations are necessary for something as simple as a blog is definitely a question we must ask ourselves during this project. If I for one quote or am talking about a book or article that I am using for my research project, I should (and have been trying to remember to do) cite the source in the blog post itself. So if something as simple as that needs to be done when citing others work  that is verbal or written, how do we go about citing images? Or more importantly, how do we protect our work on our partnership website in order to ensure that in the future we are cited as well?

Continue reading Understanding Copyright Issues, and what this means for me.

Storymap Timeline: Mapping migration for the Wichita

— End of week Five —

This week we are finalizing the rough drafts of our working contracts as I have previously stated on my last post. Today our simple assignment was to practice using StoryMap or Timeline in order to track migration through different digital platforms.

Take a look at this rough draft of a sample timeline, but don’t take it as something set in stone for our project.

Continue reading Storymap Timeline: Mapping migration for the Wichita

Progress: one step at a time.

— Beginning of week Five —

I’ve spent some time doing more archival work over the weekend, and Brad’s done an incredibly great job on our contract for COPLAC while I worked extensively on our projects website as well as the abstract / thesis of our project. I personally feel like we are off to a great start to actually getting the project started, and believe that once we get to work as we currently have, our research itself will guide us in the direction that is necessary or best deemed fit.

I will be completely honest, I was not as overwhelmed with the contract itself, rather the content of our working bibliography and growing amount of sources are what appeal and peak my interest the most at the time. This past week (Week Four) was spent to gathering more information, sources, and archives that will help centralize our work and grasp a main concept. Brad and I met with Dr. Turner in regards to finding more primary sources and possible contacts with colleagues he has worked with in the past that may be of assistance. An example of this would be Dr. Collins, and how Dr. Turner called Dr. Collins during our meeting (Friday, Sept. 15th – Brad, Dr. T. & I) and asked about possible collaboration and help!

Continue reading Progress: one step at a time.

How far will I go? — reflecting on the establishment of our North Texas Frontier.

— End of week Four —

Richardson, Rupert N. The Frontier of Northwest Texas 1846-1876. Glendale, CA: The Arthur H. Clark Company, 1963.

I have met with our “faculty advisor” Dr. Turner, and have received substantial information and names of authors who will definitely help me.

I’ve reached out to members of our faculty in the history department in order to set up meetings to help go through what information might be pertinent to our research when it comes to the Native American involvement here in Wichita Falls.

Anyway, today we are to once again document a source or piece of material that is to assist in our research. After reflecting over the information and feedback that was given to me during our previous session in class (Tuesday, Sept. 12) I have decided to dive into the supporting articles, reviews, and the book itself authored by Richardson titled, “The Frontier of West Texas.”

The main thesis found within this book (although I have not been able to read it in its entirety) is to establish a historical account of how the Lone Star State was established in regards to its borders and what land would be considered a part of the state as a whole for our Norther frontier. It is pretty evident that this book is not intended to be utilized or read by the average reader as noted by some of the reviews I found about the book itself; most people note that this book in deed provides an extensive amount of historical information as to how the Lone Star State grew or expanded in regards to the Northern part of Texas for scholarly use.

Continue reading How far will I go? — reflecting on the establishment of our North Texas Frontier.

A sight for sore eyes: more readings, more reactions.

— Beginning of week Four —

As the new week starts to unfold, life itself around me has been nothing more than a blessing. The weather outside is starting to change for all Texans, but although the early mornings have a nipping chill rolling around and the evening’s end with a cool autumnal breeze, the afternoons are still hotter than one would expect. I spent a good amount of time this weekend catching up and reviewing class notes and material as well as explore WordPress. I’m finally comfortable with the mechanics and quirks that come along with this platform, and think that my site is as aesthetically pleasing for my liking as it can be.

Completely unrelated to the subject, I send all my love and support to those affected by Hurricane Harvey and Irma, and literally every other natural disaster that has happened since then and encourage you to do the same; whether it be in Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean Islands, and now the state of Florida, we are all a part of this Earth and hope compassion and humanity is shown when dealing with these inevitably heartbreaking situations. Here is a political cartoon that I found quite comical about climate change:

Continue reading A sight for sore eyes: more readings, more reactions.

Working Annotated Bibliography

Working Annotated Bibliography
  1. Earl H. Elam. “Kitikiti’sh: The Wichita Indians and Associated Tribes in Texas.” (1757 – 1859)
    • This book, along with its subsequent reviews which I will site below, goes into detail about the Wichita Indians located in the Wichita Falls or Wichita County Community. This is a secondary source that we (Brad and I) hope to read in detail, so once we get most of that finished I will edit it in an add the summary that seems appropriate for the text.
  2. Louise Kelly. “Wichita County Beginnings.” (Wichita Falls Times. 1957) Burnet, Texas: Eakin Press, 1982
    • Throughout this historical account as authored by Kelly, we as the reader be able to understand to a certain extent the history of Wichita Falls, or the Wichita County. It is ideal to reflect upon the initial questions that we as readers may have in order to better prepare ourselves for the extensive reading to come. In this instance, migration is the matter at hand when reading over the text; initially Wichita Falls was the home for the Caddoan Indians (Native Americans), or more directly the Wichitan and Taovayas who migrated to the area from present Kansas and Nebraska in the 18th century. Additional information that is provided in the text proceeds to explain the extraction of the Native Americans, as they are later on forced to migrate to the Red River (Oklahoma Area – on the border of Wichita County and Lawton, is about one hour or so in distance before reaching the Red River) in order to allow the Anglo – Americans to settle in. Furthermore, an in depth explanation of life in Wichita Falls during the 20th century pre – ludes to the changes that will be necessary in order to accommodate more people living in the Wichita County in the future; for example, with requirements such as electricity, sewage systems, oil, and dependency on agricultural and clean water resources to produce in greater capacities.
  3. George Klos. “Indians.” (The Handbook of Texas) An Anthology of research – article.
    • An interesting article put together by Klos, the purpose of this is to bring together a general overview of most, if not all, Native American groups that were found at one point in the state of Texas. Some of the most important to note for our research purposes would be that of the Comanche Indians, Wichita Indians, and Caddo Indians, as well as their varying subgroups. This anthology puts together a basic detailed list of the information available to us, and additionally once again goes into specifications of the Comanche Indian Chief, Quanah Parker.
  4. Anna Muckleroy. “The Indian Policy of the Republic of Texas.” Southwestern Historical Quarterly. (Vol. 25. No. 4) April 1922.
    • This article actually provides a copy of the Texas laws that were passed (or policies) in order to better restrict and group together the different Indian groups so that they would be able to be better governed by the government. This document describes almost all of the varying subgroups found in Texas at the time, which is important to understand in order to decipher most if not all regulations that were placed in order to control the Native American groups.
Continue reading Working Annotated Bibliography

Where do I go from here?

— End of Week Three —

First, I’ve gotten better at writing my citations in Chicago format, although I will still try to fix it here and there so bare with me… this is after all a first draft, so I am confident that this will be so much better off in the next days / weeks to come.

Second, nevertheless, I did my best to do some more digging in our local library and online for sources. And have found myself incredibly FRUSTRATED BEYOND BELIEF. *sighs dramatically* You would not believe what incredible source I found online, an entire archive of all old Newspaper articles and things of the matter for Wichita Falls. These include PRIMARY sources and information about our Native American groups, and it’s literally perfect.

Third, something I would like to consider when it comes to our topic (Native Americans: Forced Migration in Wichita Falls {could be name of project?…}) is the concept of Forced Migration, and the patterns in which these groups (Comanche, Kiowa, Wichita, etc.) found themselves here in the Wichita County Community. This was a term that was introduced or essentially used to remind us all in class by Dr. Dunn on Tuesday, Sept. 5, 2017.

So let me set some goals for the next week, the fourth week. 

Continue reading Where do I go from here?

Secondary Sources, where art thou?

— Beginning of Week Three —

As the time frame to select a more centralized research topic approaches, it seems that the more I dig into the “history” found in the Wichita County community is limited, in an immense capacity, when it comes to information based upon the migration and livelihood of any Native American (Indian – as most of the archives held refer to them) in the subsequent region. For me, in an attempt to find more information on the Native groups – the Comanche “Quehada”, Kiowa, Caddo (Wichita and Taovaya) – the experience has been rather stressful. Primary sources are clearly going to be difficult to uncover, but I don’t think I should count myself out just yet, and try a little harder in order to find the primary resources.

Friday morning I visited the Special Collections Room in the Moffett Library, and was assisted by Ms. Bates. Upon inspection and some tedious searches, I came to the realization that there is not a lot of information available about anything related to the Native American history in the Wichita County. Although there is a bit of descriptions or comments made about the Wichita and Comanche (and their subgroups) written within some of the texts of books Ms. Bates was able to retrieve for me, nothing more was left to be uncovered in a detailed search. An interesting quote that I found in a book called, The History of Wichita Falls, by Jonnie R. Morgan, stated that citizenship was limited to only Anglo settlers, and did not include groups like polygamists, Japanese, etc. Additionally, if a child of “American or Anglo American” citizens was born on foreign soil, the child was granted citizenship…BUT… if a woman who was granted citizenship in this manner was to late marry a foreigner or “alien”, then the woman would relinquish her citizenship all in all. In my opinion, this concept and conversation that was portrayed in this book may explain why there may be little information on the Native Americans at the dispense of the regular or student population on a campus where memorabilia, streets, buildings, rooms, and statues are found all throughout said area in memory and respect of these groups of people.

Continue reading Secondary Sources, where art thou?