Did you know that Theodore Roosevelt was an imperialist and Mark Twain was an anti-imperialist? Imperialists were people that would try to spread their power and influence over “weaker” nations. Anti-Imperialists were people that didn’t want to get involved in other countries’ affairs, they were against imperialists. Even though there are many differences between imperialists and anti-imperialists, there is one similarity.

Imperialists thought that they were doing good by spreading their power and influence over “weaker” nations. Asia and Africa were where many imperialists would compete for colonies. They wanted to build a bigger and better military. Imperialists were gaining colonies to build up their naval strength to compete with other nations. An imperialist named Alfred T. Mahan urged the president to increase the United States’ naval strength. Imperialists also had a thirst for new markets. They wanted new raw materials for factories to create new jobs. They believed they were right because they thought they were civilizing the colonies they took over.

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One day Tom, Jake, and I were on our way to take a boat to a mysterious island to go Scuba diving. We had been waiting for this day for months. We got everything we needed from our houses and met up at the boat dock. The drive was two and a half hours and the boat ride was four and a half hours. It would take us the whole day to get to the island. There was one thing that frightened me about going to the island, that there is a rumor going around that everyone on the island died from a virus, we all brought guns just in case  anything happens. The guns that I brought were my A.W.P sniper, my Ballista rifle, and my dual p99 pistols.Tom also had an A.W.P and a Ak- 47 with no scope, and Jake had an Ak- 47 and a Dragnouv sniper

We made it to the docks and we all met up. We got on to our private boat and left. The boat was huge and had five decks. We all had our own rooms in the boat. I went to my to my room and went to sleep after the long drive. By the time I woke up we were almost there. The boat captain said we would be there in ten minutes.

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Snorkeling by Eric Wiggin

Plunge into freezing cold water

Like a pool of ice cubes against my skin

Dip my head underneath

Endless sand beneath my flippers

Grey rocks everywhere

Schools of small fish all around

A bat ray slithers under the sand

Welcoming me to the ocean

*I chose to write about snorkeling because it was my favorite memory from 6th Grade Camp.  It was the very first time I had gone snorkeling.  I liked looking at all of the sea life.  I even got to touch a shark!  I wanted to write a poem that used IMAGERY to describe this experience. 

People have been living on Catalina Island for over 7,000 years.  The island is only only 22 miles long and 8 miles wide.  From the mainland, it is a 20 mile journey across the Pacific Ocean.  The island was originally inhabited by Native Americans who called the island “Pimungna” or “Pimu.”  They sustained themselves mostly by fishing because plants were really difficult to grow.  Sometimes they would trade sea products with the main land.

In 1542, the explorer, Juan Cabrillo, first came to Catalina and claimed the land for Spain.  He brought the Catholic religion to the Native Americans and also built missions.  The native people were colonized and forced to leave their traditional ways of life.  Spaniards also brought disease which caused many Native Americans to die out.  Foreigners were not allowed on the island, however, Spain did not have enough ships to guard the perimeter.  Hunters from Russia could easily hunt otters and then sell their pelts for lots of money.

The island was good for smuggling.  This is because there were so many coves and it was very close to the mainland.  You could even find pirates there.  Chinese immigrants were also smuggled in through the coves.  Today, you can still find “China Point” on the south-west end of Catalina.

In the mid 1800s, gold was discovered on the Island.  Many people moved to the island in hopes of striking it rich.  However, there was very little gold to be found.  One man, Samuel Prentiss, who was Catalina’s fist non-native permanent resident, spent thirty years looking for gold without luck.  In 1864, the United States stopped mining for good and told everyone to get off the island.  They wanted to use Catalina to house Union troops during the Civil War.

By the late 1800s, very few people lived on the island except for a few cattle herders.  However, Los Angeles was only 20 miles away and had a growing population.  It was decided that the island would be developed into a “vacation destination.”  Many hotels and buildings were constructed.

Catalina Island was closed during World War II for military training.  Military camps were set up all over.  The Coast Guard, the Army and the Navy all did underwater training.

On February 15, 1975, 90% of the island was handed over to the Catalina Island Conservancy.  Today, you can visit the island and learn all about its history and even attend 6th grade camp!

Popcorn

It pops in oil

Really loud

It pleases people

In a crowd

When you’re all out

Make some more or

Just go get some

From the store.

*To me, rhythm is something that happens over and over again.  I wanted to write a funny poem with a rhyming scheme.  I had a hard time figuring out what to write about but once I decided to write a poem about popcorn, the words came to me right away.  Plus, I love popcorn!

The Moon

surrounded by stars

the Moon shines brightly like the sun

the Moon is a light bulb

for when it is dark

it reflects in water

and casts many shadows

only when the sun comes out

The Moon is out of sight

*In class, we learned about likenesses in poetry.  Likenesses show up in poetry when you use similes, metaphors and personification.  In my poem, I used a simile and a metaphor.  I wrote the “Moon is a lightbulb” for a metaphor and the “Moon shines brightly like the sun” for a simile.  I chose to write about the moon because right away I thought of a few likenesses I could use.

The Wolf

In the woods

Filled with pine trees

Snow covers the ground

A lone wolf stands

Tall on a hill of snow

He’s pale white

With fearless red eyes

Staring right at me.

*Imagery is when you put a picture in someone’s head.  I used imagery in this poem by trying to show what a wolf would look like if it was standing in the snow.  Wolves are my favorite animal and I wanted to show them in my writing.

 My parents helped me with this assignment and I learned a lot about my family by asking questions. I interviewed my mom with these three questions:

1.) Where did my family immigrate from? Most of your family immigrated from nowhere, we are Native Americans and have always been here. Part of your family is French Canadian, so I assume they came from France. Other than that, we don’t know anything about that side of your family.

2.) When did they come to America?

3.) How did my family come to America?

I learned from my mom that I could not really answer these questions for her side of the family, and half of my dad’s. We are Native American and therefore my family did not immigrate from anywhere. I am 1/4 French Canadian, but we don’t know anything about that part of my family. My mom said this was an important question because not all people in America came from somewhere else. I am Mescalero Apache, Chiricahua Apache, Yaqui, and Huichol from Mexico. I learned that almost all Native American people have creation stories and these stories tell where we came from. In all of our stories, we came from the Earth on our tribal lands. We did not immigrate from another land. My mom says that scientists think that some Native Americans groups crossed a land bridge from Asia, but those are not our beliefs. So I changed my questions to:

1.) What is our creation story?

2.) Which lands are considered our original territory?

3.) Why did my family move from those places?

I learned that our Creation story places my family in the region of the southwestern United States and Mexico. This used to be one large territory, but then a border was put up and divided it. We came from the area that is Sonora, Tucson, Phoenix, to name a few. Native Americans were migratory people who moved from one area to another for food, our region that we migrated is mentioned in our creation story. We were created by a female creator named Yomummuli. She created the earth, stars, universe, insects, plants, waters, and humans. I learned that in part of the creation story, our creator foretold the people about the coming of the Spanish from Spain. Many of our people did not want to stay, and so they were given the opportunity to become dolphins, ants, or the Surem, which are little people who live in the mountains.

In conclusion, doing this project I learned that my family never really immigrated to America because we are Native American. I also learned that we don’t know much about my dads side of the family because our family does not know much about it. I wonder why some families don’t know much, maybe it was not important to know this a long time ago.  I wish they knew more than they do, it would be nice to be able to see all of family on a tree.  I learned that my mother’s side of the family was very large and could go very far back on the family tree. I think it is interesting how some families know a lot, and others, not that much. I would be interested in learning more about my family in the future and asking different people who may have more information.

Ellis Island

Angel Island

During the late 1800s and into the 1900s, many people left their homes to come to the United States.  These immigrants wanted a better life.  Before they crossed into America, they first had to pass through an immigration station.   Two famous immigration stations were on Ellis Island and Angel Island.

 Ellis Island is a small island located in the New York harbor.  Standing on it, you can see the Statue of Liberty. It was there in 1890 that the first Federal immigration center was opened.  Most immigrants came from countries like England, Ireland, Germany and Scandinavia.  From 1892 to 1954, over twelve million immigrants came to Ellis Island in hopes of a better life.  Most people got there by steam ships.  People with more money rode on the upper decks.  People with less money rode at the bottom of the ship in crowded, unclean conditions.  Ellis Island’s nickname was “The Island of Tears,” however, most immigrants were allowed in the U.S.  Only two percent were excluded usually because they had a contagious disease or a criminal past.  On June 14, 1897, the immigration station on Ellis Island caught fire and burned to the ground.   America started to rebuild right away and three years later it was back in use.  As America grew in power, more and more U.S. embassies were built in countries around the world.  Ellis Island received less and less immigrants and eventually closed in 1965.  Today, it is a museum and has over two million visitors every year.

On the other side of the country, another immigration center had been built.  It was called Angel Island, located off the coast of San Francisco.  These immigrants were usually from Asia; mostly China and Japan.  This foggy island was open between 1910 and 1940.  When immigrants arrived to Angel Island, men and women were separated.  They were stripped naked and given medical examinations.  For many, this was very humiliating.  People could be sent away for minor conditions like pink eye, diarrhea or hookworm.  Chinese immigrants were treated the worst.  Americans were worried that the Chinese would take all of their jobs.  On the island, immigrants had to stay in barracks with up to 350 people.  The living conditions were horrible.  On August 12, 1940, the immigration center burned to the ground and was never reopened again.  It eventually became a state park in 1963.

There are many similarities and differences between Ellis Island and Angel Island.  Their purpose was to allow immigrants to get into the United States.  Both islands’ immigration stations were burned down at one point.  One of their differences is location. Ellis Island was on the east coast and Angel Island was on the west coast.  They also took immigrants from different places.  Most people who came to New York were from Europe; most people who came to San Francisco were from Asia.  Immigrants were treated differently at each station.  Ellis Island allowed most immigrants into the United States and treated them with respect.  On the other hand, Angel Island turned a lot of people away or made them stay in bad conditions.  Overall, if I was an immigrant, I would want to have gone through Ellis Island!

Sources:

• http://aiisf.org/
• http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/ellis_island_history.asp

People do not understand wolves.  Most of the information about these canines have come from folklore and fairy tales.  They are seen as deadly animals.  Many famers see wolves as dangerous; especially to their livestock.  Farmers are ready to kill them at any time.  I believe a national law needs to be passed to prevent farmers from killing wolves.

It’s hard to believe that these animals have been killed for centuries.  Many think they are deadly creatures that kill for fun.  However, wolves are very loyal, intelligent and social.  They are dedicated to their families and their pack.  Ecologist Mark Stopher said, “…the chances of being attacked by a wolf are about the same as being hit by something falling to Earth from outer space.”

The same goes for wolves hurting livestock.  In 2011 in the state of Montana, there were 2.5 million cattle.   Out of all of this cattle, only 74 were killed by wolves.  Wolves enjoy “the hunt” – they like to hunt their prey instead of finding it in a livestock pen.  Farmers tried to use the number of dead livestock as an excuse to kill wolves.  Causes of death in livestock are mostly from poisonous plants, weather, disease and birth complications.  In fact, mountain lions, coyotes and bears kill more animals than wolves do.

If farmers continue to kill wolves, it will have a horrible effect on our ecosystem.  According to an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Environmental scientists insist wolves are good for the ecosystem because they control elk and deer populations and prevent overgrazing of riparian habitat…”  We need wolves to keep our ecosystem in balance.

There is a strict law in Oregon which fines farmers for killing wolves.  I believe this law should be in place on a national level.  There are so many ways for farmers to protect their livestock; they can build higher fences  or use an alarm system.  There is no reason why a wolf should ever be killed by a farmer.

 Sources:

• www.signon.org – “Protect America’s Wolves”
• San Francisco Chronicle – “Who’s afraid of the lone gray wolf?  Ranchers, families”