Native American Astronomy Essays - Meteor Showers, Leonids

Native American Astronomy Essays - Meteor Showers, Leonids Native American Astronomy For many years astronomers and people alike have constantly heard about the observations and records of the Chinese and Europeans. No other culture can provide as much information as that gathered by the Chinese and Europeans, but there are many other cultures that observed and recorded the night sky, one of those being the Native Americans. During the last fifteen to twenty years archaeoastronomers have uncovered much concerning the beliefs and records of Native Americans. Unfortunately, the methods of keeping records of astronomical events were not as straight forward as the Chinese and Europeans. The Native Americans had to use what they could to record what they observed. Their records were found on rock and cave drawings, stick notching, beadwork, pictures on animal skins and story telling. One of the few dateable events among the various records of Native Americans was the 1833 appearance of the Leonid meteor shower. The most obvious accounts of the Leonid storm appear among the various bands of the Sioux of the North American plains. The Sioux kept records called winter counts, which were a chronological pictographic account of each year painted on animal skin. In 1984 Von Del Chamberlain listed the astronomical references for 50 Sioux, forty five out of fifty referred to an intense meteor shower during 1833/1834. He also listed nineteen winter counts kept by other plains Indian tribes, fourteen of which referred to the Leonid storm. The Leonids also appear among the Maricopa, who used calendar sticks with notches to represent the passage of a year, with the owner of the stick remembering the events. The owner of one stick claimed records had been kept that way since the stars fell. The first notch on the stick represented 1833. A member of the Papago, named Kutox, was born around 1847 or 1848. He claimed that 14 years prior to his birth the stars rained all over the sky. A less obvious Leonid reference was found in a journal kept by Alexander M. Stephen, which detailed his visit with the Hopi Indians and mentions a talk he had With Old Djasjini on December 11, 1892. That Hopi Indian said, How old am I? Fifty, maybe a hundred years, I cannot tell. When I was a young boy eight or ten years there was a great comet in the sky and at night all the above was full of shooting stars. (Stephen 37). During the lifetime of Old Djasini there was never a great comet and a sky full of meteors in the same year, but he might be referring to the comet in 1843 and the Leonid storm in 1833. The Pawnee have a story about a person named Pahokatawa, who was killed by an enemy and eaten by animals, and then brought back to life by the Gods. The legend goes that he fell to earth as a meteor and told the people that when meteors were seen falling in great numbers it was not a sign that the world would end. When the pawnee tribe witnessed the time the stars fell upon the earth, which was in 1833, there was a panic, but the leader said, remember the words of Pahokatawa and the people were no longer afraid. This shows how powerful a role astronomy played in the Native American culture. Although the Pawnee learned not to be afraid there were Native Americans who feared meteors. The Blackfeet of Montana believed a meteor was a sign that sickness would come to the tribe in the winter the Kawaiisu thought a meteor started high and fell to the horizon was an omen of death. The Cahuilla thought a meteor was the spirit of their first shaman, takwich, who was disliked his people. Takwich wandered the sky at night looking for people far from their tribe. If he found a lost person he steal their spirit and the person home and eat them. The Shawnee believed meteors were beings fleeing from the wrath of some adversary, or from some anticipated danger.(Howard 178) Many Native Americans saw the stars as heavenly and mystical. The Wintu explained meteors as the spirits of shamans traveling to the after life. The Chumash referred to meteors as a shooting star.

Proposal for a Replacement of the Failing Social Security System essays

Proposal for a Replacement of the Failing Social Security System essays My assignment was to imagine that the Social Security system was about to go bankrupt and to create a plan or program to replace it. 1. Institute more job training programs for disabled. 2. Many disabled individuals are punished for working. Their social security checks are halted if they are employed. Even the paycheck from a 40 hour workweek is not enough to cover their medical and special assistance needs. Perhaps decrease their payments without canceling them so they can maintain a reasonable standard of living. 3. Starting with companies that receive federal funding, encourage the creation of an objective evaluation system. Each employee will be evaluated every six months. If deficiencies in the average performance of their duties are detected a meeting will be set up. At this meeting the deficiencies will be brought to the attention of the employee. Remedies to the deficiencies (becoming a part-time employee, additional training, adaptive training, etc.) will be offered. If the remedies are accepted, the employee will be evaluated in six months. If the deficiencies in their average performance have not been significantly decreased they will immediately become part to half-time employees for one month. They will be dismissed at the end of this month. 4. Full-service "retirement adaptation" centers will be established in all communities. These will be staffed by volunteer and paid retirees. If a retiree is interested in enrolling in college the center will assist them in filling out application and financial aid paperwork. Retired teachers and professors could provide tutoring for fellow retirees and other pupils in college and the public school systems. Every class in the public school system could have a foster grandparent. Retired aerobics instructors and exercise physiologists could conduct physical fitness programs. Retired mental health professionals could conduct group and individual t ...

Operations and Project Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Operations and Project Management - Essay Example Similar to any other departments in an organization, the operations management department of the organization plays the most important role in determining the overall organizational success (Slack & et. al., 2010). An effective operations management thus helps an organization in positioning the products and services in the right place and in the right way that would make the most effective utilization of time and cost considerations. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the operations manager to ensure effectiveness throughout the manufacturing process (Fort Lewis College, 2015). Henceforth, the discussion will emphasize the issues of operations management faced by Challinor’s, which is a small scale manufacturing establishment of actuators for the aerospace industry. It will also cover the opportunities and problems being faced by the organization. Furthermore, a suitable Risk Matrix and Work Breakdown Structure will be provided in order to underpin the success of the project and thereby create a better experience for the customers with respect to the proposed relocation of the factory. Challinor’s is a small-scale manufacturing enterprise located in West Midlands that deals with the manufacturing of actuators for aerospace industry. The company has been able to develop a good reputation in the field of aerospace industry, producing the best quality products to the customers. The company also has performed an effective management along with adequate workforce of experienced engineers, which is one of the major advantages of the company that allows the manufacturing of products to be more effective and ensures best quality with fault free deliverance of services. Altogether, these factors contribute to the successful operations along with the opportunity of the company to expand that would help it in maximizing the overall profit. As the company has been able to gain a significant position in the aerospace sector, various large

Summery of Celia Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Summery of Celia - Essay Example The main character of the narrative is Celia, who is a black slave and is a victim as the story unfolds at each stage (McLaurin.). The theme of enslavement is as put forward by the American constitution then. The constitution saw it right to enslave people, and the irregularity was popular in the south. However, the north did not pursue the slavery institution in the various economic as well as the political endeavors. The story depicts a man who faces the demise of his wife and later on gives in to his sexual desires. The man chooses slavery as a way of fulfilling his desires. Celia is thus the unlucky girl, and she becomes an asset to the man at the age of fourteen years. She did not survive the test of time, and she tends to believe she is born for the fulfillment of the man. His master, Newsom, treats her as a sexual object. Celia bears two children for Newsom. After five years of unbearable life in the homestead, she finds a lover by the name of George. Due to their relationship, she tends to go to her master to end their sexual contract. The effort is unsuccessful. Due to the harassment, she kills her master and is taken to court to answer the charges. The enslavement institution tampers with her proceedings in court before the jury. It is due to the fact she is not able to defend herself in court. She is not given the capacity to narrate the numerous incidents that she experiences with her former master. The right of defending herself in court was as per the American constitution, but the granting of the opportunity was impossible since she was a slave. The narrative articulates that the Negroes in America were the main race that was suitable for enslavement. The Atlantic slave trade was a major boost for the racial discrimination. The story also puts forward that court proceedings and rulings did not recognize blacks as