All over the map

All
Over
the
Map

African
Folklore
African folklore and religion represent a variety of social
aspects of African culture. Folklore plays an important
role in many the African cultures as well. Stories reflect
a group’s cultural identity, preserving the stories of Africa
will help preserve an entire culture. Stories are created by and for the ethnic
group telling them. Different ethnic groups in Africa have different
rituals or ceremonies for storytelling. This created a sense of belonging
to a cultural group. It provides an insight into the community’s beliefs,
views, and customs to an outsider.
Folktales are used as a tool for education and entertainment as well.
Providing a way for children to understand the material and social environment.
Each story contains a moral to teach, such as goodwill prevail
over evil. When used for entertainment purposes, the setting is usually
in a fantastic, non-human like world. Often, the main character of the
story would be a talking animal or something unnatural would happen to
a human character. Even though folktales are for entertainment, they bring
a sense of belonging and pride to communities in Africa. Different types
of stories include animal tales and day-to-day tales. Animal tales more
oriented towards entertainment, but still, have morals and lessons to them.
Animal tales are normally divided into trickster tales and ogre tales.
In animal tales, a certain animal would always have the same character
or role in each story so the audience does not have to worry about characterization.
African stories are built with a certain structure to them. Storytellers had
certain commands to start and end the stories, “Ugai Itha” to get the
audience’s attention and begin the story, and “Rukirika” to signal the
end of a tale. Each scene of a story is depicted with two characters at a
time, so the audience does not get confused and overwhelmed. In each
story, victims are able to overcome their predators and take justice out
on the culprit. Certain tools were used in African folktales as well. For
example, idiophones, such as drums, were used to make the sounds
of different animals. Repetition and call-back techniques in the form
of prose or poem were also used to get the audience involved in the stories.

Livestock
Guardian
Dog
Livestock guardian dog is a type of dog who is bred for the
purpose of protecting livestock from any type of predator.
The dogs stay with the group of animals to protect as a full-time
member. Their ability to guard their herd is mainly instinctive
as the dog is bonded to the heard from an early age. Unlike herding dogs,
LGDs blend in with the herd or flock, watching for intruders. LGDs will
confront predators by vocal intimidation, barking, and displaying aggressive
behavior. The dogs are introduced to livestock as puppies so they
“imprint” on the animals. Training requires regular daily handling and
management, preferably from birth. A guardian dog is not considered reliable
until it is at least 2 years old. Guidance and correction are needed
to teach the dog the skill and rules it needs to do its job. Having older dogs
assist in training younger dogs helps this process.
LGDs are usually large, independent, and protective. This makes them ideal
for urban or even suburban living. Despite their size, they make great
companion dogs as well. LGDs are protective of their families as well as
their work in the flock. Three qualities in an LGD are trustworthiness,
attentiveness, and protectiveness—trustworthy in that they do not roam
off and are not aggressive with the livestock, attentive in that they
are situationally aware of threats by predators and protective in that
they will attempt to drive off predators. Both female and male LGDs are
equally effective in protecting livestock. Dogs, being social creatures with
differing personalities, will take on different roles with the herd and among
themselves: most sticking close to the livestock, others tending to follow
the shepherd or rancher when one is present, and some drifting farther
from the livestock.

Alaska
Native
Alaska natives or alaskan natives are indigenous people of
Alaska, United States and include Inupiat, Yupik, Aleut,
Eyak, Tlingit, Haida, Tsimshian, and a number of Northern
Athabaskan cultures. Many alaska matives are enrolled in
federally recognized alaska native tribal entities, who in turn belong to
13 Alaska Native Regional Corporations. The corporation administers
land and financial claims. Ancestors of alaska natives migrated
into the area thousands of years ago. In at least two different waves,
some are descendants of the third wave of migration in which people
settled across the northern part of North America. They never migrated to
southern areas. Genetic studies show they are not closely related to
Native Americans in South America. The ancestors of alaska natives
established varying indigenous, complex cultures that have succeeded
each other over time. They developed sophisticated ways to deal with
the challenging climate and environment, and cultures rooted in the
place. Historic groups have been defined by their languages, which
belong to several major language families. Today, alaska natives constitute
over 15% of the population of Alaska.
The modern history of Alaskan natives begins with the arrival of Europeans.
Unusual for North America, it was the Russians coming from Siberia
in the eighteenth century, who were the first to make contact. British and
American traders generally did not reach the area until the nineteenth
century, and in some cases missionaries were not active until the twentieth
century. Geopolitical reasons drove the Tsarist government to expand
into Indigenous territory in present day Alaska, spreading Russian
Orthodoxy and consuming the natural resources of the territory along their
way. Their movement into these populated areas of Indigenous communities
altered the demographic and natural landscape. The fur trade led
the Russian American Company to not only use Indigenous populations
for labour, but to also use them as hostages to acquire iasak. Iasak, a form
of taxation used by the Russians, was a tribute in the form of otter pelts.
It was a taxation method the Russians had previously found useful in
their early encounter with Indigenous communities of Siberia during the
Siberian fur trade.

Heterochromia
Heterochromia is a difference in coloration, usually of the iris
but can also be of hair or skin. Heterochromia is determined
by the production, delivery, and concentration of melanin
(a pigment). It may be inherited, or caused by genetic
mosaicism, chimerism, disease, or injury. It occurs in humans and certain
breeds of dogs and cats. Though multiple causes have been posited,
the scientific consensus is that a lack of genetic diversity is the primary
reason behind heterochromia. This is due to a mutation of the genes
that determine melanin distribution at the 8-HTP pathway, which usually
only become corrupted due to chromosomal homogeneity. Though it is
common in some breeds of cats, dogs, cattle, and horses, due to inbreeding,
heterochromia is uncommon in humans, affecting fewer than 200,000
people in the United States, and is not associated with lack of genetic
diversity. Heterochromia is classified primarily by onset: as either genetic
or acquired. Although a distinction is frequently made between heterochromia
that affects an eye completely or only partially, it is often classified as
either genetic or acquired, with mention as to whether the affected
iris or portion of the iris is darker or lighter. Most cases of heterochromia
are hereditary and are entirely benign and unconnected to any
pathology. However, some are associated with certain diseases and
syndromes.
Central heterochromia is an eye condition where there are two colors in
the same iris; the central (pupillary) zone of the iris is a different color
than the mid-peripheral (ciliary) zone, with the true iris color being the
outer color. Eye color is determined primarily by the concentration and
distribution of melanin within the iris tissues. Although the processes
determining eye color are not fully understood, it is known that inherited
eye color is determined by multiple genes. Environmental or acquired
factors can alter these inherited traits. The human iris can be seen in a
number of various colors. There are three true colors in human eyes
that determine the outward appearance: brown, yellow, and grey. The
amount of each color an individual determines the appearance of the
eye color. Central heterochromia appears to be prevalent in irises containing
low amounts of melanin. A famous case of a person with central
heterochromia was Baroness Rózsika Edle von Wertheimstein, whose
daughter wrote: "She was a very beautiful woman...She had dark, dark
brown eyes, but each eye had a purple ring to it, about a quarter of an
inch of purple around these dark brown eyes."

The Black
Death
The Black Plague, was one of the most devastating pandemics
in human history, resulting in the deaths of an estimated 75 to
200 million people in Eurasia from 1347 to 1351. The Black
Death was the first major European outbreak of plague, and
the second plague pandemic. The plague created a number of religious,
social and economic upheavals, with lasting effects on the course of
European history. The Black Death is thought to have originated in the
dry plains of Central Asia, where it traveled along the Silk Road, reaching
Crimea by 1343. It was most likely carried by fleas living on the black rats
that traveled on all merchant ships, spreading throughout the Mediterranean
Basin and Europe. It was estimated that the black death killed 30% to
60% of the European population. In total reducing the world’s population
from it estimated 475 million to 350 - 357 million in the 14th century. From
Italy, the disease spread northwest across Europe, striking France, Spain,
Portugal, and England by June 1348, then turned and spread east and north
through Germany, Scotland and Scandinavia from 1348 to 1350. It was
introduced in Norway in 1349 when a ship landed at Askoy, then spread
to Bergen and Iceland. Finally, it spread to northwestern Russia in 1351.
Signs of the plague are often varied or imprecise. The most commonly
noted symptom was the appearance of buboes in the groin, the neck and
armpits, which oozed pus and bled when opened. The only medical
detail that is questionable in Boccaccio’s description is that the gavocciolo
was an “infallible token of approaching death”. There are no exact
numbers for the total deaths because the rate varied widely by locality.
In urban areas the greater the population before the outbreak, the longer
the duration of the period of abnormal mortality. It killed some 75 to
200 million people in Eurasia. In 1348, the plague spread so fast, there
was no time for any physicians or government authorities had time to
reflect upon its origins, about a third of the European population had
already perished. In crowded cities, it was not uncommon for as much
as 50% of the population to die.

African Folklore
Livestock
Guardian Dog
Alaska Native
Heterochromia
The Black Death