Module B (2024) RVA — Towards a People's History of Landscape

At the Bend: Possibilities of Becoming

Map of Richmond, Ellyson, 1856.jpg (wikimedia commons)

At the River

River as archive, River as memory

River as witness, River as courier

River as deity, River as shrine

River as ancestor, River as property

River as life, River as future

River as joy, River as trauma

River as ours, River as whose

By Nazanin Ghaffari

James River (Richmond, Virginia) Photo Credit: Peter Wang

Team Member Names, Titles, and Institutions:

Benita Brown, Adjunct Professor of Dance History and Theory, Virginia State University
Nazanin Ghaffari, Assistant Professor of Landscape Architecture (Place- and Community-Based Planning and Design), State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry.
Katharine Jager, Professor of English, University of Houston-Downtown
Tabitha Morgan, Assistant Professor of History, Gender, and English, Community College of Philadelphia
Jose Vazquez, Professor of Architecture, Interior Design and History, Miami Dade College
Peter Wang, Assistant Professor of Art History and Visual Studies, University of Kentucky

OVERVIEW

Format: undergraduate; introduction to place studies (discussion-based or studio, depending on discipline)

Content: our focus is on moving bodies of water, or riparian landscapes, in the context of critical place studies. Moving bodies of water are ecosystems that create a cultural landscape. They are in dialogue with identity, commerce, labor, spirituality, ritual, the arts, history, the future, and the land. We are particularly interested in the weyanoke, which may mean ‘at the bend’ or ‘around the bend’ in the Algonquian language of the Weyanoke people; this describes the falls or shoals of the Powhatan or what was renamed in 1607 as the James River. As Tiffany Lethabo King has argued, “Rising and falling with the tide, the shoal is an interstitial and emerging space of becoming” (Black Shoals 3). The shoals of the James River break across and bridge the past and the present, connecting life, leisure, and labor and recentering the haunting of the past and the potentiality of the future (Gordon, “Some Thoughts”)

Learning Outcomes:

By the conclusion of this module, students should be able to:

Think critically about place and space
Produce a discipline-specific project (for example: a ritual dance; a 3-5 minute podcast; a close reading of a primary source document; a visual analysis; a site analysis; critical reflection)
Consider contested narratives of a specific landscape
Consider a local landscape within a global context and the diverse peoples that have occupied that landscape

Frame of Inquiry:

The shoals are the point of intersection, where land and water meet, a liminal and primordial space. We are working with Tiffany King’s concept of the “Black shoals” to explore how narratives of Black and Indigenous geographies and identities co-construct each other. Water, sand, and rock commingle and break across the shoal, allowing new possibilities to emerge. We ask how the riparian shoal links past, present, and future.

Statement of how the module relates to the theme of the institutes:

Our riparian module is an alternative approach to traditional scholarship and teaching. We seek to unpack and complicate the sedimented layers of history in place. This will be accomplished through close readings of racialized river spaces and the production of alternative spatial imaginaries.

“Haunting raises specters, and it alters the experience of being in linear time, alters the way we normally separate and sequence the past, the present and the future” (Gordon, 2011, 2).

“All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was” (Toni Morrison, 1995, 99 qtd in Bates, 2023, 363).

“Haunting always registers the harm inflicted or the loss sustained by a social violence done in the past or being done in the present and is for this reason quite frightening. But haunting, unlike trauma by contrast, is distinctive for producing something-to-be-done” (Gordon, 2011, 2).

Assignment(s):

Classroom (1-2 class sessions): read brief excerpt from Black Shoals (pp. 1-5); James River Association.org website; disciplinary specific readings; lecture on historical context; freewriting in response to Black Shoals and/or draw a cognitive map of what they think they are going to see on the site visit
Site visit (60 minutes): Go to somewhere within 50 meters of the falls of the James River (across from the Tredegar Iron Works and Civil War Museum). Take a moment for mindfulness and get grounded. What do you see, hear, feel, smell, taste? Record this. What do these details communicate to you about this place? Describe your observations via words, photos, sketches, mapping. Then, document some of the “cues and clues” in writing: How did you arrive there? Is it accessible? Can you see it from a distance, or is it hidden? How are people interacting with this landscape today? How did they interact with this place in the past? Where are you, exactly? Are you lower than traffic, or higher? What else can you see? Where is the horizon? How might this make you feel? Why? Who is there; and who is not there? How are people engaging with the space? Are there signs directing people to behave in a certain way? Who got access in the past? Who gets access now? What is there? Are there porta-potties or trash? Do you feel alienated or liberated in the space? Why do you think that is? Are there barriers? What is the social, political, physical, cultural, historical and environmental layout of this landscape? What happened here throughout the layers of history–pre-contact indigenous? Colonized? Black-owned? Urbanized? Gentrified? Is there a historical marker; if so, what does it commemorate? What should there be a marker to? When are you visiting? Is there a difference visiting at night, versus during the day? What is the light like? Why does this space matter? Why does the river matter? Why is water important?
Reflective and/or creative project (due the following class period)

Discipline specific [can be scaled up or down]

Dance: 1-3 minute choreography

Architecture: 1-3 page site analysis

Planning: 1-3 page site analysis

Art history: 3-5 page visual analysis

English/composition: 1-3 pages

History: 2-3 pages

Prompt: Now that you have gathered evidence related to your specific place, write a critical reflection in response. Complete a 2-3 page critical analysis of an historical site; in this case, on the James River. Provide a synthesis of the site you chose, and the perspective of that site that you chose. Then, complete a critical analysis of your experience of the site, utilizing the questions above and the texts discussed in class. You must provide direct quotations of King’s The Black Shoals in reference to your site visit.

Description of how the module will impact the community and in turn how that will impact the students; i.e. consider how reciprocity is embedded within this module:

Everyone owns the James River. It is not just a site of theorizing and monumentalization, but of play and leisure. It is free for all to enjoy, from joy to haunted past to a future of possibility. Students can engage with the local community of the James River in multiple ways. There are many volunteer opportunities through James River.org, clean up efforts through the city of Richmond, and anti-racist and ecological advocacy work through Preservation Virginia.

Questions/ prompts - “Cues and Clues for any Site Visit”

Go outside and locate a place where there is a moving body of water, and document (via writing, voicenote, sketch, photo, drop a pin) in as much detail the encounter

Landscape: Sit and get grounded for a 2 minute silent meditation. Journal: what do you see, hear, smell, feel and, lastly, see?
Consider: how did you get where you are? What did you pass on the way there? What’s not there? Who’s not there?
When did you go? Day, night; what difference would this make?
Are there borders, barriers, blockades? Where are they and what purpose do they serve?
What is the light like?
Why are waterways so pivotal?
How do capitalism and water intersect?
What happened here throughout the layers of history - pre-contact indigenous? Colonized? Black-owned? Urbanized? Gentrified? Who gets access now?
Looking from the indigenous perspective at a cultural landscape, what stories does place have to tell us? What voices do you hear coming from the land?

Bibliography

Bates, Niya. “Monticello is a Black space’ : the Getting Word Project and the future of African American history at Monticello.” Segregation and resistance in the landscapes of the Americas. Eds Eric Avila and Thaïsa Way. Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection, 2023.

Black History of the James River https://www.dcr.virginia.gov/insights/black-history-along-the-middle-james-river

Campbell, Ben. Richmond’s Unhealed History.Brandylane Publishers, Inc. 2011.

Gordon, Avery F. "Some thoughts on haunting and futurity." Borderlands, vol. 10, no. 2, Oct. 2011. Gale Academic OneFile.

Hooks, bell. “Theory as Liberatory Practice” Yale Journal of Law and Feminism. New Haven, CT Vol. 4, Iss. 1, Fall, 1991.

King, Tiffany Lethabo. The Black Shoals: Offshore Formations of Black and Native Studies. North Carolina: Duke University Press, 2019.

The Shoal and the three layers of James River Bridges. Tabitha Morgan June 20, 2024

Individual Projects: An annotated list of places

The Significance of the Schuylkill River as Purveyor of the Nigerian Deity Osun

by

Benita Junette Brown, D.Ed.

The Schuylkill River, flowing through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, has a rich and storied history. Named by Dutch settlers, "Schuylkill" means "hidden river" due to its concealed entrance. Initially inhabited by the Lenape people, the river became a vital resource for European settlers in the 17th century. (Amy Jane Cohen, Black History in the Philadelphia Landscape: Deep Roots, Continuing Legacy, Temple University Press, 2024.)

During the 18th and 19th centuries, the Schuylkill River was crucial in Philadelphia's industrial growth. The river's water-powered mills and factories, while the Schuylkill Canal, completed in 1825, facilitated the transportation of coal from the anthracite mines in northeastern Pennsylvania to the burgeoning industries in Philadelphia.

The river also witnessed environmental degradation due to industrial pollution. By the mid-20th century, the Schuylkill was heavily polluted, prompting significant cleanup efforts in the 1940s and 1950s, spearheaded by the Schuylkill River Project, one of the first large-scale environmental reclamation projects in the United States.

Today, the Schuylkill River is a cherished natural and recreational resource. The Schuylkill River Trail, stretching over 75 miles, provides scenic pathways for walking, running, and cycling. The river also hosts events like the annual Head of the Schuylkill Regatta, highlighting its continued importance to the Philadelphia community.

The Odunde Festival is celebrated in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is one of the largest and longest-running African American street festivals in the United States. Founded in 1975 by Lois Fernandez and Ruth Arthur, it was inspired by the Yoruba New Year. Certainly! Here's the revised text: "The event aims to celebrate African and African American culture with festivities in Nigeria.”

The name "Odunde" means "Happy New Year" in the Yoruba language, and the festival traditionally takes place in early June. It begins with a spiritual procession to the Schuylkill River, where fruits and flowers are offered to Osun, the Yoruba goddess of rivers, love, and money.

Odunde has grown significantly since its inception, attracting hundreds of thousands of attendees annually. The festival features a vibrant marketplace with vendors selling African, Caribbean, and African American arts, crafts, clothing, and food. It also includes live music, dance performances, and cultural workshops.

Through its celebration of African heritage and its promotion of unity and cultural pride, the Odunde Festival has become a vital and beloved event in Philadelphia, fostering a deeper understanding and appreciation of African and African American traditions. (Noon in the City: The Odunde Festival and the Shaping of South Philadelphia, Early, Gerald, et al., [Unknown]).

Assignment:

Part One: Create a cultural map of the Odunde Festival’s procession to the Schuylkill of the people carrying offerings to Osun.

Part Two: Create a dance that commemorates Osun and her spiritual characteristics.

Algonquin dance ritual, 16th century. Science Photo Library

ANNOTATIONS:

Thompson, R. F. (1983). Flash of the Spirit: African and Afro-American Art and Philosophy. Vintage Books.

Annotation: This book delves into the influence of African art and philosophy on Afro-American culture, encompassing dance and ritual. Thompson connects various forms of artistic expression to African roots, providing contextual insights into the myth and performance traditions in the African diaspora. It emphasizes the continuity and transformation of cultural practices.

Asante, M. K. (2009). The African Diaspora: A History Through Culture. Oxford University Press.

Annotation: Asante presents a comprehensive overview of the African diaspora, including a detailed discussion of cultural practices such as dance, drama, and ritual. The book traces the historical development of these art forms and their significance within diaspora communities, offering a crucial resource for understanding the cultural and historical framework in which myth performance is situated.

Gottschild, B. D. (1996). Digging the Africanist Presence in American Performance: Dance and Other Contexts. Praeger.

Annotation: Gottschild's work centers on the presence and influence of Africanist aesthetics in American dance and performance. She analyzes how African traditions have shaped American performing arts, providing insight into how myths and rituals have been adapted and reinterpreted. Her research underscores the resilience and adaptability of African cultural forms in the diaspora.

Holberg, M. (1984). “Transformations of Myth Through Time: Yoruba Bata Drumming and Dance in the Americas.” African Arts, 18 (1), 54-59.

Annotation: Holberg's article addresses the Yoruba Bata drumming and dance, tracing its evolution from Africa to the Americas. She discusses how these performances maintain mythological narratives and ritualistic elements, illustrating the dynamic nature of cultural transmission. This article is precious for its focused analysis of a specific dance and ritual tradition within the African diaspora.

Hurston, Z. N. (2008). Mules and Men. Harper Perennial Modern Classics.

Annotation: Hurston’s ethnographic work provides rich descriptions of African American folklore, dance, and ritual. While not exclusively focused on performance, her collection of stories and observations offers essential insights into African Americans' lived experiences and cultural expressions, contributing to understanding the narrative and performative dimensions of myth within the African diaspora.

Turner, R. B. (2009). Jazz Religion, the Second Line, and Black New Orleans. Indiana University Press.

Annotation: Turner explores the intersections of music, dance, and religion in New Orleans, highlighting how African-derived traditions have shaped local cultural practices. His analysis of the Second Line and its connections to African ritual performance provides a nuanced understanding of how myth and ritual are embodied in diaspora communities. This book offers a detailed case study of performance as a site of cultural continuity and innovation.

Thompson, K. D. (2014). Ring Shout, Wheel About: The Racial Politics of Music and Dance in North American Slavery. University of Illinois Press.

Annotation: Thompson examines the role of music and dance in the lives of enslaved Africans in North America, focusing on the Ring Shout and other performance traditions. She discusses how these practices served as resistance and cultural preservation forms, linking them to African myth and ritual. This work is critical for understanding the socio-political dimensions of myth performance in the diaspora.

Hazzard-Donald, K. (2022). Hoodoo Religion and American Dance Traditions: Rethinking the Ring Shout. In B. J. Brown (Ed.), The Black Dance Anthology. Cognella Academic Publishing.

Annotation: Hazzard-Donald’s article explores the intersection of African American religious practices, particularly Hoodoo, and their impact on American dance traditions, focusing on the Ring Shout. Tracing its origins from West African spiritual practices through slavery and post-emancipation, the book highlights how the Ring Shout has served as a form of cultural resilience and resistance. The article examines blending African traditions with Christian elements, enriching American cultural heritage.

Brown, B. J. (2015). The Orisa Paradigm: A Theory of Double Consciousness and African-Derived Mythology, Folklore, and Kinesthetic Dance. In B. J. Brown, Olsen, and Dannabang (Eds.), Myth Performance in the African Diasporas: Ritual, Theatre, and Dance.

Annotation: The Orisa Paradigm: A Theory of Double Consciousness and African-Derived Mythology, Folklore, and Kinesthetic Dance Performatives is a pioneering work that enriches the understanding of African American cultural practices through the lens of African-derived traditions. Brown’s interdisciplinary analysis provides valuable insights into the role of mythology, folklore, and dance in forming and expressing African American identity.

Brown, B. J. (2015). Codification of Soul in African-derived Dance Culture. In B. J. Brown, Olsen, and Dannabang (Eds.), Myth Performance in the African Diaspora: Ritual, Theatre, and Dance (pp. 112-130). Cengage Publishers.

Annotation: “The Codification of Soul in African-derived Dance Culture,” Benita Junette Brown explores how African-derived dance forms embody and express the concept of "soul" within African American culture. This chapter situates dance as a vital medium through which the essence of African spirituality, resilience, and communal identity is codified and perpetuated in the diaspora.

The Delaware

Indigenous Delaware River and All that is Not ‘Water Under the Bridge’

Tabitha A. Morgan

Introduction:

The Delaware River Valley has a multi-state geographical terrain and multiperspectival gazes through which to tell its story. From the landscape, pre-contact identities, cultures, and practices to contemporary issues of historiography, ecology, and reclamation, we will explore the cultural and territorial significance of the Delaware River and its impact on Philadelphia lives and history.

Specifically, students will conduct an interrogation of primary source documents, a walking or digital humanities tour of Black and Indigenous site visits, and a self-reflective writing exercise. At the conclusion of this two week lesson, students will be able to engage in and demonstrate critical thinking and social justice practices pertaining to cultural landscape and historical justice along the Delaware River.

Historical Context:

Lënapeyok, also known as Lenapehoking, has been occupied by the Lenni Lenape peoples for more than 6,000 years (lenape-nation.org). Their contributions and investments were expunged when their forced removal was carried out after William Penn’s death. But until that time, Penn, known as the “founder of Pennsylvania,” made and honored many treatises to protect all parties involved even when, from today’s perspective, it involved land encroachment and racist appropriation.

This vast waterway was named Lenape Wihittuck by the local Lenape peoples, meaning “rapid stream of the Lenape” and was also referred to as Kithanne, “the largest river of this country.”

The River begins in the Catskill Mountains of New York and runs through Pennsylvania and New Jersey, ending in the Delaware Bay, for a total of 330 miles (watershedalliance.org).

Within eco-historical legacy, there are two main moments that solidify the Delaware River as vital and also provide students with in depth learning materials: William Penn’s treaty with the Lenape and Washington’s crossing of the Delaware.

The leader of the Lenni Lenape tribe with whom William Penn made his treaty was named Tamanend, and is quoted as saying the English and Lenni Lenape would “live in peace as long as the waters run in the rivers and creeks and as long as the stars and moon endure.” This witnesses the Lenape’s sacrosanct views of water and how they surpassed human legalities (Greater Encyclopedia of Philadelphia). This moment is also commemorated as Philadelphia’s first monument titled “Unbroken Faith” in 1692. If accessible, affordable, and safe to do so, students may do a site visit here (Penn Treaty Park, Fishtown).

The lesser known history of this river and colonization is that after William Penn’s death, his son Thomas Penn cheated the Natives out of the treatied land through an infamous “walking purchase.” This process is when buyers walk as far as they can in a set amount of time and that land is claimed or bought as theirs. However, Thomas Penn’s agents ran as fast as they could and the Lenape believed that this defrauded them since their custom is not to “land grab” but to walk at a slow pace, chatting, stopping to hunt and smoke pipes of peace and camaraderie. This clear bifurcation of how to negotiate land, how to settle it, and how to dialogue with it, are indicative of many Native/ settler colonialist disasters. After this scandal, the Lenape lost what little land they had left, and were forced to move west. The Lenni Lenape descendants are fighting to the day to secure rights, titles, treatises, and federal recognition (Monroe County Historical Society records).

Activity:

For history students at the undergrad level, one activity would be to compare and contrast primary source documents - William Penn’s “Treaty of Shackamaxon” and his son’s “Walking Purchase” - to engage and interrogate the idea of treatises as legal documents, the (dis)honoring of cultural practices in favor of capitalist profiteering; i.e. sacred land stewardship versus white, wealthy ownership, and the ubiquitous colonizer practice of land grabs through the lens of critical place studies. To frame this conversation, also include Transformational Indigenous Praxis Model or TIPM for a social justice and colonist lens.

https://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/documents/1681-1776/walking-purchase.html

Questions for Students:

1. When Chief Tamanend said to William Penn, we will “live in peace as long as the waters run in the rivers,” how does this underscore the role of water in early Colonial history? How can we see the role of the River as a part of American history? See the river as a document or artifact speaking history; what would it say?

2. How can we see sacrality versus violence, peace and prejudice in this waterway? Break down how and why the waterway is a witness, a courier…of what messages?

3. What happened on the shores or in the current of Philadelphia’s Delaware River? How does this body of water speak throughout the layers of history - pre-contact indigenous? Colonized? Black-owned neighborhoods? Urbanized areas? Gentrified? Industrialized? Parking Lot? Who gets access now? Who is kept out? Why?

4. What can be “water under the bridge” and what can not? Why do we use this phrase? What, for Native American, cannot be “water under the bridge”?

5. How do we move towards a decolonization of water? Of land? Of ourselves?

In class assignment:

On Christmas Night 1776, General George Washington crossed the Delaware River to claim the military’s first victory of the American Revolution against the British. This is famously depicted in oil on canvas as “Washington Crossing the Delaware” (1851) by Emanuel Leutze.

How might the painting of Washington crossing the Delaware be read by modern interpretations?
How might we compare multiple interpretations of this one historical moment (see two examples below).
What is Jacob Lawerance communicating with his more abstract version? What do we think of the long title?
Why would Kara Walker leave most of hers “uncolored” or “unpainted”?

“Washington Crossing the Delaware” (1851) by Emanuel Leutze

Jacob Lawrence “We crossed the River at McKonkey's Ferry 9 miles above Trenton ... the night was excessively severe ... which the men bore without the least murmur...-Tench Tilghman, 27 December 1776/Struggle Series - No. 10: Washington Crossing the Delaware” (1954).

Site Visit Instructions/ Part One:

Note: this component should take you about 60 minutes. Go to the confluence of White Oak and Buffalo Bayous. This could be from the UHD side, the Harris County Jail side, the Allen’s Landing side, the Main Street bridge side, or elsewhere (there’s no “right choice.”) Take a moment for mindfulness and get grounded. What do you see, hear, feel, smell, taste? Record this. What do these details communicate to you about this place? Describe your observations via words, photos, sketches, mapping. Then, document some of the “cues and clues” in writing: Where are you, exactly? Are you lower than traffic, or higher? What else can you see? Where is the horizon? How might this make you feel? Why? Who is there; and who is not there? How are people engaging with the space? Are there signs directing people to behave in a certain way? Who got access in the past? Who gets access now? What is there? Are there porta-potties or trash? Do you feel alienated or liberated in the space? Why do you think that is? Are there barriers? What is the social, political, physical, cultural, historical and environmental layout of this landscape? What happened here throughout the layers of history? Is there a historical marker; if so, what does it commemorate? What should there be a marker to? When are you visiting? Is there a difference visiting at night, versus during the day? What is the light like? How did you arrive there? Is it accessible? Can you see it from a distance, or is it hidden? How are people interacting with this landscape today? How did they interact with this place in the past? Why does this space matter? Why does the bayou matter? Why is water important?

Reflective Essay/Part Two:

Having completed your site visit and collected data about your experience, you should now sit down and prepare to write a critical, analytic reflection. Write an essay of at least 1,000 words that explains the relationship between the place you visited and your experience of visiting it. Your essay should not be merely a list of responses to Part One but a synthesis of what you witnessed and how and why it was important in terms of reparations. In what ways might this site and its past and present constitute an important component of repairing past harm?

The Erie Canal

Nazanine Ghaffari

The Erie Canal, which was constructed between 1817 and 1825, is a historic waterway that spans 363 miles from Albany to Buffalo, New York. It was engineered to create a navigable water route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, fundamentally transforming the economic landscape of the United States. The canal facilitated the movement of goods and people, playing a crucial role in westward expansion and the industrialization of the northeastern United States. The Canal has deep cultural and historical significance, symbolizing American ingenuity and ambition. It spurred economic growth, leading to the rise of cities such as Syracuse, Rochester, and Buffalo. The canal also has a rich cultural heritage, reflected in folklore, music, and art.

The Erie Canal can be seen as both a repository of collective memory and a site of spectral presence. It embodies a palimpsest of histories, where past injustices and triumphs linger in the present, shaping contemporary landscapes and identities. The canal’s construction and subsequent impact can be viewed as a form of historical haunting, where the displacement of Indigenous peoples and the labor of African American and immigrant workers continue to echo through its waters and surrounding communities. Tiffany King’s metaphor of the shoal as an interstitial space of becoming resonates with the Erie Canal’s role in bridging different temporalities and geographies. The canal’s waters, constantly in motion, symbolize the dynamic and evolving nature of the place, where histories of commerce, migration, and cultural exchange intersect. It disrupts linear narratives, creates spaces for alternative futures, and serves as a conduit for reimagining regional identities and relationships with the land. The canal’s layered histories and its ongoing significance invite critical reflection on how we engage with historical and cultural landscapes and the potential they hold for future transformations.

The Ohio River: White River and Kentucky River

Peter Wang

In the Midwest and in the South, many rivers flow into the Mississippi River. I kayaked with a colleague through the White River in central Indiana to reimagine the Indigenous and settler experience of navigating through the waterways yet find the river is now surrounded by farms and with debris at times. With the fertilizers being washed into the river, the White River is one of the most polluted rivers in the U.S. The White River flows into the Wabash River which later flows into the Ohio River that ultimately is part of the Mississippi River. We reflect on how people interact with water throughout history and nowadays and how such experiences are visualized.

Reading:

Jason Goldsmith, “Drawn to Water” in Indiana Waterways: The Art of Conservation, Indianapolis, IN: Indiana State Museum, 2022, pp. 76-103.

Leland R. Johnson and Charles E. Parrish, Kentucky River Development: The Commonwealth’s Waterway. (Chapters 1, 2, 3, pp. 1-42)

https://finance.ky.gov/kentucky-river-authority/Pages/historical-information.aspx

Sleep by the Mississippi by Alec Soth, see the short article on Soth, https://www.magnumphotos.com/arts-culture/alec-soth-sleeping-by-the-mississippi/

The Everglades/The Miami River

Jose Vazquez

“There are no other Everglades in the world. They are, they have always been, one of the unique regions of the earth, remote never wholly known…They are unique also in their simplicity, the diversity, the related harmony of the forms of life they enclose. The miracle of light pours over the green and brown expanse of saw grass and of water, shining and slow moving below, the grass and water that is the meaning and the central fact of the Everglades of Florida. It is a river of grass. Yet the Indians , who have known the Glades longer and better than any dictionary-making white men, gave them their perfect, and poetic name, which is also true. They called them “Pay-hay-okee” which is the Indian word for “Grassy water”. Today Everglades is one word and yet plural. They are the only Everglades in the world.”

Marjory Stoneman Douglass The Everglades River of Grass

“All histories have a history, and one is incomplete without the other.” Everything you know about Indians is Wrong, Paul Chaat Smith

Lifting the Waters, The Everglades and Miami River.

Jose R. Vazquez, Professor Miami Dade College, School of Architecture and Interior Design

This teaching module provides a comprehensive exploration of the Everglades and the Miami River through an interdisciplinary framework, integrating the fields of art, architecture and landscape studies, environmental science, history, and material culture. The objective is to deconstruct the layers of this liminal realm, examining it from geological, ecological, historical, and cultural perspectives. This region, renowned for its ecological richness, also served as a politically charged space and a site of resistance.

Thus, the module offers students the prospect of rediscovering, recontextualizing, and reimagining this vast expanse of grassy liminality through multiple disciplinary lenses. South Florida is uniquely positioned between waters, serving as a nexus for the local and the global with its complex and multifaceted narratives encompassing the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Americas. It represents the south beyond the South, a locus of convergence and conflict in charged political, economic, and ecological contexts. As T.D. Allman suggested, the developments in Miami (and Florida more broadly) serve as precursors to the challenges and perils that we as a nation may face.

Students will co-curate an immersive exhibition utilizing advanced technologies, including augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and video. This exhibition aims to capture the intricate interplay of three core themes:

Ecologies (Rivers of Time): This theme explores the dynamic and evolving ecosystems of the Everglades and the Miami River, examining the interconnections among various species and their habitats, and understanding the impact of anthropogenic activities on these delicate environments.

Histories (River of Memory): This theme delves into the history of the region, revealing narratives of indigenous peoples, colonial (dis)encounters, and ongoing struggles for social and environmental justice. It emphasizes the cultural and historical significance of the Everglades and the Miami River as sites of memory and identity.

Environmental Challenges (River of Change): This theme addresses contemporary environmental issues facing South Florida, including climate change, sea-level rise, and urban development. It encourages students to engage critically with the future of the region and to develop innovative solutions for sustainable living.

Through this module, students will engage in a collaborative research approach, utilizing digital tools to interrogate historical narratives and the impacts of gentrification and climate change. They will collect images, objects, and material samples to represent the diverse waterscapes of South Florida, creating an installation that functions as an interactive map. This installation will foster immersion, engagement, and interaction, guided by key questions concerning students' relationships to water, the indigenous aspects of landscapes, and the co-creation of immersive experiences aimed at enhancing environmental awareness and historical reimagining.

Betty Osceola in front of one of her favorite tree islands, chest deep in the Everglades.

Photographed by Carlton Ward Jr. https://flamingomag.com/2024/04/11/betty-osceola-everglades/

Learning Outcomes:

By the conclusion of this module, students should be able to:

Engage in critical thinking about concepts of place and space.
Analyze contested narratives associated with a specific landscape.
Contextualize South Florida’s waterscapes within a global framework ( the Caribbean),considering the populations that have historically occupied and shaped it such as the Azis, Calusa, and Tequesta.

Objectives

To develop an understanding of the ecological, historical, cultural, and environmental aspects of the Everglades and the Miami River.
To learn to use diverse immersive and interactive experiences ( AR/VR, video experience, etc.) to communicate ideas about Miami Dade County’s waterscapes.
To collect and interpret images, objects, and material samples to enhance the representation of specific locales.
To engage with and reimagine the natural environment in relation to the built environment.
To foster an understanding of indigenous/diaspora landscapes (The American South, Caribbean).

Essential Questions (based on the group NEH teaching Module)

What is our relation to water?
From an Indigenous perspective, what narratives and histories can we uncover from the cultural landscape? What voices and stories emerge from the land itself?
Why are waterways so crucial to Miami's development and identity?
How do economic systems, specifically capitalism, interact with and influence the management and significance of water resources?
How has the history of this area evolved through different eras - pre-contact Indigenous societies, colonization, Black segregation, diasporic movements (from the American south and the Caribbean), urban development, and gentrification? Who has access to these spaces/ stories now?
How can we co-create an immersive experience leading to cognition and awareness, and reimagine metaphorically our fragile natural environment and our contested histories?

Suggested Activities and Assignments

Site Visits and Fieldwork

Organize trips to the Miami River and the Everglades for firsthand observation and data collection.
Encourage students to take photographs, record videos, and collect material samples.

Research and Analysis
Students will select research tasks focusing on the three themes, encouraging the use of diverse sources, including academic articles, historical documents, and ecological data.
- Student groups will tackle different aspects of the exhibition, such as research, design, and technical implementation.

3. Design and Development

Organize workshop on creating AR/VR or video experiences to learn how to incorporate collected data and materials.

Provide technical workshops on AR/VR tools and video editing software.

4. Installation and Presentation

Assist students in designing and setting up an exhibition recontextualizing the Everglades and the Miami River.

Reflection and Feedback

Reflective essays or journals to encourage students to articulate their personal relation to water and insights gained about indigenous, diasporic landscapes, and environmental challenges.

Assessment

Participation and Engagement: Evaluate students' involvement in site visits, fieldwork, and class discussions according to a previously agreed evaluation criterion.
Research Quality: Assess the depth and breadth of research conducted on the three themes.
Creativity and Technical Skill: Judge the originality and technical proficiency of the AR/VR or video experiences.
Final Installation: Evaluate the effectiveness of the installation in conveying the themes and engaging the audience.

Resources

Books and Articles

Ariza, M. A. (2020). Disposable City: Miami's Future on the Shores of Climate Catastrophe. Bold Type Books.

Carr, R. S. (2012). Digging Miami. University Press of Florida.

Douglas, M. S. (1947). The Everglades: River of Glass. Rinehart and Company.

Levin, T. (2003). Liquid Land: A History: A Journey through the Florida Everglades. University of Georgia Press.

Metropolitan Dade County Office of Community Development. (1982). From Wilderness to Metropolis: The History and Architecture of Miami Dade County (1825-1940). Miami Metropolitan Dade County.

Sewell, J. (1933). Memoirs and History of Miami, Florida. Franklin Press.

Turtle, J. [Sturtevant, E. R.] (1876). Life in Dade County. Semi-Tropical, 2(April), 203-204.

Zeiller, W. (2005). A Prehistory of South Florida. McFarland and Company.

Map of Florida. (partial view) Charles Blacker Vignoles, cartographer. Henry Schenck Tanner, engraver, 1823. Geography and Map Division. Source: https://blogs.loc.gov/maps/2022/06/swampland-in-florida/

This U.S. Coast Survey map (1849) depicts the early stages of Col. William English’s "Village of Miami." It features the original 1838 Fort Dallas buildings, along with English’s residence and slave quarters. (Historical Museum of South Florida).Source: https://www.library.miami.edu/ohp-institute-public-history.html

[Member of F Company, 2nd U.S. Artillery Regiment], [Untitled view of Fort Dallas, at the outlet of the Miami River into Biscayne Bay] , [Fort Dallas, Florida, 1849-50].

Manuscript in pencil on a 7 ½”w x 12 ½”h sheet of wove paper, uncolored.

Source: https://bostonraremaps.com/inventory/the-first-view-of-miami-florida/

Technical Tools

AR/VR Platforms

Unity, Unreal Engine, Google ARCore, Apple ARKit for creating immersive augmented and virtual reality experiences.

Video Editing Software

Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, for editing video content.

3D Modeling Software

Blender, SketchUp, Rhino for creating 3D models of landscapes and waterscapes.

GIS Software

ArcGIS, QGIS for mapping and analyzing spatial data related to the Miami River and the Everglades.

Digital Design Tools

Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign) for creating visual representations and materials.

Documentation Tools

Microsoft Office Suite, Google Workspace for organizing research and project documentation.

Digital Humanities Resources

1. Current Research in Digital History is an open-access, peer-reviewed publication of the Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media. It publishes scholarship in digital history that offers discipline-specific arguments and interpretations. https://crdh.rrchnm.org/

2. Visualizing objects, places and spaces: A digital Project Handbook https://handbook.pubpub.org/

3. Mapping Inequality Redlining in New Deal America

https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining

4. RoPA, the Roadmap for Participatory Archiving, guides libraries and cultural organizations through the process of collaborating with community members to plan engaging and inclusive participatory archiving events and to create digital collections. https://ropa.umb.edu/using-the-roadmap

Module B Slides (2024)

Module B (2024) PDF

Click Here

Module B Citation

B. Brown, N. Ghaffari, K. Jager, T. Morgan, J. Vazquez, and P. Wang, “At the Bend: Possibilities of Becoming”, Module B,” teaching module produced for “Towards a People’s History, Part 1b” Co-PIs: M. Gough, K. Howell, A. Roberts, and T. Way, 2024 NEH Institute for Higher Education Faculty, June 2024, Virginia Commonwealth University. Retrieved on (date retrieved) website: https://www.apeopleslandscapehistory.org/syllabus-bank.

“The shoal is liminal, indeterminate, and hard to map” (King 3).

“Rising and falling with the tide, the shoal is an interstitial and emerging space of becoming”

(King, 2019, 3).

“At its surface, the shoal functions as a space of liminality, indeterminacy, and location of suture”

(King, 2019, 4).

Dr. Benita Brown performing with Kulu Melee African Dance and Drum Ensemble

Images: John Smith at Painted Bride in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, ca 1988

Suggested Supplemental Reading

Cohen, Amy. Black History in the Philadelphia Landscape. Temple University Press, 2024.

Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne. An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (ReVisioning History). 2015.

Pewewardy, Cornel, and Anna Lees, Robin Zapa-tah-hol-ah Monthorn, eds. Unsettling Settler-Colonial Education: The Transformational Indigenous Praxis Model. 2022.

Tuhiwai Smith, Linda. Decolonizing Methodologies. Bloomsbury Publishing, 1999.

The confluence of White Oak and Buffalo Bayous

Dr. Katharine Jager

ENG 1301

Now that you have visited UHD’s own 1965 historical marker, read excerpts from O.F. Allen’s The City of Houston, From Wilderness to Wonder and examined maps from the archival blog Confluence, you are ideally situated to consider your own relationship to White Oak and Buffalo Bayous and their confluence. You could do this from a variety of physical perspectives: from UHD, from the Harris County Jail, from historic Allen’s Landing, from Main Street Bridge, or elsewhere. This assignment is in two parts. The first part is a site visit; you should put aside at least an hour to complete this part of the assignment. The second part is a written reflection which you can complete at home.

James River (Richmond, Virginia)

Photo Credit: Peter Wang

Osun is the deity of the river, of love, of money, who watches over children; the river is the temple without the temple. The river moves water, people, goods, objects, the past, the present, the future.

- Benita Junette Brown.

“These sites are not just visited, we become a part of them; they are a part of our ancestry, all of us. There is no segregation when it comes to spirit.” - Tabitha Morgan

Kara Walker “The Crossing” (2017) New Yorker