Kentfield’s May Day festival began in 1909. The Tamalpais Center was established that year as a gift from Mrs. A.E. Kent which included almost 30 acres of land. The event center was designed to create a place for educational and entertaining activities for everyone in Marin County. The May Day festival was considered the most celebrated event at the Center.
The school kids wore different colored ribbons to identify their schools in competitive events such as potato sack races and pole dancing. At the end of the celebration a Queen of May was crowned, an honor every woman aspired to receive.
Sack and Pole Dancing in 1909, courtesy of UC Libraries
As I was looking through the Marin History’s collections I found one of the flags that was presented at the festival from 1913, exactly 100 years ago.
May Day is such an interesting event and how it evolves either in a traditional manner or new age context the festival will live on as a moment to embrace the blessings that spring brings!
In Part 3 I will talk about how we celebrate it in Marin in 2013!
The closest example of May Day celebrations in the Bay Area, despite countless hikes and workshops in Marin, is this event at Berkely's botanical garden on May 5th from 2:30-3:00. Morris Dancers will preform a routine that is similar to dances practiced in May Day celebrations. The event is free with admission, adult is $10,
to the botanical garden. For more information visit:
Recently I was forced to go through my
things at my parents’ house.I was
unsure what to keep and what to get rid of.I was able to convince my parents to keep storing big-ticket
items, like my old dollhouse and rocking chair, with a promise of grandchildren
in the future.Smaller toys,
however, had to go to my house or goodwill.I wanted to keep it all, but I also did not want my house to
look like a children’s playroom!The entire experience got me thinking about how to decorate and showcase
toys from my past in a sophisticated way.
This week’s Curate Your Life blog is dedicated to answering that very
question!
Barbies
Most of us played with Barbies, dolls, GI Joes, or some
other kind of action figure.My
sisters and I loved to play Barbies, and with three girls we managed to
accumulate lots of Barbies and accessories.When it came down to what to get rid of, I found myself
unable to discard certain Barbie clothes.They were the dresses my sisters and I fought over every time we played
Barbies, and were therefore what I remembered most.Here is how I displayed them in my home.
Framing clothes, or even the dolls themselves, in keepsake frames can be used to highlight all types of childhood toys!
LEGOS
LEGOs were a great toy for both girls and boys.My Dad hated playing Barbies, but we would play with LEGOs for hours.We played until our fingers hurt from pulling the pieces apart and putting them back together!
Here are some great ways to add color to your home and highlight your past love of LEGOs!
LEGO people make great wall art! Would this work with Polly Pockets? Image from http://cheezburger.com/7074794496
I never played with little toy cars, but I know they were popular. I am sure there are many men out there
that have little toy cars hidden around their parents’ home. If you have a collection of miniature
cars, maybe you can make an art piece for your wall. This is an image of David T. Walker’s installation entitled Car- Atlas Rainbow.This art piece, made of 1,500 toy cars, is installed on the floor, but something
similar could be done on a wall in your home! Toy Planters While doing my research for this blog, I came across the idea of using toys to make planters.You can use old tonka trucks or hollow plastic toys. I can't wait to spruce up my garden with these whimsical planters!
This is the second part of the Do YOU remember? series.
This newspaper clip is a political cartoon of John F.
Kennedy from the Marin IJ on April 28, 1961, eight days after the Bay of Pigs' invasion. It depicts Fidel Castro as a chicken
exclaiming, “I have licked the eagle” as a rhetorical response to the American eagle that is the U.S. national bird.
There is also a dead chick covered in blood resting next to a sign that
says, “Barely hatched revolt”. This is referring to how the Bay of Pigs' Invasion was not executed properly. When Kennedy did not approve one of the crucial air strikes, many historians claim he crippled the success of the invasion. The newspaper reporters at the time were weary of what was going to become of the Kennedy administration's decision to claim responsibility of the invasion but, leaving out significant details was what, I believe, warranted this caricature.
The third of the series on the Coastal Miwok Indians.
This is an example of a man who transformed his life by searching for his true identity. I believe that Marin residents can also become more active in their community through events by learning the story of this man, and how by finding his roots; he has become an active person in the community, bringing awareness to the environment and pursing a community-based lifestyle.
Greg Sarris is a living descendant and now modern-day chief and
spokesperson for the Miwok people. His long journey to finding his Miwok
roots and uncovering his true heritage were attributed to the falsification of
his real identity. His childhood was ideologically painful.
Assimilating into a suburban lifestyle as an adopted kid was hard enough but
the prejudice he received from his looks caused him to turn to harmful
ways. It took Sarris a near-death experience to wake up to his addiction
and move towards a better life for himself. He excelled in high school
and made his way through college obtaining a Ph.D. in English from Stanford
University. His quest to uncover his true identity came about in 1977
while attended Santa Rosa community college. His first informer was his
doctor, telling him the sad news about his accidental assistance in the death
of his biological mother. The heart-aching truth was consuming him yet
his journey did not end there. He made his way to his paternal
grandfather who enlightened him on his father and proclaimed Sarris as his
own. This pivotal moment in Sarris life story brought tears and joy to
his Miwok community who accepted him with open arms. This touching story
goes to show how European ways can shape natives positively through education
yet; community and identity are what need to be re-established in western
belief systems.
Here is a Youtube video of Greg Sarris himself in a lecture series talking about his family history. Some people have discredited his native background however; his story is fascinating and up to interpretation.
A quest to uncover the messages that these natives knew, a
stronger connection to our land, and the inter-connection they shared with
their neighbors; will help us, westerners, see how far we have drifted from
the nature we were once enveloped in. I believe that we need to be more self-sufficient,
community oriented and nature driven people in order to achieve a stronger continuity here in Marin County. Looking back at cultures, such as the Miwoks, who shared the same interests
and survived on the basis of collective-self, us westerners can model our lifestyles to be more in tune with these beliefs systems, thus creating a more community based society focused more on communal interests rather than individual interests. Marin county residents can achieve a higher level of happiness by helping out in the community through social events, charity work or clean-up crews. These are just a few ways that locals can join in their community which I hope will help bring about a stronger positive environment for everyone.
Here is a website called Marin.org which gives a list of events that are happening in Marin County which YOU could become involved in!
Schneider, Tsim D. 2007.
"Shellmounds and Colonial Encounters in the San Francisco Bay Area."
News From Native California 21, no. 2: 14-36.
Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed March 13, 2013).
Schindehette, Susan, and Danelle
Morton. "Native Son." People 50, no. 22 (December 14, 1998): 83.
Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed March 13, 2013).
Slaymaker, Charles. The
Material Culture of Cotomkota: A Coast Miwok Tribelet in Marin County,
California. San Rafael, CA: Miwok Archeological Preserve of Marin, 1977.
Lescohier, Ruth. The
Coast Miwok People. San Rafael, CA: Poco Presidio Press, 1979.
This is the second of a three part series on the native Coastal Miwok Indians.
Did YOU know?
This image was retrieved from the Bel Aire School in Tiburon. Their website highlights the culture of the Coastal Miwok. These are examples of beautiful baskets the Miwoks made for holding acorns, seeds and roots which women in the tribe would gather for communal meals. The water tight baskets were often made with tule reeds with quail head feathers on the rim and some contained abalone shells from decoration.
Archeologists continue to discover Miwok treasures in the San Francisco Bay Area which help to further our understanding of the peoples who preceded us. A team of graduate students from University of California, Berkeley found three shell mounds on their excavation expedition at China Camp State Park in 2008. Compared to over two hundred that Nels C. Nelson, a Berkeley alumni, discovered from his archaeological digs between 1906-1908. By retracing Nelson’s steps, the Berkeley graduates are continuously shaping a better picture of the culture and landscape that aided the Miwok’s sustainability and existence to this day.
It is also important to note that the students are in full disclosure of their excavation findings with the California Department of Parks and Recreation as well as with the descendents of the Coastal Miwok and Southern Pomo tribes represented by the Federated Indians of Graton Racheria. The continuity between the three is essential as preservation of the park is important and respecting the Miwoks by releasing artifacts that have ceremonial value. In 1992, a new Miwok chief was elected and his story shed light on how his Miwok past and European upbringing bridged the gap between western civilization and his native roots.
Do YOU remember? This is the first of a two part series on the Bay of Pigs' Invasion.
This is a newspaper clipping I found from the Marin IJ of a headline from
April 21st. I find this
article particularly fascinating considering the misinformation that was
reported by the Kennedy Administration at that time.
The Bay
of Pigs’ Invasion was a series of attacks on Cuba by CIA sponsored Ex-Cuban
exiles from April 15-20th 1961.
I included two clips from the Marin IJ’s Newspaper from April 15-28th
1961.
The Freedom of Information Act of
1998, which requires government documents to be declassified over 50 years,
allowed many historians to investigate further into the Bay of Pigs
fiasco. They were able to finally see
the CIA’s internal investigation on the invasion called, The Inspector General’s Survey of the Cuban Operation. By seeing the first-hand accounts of the
Marin IJ’s newspapers, I was shocked at what the government was not providing the
media with information for Kennedy said, “the facts would be revealed in due
time” (pg.1) The confusion of U.S.
involvement was circling and there were even protests by U.S. students. This event was a dramatic affair in the U.S.
which I feel was overshadowed by the escalated Cuban Missile Crisis.
