Connect and Reflect: Whats in a Name? 


The goal of this assignment is to critically interrogate community relationships to land and belonging. As we will discuss in class, names for places are powerful for claiming the use of the place. Scholars writing about First Nations territories stress the centrality of place in understanding culture, traditions and collective histories (e.g. Cajete, 1994; Deloria, 1999; Grande, 2015; Middleton, 2015; Clifford, 2020). Landscapes are both storied and tell stories. Landmarks, like mountains and rivers, are often named and part of a storied landscape offering lessons on moral values, correct behavior, and responsibilities to particular places to honor other beings (Basso, 1996; Espeland, 1998; Escobar, 2001; Black, 2011; Risling-Baldy, 2013).

Names for places also change. Was the American River always called the American River? Who changed the name and why? In more recent examples, in 2018, Google Maps changed the moniker of three San Francisco neighborhoods (Links to an external site.)  Rincon Hill, Folsom and Transbay to East Cut. What does such rebranding signify?

In many senses, to name a place is to claim it. Pick a place (a street, building, river or neighborhood) and trace the history of its name and legacy. In the past, some students have submitted their write-ups as op-eds or commentaries to city council to advocate for commemorative name changes. Use a storytelling format. Storytelling is a method for transmitting information across generations connecting past with the future, one generation with the other, the land with the people and the people with the story (Tuhiwai-Smith, 1999: 145). How does this name help people remember a history? What history does it celebrate? 2500-3000 words



  • References are clearly cited in APA format

  • The first sentence of paragraph details what the paragraph is about; spelling, grammar and punctuation are used correctly; the flow of the writing is logical




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