Virgin birth; a tundra princess; a Narragansett victory; the massacre by a California law school’s founder; and Portugal’s saudade
|  | Monday, November 1, 2021 | | | | |
| In today’s newsletter, a virgin birth and a tundra princess; a Narragansett victory; the massacre by a California law school’s founder ... and the roots of Portugal’s saudade | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY CORBIS DOCUMENTARY/GETTY IMAGES | | By David Beard, Executive Editor, Newsletters
Why is today’s Día de los Muertos different from any other day?
And what if you are coming late to the Day of the Dead, like journalist Steve Padilla, who like many Mexican Americans did not celebrate the day as a kid? In Mexico (pictured above) and parts of the United States and elsewhere, the day is filled with marigolds, wrapped tamales, home altars, sugar skulls (pictured below), and family get-togethers to remember, sometimes humorously, their forebears, as Nat Geo reports here.
| | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY TINO SORIANO, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC" | | This year, Padilla was drawn to the day, studying its roots and its foods, after losing both parents and his older brother within 10 months. “I’ve come to this understanding,” he wrote last week for the Los Angeles Times. “It’s not about mourning, nor is it a celebration. It is, quite simply, a time to remember. And with that comes the comfort and, even now, a bit of joy.”
The L.A. newspaper has created a digital altar so that readers can submit a picture and remembrances of a departed loved one (including a few pets.) While days of commemoration are common in cultures, from the U.S. Memorial Day to Juneteenth to China’s Tomb-Sweeping Day, Día de los Muertos, sometimes called Día de Muertos, got a pop culture boost with the 2017 release of Coco, the animated film that takes place during the day.
And what’s not to love about a day that allows a family to pause—to reflect on, and connect to—the triumphs, struggles, and joys of those who went before you?
Do you get this newsletter daily? If not, sign up here or forward this to a friend. | | | |
 | PHOTOGRAPHS BY MARICEU ERTHAL GARCÍA, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC
| | Renaissance: For 2,500 years people have been making pottery in southern Mexico, and in one village legend contends the famous barro negro, black clay pottery, is blessed. Demand is rising for the pottery, such as the jug (above left), Nat Geo reports. Potters such as Griselda Mateo Gutiérrez (above right) use quartz to burnish their work.
A new way of thinking: Today marks the start of Native American Heritage Month, and it comes as Native Americans and others are recasting views of Indigenous life, Tristan Antone has written for National Geographic.
Virgin birth? A claim like this often inspires skepticism, but a peer-reviewed study says it is happening among endangered California condors. Though rare in vertebrates, parthenogenesis occurs in sharks, rays, and lizards. Scientists have also recorded self-fertilization in some captive turkeys and chickens, usually only when females are housed without access to a male, Jason Bittel reports.
A tarnished founder: California’s Hastings College of the Law was founded by a man who masterminded the Gold Rush-era killings of hundreds of Native Americans, a four-year review has found. A massacre engineered by Serranus Hastings, the state’s first chief justice, was among those in which thousands of Native Americans were killed by white settlers who wanted their land. “The killers’ travel and ammunition expenses were reimbursed by the state of California and the federal government,” the New York Times reports. The law school, which counts Vice President Kamala Harris among its alumni, is debating next steps, including changing its name from that of a mass murderer.
A victory for the Narragansett: The site where English colonists massacred hundreds of the Narragansett people more than 345 years ago has officially been returned to the tribe, The Public’s Radio reports. The Rhode Island Historical Society, which maintained the site of the Great Swamp Massacre since 1906, turned it back over in a ceremony on October 23. Amid King Philip’s War in December 1675, about 1,000 colonists attacked a Narragansett stronghold, killing an estimated 650 men, women, and children, and taking 300 more captive. | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY EVGENIA ARBUGAEVA, NAT GEO IMAGE COLLECTION | | Following the reindeer: Decked out in a cardboard crown and a curtain for a robe, an eight-year-old girl in the Russian Arctic proclaims herself a "tundra princess." She is a member of the Nenets, an Indigenous group that herds migrating reindeer on an 800-mile round-trip every year. The image by photographer and Nat Geo Explorer Evgenia Arbugaeva, part of a National Geographic story in 2017, was recently featured in our archival Photo of the Day series.
| | | |
 | PHOTOGRAPH BY LAITH MAJALI
| | | There go the camels: In the 1850s, the United States sprang for scores of camels for use in the Southwest. The primary proponent, future leader of the Confederacy Jefferson Davis, saw camels as a way to expand the enslavement of people from the South to the Southwest. That motive prompted Washington to cut funding. The Civil War, Nat Geo reports, ended the camel trade—and the horrible excuse for it. (Pictured above, a camel marks the Arizona grave of Hadji Ali, a Syrian herder who came to the U.S. as part of the Army’s camel experiment.) | | | |
 | | PHOTOGRAPH BY ZEBRA0209, SHUTTERSTOCK | |
| Farewells—and saudade: Ceramic swallows (above) are everywhere in Portugal, reminders of a bird that doesn’t leave its nest until its babies do. Heather Greenwood Davis happened to report on Portugal’s fascination with swallows and the concept of saudade—a longing, often for home—as her son was preparing to leave her nest for college. Naturally, she brought home a souvenir—and I’m not giving the rest away.
Suggested listen: "Sodade," by the Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Evora
| | | |
| | Today's newsletter was curated and edited by David Beard, Monica Williams, and Jen Tse. Have an idea or link to a story you think is right down our alley? Let us know at david.beard@natgeo.com. Happy trails! | | | |
| PREVIOUSLY ON NAT GEO DAILY ... | |
| SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS | | We'd like to hear from you! Tell us what you think of our emails by sharing your feedback in this short survey.
| | | |
Clicking on the Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and National Geographic Channel links will take you away from our National Geographic Partners site where different terms of use and privacy policy apply.
This email was sent to: tiendasfrikiscineseriestvcomicsjuegos@barcelonafriki.com. Please do not reply to this email as this address is not monitored.
This email contains an advertisement from:
National Geographic | 1145 17th Street, N.W. | Washington, D.C. 20036
Stop all types of future commercial email from National Geographic regarding its products, services, or experiences.
© 2021 National Geographic Partners, LLC, All rights reserved. | | |
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.