National Hispanic Heritage Month
Since 1988, the 31 days between September 15th and October 15th have been marked by the celebration of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Beginning with Independence Day for Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua on September 15th, for Mexico on September 16, and for Chile on September 18th, the United States honors the many contributions Latinos have made and continue to make to our country. In "This Month's Feature," EDSITEment celebrates the history and artistic heritage of the Latino people whose cultural heritage has roots in Europe, Africa, and the Americas. Latinos, who currently comprise 12% of the U.S. population (32.8 million), have contributed significantly to the development of this nation's culture.
The Hispanic people were among the earliest settlers in the New World, and the accounts of their ventures into the uncharted territories of the southeast and southwest form part of our literary and historical heritage. You can find a prime example of one of these accounts, the Relation, written by Alvar NúÑez Cabeza de Vaca, on the EDSITEment participating website, New Perspectives on the West.
Cabeza de Vaca's Relation is a gripping account of his years of wandering among the indigenous people in the Southwest. Published in 1542, it is as prized today for its literary merit as it is for its ethnological descriptions, and its easy-to-read style makes it accessible to even middle school students. You can find de Vaca's Relation and many other primary source documents relevant to Spanish exploration and colonization by visiting New Perspectives on the West. From the "Menu" at the top, choose "People." Scroll down the main page of "People," and choose "Cabeza de Vaca" from the selections.
For another perspective on Spanish exploration and settlement, visit Web de Anza, an EDSITEment participating website packed with primary source documents and multimedia resources covering Juan Bautista de Anza's two overland expeditions that led to the colonization of San Francisco in 1776.
With the California Gold Rush, explorations and the involvement Hispanic people became even greater, as immigrants set off in search of gold just as earlier Spanish explorers sought out the gold of El Dorado. You can read about the Gold Rush through the eyes of Hispanic immigrants on Gold Rush! California's Untold Stories, a virtual exploration of a museum exhibition on the frenetic move to California.
The Hispanic people also have unique cultural ties to Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. The multi-faceted artistic heritage of these cultural ties has yielded outstanding examples of arts and handicrafts. You can explore one Hispanic culture's artistic legacy by examining the art and artifacts of Puerto Rico's history and culture at A Collector's Vision of Puerto Rico, an online exhibit documenting the people, history, and culture of Puerto Rico.
In order to gain a more general understanding about Hispanic history, check out our new EDSITEment selected website Links to the Past. To reach "Teaching with Historic Places: Hispanic History," go to Links To Our Past from the National Park Service, and select "Nat'l Register of Historic Places" from the scroll down menu, and then "Teaching with Historic Places." "Hispanic Heritage Month" is listed through the "Features" section on the sidebar.
Read the stories of immigrants from Latin American countries for a modern perspective on Latino culture. Our new EDSITEment selected website, The City/La Ciudad, in both English and Spanish, presents four stories of immigrants who built their lives and cultures in a new country and city.
There are several Additional Learning Activities on EDSITEment that can show you how to use online resources in the classroom. From the Latin American Network Information Center (LANIC) entitled "Precolumbian Myths and Legends," students study the Maya and Aztec cultures by reading examples of their myths and legends in order to gain insight in the history of these people. LANIC facilitates access to Internet-based information on, from, or about Latin America and has also become an important gateway to Latin America for primary and secondary school teachers and students.
To further extend this study of intercultural contact, consult the following Additional Learning Activity sponsored by LANIC entitled "Borders: A Multi-Dimensional Approach" . This lesson takes middle school students through a study of borders in their own lives.
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