If most of us were asked to name a popular tourist destination in Florida, we would respond quickly by saying, “Oh, that’s easy. It’s Orlando.” But the question is: Do we actually know the origin of Orlando’s name? Orlando, Florida was first called Jernigan for Aaron Jernigan, an early settler. It was later renamed to honor Orlando Reeves, an army sentry killed during the Seminole Wars. “Prior to the American Civil War, the area was a cotton and cattle centre”; just imagine seeing cows grazing on what is now the site of Disney World (Orlando). It is incredible how fast things can change. It is important for us to know the historic value of place-name because it is something that has a great amount of significance (Orlando). A place-name is a “word or name that is used to indicate, denote, or identify a geographic locality such as a town, river, or mountain”(toponomy). Toponymy refers to the study of a place-name. Place-names are important for many reasons (toponomy). A world without the existence of place-names would cause a state of confusion among the world because no one would ever be able to locate destinations. Our sense of where we are depends on place-names. Place-names also have some type of historic value. Simply from studying the different cities located in Minnesota, we are able to trace the ancestry of this land back to the Finnish people. While traveling around the state of Minnesota, the different place-names can help you easily pinpoint who settled what lands, whether it have been the Norwegians, the Finnish, or the Scandinavians (Kaups). Place-names derive from a number of different sources. Some place-names tell us about the area’s geographic features. Others indicate famous and native names, their commemorative... ... middle of paper ... ...ich is borrowed from the Native American language. This trail, the Econlockhatchee, translates into “river of mounds”. The Wekiva River is derived from the Creek tribe word meaning “spring of water” (Mancini). The state of place-names in the future is unknown and rapidly changing. The place-names in online games and virtual reality worlds don’t exist in the real world. We are constantly being told by these games that whatever we see in the online gamer world is a good model of life in the real world, but that statement is wrong. The invention of the GPS is starting to have a huge effect on the history and derivation of place-names, and it is starting to make humans un-reliant on place-names. Nowadays, all one has to do is type in the coordinates and can immediately find his or her destination, which is the cause for the downfall of the importance of place-names.
In a world where geography only makes the headlines or points of coffee house discussion if a new study is released about how terrible students are at it, however, amazingly there ARE still students and people alike that simply love it and are thriving in their point of interest. Some stare at maps endlessly searching for things that most people would never even care to look at such as what makes this state similar with this state or why is the population more or less here. Some long to find and view the rarest maps available; others embrace the future by participating in an activity known as geocaching. Geocaching is when the participant visits special areas with “treasures” hidden using their GPS devices and smartphones. Some people even draw thousands of their own imaginary maps, highlighting details in worlds and countries they long to visit.
The Apache people gave places-names in order to notify people of their past, also to show respect for the land in which they lived on for so many years. Charles Henry, is a friend of Bassos and Apache informant, explain his ancestors naming process, “this place ma...
The origin of the name Iroquois is uncertain, although it seems to have involved French adaptations of Indian words. Among the possibilities that have been suggested are a blending of hiro (an Iroquois word used to conclude a speech) and koué (an exclamation); ierokwa ("they who smoke"); iakwai ("bear"); or the Algonquian words irin ("real") and ako ("snake") with the French -ois termination. One likely interpretation of the origin of the name is the theory that it comes from the Algonquian word "Irinakhoiw," which the French spelled with the -ois suffix. The French spelling roughly translates into "real adders" and would be consistent with the tendency of European cultures to take and use derogatory terms from enemy nations to identify various Native groups.
Then, during the early 16th century, Juan Ponce de Leon, a spanish explorer, sailed to the peninsula searching for the Fountain of Youth. He never discovered it, but he did establish a new territory for Spain, naming it Florida, which translates to “Flowery Land”(Christian 21).
The community that I am going to talk about is Nanaimo. Nanaimo is located on the east coast of Vancouver Island, BC Canada, 113 km north of Victoria and 23 km west of Vancouver across the Straight of Georgia. It has the specific coordinates of 49o 09’ 51” N and 123o 56’ 11” W. Nanaimo has various names. The first visitors from Spain called it Winthuysen Inslet or Boca de Winthuysen after the Spanish explorer. The first English settlers called it Colville Town after Andrew Collville, governor of the Hudson Bay Company. The HBC established a fortified post in 1849 and discovered coal in 1852 which led to a permanent settlement. The building of the Bastion occurred in 1853. The city was incorporated in 1874.After coal mining peaked in the 1920s, forestry and the pulp and paper industry replaced it. The aboriginal Salish who lived here called it Snuneymuxm which meant gathering place. The name Nanaimo was the English corrupted version of the Salish name. It is called the Hub City or Harbour City because of where it is located. It also has the unique distinction of being the Bathtub Rac...
Most often, geography and history are relatively synonymous, because several locations have a resounding places in history. The main concepts of geography such as location, place, and regions are related with the major ideas of history such as time, period, and events. The relationship between history and geography is especially close because they represent two fundamental dimensions of the same phenomenon (Guide to teaching world history 2001-2004). Similarly, by studying the geography and history of Pike’s Peak, one can learn the effect of pike’s peak over Colorado history. The influence of pikes peak in history of Colorado
Archaeological research indicates that Florida had been inhabited for thousands of years before any European settlements. Of the many indigenous peoples, the largest known were the Ais, the Apalachee, the Calusa, the Timucua and the Tocobago tribes. Juan Ponce de León, a Spanish conquistador, named Florida in honor of his discovery of the land on April 2, 1513, during Pascua Florida, a Spanish term for the Easter season (Juan Ponce de León may not have been the first European to reach Florida; according to one report, at least one indigenous tribesman who he encountered in Florida in 1513 spoke Spanish.[6]). From that date forward, the land became known as "La Florida" , although from 1630 until the 19th century Tegesta (after the Tequesta tribe) was the name of choice for the Florida peninsula following publication of a map by the Dutch cartographer Hessel Gerritsz in Joannes de Laet's History of the New World.[7]
Knox, P. L., & Marston, S. A. (2012). Human geography: Places and regions in global context (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Historical geographer JB Harley wrote an essay on Map Deconstruction in 1989, in which Harley argues that a map is more than just a geographical representation of an area, his theory is that we need to look at a map not just as a geographical image but in its entire context. Harley points out that by an examination of the social structures that have influenced map making, that we may gain more knowledge about the world. The maps social construction is made from debate about what it should show. Harley broke away from the traditional argument about maps and examined the biases that govern the map and the map makers, by looking at what the maps included or excluded. Harley’s “basic argument within this essay is that we should encourage an epistemological shift in the way we interpret the nature of cartography.” Therefore Harley’s aim within his essay on ‘Deconstructing the Map’ was to break down the assumed ideas of a map being a purely scientific creation.
In the discipline of geography, questions of space and place represent more than “where” and “when” something happens. Throughout Space and Place: Humanistic Perspectives (1977), Yi-Fu Tuan refers to space as having physical, sensual and emotional dimensions. He states that space is a “container” for people’s values, beliefs, as well as the location of, and distance between regions (Tuan, 388). In contrast, place is defined as a location produced by human experiences that includes neighbourhoods or cities within specific boundaries. The processes of socio-spatial polarization result in groups of low-income and marginalized communities that are excluded. People encounter feelings of alienation and being unable to access space. As a result, they
French Canadians as well as the Chippewa Indians founded two Rivers. The Chippewa Indians called the area Neshotah that means “a junction of 2 rivers”, since the twin rivers join together before entering Lake Michigan. The Chippewa Indians also named the twin rivers. The West River is known as “Neshoto” meaning west, and the East river is “Mishicot” meaning east. Two Rivers is obviously named after these twin rivers. The rivers themselves are almost geographically the same. The rivers are split between the city capital that is located in the center of downtown, and then rejoin together right before they hit Lake Michigan. There is more than seven miles of clean and wide white sandy beaches along the city’s edges for the town’s people as well as the tourist to enjoy. Swimming, wind surfings, beach coming, or just even to take a brake and relax in the sun are just some of the things you can enjoy in Two Rivers. Not to mention one of the biggest activities to enjoy is the fishing. Fishing charters is a major tourist attraction, the Kiwanis fishing derby brings anglers from throughout the Midwest. You can fish on or off shore in almost all of the four seasons. Not only are the Twin rivers a good resource for fishing they are a major and important resource for water. The rivers stream are usually calm and slow, which you could say it matches the way of life of Two Rivers.
Since the beginning of humankind, the study of geography has captured the imagination of the people. In ancient times, geography books extolled tales of distant lands and dreamed of treasures. The ancient Greeks created the word "geography" from the roots "ge" for earth and "grapho" for "to write." These people experienced many adventures and needed a way to explain and communicate the differences between various lands. Today, researchers in the field of geography still focus on people and cultures (cultural geography), and the planet earth (physical geography).
De, Blij Harm J., and Peter O. Muller. Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts. New York: J. Wiley, 1997. 340. Print.
Before I met a friend named Ivan Kovalenko from Ukraine in my high school soccer team in Wisconsin in 2008, all I knew about Ukraine was about its famous soccer player, Andriy Shevchenko. Among many soccer players, I found Shevchenko interested because not only of his excellent performance, but also of his unique last name. I asked Ivan about his last name mentioning Shevchenko and surprisingly the two unique last names were from same root, Ukraine. Since we were both interested in soccer and from other counties (Ukraine and South Korea), we became very close quickly. And when I went over to Ivan’s, his family and I were to introduce Ukrainian and Korean cultures to each other. Since I had never been exposed to Ukrainian culture, it was really interesting and that encouraged me to take this class this semester. Among many interesting Ukrainian cultures Ivan’s family told me such as its colorful traditional clothes Kozhukh, Ontusz, Sharovary, Vyshyvanka, and Ochipok, I must insist that I was impressed about the importance of Ukraine’s geography. It not only influenced Ukraine’s history but also had a great impact on its culture and education. If you take a look at a map, Ukraine is located in Europe, between Russia and Poland, between Western Europe and Asia. With this being said, Ukraine has been a ‘buffer state’ which is a country that defended Europe from invasions of the nomadic tribes in the Middle Ages and a place that was damaged the most in World War I since the majority of the battle were placed on its area. With a single map, we can already tell the importance of Ukraine’s geography. And we can find many more evidences that highlight the vital role of this geography. Therefore, I would like to discuss about the geographi...
The claim being discussed here is that the only way a map or a way of representing things can be useful is if it simplifies the knowledge that the actual territory gives, that is, if it reduces the salient i...