| The Ohlone Indians |
The Ohlone people have inhabited the Bay Area for over 3,000 years. Before the intrusion of the Europeans, they lived in a diverse and fruitful land. They learned ways to live harmoniously with the land and its wilderness and wildlife. The area provided a variety and abundance of flora and fauna, which enabled them to establish a healthy existence that required little effort and had minimal impact on the land.
One of the cornerstones of the Ohlone culture was sharing. Generosity brought the greatest esteem and ensured a strong position in the hierarchical structure. The hunter rarely kept the rewards of his labor to himself, and the fruits and flours were given away. The system of sharing created an egalitarian society with no ruling chief. This generous behavior and moderate lifestyle created a strong society that was not interested in accumulating wealth.
The influx of European settlers had a devastating affect on the Ohlone tribes. The changes in land use of the settlers forced the Ohlone into an unfamiliar lifestyle bereft of the patterns of movement on which they relied. The exploitation of the land depleted the resources on which the Ohlone depended, and the introduction of land ownership and the mission lifestyle so affected the Ohlone way of life that the communities and culture soon fell apart.
Despite early promises by congress to provide land to the many landless tribes of California, in 1927 the Muwekema Ohlone Indians were dropped from their previous national recognition status. Today the Muwekema Ohlone along with 180 other tribes continue to petition the federal government for recognition as a tribe.
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| Links to more information about the Ohlone
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| The Internet |
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The Internet was created specifically for the purposes of sharing. Initially for the sharing of data and knowledge between scientists and academics around the world. As it grows, sharing remains as its core reason for being - the sharing of experiences, insights, opinions and of slightly more tangible items like imagery, audio and software.
Today the Internet has become pervasive in most cultures, and with that come a myriad of opinions: an opportunity, a threat, a fundamentally new way to communicate. The Internet acts as an equalizer, which pays no heed to ethnicity, education, income or other standard means by which a class based society is determined (if one is able to access the internet). Traditional notions of wealth, status and power are all turned on their heads.
The one factor which allows a member of this community to gain recognition is through sharing. Today, we are seeing infringements upon this community, threats created by Digital Millenium Copyright Act, and the efforts of some corporations to quell the energy and growth of the open source movement. We are seeing a weakening of consumer rights, and a restriction of personal freedoms in the digital age all brought on by the strength and breadth of the Internet.
Despite the overwhelming odds, the Internet community has the power to overcome these obstacles, because its strength lies in its own growth and development through continued sharing.
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| Links to more information about the Internet, the free-software movement and digital rights
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