Kai T. Erikson studied the effects of the Buffalo Creek flood and interviewed the survivors left in the community. Erikson documented his research and his analysis in his ethnography Everything in its Path. The flood was unique in the way that it affected the community so drastically and the calamity that it caused in its wake. Buffalo Creek is a small mining community in rural West Virginia. The community has deep roots in the land and has always trusted the land to provide for them as well as trusting
Buffalo Creek Flood Disaster Emilie Durkheim described the concepts of social regulation and social integration, and how both are connected to suicide rates. Both of these concepts can also be used to analyze the effect that the Buffalo Creek flood had on individuals and the community. Using the ideas of social regulation and social integration as well as the book “Everything in Its Path” by Kai T. Erikson, we can see the consequences of the Buffalo Creek flood disaster. Durkheim used the concepts
is how we share common interests, and we are responsible for facing whatever may come our way. The purpose of this essay is to compare and contrast the differences and similarities between the approaches seen from the Chicago Heat Wave and Buffalo Creek Flood. The main differences are historical groundwork, relationship to land, physical/social vulnerability, problematic development, choices we make and media coverage. Kleinberg and Erikson both offer a greater variety of what exactly a disaster
On February 26th 1972, Dam 3 of the Buffalo Mining Company a subsidiary of the Pittston Coal Company, failed resulting in a flooding of the Buffalo Creek Hallow. The disaster caused property damage, wrongful death, and psychic impairment. West Virginia prohibited any dam built any dam built over “fifteen feet in height across any stream or watercourse without a prior determination by the state that it is safe” (15). The state’s failure to properly enforce this law gave Pittston the ability to claim
The big shots want to call it an act of God.” As the coal company shirked their responsibilities, tempers flared throughout West Virginia. West Virginia Congressman Ken Hechler was furious that the organizations responsible for the flood were not taking responsibility for their actions. Coal companies had been exploiting impoverished mining communities for years and it was time to take a stand. Hechler argued that it was unacceptable that the Bureau of Mines and other federal agencies had not expressed
This essay will describe Emile Durkheim’s concepts of social integration and social/moral regulation and will explain how Durkheim connects them to suicide. It will then utilize those concepts to analyze the social effects of the Buffalo Creek flood, as described in the book “Everything In Its Path�, by Kai T. Erikson, showing other consequences besides higher suicide rates. Durkheim’s concept of social integration refers to social groups with well-defined values, traditions, norms, and goals
some that are not. Therefore, one of many natural disaster that cannot be controlled is a flood. “Everything in Its Path” by Kai Erikson speaks of the tragic flood in 1972 that not only damaged the people of Buffalo Creek, but also the land. The effect of this disaster was not only short term, however, many civilians still have to deal with it and will remain doing so for the rest of their lives. Buffalo Creek, which is made
16) to the Indians. The messiah was said to return to the earth so that all the white men would vanish and the buffalo and their ancestors would return (Peterson 27). Wovoka’s vision was that: Indians who danced the Ghost Dance would rise up into the sky while God covered the white man with a new earth. Then the Ghost Dancers would join their ancestors in a land filled with buffalo and game. The water would be sweet, the grass would be green, and there would be no white men. (“The Ghost Dance”
Native American History and the Deceit of Washington “I have taken the white man by the hand, thinking him to be a friend, but he is not a friend; government has deceived us; Washington is rotten,” (Brown 262). These were the words of Kicking Bird, chief of the Kiowas, as quoted by Dee Brown in Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. In this historical account of the Native Americans in the West, there are cases of repeated oppression of the Natives by the American government. White Americans, motivated
men, be young again. Old blind Indian see again and get young and have fine time. When Great Spirit comes this way, than all the Indians go to mountains, high up away from whites. Whites can't hurt Indians then. Then while Indians way up high, big flood like water and all white people die, get drowned! After that, water go way and then nobody but Indians everywhere and game all kinds thick… (Wovoka, The Paiute Messiah qtd. In Brown 416). Completely demoralized by the 'accidental' shooting of Sitting
and dictatorial," as the Indian agent described him. - General Crook ordered his arrest and confinement and he was taken into custody on September 5, 1877 and stabbed to death in a skirmish, but it was unclear by whom he was wounded. - By 1878, the buffalo herds had been decimated and the Sioux tribes were forced onto agencies for rations. - In 1879, Indian reformer Captain Richard H. Pratt opened the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. He believed removing children from their communities
for most migrants traveling toward California. Southerners utilized their guns to rob and shoot many migrants who crossed their way. In addition to societal dangers, migrants also had to be precautious about natural disasters, such as, tornadoes and floods in the South and blizzards in the North. The Westward movement had an apparent negative impact upon farmers during the late nineteenth century. During this time, a large majority of farmers set westward seeking more land. This resulted in the number
fills. Coal companies have covered over 1,200 miles of biologically crucial Appalachian headwaters streams. Often, the effects of Mountain top Removal are disastrous, the wildlife habitat is damaged and vegetation loss usually leads to numerous floods and landslides. When explosives are used, fly rock, ... ... middle of paper ... ...The fields are not just circles in the earth; the ground is no longer soil, its just dirt. I find it disheartening; the mountains were their life and its being
Native American Relations with The United States What were the significant treaties, policies, and events that defined US Government and Native American Relations? How did the Native American respond to these treaties, polices, and events historically? How did these treaties, policies, and events affect the subsistence, religion, political, and social structures of the Native American people? I will answer these questions through the examination of two centuries of US history in six time
A Sand County Almanac 10 Historical Names Researched: Dean W. H. Henry: Dean W. H. Henry Jonathan Carver: Jonathan Carver was born on April 13, 1710 in Weymouth, Mass. and died on Jan. 31, 1780 in London, Eng. He was an early explorer of North America and author of one of the most widely read travel and adventure books in that period. John Muir: John Muir also known as "John of the Mountains", was a Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher and early advocate of preservation
Introduction “The Battle of the Little Bighorn, also known as Custer's Last Stand and, by the Indians involved, as the Battle of the Greasy Grass, was an armed engagement between combined forces of Lakota, Northern Cheyenne and Arapaho people against the 7th Cavalry Regiment of the United States Army. The battle, which occurred on June 25 and 26, 1876 near the Little Bighorn River in eastern Montana Territory, was the most famous action of the Great Sioux War of 1876.”i Was this battle led by
1. New World Beginnings - About 6 thousand years ago, only one minute in geological time – recorded History of Western world began. People in the Middle East had already begun a Written culture, gradually emerging form the haze of the past. 500 years ago or a few seconds in geological time-Europeans explorers discovered the Americas. This altered everything the Old and New World knew. a. The Shaping of North America - Pangaea contained all the worlds’
DAVID McCULLOUGH, Host: Good evening and welcome to The American Experience. I'm David McCullough. At the start of spring in the year 1846 an appealing advertisement appeared in the Springfield, Illinois, Gazette. ''Westward ho,'' it declared. ''Who wants to go to California without costing them anything? As many as eight young men of good character who can drive an ox team will be accommodated. Come, boys, you can have as much land as you want without costing you anything.'' The notice was signed