The Many Functions And Meanings of Flora Within The Lives of Two American Immigrant Families
Author(s): Erin P. Riggs
Year: 2016
Summary
This paper considers the many diverse functions and meanings of flora within the lives of two American immigrant families—the Birys, a family of Alsatian immigrants living in Castroville, Texas and the Domotos, a family of Japanese immigrants living in Oakland, California. Drawing evidence from the archaeological record, modern built landscapes, oral history interviews, and written histories, I demonstrate that plant life played a central role in these families’ struggles to create livable Homeplaces. The families’ interactions with flora were dynamic and location specific, rather than fixed and the result of tradition or ethnic identity. I argue that the complex, ever-evolving quality of such interactions fosters human attachment to place.
Cite this Record
The Many Functions And Meanings of Flora Within The Lives of Two American Immigrant Families. Erin P. Riggs. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. 2016 ( tDAR id: 434773)
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Keywords
General
Flora
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Identity
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Lived Experience
Geographic Keywords
North America
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United States of America
Temporal Keywords
1800s/1900s
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 746