What does Sampson Noll, a desperate run-away slave who hit his master over the head with a wagon stave have in common with Charlotte Preston, a young woman, who was in the first graduating class at Northern State Normal School? The first part of the answer is that both of these individuals lived in a region known as the U.P., the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The second part is that both these individuals were Americans of African descent. What would bring Mr. Noll, Ms. Preston, and other individuals of African descent to an isolated area of the United States where winter snowfalls can reach 200 inches and temperatures can be so cold that they can cause fog to freeze? Can you imagine entering an unfamiliar isolated region during a May passage riding in a steamboat across the choppy waters of the Straits of Mackinac to get to the land mass known as the Upper Peninsula? And once you managed to cross into this region of the United States, enduring early spring to falls end, you now have to deal with mosquitoes, no-see-ums,deer flies, stable flies, black flies, wood ticks, and deer ticks. As the months progress, you have to face bitter cold winters with no kinship support(unless your family came with you) to comfort you, and with only your hopes, dreams, and self reliance to sustain you. A variety of individuals of African descent did just that and settled in the Upper Peninsula. Coming from a perspective of the main opportunities that drew most people to the area, this book discusses people from their areas of interest and employment: lumber, mining, hunting, fishing, education, and sports. In the end, the book reveals what these individuals have inspired by their incredible tenacity.

## Northern Roots Your Comprehensive Guide to Alaskan Homesteading Adventures Embark on an extraordinary journey to self-sufficiency with "Northern Roots." This captivating eBook opens the door to the rugged and rewarding lifestyle of Alaskan homesteading, offering a treasure trove of knowledge for aspiring homesteaders and seasoned pioneers alike. **Chapter 1 Introduction to Alaskan Homesteading** Get inspired by the allure of the Last Frontier and dive into the homesteading mindset. We cover essential considerations, ensuring you’re prepared for the challenges and triumphs that lie ahead. **Chapter 2 Preparing for the Alaskan Environment** From understanding Alaska's diverse climate to mastering basic survival skills, this chapter equips you with the tools needed to adapt and thrive in one of the most unique environments on Earth. **Chapter 3 Choosing Your Homestead Location** Navigate the complexities of land regulations, assess soil and water resources, and discover the importance of accessibility to services as you select the perfect spot for your dream homestead. **Chapter 4 Building Your Alaskan Homestead** Learn about the best construction materials, insulation techniques, and energy-efficient design principles to ensure your homestead stands strong against the Alaskan elements. **Chapter 5 Off-Grid Power Solutions** Explore innovative off-grid power strategies using solar, wind, and micro-hydro systems tailored for the Arctic, ensuring your homestead remains powered year-round. **Chapter 6 Water Collection and Management** Discover methods for finding water sources, effective storage solutions, and advanced filtration and purification techniques. **Chapter 7 Waste Management Strategies** Implement sustainable composting toilets, greywater systems, and effective recycling practices to maintain a clean and eco-friendly homestead. **Chapter 8 Heating Your Homestead** Master the art of heating with wood-burning stoves, passive solar techniques, and advanced insulation for maximum warmth and efficiency. **Chapter 9 Food Production and Preservation** Learn to garden in short growing seasons, raise livestock in cold climates, and preserve your harvest through canning, smoking, and dehydrating. **Chapter 10 Hunting and Fishing** Navigate licenses and regulations, equip yourself with essential gear, and perfect techniques for processing and preserving your catch. **Chapter 11 Winter Preparation and Survival** Prepare for the harsh winters with strategies for creating emergency shelters, winterizing your homestead, and selecting essential winter gear. **Chapter 12 Transportation and Accessibility** Ensure year-round accessibility with insights into snowmobiles, ATVs, maintaining trail systems, and planning for weather-related delays. **Chapter 13 Establishing Communication Networks** Build reliable communication networks and emergency plans, ensuring you remain connected even in the most remote areas. **Chapter 14 Homeschooling and Education Resources** Explore curriculum options, socialization strategies, and online education platforms tailored for homesteading families. **Chapter 15 Building Community and Networks** Engage with Alaskan homesteading organizations, participate in local markets, and collaborate with neighboring homesteaders to build a thriving community. "Northern Roots" is your essential guide to transforming dreams of Alaskan homesteading into reality. Ready to set roots in the Last Frontier? Dive in and start your adventure today!

Providing the first comprehensive history of Canada’s songwriting legacy, this guide traces a distinctly Canadian musical identity from the 1930s to the end of the 1970s. The discussion shows how Canadian musicians have always struggled to create work that reflects their own environment while simultaneously connecting with mass audiences in other countries, particularly the United States. While nearly all songwriters who successfully crossed this divide did so by immersing themselves in the American and British forms of blues, folk, country, and rock 'n' roll, this guide reveals that Canadian sensibilities were never far beneath the surface. Canadian innovators featured include The Band, Ian & Sylvia, Hank Snow, Gordon Lightfoot, Leonard Cohen, and superstars Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. Lively anecdotes and interviews round out the history, but the emphasis is always on the essential music—how and where it originated and its impact on the artists' subsequent work and the wider musical world.

Ebony Roots, Northern Soil is a powerful and timely collection of critical essays exploring the experiences, histories and cultural engagements of black Canadians. Drawing from postcolonial, critical race and black feminist theory, this innovative anthology brings together an extraordinary set of well-recognized and new scholars engaging in the critical debates about the cultural politics of identity and issues of cultural access, representation, production and reception. Emerging from a national conference in 2005, the book records, critiques and yet transcends this groundbreaking event. Drawn from a range of disciplines including Art History, Communication Studies, Cultural Studies, Education, English, History and Sociology, the chapters examine black contributions to and participation within the realms of popular music, television and film, the art world, museums, academia and social activism. In the process, the burning issues of access to cultural capital, the practice of multiculturalism, definitions of black Canadianness and the state of Black Canadian Studies are dissected. Attentive to issues of sexuality and gender as well as race, the book also explores and challenges the dominance of black Americanness in Canada, especially in its incarnation as hip hop. Acknowledging a differently constituted and heterogeneous black Canadianness, it contemplates the possibility of an identity in dialogue with, and yet distinct from, dominant ideals of African-Americanness. Ebony Roots also explores the deficit in Black Canadian Studies across the nation’s universities, drawing a line between the neglect of black Canadian populations, histories and experiences in general and the resulting lack of an academic disciplinary infrastructure. Poignant blends of the personal and the political, the chapters are both scholarly in their critical insights and rigour and daring in their honesty. Ebony Roots defiantly foregrounds the often-disavowed issues of institutional racism against blacks in Canadian academia, education and cultural institutions as well as the injurious effects of everyday racism. In so doing, the book challenges the myth of Canada as a racially benevolent and tolerant state, the ‘great white north’ free from racism and the legacy of colonialism. Instead the very definitions of Canada and black Canadianness are unpacked and explored. Ebony Roots is a necessary history lesson, a contemporary cultural debate and a call to action. It is a momentous and overdue contribution to Black Canadian Studies and a must read for academics, students and the general public alike.

"Along the West coast, a range of people--from families with young children, to immigrants recapturing their homeland culture, to idealistic twenty-somethings seeking community--are turning their urban backyards into modern-day homesteads. Lori Eanes reveals the lives of 35 of these urban farmers through her photographs and stories"--P. [4] of cover.

English as spoken in the north of England has a rich social and cultural history; however it has often been neglected by historical linguists, whose research has focused largely on the development of 'Standard English'. In this groundbreaking, alternative account of the history of English, Northern English takes centre stage for the first time. Emphasising its richness and variety, the book places northern speech and culture in the context of identity, iconography, mental maps, boundaries and marginalisation. It reassesses the role of Northern English in the development of Modern Standard English, draws some pioneering conclusions about the future of Northern English, and considers the origins of the many images and stereotypes surrounding northerners and their speech. Numerous maps, and a useful index of northern English words and pronunciations, are included. Innovative and original, Northern English will be welcomed by all those interested in the history and regional diversity of English.

Supermilk Inc. is a book representing what may become a new genre in fiction: animystic. A genre where our modern culture meets with a mystical perspective. It deals with ideas about responsibility and innovation in the technology young adults are so encompassed by today. Supermilk shows how far people may go with the right ideas and also how much trouble they may land in, through no fault of their own. Peter McPhee the protagonist, is resourceful, talented and ambitious. He works at a paperclip factory by day and by night he dabbles in electronics. His experiments with electrical boosters on the family farm's milking equipment, creating milk that turns the drinker into a cartoon. He goes everywhere with this technology, founding a church and opening a film studio where he makes cartoons. Unfortunately Peter’s old Boss figures out how to use the technology himself and soon Peter is required to answer for some of the mayhem and damage being created by maverick milk producers as well. Readers may consider how closely the book toes the line between fantasy and reality and how closely that represents life as we now know it.