Saturday, February 17, 2007

Cultural Migration - Pathfinder Science



Migration of people and ideas fostered all kinds of creativity as cultures adapted to each other and people learned new ways of doing things. Examples of the exchange of useful ideas learned from such cultural exchange are: colonists learning new agricultural techniques from American Indians, and African-American slaves creating the Gullah language to communicate with each other across language barriers.

Yet it is important to remember that migration could cause remarkable disruption, for migrants and for the people who encountered a new culture in their community. Imagine the mixed feelings a "picture bride" might have about traveling across the ocean to marry. The collected diaries of 19th-century American women who traveled west reveal their deep connections to the homes they left behind; many even brought along seeds to plant familiar flowers in their new residence.

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