Chapter 3 Reflection:

I found Chapter 3 interesting because I really enjoy studying demographic changes in New York. Truthfully, I never studied the Jamaica Bay area, but seeing the changes in demographics and education levels has been extremely eye opening. I was happy to see that education levels have increased in past few decades, but sad to see that poverty levels have also increased. Usually, those from lower income communities have lower levels of education due to lack of opportunity, but the case seems to be the opposite in the Jamaica Bay community. The article seems to state that the change in demographic is the case for the increase in education (despite poverty levels).

Reading about Canarsie was eye-opening because it showed just how human effect on the environment can be detrimental to quality of life. Pollution and garbage are both manmade blights, which then further detriment human ability to survive on the environment.

The discussion of community involvement to improve conditions in East New York was nice to read. Although the neighborhood continues to be poor, initiative taken by dedicated and thoughtful community members helped to improve it at one point in history and could be helpful in the future. I think that place based education could be useful in these communities because it encourages people to learn from their environment that is easily accessible to them. Awareness and education leads to the social reform necessary to improve conditions.

I never knew that the bay was used for Hindu ceremonies. I find that extremely interesting and unique; so many different cultures can appreciate the land they share and use them in different ways.

Chapter 5 Reflection:

The definition of religious ecology was interesting because it was a term I had never heard of before: “The term religious ecology refers to the spatial organization of religious practice in the congregations of residential populations” (117). The image of hundreds of Hindu individuals coming together to give sacrifices to the gods on Jamaica Bay is both extremely endearing and humorous. I had no clue that so many people came together in different forms of worship around the Jamaica Bay. The Hindu ceremonies sounded especially interesting to me because of their spiritual ties to the water and their need to use the bay to fulfill their religious obligations. Although their offerings can be detrimental to the habitat of Jamaica Bay and cause upset amongst non-Hindu populations, their ability to adapt religious custom to the new world is impressive.

Changes in Jamaica Bay area rules and regulations post 9/11 have greatly affected the ability for religious groups to have traditional ceremonies in the area. For example, the bon fires for Lag B’omer are no longer a viable option in Jamaica Bay due to increased security restrictions. It goes to show how Jamaica Bay once went from a natural resource to a restricted zone owned by the government. It kind of makes me question how and why people have the ability to own and control land although it really doesn’t belong to anybody. I think the Native Americans had it right all along.

Chapter 6 Reflection:

This chapter basically provided an overview of the two chapters we read previously. It talks about the demographics in Jamaica Bay, as well as religious uses and the challenges faced with inhabitants of the neighborhood using the bay inappropriately.

Something interesting about the chapter was the discussion on the ability for individuals to gain more information about their ancestors who inhabited the area. Being able to look up a certain street and find out that your great-grandfather lived there is certainly amazing– it makes me wonder what life was like for our ancestors living on the bay and how life has changed over the many years that have passed.

General Reflection (based on questions from e-mail):

One thing I learned about Jamaica Bay that I had never learned before was the amount of religious celebrations that take place in the area. I had no idea the area was so diverse and accommodating to so many different religions. By different, I not only mean various types of religions, but how unusual they are for the New York City area. I never thought of the city as having an area for sacred water sacrifices by Hindus. I also would never have thought that Santeria was practiced in the city because it seems like such a taboo, fictional religion (at least from my sheltered point of view). Jamaica Bay plays such an integral role in the lives of so many different cultures and offers them a valuable resource to continue their tradition, no matter what land management policy dictates.

I could understand why the practice of offering sacrifices into the bay might upset some people. It’s not environmentally friendly and the salt marshes are a very sensitive, balanced eco system that would be disrupted greatly by any change in the area. For the most part, land management rules are meant to protect these valuable marshlands (except for the gassing geese incidents) and so they might not always coincide with religious laws.

These chapters might connect with indigenous knowledge because indigenous peoples often incorporated and based their ceremonies on their land. I’m sure many indigenous cultures gave meaning to the world that surrounded them (such as water, wind, etc.) and purposely chose to create traditions that required use of the earth. As time went on and humans became more restrictive in what they were allowed to do, rules came about that directly inhibited traditional indigenous religious practice.

Although my family has no real connection to nature, my Japanese culture is very in tune with their role in natural environments and even has a religion that refers to the natural world as a living entity. Shintoism is the belief that all objects (such as rocks, trees, etc.) are inhabited by a soul and therefore require respect. I don’t think there would be much conflict between those who believe in Shinto and conservationists, as they both believe in protecting and respecting the environment. I imagine that as Japan industrialized and took over some forestland for factories, there was conflict because mass production and destruction goes against respecting the natural would.