The Indigenous Heritage Collection of Alameda County’s objective is to build a digital collection archiving, digitizing, documenting, and housing cultural and historical materials and artifacts from the Muwekma Ohlone Indigenous Tribe using appropriate tribal and community protocol for sharing utilizing Mukurtu Content Management System (CMS). This collection is being developed to preserve the tribe’s history and culture, giving birth to their story while giving others the ability to learn and have access to it.
I learned about Mukurtu (CMS) last semester in my INFO202 class with Professor Allison Johnson. She showed us a video showcasing the creator of the program. The video really stayed with me and when it came time for this project, I decided to utilize this “Emerging Technology” for it.
I decided to focus on my local library system (Alameda County Library) and the local Indigenous Tribe (Muwekma Ohlone Indigenous Tribe) because it felt like a project that had special meaning to me because I grew up here and because my mom’s life’s work is in this field. I spent my early years (and much of my life) exposed to the stories and culture of Native California Indigenous People, so this project seems very apropos.
In the lecture video for the Module “Infinite Learning: Library as a Class,” Dr. Michael Stephens talks about how some libraries are offering classes on topics pertaining to life literacy—what we need to do to live/exist and “adulting 101.”
I gravitated to this topic because I’ve always felt an appeal to this term and I always say that I feel like I am “playing” at being an adult and one day everyone’s going to find that out (even though I am married, have two kids, own a house and car, etc…). I guess you can call it a bit of an “imposter syndrome.” This made me want to do some research on this topic.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines “adulting” as, “the act or practice of attending to the ordinary tasks required of a responsible adult” and Dictionary.com defines it as “an informal term to describe behavior that is seen as responsible and grown-up. This behavior often involves meeting the mundane demands of independent and professional living, such as paying bills and running errands.”
Basically, this term is widely used among millennials and has been a trendy slang word. But, it really does fit for a generation of people that don’t feel like they’ve grown up. When I look up “adulting” and “adulting 101”a plethora of self-help books, workbooks, webpages (many of them universities), classes, podcasts, social media come up. Here is a sampling of offerings on the topic:
“If you graduated from college but still feel like a student . . . if you wear a business suit to job interviews but pajamas to the grocery store . . . if you have your own apartment but no idea how to cook or clean . . . it’s OK. But it doesn’t have to be this way. Just because you don’t feel like an adult doesn’t mean you can’t act like one.”
“Adulting 101 Book 2: #liveyourbestlife is a personal growth book that provides you with a clear vision of what a healthy adult looks like, equips you with the necessary tools to begin a meaningful adulthood, and offers critical resources to fulfill your purpose.”
Film by Eleanor Blake and Nich Perez, Directed by Dominique Sheth
“ADULTING is a short documentary that follows the lives of three millennials and their unique journeys into adulthood in a society that questions their generation’s capacity to be responsible and mature.”
Eleanor Blake, Nich Perez, & University of Southern California,School of Cinematic Arts (Producers), & Sheth, D. (Director). (2018). Adulting. [Video/DVD] University of Southern California. https://video.alexanderstreet.com/watch/Adulting
Burnette, J., & Hardesty, P. (2021). Adulting 101 Book 2: #LiveYourBestLife: An in-depth guide to developing healthy habits, becoming more confident, and living your purpose for graduates and young adults. Goodreads. Retrieved April 16, 2024, from https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55065193-adulting-101-book-2
Sheth, D. (Director). (2018). ADULTING | (2018) Trailer [Video]. Vimeo. Retrieved April 16, 2024, from https://vimeo.com/251062399
My son in Half Moon Bay. [Personal Photo by Laurel Everitt]It is currently Spring Break for myself and my school aged children. The other day, we decided to take a day trip to Half Moon Bay, CA to visit the beach. My mom came along too. My family has a long history in relation to Half Moon Bay. My paternal grandparents have a house in the area that we would periodically visit throughout my childhood. I have so many vivid memories from this area, the beach, the pier, and the house. When we come back to Half Moon Bay it’s filled with revisiting old restaurants and bakeries, doing the things we always have done when we visit, and talking about the stories that took place here (during my time and even before me). I feel a little closer to the family members that are no longer here, and it is little like stepping back in time. Most of the stories we remember when we visit Half Moon Bay are happy and usually make us laugh. By bringing my children to this place that has been a part of my personal story, I get to share it with them too along with building new stories and memories.
My daughter making a sand angel. [Personal Photo by Laurel Everitt]Stories connect us all, because at core we all have the same wants, needs, sorrows, and happiness. In the Module 10: The Power of Stories Lecture, Dr. Michael Stephens asks us to close our eyes and remember ourself as a child in the summer and envision what that looked like (Stephens, n.d.). Everyone has this kind of experience – we all were children once, we all lived during a summer as one—there will be many similarities, but everyone has their own individual plot line. The similarities are what make connections between people. I think it is why I want my own children to get to experience some of the same things I did when I was their age—that connection.
