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Big Creek Lake (or Converse Reservoir ) is a municipal reservoir which serves as the main source of drinking water for the city of Mobile, Alabama and its suburbs. It was formed by the damming of Big Creek, a tributary of the Escatawpa River in southwest Alabama . The reservoir was the subject of controversy in the 1980s over freshwater rights between Alabama and Mississippi .

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75-481: The reservoir is 3,600 acres (15 km) in surface area. The reservoir’s watershed covers 103 square miles (267 km²) and lies totally within Mobile County . From 1907 to 1940, the city of Mobile kept pace with providing water service for the population growth until the outbreak of World War II when it became increasingly apparent that the existing sources of supply were inadequate and undependable. A new source

150-525: A French fortification established (near present-day Axis, Alabama ) in 1702. The word "Mobile" is believed to stem from a Choctaw word for "paddlers". The area was occupied by French colonists from 1702 to 1763, and their influence has been strong in the city. It was ruled by the British from 1763 to 1780, when more American colonists began to enter the territory; and controlled by the Spanish from 1780 to 1813. At

225-570: A colony in New Mexico. However, the heartland of the Spanish colonies remained New Spain (including Mexico and most of Central America) and Peru (including most of South America). In the 17th century, French, English and Dutch trading posts multiplied in northern America to exploit whaling, fishing and fur trading. French settlements progressed up the St Lawrence river to the Great Lakes and down

300-517: A definition of Indigenous peoples stating that, "such a definition is not necessary for purposes of protecting their human rights." In determining coverage of Indigenous peoples, the commission uses the criteria developed in documents such as ILO Convention No. 169 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The commission states that self-identification as indigenous

375-483: A deliberate strategy in defending their claims against European rivals. Although the establishment of colonies throughout the world by various European powers aimed to expand those powers' wealth and influence, settler populations in some localities became anxious to assert their own autonomy. For example, settler independence movements in thirteen of the British American colonies were successful by 1783, following

450-473: A female householder with no husband present, and 28.90% were non-families. 24.80% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.13. In the county, the population dispersal was 27.50% under the age of 18, 10.00% from 18 to 24, 28.70% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 12.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age

525-548: A major deepwater port; in the nineteenth century, cotton was its major export. There were nine documented lynchings in Mobile from 1891 to 1981. Courthouse fires occurred in the years 1823, 1840, and 1872. According to the United States Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 1,644 square miles (4,260 km ), of which 1,229 square miles (3,180 km ) is land and 415 square miles (1,070 km ) (25.2%)

600-621: A particular place – indeed how we/they came to be a place. Our/their relationships to land comprise our/their epistemologies, ontologies, and cosmologies". Indigenous peoples such as the Maasai and the Māori have oral traditional histories involving migration to their current location from somewhere else. Anthropologist Manvir Singh states that the term may lack coherence, pointing to inconsistencies in which ethnic groups are called Indigenous or not, and notes several scholars who suggest that it instead acts as

675-515: A pumphouse, a reservoir, and pipelines. Construction required two years. The Big Creek impoundment was named J. B. Converse Reservoir in 1987, but is commonly referred to as "Big Creek Lake". The pumping station was named S. Palmer Gaillard Pumping Station. Water is delivered from the 3,600-acre (15 km) lake and pumping station by pipes to two reservoirs where it is diverted either to domestic or industrial use. The reservoirs are at an elevation of 220 ft (67 m) and industrial water

750-536: A relabeling of discredited and colonial ideas about "primitive" people. Singh states that some Indigenous people argue that the term and identity has resulted in pressure to appear "primordial" and "unchanging", and erases complex and modern identities. Other views It is sometimes argued that all Africans are Indigenous to Africa, all Asians are Indigenous to parts of Asia, or that there can be no Indigenous peoples in countries which did not experience large-scale Western settler colonialism. Many countries have avoided

825-481: A state, a special relationship with their traditional territory, and an experience of subjugation and discrimination under a dominant cultural model. No definition of Indigenous peoples has been adopted by a United Nations agency. The Secretariat of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues states, "in the case of the concept of 'indigenous peoples', the prevailing view today is that no formal universal definition of

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900-545: Is a county located in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of Alabama . It is the third-most populous county in the state after Jefferson and Madison counties. As of the 2020 census , its population was 414,809. Its county seat is Mobile , which was founded as a deepwater port on the Mobile River. The only such port in Alabama, it has long been integral to the economy for providing access to inland waterways as well as

975-539: Is a fundamental criterion. The World Bank states, "Indigenous Peoples are distinct social and cultural groups that share collective ancestral ties to the lands and natural resources where they live, occupy or from which they have been displaced." Amnesty International does not provide a definition of Indigenous peoples but states that they can be identified according to certain characteristics: Academics and other scholars have developed various definitions of Indigenous peoples. In 1986–87, José Martínez Cobo, developed

1050-408: Is delivered by gravity to the industry at an elevation of about 25 ft (8 m) . The industrial water line extends from the filter plant northward about 7 mi (11 km) to the industrial sites at Magazine Point. Pumps at Big Creek Lake provide treated water to Mobile and untreated water to local industries such as chemical plants and paper mills. The Big Creek tributary, like

1125-459: Is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples in the United Nations or international law. Various national and international organizations, non-government organizations, governments, Indigenous groups and scholars have developed definitions or have declined to provide a definition. As a reference to a group of people, the term "indigenous" was first used by Europeans to differentiate

1200-465: Is the home of the University of South Alabama (USA), a public research university divided into ten colleges, including one of Alabama's two state-supported medical schools. USA has an enrollment of over 16,000 students and employs more than 6,000 faculty, administrators, and support staff. It is also home to two private institutions of higher learning. Spring Hill College , founded in 1830, is Catholic and

1275-539: Is water. It is the fourth-largest county in Alabama by land area and second-largest by total area. It includes several islands, including Dauphin Island , Gaillard Island and Mon Louis Island . As of the 2020 census , there were 414,809 people, 163,750 households, and 107,701 families residing in the county. The population density was 337.4 inhabitants per square mile (130.3/km ) There were 184,441 housing units. The county's largest city, Mobile (population 187,041 per

1350-769: The American Revolutionary War . This resulted in the establishment of the United States of America as an entity separate from the British Empire . The United States continued and expanded European colonial doctrine through adopting a version of the discovery doctrine as law in 1823 with the US Supreme Court case Johnson v. McIntosh . Statements at the Johnson court case illuminated the United States' support for

1425-467: The Gulf of Mexico . The city, river, and county were named in honor of Maubila , a village of the paramount chief Tuskaloosa of the regional Mississippian culture . In 1540 he arranged an ambush of soldiers of Hernando de Soto 's expedition in an effort to expel them from the territory. The Spaniards were armed with guns and killed many of the tribe . Mobile County and Washington County, Alabama make up

1500-593: The United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Populations (WGIP) was on 9 August 1982 and this date is now celebrated as the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples . In the 21st century, the concept of Indigenous peoples is understood in a wider context than only the colonial experience. The focus has been on self-identification as indigenous peoples, cultural difference from other groups in

1575-446: The poverty line , including 26.20% of those under age 18 and 14.60% of those age 65 or over. Mobile County has a limited form of home rule and is governed by a three-member county commission. Each commissioner represents a single-member district and is elected by the voters of that district to serve a four-year term. Each commissioner has an equal vote on the commission. During an elected term, each commissioner serves as President of

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1650-622: The 101st District, Republican Shane Stringer from the 102nd District, Democrat Barbara Drummond from the 103rd District, Republican Margie Wilcox from the 104th District, and Republican Chip Brown from the 105th District. In most areas of Mobile County, schools are operated by the Mobile County Public School System . The cities of Chickasaw , Saraland , and Satsuma have separate school systems; served by Chickasaw City Schools , Saraland Board of Education , and Satsuma City School System , respectively. Mobile County

1725-507: The 10th century, however, the majority of the population of north Africa spoke Arabic and practiced Islam. From 1402, the Guanche of the Canary Islands resisted Spanish attempts at colonization. The islands finally came under Spanish control in 1496. Mohamed Adhikari has called the conquest of the islands a genocide . Early 15th-century Portuguese exploration of the west coast of Africa

1800-506: The 17th and 18th centuries, had extensive contact with Europeans when the continent was progressively colonized by the British from 1788. During colonization, the Aboriginal people experienced depopulation from disease and settler violence, dispossession of their land, and severe disruption of their traditional cultures. By 1850, indigenous peoples were a minority in Australia. From the 15th to

1875-632: The 19th centuries, European powers used a number of rationales for the colonization of newly encountered lands populated by indigenous peoples. These included a duty to spread the Gospel to non-Christians, to bring civilization to barbarian peoples, a natural law right to explore and trade freely with other peoples, and a right to settle and cultivate uninhabited or uncultivated land which they considered terra nullius ("no one's land"). Robert J. Miller, Jacinta Ruru, Larissa Behrendt and Tracey Lindberg argue that European powers rationalized their colonization of

1950-534: The 2020 census) is majority minority with African-Americans making up 51.06% of its population. According to the 2010 census , the population of the county comprised the following racial and ethnic groups: As of the 2000 census , there were 399,843 people, 150,179 households, and 106,777 families residing in the county. The population density was 324 people per square mile (125 people/km ). There were 165,101 housing units at an average density of 134 units per square mile (52 units/km ). The racial makeup of

2025-463: The 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territory, and an experience of subjugation and discrimination under a dominant cultural model. Estimates of the population of Indigenous peoples range from 250 million to 600 million. There are some 5,000 distinct Indigenous peoples spread across every inhabited climate zone and inhabited continent of

2100-607: The 21st century, Indigenous groups and advocates for Indigenous peoples have highlighted numerous apparent violations of the rights of Indigenous peoples. Indigenous is derived from the Latin word indigena , meaning "sprung from the land, native". The Latin indigena is based on the Old Latin indu "in, within" + gignere "to beget, produce". Indu is an extended form of the Proto-Indo-European en or "in". There

2175-490: The 33rd District, by Republican Jack W. Williams from the 34th District, and by Republican David Sessions from the 35th District. The county is represented in the Alabama House of Representatives by Democrat Adline Clarke from the 97th District, Democrat Napoleon Bracy from the 98th District, Democrat Sam Jones from the 99th District, Republican Mark Shirey from the 100th District, Republican Chris Pringle from

2250-539: The Aztec Empire and its fall. The Cempoalans, Tlaxcalans and other allies of the Spanish were given some autonomy, but the Spanish were de facto rulers of Mexico. Smallpox devastated the indigenous population and aided the Spanish conquest. In 1530, the Spanish sailed south from Panama to the lands of the Inca Empire in the west of South America. The Inca, weakened by a smallpox epidemic and civil war, were defeated by

2325-509: The Bahamas and Cuba, leading to a severe decline in the Indigenous populations from disease, malnutrition, settler violence and cultural disruption. In the 1520s, the peoples of Mesoamerica encountered the Spanish who entered their lands in search of gold and other resources. Some indigenous peoples chose to ally with the Spanish to end Aztec rule. The Spanish incursions led to the conquest of

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2400-807: The Escatawpa, originates in Alabama and flows into Mississippi, joining the Escatawpa about nine miles (14 km) northeast of Robertson Lake. Big Creek Lake was a source of controversy regarding the equitable apportionment of limited fresh water resources between the states of Mississippi and Alabama in the early eighties. The City of Mobile utilizes waters from Big Creek Lake for their municipal drinking water supply, decreasing available flow for downstream uses in Mississippi. Mobile County, Alabama 30°47′11″N 88°12′50″W  /  30.78639°N 88.21389°W  / 30.78639; -88.21389 Mobile County ( / m oʊ ˈ b iː l / moh- BEEL )

2475-609: The French. The indigenous inhabitants of the Hawaiian Islands first encountered Europeans in 1778 when Cook explored the region. Following increasing contact with European missionaries, traders and scientific expeditions, the indigenous population fell before their lands were annexed by the United States in 1893. The Māori of New Zealand also had sporadic encounters with Europeans in the 17th and 18th centuries. Following encounters with Cook's exploration parties in 1769–70, New Zealand

2550-500: The Indigenous peoples of the Americas from enslaved Africans. The first known use was by Sir Thomas Browne in 1646, who wrote "and although in many parts thereof there be at present swarms of Negroes serving under the Spaniard , yet were they all transported from Africa , since the discovery of Columbus ; and are not indigenous or proper natives of America ." In the 1970s, the term

2625-681: The Mississippi River) after defeating the French in the Seven Years' War . During the American Revolutionary War , it came under Spanish rule as part of Spanish Florida . Spain ceded the territory to the United States after the War of 1812 . In the 1830s, the United States forced the removal of most of the Native American tribes in the area under President Andrew Jackson 's policy and an act of Congress to relocate them to Indian Territory west of

2700-518: The Mississippi River. Many of those who remained continued their culture, and took refuge in the swamps in the border area between Mobile and Washington counties. Since the late 20th century, several tribes have reorganized and gained state recognition. Among those is the MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians , which was recognized as a tribe in 1979 by the state. The people have long been based in this area of

2775-601: The Mississippi to Louisiana. English and Dutch settlements multiplied down the Atlantic coast from modern Massachusetts to Georgia. Native peoples formed alliances with the Europeans in order to promote trade, preserve their autonomy, and gain allies in conflicts with other native peoples. However, horses and new weapons made inter-tribal conflicts more deadly and the native population was devastated by introduced diseases. Native peoples also experienced losses from violent conflict with

2850-668: The Mobile County Commission for 16 months, beginning with the District 1 Commissioner. As of November 2020, Mobile County Commissioners are: Under the state constitution, the legislature maintains considerable power over county affairs. Mobile County is represented in the Alabama Legislature by three senators and nine representatives . It is represented in the Alabama Senate by Democrat Vivian Davis Figures from

2925-536: The Mobile Metropolitan Statistical Area with a 2020 population of 430,197. The Mobile, AL MSA and Daphne-Fairhope-Foley, AL MSA make up the much larger Mobile-Daphne-Fairhope CSA with a 2020 population of 661,964. The northern border of Mobile County and southern area of neighboring Washington County constitute the homeland of the state-recognized tribe of MOWA Band of Choctaw Indians , descendants of Choctaw and Creek who stayed in this area during

3000-643: The New World by the discovery doctrine , which they trace back to papal decrees authorizing Spain and Portugal to conquer newly discovered non-Christian lands and convert their populations to Christianity. Kent McNeil, however, states, "While Spain and Portugal favoured discovery and papal grants because it was generally in their interests to do so, France and Britain relied more on symbolic acts, colonial charters, and occupation." Benton and Strauman argue that European powers often adopted multiple, sometimes contradictory, legal rationales for their acquisition of territory as

3075-498: The New World. In 1488, Portuguese ships rounded the Cape of Good Hope and by the 17th century, Portugal had established seaborn trading routes and fortified coastal trading posts from West Africa to India and Southern China, and a settler colony in Brazil. In 1532, the first African slaves were transported directly to the Americas. The trade in slaves expanded sharply in the 17th century, with

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3150-517: The Spanish at Cajamarca in 1532, and the emperor Atahualpa was captured and executed. The Spanish appointed a puppet emperor and captured the Inca capital of Cuzco with the support of a number of native peoples. The Spanish established a new capital in 1535 and defeated an Inca rebellion in 1537, thus consolidating the conquest of Peru. In the 1560s, the Spanish established colonies in Florida and in 1598 founded

3225-447: The United Nations (UN) adopted a Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples including their rights to self-determination and to protect their cultures, identities, languages, ceremonies, and access to employment, health, education and natural resources. Indigenous peoples continue to face threats to their sovereignty, economic well-being, languages, cultural heritage, and access to the resources on which their cultures depend. In

3300-550: The ancestors of the Greeks , or as an earlier group of people who inhabited Greece before the Greeks. The disposition and precise identity of this former group is elusive, and sources such as Homer , Hesiod and Herodotus give varying, partially mythological accounts. Dionysius of Halicarnassus in his book, Roman Antiquities , gives a synoptic interpretation of the Pelasgians based on

3375-445: The basis of their continued existence as peoples, in accordance with their own cultural patterns, social institutions and legal systems. Martínez Cobo states that the following factors are relevant to historical continuity: occupation of ancestral lands, or at least of part of them; common ancestry with the original occupants of these lands; cultural factors such as religion, tribalism, dress, etc.; language; residence in certain parts of

3450-681: The circumstances of the people would allow them to exercise. ... [This loss of native property and sovereignty rights was justified, the Court said, by] the character and religion of its inhabitants ... the superior genius of Europe ... [and] ample compensation to the [Indians] by bestowing on them civilization and Christianity, in exchange for unlimited independence. Estimates of the population of Indigenous peoples range from 250 million to 600 million. The United Nations estimates that there are over 370 million Indigenous people living in over 90 countries worldwide. This would equate to just fewer than 6% of

3525-737: The colonists and the progressive dispossession of their traditional lands. In 1492, the population of the Americas as a whole was about 50 to 100 million. By 1700, introduced diseases had reduced the native population by 90%. European migration and transfer of slaves from Africa reduced the native population to a minority. By 1800 the population of North America comprised about 5 million Europeans and their descendants, one million Africans and 600,000 indigenous Americans. Native populations also encountered new animals and plants introduced by Europeans. These included pigs, horses, mules, sheep and cattle; wheat, barley, rye, oats, grasses and grapevines. These exotic animals and plants radically transformed

3600-678: The convention covers: peoples in independent countries who are regarded as indigenous on account of their descent from the populations which inhabited the country, or a geographical region to which the country belongs, at the time of conquest or colonisation or the establishment of present state boundaries and who, irrespective of their legal status, retain some or all of their own social, economic, cultural and political institutions. The convention also covers "tribal peoples" who are distinguished from Indigenous peoples and described as "tribal peoples in independent countries whose social, cultural and economic conditions distinguish them from other sections of

3675-541: The country, or in certain regions of the world; and other relevant factors. In 2004, James Anaya , defined Indigenous peoples as "living descendants of pre-invasion inhabitants of lands now dominated by others. They are culturally distinct groups that find themselves engulfed by other settler societies born of forces of empire and conquest". In 2012, Tuck and Yang propose a criterion based on accounts of origin: "Indigenous peoples are those who have creation stories, not colonization stories, about how we/they came to be in

3750-421: The county was 63.07% White , 33.38% Black or African American , 0.67% Native American , 1.41% Asian , 0.03% Pacific Islander , 0.40% from other races , and 1.04% from two or more races. 1.22% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. There were 150,179 households, out of which 34.40% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.50% were married couples living together, 17.70% had

3825-497: The end of the War of 1812, the United States took over the territory. At that time, new settlers were being attracted to the land, eager to develop short-staple cotton in the uplands area. Invention of the cotton gin made processing of this type of cotton profitable, stimulating wholesale development of new cotton plantations in the Black Belt during the antebellum years. Mobile developed as

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3900-570: The exploitation of natural resources, spreading Christianity, and establishing strategic military bases, colonies and settlements. From 1492, the Arawak peoples of the Caribbean islands encountered Spanish colonizers initially led by Christopher Columbus . The Spanish enslaved some of the native population and forced others to work on farms and gold mines in a system of labor called encomienda . Spanish settlements spread from Hispaniola to Puerto Rico,

3975-524: The following "working definition" : Indigenous communities, peoples, and nations are those that, having a historical continuity with pre-invasion and pre-colonial societies that developed on their territories, consider themselves distinct from other sectors of the societies now prevailing in those territories, or parts of them. They form at present non-dominant sectors of society and are determined to preserve, develop, and transmit to future generations their ancestral territories, and their ethnic identity, as

4050-575: The former Choctaw homeland, along the northern border of Mobile County and the southern border of Washington County. After more than a century of European settlement, beginning with French colonists, Mobile County was organized by the state legislature and the proclamation of Governor Holmes of the Mississippi Territory on December 18, 1812. When Mississippi was separated and admitted as a state on December 10, 1817, after adopting its constitution on August 15, 1817, Mobile County became part of what

4125-490: The franchise after passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act , they tended to support the national Democratic Party. Today the population of Mobile County is majority white; at the time of the Civil War, it was majority black. In 2004, the incumbent Republican president George W. Bush won 59 percent of the vote and 92,014 votes. Democrat John F. Kerry won 40 percent of the vote and 63,732 votes. Other candidates won one percent of

4200-432: The involvement of the French, Dutch and English, before declining in the 19th century. At least 12 million slaves were transported from Africa. The slave trade increased inter-tribal warfare and stunted population growth and economic development in the west African interior. Indigenous encounters with Europeans increased during the age of discovery . The Europeans were motivated by a range of factors including trade,

4275-456: The local environment and disrupted traditional agriculture and hunting practices. The indigenous populations of the Pacific had increasing contact with Europeans in the 18th century as British, French and Spanish expeditions explored the region. The natives of Tahiti had encounters with the expeditions of Wallis (1766), Bougainville (1768), Cook (1769) and many others before being colonized by

4350-551: The national community and whose status is regulated wholly or partially by their own customs or traditions or by special laws or regulations." The convention states that self-identification as indigenous or tribal is a fundamental criterion for determining the groups to which the convention applies. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples does not define Indigenous peoples but affirms their right to self-determination including determining their own identity. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights does not provide

4425-473: The period of Indian Removal . They have organized to preserve their culture and language. They were the first of nine tribes to be recognized by the state. This area was occupied for thousands of years by varying cultures of indigenous peoples . At the time of Spanish expeditions in the early 16th century, it was part of the territory of the Mississippian culture , which constructed major earthwork mounds. It

4500-465: The principles of the discovery doctrine: The United States ... [and] its civilized inhabitants now hold this country. They hold, and assert in themselves, the title by which it was acquired. They maintain, as all others have maintained, that discovery gave an exclusive right to extinguish the Indian title of occupancy, either by purchase or by conquest; and gave also a right to such a degree of sovereignty, as

4575-691: The sources available to him then, concluding that Pelasgians were Greek. In European late antiquity, many Berbers , Copts and Nubians of north Africa converted to various forms of Christianity under Roman rule, although elements of traditional religious beliefs were retained. Following the Arab invasions of North Africa in the 7th century, many Berbers were enslaved or recruited into the army. The majority of Berbers, however, remained nomadic pastoralists who also engaged in trade as far as sub-Saharan Africa. Coptic Egyptians remained in possession of their lands and many preserved their language and Christian religion. By

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4650-832: The term Indigenous peoples or have denied that Indigenous peoples exist in their territory, and have classified minorities who identify as Indigenous in other ways, such as 'hill tribes' in Thailand, 'scheduled tribes' in India, 'national minorities' in China, 'cultural minorities' in the Philippines, 'isolated and alien peoples' in Indonesia, and various other terms. Greek sources of the Classical period acknowledge Indigenous people whom they referred to as " Pelasgians ". Ancient writers saw these people either as

4725-483: The term is necessary, given that a single definition will inevitably be either over- or under-inclusive, making sense in some societies but not in others." However, a number of UN agencies have provided statements of coverage for particular international agreements concerning Indigenous peoples or "working definitions" for particular reports. The International Labour Organization's (ILO) Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (ILO Convention No. 169), states that

4800-592: The third-oldest Jesuit college or university in the U.S. Its enrollment is about 1,500 students and it offers 46 academic majors. The University of Mobile , established in 1961 and affiliated with Alabama Baptist Convention, has an enrollment of about 2,000 and offers 90 academic majors. During the late 20th century, white conservatives left the Democratic Party for the Republican Party. In that same period, as African Americans regained their ability to exercise

4875-636: The total world population. This includes at least 5,000 distinct peoples. As there is no universally accepted definition of Indigenous Peoples, their classification as such varies between countries and organizations. In the Americas, Australia and New Zealand, Indigenous status is often applied unproblematically to groups descended from the peoples who lived there prior to European settlement. However, In Asia and Africa, Indigenous status has sometimes been rejected by certain peoples, denied by governments or applied to peoples who may not be considered "Indigenous" in other contexts. The concept of indigenous peoples

4950-520: The vote and 102,043 votes. His challenger, Democrat Vivian Figures , won 43 percent of the vote and 77,292 votes. Within the city of Mobile, the margins between the Republican and Democrat candidates are usually between 10 and 19 points. Since 1996, the Democrats have gotten 40-45% of the vote. Indigenous people There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples , although in

5025-511: The vote. In the 2008 presidential election, Mobile County cast the majority of its votes for the Republican candidate John McCain . He won 54% of the vote and 98,049 votes. Democrat Barack Obama received 45% of the vote and 82,181 votes. Other candidates won 1% of the vote. In the Senate off-year election in 2008, Republican Jeff Sessions did better than John McCain. Sessions won 57 percent of

5100-739: The world. Most Indigenous peoples are in a minority in the state or traditional territory they inhabit and have experienced domination by other groups, especially non-Indigenous peoples. Although many Indigenous peoples have experienced colonization by settlers from European nations, Indigenous identity is not determined by Western colonization. The rights of Indigenous peoples are outlined in national legislation, treaties and international law. The 1989 International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples protects Indigenous peoples from discrimination and specifies their rights to development, customary laws, lands, territories and resources, employment, education and health. In 2007,

5175-414: Was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.50 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.10 males. The median income for a household in the county was $ 33,710, and the median income for a family was $ 40,378. Males had a median income of $ 32,329 versus $ 21,986 for females. The per capita income for the county was $ 17,178. About 15.60% of families and 18.50% of the population were below

5250-459: Was called the Alabama Territory . Two years later, the county became part of the state of Alabama, granted statehood on December 14, 1819. The city of Mobile, first settled by French colonists in the early 18th century as part of La Louisiane , was designated as the county seat from the early days of the county. Both the county and city derive their name from Fort Louis de la Mobile ,

5325-575: Was motivated by a quest for gold and crusading against Islam. Portugal's first attempt at colonization in what is now Senegal ended in failure. In the 1470s, the Portuguese established a fortified trading post on the West coast of Africa, south of the Akan goldfields. The Portuguese engaged in extensive trade of goods for gold and, in later years, slaves for their sugar plantations in the islands off West Africa and in

5400-548: Was necessary not only because of a lack of sufficient quantity but because the water sheds of Clear and Three Mile Creeks were becoming more urbanized and the quality of the supply was endangered. The source of supply recommended by the Mobile Water Works to the City and Planning Commissions was Big Creek, in the western part of Mobile County. The Big Creek project was placed in service in 1952 at about $ 7,000,000 including land, dams,

5475-443: Was ruled by the paramount chief Tuskaloosa . The historic Choctaw emerged somewhat later, and are believed to be descendants of those earlier peoples. They occupied this area along what early French traders and colonists called the Mobile River. They also founded the settlement of Mobile on the river and bay in the early eighteenth century. The British took over the territory in 1763 (along with other French territories east of

5550-412: Was used as a way of linking the experiences, issues, and struggles of groups of colonized people across international borders. At this time 'indigenous people(s)' also began to be used to describe a legal category in Indigenous law created in international and national legislation. The use of the plural 'peoples' recognizes the cultural differences between various Indigenous peoples. The first meeting of

5625-509: Was visited by numerous European and North American whaling, sealing, and trading ships. From the early 19th century, Christian missionaries began to settle New Zealand, eventually converting most of the Māori population. The Māori population declined to around 40% of its pre-contact level during the 19th century; introduced diseases were the major factor. New Zealand became a British Crown colony in 1841. The Aboriginal inhabitants of Australia, after brief encounters with European explorers in

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