title: Multimeter

text: Meters with electronic amplifiers (all digital multimeters and some analog meters) have a fixed input impedance that is high enough not to disturb most circuits. This is often either one or ten megohms; the standardization of the input resistance allows the use of external high-resistance probes which form a voltage divider with the input resistance to extend voltage range up to tens of thousands of volts. High-end multimeters generally provide an input impedance greater than 10 GΩ for ranges less than or equal to 10 V. Some high-end multimeters provide >10 Gigaohms of impedance to ranges greater than 10 V.


title: Multimeter

text: Most analog multimeters of the moving-pointer type are unbuffered, and draw current from the circuit under test to deflect the meter pointer. The impedance of the meter varies depending on the basic sensitivity of the meter movement and the range which is selected. For example, a meter with a typical 20,000 Ω/V sensitivity will have an input resistance of 2 MΩ on the 100 V range (100 V × 20,000 Ω/V = 2,000,000 Ω). On every range, at full-scale voltage of the range, the full current required to deflect the meter movement is taken from the circuit under test. Lower sensitivity meter movements are acceptable for testing in circuits where source impedances are low compared to the meter impedance, for example, power circuits; these meters are more rugged mechanically. Some measurements in signal circuits require higher sensitivity movements so as not to load the circuit under test with the meter impedance.


title: Multimeter

text: Sensitivity should not be confused with resolution of a meter, which is defined as the lowest signal change (voltage, current, resistance and so on) that can change the observed reading.


title: Multimeter

text: For general-purpose digital multimeters, the lowest voltage range is typically several hundred millivolts AC or DC, but the lowest current range may be several hundred microamperes, although instruments with greater current sensitivity are available. Multimeters designed for (mains) "electrical" use instead of general electronics engineering use will typically forego the microamps current ranges.


title: Multimeter

text: Measurement of low resistance requires lead resistance (measured by touching the test probes together) to be subtracted for best accuracy. This can be done with the "delta", "zero", or "null" feature of many digital multimeters. Contact pressure to the device under test and cleanliness of the surfaces can affect measurements of very low resistances. Some meters offer a four wire test where two probes supply the source voltage and the others take measurement. Using a very high impedance allows for very low voltage drop in the probes and resistance of the source probes is ignored resulting in very accurate results.


title: Multimeter

text: The upper end of multimeter measurement ranges varies considerably; measurements over perhaps 600 volts, 10 amperes, or 100 megohms may require a specialized test instrument.


title: Multimeter

text: Every inline series-connected ammeter, including a multimeter in a current range, has a certain resistance. Most multimeters inherently measure voltage, and pass a current to be measured through a shunt resistance, measuring the voltage developed across it. The voltage drop is known as the burden voltage, specified in volts per ampere. The value can change depending on the range the meter sets, since different ranges usually use different shunt resistors.


title: Multimeter

text: The burden voltage can be significant in very low-voltage circuit areas. To check for its effect on accuracy and on external circuit operation the meter can be switched to different ranges; the current reading should be the same and circuit operation should not be affected if burden voltage is not a problem. If this voltage is significant it can be reduced (also reducing the inherent accuracy and precision of the measurement) by using a higher current range.


title: Multimeter

text: Since the basic indicator system in either an analog or digital meter responds to DC only, a multimeter includes an AC to DC conversion circuit for making alternating current measurements. Basic meters utilize a rectifier circuit to measure the average or peak absolute value of the voltage, but are calibrated to show the calculated root mean square (RMS) value for a sinusoidal waveform; this will give correct readings for alternating current as used in power distribution. User guides for some such meters give correction factors for some simple non-sinusoidal waveforms, to allow the correct root mean square (RMS) equivalent value to be calculated. More expensive multimeters include an AC to DC converter that measures the true RMS value of the waveform within certain limits; the user manual for the meter may indicate the limits of the crest factor and frequency for which the meter calibration is valid. RMS sensing is necessary for measurements on non-sinusoidal periodic waveforms, such as found in audio signals and variable-frequency drives.


title: Multimeter

text: Modern multimeters are often digital due to their accuracy, durability and extra features. In a digital multimeter the signal under test is converted to a voltage and an amplifier with electronically controlled gain preconditions the signal. A digital multimeter displays the quantity measured as a number, which eliminates parallax errors.


title: Multimeter

text: Modern digital multimeters may have an embedded computer, which provides a wealth of convenience features. Measurement enhancements available include:


title: Multimeter

text: Modern meters may be interfaced with a personal computer by IrDA links, RS-232 connections, USB, or an instrument bus such as IEEE-488. The interface allows the computer to record measurements as they are made. Some DMMs can store measurements and upload them to a computer.


title: Multimeter

text: The first digital multimeter was manufactured in 1955 by Non Linear Systems. It is claimed that the first "handheld" digital multimeter was developed by Frank Bishop of Intron Electronics in 1977, which at the time presented a major breakthrough for servicing and fault finding in the field.


title: Multimeter

text: A multimeter may be implemented with a galvanometer meter movement, or less often with a bargraph or simulated pointer such as a liquid-crystal display (LCD) or vacuum fluorescent display. Analog multimeters were common; a quality analog instrument would cost about the same as a DMM. Analog multimeters had the precision and reading accuracy limitations described above, and so were not built to provide the same accuracy as digital instruments.


title: Multimeter

text: Analog meters were intuitive where the trend of a measurement was more important than an exact value obtained at a particular moment. A change in angle or in a proportion was easier to interpret than a change in the value of a digital readout. For this reason, some digital multimeters additionally have a bar graph as a second display, typically with a more rapid sampling rate than used for the primary readout. These fast sampling rate bar graphs have a superior response than the physical pointer of analog meters, obsoleting the older technology. With rapidly fluctuating DC, AC or a combination of both, advanced digital meters were able to track and display fluctuations better than analog meters whilst also having the ability to separate and simultaneously display DC and AC components.


title: Multimeter

text: Analog meter movements are inherently more fragile physically and electrically than digital meters. Many analog multimeters feature a range switch position marked "off" to protect the meter movement during transportation which places a low resistance across the meter movement, resulting in dynamic braking. Meter movements as separate components may be protected in the same manner by connecting a shorting or jumper wire between the terminals when not in use. Meters which feature a shunt across the winding such as an ammeter may not require further resistance to arrest uncontrolled movements of the meter needle because of the low resistance of the shunt.


title: Multimeter

text: The meter movement in a moving pointer analog multimeter is practically always a moving-coil galvanometer of the d'Arsonval type, using either jeweled pivots or taut bands to support the moving coil. In a basic analog multimeter the current to deflect the coil and pointer is drawn from the circuit being measured; it is usually an advantage to minimize the current drawn from the circuit, which implies delicate mechanisms. The sensitivity of an analog multimeter is given in units of ohms per volt. For example, a very low-cost multimeter with a sensitivity of 1,000 Ω/V would draw 1 mA from a circuit at full-scale deflection. More expensive, (and mechanically more delicate) multimeters typically have sensitivities of 20,000 ohms per volt and sometimes higher, with 50,000 ohms per volt (drawing 20 microamperes at full scale) being about the upper limit for a portable, general purpose, non-amplified analog multimeter.


title: Multimeter

text: To avoid the loading of the measured circuit by the current drawn by the meter movement, some analog multimeters use an amplifier inserted between the measured circuit and the meter movement. While this increases the expense and complexity of the meter, by use of vacuum tubes or field effect transistors the input resistance can be made very high and independent of the current required to operate the meter movement coil. Such amplified multimeters are called VTVMs (vacuum tube voltmeters), TVMs (transistor volt meters), FET-VOMs, and similar names.


title: Multimeter

text: Because of the absence of amplification, ordinary analog multimeter are typically less susceptible to radio frequency interference, and so continue to have a prominent place in some fields even in a world of more accurate and flexible electronic multimeters.


title: Multimeter

text: A multimeter can use many different test probes to connect to the circuit or device under test. Crocodile clips, retractable hook clips, and pointed probes are the three most common types. Tweezer probes are used for closely spaced test points, as for instance surface-mount devices. The connectors are attached to flexible, well insulated leads terminated with connectors appropriate for the meter. Probes are connected to portable meters typically by shrouded or recessed banana jacks, while benchtop meters may use banana jacks or BNC connectors. 2 mm plugs and binding posts have also been used at times, but are less commonly used today. Indeed, safety ratings now require shrouded banana jacks.


title: Multimeter

text: The banana jacks are typically placed with a standardized center-to-center distance of , to allow standard adapters or devices such as voltage multiplier or thermocouple probes to be plugged in.


title: Multimeter

text: Clamp meters clamp around a conductor carrying a current to measure without the need to connect the meter in series with the circuit, or make metallic contact at all. Those for AC measurement use the transformer principle; clamp-on meters to measure small current or direct current require more exotic sensors, such as; hall effect based systems that measure the nonchanging magnetic field to determine the current.


title: Multimeter

text: Most multimeters include a fuse, or two fuses, which will sometimes prevent damage to the multimeter from a current overload on the highest current range. (For added safety, test leads with fuses built in are available.) A common error when operating a multimeter is to set the meter to measure resistance or current, and then connect it directly to a low-impedance voltage source. Unfused meters are often quickly destroyed by such errors; fused meters often survive. Fuses used in meters must carry the maximum measuring current of the instrument, but are intended to disconnect if operator error exposes the meter to a low-impedance fault. Meters with inadequate or unsafe fusing were not uncommon; this situation has led to the creation of the IEC61010 categories to rate the safety and robustness of meters.


title: Multimeter

text: Digital meters are rated into four categories based on their intended application, as set forth by IEC 61010-1 and echoed by country and regional standards groups such as the CEN EN61010 standard.


title: Multimeter

text: Each Category rating also specifies maximum safe transient voltages for selected measuring ranges in the meter. Category-rated meters also feature protections from over-current faults. On meters that allow interfacing with computers, optical isolation may be used to protect attached equipment against high voltage in the measured circuit.


title: Multimeter

text: Good quality multimeters designed to meet Category II and above standards include high rupture capacity (HRC) ceramic fuses typically rated at more than 20 A capacity; these are much less likely to fail explosively than more common glass fuses. They will also include high energy overvoltage MOV (Metal Oxide Varistor) protection, and circuit over-current protection in the form of a Polyswitch.


title: Multimeter

text: Meters intended for testing in hazardous locations or for use on blasting circuits may require use of a manufacturer-specified battery to maintain their safety rating.


title: Multimeter

text: A quality general-purpose electronics DMM is generally considered adequate for measurements at signal levels greater than 1 mV or 1 μA, or below about 100 MΩ; these values are far from the theoretical limits of sensitivity, and are of considerable interest in some circuit design situations. Other instruments—essentially similar, but with higher sensitivity—are used for accurate measurements of very small or very large quantities. These include nanovoltmeters, electrometers (for very low currents, and voltages with very high source resistance, such as 1 TΩ) and picoammeters. Accessories for more typical multimeters permit some of these measurements, as well. Such measurements are limited by available technology, and ultimately by inherent thermal noise.


title: Multimeter

text: Analog meters can measure voltage and current by using power from the test circuit, but require a supplementary internal voltage source for resistance testing, while electronic meters always require an internal power supply to run their internal circuitry. Hand-held meters use batteries, while bench meters usually use mains power; either arrangement allows the meter to test devices. Testing often requires that the component under test be isolated from the circuit in which they are mounted, as otherwise stray or leakage current paths may distort measurements. In some cases, the voltage from the multimeter may turn active devices on, distorting a measurement, or in extreme cases even damage an element in the circuit being investigated.


title: National Park Service

text: The National Park Service (NPS) is an agency of the United States federal government within the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages all national parks, most national monuments, and other natural, historical, and recreational properties with various title designations. The U.S. Congress created the agency on August 25, 1916, through the National Park Service Organic Act. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., within the main headquarters of the Department of the Interior.


title: National Park Service

text: The NPS employs approximately 20,000 people in 423 individual units covering over 85 million acres in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and US territories. As of 2019, they had more than 279,000 volunteers. The agency is charged with a dual role of preserving the ecological and historical integrity of the places entrusted to its management while also making them available and accessible for public use and enjoyment.


title: National Park Service

text: Yellowstone National Park was created as the first national park in the United States. In 1872, there was no state government to manage it, so the federal government assumed direct control. National parks and national monuments in the United States were originally individually managed under the auspices of the Department of the Interior. Artist George Catlin, during an 1832 trip to the Dakotas, was perhaps the first to suggest a novel solution to this fast-approaching reality. Indian civilization, wildlife, and wilderness were all in danger, wrote Catlin, unless they could be preserved "by some great protecting policy of government...in a magnificent park... A nation's Park, containing man and beast, in all the wild[ness] and freshness of their nature's beauty!"


title: National Park Service

text: The movement for an independent agency to oversee these federal lands was spearheaded by business magnate and conservationist Stephen Mather.


title: National Park Service

text: With the help of journalist Robert Sterling Yard, Mather ran a publicity campaign for the Department of the Interior. They wrote numerous articles that praised the scenic and historic qualities of the parks and their possibilities for educational, inspirational, and recreational benefits.


title: National Park Service

text: This campaign resulted in the creation of the NPS. On August 25, 1916, President Woodrow Wilson signed the National Park Service Organic Act that mandated the agency "to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and wildlife therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations". Mather became the first director of the newly formed NPS.


title: National Park Service

text: On March 3, 1933, President Herbert Hoover signed the Reorganization Act of 1933. The act gave the president the authority to transfer national monuments from one governmental department to another. Later that summer, the new president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, made use of this power after NPS Deputy Director Horace M. Albright suggested that the NPS, rather than the War Department should manage historic American Civil War sites.


title: National Park Service

text: President Roosevelt agreed and issued two executive orders to implement the reorganization. These two executive orders transferred to the NPS all of the War Department's historic sites as well as national monuments that the Department of Agriculture had managed and parks in and around Washington, D.C. that an independent federal office had previously operated.


title: National Park Service

text: The demand for parks after the end of the World War II left the parks overburdened with demands that the NPS could not meet. In 1951, Conrad Wirth became director of the NPS and began to bring park facilities up to the standards that the public was expecting.


title: National Park Service

text: In 1952, with the support of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, Wirth began Mission 66, a ten-year effort to upgrade and expand park facilities for the 50th anniversary of the Park Service. New parks were added to preserve unique resources and existing park facilities were upgraded and expanded.


title: National Park Service

text: In 1966, as the Park Service turned 50 years old, emphasis began to turn from just saving great and wonderful scenery and unique natural features to making parks accessible to the public. Director George Hartzog began the process with the creation of the National Lakeshores and then National Recreation Areas.


title: National Park Service

text: A 1963 report titled "Wildlife Management in the National Parks" was prepared by a five-member advisory board on Wildlife Management, appointed by United States Secretary of the Interior Stewart Udall. This report came to be referred to in later years for its chairman and principal author, A. Starker Leopold. The Leopold Report was just fourteen pages in length, but it set forth ecosystem management recommendations that would guide parks policy until it was revisited in 2012.


title: National Park Service

text: The Leopold Report was the first concrete plan for managing park visitors and ecosystems under unified principles. Park management issues and controversies addressed in this report included the difficulties of managing elk populations in Yellowstone National Park and how "overprotection from natural ground fires" in California's Sequoia National Park, Kings Canyon National Park, and Yosemite National Park had begun to threaten groves of Giant Sequoia with catastrophic wildfires. The report also established an historical baseline that read, "The goal of managing the national parks and monuments should be to preserve, or where necessary to recreate, the ecologic scene as viewed by the first European visitors." This baseline would guide ecological restoration in national parks until a climate change adaptation policy, "Resist-Adapt-Direct," was established in 2021.


title: National Park Service

text: National Parks director Jonathan Jarvis charged the twelve-member NPS Advisory Board Science Committee to take a fresh look at the ecological issues and make recommendations for updating the original Leopold Report. The committee published their 23-page report in 2012, titled, "Revisiting Leopold: Resource Stewardship in the National Parks." The report recommended that parks leadership "manage for change while confronting uncertainty."


title: National Park Service

text: "... New and emerging scientific disciplines — including conservation biology, global change science, and genomics — along with new technological tools like high-resolution remote sensing can provide significant information for constructing contemporary tactics for NPS stewardship. This knowledge is essential to a National Park Service that is science-informed at all organizational levels and able to respond with contemporary strategies for resource management and ultimately park stewardship."


title: National Park Service

text: The "Revisiting Leopold" report mentioned climate change three times and "climate refugia" once, but it did not prescribe or offer any management tactics that could help parks managers with the problems of climate change. Hence, the 2021 report specific to the need for climate adaptation: "Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD): A Framework for the 21st-century Natural Resource Manager." This "Natural Resource Report" has ten authors. Among them are four associated with the U.S. National Park Service, three with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and two with the U.S. Geological Survey — all of which are government agencies within the U.S. Department of Interior.


title: National Park Service

text: "... The convention of using baseline conditions to define goals for today’s resource management is increasingly untenable, presenting practical and philosophical challenges for managers. As formerly familiar ecological conditions continue to change, bringing novelty, surprise, and uncertainty, natural resource managers require a new, shared approach to make conservation decisions... The RAD (Resist-Accept-Direct) decision framework has emerged over the past decade as a simple tool that captures the entire decision space for responding to ecosystems facing the potential for rapid, irreversible ecological change."


title: National Park Service

text: The "Risk-Accept-Direct" Framework is described in an October 2021 paper published in "Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment". Twenty researchers from federal and state agencies and universities collaborated in this effort, which included short case studies of where and how this framework has already been applied. They conclude, "As more ecosystems pass beyond the point of feasible resistance, managers will actively need to decide whether to accept changes or direct changes toward desired outcomes."


title: National Park Service

text: The National Park System includes all properties managed by the National Park Service, which have a wide variety of titles or designations. The system as a whole is considered to be a national treasure of the United States, and some of the more famous national parks and monuments are sometimes referred to as "crown jewels".


title: National Park Service

text: The system encompasses approximately , of which remain in private ownership. The largest unit is Wrangell–St. Elias National Park and Preserve, Alaska. At 13,200,000 acres (53,000 km), it is over 16 percent of the entire system. The smallest unit in the system is Thaddeus Kosciuszko National Memorial, Pennsylvania, at 0.02 acre (80 m).


title: National Park Service

text: In addition to administering its units and other properties, the NPS also provides technical and financial assistance to several affiliated areas authorized by Congress. The largest affiliated area is New Jersey Pinelands National Reserve at 1,164,025 acres (4711 km). The smallest is Benjamin Franklin National Memorial at less than .


title: National Park Service

text: While there are laws generally covering all units of the National Park System, they are subject to management policies of individual pieces of authorizing legislation or, in the case of national monuments created under the Antiquities Act, Executive Order. For example, because of provisions within their enabling legislation, Congaree National Park is almost entirely wilderness area devoid of development, yet Yosemite allows unique developments such as the Badger Pass Ski Area and the O'Shaughnessy Dam within its boundaries. Such irregularities would not be found in other parks unless specifically provided for with exceptions by the legislation that created them.


title: National Park Service

text: For current specifics and a multitude of information, see the Quick Facts section of the NPS website.


title: National Park Service

text: Most NPS units have been established by an act of Congress, with the president confirming the action by signing the act into law. The exception, under the Antiquities Act, allows the president to designate and protect areas as national monuments by executive order. Regardless of the method used, all parks are to be of national importance.


title: National Park Service

text: The NPS uses over 20 different titles for the park units it manages, including "national park" and "national monument".


title: National Park Service

text: National monuments preserve a single unique cultural or natural feature. Devils Tower National Monument was the first in 1906. While the National Park Service holds the most national monuments, a monument may be managed or co-managed by a different entity such as the Bureau of Land Management or the Forest Service.


title: National Park Service

text: National preserves are for the protection of certain resources and operate similar to many National Parks, but allow limited resource extraction. Activities like hunting, fishing, and some mining may be allowed depending on the site. Big Cypress National Preserve and Big Thicket National Preserve were created in 1974 as the first national preserves.


title: National Park Service

text: National historical parks are larger areas with more complex subjects. Historic sites may also be protected in other unit types.


title: National Park Service

text: National military parks, battlefield parks, battlefield sites, and battlefields preserve areas associated with military history. The different designations reflect the complexity of the event and the site. Many of the sites preserve important Revolutionary War battles and Civil War battlefields. "Military parks" are the sites of larger actions, such as Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, Vicksburg National Military Park, Gettysburg National Military Park, and Shiloh National Military Park—the original four from 1890.


title: National Park Service

text: Examples of "battlefield parks", "battlefield sites", and "national battlefields" include Richmond National Battlefield Park, Brices Cross Roads National Battlefield Site, and Antietam National Battlefield.


title: National Park Service

text: National memorials are areas that officially memorialize a person or event, though unlike a National Histrorical Site, may or may not be placed at a specific historical location. Several national momeorial are on the National Mall, such as the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial.


title: National Park Service

text: National seashores and national lakeshores offer preservation of the national coast line, while supporting water–based recreation. Cape Hatteras National Seashore was created in 1937. Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, created in 1966, were the first national lakeshores.


title: National Park Service

text: National rivers and wild and scenic riverways protect free-flowing streams over their length. The riverways may not be altered with dams, channelization, or other changes. Recreational pursuits are encouraged along the waterways. Ozark National Scenic Riverways was established in 1964.


title: National Park Service

text: National recreation areas originally were units surrounding reservoirs impounded by dams built by other federal agencies, the first being Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Some national recreation areas are in urban centers, such as Gateway National Recreation Area and Golden Gate National Recreation Area, which encompass significant cultural as well as natural resources.


title: National Park Service

text: The National Trails System preserves long-distance routes across America. The system was created in 1968 and consists of two major components: National scenic trails are long-distance trails through some of the most scenic parts of the country. They received official protection in 1968. The Appalachian Trail is the best known. National historic trails commemorate the routes of major historic events. Some of the best known are the Trail of Tears, the Mormon Trail, and the Santa Fe Trail. These trails are administered by several federal agencies.


title: National Park Service

text: Wilderness areas are part of the National Wilderness Preservation System, which consists of federally managed lands that are of a pristine condition, established by the Wilderness Act (Public Law 88-577) in 1964. The National Wilderness Preservation System originally created hundreds of wilderness zones within already protected federally administered property, consisting of over 9 million acres (36,000 km).


title: National Park Service

text: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) began with Executive Order 13158 in May 2000, when official MPAs were established for the first time. The initial listing of U.S. areas was presented in 2010, consisting of areas already set aside under other legislation. The NPS has 19 park units designated as MPAs.


title: National Park Service

text: The National Park System received over 327 million recreation visits in 2019. Park visitation grew 64 percent between 1979 and 2015.


title: National Park Service

text: The 10 most-visited units of the National Park System handle over 30 percent of the overall visits. The top 10 percent of parks (41) handle 61.9 percent of all visits, leaving the remaining more than 380 units to accommodate 38.1 percent of visits. (Note that only 380 sites recorded visitors during 2021 due to COVID-19-related closures).


title: National Park Service

text: Most areas of the National Park System do not charge entrance fees and are completely supported by tax dollars, although some of the most popular areas do charge entrance fees. Fees vary site to site and are charged either on a per-vehicle or per-person basis, with most passes valid for 7 days. The America the Beautiful Pass series waives the per-vehicle fee or per-person fee for the holder and up to 3 other adults (children age 15 and younger are admitted for free at most sites). Annual passes for single areas are also available for those who visit the same site often.


title: National Park Service

text: Over 15 million visitors spent a night in one of the national park units during 2015. The largest number (3.68 million) were tent campers. The second largest group (3.38 million) stayed in one of the lodges, followed by miscellaneous stays (on boats, group sites—2.15 million). The last three groups of over-night visitors included RV campers (2.26 million), backcountry campers (2.02 million) and users of the concession-run campgrounds (1.42 million).


title: National Park Service

text: In 2019, the NPS had an annual budget of $4.085 billion and an estimated $12 billion maintenance backlog. On August 4, 2020, the Great American Outdoors Act was signed into law reducing the $12 billion maintenance backlog by $9.5 billion over a 5-year period beginning in FY 2021.


title: National Park Service

text: The NPS budget is divided into two primary areas, "discretionary" and "mandatory" spending. Within each of these areas, there are numerous specific purposes to which Congress directs the services activities.


title: National Park Service

text: The NPS budget includes "discretionary" spending which is broken out into two portions: the direct operations of the National Parks and the special initiatives. Listed separately are the special initiatives of the service for the year specified in the legislation. During fiscal year 2010, the service was charged with five initiatives. They include: stewardship and education; professional excellence; youth programs; climate change impacts; and budget restructure and realignment.


title: National Park Service

text: Discretionary spending includes the Operations of the National Parks (ONPS), from which all park operations are paid. The United States Park Police funds cover the high-profile law enforcement operations at some of the large parks, including Gateway National Recreation Area, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, and the National Mall. The "National Recreation and Preservation Program" and the "Urban Park and Recreation Fund" are outreach programs to support state and local outdoor recreational activities.


title: National Park Service

text: These are funds and people directed towards the restoration, preservation, and maintenance of natural and cultural resources. The resource staff includes biologists, geologists, archeologists, preservation specialists and a variety of specialized employees to restore and preserve cultural buildings or natural features.


title: National Park Service

text: The NPS allocates funds obtained from its visitor services for use in public programs and for educational programs for the general public and school groups. Park rangers trained in providing walks, talks, and educational programs to the public frequently conduct such programs. Media specialists prepare exhibits along trails, roads and in visitor contact facilities, as well as written brochures and web-sites.


title: National Park Service

text: This includes the staff responding to visitor emergencies (criminal, medical, search and rescue), and the protection of the park's natural and cultural resources from damage by those persons visiting the park. The staff includes law enforcement rangers, park police, lifeguards, criminal investigators, and communication center operators.


title: National Park Service

text: This is the cost of maintaining the necessary infrastructure within each park that supports all the services provided. It includes the plows and heavy equipment for road clearing, repairs and construction. There are buildings, trails, roads, docks, boats, utility pipes and wires, and a variety of hidden systems that make a park accessible by the public. The staff includes equipment operators, custodians, trail crews, electricians, plumbers, engineers, architects, and other building trade specialists.


title: National Park Service

text: This is the staff that provides for the routine logistical needs of the parks. There are human resource specialists, contracting officers, property specialists, budget managers, accountants and information technology specialists.


title: National Park Service

text: The NPS pays external administrative costs to outside organizations that provide the logistical support that the NPS needs to operate its facilities. These costs include rent payments to the General Services Administration for building space, postage payments to the postal machine vendor and other direct payments.


title: National Park Service

text: The Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) supports Land Acquisition and State Conservation Assistance (SCA) grant programs. In 2010, the LWCF began an incremental process to fully fund its programs at a total cost of $900 million. The Department of the Interior and the United States Forest Service use these funds to purchase critical lands to protect existing public lands.


title: National Park Service

text: The LWCF also issues grants to States and local jurisdictions to preserve and protect Civil War battlefield sites that are not part of the national park system. The SCA program distributes funds for land preservation to individual states.


title: National Park Service

text: The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 set the federal vision for historic preservation in the United States. To support the vision and framework laid out in this act, the Historic Preservation Fund (HPF) was established in 1977 to provide financial assistance to, originally, states, to carry out activities related to preservation. Funding is provided from Outer Continental Shelf oil and gas lease revenues, not tax dollars, and an amount is appropriated annually by Congress. Awards from the HPF are made to States, Tribes, Territories, local governments, and non-profits. Two specific programs include the Save America's Treasures and the Preserve America. The Historic Preservation Offices makes grants available to the States, territories, and tribal lands. To honor the 250th anniversary of the United States, Congress authorized the Semiquincentennial Grant in 2020 to support the preservation of State owned sites and structures listed on the National Register of Historic Places that commemorate the founding of the nation.


title: National Park Service

text: The NPS affects economies at national, state, and local levels. According to a 2011 Michigan State University report prepared for the NPS, for each $1 invested in the NPS, the American public receives $4 in economic value. In 2011, national parks generated $30.1 billion in economic activity and 252,000 jobs nationwide. Thirteen billion of that amount went directly into communities within 60 miles of a NPS unit.


title: National Park Service

text: In a 2017 study, the NPS found that 331 million park visitors spent $18.2 billion in local areas around National Parks across the nation. This spending helped support 306,000 jobs. The NPS expenditures supported $297 million in economic output in Missouri alone.


title: National Park Service

text: In an effort to increase visitation and allow for a larger audience to enjoy national park land, the NPS has numerous concession contracts with private businesses to bring recreation, resorts and other "compatible" amenities to their parks. NPS lodging opportunities exist at places such as the Wawona Hotel in Yosemite National Park and the Fort Baker Retreat and Conference Center in Golden Gate National Recreation Area.


title: National Park Service

text: Adaptive reuses like those at Fort Baker, have raised some controversy from concerns about the historical integrity of these buildings, after extensive renovations and whether such alterations fall within the spirit and/or the letter of the preservation laws they are protected by.


title: National Park Service

text: In 2015, Delaware North sued the NPS in the United States Court of Claims for breach of contract, alleging that the NPS had undervalued its trademarks of the names of iconic Yosemite National Park concession facilities. The NPS estimated the value of the intangible assets including the names "Ahwahnee", "Badger Pass", "Curry Village", and "Yosemite Lodge" at $3.5 million. Delaware North lost the contract, and asserted that the historic names were worth $51 million and maintained that the incoming concessioner had to be paid that amount.


title: National Park Service

text: The Justice Department and the NPS asserted that this was an "improper and wildly inflated" value. Rather than pay Delaware North's demanded valuation, in January 2016 the NPS instead opted to rename the famous landmarks, effective in March. The Ahwahnee Hotel is slated to become The Majestic Yosemite Hotel, Curry Village will become Half Dome Village, and the Wawona Hotel will become Big Trees Lodge. Widespread public outcry focused on Delaware North's decision to claim ownership of names within a national park. The names were restored in 2019 upon settlement of the dispute.


title: National Park Service

text: At many Park Service sites a bookstore is operated by a non-profit cooperating association. The largest example is Eastern National, which runs bookstores in 30 states with 178 stores.


title: National Park Service

text: The national headquarters is located in the Main Interior Building, 1849 C Street NW, several blocks southwest of the White House. The central office is composed of eleven directorates: director/deputy directors; business services; workforce management; chief information officer; cultural resources; natural resource stewardship and science; office of the comptroller; park planning, facilities and lands; partnerships and visitor experience; visitor and resource protection; and the United States Park Police.


title: National Park Service

text: Regional offices are in Anchorage, Atlanta, Lakewood, CO (Denver), Omaha, NE, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Seattle. The headquarters building of the National Park Service Southwest Regional Office is architecturally significant and is designated a National Historic Landmark.


title: National Park Service

text: The NPS is an operating unit of the U.S. Department of the Interior. The NPS director is nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. The director is supported by six senior executives.


title: National Park Service

text: These executives manage national programs, policy, and budget from the Washington, DC, headquarters. Under the deputy director of operations are seven regional directors, who are responsible for national park management and program implementation. Together this group is called the "National Leadership Council".


title: National Park Service

text: By the mid-1950s, the primary employees of the service were the park rangers, who had broad responsibilities on the parks' behalf. They cleaned up trash, operated heavy equipment, fought fires, managed traffic, cleared trails and roads, provided information to visitors, managed museums, performed rescues, flew aircraft, and investigated crime.


title: National Park Service

text: Locations are varied. Parks exist in the nation's larger cities like New York City (Federal Hall Memorial National Historic Site), Atlanta (Martin Luther King, Jr. National Historic Site), and San Diego (Cabrillo National Monument) to some of the remotest areas of the continent like Hovenweep National Monument in southeastern Utah, to Aniakchak National Monument in King Salmon, Alaska.


title: National Park Service

text: The Volunteers-In-Parks program was authorized in 1969 by the Volunteers in the Parks Act of 1969. for the purpose of allowing the public to serve in the nations parks providing support and skills for their enhancement and protection.


title: National Park Service

text: Volunteers come from all walks of life and include professionals, artists, laborers, homemakers and students, performing varied duties. Many come from surrounding communities and some travel significant distances. In a 2005 annual report, the NPS reported that,


title: National Park Service

text: ...137,000 VIPs contributed 5.2 million hours of service (or 2500 FTEs) valued at $91,260,000 based on the private sector value figure of $17.55 as used by AARP, Points of Light Foundation, and other large-scale volunteer programs including many federal agencies. There are 365 separate volunteer programs throughout the NPS. Since 1990, the number of volunteers has increased an average of 2% per year.


title: National Park Service

text: FTE stands for full-time equivalent (one work year). In 2012, the National Park Service reported that over 221,000 volunteers contributed about 6.4 million hours annually.


title: National Park Service

text: Additionally, other types of volunteers also conduct offsite NPS public outreach and education, such as the Trails & Rails program guides on board certain segments of long-haul Amtrak routes, who offer passengers insights to the travel area's natural resources and heritage.


title: National Park Service

text: Across the nation, there are special opportunities for artists (visual artists, photographers, sculptors, performers, writers, composers, and crafts) to live and work in a park. Twenty-nine parks currently participate in the "Artist-In-Residence program".


title: National Park Service

text: Law enforcement rangers, or protection rangers, are uniformed federal law enforcement officers with broad authority to enforce federal and state laws within NPS sites. The NPS commonly refers to law enforcement operations in the agency as "visitor and resource protection".


title: National Park Service

text: In NPS units, law enforcement rangers are the primary police agency. The NPS also employs special agents who conduct more complex criminal investigations. Rangers and agents receive extensive police training at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center and annual in-service and regular firearms training.


title: National Park Service

text: The United States Park Police (USPP) is the oldest uniformed federal law enforcement agency in the United States. It functions as a full service law enforcement agency with responsibilities and jurisdiction in those NPS areas primarily located in the Washington, D.C., San Francisco, and New York City areas.


title: National Park Service

text: In addition to performing the normal crime prevention, investigation, and apprehension functions of an urban police force, the park police are responsible for policing many of the famous monuments in the United States and share law enforcement jurisdiction in all lands administered by the service with a force of national park rangers tasked with the same law enforcement powers and responsibilities.


title: National Park Service

text: The NPS partners with a variety of youth oriented programs. The oldest serving group is the Student Conservation Association (SCA). It was established in 1957, committed to conservation and preservation. The SCA's goal is to create the next generation of conservation leaders.


title: National Park Service

text: SCA volunteers work through internships, conservation jobs, and crew experiences. Volunteers conduct resource management, historic preservation, cultural resources and conservation programs to gain experience, which can lead to career development and further educational opportunities. The SCA places volunteers in more than 350 national park units and NPS offices each year.


title: National Park Service

text: The Corps Network, formerly known as the National Association for Service and Corps (NASCC), represents 136 Service and Conservation Corps. These groups have programs in 42 states and the District of Columbia. Corpsmembers are between the ages of 16–25. Service and Conservation Corps are direct descendants of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) of the 1930s that built park facilities in the national parks and other public parks around the country. The Corps Network was established in 1985.


title: National Park Service

text: Other special NPS divisions include the Archeology Program, Historic American Buildings Survey, National Register of Historic Places, National Natural Landmarks, the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program, the Challenge Cost Share Program, the Federal Lands to Parks, the Hydropower Relicensing Program, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, the National Trails System, the Partnership Wild and Scenic Rivers Program, and the Natural Sounds and Night Skies Division.


title: National Park Service

text: The NPS operates four archeology-related centers: Harpers Ferry Center in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia, the Midwest Archeological Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, the Southeast Archeological Center in Tallahassee, Florida and the Western Archeological and Conservation Center in Tucson, Arizona. The Harpers Ferry Center specializes in interpretive media development and object conservation. The other three focus to various degrees on archaeological research and museum object curation and conservation.


title: National Park Service

text: National Park Service training centers include the Horace Albright Training Center, Grand Canyon; Stephen Mather Training Center, Harpers Ferry, West Virginia; Historic Preservation Training Center, Frederick, Maryland and Capital Training Center, Washington, D.C.


title: National Park Service

text: The Submerged Resources Center is the unit responsible for inventory and evaluation of submerged resources throughout the National Park system. The SRC is based out of the Intermountain Region's headquarters in Lakewood, Colorado.


title: National Park Service

text: The National Center for Preservation Technology and Training, located in Natchitoches, Louisiana, conducts research and training in the fields of archeology, architecture, landscape architecture and materials conservation.


title: National Park Service

text: The oldest federal preservation program, the Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record (HABS/HAER), produces graphic and written documentation of historically significant architectural, engineering and industrial sites and structures. Dating from 1934, the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) was chartered to document historic architecture—primarily houses and public buildings—of national or regional significance. Originally a New Deal employment/preservation program, after World War II, HABS employed summer teams of advanced undergraduate and graduate students to carry out the documentation, a tradition followed to this day. Many of the structures they documented no longer exist.


title: National Park Service

text: HABS/HAER produces measured drawings, large-format photographs and written histories of historic sites, structures and objects, that are significant to the architectural, engineering and industrial heritage of the U.S. Its 25,000 records are part of the Library of Congress. HABS/HAER is administered by the NPS Washington office and five regional offices.


title: National Park Service

text: In 1933, the NPS established the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), based on a proposal by Charles E. Peterson, Park Service landscape architect. It was founded as a make-work program for architects, draftsmen and photographers left jobless by the Great Depression. Guided by field instructions from Washington, D.C., the first recorders were tasked with documenting a representative sampling of America's architectural heritage. After 70 years, there is now an archive of historic architecture. HABS provided a database of primary source material for the then fledgling historic preservation movement.


title: National Park Service

text: Recognizing a similar fragility in the national industrial and engineering heritage, the NPS, the Library of Congress and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) formed the HAER program in 1969, to document nationally and regionally significant engineering and industrial sites. Later, HAER was ratified by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) and the American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical and Petroleum Engineers (AIME). HAER documentation, in the forms of measured and interpretive drawings, large-format photographs and written histories, is archivally preserved in the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress, where it is readily available to the public.


title: National Park Service

text: With the growing vitality of landscape history, preservation and management, proper recognition for historic American landscape documentation must be addressed. In response to this need, the American Society of Landscape Architects Historic Preservation Professional Interest Group worked with the National Park Service to establish a national program. Hence, in October 2000 the National Park Service permanently established the Historic American Landscapes Survey (HALS) program for the systematic documentation of historic American landscapes.


title: National Park Service

text: The NPS Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program is designed to assist local communities and the public in preservation of rivers, trails and greenways. Unlike the mainline National Park Programs, these programs take place on non-federal property at the request of the local community. One of their better known programs is Rails to Trails, where unused railroad right-of-ways are converted into public hiking and biking trails.


title: National Park Service

text: The National Trails System is a joint mission of the NPS, the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service. It was created in 1968 to establish a system of long-distance National Scenic and National Historic Trails, as well as to recognize existing trails in the states as National Recreation Trails. Several additional trails have been established since 1968, and in 2009 Congress established the first National Geologic Trail.


title: National Park Service

text: National Heritage Areas are a unique blend of natural, cultural, historic, and scenic resources. Having developed out of a shared historic, they create a unique whole. As of 2021 there are 55 designated heritage areas.


title: National Park Service

text: In September 2010, the NPS released its Climate Change Response Strategy, followed in April 2012 by the Green Parks Plan.


title: National Park Service

text: The Climate Friendly Parks Program is a subset of the Green Parks Plan. It was created in collaboration between the NPS and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The program is meant to measure and reduce greenhouse gases to help slow the effects of climate change.


title: National Park Service

text: Parks in the CFP program create and implement plans to reduce greenhouse gases through reducing energy and water use. Facilities are designed and retrofitted using sustainable materials. Alternative transportation systems are developed to reduce dependency on fossil fuels. Parks in the program offer public education programs about how the parks are already affected.


title: National Park Service

text: The CFP program provides climate-friendly solutions to the visiting public, like using clean energy, reducing waste, and making smart transportation choices. The CFP program can provide technical assistance, tools and resources for the parks and their neighboring communities to protect the natural and cultural resources.


title: National Park Service

text: The large, isolated parks typically generate their own electricity and heat and must do so without spoiling the values that the visitors have come to experience. Pollution is emitted by the vehicles used to transport visitors around the often-vast expanses of the parks. Many parks have converted vehicles to electric hybrids, and substitute diesel/electric hybrid buses for private automobiles. In 2001 it was estimated that replacement with electric vehicles would eliminate 25 TPY emissions entirely.


title: National Park Service

text: In 2010, the NPS estimated that reducing bottled water could eliminate 6,000 tons of carbon emissions and 8 million kilowatt-hours of electricity every year. The NPS Concessions office voiced concerns about concessions impacts.


title: National Park Service

text: In 2015, the International Bottled Water Association stated the NPS was "leaving sugary drinks as a primary alternative", even though the Park Service provides water stations to refill bottles, "encouraging visitors to hydrate for free". The Water Association made the national parks one of its top lobbying targets. In July 2015 Rep. Keith Rothfus added a "last-minute" amendment into Congress's appropriations bill, blocking the NPS from funding or enforcing the program. The NPS discontinued its ban on disposable water bottles in August 2017.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: Hoodoo is a set of spiritual practices, traditions, and beliefs created and concealed from slaveholders by enslaved Africans in North America. Hoodoo evolved from various traditional African religions, practices, and in the American South incorporated with various elements of indigenous botanical knowledge. Hoodoo is an African Diaspora tradition created during the time of slavery in the United States and is an esoteric system of African-American occultism. Many of the practices are similar to other African Diaspora traditions as the practices come from the Bakongo people in Central Africa. Over the first century of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, an estimated 52% of all kidnapped Africans (over 900,000 people) came from Central African countries like Cameroon, Congo, Angola, Central African Republic and Gabon. By the end of the colonial period, enslaved Africans were taken from Angola (40 percent), Senegambia (19.5 percent), the Windward Coast (16.3 percent), and the Gold Coast (13.3 percent), as well as the Bight of Benin and Bight of Biafra in smaller percentages. Hoodoo is a syncretic spiritual system that combines Christianity, Islam brought over by enslaved West African Muslims, and Spiritualism. This tradition is part of the African-American cultural heritage of spirituality and religion. Following the Great Migration of African-Americans, Hoodoo spread throughout the United States. Practitioners of Hoodoo are called rootworkers, conjure doctors, conjure man or conjure woman, root doctors, Hoodoo doctors, and swampers. Regional synonyms for Hoodoo include conjure or rootwork.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: The first documentation of the word Hoodoo in the English language appeared in 1870. Its origins are obscure but it's believed to originate as an alteration of the word "voodoo" – a word that has its origin in the Ewe and Fon languages of Ghana and Benin – referring to divinity. The Akan word "odu" meaning medicine is also considered to be a possible etymological origin. Another probable etymology is the Hausa word "hu'du'ba" which means resentment and retribution. The possible etymological origin of the word Hoodoo comes from the word Hudu which comes from the Ewe language spoken in the West African countries of Ghana and Togo. The word Hudu means spirit work. Hudu is also one of the dialects of the Ewe language of the Ewe people in West Africa. The Oxford English Dictionary cited the "Sunday Appeal's" definition of Hoodoo as an African dialect with practices similar to the mysteries of Obi (Obeah) in the Caribbean. In the Bahamas, Hoodoo is referred to as "obeah." According to author Zora Hurston, "'Roots' is the Southern Negro's term for folk doctoring by herbs and prescriptions, and by extension, and because all hoodoo doctors cure by roots, it may be used as a synonym for hoodoo."


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: The word Hoodoo is sometimes spelled hoodoo. Recent scholarship publications spell the word with a capital letter. The word has different meanings depending on how it is spelled. Some authors spell Hoodoo with a capital letter to make a distinction from commercialized hoodoo which is spelled with a lowercase letter. Other authors have different reasons why they capitalize or lowercase the first letter.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: Hoodoo was created by African Americans, who were among over 12 million enslaved Africans from various ethnic groups being transported to the Americas from the 16th to 19th centuries (1514 to 1867) as part of the transatlantic slave trade. The transatlantic slave trade to the United States occurred between 1619 and 1808, and the illegal slave trade in the United States occurred between 1808 and 1860. Between 1619 and 1860 approximately 500,000 enslaved Africans were transported to the United States. From Central Africa, Hoodoo has Bakongo magical influence from the Bukongo religion incorporating the Kongo cosmogram, water spirits called Simbi, and some Nkisi and Minkisi practices. The West African influence is Vodun from the Fon and Ewe people in Benin and Togo following some elements from the Yoruba religion. After their contact with European slave traders and missionaries, some Africans converted to Christianity willingly, while other enslaved Africans were forced to become Christian which resulted in a synchronization of African spiritual practices and beliefs with the Christian faith. Enslaved and free Africans also learned some regional indigenous botanical knowledge after they arrived to the United States. The extent to which Hoodoo could be practiced varied by region and the temperament of the slave owners. For example, the Gullah people of the coastal Southeast experienced an isolation and relative freedom that allowed retention of various traditional West African cultural practices; whereas rootwork in the Mississippi Delta, where the concentration of enslaved African-Americans was dense, was practiced under a large cover of secrecy. The reason for secrecy among enslaved and free African Americans was that slave codes prohibited large gatherings of enslaved and free blacks. Slaveholders experienced how slave religion ignited slave revolts among enslaved and free blacks, and some leaders of slave insurrections were black ministers or conjure doctors. The Code Noir in French colonial Louisiana, prohibited and made it illegal for enslaved Africans to practice their traditional religions. Article III in the Code Noir states: "We forbid any public exercise of any religion other than Catholic." The Code Noir and other slave laws resulted in enslaved and free African Americans to conduct their spiritual practices in secluded areas such as woods (hush arbors), churches, and other places. Enslaved people created methods to decrease their noise when they practiced their spirituality. In a slave narrative from Arkansas, enslaved people prayed under pots to decrease their noise to prevent nearby whites from hearing them have church. A former slave in Arkansas named John Hunter said the slaves went to a secret house only they knew and turn the iron pots face up and their slaveholder could not hear them. Enslaved people also placed sticks under wash pots about a foot from the ground to decrease their noise as the sound they made during their rituals went into the pots.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: Former slave and abolitionist William Wells Brown, wrote in his book, "My southern home, or, The South and its people" published in 1880, discussed the life of enslaved people in St. Louis, Missouri. Brown recorded a secret Voudoo ceremony at midnight in the city of St. Louis. Enslaved people circled around a cauldron, and a Voudoo queen had a magic wand, and snakes, lizards, frogs, and other animal parts were thrown into the cauldron. During the ceremony spirit possession took place. Brown also recorded other conjure (Hoodoo) practices among the enslaved population. Enslaved Africans in America held on to their African culture. Scholars assert that Christianity did not have much of an influence on some of the enslaved Africans as they continued to practice their traditional spiritual practices, and that Hoodoo was a form of resistance against slavery whereby enslaved Africans hid their traditions using the Christian religion against their slaveholders. This branch of Christianity among the enslaved was concealed from slaveholders in "invisible churches." Invisible churches were secret churches where enslaved African Americans combined Hoodoo with Christianity. Enslaved and free black ministers preached resistance to slavery and that the power of God through praise and worship and Hoodoo rituals will free enslaved people from bondage. William Edward Burghardt Du Bois (W. E. B. Du Bois) studied African American churches in the early twentieth century. Du Bois asserts that the early years of the Black church during slavery on plantations was influenced by Voodooism. Black church records in the late nineteenth century into the early twentieth century in the South, recorded a number of church members practiced conjure and combined Christian and African spiritual concepts to harm or heal members in their community.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: Known Hoodoo spells date back to the era of slavery in the colonial history of the United States. A slave revolt broke out in 1712 in colonial New York, with enslaved Africans revolting and set fire to buildings in the downtown area. The leader of the revolt was a free African conjurer named Peter the Doctor who made a magical powder for the slaves to be rubbed on the body and clothes for their protection and empowerment. The Africans that revolted were Akan people from Ghana. Historians suggests the powder made by Peter the Doctor probably included some cemetery dirt to conjure the ancestors to provide spiritual militaristic support from ancestral spirits as help during the slave revolt. The Bakongo people in Central Africa incorporate cemetery dirt into minkisi conjuring bags to activate it with ancestral spirits, and during the slave trade Bakongo people were brought to colonial New York. The New York slave revolt of 1712 and others in the United States, showed a blending of West and Central African spiritual practices among enslaved and free blacks. Conjure bags, also called , were used as a form of resistance against slavery. William Webb helped enslaved people on a plantation in Kentucky resist their oppressors with the use of mojo bags. Webb told the slaves to gather some roots and put them in bags and "march around the cabins several times and point the bags toward the master's house every morning." After the slaves did what they were instructed by Webb, the slaveholder treated his slaves better. Another enslaved African named Dinkie, known by the slaves as Dinkie King of Voudoos and the Goopher King, on a plantation in St. Louis, used to resist a cruel overseer (a person who is an overseer of slaves). Dinkie was an enslaved man on a plantation who never worked like the other slaves. He was feared and respected by blacks and whites. Dinkie was known to carry a dried snakeskin, frog and lizard, and sprinkled goofer dust on himself and spoke to the spirit of the snake to wake up its spirit against the overseer.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: Henry Clay Bruce who was a black abolitionist and writer, recorded his experience of enslaved people on a plantation in Virginia hired a conjurer to prevent slaveholders from selling them to plantations in the Deep South. Louis Hughes, an enslaved man who lived on plantations in Tennessee and Mississippi, had a mojo bag that he carried to prevent slaveholders from whipping him. The mojo bag Hughes carried on him was called a "voodoo bag," by the slaves in the area. Former slave and abolitionist Henry Bibb wrote in his autobiography "Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Henry Bibb, An American Slave, Written by Himself" that he sought the help of several conjurers when he was enslaved. Bibb went to the conjurers (Hoodoo doctors) and hoped the charms provided to him from the conjure doctors would prevent slaveholders from whipping and beating him. The conjurers provided Bibb with conjure powders to sprinkle around the bed of the slaveholder, put conjure powders in the slaveholder's shoes, and carry a bitter root and other charms on him for his protection against slaveholders.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: In Alabama slave narratives, it was documented that former slaves used graveyard dirt to escape from slavery on the Underground Railroad. Freedom seekers rubbed graveyard dirt on the bottom of their feet or put graveyard dirt in their tracks to prevent slave catcher's dogs from tracking their scent. Former slave Ruby Tartt from Alabama, said there was a conjurer who could "Hoodoo the dogs." An enslaved conjurer could conjure confusion in the slave catcher's dogs which prevented whites from catching runaway slaves. In other narratives, enslaved people made a jack ball to know if a slave would be whipped or not. Enslaved people chewed and spit the juices of roots near their enslavers secretly to calm the emotions of the slaveholders which prevented whippings. Enslaved people relied on conjurers to prevent whippings and being sold further South.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: A story from a former slave named, Mary Middleton, a Gullah woman from the South Carolina Sea Islands told of an incident of a slaveholder who was physically weakened from conjure. A slaveholder beat one his slaves badly. The slave he beat went to a conjurer and that conjurer made the slaveholder weak by sunset. Middleton said, "As soon as the sun was down, he was down too, he down yet. De witch done dat." Another slave story talked about an enslaved woman named Old Julie who was a conjure woman and was known among the slaves on the plantation to conjure death. Old Julie conjured so much death, her slaveholder sold her away to stop her from killing people on the plantation with conjure. Her enslaver put her on a steamboat to take her to her new slaveholder in the Deep South. According to the stories of freedmen after the Civil War, Old Julie used her conjure powers to turn the steamboat around back to where the boat was docked, which forced her slaveholder who tried to sell her away to keep her.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: Frederick Douglass, who was a former slave, and an abolitionist and author, wrote in his autobiography that he sought spiritual assistance from an enslaved conjurer named Sandy Jenkins. Sandy told Douglass to follow him into the woods where they found a root that Sandy told Douglass to carry in his right pocket to prevent any white man from whipping him. Douglass carried the root on his right side instructed by Sandy and hoped the root would work when he returned to the plantation. The cruel slave-breaker Mr. Covey told Douglass to do some work, but as Mr. Covey approached Douglass, Douglass had the strength and courage to resist Mr. Covey and defeated him after they fought. Covey never bothered Douglass again. In his autobiography, Douglass believed the root given to him by Sandy prevented him from being whipped by Mr. Covey. Hoodoo or conjure for African Americans is a form of resistance against white supremacy. African American conjurers were seen as a threat by white Americans because enslaved people went to free and enslaved conjurers to receive charms for protection and revenge against their slaveholders. Enslaved blacks used Hoodoo to bring about justice on American plantations by poisoning slaveholders and conjuring death onto their oppressors.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: During the era of slavery, occultist Paschal Beverly Randolph began studying the occult and traveled and learned spiritual practices in Africa and Europe. Randolph was a mixed race free black man who wrote several books on the occult. In addition, Randolph was an abolitionist and spoke out against the practice of slavery in the South. After the American Civil War, Randolph educated freedmen in schools for former slaves called Freedmen's Bureau Schools in New Orleans, Louisiana, where he studied Louisiana Voodoo and hoodoo in African American communities, documenting his findings in his book, "Seership, The Magnetic Mirror." In 1874, Randolph organized a spiritual organization called Brotherhood of Eulis in Tennessee. Through his travels, Randolph documented the continued African traditions in Hoodoo practiced by African Americans in the South. Randolph documented two African American men of Kongo origin that used Kongo conjure practices against each other. The two conjure men came from a slave ship that docked in Mobile Bay in 1860 or 1861. According to Randolph, the words "Hoodoo" and "Voodoo" are from African dialects, and the practices of Hoodoo and Voodoo are similar to Obi (Obeah) in the Caribbean. The Caribbean influence in hoodoo is evident in African American languages. For example, the word used to describe a rootworkers or Voodoo priest's pharmacy house (a house filled with herbs for herbal healing and conjure) is called an Obi hut or Obeah hut.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: The term "hoodoo" was first documented in American English in 1870 as a noun (the practice of hoodoo) or as a transitive verb, as in "I hoodoo you," an action carried out by varying means. The Hoodoo could be manifest in a healing potion, or in the exercise of a parapsychological power, or as the cause of harm which befalls the targeted victim. In African-American Vernacular English (AAVE), Hoodoo is often used to refer to a paranormal consciousness or spiritual hypnosis, or a spell, but Hoodoo may also be used as an adjective in reference to a practitioner, such as "Hoodoo man." According to Paschal Berverly Randolph, the word Hoodoo is an African dialect. According to scholars, the origin of the word Hoodoo and other words associated with the practice were traced to the Bight of Benin and Senegambia. For example, in West Africa the word gris-gris (a conjure bag) is a Mande word. The word wanga (another word for mojo bag) comes from the Kikongo language.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: The mobility of Black people from the rural South to more urban areas in the North is characterized by the items used in Hoodoo. White pharmacists opened their shops in African American communities and began to offer items both asked for by their customers, as well as things they themselves felt would be of use. Examples of the adoption of occultism and mysticism may be seen in the colored wax candles in glass jars that are often labeled for specific purposes such as "Fast Luck" or "Love Drawing." There were some African Americans that sold hoodoo products in the black community. An African American woman, Mattie Sampson, worked as a sales person in an active mail order business selling hoodoo products to her neighbors in Georgia. Since the opening of Botanicas, Hoodoo practitioners purchase their spiritual supplies of novena candles, incense, herbs, conjure oils and other items from spiritual shops that service practitioners of Vodou, Santeria, and other African Traditional Religions.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: Hoodoo spread throughout the United States as African-Americans left the delta during the Great Migration. As African Americans left the South during the Great Migration, they took the practice of Hoodoo to other black communities in the North. Benjamin Rucker, also known as Black Herman, provided Hoodoo services for African Americans in the North and the South when he traveled as a stage magician. Benjamin Rucker was born in Virginia in 1892. Rucker learned stage magic and conjure from an African American named Prince Herman (Alonzo Moore). After Prince Herman's death, Rucker changed his name in honor of his teacher to Black Herman. Black Herman traveled between the North and South and provided conjure services in black communities, such as card readings, crafting health tonics, and other services. However, Jim Crow laws pushed Black Herman to Harlem, New York's black community where he operated his own Hoodoo business and provided rootwork services to his clients. For some African Americans that practiced rootwork, providing conjure services in the black community for African Americans to obtain love, money, employment, and protection from the police was a way to help black people during the Jim Crow era in the United States so blacks can gain employment to support their families, and for their protection against the law. As black people traveled to northern areas, Hoodoo rituals were modified because there were not a lot of rural country areas to perform rituals in woods or near rivers. Therefore, African-Americans improvised their rituals inside their homes or secluded areas in the city. Herbs and roots needed were not gathered in nature but bought in spiritual shops. These spiritual shops near black neighborhoods sold botanicals and books used in modern Hoodoo.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: The "Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses" is a grimoire that was made popular by European immigrants. Purportedly based on Jewish Kabbalah, it contains numerous signs, seals, and passages in Hebrew related to the prophet Moses' ability to work wonders. Though its authorship is attributed to Moses, the oldest manuscript dates to the mid-19th century.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: However, the "Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses" is not traditional in hoodoo. White Americans marketed hoodoo to African Americans for their own personal profit which was not planned to maintain the African traditions in hoodoo. The incorporation of European grimoires into hoodoo began in the twentieth century during the Great Migration as African Americans left the South to live and work in Northern cities living near European immigrants. Nevertheless, the "Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses" has become a part of modern Hoodoo, because African Americans connected to the story of Moses freeing the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt, and Moses' magical powers against the Egyptians. Also, African Americans practiced Hoodoo centuries before the introduction of European grimoires. Hoodoo developed on slave plantations in the United States, and enslaved and free blacks used conjure as a form of resistance against slavery. Conjure practices in the slave community and among free blacks remained Central and West African in origin; such Hoodoo practices included the ring shout, dream divination, Bible conjure, spiritual use of herbs, conjure powders, conjure bags (mojo bags), and drawing Kongo cosmogram engravings (an X) on floors to protect themselves from a harsh slaveholder. For example, Gullah Jack was an African from Angola who brought a conjure bag onto a slave vessel leaving Zanzibar going to the United States for his spiritual protection against slavery. "Blacks utilized conjure as a form of resistance, revenge, and self-dense."


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: After the American Civil War into the present day with the Black Lives Matter movement, Hoodoo practices in the African American community also focus on spiritual protection from police brutality. Today, Hoodoo and other are present in the Black Lives Matter movement as one of many methods against police brutality and racism in the black community. Black American keynote speakers that are practitioners of Hoodoo spoke at an event at The Department of Arts and Humanities at California State University about the importance of Hoodoo and other African spiritual traditions practiced in social justice movements to liberate black people from oppression. African Americans in various African diaspora religions spiritually heal their communities by establishing healing centers that provide emotional and spiritual healing from police brutality. In addition, altars with white candles and offerings are placed in areas where an African American was murdered by police, and libation ceremonies and other spiritual practices are performed to heal the soul that died from racial violence. African-Americans also use Hoodoo to protect their properties from gentrification in their neighborhoods and on sites that are considered sacred to their communities. On Daufuskie Island, South Carolina in the early twentieth century, a Hoodoo practitioner Dr. Buzzard, placed a curse on a developing company that continued to build properties in Gullah cemeteries where Buzzard's ancestors are buried. According to locals, because of the curse the company and others following have never been able to build properties in the area and the owner of the company had a heart attack.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: Black women practitioners of Hoodoo, Lucumi, Palo and other African-derived traditions are opening and owning spiritual stores online and in black neighborhoods to provide spiritual services to their community, and educate African descended people about Black spirituality on how to heal themselves physically and spiritually. The culture of Hoodoo inspired creations of art for some Black artists. In 2017, "The Rootworker's Table" is an art piece created by a black woman that shows the culture of Hoodoo portrayed as an altar with a collection of bottles underneath a chalk board with Hoodoo herbal knowledge with instructions. The artist grew up in the Hill District of Pittsburgh and saw practitioners of Hoodoo who were mostly black women. Black women played a role in their communities as midwives, healers, and conjure women for their clients.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: Hoodoo practices at Congo Square were documented by Folklorist Puckett. African Americans poured libations at the four corners of Congo Square at midnight during a dark moon. Cultural anthropologist Tony Kail also conducted research in African-American communities in Memphis, Tennessee and traced the origins of Hoodoo practices to Central Africa. In Memphis, Kail interviewed Black rootworkers and wrote about African American Hoodoo practices and history in his book ""A Secret History of Memphis Hoodoo"". For example, Kail recorded at former slave plantations in the American South, "The beliefs and practices of African traditional religions survived the Middle Passage (the Transatlantic slave trade) and were preserved among the many rootworkers and healers throughout the South. Many of them served as healers, counselors and pharmacists to slaves enduring the hardships of slavery." Sterling Stuckey was a professor of American history who specialized in the study of American slavery and African-American slave culture and history in the United States, asserted that African culture in America developed into a unique African-American spiritual and religious practice that was the foundation for conjure, black theology, and liberation movements. Stuckey provides examples in slave narratives, African-American quilts, Black churches, and the continued cultural practices of African Americans.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: The Bantu-Kongo origins in Hoodoo practice are evident. According to academic research, about 40 percent of Africans shipped to the United States during the slave trade came from Central Africa's Kongo region. Emory University created an online database that shows the voyages of the . This database shows many slave ships primarily leaving Central Africa. Ancient Kongolese spiritual beliefs and practices are present in Hoodoo such as the Kongo cosmogram. The basic form of the Kongo cosmogram is a simple cross (＋) with one line. The Kongo cosmogram symbolizes the rising of the sun in the east, the setting of the sun in the west, and represents cosmic energies. The horizontal line in the Kongo cosmogram represents the boundary between the physical world (realm of the living) and the spiritual world (realm of the ancestors). The vertical line of the cosmogram is the path of spiritual power from God at the top traveling to the realm of the dead below where the ancestors reside. The cosmogram, or "dikenga", however, is not a unitary symbol like a Christian cross or a national flag. The physical world resides at the top of cosmogram and the spiritual (ancestral) world resides at the bottom of the cosmogram. At the horizonal line is a watery divide that separates the two worlds from the physical and spiritual, and thus the "element" of water has a role in African American spirituality. The Kongo cosmogram cross symbol has a physical form in Hoodoo called the crossroads where Hoodoo rituals are performed to communicate with spirits, and to leave ritual remains to remove a curse. The Kongo cosmogram is also spelled the Bakongo cosmogram and the "Yowa" cross.The crossroads is spiritual (a supernatural crossroads) that symbolizes communication between the worlds of the living and the world of the ancestors that is divided at the horizontal line. Counterclockwise sacred circle dances in Hoodoo are performed to communicate with ancestral spirits using the sign of the Yowa cross. Communication with the ancestors is a traditional practice in Hoodoo that was brought to the United States during the slave trade originating among Bantu-Kongo people. In Savannah, Georgia in a historic African American church called First African Baptist Church, the Kongo cosmogram symbol was found in the basement of the church. African Americans punctured holes in the basement floor of the church to make a diamond shaped Kongo cosmogram for prayer and meditation. The church was also a stop on the Underground Railroad. The holes in the floor provided breathable air for escaped enslaved people hiding in the basement of the church. The Kongo cosmogram sun cycle also influenced how African Americans in Georgia prayed. It was recorded that some African Americans in Georgia prayed at the rising and setting of the sun.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: In an African American church in the Eastern Shore of Virginia, Kongo cosmograms were designed into the window frames of the church. The church was built facing an axis of an east–west direction so the sun rises directly over the church steeple in the east. The burial grounds of the church also show continued African American burial practices of placing mirror-like objects on top of graves.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: In Kings County in Brooklyn, New York at the Lott Farmstead Kongo related artifacts were found on the site. The Kongo related artifacts were a Kongo cosmogram engraved onto ceramics and nkisi bundles that had cemetery dirt and iron nails left by enslaved African Americans. The iron nails researchers suggests were used to prevent whippings from slaveholders. Also, the Kongo cosmogram engravings were used as a crossroads for spiritual rituals by the enslaved African American population in Kings County. Historians suggests Lott Farmstead was a stop on the Underground Railroad for freedom seekers (runaway slaves). The Kongo cosmogram artifacts were used as a form of spiritual protection against slavery and for enslaved peoples protection during their escape from slavery on the Underground Railroad.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: Archeologists also found the Kongo cosmogram on several plantations in the American South; they were Richmond Hill Plantation in Georgia, Frogmore Plantation in South Carolina, a plantation in Texas, and Magnolia Plantation in Louisiana. Historians call the locations where crossroad symbols were possibly found inside slave cabins and African-American living quarters as 'Crossroads Deposits.' Crossroads deposits were found underneath floor boards and in the northeast sections of cabins to conjure ancestral spirits for protection. Sacrificed animals and other charms were found where the crossroads symbols were drawn by enslaved African-Americans and four holes drilled into charms to symbolize the Bakongo cosmogram. Other West-Central African traditions found on plantations by historians is the use of six pointed stars as spiritual symbols. A six pointed star is a symbol in West Africa and in African-American spirituality.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: On another plantation in Maryland archeologists unearthed artifacts that showed a blend of Central African and Christian spiritual practices among enslaved people. This was Ezekial's Wheel in the bible that blended with the Central African Kongo cosmogram. This may explain the connection enslaved Black Americans had with the Christian cross as it resembled their African symbol. The cosmogram represents the universe and how human souls travel in the spiritual realm after death entering into the ancestral realm and reincarnating back into the family. The artifacts uncovered at the James Brice House were Kongo cosmogram engravings drawn as crossroads (an X) inside the house. This was done to ward a place from a harsh slaveholder. Also, the Kongo cosmogram is evident in Hoodoo practice among Black Americans. Archeologists unearthed on a former slave plantation in South Carolina clay bowls made by enslaved Africans that had the Kongo cosmogram engraved onto the clay bowls. These clay bowls were used by African Americans for ritual purposes.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: The Ring shout in Hoodoo has its origins from the Kongo region from the Kongo cosmogram (Yowa Cross) and ring shouters dance in a counterclockwise direction that follows the pattern of the rising of the sun in the east and the setting of the sun in the west. The ring shout follows the cyclical nature of life represented in the Kongo cosmogram of birth, life, death, and rebirth. Through counterclockwise circle dancing, ring shouters built up spiritual energy that resulted in the communication with ancestral spirits, and led to spirit possession by the Holy Spirit or ancestral spirits. Enslaved African Americans performed the counterclockwise circle dance until someone was pulled into the center of the ring by the spiritual vortex at the center. The spiritual vortex at the center of the ring shout was a sacred spiritual realm. The center of the ring shout is where the ancestors and the Holy Spirit reside at the center. The ring shout tradition continues in Georgia with the McIntosh County Shouters. At Cathead Creek in Georgia, archeologists found artifacts made by enslaved African Americans that linked to spiritual practices in West-Central Africa. Enslaved African Americans and their descendants after emancipation house spirits inside reflective materials and used reflective materials to transport the recently deceased to the spiritual realm. Broken glass on tombs reflects the other world. It is believed reflective materials are portals to the spirit world.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: Water spirits, called Simbi, are also revered in Hoodoo which comes from Central African spiritual practices. When Africans were brought to the United States to be enslaved, they blended African spiritual beliefs with Christian baptismal practices. Enslaved Africans prayed to the spirit of the water and not to the Christian God when they baptized church members. Some African Americans prayed to Simbi water spirits during their baptismal services. In 1998, in a historic house in Annapolis, Maryland called the Brice House archaeologists unearthed Hoodoo artifacts inside the house that linked to the Kongo people. These artifacts are the continued practice of the Kongo's minkisi and nkisi culture in the United States brought over by enslaved Africans. For example, archeologists found artifacts used by enslaved African Americans to control spirits by housing spirits inside caches or nkisi bundles. These spirits inside objects were placed in secret locations to protect an area or bring harm to slaveholders. Nkisi bundles were found in other plantations in Virginia and Maryland. For example, nkisi bundles were found for the purpose of healing or misfortune. Archeologists found objects believed by the enslaved African American population in Virginia and Maryland to have spiritual power, such as coins, crystals, roots, fingernail clippings, crab claws, beads, iron, bones, and other items that were assembled together inside a bundle to conjure a specific result for either protection or healing. These items were hidden inside enslaved peoples dwellings. These practices were concealed from slaveholders.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: In Darrow, Louisiana at the Ashland-Belle Helene Plantation historians and archeologists unearthed Kongo and Central African practices inside slave cabins. Enslaved Africans in Louisiana conjured the spirits of Kongo ancestors and water spirits by using sea shells. Other charms were found in several slave cabins, such as silver coins, beads, polished stones, bones, and were made into necklaces or worn in their pockets for protection. These artifacts provided examples of African rituals at Ashland Plantation. Slaveholders tried to stop African practices among their slaves, but enslaved African Americans disguised their rituals by using American materials and applying an African interpretation to them and hiding the charms in their pockets and making them into necklaces concealing these practices from their slaveholders.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: In Talbot County, Maryland at the Wye House plantation where Frederick Douglass was enslaved in his youth, Kongo related artifacts were found. Enslaved African Americans created items to ward off evil spirits by creating a Hoodoo bundle near the entrances to chimneys which was believed to be where spirits enter. The Hoodoo bundle contained pieces of iron and a horse shoe. Enslaved African Americans put eyelets on shoes and boots to trap spirits. Archaeologists also found small carved wooden faces. The wooden carvings had two faces carved into them on both sides which were interpreted to mean an African American conjurer who was a two-headed doctor. Two-headed doctors in Hoodoo means a conjurer who can see into the future and has knowledge about spirits and things unknown.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: At Levi Jordan Plantation in Brazoria, Texas near the Gulf Coast, researchers suggests the plantation owner Levi Jordan may have transported captive Africans from Cuba back to his plantation in Texas. These captive Africans practiced a Bantu-Kongo religion in Cuba, and researchers excavated Kongo related artifacts at the site. For example, archeologists found in one of the cabins called the "curer's cabin" remains of an nkisi nkondi with iron wedges driven into the figure to activate its spirit. Researchers found a Kongo bilongo which enslaved African Americans created using materials from white porcelain creating a doll figure. In the western section of the cabin they found iron kettles and iron chain fragments. Researchers suggests the western section of the cabin was an altar to the Kongo spirit Zarabanda.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: In1822, a free black named Denmark Vesey planned a slave revolt in Charleston, South Carolina that was modeled after the Haitian Revolution. "Denmark Vesey, a carpenter and formerly enslaved person, allegedly planned an enslaved insurrection to coincide with Bastille Day in Charleston in 1822. His plans called for his followers to execute the white enslavers, liberate the city of Charleston, and then sail to Haiti before the white power structure could retaliate." Denmark Vesey's co-conspirator was an enslaved Gullah conjurer named Gullah Jack, who was born in Angola and maintained his Central African spiritual practices. Gullah Jack was known to carry a mojo bag with him at all times for his spiritual protection. For the slaves spiritual protection, Gullah Jack gave them rootwork instructions for a possible slave revolt planned by his co-conspirator Denmark Vesey. Gullah Jack instructed the enslaved to eat a peanut butter-like mash, eat parched corn meal, and carry crab claws for their protection. The plan was to free those enslaved through armed resistance and the use of conjure. Denmark Vesey and Gullah Jack were not successful because their plan was revealed and stopped. From other historical research and records, Gullah Jack performed a ceremony and made the enslaved eat a half-cooked fowl. One of the slaves said that he could not talk about the conspiracy as Jack bound his speech with conjure. According to records, Jack "charmed" enslaved men to join the revolt. Gullah Jack used the spiritual knowledge he had with him from Angola and made protective charms for other enslaved people for their spiritual protection.


title: Hoodoo (spirituality)

text: The word "goofer" in goofer dust has Kongo origins, it comes from the Kongo word 'Kufwa' which means to die." The mojo bag in Hoodoo has Bantu-Kongo origins. Mojo bags are called "toby" and the word toby derives from the Kongo word tobe. The word mojo also originated from the Kikongo word "mooyo." The word mooyo means that natural ingredients have their own indwelling spirit that can be utilized in mojo bags to bring luck and protection. The mojo bag or conjure bag derived from the Bantu-Kongo minkisi. The nkisi singular, and minkisi plural, is when a spirit or spirits inhabit an object created by hand from an individual. These objects can be a bag (mojo bag or conjure bag) gourds, shells, and other containers. Various items are placed inside a bag to give it a particular spirit or job to do. Mojo bags and minkisis are filled with graveyard dirt, herbs, roots, and other materials by the "Nganga" spiritual healer. The spiritual priests in Central Africa became the rootworkers and Hoodoo doctors in African American communities. In the American South, conjure doctors create mojo bags similar to the Ngangas minkisi bags as both are fed offerings with whiskey. Other Bantu-Kongo origins in Hoodoo is making a cross mark (Kongo cosmogram) and stand on it and take an oath. This practice is done in Central Africa and in the United States in African American communities. The Kongo cosmogram is also used as a powerful charm of protection when drawn on the ground, the solar emblems or circles at the end and the arrows are not drawn just the cross marks which looks like an X.Other Bantu-Kongo practices present in Hoodoo are the use of conjure canes. Conjure canes in the United States are decorated with specific objects to conjure specific results and conjure spirits. This practice was brought to the United States during the transatlantic slave trade from Central Africa. Several conjure canes are used today in some African American families. In Central Africa among the Bantu-Kongo, "banganga" ritual healers use ritual staffs. These ritual staffs are called conjure canes in Hoodoo which conjure spirits and heal people. The banganga healers in Central Africa became the conjure doctors and herbal healers in African American communities in the United States. The Harn Museum of Art at the University of Florida collaborated with other world museums to compare African American conjure canes with ritual staffs from Central Africa and found similarities between the two, and other aspects of African American culture that originated from Bantu-Kongo people.