ERIC EJ966899: Adrift in Our National Consciousness: Meditations on Canadian Ecological Identity

2011·0.25 MB·English

by  ERIC

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rail Blazing
Adrift in Our National Consciousness:
Meditations on Canadian Ecological Identity
By Greg Lowan
Canadian satirist Will Ferguson (2007) that Czikszentmihalyi (1990) describes—a
suggests that feeling of oneness with the Land when you
feel yourself “lost in the moment” and “time
Canada is a land pinned between the slows down.” And sometimes I simply enjoy
memories of habitant and voyageur. paddling as a physical and/or social activity
We have grown crops and built cities, that I can do with my friends, family and
bypassed rapids, unrolled asphalt and students.
smothered our fears under comforters
and quilts. We are habitants, and the Misao Dean (2006) discusses the canoe as a
spirit of the voyageur now lingers only celebrated icon of Canadian culture in her
in the home movies of our nation . . . critique of the Centennial celebrations of
Like a song from the far woods. (p. 94) 1967; as part of the Centennial, the Canadian
government organized the longest canoe
Might Ferguson, though somewhat glib, be race ever held. Teams of paddlers from every
correct? Has mainstream Canadian society province and territory retraced the historic
happily adapted to modernity along with the route of the voyageurs from Rocky Mountain
rest of the Western world, while desperately House, Alberta, to Montreal, Quebec (Dean;
grasping for increasingly distant images of Guilloux, 2007). However, Dean suggests
Nature1 as touchstones for an increasingly that the Centennial canoe race was, in fact,
urban existence? Might we be much more an embodied misrepresentation of Canadian
disconnected from the natural world as a history; she notes that, while most voyageurs
nation than we would like to admit? during the fur trade were French Canadian,
Aboriginal or, later, Metis, the large majority
I must confess to romantic visions of my of Centennial paddlers were English-
own of adventurous voyageur ancestors speaking Euro-Canadians. Dean also relates
setting out each spring from the comfort that the few Aboriginal participants in the
of their habitant farms on the southern Centennial race were often poorly treated.
shores of the St. Lawrence River to spend She suggests that the Centennial canoe
the spring, summer and fall plying the race was an instance of dominant Anglo-
waters of the Great Lakes and the rivers of Canadian society appropriating a cultural
the Northwest. Perhaps these dreams have icon that is not really their own.
manifested themselves in my own passion
for recreational canoe travel. Is that all that Like Daniel Francis (2005), I believe that
I am doing when I set out on a three-day, the canoe has become a universal symbol
one-week or even one-month canoe trip? of Canada and that all Canadians have the
Recreating? Or is there a deeper meaning to right to claim it as their own. However,
these intermittent adventures? as Dean (2006) suggests, as outdoor and
environmental educators, it is vitally
Like Peter Cole (2002, p. 450), I believe important that we acknowledge and
that “my canoe is a place of cultural teach our students about the Aboriginal
understanding;” when paddling, I often roots of the canoe; to ignore this crucial
reflect on the Indigenous roots of the canoe. socio-historical truth amounts to cultural S
I think back to my Mi’kmaq ancestors, misappropriation. Y
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skilled canoe builders who deftly created W
sea- and river-worthy boats from birchbark, As one participant of Japanese and Danish H
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cedar and spruce roots; this gives me a ancestry commented in my recent doctoral A
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profound sense of connection to the Land study into the ecological identities,
and my own cultural history. There are also philosophies and practices of intercultural 25
moments when I experience the “flow” outdoor and environmental educators in
Trail Blazing
Canada: “So many Canadians . . . celebrate wanderers or idealists seeking isolation.
the canoe as [a] wonder of Canada . . . But it MacGregor also presents the notion that the
is interesting because the ones who are doing practice of escape is preserved in cottage
the canoeing [often don’t have] any clue country throughout Canada and the annual
[why the canoe is important] . . . I think that pilgrimages that so many Canadians make to
our identity . . . has . . . been disconnected their favourite fishing, hunting, canoeing or
[from that history].” skiing destinations to “get away from it all.”
The escape mentality uncritically presented
Why do the canoe and other symbols of our by MacGregor (2002) portrays Nature as an
nation’s connection to Nature such as the isolated refuge from the “real world,” similar
Rocky Mountains, the North and the Great to the interpretation of the Western concept
Lakes (Francis, 2005) so strongly capture of “wilderness” as a place of solace or retreat
the imagination of the average Canadian? from the “real world” (Merchant, 2004).
Are we clinging to the past, whether real or
imagined, or perhaps seeking solace from the I believe that this kind of attitude is
present? problematic because it represents an
ecological identity that, while reverent, views
The Promise of Escape Nature as a recreational resource, useful for
a short period of time to recharge before
S Roy MacGregor (2002) suggests that a returning to the rigours of city life. While the
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A large aspect of Canadian identity is based escape mentality may not be immediately
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upon the notion of escape; he proposes that harmful on the surface, I believe that it is
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T throughout history Canada has been seen as symptomatic of a disconnected Nature-
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a place of escape for refugees or immigrants as-resource mentality that is ironically
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fleeing poverty or violence in their often used by urban preservationists to
26 homelands as well as a haven for romantic critique the actions and attitudes of rural
Trail Blazing
conservationists or resource extractors As the comment above exemplifies, when
(Berry, 2009; Thomashow, 1996). While the considering ecological identity in Canada,
immediate effects of resource extraction the picture is often unclear. For example,
are much more obvious, is there really that contrary to popular perception of the
much difference in the original mentality? In province of Alberta as the home of unabated
both cases, the greater-than-human world is oil and resource extraction, a recent survey
ultimately viewed as a commodity available into the environmental attitudes of Albertans
for human use and manipulation, as long reported that a majority of people in the
as it suits us. Having lived in both large province actually hold positive feelings
metropolitan centres as well as isolated rural towards the “environment,” but most feel
and semi-rural areas, it is my experience that disempowered or at a loss to act or speak out
rural farmers, hunters, loggers, miners and (Thompson, 2009). Statistics Canada (2008)
fishermen are often much more keenly aware also reported that “the environment” was
of and deeply connected to the Land around the top concern for Canadians in 2007. My
them than the urban environmentalists who hope is that these studies are examples of a
so often criticize and dismiss them with slow shift in our society that is increasingly
scorn. As American farmer and ecosopher positively disposed towards environmental
Wendell Berry (2009, p. 78) astutely observes, issues.
“They have trouble seeing that the bad
farming and forestry practices that they However, despite our cherished national
oppose . . . are done on their behalf, and image as a naturally beautiful and
with their consent implied in the economic environmentally pristine nation, Canada’s
proxies they have given as consumers.” current government was recently awarded
the “Colossal Fossil” award at the
Several participants in my doctoral Copenhagen Climate Change conference for
study discussed the inherent and often being the least environmentally progressive
contradictory plurality of ecological nation in the world (Cryderman, 2009).
identities in Canada. For example, one Euro- What happened to all of those Canadians
Canadian participant commented: who ranked the environment as their top
concern in 2007 (Statistics Canada, 2008)?
It might be a stretch to say that we have Have their priorities shifted due to the
one national Canadian ecological identity recent worldwide economic downturn? Or
. . . I think there are . . . those people that perhaps, our federal government simply
envision their . . . ecological connections does not represent the interests and values of
or contributions to be quite urban and . . . a majority of Canadians. The recent federal
sometimes also intertwined with . . . social election where the Conservative party was
issues . . . I think there are other groups elected to a majority government with only
. . . who don’t necessarily pay attention to 40 percent of the popular vote (Elections
social issues and who are more . . . “Back Canada, 2011) would suggest that this is
to Nature” . . . I think there’s people whose indeed the case. But what do all of these
ecological identity . . . is really fueled by statistics really mean?
a physicality—they’re seeking adventure
and sport . . . And I think there are, you Perhaps a political and/or economic crisis
know, people who are quite spiritually is exactly what is needed to collectively
connected to Nature and . . . people who reassess and re-imagine our society.
are ancestrally connected to particular Perhaps, like post-modern voyageurs, we
localized places . . . Then I also think have ventured deep into the wilderness S
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there’s people who don’t think about it all of industrialization and modernity, only A
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. . . who are so far removed that it makes to realize that we don’t have the tools,
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them nervous to see a spider or . . . [who] skills and wisdom to survive. As one Solo T
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spend their whole life living in their air participant from the West Coast commented P
conditioned house . . . car [and] office. in my doctoral study,
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[Based on] 30 years of subtle . . . just within my family . . . sphere
conversations with loggers in . . . . There is concern that things are
my family . . . what I am connected. [If] you clearcut a whole range
hearing is that there is of forest . . . the soil tumbles down into the
concern about how the salmon beds and they can’t spawn anymore
practices of the past . . . It’s like a domino [effect and] people are
cannot continue seeing this. The things that they used to
into the future. see . . . in childhood aren’t there anymore or
And so, I they hardly exist . . . Things have to be
sense a shift, done differently. And so . . . I want to
how[ever] believe that Canada is moving . . . more
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Trail Blazing
. . . into a concern for . . . environment Csikszentmihalyi, M. (1990). Flow: The
. . . Everything comes around in cycles, [so] psychology of optimal experience. New
I may be just old enough to hopefully see York: Harper and Row.
the next big positive push for a nation-wide
change in our environment policy to the Dean, M. (2006). The centennial voyageur
better. Where we’re looking at growing canoe pageant as historical re-
. . . instead of monopolizing . . . That’s just enactment. Journal of Canadian
one River Woman’s hope . . . We’ve got to Studies, 40(3), 43–67.
get all Canadians in [the same] canoe!
Elections Canada (2011). 2011 general election.
As contemporary outdoor and Retrieved September 13, 2011 from
environmental educators, we are faced with http://enr.elections.ca/National_e.
the challenge and opportunity to facilitate aspx
this societal shift towards a deeper collective
eco-cultural consciousness. Let us reconsider Ferguson, W. (2007). Why I hate Canadians.
the legacies of the voyageurs, habitants and Vancouver, BC: Douglas & McIntyre.
Indigenous peoples—inspiring and creating
authentic connections for our students and Francis, D. (2005). National dreams: Myth,
ourselves with Nature and history through memory, and Canadian history.
backcountry journeys and canoe trips as Vancouver, BC: Arsenal Pulp Press.
well as fostering a sense of daily connection
through long-term initiatives such as Guilloux, D. (2007). Paddling, portaging &
community gardens and farmers’ markets. pageantry. Rocky Mountain House,
After all, Nature does not begin or end at the AB: Doreen Guilloux Publishing.
city limits; we are part of it and it surrounds
us wherever we go. MacGregor, R. (2002). Escape: In search of
the natural soul of Canada. Toronto:
Notes McLelland and Stewart.
1 Culturally significant terms such as Nature, Statistics Canada (2008). Canada year book.
Land, Indigenous, Aboriginal and Western Ottawa, ON: Statistics Canada.
are intentionally capitalized in this article to
demonstrate and emphasize respect. Thompson, G. (2009). Progress through
polling: Why we should conduct
References polling about environmental
education. EECOM News, 5, 1–3.
Berry, W. (2009). Bringing it to the table: On
farming and food. Berkeley, CA: Acknowledgements: Support for this
Counterpoint Press. research was provided by the Social Sciences
and Humanities Council of Canada, the
Cole, P. (2002). Aboriginalizing methodology: Killam Foundation and the University of
Considering the canoe. International Calgary.
Journal of Qualitative Studies in
Education, 15(4), 447–459.
Greg Lowan teaches Aboriginal, Multicultural,
Cryderman, K. (2009, December 18). Outdoor and Environmental Education at
Environmental groups give Canada Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, Ontario. S
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“Colossal Fossil” award. The Calgary E-mail: [email protected]. A
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Herald. Retrieved February 9, 2010
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from http://www.calgaryherald. T
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oups+give+Canada+Colossal+Fossil
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+award/2359811/story.html