Exercise #2: Family Environmental History
April 17, 2023 By: Alexis Begg - T00047868
Exercise #2: Family Environmental History
Our lives and present environments are indeed products of history. I believe that our lives are also products of circumstances and lived experiences. To begin with, my family’s history is a little murky and there are many unclear areas so I will do my best to respond accurately with the information I currently know. First off, my mother is Finnish, and both of her parents emigrated from Finland to Canada as young adults. My Papa was born and raised in Finland and lied about his age to join World War II as he was 16 years old but enrolled himself as 18 years old. My Papa fought in World War II and like many fellow soldiers, he came back as a different person. I was very young when my Papa passed away due to old age, but I remember he was a very quiet person. My father told me later on that my Papa was usually quiet as he was embarrassed that he couldn’t speak English very well and that even after years of living in Canada he still had a thick Finnish accent. My Papa lived on Vancouver Island and met my Granny at a local Finnish dance and that’s how they became a couple. Eventually, my Granny and Papa got married while living on Vancouver Island and raised my mother and her younger brother. The environment that my Papa lived in physically and mentally must have been a different place than I can even try to imagine. My Papa was an experienced logger and was away for most of my mother’s childhood which left my Granny to raise and look after both children. My Granny was a schoolteacher who taught English and art and was a very active community member. The natural resource that sustained my mother’s family was the logging and forestry industry. I guess looking at it now for this assignment, my Papa working in forestry and cutting logs made an impact on the environment. It is kind of funny when I think about my Granny and Papa because my Papa’s job was to cut down trees and my Granny was always conscious of the impacts of daily life on the environment. When I was little my Granny would also take the extra time to clean up after someone else’s mess as she would say “we have to leave places better than we found them,” which became a kind of mantra for me growing up.
My dad’s side of the family has a history and family tree that is a little less clear. My Dad’s dad (my grandpa) was born in Vancouver, BC and ended up raising his family in Ladner where my dad was born and raised. My Grandpa’s dad’s side of the family came from Scotland and his father, Alexander Begg was one of the founding fathers of Vancouver. Alexander Begg was a teacher, newspaperman, officeholder, rancher, and historian. Throughout the 1880s Alexander Begg participated in the development of what is now Alberta and British Columbia which included areas such as Vancouver and Ontario as well. There is little known about the origins of my grandpa’s mother’s side of the family, but I recall my grandpa’s mother was part of a family that was born and raised in Vancouver. It is an interesting feeling to be raised in the same small town as my father and walk the same streets in Vancouver as my grandpa and great-grandfather. I often think about what the city looked like when my great-grandfather Alexander lived and worked there. The natural resource that sustained my grandpa’s career was the local dairy operations in Ladner as he was the milkman who delivered milk to households. My grandmother worked as a telephone line operator so her main resource for work was man-made. I’m not sure how my dad’s side of the family has helped to transform their environment. I do know that my grandpa would spend a lot of his spare time fishing, hunting and being out on the water on Vancouver Island in Port Alberni. Since my grandpa spent a lot of time in the wild and respected the ocean life and animals on land he taught me about the balance in nature and how to live with the wildlife. My grandpa had a floating fishing cabin in Port Alberni, and he would take my sister and me out on fishing trips where we would learn about wolves, bald eagles, orcas, sunfish and all other types of wildlife that we came across. I think when someone spends so much time learning about and learning from nature they develop a deep appreciation and respect for the inner workings of human’s relationship with the wild. My grandpa had a passion for the outdoors, and he greatly respected the balance between man and nature. Similar to what my granny taught me, my grandpa also taught me the importance of respecting all lifeforms from the trees to the small creatures, to the mighty whales, to the small krill, they all have a role in the ecosystem and hierarchy of life. I’m very grateful that many of my grandparents passed on their passion for taking care of the environment and the places we live.