Exercise #3: Connecting Past and Present
September 29, 2026 By: MANLI CHEN
Post 1: Parks
Article: Steph Kwetásel’wet Wood, “This long weekend, famous B.C. Park Joffre Lakes is open. At what cost?” The Narwhal, August 28, 2025.
Link: https://thenarwhal.ca/joffre-lakes-labour-day-opening/
This article discusses conflict over Pipi7íyekw/Joffre Lakes Provincial Park, where Líl̓wat and N’Quatqua leaders criticized B.C. for opening the park during dates they believed were meant for closure, ecosystem rest, and Indigenous use. The story connects strongly to Unit 3 because Binnema and Niemi showed that parks were often created by excluding Indigenous peoples while presenting the land as public wilderness. Joffre Lakes shows that this issue is not just historical; parks are still places where public recreation, conservation, and Indigenous rights can conflict. The article made me think that parks should not only protect scenery for visitors, but also respect Indigenous stewardship and the cultural history of the land.
Post 2: Urbanization
Article: Timothy Schafer, “New bear-resistant garbage bins to be installed in Nelson downtown,” Castanet, July 16, 2025.
Link: https://www.castanet.net/news/Nelson/561679/New-bear-resistant-garbage-bins-to-be-installed-in-Nelson-downtown
This article reports that Nelson is installing 35 bear-resistant garbage bins downtown after years of conflict between bears and urban garbage. This connects to Unit 3’s discussion of urbanization because it shows that cities are not separate from nature; animals, waste, food, and human infrastructure all meet in urban space. Sean Kheraj’s work on livestock nuisances in Canadian cities made a similar point: animals become “problems” when human settlement patterns change how people and animals share space. In Nelson, the issue is not horses or pigs but bears, and the solution requires changing human behaviour and urban design rather than simply blaming wildlife.
As someone who lives in a small town surrounded by nature, I can attest that bears have been a problem at my condo in the past. There was much debate with the condo association about how to deal with our problem bear, which had made a habit of raiding our garbage bins in the middle of the night. Several solutions were proposed, including bear-proof bins. Therefore, it is interesting but difficult to find a balance between respecting nature, keeping wildlife wild, and keeping humans safe, as I can’t imagine that coming face-to-face with a bear is something most people would desire on their way to work in the morning.