Remembering Tomorrow: Wagon Roads, Identity and the Decolonization of a First Nations Landscape
Roads embody the experiences of those who construct, use and maintain them through time. Using a biographical approach I explore how memory and identity are entangled in the material remains of a wagon road in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. First constructed by the Royal Engineers in 1859 to...
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2016
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ftunitsydneyep:oai:epress.lib.uts.edu.au:article/5326 2023-05-15T16:16:38+02:00 Remembering Tomorrow: Wagon Roads, Identity and the Decolonization of a First Nations Landscape Gibson, Erin L.S. 2016-12-30 application/pdf text/html https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/phrj/article/view/5326 https://doi.org/10.5130/phrj.v23i0.5326 eng eng UTS ePRESS https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/phrj/article/view/5326/5786 https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/phrj/article/view/5326/5789 https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/phrj/article/view/5326 doi:10.5130/phrj.v23i0.5326 Copyright (c) 2016 Erin L.S. Gibson https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 CC-BY Public History Review; Vol 23 (2016); 25-42 1833-4989 Wagon roads Lillooet River Valley identity heritage memory indigenous post colonialism info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Peer-reviewed Article 2016 ftunitsydneyep https://doi.org/10.5130/phrj.v23i0.5326 2022-03-13T14:33:16Z Roads embody the experiences of those who construct, use and maintain them through time. Using a biographical approach I explore how memory and identity are entangled in the material remains of a wagon road in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. First constructed by the Royal Engineers in 1859 to enable miners to reach the Fraser River goldfields, the importance of this road transcends its colonial origins. Entwined in different webs of meaning, the material remains of the wagon road continue to play a role in the lives of people today. In this article I investigate the significance of this wagon road to the indigenous Stl’atl’imx (pronounced Stat-lee-um) people of the lower Lillooet River Valley who aim to preserve it as a part of decolonizing and reclaiming their traditional territory and identity. I also look at the road’s importance to a group of Grade 10 students who experience it as part of a high school excursion that teaches outdoor survival skills alongside lessons about British Columbia’s historic past. While these two groups have different experiences of the colonial encounter, for each their understanding of the road goes beyond its physical form to its ‘place’ in understanding their own identity. Article in Journal/Newspaper First Nations University of Technology, Sydney: UTS ePress - Journals British Columbia ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) Canada Fraser River ENVELOPE(-62.243,-62.243,56.619,56.619) Goldfields ENVELOPE(-108.485,-108.485,59.467,59.467) Public History Review 23 25 42 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
University of Technology, Sydney: UTS ePress - Journals |
op_collection_id |
ftunitsydneyep |
language |
English |
topic |
Wagon roads Lillooet River Valley identity heritage memory indigenous post colonialism |
spellingShingle |
Wagon roads Lillooet River Valley identity heritage memory indigenous post colonialism Gibson, Erin L.S. Remembering Tomorrow: Wagon Roads, Identity and the Decolonization of a First Nations Landscape |
topic_facet |
Wagon roads Lillooet River Valley identity heritage memory indigenous post colonialism |
description |
Roads embody the experiences of those who construct, use and maintain them through time. Using a biographical approach I explore how memory and identity are entangled in the material remains of a wagon road in southwestern British Columbia, Canada. First constructed by the Royal Engineers in 1859 to enable miners to reach the Fraser River goldfields, the importance of this road transcends its colonial origins. Entwined in different webs of meaning, the material remains of the wagon road continue to play a role in the lives of people today. In this article I investigate the significance of this wagon road to the indigenous Stl’atl’imx (pronounced Stat-lee-um) people of the lower Lillooet River Valley who aim to preserve it as a part of decolonizing and reclaiming their traditional territory and identity. I also look at the road’s importance to a group of Grade 10 students who experience it as part of a high school excursion that teaches outdoor survival skills alongside lessons about British Columbia’s historic past. While these two groups have different experiences of the colonial encounter, for each their understanding of the road goes beyond its physical form to its ‘place’ in understanding their own identity. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Gibson, Erin L.S. |
author_facet |
Gibson, Erin L.S. |
author_sort |
Gibson, Erin L.S. |
title |
Remembering Tomorrow: Wagon Roads, Identity and the Decolonization of a First Nations Landscape |
title_short |
Remembering Tomorrow: Wagon Roads, Identity and the Decolonization of a First Nations Landscape |
title_full |
Remembering Tomorrow: Wagon Roads, Identity and the Decolonization of a First Nations Landscape |
title_fullStr |
Remembering Tomorrow: Wagon Roads, Identity and the Decolonization of a First Nations Landscape |
title_full_unstemmed |
Remembering Tomorrow: Wagon Roads, Identity and the Decolonization of a First Nations Landscape |
title_sort |
remembering tomorrow: wagon roads, identity and the decolonization of a first nations landscape |
publisher |
UTS ePRESS |
publishDate |
2016 |
url |
https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/phrj/article/view/5326 https://doi.org/10.5130/phrj.v23i0.5326 |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-125.003,-125.003,54.000,54.000) ENVELOPE(-62.243,-62.243,56.619,56.619) ENVELOPE(-108.485,-108.485,59.467,59.467) |
geographic |
British Columbia Canada Fraser River Goldfields |
geographic_facet |
British Columbia Canada Fraser River Goldfields |
genre |
First Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations |
op_source |
Public History Review; Vol 23 (2016); 25-42 1833-4989 |
op_relation |
https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/phrj/article/view/5326/5786 https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/phrj/article/view/5326/5789 https://epress.lib.uts.edu.au/journals/index.php/phrj/article/view/5326 doi:10.5130/phrj.v23i0.5326 |
op_rights |
Copyright (c) 2016 Erin L.S. Gibson https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
op_rightsnorm |
CC-BY |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.5130/phrj.v23i0.5326 |
container_title |
Public History Review |
container_volume |
23 |
container_start_page |
25 |
op_container_end_page |
42 |
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1766002489921896448 |