Podium for Positive Change

This session will explore recreational wilderness spaces as paradoxical in that, on the one hand, they provide opportunities for forging meaningful connections with the natural world, while at the same time, they represent modern products designed for extraction and consumption that contribute to Indigenous erasure and undermine Indigenous sovereignty and wellness. Leaning into the concept of "wildernessing," participants will recognize how recreational wilderness spaces are represented, narrated and constructed into Canadian national mythologies and marketing, and will learn how applying historical and geographic thinking skills may help their students to grapple more thoughtfully with these contested, and often understudied spaces. (Div 3, 4)