Junk in the woods : Yukoners' troubled relationship to the land
Abstract
The illegal dumping of discarded materials in the Yukon wilderness is a persistent problem that governments have struggled to contain. At the same time, similar discarded materials are often celebrated as historic artifacts and tourist attractions. Through the analysis of these conflicting news and tourism narratives surrounding junk in the backcountry, this thesis explores the various discourses present in the Yukon that shape how people see their relationship to the land. A critical discourse analysis reveals how narrative is used to reinforce and propagate a dominant ecological discourse of the Yukon environment as a barren and hostile place that must be dominated in order for humans to survive. Junk piles are recontextualized into trophies of human domination, and alternative discourses of stewardship over or unity with the land are either subsumed into the dominant worldview or are actively being removed from the land. This research shows many ways in which the Yukon’s natural environment itself is being shaped into this dominant barren image and calls on Yukoners to recapture a more balanced ecological worldview of the Yukon as a land that does not just threaten human life, but has sustained it for millennia.
Related items
Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.
-
Assessing Yukon's current approach to regional land use planning : perspectives from the North Yukon planning process
Leach, Amy Joan (2011-06-20)Regional land use planning in the Yukon has a long and unfortunate history of failed efforts. Under Chapter 11 of the Yukon First Nations Umbrella Final Agreement, a new process for planning has been in place since 1993. ... -
Whitehorse: The Yukon River Corridor Plan
Cabott, Lesley (Canadian Institute of Planners, 2000)The Yukon River is one of the great rivers of the world. A sixmile stretch of it known as the Whitehorse Rapids gave our city its name. Today, the river is both a source of power and a recreational playground, and ... -
Chinese understanding of winter tourism: An exploratory study in the Yukon Territory, Canada
Zhang, Xinhui (Electronic version published by Vancouver Island University, 2018-04-12)The purpose of my research is to increase our understanding of Yukon winter tourism from a Chinese perspective and to gain insights into Chinese tourists’ trip expectations and evaluations.