3. People and Their Connection to the Land: Livelihood, Culture and Education

My previous two posts have investigated the people and place of Canada and how my education at UBC connects to the area around me.  In this post I want to explore these ideas further and introduce my overarching blog theme: connections between land and people. I want to examine and compare the nature and strength of these connections for different communities in Canada and the UK, with a specific focus on the following three groups of people:

1. The indigenous First Nations communities of British Columbia (BC)
2. The Westernized non-indigenous citizens of BC (particularly those living in Vancouver)
3. The Westernized citizens in the UK (particularly those living in London).

The idea of a single stranded connection between people and place is somewhat simplistic. Therefore, I have broken down the term ‘people’ into three key aspects: livelihood, culture and education. All of which connect to land in different ways and to different extents, whilst simultaneously being connected to each other.

I have tried to illustrate how I envisage these connections in the diagram below.

I have arranged the three community groups along a scale according to how I perceive the strength of these connections. I discuss my reasoning behind where I have placed each one below.    

Indigenous vs Non-indigenous

My knowledge of BC First Nations people comes entirely from the university courses I have taken this term. However, even without this knowledge, I reckon most people would intuitively place indigenous communities at the stronger end of this spectrum. Why?

In terms of livelihood, indigenous communities are generally more directly dependent on the land around them for their nutritional, medicinal and material needs than those living in westernized societies. They obtain, process and use local resources themselves and thus understand exactly where these commodities are coming from and how they are affected by different activities. In western societies a lengthy supply chain tends to be involved in obtaining and processing resources, which disconnects the consumer from the origin of the products they are consuming.  For example, in 2013 the British Nutrition Foundation (BNF) surveyed 27,500 primary school children (age 4-11) across the UK. Their results were genuinely shocking - 30% thought that cheese comes from plants, 18% thought that fish fingers come from chicken and 10% thought that tomatoes grow under the ground!

Traditional method of cooking fish over a fire: 
the salmon has been caught, processed and will 
be eaten by the same group of people. 
In this way, livelihood is directly connected to the
land.

Aisle in a western supermarket:
the acquisition and processing of this produce has been carried out by a supply chain separate to the consumer. In this way, livelihood is disconnected from the land    

Indigenous communities also tend to have a stronger cultural link to the land than Western society.  This is in part due to the type of religion/ worldview that they live by. Indigenous communities generally adopt ‘earth-based’ religions, while western societies tend to adopt ‘being-based’ religions. Being-based religions envisage a hierarchical structure for all living things with human beings at the top. The world was created and is controlled by a human-like god/gods, emphasising the superiority of human form.  Conversely, earth-based religions, envisage humans as equal to all other living things. They do not worship 'gods' but believe that every living thing has a spirit that needs to be respected, and that every living thing has something to teach us. For example, in some tribes in BC each person is assigned a ‘spirit animal’ that best matches their personality. By observing and learning about their spirit animal it is believed that they will learn more about themselves. 

Below are illustrations of these two different religion types. On the left is the being-based hierarchical structure of living organisms with human beings at the top. On the right is the earth-based, circle of equality for all living organisms.

Illustrations of the two main types of religion discussed. 

The left hand illustration demonstrates the being-based hierarchical structure of living things. 

The right hand illustration demonstrates the earth-based circular, egalitarian structure of living things.

For one of my Community Forestry lectures an Indigenous First Nations member come in to talk to us. He likened humans to individual dust grains in a giant dust storm. The dust particles are tiny and no particle is significantly larger than any other, yet the sheer quantity of these particles coexisting and moving together creates a large and powerful system (the Earth's ecosystem).

A dust storm representing the Earth’s ecosystem. Human beings represent just some of the millions of tiny individual grains within the storm. 

In terms of education, for most indigenous peoples the land directly defines their livelihood and their culture. Therefore, how to use, respect and enjoy it is central to indigenous knowledge and thus education. Whereas, in western societies it no longer defines our livelihood and culture in the same way and so this type of knowledge is not integrated into our education system. Never once at school did I learn how to make a fire, which mushrooms to pick, or when the fish will be spawning. Furthermore, in indigenous communities education about the land is not separated from the land: children not only learn about it, they learn whilst in it and experiencing it. Whereas in western societies we often learn remotely about places we have never visited and practices we have never practiced. For example, in Indigenous societies you might learn about different types of berries, by picking and tasting them, whereas in Western societies you are more likely to learn about them through photographs and diagrams on a PowerPoint slide or in a book, as illustrated by the two photos I chose to compare below.

Indigenous First Nations woman explaining
the differences between different types of berries,
whilst outside in the forest holding 
the berry plant in question.

A typical UBC lecture taking place inside in a lecture hall and centred on a powerpoint presentation displayed on a screen at the front.

Non-indigenous BC citizens vs Non-indigenous UK citizens

However, since coming to Vancouver I have discovered that the connection between people and land is not the same for all non-idigenous, developed ‘western’ societies.  In my opinion there seems to be a stronger connection between people and land in BC than back at home. This connection is particularly apparent in the culture in Vancouver and is demonstrated by the prevalence of environmental awareness, sustainability initiatives and regular outdoor pursuits.

Why?

I am not entirely sure why this is the case, but my two main theories are:

1. The continued existence of indigenous people in BC, inspires citizens to be more ‘at one with nature’. 

First Nations man wearing a traditional headdress

2. The greater expanse of proximate, wild and dramatic landscapes in BC continually impresses and inspires the local citizens. To exemplify this I have compared the Vancouver and London Skylines in the two pictures below.  In Vancouver, the awe-inspiring North shore mountains tower over the city, somewhat dwarfing the sky scrapers and humbling man-made construction. Whereas in London, the most impressive aspects of the skyline are the buildings themselves, there is no mountainous backdrop .

Vancouver skyline: with an impressive mountainous backdrop dwarfing even the largest skyscrapers

The London Skyline: the buildings are the most impressive and dramatic aspects of this view

Despite having lived my entire life in the UK, and spent the last 4 years living in London I feel less connected to the land that surrounds me at home than I do here. Here, I feel a greater sense of awe at the natural environment, a greater desire to protect it and strangely a stronger sense of personal attachment to it. 

View from the top of Mount Galiano, Galiano Island (one of the Gulf Islands) during one of my weekend getaways!

2. Academic Differences

In my last blog post I described Vancouver, the UBC campus and the people who live here. In this next post I want to explore my academic experience so far in terms of both what I am learning about and how I am learning about it. I have found that there are three main ways in which my experience here differs from my experience in London.

1. I am taking a wider range of subjects
2. All my courses connect to my immediate surroundings
3. The teaching approach focuses on academic engagement and continuous assessment 

Firstly, I decided that this was the year to go a bit rogue with my module choices and learn about all sorts of things I've never learnt about before. Therefore, I have chosen to study a much wider range of subjects than I have in previous years in London. My workload is spread between the departments of Geography (naturally), Forestry, Anthropology, Archaeology and Land and Food Systems. Although this difference is largely due to my personal subject choices and less to do with UBC as an institution, many of the topic areas I have chosen draw on UBC’s unique academic strengths, such as those in the Faculty of Forestry and the Faculty of Land and Food Systems (both Faculties that don’t exist at UCL). Furthermore, the Canadian approach to the degree system is much broader in itself, they encourage students to take a range of subjects, many of which are outside their given department. Arts-based degrees generally require students to take some science credits and science-based degrees generally require students to take some arts credits.

I have listed my modules choices below for illustration:

Term 1 Modules:

• Geography:  Introduction to Geographic Information Science (GIS)
• Forestry:  Community Forests and Community Forestry
• Biology:  Plants and Peoples
• Anthropology:  First Nations of British Columbia 

Term 2 Modules:

• Biology:  Introduction to Soil Science
• Archaeology:  Emergence of Complex Societies in Europe and Asia
• Land and Food Systems:  Agroecology
• Applied Biology:  Horticultural Techniques 

Secondly, everything I am learning about seems to connect in some way to the areas directly around me … and by “around me” I mean between a 5-minute walk and a 20-minute cycle.  In London most of the things I was learning about felt somewhat more remote, for example: pond ecology in Norfolk, reconstructing past environments in Scotland and modeling the hydrology of wetlands in Nigeria. So far every module that I am taking here has involved trips to places on or near the campus. For example, in my Anthropology class (First Nations of BC) we went to a traditional Haida village reconstruction situated just outside the Museum of Anthropology…

A traditional Haida village reconstruction outside the Museum of Anthropology. The left-hand picture shows my lecturer explaining the village layout to us. The right-hand picture shows a part of the hand-drawn village design before it was built. 

In my Forestry class, we went inside the Museum of Anthropology to examine indigenous uses of forest wood products. We were shown traditional Canadian totem poles and other tribal woodcarvings from around the world.

Two indigenous wood sculptures from the Museum of Anthropology: on the left is a section of a totem pole from Coastal BC and on the right is a sculpture of a tribal 'Witch Doctor' from Papua New Guinea.

In my ‘Plants and People’ module we went to the UBC Botanical Gardens to learn about the biology of staple food crops in their ‘Food Garden’ and about traditional herbal medicines in their ‘Physic Garden’…

The UBC Botanical Garden: on the left is the “Food Garden” and on the right is the “Physic Garden”

We also went on a trip into Vancouver’s Chinatown to learn about the biology and uses of a range of Asian herbs, spices and teas … followed by a very educational (and delicious) exotic fruit tasting session!

Vancouver’s China town: on the left a signpost in front of a Chinese Gingko tree, on the right an array of dried fruits, nuts and spices outside one of the shops.

Our spread of exotic fruits ready to be tasted!

This week we are going to UBC’s Arboretum (yes, it has its own Arboretum…) to examine key Canadian tree species and look at some of the features of plant growth that we learnt about in our most recent lab. 

My GIS class has also related the course content to the immediate surrounding area. Geographic Information Science involves displaying and analyzing spatial data. In order to make complicated software techniques and data manipulation methods more relatable, we used spatial data from the local Vancouver area to construct different maps. We also compared remotely sensed images of the the campus to photos that we took from the ground whilst walking around it. Below I have included an example of a map I made using ArcGIS software. The map identifies the coastal areas of metro Vancouver that are theoretically at risk from a potential Tsunami (all non-beige areas). The red rectangles highlight areas where major roads cross into these danger zones and therefore areas where warning signs should be placed... (I know the key is a bit too small to read, sorry!).

Map of metro Vancouver showing zones at risk from a theoretical tsunami and areas where warning signs should be placed on roads

Next term my Horticultural Techniques and Agroecology modules will both make use of the facilities at the UBC farm and the extensive campus greenhouses. My Soil Science module will involve trips into the Pacific Spirit Regional Park behind the campus to look at typical local forest soils and my Archaeology module will once again have me venturing into the Museum of Anthropology.

The third key difference that has been the most striking is the emphasis on academic engagement and continuous assessment. The UBC approach allows you to really get your teeth into what you are learning about in a participatory and discursive manner rather than in a ‘sitting in the library reading 30 academic articles’ manner.  The assessment for all my courses is broken down into:

• Participation marks (answering questions in lectures)
• Online blog posts
• Regular class assignments (mini essays)
• Group projects (either written reports or presentations)
• A mid-term exam
• And then a final exam (at the end of the respective term, not at the end of the year). 

No single form of assessment makes up more than 30% of your final grade. For each course I am also given one key reading each week (as opposed to about 10 per lecture), which are then analyzed and discussed together in class. I find this quantity of reading much more achievable and so actually keep on top of it.  This whole assessment system means that you keep up to date with the material you are learning about and develop good class dynamics through group discussions and group projects. For example, the online blog posts are a platform for class debate: one person will have to post a reading response or reflection once a week and everyone else is expected to read this and then write their own opinions in the comments section. 

At UCL there is more emphasis on independent study, individual extended coursework and final exams (all at the end of the year). The assessment comes in big chunks, such as a big piece of coursework or a big exam making up 50-100% of your grade. Different people learn in different ways but I find I am much more suited to having a more structured, broken down and engaged schedule.

In summary, I have really settled into the academic environment at UBC. Due to the participatory nature of the teaching approach I have found it much easier to engage in the topics we are learning about, to make friends with other people in my classes and to be more confident about having one on one conversations with my professors.