Questions for this Week:
In Dispossessing the Wilderness, Mark David Spence explores how the creation of the national parks was predicated on the dispossession of Indigenous peoples. What form(s) did this dispossession take? Beyond just physical removal, in what way(s) were the different Indigenous communities highlighted by Spence impacted by the creation of the national parks? In your response you should consider the political, spiritual, and cultural ramifications of this process.
Spence’s argument is based on an understanding of the wilderness ideal and of wilderness as cultural construct. What does Spence mean by the “wilderness ideal”? In what ways is wilderness a cultural and historical construct? What are some of the events and processes described by Spence that can help us better understand how wilderness is created? How does this concept, in turn, encourage us to reexamine the origins of the national parks and what they preserve?
How does Spence situate the creation of the national parks – Yellowstone, Glacier, and Yosemite, in particular – within the broader context of American history around the turn of the century? What relationships does he explore between the creation of the parks and the federal policies of Indian removal, reservations, and assimilation? How does the integration of these histories shed new light on the creation of the national park system in the United States?
Dispossessing the Wilderness is based around three core case studies of Yellowstone, Glacier, and Yosemite National Parks. Choose one of those case studies to explore in more detail. According to Spence, how did the process of dispossession unfold in this park? What form(s) did it take? How did this process relate to the creation of the wilderness ideal and the development of the park? What impact(s) did this process have on the Indigenous communities most closely associated with those lands?
Spence concludes his work with a discussion of recent and current concerns (as of 1999) among different Indigenous communities regarding the management and operation of the national parks. How does he characterize those concerns? In what way(s) are Indigenous communities still affected by their dispossession to create the national parks? What are some of the solutions proposed by these communities and/or by Spence to address these issues? What do you make of those proposals?
Compare Spence’s work to our reading from last week, Alfred Runte’s National Parks: The American Experience. In what respects do these two studies share similar themes in their discussion of the origins of the national park idea? In what respects do they differ? Importantly, how does this week’s reading add to our emerging understanding of park history and perhaps complicate the depiction of the national parks by Runte and/or Burns?
Reminder: You should respond to at least three (3) of the above questions. Your initial responses should be complete, thoughtful, and thoroughly address the questions you have chosen to respond to. At the conclusion of your initial response, you should also propose at least one relevant, thought-provoking question to the rest of the class.