Silver Divides

 Jesse Ernst

4/6/21

GEOG 101

Silver Divides

William Cronon wrote in the article Kennecott Journey how space is viewed differently by the indigionous people in contrast to the capitalistic entrepreneurship mindset.  The article demonstrates how people of every culture act and think differently.

The Alaskan Ahtnas people of the Wrangell Mountains area lived a subsistence lifestyle. Sometimes that meant barely having enough cached food to make it through the long harsh winters before the summer gathering season would begin again.  They valued the animals around them in unique ways, often thanking the animal or spirit of the animal when they took its life for food and fur.  Because of the “extreme seasonal cycling” (p. 35) and a scarcity of food, they regularly shifted locations and changed the size of their settlements. The Ahtnas didn’t know that one day European people would investigate where the Ahtnas found their silver and the great impact that discovery would have on their way of life.  In 1885 Lieutenant Allen visited the area to investigate or rather prepare to defend a newly erected mine and supporting city. Allen soon realized that the Alaskan wilderness was nothing like he had ever encountered. He realized that to live in this area his people needed more than the game that could be harvested locally; that goods would need to be brought in from elsewhere to support the mining community.

The mine itself “included 40 miles of underground tunnels” (p. 30).  Its function was simple: get all the silver ore, regardless of any environmental cost, until the extraction ceased to be financially beneficial.  A railroad was built to bring supplies to the community and silver ore to the rest of the world.  The development of Kennecott mine “was driven by outside forces that had nothing to do with the local community or ecosystem of the Copper River valley” (Cronon, p. 43).  

Commodity of Nature

In this week’s readings "Kennecott Journey: The Paths out of Town" by William Cronon and "Survival, Alaskan Style" by Susan Kollin, the writers are discussing nature’s landscape, how it is perceived and affected by those that inhabit it, and how it has become a commodity. I found very interesting in Kennecott Journey how Cronon described the Native people’s respect for Nature and the animals they relied upon for survival, they held the utmost respect for what they were able to obtain from nature in order to survive. Cronon further expresses the difference with the fur industry, when furs became means for trading, that respect was no longer honored as the animals were sought after as a commodity rather than means of survival.

Kollin’s writing is further discusses how nature and survival have become entertainment and a form of recreational activity. With popular reality TV shows that appeal to people who do not live a survivalist lifestyle, showcasing survival or living in nature as something to entertain us or to aspire to. This also connects to Lafebvre’s writing considering survival is a form of work, and in the current commodity of nature, is viewed as a form of leisure of being free from the rest of the world and living in nature.

Another point that stood out in both readings was Alaska’s nature being seen as a place for recreation. Taking nature and turning it into a commodity, a way to make money, and in many ways disrespecting that nature.

Changes of Nature

 Madison Blackburn

Geography 101

    This weeks essay that was known as Survival, Alaska Style was written by Susan Kollin. This reading talked about nature and how people viewed it and survived in it. Years ago, the appreciation and the activities in nature looked much different. People appreciated nature more and were always very respectful and careful with it. Now in the modern age, people aren't as appreciative of it and take nature for granted sometimes. Rather than using it for what they need, they don't treat it in the manners they should. In the modern age people are trying to survive solely off of nature. This can be hard, but can be done. They use little to no resources that aren't straight from nature and that is what this essay talks a lot about. Unlike these people, there are also people who never like to enjoy nature at all and just get too consumed in technology and their other daily lives. 

Where the Grizzly Men Are

 Jennifer Spatz

Geography 101

April 7th 2021

Simpson

Where the Grizzly Men Are

Timothy Treadwell was the subject of a nature documentary made in 2005 called Grizzly Man. This documentary was made by Werner Herzog, who captures the natural essence of Treadwell and his relationship to the environment and the world around him. He shows Treadwell as a naturalist in an innocent light by which he is charismatic and respectful with nature to disrupt it in such a way that allows him to intertwine with its naturally occurring patterns and create a double-sided relationship to it. The essay, Survival, Alaska Style, by Susan Kollin, analyzes this documentary, Treadwell, and what nature means in modern culture and environmental crises. 

The relationship between humans and nature is a very complex one, one that is heavily influenced by the ever-changing media. We are seeing an increase in the popularity of survivalists living amongst the wild, untamed nature with limited help or preparation. There are TV shows, books, sports, and movies that promote living off of the wild land and partaking in survival experiences that shape personality and determine skills that are unnatural to humans at this point in time. There is an increasing interest in the consumption and the exploitation of the wild environment because people get inspired by these “pioneers” who find their own journeys in the wild. 

The state of Alaska is a prime example of the battle between the journey of human nature and wild nature. There is a social fight present in which humans are finding their place within nature, and seeing what the result of that looks like. With the increasing popularity of “adventure”, nature is becoming lessened in its effects on human life due to the seekers of the wild experience. This phenomenon makes Treadwell’s experience, which was once exotic and unfamiliar to the media, nonunique and lacking in singularity. With these trends continuing, the phenomenal stories, such as Treadwell’s, where people connect with nature in a wild and unique way are seeming to be less and less insignificant.

Landscape of Modern Nature

 Jennifer Burton

Geog 101

4/6/2021

Response paper #8

Landscape of Modern Nature

In the article “Kennecott Journey, The Paths out of Town” by William Cronon, Cronon explains the history of Alaska and how people coming from the lower 48 used the land very differently than the Native Alaskans.  Alaska to the native people was a place of survival.  The people had to move and keep population numbers low.  They knew the land and used its resources to stay alive. The people who came later, like the Kennecott miners, did not use the land in the same way. They came to take the mining material and other resources. They did not have to live off the land; everything they needed came from elsewhere. Alaska was a place to take from, use what they wanted, and move on. Cronon gave an example of two children picking berries, one picking for medicine, nutrition, and dye. The other picking because its a beautiful sunny day and she is out for a walk and would like her mother to make a pie (Pg.47-48).

Today, nature in Alaska has changed.  In the article “Survival, Alaskan Style” by Susan Kollin, Kollin describes nature being treated very differently in modern times as compared to pervious eras. People are no longer in touch with nature, unless we work outside. Nature is marketed for recreation in our capitalist world, it becomes a commodity. Extreme nature adventures are marketed to a certain class of people, those who are prosperous.  People who are not worried about survival. Something I found interesting in her article was that extreme nature recreation imitates labor. Gardening, hunting, backpacking, climbing, camping and skiing.  “The play we feel brings us closest to nature is play that mimics work” (Kollin pg 150).

Survival for Leisure

Stasia Skonberg

Cultural Geography: Dr. Richard Simpson

4/5/21

Response Paper

Survival for Leisure

         In Susan Kollin’s “Survival, Alaska Style,” she explains the hierarchy of outdoor activities among genders and social classes and the explosion of interest of outdoor survival as a leisure activity in our modern society. Through modern times came a large outpouring of reality television depicting people living and surviving in the wilderness for fun. Out of this came a large group of people coming into Alaska for the adventure and putting their lives at risk. Among these people are Timothy Treadwell and Chris Mchandless, two men pushed by the desire for adventure in the “rugged” lands of Alaska.

         Kollin talks about the gendering of nature and how women are less likely to be shown and portrayed in roles of survival among the wilderness because that  is reserved for only the “hypermasculine”. She shows us an example of this in how Treadwell’s female companion was virtually nonexistent in the documentary made about Treadwell, despite being a main contributor to the cause and the bears.