We Come From the Land of Camp Camp Baby: A Settler Reflection on Wilderness Education at Residential Summer Camp

Residential summer camps are fascinating cultural productions. Physical spaces are produced with the aim of offering youth a chance to ‘escape’ their modern/urban lives. This escape is framed as a way of building connections to the natural and social worlds while nurturing a particular kind of character building. I grew up going to camp, and now I work at the same camp that deeply shaped my sense of being in the world. Looking back at my experiences here, I also now see that this very space, Camp Thunderbird, is rooted in settler colonial ideology and practice. From the name to the land upon which the camp sits, to the philosophical orientation of the camp’s mission, this camp, and my experiences here (including connections with nature, people, history, and personal character building), are positioned in a tricky settler colonial place of privilege and complexity. In this presentation, I will explore the complex relationships of settler colonialism and wilderness education at residential summer camp