SESSION 2.2: Present but Hidden: An Alternative Tourist\u27s Guide to Nanaimo Parks

The parks of the Nanaimo Regional District are a highly marketed aspect of tourism on Central Vancouver Island, with the area often being highlighted for its classic, West Coast natural beauty. The ideological understandings that much of Western society has of nature, such as what we see in the marketing of parks, has been heavily influenced by 18 th century Romantic poets--beautiful, but separate. Despite our reverence for natural beauty, there is also a history of humanity’s misconduct towards the land, as seen in the effects of capitalism expressed through industrial agriculture and damaging resource extraction practices. These are stories that are readily available, either visible or thinly veiled, but normalized within society. In an attempt to unearth some of the stories--from those of Indigenous people to pestilence houses--this action-based research project, presented through a tourism map, is an invitation to “explore” different aspects of the landscape and society you are experiencing. Rather than objectifying landscapes as static viewpoints, this project hopes to create a living, story-laden narrative for you with the goal of encouraging a greater community discussion about landscape uses, as well as guiding conversation towards conservation and the way stories are told, or not, by the park system. It offers a general foundation to ask: “how could the stories told by parks change or enhance not only visitor experience, but also address larger political issues within the realm of reconciliation and decolonization?” These maps were placed at tourism sites and on BC ferries for public accessibility