Nature Place By Claire Campbell Summary

Claire Campbell's book Nature, Place, and Story: Rethinking Historic Sites in Canada is an engaging and thoughtful book that seeks to transform our understanding of Canada's historic sites, and in the process, connect these historic sites and their stories with current environmental issues in Canada. To accomplish this task, Claire Campbell retells the story of five key Canadian historic sites, namely L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland, the Grand-Pré in Nova-Scotia, Fort William in Ontario, the Forks in Manitoba, and the Bar U Ranch in Alberta. In her retelling of these histories, Campbell often provides insights into the historical forces that led to their creation and later designation as Canadian historic sites, historical forces that frequently relate to national identity, modernity, regional politics, and the status of First Nations peoples in Canada. As a result, Campbell's work not only expands our understanding of Canada's historic sites and their connection to environmental issues but also the history of Canada since 1945. One the book's key strengths is Campbell's use

For example, the book's discussion of Fort William notes the site's role in reinforcing Ontario's self-image as the largest and most central player in Canada's federation due to the sites historical status as the epicentre of Canada's fur trade and as the “buckle” of Canada's east and west (77). Moreover, the book notes fear of American cultural encroachment and commercial competition from similar American historical sites were also motivating factors in the government's decision to reconstruct Fort William and designate it a national historical site. The theme of Canada's multicultural and often fractious national identity surfaces often in Campbell's book, and the countries dilemma is perfectly captured in the following