Do Glaciers Listen? Local Knowledge, Colonial Encounters, and Social Imagination.

Do Glaciers Listen? Local Knowledge, Colonial Encounters, and Social Imagination

Julie Cruikshank. 2005. UBC Press, Vancouver, BC. ISBN 0-7748-1186-2, $85.00 (cloth); ISBN 0-295-98514-3, $25.00 (paper). 288 pp

Do Glaciers Listen? provides a fascinating account of transformative historical events in the Pacific Northwest that have contributed to the development of contrasting perspectives on culture and nature. During the late stages of the Little Ice Age (1550-1900), the mountainous area that encapsulates the current-day boundaries between the Yukon, British Columbia and Alaska, underwent significant transformation. Rapid geophysical change occurred during a time when social systems were in major flux due to increased trade and geographic expansion among Aboriginal peoples, and the early phases of European exploration. This book is one of both narratives and encounters, drawing on the written and oral accounts of early explorers and local Aboriginal people, and the work of geophysical scientists. Entangled relationships between the glacial landscapes of the St. Elias mountain range and human history are examined here through multiple lenses, providing insights that link past and present-day conceptions of environmental change, local knowledge, and human encounters, all areas of important contemporary scholarship. Cruikshank's description and analysis of the interconnections among the layers of social, cultural and biophysical history breathes life into the rugged glacial landscape, providing important context for researchers and travellers with interests in the region.

The contrasting notions of rational science and subjective traditional knowledge frame the context for this text. Cruikshank discusses the developmental history of the Western notion of culture as separate from nature, how it contrasts with traditional understandings about the interconnectedness and sentience of all things, and how these conceptions continue to influence current-day decision-making regarding environmental and resource management. For example, the characteristic of 'wilderness' is often attributed to the St. Elias area, insinuating a natural environment that is pristine and uncontaminated by humans. Consequently, the imposition of successive wilderness park boundaries--including a recent UNESCO World Heritage designation--forcibly excludes Aboriginal people from using the land, blatantly ignoring extensive historical and ongoing human-environment interrelationships.

The book is divided into three sections. The first treats matters of locality, setting the geographic and temporal stage, and exploring the creative dimensions of knowledge and diverse meanings that flow from it. Drawing almost exclusively on oral histories, the author allows these narratives to 'speak' for themselves in chapter three; 13 Yukon elders' stories are relayed in their own words, providing an unfiltered account for the reader to interpret directly. The tone changes in the second section, which concentrates on encounters of Euro-American explorers and scientists with glacial landscapes. Chapter six diverges slightly from the overriding glacial theme to incorporate accounts from explorer Edward James Glave's African sojourn, providing context for evaluating his late 1800s Arctic writings.

The final section links the messages of the book with the contemporary context, examining the interface between scientific research and the sentient localities where it is conducted. Elevated rates of environmental change are reinvigorating interest in the lessons of the past, captured within interlinked biophysical landscapes and human knowledge systems. While current-day environmental debates are determined by normalized concepts--e.g. nature as something unspoiled to be 'saved'--Cruikshank uses glacier stories to question these values and provide alternative perspectives.

As with the histories she writes about, the author has created an intricately woven tapestry of well-researched information and thoughtful analysis that, as a whole, provides a cohesive assessment of the topics at issue. She successfully juxtaposes multiple perspectives about human-nature relationships to create her own edifying narrative. Of further substantial benefit is the stand-alone nature of each chapter, allowing readers to tackle them independently.

As for the question of whether or not glaciers listen, the answer may not be so simple. We may be wise to heed Yukon elder Annie Ned's advice to "listen for different stories."

Reviewed by Sonia Wesche, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, N2L 3C5.