Stories to Make US Human: Verbal Sketches of Canadian Landscapes‪.‬

Abstract History consists of the stories we tell ourselves. The landscape is, more often than not, the setting for many of these stories, stories that reflect the values we attach to the idea of nature and the framework within which it is viewed. While the Euro-Canadian value system has dominated our literature and thus the stories that we have come to know and to love, the traditions of the First Nations on both coasts, in the north and across the Great Plains have much to tell us about the landscape, as do the emerging stories of newer Canadians from around the world. As our society becomes more diverse, the preceptions of the Canadian landscape increase in both complexity and richness, adding layers of meaning to those already laid down by the generations and traditions that preceded us. New stories will tell us of new values that are associated with the landscape - its use and misuse, its conservation and its development. The practice of landscape architecture must be attuned to these stories and informed by them. Stories suggest what was and remains of value to a society and therefore informs what should and must be conserved. Stories are what make us human.