I really appreciate the way you have offered this reflection with an array of words, thoughts, art, and landscape photos. Terraforming is a new word for me, and although the practice is familiar at some levels, I will now intentionally put on those glasses and be more intentional about noticing. When I zoom in on my own life I also acknowledge moments when I have fallen into the mode of altering and beautifying the land for my own purposes. One example was when I was discerning how to go about putting a labyrinth in the backyard. It was a low area that became a pond of water in the spring. I concidered hauling in dirt and rocks to creat a beautiful labyrinth with a water fountain. But after pausing and listening to the land, I simply mowed a labyrinth into the grass and welcomed the dips and contours and wet areas as part of the walking experience. Different water plants grow naturally in the labyrinth path each year, depending upon how much moisture we have in the spring. Thanks for writing this post that encourages me to look at my own actions as well as the actions of our society through the lense of terraforming.
Thanks, Marg, for this reflection. Your example really touches me....and hits the nail on the head, so to speak.....how do we approach the living earth (or anything, including people)? Do we get to know a place first, and take time to get to know it, or do we sometimes impose our ideas on it and miss what was already there? I like how you write "pausing and listening to the land." Thank you. -Sue
What a great read! The concept of terraforming has really grabbed me. As someone that also just assumed the slough naturally occurred on both sides of the road, I'm planning on spending my next few commutes to work paying attention to the land and noticing the terraforming.
I am glad I am not the only who saw two sloughs, lol! It will be interesting to hear what you notice. Thanks for taking the time to share, Jillian. - Sue
Love those terraform glasses. I need a pair! This is something I think about quite a bit, though the term itself is new. That said, we are so accustomed to the terraformed landscape around us that we don't easily recognize it. And often, even when we do recognize the change, it is actually subsequent change--as land is sometimes transformed over and over again. (From a prairie to farmland to a subdivision or shopping mall...and that's just in recent history.) Or maybe we look at a forest thinking it is natural when, in fact, it was once a very different forest that was ravaged by timber companies, then lost all of its topsoil to erosion before growing back with other trees and plants, many of which are non-native and may even be invasive. Hope you will share other good resources on this subject as you come across them.
I am so glad you like the terraforming glasses!! I agree with you Lee Anne, the terraformed landscape is so normalized that we often don't really see it. As to resources, I was also fascinated with J.B. MacKinnon's thought provoking book The Once and Future World:
Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be which I quoted in the post. IWe really appreciate you taking time to join our discussion. - Sue
I hadn't heard the word "terraform", but I sure am familiar with the concept. I often try to imagine the land as it was before the Europeans got here. Sadly, most of our ancestors saw it only as a vehicle for their survival and profit. My favorite example of this is the Army Corps of Engineers (US). Many of their projects so disrupt the natural geography that disaster results. Draining of the Everglades so sugar cane can be grown and the creation of dikes and levees in New Orleans that gave way during Katrina are 2 examples. We might do better to let the topography lead us to sustainable use.
Hi Caroline, To be honest, before this project with Sue, I never really wondered about what the land was like before Europeans got here so this work is really opening my eyes to think back further than I ever have. I really lived with my blinders on. Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts. Vera
Like you, Caroline, I also try to imagine the land as it was before Europeans. It feels almost impossible! I like what you say about letting the topography (what is already there) lead us. Thanks for taking tome to join this discussion. - Sue
I've thought about terraforming some. Mostly when I'm kayaking the Qu'Appelle in town. The mouth of the river, as it empties into Mission Lake, is not natural...I think (I might be wrong!). There is a second "mouth" the heads north just prior to the main mouth. This second mouth travels past a Metis fur trader's house from the 1880s. That house makes me assume that this would have been the original mouth of the Qu'Appelle, as it would be an ideal location for a fur trading business in those days.
So why would man have channeled out a "new" river exit? Prevent some potential flooding? I don't know.
Jill, when I read J.B. MacKinnon's statement that many of us are "drawn to nature as a counterpoint to the world of regulations, traditions, grids and networks that we live in today", I dont think he is against regulations, etc. and neither am I. For me , this quote speaks to our human need to be in touch with the "more than human" - that our souls need a connection with nature in this way.
Oh you two have me scratching my head and rethinking and debating within my head of how I’ve thought of things my whole life! I need lots of time to descramble things! I see many angles on this topic…1. We Need Nature (our health is dependent on its health as well as the health of those who’s homes are in nature 2. The world needs food (that seems to be how farmers are looking at things and the $ earned isn’t burned with the tree piles) - as Jerry says (husband) ‘there are too many of us’ so too much food needed, too much water (gotta flush toilets) too much for one patch of land to sustain so many humans 3. It’s a little late to be concern with past terraforming as it’s already been done, changed and reformed a dozen time. So question is how do we (world) not cause more destruction. How do we look at land with respect to the land and wildlife? I think this type of dialogue is important- bring awareness and caring BUT unless there are laws and regulations it will continue. Yes this is the colonial view but tell me how else? Open to ideas…brainstorm away!
I live in the Qu’Appelle Valley and when we first moved home there were bylaws about not building on the hills to ensure the hills remained (some are like sugar) but a while back people seem to disregard that law…why? Cause someone had bought the property, wanted a home in valley, hired an engineer to say it was fine and then gouged out the hill, used $$ to build walls around their homes so hill wouldn’t fall and push their houses to the bottom! Lumsden area comes to mind as examples of what happened! Why was that bylaw forgotten and not enforced? $$
City planners look at a development and designate a percentage towards green space. Could a farmer be asked to designate a percentage to nature? Colonial thoughts…yours?
Thanks, Jill, for taking time to share some of your experiences and thoughts related to terraforming. Hopefully, the answer above about J.B. MacKinnon is somewhat helpful. I think laws and regulations can be very helpful. We have many questions and no answers. Speaking for myself, I am really interested in what assumptions and narratives underlies the settler colonial project, and to what extent I (and others) still operate from these assumptions and narratives. To a large extent, I think. When you ask - "how do we look at land with respect to the land and the wildlife?", it feel to me like we need a change of consciousness, both as individuals and as a society. That change of consciousness would inform regulations. -Sue
Grandmother’s Hills, the ¼ section (colonial concept) on the Qu’Appelle Valley (glacial formation) that I/we believed was healthy native prairie, until Lois Gibson, environmentalist from the west coast of Canada, cast her eyes upon it and saw, stressed, 90 years of over grazing, land. Thus began the learning and practice of holistic management and grasslands. Grasslands that had been managed by buffalo and hunters for thousands of years.
Lodgepole Pines (planted in the 1940’s), in Prince Edward Island National Park (created in 1937) on land that had been stolen from the Mi'kmaq in the 1700’s and used for farming since 1720. The original forest, know as Acadian forests (colonial concept) was a rich diversity of trees native to Eastern Canada. Lodgepole Pines are native to Western Canada.
The Acadians were expelled from Prince Edward Island in 1755 during the wars between the colonizers (England and France). My Scottish family arrived in 1806 (Scottish Highland Clearances), and farmed part of the land that was to become the National Park. My father had a role in planting the Lodgepole Pines. I walked the unnatural linear paths between these pines and breathed deeply, gave thanks for their being. Post Tropical Storm Fiona, September 24, 2022 ended the upright life of many, many trees on Prince Edward Island, including the Lodgepole Pines. I grieve that they are no longer upright.
I don’t yet know what I am saying about terraforming. Is there another way, maybe terrarelating, something about relationship with the more-than-human, about mutuality, I don’t know. Thank you for this provoking reflection.
Brenda, the examples that you give broaden my understanding of terraforming and the complex emotions this evokes in us. Thank you. When I saw that a video game had terraforming instructions, I wondered if wasn't a virtual version of playing in the sandbox, such a satisfying form of play, where we alter our miniscule world ( sometimes with the help of toy yellow machinery). If terraforming has a lot to do with taking, terrarelating could have more to do with reciprocity, giving and taking....just wondering aloud. - Sue
I can relate to what Jaynie has said - so many large, single family dwellings sprawled over what must be arable land. It bothers me whenever we drive to the city and see how it has spread. Of course when I say arable land, I am thinking in terms of farming and growing food. I have never known the word terriform , but what first came to mind was when we lived in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and, while I was admiring the beauty of the landscape, my farmer husband was commenting on how they could make better USE of the land. Sue will remember walking from where we live in town to the farm where I grew up. Although I've never been a farm girl in the truest sense, I've still always been drawn to the land and walked and lain down on it many times over the years. It is truly a source of strength and peace that many no longer know or can access. Thanks for reminding us and drawing our attention to the terriforming of colonization.
Linda, thank you for your thoughts. I think being aware of the narratives we carry (conscciously and unconsciously) about land is important. I remember walking to your chidhood farm and sensing the ways in which the farm and the special places you remembered were popart of you. - Sue
I didn’t have a word for the process but it’s bothered me for some time. From my urban perspective the ideal is to have an expanse of uniform green lawn. It takes a lot of water, time and chemicals to attain that ideal and it isn’t a healthy environment in the end anyway.
Another thing that bothers me is the continued expansion of cities. Not only are they expanding onto agricultural land but our cities (at least in western Canada) are very sprawling expanses of large, single family homes. I’m saddened.
I have struggled with living in Iowa, central Iowa that is, where we are surrounded by soy and corn fields. All laid out in grids. While this creates a kind of spacious beauty all of its own, it reveals an abused and exhausted land. (Did you know that Iowa imports 90% of its food?). I have spent a lot of time photographing this place and continue to search for a way to express the relationship of those who live here to the land.
Hi Andi, Sue here. I resonate with what you say, as our fields also have a beauty, and yet? I did not know that Iowa imports 90% of its food....I coud not find a % for Saskatchewan. Thank you for this conversatuion and sharing about your vpart of the word.
Hi Vera and Sue, just wanted to say I've been finding your ongoing dialogue with the landscapes around you really interesting and enjoyable. Your posts are pushing me to rethink the ways in which I'm going to photograph the landscapes around me in 2023. The idea of engaging with the landscape without falling into the trap of classifying it or (as landscape photographers often do) falsely beautifying it, is a really important step. I don't have the answers right now, but you've got me asking questions. :)
Hi Alan, how nice to meet you virtually :-) Like you, as a photographer, I have many questions about what role we can play in understanding and being in relationship with land. This is a new way of thinking for me. I'm wondering about what beauty is and how artificial it often is. You have me thinking of how my images of the land might be interpreted. I wonder why we feel compelled to "falsely beautify" it rather than seeing the beauty that is there. We have our terraforming glasses on I guess. I find it interesting to hear what other photographers are thinking so I hope you continue to participate in our conversation. All the best. Vera
I really appreciate the way you have offered this reflection with an array of words, thoughts, art, and landscape photos. Terraforming is a new word for me, and although the practice is familiar at some levels, I will now intentionally put on those glasses and be more intentional about noticing. When I zoom in on my own life I also acknowledge moments when I have fallen into the mode of altering and beautifying the land for my own purposes. One example was when I was discerning how to go about putting a labyrinth in the backyard. It was a low area that became a pond of water in the spring. I concidered hauling in dirt and rocks to creat a beautiful labyrinth with a water fountain. But after pausing and listening to the land, I simply mowed a labyrinth into the grass and welcomed the dips and contours and wet areas as part of the walking experience. Different water plants grow naturally in the labyrinth path each year, depending upon how much moisture we have in the spring. Thanks for writing this post that encourages me to look at my own actions as well as the actions of our society through the lense of terraforming.
Thanks, Marg, for this reflection. Your example really touches me....and hits the nail on the head, so to speak.....how do we approach the living earth (or anything, including people)? Do we get to know a place first, and take time to get to know it, or do we sometimes impose our ideas on it and miss what was already there? I like how you write "pausing and listening to the land." Thank you. -Sue
Thank you for sharing. A thought provoking article & interesting discussion.
Thank you for being such a loyal reader and commenter on our blog, Susan! We appreciate it. - Sue
What a great read! The concept of terraforming has really grabbed me. As someone that also just assumed the slough naturally occurred on both sides of the road, I'm planning on spending my next few commutes to work paying attention to the land and noticing the terraforming.
I am glad I am not the only who saw two sloughs, lol! It will be interesting to hear what you notice. Thanks for taking the time to share, Jillian. - Sue
Thanks Sue for clarifying Mr McKinnons words…I haven’t read his book so will check it out.
I am interested in the assumption of the project too…
Love those terraform glasses. I need a pair! This is something I think about quite a bit, though the term itself is new. That said, we are so accustomed to the terraformed landscape around us that we don't easily recognize it. And often, even when we do recognize the change, it is actually subsequent change--as land is sometimes transformed over and over again. (From a prairie to farmland to a subdivision or shopping mall...and that's just in recent history.) Or maybe we look at a forest thinking it is natural when, in fact, it was once a very different forest that was ravaged by timber companies, then lost all of its topsoil to erosion before growing back with other trees and plants, many of which are non-native and may even be invasive. Hope you will share other good resources on this subject as you come across them.
Hi Lee Anne, You might find this interview with Amitav Ghosh interesting https://emergencemagazine.org/interview/beings-seen-and-unseen/
All the best Vera
On my listening list for this week!
I am so glad you like the terraforming glasses!! I agree with you Lee Anne, the terraformed landscape is so normalized that we often don't really see it. As to resources, I was also fascinated with J.B. MacKinnon's thought provoking book The Once and Future World:
Nature As It Was, As It Is, As It Could Be which I quoted in the post. IWe really appreciate you taking time to join our discussion. - Sue
Will definitely check that out. Thanks so much.
I hadn't heard the word "terraform", but I sure am familiar with the concept. I often try to imagine the land as it was before the Europeans got here. Sadly, most of our ancestors saw it only as a vehicle for their survival and profit. My favorite example of this is the Army Corps of Engineers (US). Many of their projects so disrupt the natural geography that disaster results. Draining of the Everglades so sugar cane can be grown and the creation of dikes and levees in New Orleans that gave way during Katrina are 2 examples. We might do better to let the topography lead us to sustainable use.
Hi Caroline, To be honest, before this project with Sue, I never really wondered about what the land was like before Europeans got here so this work is really opening my eyes to think back further than I ever have. I really lived with my blinders on. Looking forward to hearing more of your thoughts. Vera
Like you, Caroline, I also try to imagine the land as it was before Europeans. It feels almost impossible! I like what you say about letting the topography (what is already there) lead us. Thanks for taking tome to join this discussion. - Sue
I've thought about terraforming some. Mostly when I'm kayaking the Qu'Appelle in town. The mouth of the river, as it empties into Mission Lake, is not natural...I think (I might be wrong!). There is a second "mouth" the heads north just prior to the main mouth. This second mouth travels past a Metis fur trader's house from the 1880s. That house makes me assume that this would have been the original mouth of the Qu'Appelle, as it would be an ideal location for a fur trading business in those days.
So why would man have channeled out a "new" river exit? Prevent some potential flooding? I don't know.
Fun read, ladies!
That is interesteing Brian, and now, I too, am curious. Thanks for contributing to our conversation!
I am busy solving a problem with rules and regulations…Sue and Mr McKinnon don’t agree?
Jill, when I read J.B. MacKinnon's statement that many of us are "drawn to nature as a counterpoint to the world of regulations, traditions, grids and networks that we live in today", I dont think he is against regulations, etc. and neither am I. For me , this quote speaks to our human need to be in touch with the "more than human" - that our souls need a connection with nature in this way.
That I totally agree with…
What do humans who have never seen the stars and never been outside a massive city do for their souls?
Oh you two have me scratching my head and rethinking and debating within my head of how I’ve thought of things my whole life! I need lots of time to descramble things! I see many angles on this topic…1. We Need Nature (our health is dependent on its health as well as the health of those who’s homes are in nature 2. The world needs food (that seems to be how farmers are looking at things and the $ earned isn’t burned with the tree piles) - as Jerry says (husband) ‘there are too many of us’ so too much food needed, too much water (gotta flush toilets) too much for one patch of land to sustain so many humans 3. It’s a little late to be concern with past terraforming as it’s already been done, changed and reformed a dozen time. So question is how do we (world) not cause more destruction. How do we look at land with respect to the land and wildlife? I think this type of dialogue is important- bring awareness and caring BUT unless there are laws and regulations it will continue. Yes this is the colonial view but tell me how else? Open to ideas…brainstorm away!
I live in the Qu’Appelle Valley and when we first moved home there were bylaws about not building on the hills to ensure the hills remained (some are like sugar) but a while back people seem to disregard that law…why? Cause someone had bought the property, wanted a home in valley, hired an engineer to say it was fine and then gouged out the hill, used $$ to build walls around their homes so hill wouldn’t fall and push their houses to the bottom! Lumsden area comes to mind as examples of what happened! Why was that bylaw forgotten and not enforced? $$
City planners look at a development and designate a percentage towards green space. Could a farmer be asked to designate a percentage to nature? Colonial thoughts…yours?
Thanks, Jill, for taking time to share some of your experiences and thoughts related to terraforming. Hopefully, the answer above about J.B. MacKinnon is somewhat helpful. I think laws and regulations can be very helpful. We have many questions and no answers. Speaking for myself, I am really interested in what assumptions and narratives underlies the settler colonial project, and to what extent I (and others) still operate from these assumptions and narratives. To a large extent, I think. When you ask - "how do we look at land with respect to the land and the wildlife?", it feel to me like we need a change of consciousness, both as individuals and as a society. That change of consciousness would inform regulations. -Sue
Grandmother’s Hills, the ¼ section (colonial concept) on the Qu’Appelle Valley (glacial formation) that I/we believed was healthy native prairie, until Lois Gibson, environmentalist from the west coast of Canada, cast her eyes upon it and saw, stressed, 90 years of over grazing, land. Thus began the learning and practice of holistic management and grasslands. Grasslands that had been managed by buffalo and hunters for thousands of years.
Lodgepole Pines (planted in the 1940’s), in Prince Edward Island National Park (created in 1937) on land that had been stolen from the Mi'kmaq in the 1700’s and used for farming since 1720. The original forest, know as Acadian forests (colonial concept) was a rich diversity of trees native to Eastern Canada. Lodgepole Pines are native to Western Canada.
The Acadians were expelled from Prince Edward Island in 1755 during the wars between the colonizers (England and France). My Scottish family arrived in 1806 (Scottish Highland Clearances), and farmed part of the land that was to become the National Park. My father had a role in planting the Lodgepole Pines. I walked the unnatural linear paths between these pines and breathed deeply, gave thanks for their being. Post Tropical Storm Fiona, September 24, 2022 ended the upright life of many, many trees on Prince Edward Island, including the Lodgepole Pines. I grieve that they are no longer upright.
I don’t yet know what I am saying about terraforming. Is there another way, maybe terrarelating, something about relationship with the more-than-human, about mutuality, I don’t know. Thank you for this provoking reflection.
Brenda, the examples that you give broaden my understanding of terraforming and the complex emotions this evokes in us. Thank you. When I saw that a video game had terraforming instructions, I wondered if wasn't a virtual version of playing in the sandbox, such a satisfying form of play, where we alter our miniscule world ( sometimes with the help of toy yellow machinery). If terraforming has a lot to do with taking, terrarelating could have more to do with reciprocity, giving and taking....just wondering aloud. - Sue
I can relate to what Jaynie has said - so many large, single family dwellings sprawled over what must be arable land. It bothers me whenever we drive to the city and see how it has spread. Of course when I say arable land, I am thinking in terms of farming and growing food. I have never known the word terriform , but what first came to mind was when we lived in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and, while I was admiring the beauty of the landscape, my farmer husband was commenting on how they could make better USE of the land. Sue will remember walking from where we live in town to the farm where I grew up. Although I've never been a farm girl in the truest sense, I've still always been drawn to the land and walked and lain down on it many times over the years. It is truly a source of strength and peace that many no longer know or can access. Thanks for reminding us and drawing our attention to the terriforming of colonization.
Linda, thank you for your thoughts. I think being aware of the narratives we carry (conscciously and unconsciously) about land is important. I remember walking to your chidhood farm and sensing the ways in which the farm and the special places you remembered were popart of you. - Sue
I didn’t have a word for the process but it’s bothered me for some time. From my urban perspective the ideal is to have an expanse of uniform green lawn. It takes a lot of water, time and chemicals to attain that ideal and it isn’t a healthy environment in the end anyway.
Another thing that bothers me is the continued expansion of cities. Not only are they expanding onto agricultural land but our cities (at least in western Canada) are very sprawling expanses of large, single family homes. I’m saddened.
So true. Is it that we think that land will never run out, I wonder? Thank you for sharing your thoughts. - Sue
I have struggled with living in Iowa, central Iowa that is, where we are surrounded by soy and corn fields. All laid out in grids. While this creates a kind of spacious beauty all of its own, it reveals an abused and exhausted land. (Did you know that Iowa imports 90% of its food?). I have spent a lot of time photographing this place and continue to search for a way to express the relationship of those who live here to the land.
Hi Andi, Sue here. I resonate with what you say, as our fields also have a beauty, and yet? I did not know that Iowa imports 90% of its food....I coud not find a % for Saskatchewan. Thank you for this conversatuion and sharing about your vpart of the word.
Hi Vera and Sue, just wanted to say I've been finding your ongoing dialogue with the landscapes around you really interesting and enjoyable. Your posts are pushing me to rethink the ways in which I'm going to photograph the landscapes around me in 2023. The idea of engaging with the landscape without falling into the trap of classifying it or (as landscape photographers often do) falsely beautifying it, is a really important step. I don't have the answers right now, but you've got me asking questions. :)
Can't wait to read more. Keep up the great work.
Alan
Hi Alan, how nice to meet you virtually :-) Like you, as a photographer, I have many questions about what role we can play in understanding and being in relationship with land. This is a new way of thinking for me. I'm wondering about what beauty is and how artificial it often is. You have me thinking of how my images of the land might be interpreted. I wonder why we feel compelled to "falsely beautify" it rather than seeing the beauty that is there. We have our terraforming glasses on I guess. I find it interesting to hear what other photographers are thinking so I hope you continue to participate in our conversation. All the best. Vera