scholarly journals Resisting “the World of the Powerful”: “Wild” Steam and the Creation of Yellowstone National Park

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chelsea Graham
Keyword(s):  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Capitalist Development ◽  
Indigenous Resistance ◽  
Collective Identification ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Natural Park ◽  
Indigenous Lands ◽  
The World

In this essay, I argue that steam operates as a critical, other-than-human actor in the establishment of Yellowstone National Park and a broader, colonial posture towards the natural world that reflects a sharp division between nature and culture on the settler landscape—reiterating what Marisol de la Cadena and Mario Blaser call “the world of the powerful,” and a “world where only one world fits” (2018, pp 2-3). By appearing in contradictory contexts of powerful engines and pristine nature, steam was bifurcated into natural and cultural registers in order to justify the establishment of the natural park and the colonists’ claim to Yellowstone as “property,” foreclosing alternative relationships to the land such as those of the region’s Indigenous residents. Approaching this research from the perspective of a settler on Indigenous lands, I am invested in engaging new materialist and ecological methodologies in the important work of decolonial critique. Adopting Nathan Stormer’s (2016) “new materialist genealogy” and Nathaniel Rivers’ (2015) treatment of wildness in service of a decolonial agenda, I demonstrate how steam’s inherent repulsion to nature/culture dichotomies contests the very idea of the park itself, Yellowstone’s importance to the settler state’s expansion into the west, and its popular understanding as an exemplar of environmental politics. Further, this essay provides a methodological and theoretical intervention for new materialist and ecological scholarship to support decolonial projects in solidarity with Indigenous resistance. By unraveling dominant discourses that persist in collective identification with Yellowstone, the borders of the park that denote iconicity and exemplarity, unspoiled nature from capitalist development, become brittle, fragile, and so, too, does their dominance in discourses about environmentalism. By disrupting Yellowstone and undermining its dominance, we can demonstrate, unequivocally, that another world—indeed worlds—are possible.

scholarly journals Atlas of Yellowstone, 2nd Edition: Celebrating 150 Years of the World’s First National Park, 1872–2022

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 1-1
Author(s):  
W. Andrew Marcus ◽  
James E. Meacham ◽  
Justin T. Menke ◽  
Aleathea Y. Steingisser ◽  
Ann E. Rodman
Keyword(s):  
Key Management ◽  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
Scientific Data ◽  
Light Pollution ◽  
Natural Setting ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Many ◽  
Management Issues

<p><strong>Abstract.</strong> The Second Edition of the Atlas of Yellowstone will celebrate the 150-year history of the world’s first national park – and reflect on the future of Yellowstone and its evolving place in the world. Like the first Atlas of Yellowstone published in 2012, the Second Edition will provide a comprehensive view of the human and natural setting of Yellowstone National Park. Also like the First Edition, the new edition will portray variations over space and time, explore human-nature interactions throughout the region, document connections of Yellowstone to the rest of the world, and &amp;ndash; ultimately &amp;ndash; guide the reader to a deeper appreciation of Yellowstone.</p><p>Beyond that, the new edition will provide much expanded coverage of the park’s history. Readers will better understand the many different ways in which the creation of Yellowstone National Park has preserved and altered the landscapes and ecology of Yellowstone and conservation thought and practice, both locally and around the world.</p><p>The new atlas will also reflect advances in scientific data collection, knowledge, and insight gained since publication of the first edition. New topic pages will address key management issues ranging from increased visitor impact to wildlife disease to light pollution. In addition, many of the 850 existing graphics will be updated, reimagined, or replaced by new graphics that capture the remarkable wealth of data that has become available since the First Edition. Whether it be tracking of individual wolves, ecosystem imagery from space, or detailed visitor surveys &amp;ndash; new data provide insights that could not be graphically displayed before.</p><p>The Second Edition celebrates 150 years of America’s best idea and what that has meant to the world. The significance of Yellowstone National Park to conservation, scholarship, and the human experience is enormous, and deserves a volume that captures that importance.</p>

scholarly journals Mis/translation, Colonialism, and Environmental Conflict

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 349-369 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liv Østmo ◽  
John Law
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Policy ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Environmental Conflict ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Conservation Policies ◽  
Inland Lakes ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
Environmental Actions ◽  
The World ◽  
Colonial Encounter

Abstract This article describes a colonial encounter in north Norway between Sámi practices for fishing and knowing the natural world, and the conservation policies of state policy makers. In Sámi practices the world is populated by powerful and morally lively human and nonhuman actors. In caring for the land and its lakes in practical ways it is important to sustain respectful relations with those actors. Norwegian environmental policy works differently by distinguishing between nature and culture and seeking to protect landscapes from what it takes to be human interference, so that natural forces can operate unimpeded. The article first explores these two different worldviews and shows how environmental policy imposes restrictions on fishing practices that make it difficult or impossible for Sámi fisherpeople to care for and sustain respectful relations with their lakes. It then reflects on the significance of translation and mistranslation for this encounter, noting that important environmentally relevant Sámi words translate poorly into Norwegian or English, and that the practices that these index are ignored or misunderstood in those translations. In particular, it focuses on the notion of jávredikšun, a key term for Sámi people who fish on inland lakes, and shows that the word indexes environmental actions and realities that translate only with difficulty into English. Finally, it considers the potential political and analytical significance of refusing translations of this and other important environmentally relevant indigenous words.

scholarly journals Nature and culture: blurring the borders

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 ◽  
pp. 03034
Author(s):  
Elvira Spirova
Keyword(s):  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Philosophical Anthropology ◽  
Special Kind ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Nature And Culture ◽  
The World ◽  
Cosmic Space

For many centuries, interpreting culture as something additional, constructed above nature, researchers have created the effect of their mutual alienation from one another. At present, new naturalism has undertaken the task to erase the borders between nature and culture, humans and animals. Representatives of this school oppose classical philosophical anthropology that proclaims man to be a special kind of being. The forefront of their thinking is taken by the nonhuman Other, natural world, the “thinking ocean” or the “information field of cosmic space”. The article offers a critical analysis of modern naturalistic approaches, considers the following issues: man as part of the natural kingdom or a special kind of being; the picture of the world is centered around man or develops without him; man as a product of the evolution of nature or a social creation, he is the crown of creation or a defective creature, etc. As has been shown, an attempt to avoid anthropocentrism by removing the anthropological theme as ultimately significant becomes inconsistent. The author comes to the conclusion that comprehension of man only by means of biology is impossible, and requires the expertise of the humanities as well.

scholarly journals STUDIES ON THE CHLOROPHYLLS AND PHOTOSYNTHESIS OF THERMAL ALGAE FROM YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK, CALIFORNIA, AND NEVADA

1940 ◽  
Vol 23 (6) ◽  
pp. 661-666 ◽  
Author(s):  
O. L. Inman
Keyword(s):  
Absorption Band ◽  
Chlorophyll A ◽  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
Chlorella Sp ◽  
Short Period ◽  
The World ◽  
Spectroscopic Examination ◽  
Chlorophyll A And B ◽  
The Geysers

1. Myxophyceae normally growing at 65°C. evolved oxygen upon irradiation and showed evidence of retaining the power to carry on the process of photosynthesis at 20°C. This indicates that extra thermal energy is not essential for photosynthesis at least over a short period of time. 2. Chlorophyll a and b found in several species of Myxophyceae growing in waters ranging in temperature from 37–72°C. are essentially the same as found in plants growing all over the world. Certain standard chemical tests and spectroscopic examination of the chlorophylls were used as the criteria for these comparisons. The ratio of chlorophyll a to b often varied considerably but in general chlorophyll a showed an increase over the percentage found in most plants. 3. Green algae (Chlorella sp.?) were the only forms found at The Geysers, California. The temperature of the waters from which collections were made varied from 49–66°C. 4. Collections from Beowawe, Nevada were from waters ranging from 60–71°C. The algae belonged to the Myxophyceae and the species were like some of those found in Yellowstone National Park. 5. In some of the calcareous regions of Yellowstone National Park spectroscopic study of the chlorophylls revealed an unidentified absorption band at 548 mµ.

Ultrastructural Localization of Phycocyanin in the Acidophilic, Thermophilic Alga, Cyanidium Caldarium

1973 ◽  
Vol 31 ◽  
pp. 462-463
Author(s):  
M. R. Edwards ◽  
J. D. Mainwaring
Keyword(s):  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
Ultrastructural Localization ◽  
Review Of Literature ◽  
Cyanidium Caldarium ◽  
Taxonomic Rank ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Standard Methods ◽  
Laboratory Cultures

Although the general ultrastructure of Cyanidium caldarium, an acidophilic, thermophilic alga of questionable taxonomic rank, has been extensively studied (see review of literature in reference 1), some peculiar ultrastructural features of the chloroplast of this alga have not been noted by other investigators.Cells were collected and prepared for thin sections at the Yellowstone National Park and were also grown in laboratory cultures (45-52°C; pH 2-5). Fixation (glutaraldehyde-osmium), dehydration (ethanol), and embedding (Epon 812) were accomplished by standard methods. Replicas of frozenfracture d- etched cells were obtained in a Balzers apparatus. In addition, cells were examined after disruption in a French Press.

Reproductive Characteristics of Red-Tailed Hawks in Yellowstone National Park, an Intact Temperate Landscape

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (3) ◽  
pp. 309
Author(s):  
Lauren E. Walker ◽  
Lisa M. Baril ◽  
David B. Haines ◽  
Douglas W. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Yellowstone National Park ◽  
National Park ◽  
Reproductive Characteristics

A Māori Girl Watches, Listens, and Learns – Coming of Age from an Indigenous Viewpoint: Mauri (Merata Mita, 1988)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alistair Fox
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous People ◽  
Coming Of Age ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Feature Film ◽  
Indigenous Woman ◽  
Spiritual Dimension ◽  
The World ◽  
Life Force ◽  
Relationship Of ◽  
The Relationship

This chapter examines Merata Mita’s Mauri, the first fiction feature film in the world to be solely written and directed by an indigenous woman, as an example of “Fourth Cinema” – that is, a form of filmmaking that aims to create, produce, and transmit the stories of indigenous people, and in their own image – showing how Mita presents the coming-of-age story of a Māori girl who grows into an understanding of the spiritual dimension of the relationship of her people to the natural world, and to the ancestors who have preceded them. The discussion demonstrates how the film adopts storytelling procedures that reflect a distinctively Māori view of time and are designed to signify the presence of the mauri (or life force) in the Māori world.

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