This week we talked about naturalism and the Group of Seven painters were mentioned who were landscape painters. Lynda Jessup talks about nature and its beauty in her article “The Group of Seven and the Tourist Landscape in Western Canada.” Nature can be enjoyed in many different ways, whether spiritual or recreational (146). The spiritual aspect can be thought of as in the native cultures, which became clearly evident as communities expanded. Along with expansion came the use of National Parks to better appreciate mother natures beauty (147). The beauty of the parks created the recreation of sight seeing, which led to tourism and an influx in income (147). Due to the beauty of the North, inspiration bloomed in artists who wanted to travel and see all of Canada’s beauty. The Canadian Railway gave artists free passage anywhere they wanted, if they shared their paintings and sketches with them to use for publicity (147). People worked together to expand the market of tourism and profits. Of course people were needed for the expansion of human communities. Building the roads, were mainly WW1 internees, most of which were Ukrainian men (153). One can assume the conditions these men lived in were not the best. We also know that industrialization brought a desire for nature and wilderness (156) creating a cycle which needed to be balanced. More people moved to larger centers, but the more people and the busier life got, the more a person wanted the simplicity nature gives. Of course there are the artists still who appreciate and depict mother nature. It is assumed the artists of the time did not care about the publicity of their work they gave to the railroads, but the importance of advancing their skilled they cared about (160).
Similarly is John Sandlos article “From the Outside Looking in” regarding the importance of nature and appreciating the earth. Early conservation in Canada was associated with civilizing ideologies from Colonial times (6). Modern ways wanted to obliterate the old ways of doing things that no longer worked easiest, was cheapest, or respectable. Essential in the creation of the Canadian identity was the physical North (8) because it separated Canada from everyone else. A commonly known dispute was between settlers and the natives that inhabited the land. Colonizers wanted control, and to have full control they had to dominate the native peoples. Most of the Dene groups in South Slave region surrendered their land only in return for health care, education, supplies, and cash payments (15). There was a native guide mentioned and the follower, Seton stopped her from shooting buffalo, so he could photograph the giant beauty (14). This action demonstrates the interest in preservation over extermination, and appreciating mother nature to the fullest.
In both articles we see a concern for nature and land, but also industrialization and growing modernity. There is the implied impression in Jessup’s article that perhaps artists gave their work to railroads for their own publicity, but no evidence was found to support the thought. Artists seemingly enjoyed freezing time in their work and merely wanted to grow with their skill, not capitalize on it. We see between these two articles, Canada’s history with nature and how National parks and souvenirs came to be. How settlers bribed Natives of their land, and use it for industrialization.
Humanity has a long standing relationship with nature, without nature humanity would not exist.