Stewards of the Earth : Aboriginal peoples, environmentalists, and historical representation

Throughout the last few centuries, many of the conflicts between Indigenous peoples and newcomers have been struggles over environmental control. During the rise of conservationism in the latter nineteenth century and the concomitant setting aside of lands as parks or game preserves, this pattern of conflict continued, and it has done so through the recent environmental movement from the 1960s to the present. This dissertation explores the relationships between environmentalists (broadly defined to include anyone on the “Green” spectrum, from conservationist to deep ecologist) and Indigenous peoples in Western North America. It finds that discourses of Indigenous identity, especially that of the Ecological Indian, and their intersection with expressions of environmentalism, particularly realized through the creation of parks and protected areas, has simultaneously empowered and disempowered Indigenous peoples as well as led to ecological change over time. Marshal Sahlin’s structure-event model is used to frame this research, which unpacks the varied historical roots wherein current environmentalist-Aboriginal relationships mutually grow or compete for power. Theoretically, this dissertation draws extensively upon subaltern studies and post-colonial theory, especially the concepts of ambivalence, mimicry, and mockery, and introduces the theory of “post-environmentalism.” Utilized in conjunction, these tools allow one to move beyond the binaries of inclusion/exclusion and complicity/resistance that typifies Native-newcomer historiography, especially concerning parks and protected areas. Since the creation of parks and protected areas has been central to the environmentalist cause, this dissertation focuses on a number of case studies where parks are a defining feature. It does so, moreover, by utilizing various subfields within the discipline of History – these being social, environmental and ethnohistory – to illuminate different aspects of similar structures and events. Beginning with Rocky Mountains (Banff) National Park, it uses a social history approach to show how examining issues of race, class, and gender reveals a complicated history of Stoney Nakoda, national park and early conservationist interactions. It then applies an environmental history approach focussing on actual and perceived ecological change in the rise of bureaucratic, scientific, environmental management in the Olympic Peninsula, as well as Native American experiences with Olympic National Park (ONP). Finally, ethnohistorical methods focusing on issues of cultural expression explore the Sliammon (Tla’amin) First Nation’s complex relationship with BC Parks, the Department of Fisheries and Oceans, and regional conservationist and environmentalist groups, as well as the influence of environmentalism on Sliammon culture

Relationship between disease specific quality of life measures, physical performance, and activity in people with intermittent claudication caused by peripheral artery disease

Objective: The aims of this study were firstly to assess the correlation between disease specific measures of quality of life (QOL) and physical performance and activity, and secondly to identify demographic, clinical, functional, and physical activity measures independently associated with QOL in people with intermittent claudication. Methods: This was a cross sectional observational study of 198 people with intermittent claudication caused by peripheral artery disease who were recruited prospectively. QOL was assessed with the intermittent claudication questionnaire (ICQ) and the eight-theme peripheral artery disease quality of life questionnaire. Physical performance was assessed with the six minute walk test (6MWT) and short physical performance battery (SPPB), and an accelerometer was used to measure seven day step count. The associations between QOL scores and 6MWT distance, SPPB scores and seven day step count were examined using Spearman Rho's (ρ) correlation and multivariable linear regression. Results: ICQ scores were significantly correlated with 6MWT distance (ρ = 0.472, p < .001), all four SPPB scores (balance ρ = 0.207, p = .003; gait speed ρ = 0.303, p < .001; chair stand ρ = 0.167, p = .018; total ρ = 0.265, p < .001), and seven day step count (ρ = 0.254, p < .001). PADQOL social relationships and interactions (ρ = 0.343, p < .001) and symptoms and limitations in physical functioning (ρ = 0.355, p < .001) themes were correlated with 6MWT distance. The 6MWT distance was independently positively associated with ICQ and both PADQOL theme scores (ICQ: B 0.069, p < .001; PADQOL social relationships and interactions: B 0.077, p < .001; PADQOL symptoms and limitations in physical functioning: B 0.069, p < .001). Conclusion: Longer 6MWT distance independently predicted better physical and social aspects of QOL in people with intermittent claudication supporting its value as an outcome measure

Late Quaternary climate change from delta ¹⁸O records of multiple species of planktonic foraminifera: High-resolution records from the anoxic Cariaco Basin, Venezuela

Seasonal trade wind-induced upwelling along the southern margin of the Caribbean Sea occurs in response to the annual migration of the Intertropical Convergence Zone. Laminated, high deposition rate sediments of the Cariaco Basin, a small anoxic basin on the Venezuelan continental shelf, clearly record large changes in the past intensity of this upwelling. Because sediments of the Cariaco Basin are largely unbioturbated, they offer a natural opportunity to study the stable isotopic records of multiple planktonic foraminiferal taxa and to evaluate their sensitivity to both the modern hydrography and temporal changes in upwelling intensity and climate. Oxygen isotope data (delta(18)O) from four dominant foraminiferal taxa are presented for the time period covering the last 28 kyr. The delta(18)O data from Globigerina bulloides, after correction for nonequilibrium precipitation, are used as a monitor of sea surface conditions during the winter-spring upwelling season. The delta(18)O data from white Globigerinoides ruber are used as a measure of annual-average conditions in the near surface, while pink G. ruber data are consistent with use as an index of end-member conditions during the summer-fall nonupwelling season. Data from the deeper dwelling Neogloboquadrina dutertrei yield information on conditions near the base of the local thermocline. During the last glacial, delta(18)O data from G. ruber and generally reduced interspecific differences indicate cooling of surface waters over the Cariaco Basin by up to 4 degrees C. This longer-term cooling does not appear to be related to changes in upwelling intensity along the coast but may instead reflect more regional cooling of the larger Caribbean. Superimposed on this pattern, between 12.6 and similar to 10 ka, is a convergence of delta(18)O data between G. bulloides and N. dutertrei, implying much stronger upwelling during the last deglaciation. This scenario is consistent with other evidence for high productivity at this time. At similar to 14 ka, a sharp delta(18)O depletion event observed in all taxa seems to have been produced by increased freshwater discharge to the southern Caribbean, suggesting either higher regional rainfall or the influence of glacial melting in the Andes. Minimum delta(18)O values of pink G. ruber around 6-7 ka record warmer summer sea surface temperatures and/or decreased salinity in the mid-Holocene

Ambiguity and Debates on the Early Peopling of South America

An evaluation of recent claims for early human settlement of South America is presented. Some of theproblems with these cases are reviewed, particularly the ways in which ambiguity weakens otherwisecompelling evidence of early human presence in the continent. The roles of generalized adaptations andcobble industries, the most common explanations of claims of early occupations, are examined, and somenew sites that present incomplete evidence but are deserving of further research are mentioned. Theincorporation of studies of formation processes in the future may prove helpful in evaluating most of thesecases as well as others that emerge in the future.Fil: Borrero, Luis Alberto. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin