#specifically stood out to me as indication of it being the climate change metaphor

[omo321]

...the pale is NOT a metaphor for climate change?...

[hsenvs3000w23]

Unit 06: Nature Interpretation Though History

“There is no peculiar merit in ancient things, but there is merit in integrity, and integrity entails the keeping together of the parts of any whole, and if these parts are scattered throughout time, then the maintenance of integrity entails a knowledge, a memory, of ancient things. …. To think, feel or act as though the past is done with, is equivalent to believing that a railway station through which our train has just passed, only existed for as long as our train was in it.”(Edward Hyams, Chapter 7, The Gifts of Interpretation)

This unit has intertwined the importance of history with environmental interpretation. The written word can bring meaning into historic events while helping the audience connect with the past. Beck et al (2018) revealed natural resources and history are linked, as every natural site contains a history, and every historical site has natural resources.

To unpack the quote by Edward Hyams, one must first understand the story that is being shared, what is included, what is ignored, what is implied, and what is specified. The above quote that is being shared includes the importance of ancient things, more specifically: the importance of living history. Living history is “an attempt to accurately replicate the past through the use of a physical environment and the sights, sounds, and smells of the period being represented” (Beck et al. 2018). Edward Hyams is suggesting a memory of ancient things is just as important as integrity especially because ancient things are scattered throughout time. I interpreted this as the importance of living history because I think Edward Hyams is using ancient things as a metaphor for past historic events. Knowledge and memories of past events needs to be shared as living history so the audience can be presented with the truth and recall the past.

I further broke down Edward Hyams quote where he states that thinking the past is done with is like thinking a railway station only exists when you are in it. The learnings of authenticity from the course content really helped my understanding of the quote. When reading the course content, one quote really stood out to me that I thought directly related to Edward Hyams quote…

 "We are deceiving ourselves if we think that when we stand in front of a case of medals, or guns, or photographs of mutilated bodies, we are looking at the past. We are looking also at the present and the future. If interpretation is to be a source of social good, then it must recognize the continuity of history and alert us to the future through the past." (David Uzzel, pg. 342)

This quote as well as Edward Hyams quote, indicates the importance of authenticity in interpretation. It is important to share the most authentic version of the truth when interpreting history, even when talking about challenging topics. Challenging topics may include war, the holocaust, indigenous people, slavery and so much more. After this unit and unpacking the above quotes, I have learned it is important to address and learn about the difficulties in history to encourage people to reconcile and connect with the past.

History is important to share in nature as well, because as we all know our Earth is changing. Climate change, human development, urbanisation, and land use change all have an impact on our natural landscapes. The way we interpret history and how our landscapes will change over time will be important for past, present, and future generations.

Beck, L., Cable, T.T., Knudson, D.M (2018). Interpreting Cultural and Natural Heritage for a Better World. Sagamore Publishing