NiCHE Canada
@nichecanada.bsky.social
The Network in Canadian History & Environment. NiCHE is a confederation of researchers & educators who work at the intersection of nature & history. niche-canada.org
"The Indian Act as Wendigo" by Jenni Makahnouk is part of our series exploring the environmental dimensions of the Indian Act, in collaboration with @activehist.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2026/07/28/t... #envhist #indigenous #cdnhist #indianact
The Indian Act as Wendigo
Framing Canada's Indian Act as the insatiable Wendigo exposes its predatory nature, shifting the focus from policy reform to starvation-based refusal.
niche-canada.org
ICYMI: In this interview, @jessicamdewitt.bsky.social chats with Will Wright about his book, Borders of Biodiverity, exploring cross-border species conservation. niche-canada.org/2026/07/23/c... #envhist #histsci #borderstudies #books #conservation #biodiversity
Corridors, Not Cores: Rethinking Conservation with Will Wright
Will Wright discusses his new book, exploring how migratory species transform transboundary large landscape conservation and shape new scientific fields.
niche-canada.org
ICYMI: Funded Masters of Arts (Island Studies) position studying “Island Metabolisms and the Genesis of the Canadian Agri‑Food System.” Supervisor - @joshmacfadyen.bsky.social Apply by August 15th niche-canada.org/2026/07/24/f... #envhist #aghist #foodstudies #PEI #islandstudies
Funded Masters of Arts (Island Studies) position University of Prince Edward Island
Funded Masters of Arts (Island Studies) position studying “Island Metabolisms and the Genesis of the Canadian Agri‑Food System.”
niche-canada.org
"Ethical issues are woven into the discourse surrounding the environmental justice: how are systems of inequality perpetuated? How and what has been given a voice and how do we share public space?" - Lisa FitzGerald niche-canada.org/2019/08/07/i... #environmentaljustice #art #envhum
Intersections between Environmental Justice and Site-Specific Performance
This post originally appeared on Environmental History Now, a website dedicated to showcasing the work and expertise of graduate students and early career scholars in environmental history who identif...
niche-canada.org
Companion read - "The Past, Present and Future of Forest Fires" by @haydenlnelson.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2026/06/13/t... @nichecanada.bsky.social #envhist #wildfires
The Past, Present, and Future of Forest Fires
Upfront costs–in research, in personnel, and in deployment–are essential for fire prevention. Yet today, as in the early twentieth century, the federal government, despite possessing knowledge indicat...
niche-canada.org
The Tennessee Holler @thetnholler.bsky.social · 2d agoCARTOON OF THE DAY (if you know who made this let us know)
#OTD (Mon, Aug 3) 1908 at #AlgonquinPark: "G.W. Bartlett, Fred Bartlett, Gordon & James Bartlett, Teddie Walton, Bud Callighen, & I returned to Boundary Lake. G.W. & bro., after assisting in laying foundation, returned to HQ. Remainder of party continued work on s.h." @nichecanada.bsky.social
BC's future wildfire strategies may look like this. @nichecanada.bsky.social The 2018 Abbott and Chapman report, and BC's follow-up action plan, seemed to be heading this way www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/p...
www2.gov.bc.ca
Jared Dahl Aldern@jdaldern.bsky.social · 3d agoHigh tech and high TEK: Remote sensing maps fuel moisture content across the landscape, and then Indigenous observation of vegetation color, scent, canopy cover, soil moisture, etc. confirms good locations for cultural burns. www.aol.com/articles/aus...
Throwback - Historians Lisa Brady, Mark Hersey, & Liza Piper debate whether environmental history has lost its way, discussing the field's core methodology, materialist roots, and the value of big-tent inclusivity We should do a 10 yr follow-up! Anyone interested? niche-canada.org/2016/01/27/n...
Nature's Past Episode 51: Has Environmental History Lost Its Way?
On this episode of the podcast discuss the question and further explore whether or not environmental history has lost its way.
niche-canada.org
I wonder if students today would be less likely to lean on AI for writing assignments if schools had made sure they could touch-type (at least 60wpm) before having them submit all their assignments online. 1/🧵
“Once we know that other animals dream, what exactly follows? What does it tell us about their capacity for memory, about their capacity for subjective experience? What does it teach us about their ability to imagine things that are not real?” Listen here: newbooksnetwork.com/david-pe%C3%...
Public Books @publicbooks.bsky.social · 4d ago“We humans have a moral obligation to reconfigure how we relate to nonhuman animals.” New at PB: David Peña-Guzmán on the inner lives of nonhuman animals.
Funded Masters of Arts (Island Studies) position University of Prince Edward Island “Island Metabolisms and the Genesis of the Canadian Agri‑Food System" Supervisor - @joshmacfadyen.bsky.social , Director of the UPEI GeoREACH Lab niche-canada.org/2026/07/24/f... #envhist #aghist #PEI
Funded Masters of Arts (Island Studies) position University of Prince Edward Island
Funded Masters of Arts (Island Studies) position studying “Island Metabolisms and the Genesis of the Canadian Agri‑Food System.”
niche-canada.org
“From the 1970s, as Canada struggled around what we can recognize with hindsight as the neoliberal turn, paved with crises of energy and otherwise, Imperial sought transformative policy influence.” - Mack Penner niche-canada.org/2025/10/18/f... #envhist #cdnhist #energyhistory #neoliberalism
Fossil Fueling Neoliberalism: Notes on the Oilmen’s Market Crusade
Imperial Oil promoted neoliberal policies aligning corporate and national interests, shaping Canada’s energy politics and linking prosperity to fossil-fuel-driven economic dependence.
niche-canada.org
popularresistance.org/light-show-d...
Light Show Defies Smithsonian History Removal Plan - PopularResistance.Org
Washington DC—Third Act-DMV turned its projector lights onto the Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH) late at night on Wednesday to highlight pressure to remove an history exhibit about tumultuous periods of the United States. The display focuses on the nation’s factual history of indigenous people, immigrants, enslaved people, and women, among other minority groups. It poses a basic question about the struggle of minorities to attain equality from the perspective of those adversely affected, during heightened periods of minority struggle to access the American promise.
popularresistance.org
I wonder if folks in the #envhist community would be interested in a “engineering for environmental history” introduction course… is there such a thing already? @eseh.bsky.social @leruche.bsky.social @nichecanada.bsky.social
#OTD (Thu, Jul 30) 1908 at #BoundaryLake, #AlgonquinPark: "Mr. Callighen and I cut logs for shelter house. Gordon, James, and Herbert Bartlett arrived from Headquarters." @nichecanada.bsky.social @csnrec.bsky.social
Beautiful evening in Northern Norway at Kvitnes gård (who just got a Michelin star).
Our editor-in-chief @jessicamdewitt.bsky.social sat down with Will Wright to talk about his new book Borders of Biodiversity (@uncpress.bsky.social), which traces the history & conservation of 3 charismatic species across borders Listen to or read the interview: niche-canada.org/2026/07/23/c...
Corridors, Not Cores: Rethinking Conservation with Will Wright
Will Wright discusses his new book, exploring how migratory species transform transboundary large landscape conservation and shape new scientific fields.
niche-canada.org
“The waters of the Williston Lake reservoir ended these first-hand experiences for all ages and for all time.” - Daniel Sims niche-canada.org/2026/02/23/w... #envhist #envhum #cdnhist #indigenoushistory #residentialschools #ecogenocide
When Environmental Genocide Met Other Forms of Genocide: The W.A.C. Bennett Dam and Lejac Indian Residential School
Lejac residential school and Williston Lake reservoir together devastated Tsek’ehne lands, culture, hope, magnifying colonial genocide’s enduring harms and disconnection.
niche-canada.org
REMINDER: Call for Papers: Histories of Anti-Tourism Deadline for submission: August 3, 2026 Where and when do we see anti-tourism emerge in the historical record? What forms does it take? niche-canada.org/2026/06/24/c... #envhist #envhum #tourism
Call for Papers: Histories of Anti-Tourism
We are looking for scholars already working on this topic, as well as those who may have encountered anti-touristic attitudes, conflicts, or forms of resistance in their research without treating them...
niche-canada.org
Call for Contributions: The Oar Following the successful launch of its inaugural issue in 2026, The Oar returns for a second volume celebrating the diverse histories, cultures, and stories that have shaped New Brunswick and the broader Atlantic region. niche-canada.org/2026/07/22/c... #cdnhist
Call for Contributions: The Oar
Following the successful launch of its inaugural issue in 2026, The Oar returns for a second volume celebrating the diverse histories, cultures, and stories that have shaped New Brunswick and the broa...
niche-canada.org
"Much as Santa Barbara papers celebrated the stunning scenery of the French Alps, European papers highlighted 'the picturesque setting… within sight of the beautiful Lake Tahoe.'" - @theliftline.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2026/02/18/s... #envhist #sporthistory #olympics
Stunning Scenery, Climate Consequences, and the Winter Games
Media eco-narratives link Winter Olympics tourism growth, alpine romanticism, and infrastructure to global emissions, despite limited direct climate impact from hosting.
niche-canada.org
"Haudenosaunee knowledge keeper and astronomer, Samantha Doxtator, who is educating future generations through her portable planetarium" www.cbc.ca/listen/live-... @nichecanada.bsky.social
As a ‘late coming Loyalist’ who settled on Nova Scotia’s North Shore, this is a fascinating read. Wondering if the situation described in this article could be the foundation story of Nova Scotia being seen as a ‘have not’ province. 🤔
#OTD (Wed, Jul 28) 1920 at #AlgonquinPark: "Men are engaged in placing gravel along track along Joe Lake. Brakeman on gravel train was badly injured in front of our camp. We gave what assistance we could & sent him out on morning train to his home." @nichecanada.bsky.social @csnrec.bsky.social
“There is no sustainable agriculture without bees….” Standing among the hives on the damaged rooftop, al-Dabba says the bees remind him of the people of Gaza. “The bees are like the people here,” he says. “They continue working despite the hardship. They always find their way back to the hive.”
Guardian US@us.theguardian.com · last wk.Ibrahim al-Dabba continues to care for his colonies despite losing his home and most of his hives and equipment
In "American Independence as a Supply Chain Crisis: The Case of Nova Scotia 1783-94," Patrick Callaway writes about how post-revolution Nova Scotia relied on illegal American grain imports to survive. Originally published on: @ageofrevolutions.bsky.social niche-canada.org/2026/07/21/a... #cdnhist
American Independence as a Supply Chain Crisis: The Case of Nova Scotia 1783-94
Faced with starvation, post-Revolution Nova Scotia bypassed British trade bans to import essential grain from the United States.
niche-canada.org
In our latest book review, Mark McLaughlin examines Canadians and Their Natural Environment: A History by @jamiemurton.bsky.social (Oxford University Press, 2021) niche-canada.org/2026/07/20/r... #envhist #cdnhist
Review of Murton, Canadians and Their Natural Environment: A History
James Murton’s book utilizes a "subsistence framework" to overview Canadian environmental history, highlighting the shift from direct human-nature interactions to industrialization.
niche-canada.org
"In the face of ongoing debates over mining legislation, this reclamation of land is both physical and discursive, and is anchored in more than a century of Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in refusal to be silenced." - Emily Witherow niche-canada.org/2023/11/22/s...
Storying Tr’ondëk-Klondike: Disrupting Settler Colonial Narratives Through UNESCO Designation
Tr’ondëk-Klondike was recently given UNESCO World Heritage site status. So what is the history behind this development?
niche-canada.org
ICYMI: “These cities signify with every building and every street that this land is now possessed by others; signs of white possession are embedded everywhere in the landscape” - Maren Savarese Knopf niche-canada.org/2026/07/15/b... #envhist #cdnhist #colonialism #indianact
Bedrock
Maren Savarese Knopf examines how the Indian Act enforced settler colonialism and land dispossession, countered by enduring Indigenous resistance and resilience.
niche-canada.org
