What Do Landscapes Tell Us About Our Culture? | Linnea Sando | TEDxHelena

>> I'm a cultural
geographer.

I often get asked
what that means.

Do I study rocks?

No, that's geologists.

Do I like maps?

I do. But there is more to

cultural geography
than just maps.

In fact, as cultural
geographers,

there are pretty
varied bunch in

study of variety
of phenomena.

From city planning,
to social issues,

to the cultural
traditions of places

our country is enemies
or allies with.

One avenue for
exploration that

many cultural geographers

utilize is the landscape.

Landscape can tell us
a lot about a culture.

It can reveal
aspects of the past,

where we're from, how
culture has changed,

and it can also reveal

contemporary circumstances,

and the values that we

hold today as a society.

The beauty of reading

the landscape is
that is available to

each and every one of us to

read and to learn from.

Have we just know a few
things to look for?

But first, what's the value

of reading the landscape?

Well, one, we live
in it, right?

The big box store,

it's a small locally
owned store,

it's the suburbs,

the sidewalks, the streets,

they are all part of

the landscape and guide us

in our day-to-day living.

Two, simply a deeper
appreciation for

places and the
processes that

go into creating
those places,

the people who
are involved,

the labor that's involved,

and then knowing
that there are

individual and
community stories

that surround each
and every landscape.

If we take a look at
this building here,

the Wool Warehouse,

this is in Big
Timber, Montana.

It might not look like
much of a building,

but it stands as

a reflection of

the communities
heritage in Big Timber,

and that it's
historical foundation

with the sheep industry.

The really neat
thing is, if you

step inside that building,

and it's brick walls

all around, and what
you'll see here,

you'll see dates
and signatures,

some over a 100 years old.

From anybody who had

anything to do
with the industry,

whether they are
wall stamper,

sheers, herders, ranchers.

You have this building
that's a reflection

of the communities
heritage in the industry,

but then attached
to that building,

you have individual
stories of family,

of friendship, of labor,

and of that hard work.

When we know more
about the landscape

and the meanings
behind them,

we tend to take
better care of them,

and we appreciate
them more,

whether that's
a building that

makes your
community unique,

or say, public lands that

surround your community.

What else can we learn
from the landscape?

What can we look for?

Well, we can learn
about the past.

We can learn about
who people are,

where they came from.

One way to do
that is look at

ethnic signatures
on the landscape,

and ask the question, Why?

Why did a
particular group of

people settle in a
particular landscape?

Then in turn, how did they

shape that landscape,

and how did the traditions

that they brought
with them,

how is it
continuing to shape

that place identity today?

An example of
this would be,

if we go to Elko, Nevada,

North East of
Nevada, and we

have the star hotel here,

you can see it
says Basque food.

Going back to the why,

why did the Basques from

France and Spain
come to Elko Nevada?

That goes back to the
sheep industry also.

They came in
the late 1800s,

first half of the 1900s
to work as herders.

Then other Basques
came and they

built these Basque
boarding houses,

which is a combination of

a restaurant and a hotel,

and they were used

to accommodate the herders,

and offered them
a home away

from home where their
languages were spoken,

customs and traditions
could be carried on.

Today, this one,
the star hotel

built in 1910 remains.

Although it's not
a boarding house

or it is just not
a hotel anymore,

it is still a restaurant
and those traditions

then are still carried
on within those walls,

and also within the
greater Elko community.

When we have these
ethnic signatures,

whether it is a
restaurant or say,

finished sun as
on the landscape,

is a reminder of the
culture's heritage,

although that heritage
might be reimagined

in slight or big ways,

it's still a connection
to the past,

and showing that
traditions are carried on,

and is still shapes
those places then today.

What else can we learn?

We can learn about how

culture has evolved
and how it's changed.

If we just meander west
of here towards say,

the Avon area,

I'm sure many of you have

driven that road before.

You maybe even
seen these type of

landscapes with the big,

huge haystacks, and

the strange
contraptions that

are next to them.

The picture has to be sure.

But they also tell us how

culture has evolved,

how the scale of ranching

and farming has evolved,

how families and
labor have changed.

This used to be a common
way to put up hay,

but it was also very
labor-intensive.

It took a lot
of people which

wasn't always
necessarily a problem.

Families were
larger, so you could

find the labor pool
within your own family,

within the community,

even itinerant labor
you could find.

Well, then technology
evolves, scale evolves,

and so families
are smaller,

and now you can just

have one or two people on

a tractor in hay baler
to put up your hay.

We can think of
our landscape

as of layers, right?

There's going to be
aspects of the past,

but then there's
also the present in

our contemporary values.
What do we value?

How is that differ

from community
to community,

and how is that reflected
on the landscape?

Let's take a look at
our local example

here in Helena.

We have our trails, right?

You have your signs in

Mount Helena City
Park this way.

You follow the signs,
and you go up there,

you see a large
parking lot,

many times it's
filled with cars,

so it is being used.
You can see that.

Part of reading
landscape is also seeing

how people interact
with the landscape.

You go on the
trails and you see

the runners,
and the bikers,

the hikers, the toddlers,

the organized
groups, they're all

utilizing the landscape.

That's all part of this
landscape and part of

Helena's place identity as

a community that's invested

in its local trails.

Then when you're
out on the trails,

be sure to look out.

There's a lot of

different things
that you can see,

but one thing to take note

of, is the street patterns.

We see, are nice
straight streets

to make that nice grid.

There's a connection
there that goes all the

way back to 1682 in

William Penn when he

laid out the city
of Philadelphia.

He wanted that
grid pattern,

and real estate
sellers and buyers

loved it too because it

made the selling of lots,

nice and easy,
and convenient.

We're in Helena, we
have our local trails,

but we're also Westerners,

so we're surrounded
by public lands from

national parks to
national forests.

There's a couple of

different ways
we could look at

the national forests and
read that landscape,

but I want to focus on is,

how they're managed as
lands of many uses.

This isn't a new
idea either.

This goes back to

the late 1800s,
early 1900s,

so much of the public
stewardship of

the forested mountain
areas fell into place.

We have our lands
of many uses,

and that's going to
differ depending

on which forest you are in.

In this one here, this is

in Pioneer Mountains.

On one side, you

have your grazing
allotments.

You have cattle grazing,

fence separating that
from the campgrounds.

Others you're going to

see like commercial
logging,

and logged areas,
and receded forests.

Going back to
the recreation,

just the trails
themselves are

signs for hunting
regulations.

When we see these
signs of many uses,

what's that saying
about our culture?

What do we value,
whether that's

economic values,

or cultural values,

or traditions
being carried on,

or just what we like to

do in our leisure time,

especially as Westerners

and being outdoor
enthusiasts.

Enthusiast is part of
our Western identity.

We have our
landscape and we can

read it from
different scales.

We can look at it

from the
international impact

on local landscapes through

such things as immigration,

both the past and in

the present that's
still happening today.

We can also look at

national policies
on landscape,

and how that's
impacted places

through such things
as the public lands.

Then we can really zoom in

to the community level,

and just look at how people

interact with their
everyday local landscape.

Scholars have said
that our landscape

is our autobiography,

that it reflects our
values, our tastes,

our preferences, and that

all human landscapes
reveals something.

With that can be
overwhelming, right?

We can't know all of
those answers when we

go out and read
the landscape,

but what we can
do is just try to

ask questions
about what we see.

What do we see out
there and what

does that say
about our culture?

What does that say
about our values?

Really looking at
just the everyday,

seemingly mundane features
in the landscape.

For example, our suburbs,

what does that
say about us?

Are they workable
or they not?

Do we have friend porches,

or people out
there visiting,

or do we evaluate privacy
and all activities

take place and backpack

you with our
privacy fences?

Going back to the
recreational landscapes,

again,

we're at West
and so there's

plenty of our playgrounds,

from the campgrounds to

the hot springs resorts,

or the dude ranches,
or the ski resorts.

What does that
say about what we

like to do in our
leisure time,

how we like to
spend our money,

and so then
these landscapes

of consumption even?

If you're curious
about a place,

or a building in a place,

any the other type of
landscape feature,

invite you to
simply ask a local.

Most people are
so thrilled to

talk about their hometown,

and stories about it,
and what makes it

unique and special to them.

The next time you're going

through a small town,

and you grab a
cup of coffee,

or you're eating at
a local restaurant,

simply open up
the conversation

with a question
about the place.

Then soon I hope
that we can all

appreciate road trips
and walks more,

and see that all
places are filled

with history and
significance,

and that we're
just surrounded by

a storied landscape.
Thank you.