What In Tar Nation?

摘要

The Alberta Tar Sands are the largest industrial project in human history. Although the province has become an attractive point of relocation for many in the last couple of decades, creating a large number of high paying jobs, those without the resources, skills, or desire to tap into Alberta's renowned boom are the most likely to have to deal with its negative consequences. First Nations people and in particular First Nations women tend to be amongst those most affected by this development.rnFort McMurray is a town where oil-money flows like oil, where everyone is implicated in the industry. We hitch a ride to Fort Mackay, a small Native community 40 km north of Fort McMurray where we stay for three days.rnCelina, the elder we are staying with, speaks of the trap lines that she and her husband once gleaned a life from, and of the bushes teeming with berries that tickled this land before the tar sands plants opened and stole their land along with the health of the fish and animals. She lists the kinds of berries: raspberries, high bush cranberries, Saskatoon berries. She lists them off in circles, repeating the names once, twice, three times, drawing attention to the abundance that she has no pictures to prove. She pauses after each name, breaking in remembrance to taste each one.