February 27th – Stanley Park: Digging Deeper and Rethinking Cultural Heritage
The appreciation and understanding of Stanley Park is broadening and deepening, as thousands of years of First Nations presence are better understood beyond the colonial history. With this context, Rena Soutar (Cha’an Tdut) and Geordie Howe will consider how we define “our cultural heritage” as a city. They will explore the Indigenous peoples’ relationships to the land, the approach to stewardship and how the environment was cultivated to support communities. The park and the city have an incredibly long and rich history, with lessons to teach that are not only valuable, but also critically important to ensure all of our sustainability.
March 20th – Squat City: An Informal History of Squatters in Vancouver
The story of the squatter’s shack in Vancouver encompasses generations of history from the origins of Gastown and Kitsilano to modern say social housing activists who occupied the old Woodwards store in 2002. Daniel Francis investigates how the squatter’s shack contrasts with glass towers of the modern city, a different kind of iconic structure, projecting a view from the margins. Learn about how at one time hundreds of shacks lined the shores of Burrard Inlet and False Creek serving as an enclave for those wishing to live off the grid or who were forced by low income to find cheap housing. The talk will explore the historic context of the squatter’s shack, as well as its place in our contemporary “City of Glass”.
