Seals, Stigma and Survival

One aspect of the fieldwork associated with the “Seals, Stigma and Survival” project is archival research. “Seals, Stigma and Survival” benefits from research support given to the principal investigator Danita Burke in the form of a Joan Mitchell Travel Award; an award that supports scholars to visiting and conduct archival research at the Laurier Archives and Special Collections, in Waterloo, Canada. Archival fieldwork at the Laurier Archives, Wilfrid Laurier University included a focus on the archive’s “Environmental Conservation Movement in Canada” collection.

The Environmental Conservation Movement in Canada collection contains

records relating to the environmental conservation movement in Canada, with an emphasis on water resources, biosphere reserves and the management of Canada’s northern resources. Our collections include the records of national environmental organizations and local conservation organizations as well as the personal papers of environmental activists and scholars who study the environment and resource management in Canada.

While the Joan Mitchell Travel Award was not explicitly awarded for the Seals, Stigma and Survival project, the archival research and the research within the Nordic Arctic Programme supported project overlap.

Accessing archival records from the Environmental Conservation Movement in Canada collection will aid the completion of the Seals, Stigma and Survival project by adding in new data and insight into the history of anti-sealing activism and its national and international fallout which are deeply imbedded in the history of environmental in Canada. By accessing the records at the Laurier Archives, the research will help with the exploration of the significance of anti-sealing activism on the Northern economy of Canada. The accessed data will also hopefully help with illustrating the scope and persistence of the impact of anti-sealing activism on the lives of northern communities, cultures and people.

During the archival visit, records accessed included information on traditional knowledge, the overlapping anti-trapping, anti-sealing and anti-harvest campaigns, Greenpeace, the Northern Canada economy, and the Canadian Indigenous experiences navigating challenges to their communities, economies and traditional practices as a result of environmental and animal rights activism. These records are very relevant to Seals, Stigma and Survival, particularly in laying out the legacy and impact of anti-sealing activism and its impact on northern economies and communities. Records accessed in person were from the Canadian Arctic Resources Committee Fonds (https://libarchives.wlu.ca/downloads/canadian-arctic-resources-committee-fonds.pdf).

Some other fond materials were available and accessed remotely included:

• Canadian Biosphere Reserve Association Fonds (https://libarchives.wlu.ca/index.php/canadian-biosphere-reserves-association-fonds)
• Assuring Protection for Tomorrow’s Environment (APT Environment) Fonds (https://libarchives.wlu.ca/index.php/assuring-protection-for-tomorrows-environment-apt-environment-collection) 
• Canadian Council on Ecological Areas Fonds (https://libarchives.wlu.ca/index.php/canadian-council-on-ecological-areas-ccea-fonds)

Many thanks to the trustees whom awarded the Joan Mitchell Travel Award to support this research visit and their flexibility due to unforeseen delays and to the archivists at the Laurier Archives and Collections for their enormous amount of help in accessing the archive files, preparing for the trip and navigating on-the-ground challenges.