Readings/Video

The Pursuit of Happiness: An Indigenous View: The Community Speaks, Yoo Nutahkeeun Productions with Route 120 Labs, 2005. Link to videos. 

Catherine Seavitt Nordenson, “Dump-Heap Naturalists,” in Design With Nature Now, eds. Frederick R. Steiner, Richard Weller, Karen M’Closkey, and Billy Fleming (Cambridge, Mass.: Lincoln Institute of Land Policy in association with the University of Pennsylvania and The McHarg Center, 2019). Link to book. 

Darren Patrick. “The matter of displacement: a queer urban ecology of New York City’s High Line,” Social & Cultural Geography, 2013. Link to article.

Prompt

This coming week, we will hear from Silvermoon LaRose, a member of the Narragansett Tribe and Assistant Director of the Tomaquag Museum. After watching the short documentary The Pursuit of Happiness, please prepare one question to ask Silvermoon.

For the reading response, consider the parallels between the ‘dump-heap’ spaces Seavitt Nordenson discusses and the unruly landscapes of the High Line. How are ‘adventive flora’ and Ailanthus altissima valued, represented, and co-created through human interventions—whether intentional or accidental? How do these readings contribute to broader discussions of power, agency, and landscape in urban environments? As always, feel free to apply these insights to the Great Salt Cove.