In his historical account of colonization in Ontario, J.D. Wood writes, “The gradual obliteration of the forest was the most obvious aspect of the transformation of the landscape.” (Wood, 2000, p. 13). The relationship of colonization to deforestation is not unique to Ontario. Michael Williams describes a global trend of commodification and forest destruction (Williams, 2003). Jessica J. Lee writes about the loss of trees in Taiwan and the importance of seeing trees as living beings,“…efforts to pull the trees back from total extinction depended upon a change of perspective.” (Lee, 2020, p. 237).
How may we change our perspectives of our trees here in Toronto?
Date of Filming: March 19, 2022
Location: High Park, Toronto, Ontario
Credits:
Danced Julia Aplin with Black Oak
Music The Blue Danube by Johann Strauss II
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Lee, Jessica J. (2020). Two Trees Make a Forest (first). Penguin Random House Canada Limited.
Williams, M. (2003). Deforesting the earth: From prehistory to global crisis. University of Chicago Press.
Wood, J. D. (2000). Making Ontario agricultural colonization and landscape re-creation before the railway. McGill-Queen’s University Press.