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Park ethnography is open and collaborative, inviting
participation by those with a stake in how a park is planned and
run, such as park neighbors and other constituents. Such stakeholders
must concur with the ethnography project's goals before it can
proceed. In fact, they often take part in the research and report
writing, with drafts circulated so they can suggest mid-course
corrections. Ethnographers have found that a group's participation
enhances the study's value. Below are a few examples of research
projects.
EDISON
NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE
Edison National Historic Site, about 20 miles west of New York
City in West Orange, New Jersey, inhabits one of the most developed
areas of the state. The park memorializes the achievements of
inventor Thomas Alva Edison, preserving his home and laboratory.
About 60,000 people visit each year, but until a traditional use
study, few realized the full import of the place. Read
article.
OLYMPIC
NATIONAL PARK
Several reservations, ranging from 200 to almost 200,000 acres,
border Olympic National Park. In 1990, a project began to look
at the traditional ties with the Makah, Lower Elwha Klallam, Jamestown
S'Klallam, Port Gamble S'Klallam, Skokomish, Squaxin, Chehalis,
Shoalwater Bay, Quinault, Quileute, and Hoh. What was discovered
was a wealth of information that shed new light on the region
and its native inhabitants. Read
article.
ALASKA'S
NATIONAL PARKS
Statistics show that wildlife is essential to survival in the
Alaska bush. In Anchorage, food is 25 percent more costly than
in most cities of the western United States; rural Alaskans pay
double that--with considerably lower incomes. They consume almost
75 percent of the wildlife hunted in the state. Statistics tell
only part of the story, however. A traditional use study, ethnographic
landscape study, ethnohistory, and oral history were commissioned
to profile both the wildlife and the communities whose survival
depends on hunting-in the parks and the landscapes that surround
them. Read
article.
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