Call for Papers – Yukon Environmental History: 125th Anniversary

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Yukon Environmental History

A NiCHE Series

Proposal Deadline: June 16th, 2023

Series Publication: June-August 2023

June 13, 2023 marks the 125th anniversary of the Yukon Territory’s creation under the Yukon Act and its formal joining of Canadian Confederation. Prior to this, the landmass that makes up the Yukon was part of the larger Northwest Territories and homeland to at least fourteen different First Nations. The creation and development of the Yukon Territory was rapid, influenced by national and international attention garnered by the Klondike Gold Rush. Its rapid development included environmental transformations to land, water, and all living beings who inhabited the region. The Yukon is most commonly imagined as a wilderness, a resource frontier, or a place for escape. The literature of Pierre Berton, Jack London, and Robert Service along with images of gold nuggets and sourdough miners comes to mind in the romanticized public imagination – an image which the Territory has worked to reproduce over time. But what history lies beyond that of glimmering gold? How have various human groups related to the environmental history of this Territory over time? And what of the non-human? How has the creation of the Yukon Territory led to the transformation of environment and environmental relationships? These are the questions NiCHE would like us to consider in light of this 125th anniversary.

NiCHE invites submissions for Yukon Environmental History. Final posts should be 700-1200 words on the subject of Yukon environmental history broadly defined. Posts are welcome in a variety of styles, including traditional academic writing, narrative pieces, interviews, reflective pieces, visual essays, and more. While this series marks the 125th anniversary of the creation of the Yukon Territory, we encourage posts on environmental subjects that pre-date the creation of the Yukon as a separate Territory in 1898.

Topics for this series may include, but are not limited to:

• Indigenous environmental histories
• Culture and heritage
• Gender and environment
• Rivers, glaciers, and mountains
• Non-human animals
• Tourism and recreation
• Borderlands
• Global and international connections
• Resource development
• Industrialization
• Visual Art
• Activism
• Conservation
• Exploration
• Environmental regulation and legislation
• Infrastructure

Those interested should submit a proposal of 150 words by June 16th, 2023.

Selected contributors will be notified by June 23rd, 2023.

Send proposals as well as a brief bio of 100 words via the submission form below.

Feel free to reach out with any questions to Heather Green heather.green [at] smu.ca

We look forward to your submissions.

Yukon Environmental History Proposal Submission Form

NiCHE offers $100 CAD honoraria to contributors without adequate or consistent access to institutional support. Learn more about our honoraria policy here.

Feature Image of bison along the Alaska Highway by author.
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Heather Green

Heather Green is an assistant professor in the Department of History at Saint Mary's University. She is interested in the intersections of environmental and Indigenous histories, histories of Indigenous and Settler Relations, and mining history, particularly in the Canadian North. You can connect with her on twitter @heathergreen21.

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