Modern day Stanley Park: What changed and remained the same?

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A woman biking along the  Seawall path

Recently, modern day contributions to Stanley Park has created it's reputation as one of British Columbia's biggest tourism attractions. The recreational facility attracts thousands of visitors everyday to enjoy it's natural and manmade landmarks caused by colonization. There are still natural characteristics that has been remained from pre-settlement like Siwash Rock, however the meaning of the land to settlers and Indigenous people has changed drastically. During pre-settlement, the land meant a great deal to the First Nations people as it provided natural resources for survival such as wild animals, trees, berries and plants. They had a respectable relationship with the land by being sustainable and treating the natural characteristics with care. The relationship was sadly ended when non-native settlers came along. There were lots of changes to the environment including the replacement of hemlock and spruce trees, addition to wildlife and a trend of hunting down specific animals which made it very unsustainable.

Today, the relationship humans have with wild animals is still not the best relationship since colonization. Stanley Park is filled with small wild animals including Eastern Grey and Douglas squirrels, coyotes, beavers and Great Blue Heron. Many of the animals don't co-exist with large groups of people as human's don't seem to follow the park animal policies and continue to interact and feed the wildlife.



Vancouver Park Rangers tent for the Coyote Education Campaign
As coyote attacks have been a recent concern within Stanley Park, according to an article from Vancouver is Good, the City of Vancouver's Board of Parks and Recreation launched a public education campaign aimed at informing the public about co-existing with coyotes.  As part of the coyote education campaign, park rangers are stationed throughout the park to advise visitors to refrain from feeding and interacting with coyotes and any other wildlife. The City of Vancouver has a clear idea of this relationship: "Wildlife feeding is a significant issue in our parks, which has impacts to wildlife health and behaviour. It breaks down our healthy boundary with wildlife and can lead to aggressive animal behaviour towards people."

Brockton Totem Poles 

 Now, Stanley Park is open to everyone for enjoyment and entertainment purposes with a variety of manmade attractions added to the park. The Vancouver board of Parks is trying their best to retain the lost Indigenous culture back into our attractions. The Brockton Point Totem Poles for example are the most-visited location in Stanley Park. The nine totem poles at Brockton Point are located on traditional Coast Salish land and actually replicants carved in where the orignal totem poles are kept in numerous museums for preservation. Visitors come to observe and examine the different figures and consider there meaning.







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