{"id":1328,"date":"2009-04-02T23:58:10","date_gmt":"2009-04-03T03:58:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=1328"},"modified":"2018-08-09T20:47:41","modified_gmt":"2018-08-10T00:47:41","slug":"monday-april-1-2009-maps-snake-mounds-buffalo-mackenzie-%e2%80%95-a-personal-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=1328","title":{"rendered":"Monday, April 2, 2009 \u2014 Maps, Snake Mounds, Buffalo, Mackenzie \u2015 A Personal Reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"O9-04-02<\/a>Before I could even read and write, I drew maps. The desire to cre\u00adate a visu\u00adal mod\u00adel of my phys\u00adi\u00adcal envi\u00adron\u00adment seems to have been built into me. Through\u00adout child\u00adhood, I drew maps of the near\u00adby forests, care\u00adful\u00adly pac\u00ading out trails in order to repro\u00adduce their pro\u00adpor\u00adtions cor\u00adrect\u00adly, and mark\u00ading down swamps, cliffs, and glacial boul\u00adders. When I became aware of the exis\u00adtence of pub\u00adlished maps and atlases, I pored over them with the enthu\u00adsi\u00adasm that oth\u00ader kids had for hock\u00adey cards and comics.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was not, how\u00adev\u00ader, des\u00adtined to be an \u201carm\u00adchair trav\u00adel\u00ader\u201d. Maps, for me, were \u2015 and remain \u2015 an expres\u00adsion of an impa\u00adtient rest\u00adless\u00adness that is the sig\u00adna\u00adture of my tem\u00adpera\u00adment. Wan\u00adder\u00adlust. Itchy feet. A chron\u00adic chaf\u00ading against any con\u00adfine\u00adment or restraint. It\u2019s not sur\u00adpris\u00ading that my intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal inter\u00adests com\u00adbined geog\u00adra\u00adphy and his\u00adto\u00adry with the philo\u00adsoph\u00adi\u00adcal issues of free\u00addom and slavery.<\/span><\/p>\n

To me, a life with\u00adout trav\u00adel would be point\u00adless. Thus, at the first oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty, I began a peri\u00adpatet\u00adic exis\u00adtence that led me to expe\u00adri\u00adence many won\u00addrous and beau\u00adti\u00adful things, but left me with no estab\u00adlished career or finan\u00adcial secu\u00adri\u00adty. I still can\u2019t claim either \u201csuc\u00adcess\u201d or \u201cnor\u00admal\u00adcy\u201d. I\u2019ve had many adven\u00adtures, and close scrapes, and while these make inter\u00adest\u00ading mem\u00ado\u00adries, too much can be made of them. I would like, right here, to make an impor\u00adtant dis\u00adtinc\u00adtion between the psy\u00adchol\u00ado\u00adgy of the adven\u00adtur\u00ader and that of the explor\u00ader. I fit into the sec\u00adond cat\u00ade\u00adgo\u00adry, and not at all into the first.<\/span><\/p>\n

The adven\u00adtur\u00ader is a thrill-seek\u00ader. He or she seeks out dan\u00adger for the sake of dan\u00adger itself, excite\u00adment for the sake of excite\u00adment. That\u2019s noth\u00ading like me, at all, for I have a rather placid tem\u00adpera\u00adment. I find dan\u00adger dis\u00adtress\u00ading, and the rush of adren\u00ada\u00adlin extreme\u00adly unpleas\u00adant. Occa\u00adsion\u00adal\u00adly, I\u2019m tempt\u00aded to boast about adven\u00adtures, espe\u00adcial\u00adly when con\u00adfront\u00aded with my bla\u00adtant lack of mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal suc\u00adcess, but the read\u00ader will sure\u00adly rec\u00adog\u00adnize that as a defen\u00adsive strat\u00ade\u00adgy. No, the word \u201cexplor\u00ader\u201d suits me much bet\u00adter, espe\u00adcial\u00adly since it encom\u00adpass\u00ades time spent in a library, por\u00ading over books, as much as time spent on a camel or a bur\u00adro. The focus of the explor\u00ader is on find\u00ading out, uncov\u00ader\u00ading what is hid\u00adden, delight\u00ading in the new. Adren\u00ada\u00adlin does\u00adn\u2019t matter.<\/span><\/p>\n

But \u201cfind\u00ading out\u201d is not, for me, a mat\u00adter of sec\u00adond-hand expe\u00adri\u00adence or of mas\u00adter\u00ading sum\u00admaries, redac\u00adtions, or abstrac\u00adtions. It has to be direct, and sen\u00adso\u00adry, to appeal to me. I can nev\u00ader be con\u00adtent to mere\u00adly read about a water\u00adfall, a ruined city, a desert dune, a cathe\u00addral, or a crowd\u00aded souk<\/em>. I must be<\/em> there. I must touch and smell them. Pink and gold\u00aden Sahara sand smells like no oth\u00ader sand, and I need to know that smell. I need to hear the sounds, feel the wind, expe\u00adri\u00adence the damp\u00adness or the rough\u00adness. Tex\u00adture is what mat\u00adters to me.<\/span><\/p>\n

My inter\u00adest in his\u00adto\u00adry is more or less a side effect of my delight in place and tex\u00adture. Every place has its his\u00adto\u00adry, and the dimen\u00adsion of time is part of the tex\u00adture of spe\u00adcif\u00adic places. When I see a snake-shaped mound of earth on the shore of an Ontario lake, it is an essen\u00adtial adjunct to the direct sen\u00adso\u00adry expe\u00adri\u00adence to know that it was put there by the Point Penin\u00adsu\u00adla peo\u00adple, two thou\u00adsand years ago, with some rela\u00adtion to the Hopewell Cul\u00adture of the Ohio Val\u00adley, and not by, say, the Ontario Depart\u00adment of High\u00adways in 1968. It is also essen\u00adtial to me to know pre\u00adcise\u00adly how it may be, or may not be, con\u00adnect\u00aded to the Hiawatha First Nation whose prop\u00ader\u00adty it rests on, and what the best guess\u00ades might be as to the mean\u00ading of the near\u00adby pet\u00adro\u00adglyphs. That, in com\u00adbi\u00adna\u00adtion with the smell of the moist earth, and the slap\u00adping of the waves against my canoe, as I approach the site, and the honk\u00ading of geese and the chill of the air, forms the whole expe\u00adri\u00adence. Seek\u00ading out that expe\u00adri\u00adence is the thrill of explo\u00adration. But it is not \u201cadven\u00adture\u201d. I can reach the ser\u00adpent mound in a sin\u00adgle day trip from my apart\u00adment, with no dan\u00adger and lit\u00adtle dis\u00adcom\u00adfort, but it is every bit as much an act of explo\u00adration as a jour\u00adney to a remote and dan\u00adger\u00adous place.<\/span><\/p>\n

But I can nev\u00ader be con\u00adtent with only see\u00ading those things which are acces\u00adsi\u00adble to me here in Toron\u00adto. They give me plea\u00adsure, but being con\u00adfined to one place alone is a tor\u00adment to me. There is a huge world out there, and while I\u2019ve seen many things and poked around three con\u00adti\u00adnents, the list of things that I sim\u00adply must see for myself is very long, and the bio\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal clock ticks away relent\u00adless\u00adly. I don\u2019t want to end up inch\u00ading toward Mac\u00adchu Pic\u00adchu lean\u00ading on a \u201cwalk\u00ader\u201d. I don\u2019t want to die with\u00adout see\u00ading the Gop\u00adu\u00adrams<\/em> of Tamil Nadu or the wind sweep\u00ading across the Altai, or the Tepuis<\/em> of the Upper Orinoco. I can\u2019t think of any mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal suc\u00adcess that would com\u00adpen\u00adsate for miss\u00ading out on these things. The abil\u00adi\u00adty and oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to expe\u00adri\u00adence them would be my def\u00adi\u00adn\u00adi\u00adtion of mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal success.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the moment, I\u2019m engaged in research\u00ading and writ\u00ading on a spe\u00adcif\u00adic issue involv\u00ading the orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtion of the M\u00e9tis buf\u00adfa\u00adlo hunt in 19th cen\u00adtu\u00adry. Most of the work involves read\u00ading pri\u00adma\u00adry sources from the era, and some from the cen\u00adtu\u00adry before (I am try\u00ading to uncov\u00ader some sus\u00adpect\u00aded con\u00adti\u00adnu\u00adities). I can only do this, and would only want to do this, with the mem\u00ado\u00adry of the musky, over\u00adpow\u00ader\u00ading smell of buf\u00adfa\u00adlo in my mind, of the flavour of saska\u00adtoon\u00adber\u00adries pound\u00aded into brit\u00adtle pem\u00admi\u00adcan, and of the pow wow songs of the Plains act\u00ading as ghost\u00adly atten\u00addants to the work.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"O9-04-02<\/a>I\u2019m read\u00ading the jour\u00adnal of Alexan\u00adder Macken\u00adzie [1] , whose explo\u00adrations of Canada\u2019s west and the Arc\u00adtic were on a spec\u00adtac\u00adu\u00adlar scale. Born in the Gael\u00adic-speak\u00ading Out\u00ader Hebrides of Scot\u00adland, he began work\u00ading for Mon\u00adtre\u00adal fur traders at the age of fif\u00adteen, and at twen\u00adty-five under\u00adtook the jour\u00adney down the mighty riv\u00ader that now bears his name, to the Arc\u00adtic Ocean. On a lat\u00ader, equal\u00adly aston\u00adish\u00ading jour\u00adney, he found a way across the Rock\u00adies to the Pacif\u00adic \u2014 long before Lewis and Clark. Macken\u00adzie appears to have been some\u00adthing of a phys\u00adi\u00adcal super\u00adman, judg\u00ading by some of his feats, and in that I can claim no resem\u00adblance. But in oth\u00ader ways, the man strikes me as a kin\u00addred spir\u00adit. Macken\u00adzie record\u00aded every sight, sound, and smell with incred\u00adi\u00adble vivid\u00adness and accu\u00adra\u00adcy. For one stretch of a cou\u00adple of hun\u00addred kilo\u00adme\u00adtres, I was able to deduce his exact loca\u00adtion at every point, and rec\u00adog\u00adnize every land\u00admark from my own per\u00adson\u00adal knowl\u00adedge, even though all the names attrib\u00aduted to the var\u00adi\u00adous nat\u00adur\u00adal fea\u00adtures have since changed, with\u00adout hav\u00ading to con\u00adsult a map. His obser\u00adva\u00adtions and inter\u00adac\u00adtions with the peo\u00adple of the land, for many of whom he was the first Euro\u00adpean they had encoun\u00adtered, dis\u00adplay a remark\u00adable sen\u00adsi\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adty and objec\u00adtiv\u00adi\u00adty. A mod\u00adern cul\u00adtur\u00adal anthro\u00adpol\u00ado\u00adgist would be hard pressed to match his insight and obser\u00adva\u00adtion\u00adal skill with native soci\u00adeties. He was flu\u00adent in sev\u00ader\u00adal Native Cana\u00addi\u00adan tongues. Incred\u00adi\u00adbly, he was able to accu\u00adrate\u00adly deduce the exact rela\u00adtion\u00adships and fam\u00adi\u00adly group\u00adings of dozens of lan\u00adguages, with\u00adout any train\u00ading in philol\u00ado\u00adgy or descrip\u00adtive lin\u00adguis\u00adtics (sci\u00adences which, at any rate, hard\u00adly exist\u00aded at the time). The jour\u00adnal includes sev\u00ader\u00adal com\u00adpar\u00ada\u00adtive word lists with which he demon\u00adstrates these rela\u00adtion\u00adships. The his\u00adto\u00adri\u00adans who have recount\u00aded his exploits have not, appar\u00adent\u00adly, grasped the aston\u00adish\u00ading nature of this achieve\u00adment. His obser\u00adva\u00adtions of nat\u00adur\u00adal his\u00adto\u00adry, native eco\u00adnom\u00adics, polit\u00adi\u00adcal sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions, and of per\u00adson\u00adal char\u00adac\u00adter all show keen judg\u00adment, though his for\u00admal edu\u00adca\u00adtion con\u00adsist\u00aded of a year of gram\u00admar school in Mon\u00adtre\u00adal. Noth\u00ading com\u00adpelled him to notice any of these things \u2015 his employ\u00aders want\u00aded lit\u00adtle except to fill in some blank spaces on the map, and they ignored most of his prac\u00adti\u00adcal advice.<\/span><\/p>\n

You get the over\u00adwhelm\u00ading impres\u00adsion that the man was thor\u00adough\u00adly enjoy\u00ading himself.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alexan\u00adder Macken\u00adzie (actu\u00adal\u00adly, Alas\u00addair Mac\u00adCoin\u00adnich in Gael\u00adic) speaks to me through his jour\u00adnal, because I sense a sim\u00adi\u00adlar atti\u00adtude to my own. The itchy feet, the rest\u00adless\u00adness, the impa\u00adtience with author\u00adi\u00adty, com\u00adbined with a crav\u00ading to observe detail, all res\u00adonate with me. Unlike his fel\u00adlow explor\u00ader, David Thomp\u00adson (who end\u00aded up for\u00adgot\u00adten, pawn\u00ading his sex\u00adtant to feed him\u00adself), Macken\u00adzie at least man\u00adaged to par\u00adley his achieve\u00adments into a mod\u00adest\u00adly suc\u00adcess\u00adful retire\u00adment. Let\u2019s hope that I can man\u00adage the same trick.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"O9-04-02<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

[1] Voy\u00adages from Mon\u00adtre\u00adal, on the riv\u00ader St. Lau\u00adrence, through the con\u00adti\u00adnent of North Amer\u00adi\u00adca, to the Frozen and Pacif\u00adic oceans; in the years, 1789 and 1793; with a pre\u00adlim\u00adi\u00adnary account of the rise,progress, and present state of the fur trade of that coun\u00adtry<\/em>. M.G. Hur\u00adtig Ltd., Edmon\u00adton \u2014 fac\u00adsim\u00adi\u00adle of the William Combe edi\u00adtion of 1801.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before I could even read and write, I drew maps. The desire to cre\u00adate a visu\u00adal mod\u00adel of my phys\u00adi\u00adcal envi\u00adron\u00adment seems to have been built into me. Through\u00adout child\u00adhood, I drew maps of the near\u00adby forests, care\u00adful\u00adly pac\u00ading out \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,9,946,15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1328","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-ar-blog-2009","category-b-reading","category-br-reading-2009"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1328"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8049,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1328\/revisions\/8049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1328"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1328"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1328"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}