Did you know that Elk Island National Park used to have a bison abattoir? Have you ever heard of the national parks in Alberta that were dissolved? In this live podcast recording, we explore the wild history of making national parks in our area, and what it can teach us about the current plans to build a new urban national park in Edmonton’s river valley.

This episode was recorded on September 21, 2023 at the Alfred H. Savage Centre in Edmonton, or Amiskwaciwâskahikan. It is the culmination of our season driven by listener questions about the history of parks and natural areas in Edmonton.

Guest speaker Lauren Markewicz introduced us to the strange history of how national parks have been made and unmade in Alberta. Lauren is a public historian specializing in the history of bison conservation in what we now know as Canada. She is a member of the Bison Specialist Group of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and has worked as an interpreter at various historic sites and national parks in Western Canada. She is from St. Albert, Alberta but currently lives in Waskesiu Lake, Saskatchewan. She is also an avid nature nerd and is often spent out on the landscape hiking or camping. Lauren is the author of Like Distant Thunder: Canada’s Bison Conservation Story.

In her talk, Lauren spoke about Elk Island National Park’s origins as an elk preserve in 1906 and as a Dominion Park in 1913 — and about the bison introduced to the park from the Pablo Allard herd in present-day Montana. She also spoke about why Buffalo National Park, founded in 1909 as a bison preserve, was dissolved. The former park land is the current site of CFB Wainwright, east of Edmonton.

This short film below about Buffalo National Park alludes to an “ancient feud” between bison and yaks, but the footage actually features two yaks, present in the park as part of breeding experiments with bison and cattle. It also features the very unusual sight of a warden feeding hay to elk and horses.

As Lauren tells us:

“This scenic film showcases the activities and scenery of two Canadian National Parks in Alberta: Wainwright and Jasper. The film presents buffalo, yak and elk, roaming and grazing, along with people picnicking and enjoying the scenery. In 1919, the Canadian government’s Department of Public Information hired Pathéscope to produce ‘Canadian National Pictorial,’ a weekly newsreel to educate Canadians about the country’s geography, industrial possibilities and culture. Canada’s National Parks is part of this series, over which the government had editorial control. When the government withdrew its financial support in July 1921, the newsreel stopped production.”

Lauren talked about Alberta’s other lost national parks, Nemiskam and Wawaskesy parks near Medicine Hat, which were founded along with Menissawok in Saskatchewan as pronghorn game reserves.

In the second half of the evening, guest speakers Mack Male and Miranda Jimmy introduced participants to the national urban park planning process currently underway in Edmonton.

Mack Male is the co-founder and CEO of Taproot Publishing which helps communities understand themselves better. The company’s flagship digital news outlet is Taproot Edmonton, which among other things publishes Let’s Find Out, a weekday newsletter called The Pulse, and a weekly municipal affairs podcast called Speaking Municipally, which Mack co-hosts. Prior to becoming an entrepreneurial journalist, Mack spent more than a decade working in software development.

Miranda Jimmy is a passionate Edmontonian and member of Thunderchild First Nation. She is a community connector and fierce defender of truth. Miranda is committed to the spirit and intent of the Treaty relationship and finds ways each day to demonstrate to others what this looks like. Miranda’s professional life has focused on contributing to her community in a variety of ways. She has training in arts and cultural management, conflict resolution and negotiation, and communications. She has made a career in the arts and heritage sector, working with many different non-profit organizations, Nations, governments, and private businesses. Miranda currently works for the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations managing their role in the development of a new National Urban Park in Edmonton, along with ongoing consulting contracts with the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, the CanAsian Arts Network, and supporting the location and marking of Indigenous burial sites across Treaty Six.

This episode brought to you by the Edmonton Community Foundation’s Well-Endowed Podcast.

Further Reading:

• Delisted: Alberta Parks Lost and Forgotten (CPAWS)
• Rouge National Urban Park (Parks Canada)
• Edmonton’s Parkland Bylaw (City of Edmonton)
• Lauren Markewicz’s full slideshow on national parks in Alberta