Whose Emblem is it Anyway?

When a stylized design of the Inukshuk was chosen as the official emblem for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, some Inuit leaders were upset. They objected to the appropriation of an icon that has for so long served as a commemorative marker or guide for travellers in the north. However, the Inukshuk is ubiquitous, appearing commercially in everything from tacky key chains to expensive earrings. Many dot the landscape (across the country) wherever rocks and people come together.

This Inukshuk has been cemented together on the Niven Lake trail, the last of the city trails I've walked. Located at the edge of the city, the trail around a small lake is now the site of the most recent upscale subdivision, where doublewide modular homes cost $350,000 and million dollar avant-garde homes rise out of the boulders.

The local newspaper recently reported that some homeowners have been illegally cutting through the bush to create their own trails to the lake. It's important not to mess with the environment here because it's a large peat plateau, which runs a metre above the lake. Several miles below are pollen and other preserved plants from thousands of years ago, along with large ancient "lenses" of ice that never melt, thanks to the insulation of the peat. (Source: a marker on the trail.)

Despite the intrusion of development, Niven Lake is teaming with life. This muskrat swam by, as I stood at the edge, and the air is filled with the sounds of red-winged blackbirds, shorebirds and all kinds of ducks. I watched a tiny duckling swim next to a parent, while the other adult duck scooted into the reeds, returning with small fish it popped into the youngster's mouth.

Fortunately, a breeze kept away the bugs that would usually make this marshy environment a mosquito mecca.

Tomorrow: part 2 about the Niven Lake development-- more photos to show the range of housing, which I find fascinating in this city.