During the recession period of 2008/2009, global tourism declined by 8%. This was also evident is South Africa with the domestic travel market shrinking by 8% as well. However, this did not apply to the Kruger National Park (KNP) which experienced a sustained Accommodation Unit Occupancy growth of 1.6% during the same period. Visitors to the KNP thus see it as an attractive holiday destination irrespective of tough economic conditions characterised by less disposable income. To sustain this growth, it is important to be aware of the reasons visitors still visit the KNP during a recession. The aim of this study was to determine the reasons why visitors still travelled to the KNP during the 2008/2009 recession. This can be done by analysing the visitors’ behaviour and the motivational factors (internal feelings of the visitors) and determinants of the demand (income and exchange rates for instance) that influenced visitors’ choice to visit the KNP. To achieve this aim, a survey was conducted at the KNP between 15 and 20 December 2009 (high season). A total of 355 questionnaires were completed, after which a number of analyses were done to determine the effects of the recession on travel behaviour. For the purpose of this study, two articles were written. Article 1 is titled: “Motivations of visitors to the Kruger National Park during the 2008/2009 recession period”. The aim of this article was to determine the motivations of visitors to the KNP during the recession. A factor analysis on the motivations to visit the park was conducted, of which the following factors obtained the highest mean values: Escape, Wildlife experience and Family benefits. Push factors to the KNP were important to such an extent that visitors regarded visiting the park as a primary need or lifestyle. The results furthermore showed that visitors might have adapted their spending behaviour at the park to still afford to visit the park during the recession. This article provides a better understanding of visitors’ feelings towards the KNP, especially amidst recessions which, in turn, will improve niche marketing and a competitive advantage. Article 2 is titled: “Factors that influenced demand to the Kruger National Park during the 2008/2009 economic recession”. The aim of this article was to identify the determinants that influence the demand for visits to the KNP. Due to the homogeneous nature of the park’s market, the results of the stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed a few socio-demographic and behavioural determinants that influenced visitors’ demand to the park. The motives Escape and Souvenirs were the only two behavioural determinants while the provinces Gauteng and Mpumalanga were the only socio-demographic determinants. These two provinces are the two main markets for the KNP. Visitors indicated that visiting the KNP is a great way of escaping their busy metropolitan areas, especially in the Gauteng province. Mpumalanga residents have many tourism attractions in their province thus lowering the chances that they will visit the KNP. The determinant Souvenirs indicates that visitors adapted their spending at the park to still be able to afford visits. It was also found that demand to visit the park was not greatly influenced by the recession, because visitors could adapt their spending at the park. This is the first time the determinants of demand to a national park during a recession period have been conducted. The study indicated that visiting natural areas may have become a primary need or part of a lifestyle, especially during the 2008/2009 recession period. This article gives park management guidelines that will ensure the sustainability of the KNP because this information now allows for well-planned, thorough marketing and management of the park. In the case of KNP, which has a homogeneous market, the number of determinants identified influencing demand for visiting the park is fewer than has been found in other studies done on heterogeneous markets. This study therefore also makes a valuable methodological contribution in relation to analysing demand of homogeneous and heterogeneous markets. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

As Richard Thomas writes, “there is nothing like Star Trek…Of all the universes of science fiction, the Star Trek universe is the most varied and extensive, and by all accounts the series is the most popular science fiction ever” (1). Ever growing (the latest Star Trek film will be released in Spring 2013) and embodied in hundreds of novels and slash fanfiction, decades of television and film, conventions, replicas, toys, and a complete Klingon language Star Trek is nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. As Harrison et al argue in Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek, the economic and cultural link embodied in the production of the Star Trek phenomena “more than anything else, perhaps, makes Star Trek a cultural production worth criticizing” (3). A utopian universe, Star Trek invites its audience to imagine a future of amicable human and alien life, often pictured without the ravages of racism, sexism, capitalism and poverty. However, beyond the pleasure of watching, I would ask what do the representations within Star Trek reveal about our popular culture? In essence, what are the values, meaning and beliefs about gender, race, sexuality and disability being communicated in the text? I will explore the ways that the Star Trek universe simultaneously encourages and discourages us from thinking about race, gender, sexuality and disability and their intersections. In other words, this work will examine the ways that representations of identity are challenged and reinforced by Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. This work will situate Star Trek specifically within the science fiction genre and explore the importance of its utopian standpoint as a frame for representational politics. Following Inness, (1999), I argue that science fiction is particularly rich textual space to explore ideas of women and gender (104). As Sharona Ben-Tov suggests in The Artificial Paradise: Science Fiction and American Reality (1995) science fiction’s “position at a unique intersection of science and technology, mass media, popular culture, literature, and secular ritual” offers critical insight into social change (ctd. in Inness 104). I extend Inness and Ben-Tov here to assert that the ways in which science fiction’s rich and “synthetic language of metaphor” illustrate and re-envision contemporary gender roles also offers a re-imagination of assumptions regarding race, sexuality and disability (Inness 104). Extending current scholarship (Roberts 1999, Richards 1997, Gregory 2000, Bernardi 1998, Adare 2005, Greven 2009, Wagner and Lundeen 1998, Relke 2006, and Harrison et all 1996), I intend to break from traditions of dichotomous views of The Next Generation and Voyager as either essentially progressive or conservative. In this sense, I hope to complicate and question simplistic conclusions about Star Trek’s ideological centre. Moreover, as feminist media theorist Mia Consalvo notes, previous analyses of Star Trek have explored how the show constructs and comments on conceptions of gender and race as well as commenting on economic systems and political ideologies (2004). As such, my analysis intends to apply an intersectional approach as well as offer a ‘cripped’ (McRuer 2006) reading of Star Trek in order to provide a deeper understanding of how identities are represented both in science fiction and in popular culture. Both critical approaches – especially the emphasis on disability, sexuality and intersectional identities are largely ignored by past Trek readings. That is to say, while there is critical research on representations in Star Trek (Roberts 1999, Bernardi 1998) much of it is somewhat uni-dimensional in its analysis, focusing exclusively on gender or racialized representation and notably excluding dimensions of sexuality and ability. Moreover, as much of the writing on the Star Trek phenomena has focused on The Original Series (TOS) and The Next Generation this work will bring the same critical analysis to the Voyager series. To perform this research a feminist discourse analysis will be employed. While all seven seasons and 178 episodes of The Next Generation series as well as all seven seasons and 172 episodes of Voyager have been viewed particular episodes will be selected for their illustrative value.

During the recession period of 2008/2009, global tourism declined by 8%. This was also evident is South Africa with the domestic travel market shrinking by 8% as well. However, this did not apply to the Kruger National Park (KNP) which experienced a sustained Accommodation Unit Occupancy growth of 1.6% during the same period. Visitors to the KNP thus see it as an attractive holiday destination irrespective of tough economic conditions characterised by less disposable income. To sustain this growth, it is important to be aware of the reasons visitors still visit the KNP during a recession. The aim of this study was to determine the reasons why visitors still travelled to the KNP during the 2008/2009 recession. This can be done by analysing the visitors’ behaviour and the motivational factors (internal feelings of the visitors) and determinants of the demand (income and exchange rates for instance) that influenced visitors’ choice to visit the KNP. To achieve this aim, a survey was conducted at the KNP between 15 and 20 December 2009 (high season). A total of 355 questionnaires were completed, after which a number of analyses were done to determine the effects of the recession on travel behaviour. For the purpose of this study, two articles were written. Article 1 is titled: “Motivations of visitors to the Kruger National Park during the 2008/2009 recession period”. The aim of this article was to determine the motivations of visitors to the KNP during the recession. A factor analysis on the motivations to visit the park was conducted, of which the following factors obtained the highest mean values: Escape, Wildlife experience and Family benefits. Push factors to the KNP were important to such an extent that visitors regarded visiting the park as a primary need or lifestyle. The results furthermore showed that visitors might have adapted their spending behaviour at the park to still afford to visit the park during the recession. This article provides a better understanding of visitors’ feelings towards the KNP, especially amidst recessions which, in turn, will improve niche marketing and a competitive advantage. Article 2 is titled: “Factors that influenced demand to the Kruger National Park during the 2008/2009 economic recession”. The aim of this article was to identify the determinants that influence the demand for visits to the KNP. Due to the homogeneous nature of the park’s market, the results of the stepwise logistic regression analysis revealed a few socio-demographic and behavioural determinants that influenced visitors’ demand to the park. The motives Escape and Souvenirs were the only two behavioural determinants while the provinces Gauteng and Mpumalanga were the only socio-demographic determinants. These two provinces are the two main markets for the KNP. Visitors indicated that visiting the KNP is a great way of escaping their busy metropolitan areas, especially in the Gauteng province. Mpumalanga residents have many tourism attractions in their province thus lowering the chances that they will visit the KNP. The determinant Souvenirs indicates that visitors adapted their spending at the park to still be able to afford visits. It was also found that demand to visit the park was not greatly influenced by the recession, because visitors could adapt their spending at the park. This is the first time the determinants of demand to a national park during a recession period have been conducted. The study indicated that visiting natural areas may have become a primary need or part of a lifestyle, especially during the 2008/2009 recession period. This article gives park management guidelines that will ensure the sustainability of the KNP because this information now allows for well-planned, thorough marketing and management of the park. In the case of KNP, which has a homogeneous market, the number of determinants identified influencing demand for visiting the park is fewer than has been found in other studies done on heterogeneous markets. This study therefore also makes a valuable methodological contribution in relation to analysing demand of homogeneous and heterogeneous markets. / Thesis (M.Com. (Tourism))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

Humanity has always dreamed about a better world. These dreams has manifested themselves in the vision of Utopia - the good place, but also the non-existing place. Up until World War II man still wrote optimistic descriptions of this ideal world, and spread the idea through literature. In the aftermath of the atomic bomb and under the influence of the cold war, these publications seized to surface in literary surroundings. Despite this utopia did not die - it has only changed. Today you can find utopia, not primarily in books, but in Science Fiction. TV’s biggest Science Fiction-series, Star Trek, is perhaps the best example of this. The Master's thesis "Utopia Trek - a travel through Star Trek with the concept of utopia" takes you through the history of utopia and into its new habitat, Star Trek, where the essence of a utopia for the 21th century is found, discussed and reevaluated. / Mänskligheten har alltid drömt om en bättre värld. Dessa drömmar har manifesterats i visionen om Utopia - den goda platsen, men också platsen som inte existerar. Fram till andra världskriget skrev man fortfarande optimistiska beskrivningar av denna idealvärld, och spred idén via litteraturen. Efter hotet från atombomben och under påverkan av det kalla kriget, slutade dessa publikationer att dyka uppi litterära sammanhang. Trots detta dog inte drömmen utopia - det har bara förändrats. Idag kan man finna utopia, inte företrädesvis i böcker, utan i science fiction. Tv:s största science fiction-serie, Star Trek, är kanske det bästa exemplet på detta. Magisteruppsatsen "Utopia Trek - utopibegreppets resa genom Star Trek" tar dig genom utopias historia och in i dess nya hemvist, Star Trek, där essensen av ett utopia för 2000-talet upptäcks, diskuteras och omvärderas.

Background potassium currents play an important role in the regulation of the resting membrane potential and excitability of mammalian neurons. Recently cloned two- pore domain potassium channels (K2p) are believed to underlie these currents. The roles of K2P channels in general anesthesia and neuroprotection have been proposed recently. In view of this, we investigated the ability of trichloroethanol (an active metabolite of the non-volatile general anesthetic cldoral hydrate, widely used as a pediatric sedative) to modulate the activity of human TREK-1 and TRAAK channels. We found that trichloroethanol potently activates both hTREK-1 and hTRAAK channels at pharmacologically relevant concentrations. The parent compound chloral hydrate was also found to augtnent the activity of both the channels reversibly. Studies with carboxy- terminal deletion mutants (hTREK-1A89, hTREK-1 A100 and hTREK-1 A1 19), suggested that C-terminal tail is not essential for the activation of TREK-1 by trichloroethanol. Our findings identify TREK-1 and TRCL4K channels as molecular targets for trichloroethanol and we propose that activation of both these channels might contribute to the CNS depressant effects of chloral hydrate. Another channel TASK-2, which is essentially absent in the human brain was also found to be potently activated by both trichloroethanol and chloral hydrate. In another series of experiments, we studied the effects of methyl xanthines caffeine and theophylline on hTREK-1 channels. Caffeine and theophylline are used for therapeutic purposes and frequently cause life-threatening convulsive seizures due to systemic toxicity. The mechanisms for the epileptogenicity of caffeine and theophylline are not clear. Recent experiments using knockout mice provided direct evidence for a role for TREK-1 in the control of epileptogenesis. We hypothesized that the epileptogenicity of caffeine and theophylline may be related to the inhibition of TREK-1 channels. We investigated this possibility and observed massive inhibition of TREK-1 channels at toxicologically relevant concentrations. Experiments with the mutant TREK-1 channel (S348A mutant) suggested the involvement of cANP/PKA pathway in the inhibition of TREK-1 channels by caffeine and theophylline. We suggest that inhibition of TREK-1 channels may contribute to the convulsive seizures induced by toxic levels of caffeine and theophylline. Local anesthetics exhibit their clinical effects not only by binding to voltage-gated sodium channels, but also by interacting with other ion channels such as potassium channels. Because of the physiological significance of TREK-1 channels and their abundant expression in peripheral sensory neurons, we investigated the effects of lidocaine to see whether its interaction with 'REK-1 channels contribute to the conduction blockade. Lidocaine caused dose-dependent inhibition of TREK-1channels and the inhibition was voltage-independent. Cytoplasmic C-terminal tail is critically required for lidocaine action. Inhibition of TREK-1 channels is achieved at concentrations for iiz vivo action and this effect may have implications for the clinically observed drug action of lidocaine.

As Richard Thomas writes, “there is nothing like Star Trek…Of all the universes of science fiction, the Star Trek universe is the most varied and extensive, and by all accounts the series is the most popular science fiction ever” (1). Ever growing (the latest Star Trek film will be released in Spring 2013) and embodied in hundreds of novels and slash fanfiction, decades of television and film, conventions, replicas, toys, and a complete Klingon language Star Trek is nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. As Harrison et al argue in Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek, the economic and cultural link embodied in the production of the Star Trek phenomena “more than anything else, perhaps, makes Star Trek a cultural production worth criticizing” (3). A utopian universe, Star Trek invites its audience to imagine a future of amicable human and alien life, often pictured without the ravages of racism, sexism, capitalism and poverty. However, beyond the pleasure of watching, I would ask what do the representations within Star Trek reveal about our popular culture? In essence, what are the values, meaning and beliefs about gender, race, sexuality and disability being communicated in the text? I will explore the ways that the Star Trek universe simultaneously encourages and discourages us from thinking about race, gender, sexuality and disability and their intersections. In other words, this work will examine the ways that representations of identity are challenged and reinforced by Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. This work will situate Star Trek specifically within the science fiction genre and explore the importance of its utopian standpoint as a frame for representational politics. Following Inness, (1999), I argue that science fiction is particularly rich textual space to explore ideas of women and gender (104). As Sharona Ben-Tov suggests in The Artificial Paradise: Science Fiction and American Reality (1995) science fiction’s “position at a unique intersection of science and technology, mass media, popular culture, literature, and secular ritual” offers critical insight into social change (ctd. in Inness 104). I extend Inness and Ben-Tov here to assert that the ways in which science fiction’s rich and “synthetic language of metaphor” illustrate and re-envision contemporary gender roles also offers a re-imagination of assumptions regarding race, sexuality and disability (Inness 104). Extending current scholarship (Roberts 1999, Richards 1997, Gregory 2000, Bernardi 1998, Adare 2005, Greven 2009, Wagner and Lundeen 1998, Relke 2006, and Harrison et all 1996), I intend to break from traditions of dichotomous views of The Next Generation and Voyager as either essentially progressive or conservative. In this sense, I hope to complicate and question simplistic conclusions about Star Trek’s ideological centre. Moreover, as feminist media theorist Mia Consalvo notes, previous analyses of Star Trek have explored how the show constructs and comments on conceptions of gender and race as well as commenting on economic systems and political ideologies (2004). As such, my analysis intends to apply an intersectional approach as well as offer a ‘cripped’ (McRuer 2006) reading of Star Trek in order to provide a deeper understanding of how identities are represented both in science fiction and in popular culture. Both critical approaches – especially the emphasis on disability, sexuality and intersectional identities are largely ignored by past Trek readings. That is to say, while there is critical research on representations in Star Trek (Roberts 1999, Bernardi 1998) much of it is somewhat uni-dimensional in its analysis, focusing exclusively on gender or racialized representation and notably excluding dimensions of sexuality and ability. Moreover, as much of the writing on the Star Trek phenomena has focused on The Original Series (TOS) and The Next Generation this work will bring the same critical analysis to the Voyager series. To perform this research a feminist discourse analysis will be employed. While all seven seasons and 178 episodes of The Next Generation series as well as all seven seasons and 172 episodes of Voyager have been viewed particular episodes will be selected for their illustrative value.

Thesis (PhD)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This dissertation is an interdisciplinary study of various historical novels which dealt to a greater or lesser degree with the Great Trek and were written between the 1840s and the 1930s in Dutch, Afrikaans and English but with particular emphasis on H.P. Lamont's War, Wine and Women and Stuart Cloete's Turning Wheels (1937). The analysis of all these fictional reconstructions focuses on the portrayal of the Voortrekkers found in them. Much attention is also paid to the historical contexts in which the two principal works in question were written and the great controversies which they occasioned because both of their authors had had the temerity to challenge the long-established myth of the heroic Voortrekkers, one of the holiest of the iconic cows in the barns of their Afrikaner descendants. Chapter I, "Introduction", is a statement of the purpose of the study, its place in the context of analyses of the history of Afrikaner nationalism, its structure and the sources on which it is based. Chapter II, "The Unfolding of the Myth of the Heroic Voortrekkers", traces its evolution from the 1830s to the 1930s and explores how both English-speaking South Africans and Afrikaners, especially Gustav PrelIer, purposefully contributed to it. Also highlighted in this chapter is the significance of the Great Trek Centenary and the events leading up to it in the middle and late 1930s in intensifying Afrikaner nationalism. Chapter III, "The Heroic Myth in Early Dutch and Afrikaans Novels about the Great Trek", considers especially how these works were used as vehicles for placing before Afrikaners the historic virtues of their ancestors both to provide models for emulation and to stimulate their ethnic pride. Chapter IV, "Sympathetic English Reconstructions of the Great Trek", deals with two novels, Eugenie de Kalb's Far Enough and Francis Brett Young's They Seek a Country, both of which reproduced the heroic myth to some extent. Chapter V, "Rendezvous with Disaster? The South Africa in Which Lamont Wrote War, Wine and Women" establishes the context of intensifying Afrikaner nationalism which this immigrant from the United Kingdom encountered in the late 1920s when he accepted a lectureship at the University of Pretoria and why this context was hostile to a novel which was critical of Afrikanerdom. Chapter VI, "Wa1~ Wine and Women: Its General Context and Commentary on South Africa" explores how this work, conceived as a "war book" dealing with the 1914-1918 conflict in Europe, depicted both Englishmen and Afrikaners negatively. Chapter VII, "Academic Freedom vs. Afrikaner Nationalism: The Consequential Strife over War, Wine and Women" deals with the hostile reception of Lamont's pseudonymously published novel, the physical assault on him and his dismissal from his lectureship at the University of Pretoria. Chapter VIII, "The Rhetoric of Revenge in Lamont's Halcyon Days in Africa", explores how the author, after relurning lo England, used his pen as a weapon for striking back al his Afrikaans foes in South Africa. Chapter IX, "Stuart Cloete's Portrayal of the Voortrekkers in Turning U'heels", focuses on the portrayal of various ethnic types in his gallery of characters. Chapter X, "The Con troversy over Turning U'heels", handles the hostile and apparently orchestrated reaction to Cloete's book and how it was eventually banned. Chapter XI, "Conclusion: Quod Eral Demonstrandum", summarises several thematic findings which a detailed examination of the novels in their historical context yields. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie verhandeling is 'n interdissiplinêre studie van verskeie historiese romans waarin daar in 'n mindere ofmeerdere mate op die Groot Trek gefokus word en wat geskryfis tussen die 1840's en die 1930's in Nederlands, Afrikaans en Engels, maar met die klem op H. P. Lamont se War, Wine and Wamen en Stuart Cloete se Turning Wheels (1937) in die besonder. Die analise van al hierdie fiktiewe rekonstruksies fokus op die uitbeelding van die Voortrekkers daarin. Daar word ook in die besonder aandag gegee aan die historiese kontekste waarbinne hierdie twee hoofwerke geskryfis en die groot polemiek daarrondom, omdat beide outeurs die vermetelheid gehad het om die lank reeds gevestigde mite van die heldhaftige Voortrekkers, een van die heiligste ikoniese koeie in die skure van die Afrikanernageslagte, uit te daag. Hoofstuk I, "Introduction", stel die doel van die studie, waar dit staan in die konteks van analises van die geskiedenis van Afrikanernasionalisme, die skruktuur en die bronne waarop dit gebaseer is. Hoofstuk II, "The Unfolding of the Myth of the Herioc Voortrekkers", volg die evolusie van Afrikanernasionalisme van die 1830's tot die 1930's en ondersoek op beide Engelssprekende Suid-Afrikaners en Afrikaners, veral Gustav Preller, doelgerig hiertoe bygedra het. In hierdie hoofstuk word daar ook beklemtoon hoe betekenisvol die honderdjarige herdenking van die Groot Trek en die gebeure wat daartoe aanleiding gegee het gedurende die middel- en laat 1930's, bygedra het tot die versterking van Afrikanernasionalisme. Hoofstuk III, "The Heroic Myth in Early Dutch and Afrikaans Novels about the Great Trek", bespreek veral hoe hierdie werke gebruik is om aan Afrikaners die historiese deugsaamheid van hulle voorvaders voor te hou en wat as voorbeelde moet dien wat nagestreef moet word en om hulle etniese trots te stimuleer. Hoofstuk IV, "Sympathetic English Reconstructions of the Great Trek", bespreek twee romans, Far Enough van Eugenie de Kalb en TheySeek a Country van Francis Brett Young, wat altwee die heroïse mite in 'n sekere mate herproduseer. Hoofstuk V, "Rendezvous with Disaster? The South Africa in Which Lamont Wrote War, Wine and Women" vestig die konteks van groeiende Afrikanernasionalisme wat hierdie immigrant van die Verenigde Koninkryk in die laat 1920's teëgekom het toe hy 'n lektoraat aan die Universiteit van Pretoria aanvaar het, en hoekom hierdie konteks vyandiggesind was teenoor 'n roman wat krities was teenoor die Afrikanerdom. Hoofstuk VI, "Wa1~ Wine and Women: Its General Context and Commentary on South Africa" ondersoek hoe hierdie werk, beskou as 'n "oorlogsboek" wat handeloor die 1914-1918 konflik in Europa, beide die Engelse en die Afrikaners in 'n negatiewe lig gestel het. Hoofstuk VII, "Academic Freedom vs. Afrikaner Nationalism: The Consequential Strife over War, Wine and Women" skenk aandag aan die vyandige ontvangs van Lamont se roman (gepubliseer onder 'n skuilnaam), die fisieke aanval op hom en sy ontslag as lektor van die Universiteit van Pretoria. Hoofstuk VIII, "The Rhetoric of Revenge in Lamont's Halcyon Days inAfrica", ondersoekhoe die outeur, na hy na Engeland teruggekeer het, sy pen as wapen gebruik het in 'n teenaanval op sy Afrikaanse vyande in Suid-Afrika. Hoofstuk IX, "Stuart Cloete's Portrayal of the Voortrekkers in Turning Wheels", fokus op die uitbeelding van verskeie etniese tipes in sy gallery karakters. Hoofstuk X, "The Controversy over Tumng Wheels", bespreek die vyandige en klaarblyklike georkestreerde reaksie op Cloete se boek, en hoe dit uiteindelik verban is. Hoofstuk XI, "Conclusion: Quod Era! Demonstrandum", bied 'n opsomming van verskei tematiese bevindinge aan, wat deur 'n gedetaileerde ondersoek van die romans opgelewer is.

Canadians have developed a vocabulary of regionalism, a cultural shorthand that divides Canada into easily-described spaces: the Arctic, the Prairies, the Maritimes, and Central Canada, for example. But these artificial divisions obscure the history of edge places whose identity is drawn from more than one region. The region north of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, is a place on the edge of the boreal forest whose self-representations, local history, and memorials draw heavily on a non-prairie identity. There, the past is associated with the forest in contrast to most Canadians' understanding of Saskatchewan as flat, treeless prairie. This dissertation presents the history of the north Prince Albert region within a framework that challenges common Saskatchewan and Canadian stereotypes. Through deep-time place history, layers of historical occupation in the study region can be compared and contrasted to show both change and continuity. Historical interpretations have consistently separated the history of Saskatchewans boreal north and prairie south, as if the two have no history of interchange and connection. Using edge theory, this dissertation argues that historical human occupation in the western interior found success in the combination of prairie and boreal lifeways.<p> First Nations groups from both boreal forest and open plain used the forest edge as a refuge, and to enhance resilience through access to resources from the other ecosystem. Newcomer use of the prairie landscape rebranded the boreal north as a place of natural resources to serve the burgeoning prairie market. The prairies could not be settled if there was not also a nearby and extensive source for what the prairies lacked: timber and fuel. Extensive timber harvesting led to deforestation and the rise of agriculture built on the rhetoric of mixed farming, not King Wheat. The mixed farming movement tied to landscape underscored the massive internal migrations from the open prairies to the parkland and forest edge.<p> Soldier settlement, long viewed as a failure, experienced success in the north Prince Albert region and gave a model for future extensive government-supported land settlement schemes. South-to-north migration during the 1920s was based on a combination of push and pull factors: drought in the Palliser Triangle; and a strengthening northern economy built on cordwood, commercial fishing, freighting, prospecting and fur harvesting, as well as mixed farming. The economy at the forest edge supported occupational pluralism, drawing subsistence from both farm and forest, reflecting the First Nations model. As tourism grew to prominence, the Saskatchewan dual identity of prairie/forest led to the re-creation of the north Prince Albert region as a new vacationland, the Playground of the Prairies. The northern forest edge drew thousands of migrants during the Great Depression. Historical analysis has consistently interpreted this movement as frantic, a reactionary idea without precedent. Through a deep-time analysis, the Depression migrations are viewed through a new lens. The forest edge was a historic place of both economic and cultural refuge and resilience predicated on the Saskatchewan contrast of north and south.

Canadians have developed a vocabulary of regionalism, a cultural shorthand that divides Canada into easily-described spaces: the Arctic, the Prairies, the Maritimes, and Central Canada, for example. But these artificial divisions obscure the history of edge places whose identity is drawn from more than one region. The region north of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, is a place on the edge of the boreal forest whose self-representations, local history, and memorials draw heavily on a non-prairie identity. There, the past is associated with the forest in contrast to most Canadians' understanding of Saskatchewan as flat, treeless prairie. This dissertation presents the history of the north Prince Albert region within a framework that challenges common Saskatchewan and Canadian stereotypes. Through deep-time place history, layers of historical occupation in the study region can be compared and contrasted to show both change and continuity. Historical interpretations have consistently separated the history of Saskatchewans boreal north and prairie south, as if the two have no history of interchange and connection. Using edge theory, this dissertation argues that historical human occupation in the western interior found success in the combination of prairie and boreal lifeways.<p> First Nations groups from both boreal forest and open plain used the forest edge as a refuge, and to enhance resilience through access to resources from the other ecosystem. Newcomer use of the prairie landscape rebranded the boreal north as a place of natural resources to serve the burgeoning prairie market. The prairies could not be settled if there was not also a nearby and extensive source for what the prairies lacked: timber and fuel. Extensive timber harvesting led to deforestation and the rise of agriculture built on the rhetoric of mixed farming, not King Wheat. The mixed farming movement tied to landscape underscored the massive internal migrations from the open prairies to the parkland and forest edge.<p> Soldier settlement, long viewed as a failure, experienced success in the north Prince Albert region and gave a model for future extensive government-supported land settlement schemes. South-to-north migration during the 1920s was based on a combination of push and pull factors: drought in the Palliser Triangle; and a strengthening northern economy built on cordwood, commercial fishing, freighting, prospecting and fur harvesting, as well as mixed farming. The economy at the forest edge supported occupational pluralism, drawing subsistence from both farm and forest, reflecting the First Nations model. As tourism grew to prominence, the Saskatchewan dual identity of prairie/forest led to the re-creation of the north Prince Albert region as a new vacationland, the Playground of the Prairies. The northern forest edge drew thousands of migrants during the Great Depression. Historical analysis has consistently interpreted this movement as frantic, a reactionary idea without precedent. Through a deep-time analysis, the Depression migrations are viewed through a new lens. The forest edge was a historic place of both economic and cultural refuge and resilience predicated on the Saskatchewan contrast of north and south.

Writing the speculative fiction novel, Birthright, and this accompanying exegesis, led me to challenge the validity of the disclaimer usually found in the front matter of most novels that the story is purely imaginary, bears no relationship to reality, with the characters not being inspired by anyone known or unknown to the author. For the first time in my career, I began to consider how writers including myself might frequently revisit themes and ideas which resonate with our lived experiences. I call this restorying, an unconscious process whereby aspects of one's life history are rewritten through one's creative work to achieve a more satisfactory result. Through personal contact, studying authors' accounts of their creative practices, and surveying current literature on narrative therapy, a case is made that, far from being generated purely from imagination, writers' creative choices are driven by an unconscious need to restory ourselves.