Islanders and the land : a multi-disciplinary approach to the culture of the land struggle in Prince Edward Island

Abstract

This study is an attempt to put the perceptions of rural Islanders at the centre of analysis, particularly regarding the way they view the land and perceive the forces that are changing its use and ownership. It is my thesis that an understanding of the views shaped by Islanders' struggle for the land in the nineteenth century is crucial in order to grasp the awareness of the appreciation and ties to the land today.

I take the view of culture as the collective output that defines a society's identity, its values and its distinctive character. It relates the past to the present and to the future. I rely on the oral and folksong tradition as a statement of this culture. I also take an ecological viewpoint of the changing relationship between the land environment and culture that gives us a perspective to the struggle concerning land ownership and use over the past quarter century on Prince Edward Island.