Go to the river: Understanding and experiencing the Liard watershed.

This study contributes to an emerging space of interdisciplinary literature that explores the cultural dynamics people and rivers and the associated contestations. A network of rivers in northern British Columbia, all within the Liard River watershed, provides a relevant case study to examine such topics. Data and analysis are presented using a phenomenological approach that employs archival and participatory fieldwork. Through this research, I ask: why do people go to the river ? In attempting to understand the significance of rivers in people's lives, Go to the River addresses questions concerning the Liard watershed, including: how interpretations of rivers are represented in historic maps the significant transitions during the nineteenth and twentieth century that redefined human-river relations and how rivers are still experienced through direct lived engagements. I argue that past and present direct experiences with rivers are essential in reframing the dialogue about the future of rivers in western Canada. --P. ii.