Whose Nature?: Exploring the Link Between Wilderness, Belonging and Residential Summer Camp Use among Canadian Immigrants

This study reviews the relationship between a national identity in Canada based on wilderness and the exclusionary experience of immigrants and racialized groups. In particular, this study focuses on the opinions and experiences of immigrant parents towards residential summer camps, as they have long been considered a typically ‘Canadian’ activity for youth. While summer camps are an activity dominated by youth, immigrant parents were chosen as a sample group because they play a large role in mitigating the summer recreational experiences of their children. Feelings of belonging and exclusion experienced by parents are important when evaluating issues of child socialization into Canadian norms. Included are the results of qualitative interviews with immigrant parents alongside several theoretical frameworks that assist in explaining the under-representation of immigrant groups in both residential summer camps and wilderness-based recreational pursuits more broadly.