Project Description:

“The whisperings of roots”: The story of the understory, speculative futurism storytelling as research methodology 

In reaction to the conflict surrounding the Fairy Creek (Ada’itsx) blockade in British Columbia, a story of the future and past was created, told from the perspective of the forest and the internet. Drawing from the tenets of Indigenous futurisms and relational accountability, and in response to science fiction’s role in colonial discourse, this story intends to redirect trajectories surrounding technology and extraction to create space for empathy in a difficult present. Stories in this future were technology, spinning words into meaning and meaning into action. The power of a story could shape the trajectory of the future. In this sense, stories were treasured and carefully told. 

Advisor: Liat Margolis