23 Activity 5.5 – Reimagining Gold Mining as Toxic Heritage

Associated Readings:

• Chapter 1, Gareth Hoskins, “Toxic Legacies of Slickens in California” A Mobile Heritage of Hydraulic Mining Debris.“
• Gareth Hoskins, “Mining Museums: the Spoils of Exploitation“
• Gareth Hoskins, “Accessible- Hoskins Retooling Industrial Heritage.” (Prepublication draft for Planet Magazine, 2014).

Targeted Skills:

Research, Creativity, Communication

Directions:

How would you redesign the tourist gold panning experience to be more transparent about the concerns Hoskins addresses and your research uncovers? Explain what changes you would make and why. 

Step 1: Read Ch. 1, and Hoskin’s related work “Mining Museums” AND “On Re-Tooling Industrial Heritage.”

Step 2: Gather additional information about hydraulic gold mining, especially at Malakoff Diggins State Historic Park (eg. visit California State Parks official site). Research more about Indigenous activism in California and explore what Native Californians say is important for them about their land.

Step 3: Consider why people come to the historic site (eg. through Trip Advisor, Yelp, or other crowd-sourced reviews), and think about how you might connect the story of gold mining’s toxic heritage with the visitors’ varied interests in coming. 

Step 4: Explain how you would redesign the tourist gold panning experience to be more transparent about the concerns Hoskins addresses and your research uncovers.

• Would it be in-person? Virtual? Something else?
• Who [specific players and organizations] would you work with for the redesign? What new content or approaches would you introduce?
• Draft a brief alternative gold mining tour script with transparency about the concerns and desires of Native Californians and pollution.
• What might be the barriers to giving the al-tour?

Hint: You may find background reading on alternative or “guerilla tours” helpful. For example, search “Unfiltered History”  or “uncomfortable art tours” and check out their “guerilla tours” designed to disrupt traditional narratives at the British Museum and other mainstream heritage organizations.