ABSTRACT
This chapter examines post-industrial landscapes as heritage. It draws attention to the most ubiquitous product of the post-extractive landscape: waste. Waste is more than a “thing” – something discarded, evidence of activity – it is connected through social, political, and economic spheres. It argues that ideas of what constitutes waste are often contradictory and contested: government agencies, scientists, tribal communities, and heritage organizations each have competing and contradictory definitions of waste. That is, waste mediates how people interact with the world. Yet, waste, in post-industrial contexts, although ubiquitous, is often ignored. To understand this paradox, this chapter presents a discussion of the entanglements of waste in post-industrial contexts. It then examines a post-industrial landscape in northern Michigan and the location of the United States’ first mineral rush. It posits that the region’s largely uncomplicated heritage narratives do not adequately account for the effects of waste for regional and downstream communities. It recommends shifting heritage stories towards a reckoning with waste that provides clear-eyed assessments of the post-extractive landscape. It argues that this approach could provide a cautionary tale relevant to present-day communities grappling with proposed industrial projects.
