Hawk Mountain Conservatory and Cabela’s have very different views of what nature is. An evaluation of the two could not be a better comparison of the different cultures of nature. Hawk Mountain is a bird sanctuary that currently hosts thousands of visitors each fall. It is a popular tourist destination where people come from all different places to view the unique raptor migration. Cabela’s is at the completely different end of the nature spectrum, it is a created “nature” that promotes consumerism of products for hunting, fishing, and other outdoor recreational activities. The cultures of nature that are featured in both Hawk Mountain and Cabela’s challenge us to define and reshape our own relationship with nature and the outdoors.
When you first walk into the Hawk Mountain Visitor Store you see a plethora of interactive maps and modules that appeal to youth. They are not very extravagant but appeal to younger generations who are entranced by the lights and buttons you are able to press. As you travel deeper into the store you see a simple glass counter display cabinet that hosts a plethora of brochures and other little knick-knacks in stained woven baskets. Opposite to that there is a shelving unit that holds a coffee thermos with a donation jar requesting a twenty-five cent donation per shot of Java. The wall is lined with packages of coffee for sale, as well as GORP and other snacks. As you travel deeper into the small store there is a rack of wilderness puppets and songbirds that chirp when you pick them up. There is a wall of sweatshirts, t-shirts, and vests with that have the hawk mountain conservatory logo stitched into the left breast. In the back corner there is a display of hats and socks with patterns of chipmunks and eagles. The central display is made up of books. The literature is mostly centered about the conservation of birds but also “how-to” books for bringing nature home. The backside of the store is sitting area for people to watch birds as the feed on the feeders that are hung in the trees. Identification posters are hung above the windows for people who choose to sit there and watch the birds.
Nature according to the Hawk Mountain store is made up of education, conservation, and a touch of consumerism. They are selling a version of nature that is something to be preserved and admired. The historical part the visitor center is unique because it is completely devoted to the birds that migrate over Hawk Mountain. There is a human story to this site, but it is pretty much left out of the story so that the concentration is on conservation.
The top of Hawk Mountain it is quite the site. The landscape is rural, with little of pockets of villages and towns that look very small. The trees have all lost their leaves at this point and the only green left is that from the pines that don’t lose their needles. At least 50 people, including us, have gathered at its rocky face. The air is frigid, but people are bundled and sit still quietly while they observe. When we first come there are no birds around and I begin to get restless with the cold. Dr. Laurie Goodrich, the Senior Conservation Biologist, our host explains to us the different locations where people are calling out bird sightings. Just as she begins to explain, an older gentleman on top of the hill calls out “over head” and a raptor flies south, 300 feet or so above us. Everyone’s head tilts up in unison, desperate to see the beautiful creature float on by. The larger birds are more graceful, very rarely flapping their wings to stay in the air. Laurie explains to us that the birds are in essence surfing the air like humans would surf in the ocean. The wind current pushes them south with little energy exerted from the bird. It is a beautiful and majestic site, even from far away. In the distance you can see glider planes that flip in the air. They use this ridge the same way the birds do to stay a float in the sky.
After sitting on top of this mountain for a few hours, it becomes clear why this location is referred to as the “Crossroads of Naturalists.” I have no idea where any of these people are from, what they do for a living, or how they came to discover Hawk Mountain. I do know that they are all here to observe the wonder and magic of the raptors. Their definition of nature is set by the birds, by beauty, by conservation, and observation.
Cabela’s has a completely different way of defining nature. It a destination for people seeking taxidermy, gun licenses, outdoor apparel and so much more. When you first walk into Cabela’s you are astonished by the size of the store. It rivals the size of a football stadium of a small college. It is designed to have cozy cabin feel, paneled with wooden beams and painted with earthy tones. Everywhere you look there is another stuffed animal that was murdered for no other reason than to be a trophy on a wall. Each section of the store is broken down into different categories, there are also different sections of taxidermy. There is a polar scene, a safari scene, an American wilderness scene, a pond scene that included live fish, as well as an aquarium that featured live fish. The consumer sections include general apparel for the outdoors, a fishing section, home and cabin furnishings, a food court, a camping section, and of course the gun outlet. At Cabela’s, nature is defined through consumerism.
Consumerism, however, has competing narratives in the Cabela’s story. First you have the people who are there purchasing shotguns. These people have absolutely no connection to nature. Shotguns are not used for hunting; they are used for “protection” and for killing people. They have no place being in an “outdoors store” but if there is a demand by consumers, the sellers will sell. On the other side of the spectrum you have the camping section, for people who feel like they need to be in nature to experience it. It is full of hiking backpacks, tents, lanterns and other camping items.
Another way people experience nature is through the taxidermy. The animals are not alive, but they are lifelike and people come to see them. This is part of what makes Cabela’s into such destination for families to come here. I witnessed a little girl ask her father about a stuffed fawn in the “Deer Country” and he responded “Yes, that’s Bambi!” This was particularly disturbing to me because this little girls experience with nature appears like it has only ever been through a cartoon movie and a taxidermy hall of fame full of stuffed dead deer. The Taxidermy was also interactive at the central display where you could push the touch screen and hear different noises the animals made, pictures of them, and videos.
The signage in Cabela’s made for many different contradictory views of nature. In the Deer Country section above the exit there is sign that says, “Ensure the Beauty of the Outdoors- Support Wildlife Conservation.” They have this sign placed over the exit of a room filled with over 200 dead dear who are only seen as important because of how many “points” they have on their antlers. You don’t see any does hanging above anyone’s mantel because they are not considered a trophy. That exhibit does not support conservation- it supports a selfish human practice to elevate our self-esteem.
Other signs featured in Cabela’s said “Its in Your Respect for Tomorrow. Its in Your Nature.” There are many ways to interpret this sign, and it is also pretty contradictory. The first sentence implies that one should practice conservation, but the other that it’s in your nature to hunt or fish. This sign is up for interpretation, much like most of the items in Cabela’s.
Cabela’s version of nature is different for every person who walks into it. I wouldn’t be so quick to judge the people who walk into that store and say that they are hunting or killing obsessed, but rather than they view nature in a very different way than the people at Hawk Mountain viewed nature. Your interpretation of Cabela’s is based a lot on what culture of nature you grew up with. If you grew up in a household where hunting was praised, it is a seen as a mecca for all things hunting. On the other hand, if you grew up in a place where there was no guns or hunting, going into the gun section might frighten you.
One similarity I viewed at both Hawk Mountain and Cabela’s was that everyone was for the most part white and of middle to upper class. I don’t know if that is a result of the region of Pennsylvania where these two destinations are located, or is it that experiencing nature is reserved for white upper-middle class Americans. I have been to many national parks up and down the east coast, and it is very rare to see people of color interacting with nature. I would be interested to see the different demographics of people who go to national parks and people who shop at places like Cabela’s.
However at Cabela’s gender distinctions were obvious, while at Hawk Mountain there was none. Each individual section, such as fishing, hunting, and home goods had its own minimal section that was supposed to appeal to women or girls. The fishing section had pink rods, the hunting section had pink guns and pink camouflage blankets. In the home section the gender distinctions were more obvious with signs featured that said “I let her shop so I can hunt” and pink camouflage bedding for little girls.
Hawk Mountain and Cabela’s offer two different cultural interpretations of nature. Hawk Mountain promotes conservation while Cabela’s is based off of consumerism. It would be wrong to say that Hawk Mountain is only about conservation, when they are clearly making a profit off of their gift store. Cabela’s is not purely a consumer destination because it promotes conservation in its signage and outdoor recreation. The comparison of the two offers an interesting spectrum of how one can view nature- conservation, consumerism, or someplace in between.