Rocker Warrior Rachelle Van Zanten
That Rachelle van Zanten has a Wikipedia page is unsurprising. That Rachelle van Zanten’s Wikipedia page is only in German is intriguing!
Mostly everybody in BC’s North knows Rachelle, either from her music, from her environmental activism, or both. They’re so intertwined it’s impossible to pick them apart. Her songs are about the places and people that she loves - Francois Lake, the Skeena watershed, her kids, her mother. And her music is a tool in the activism that she uses to fiercely protect those places and people.
Twenty years as a musician touring locally, nationally, and internationally (ten with Painting Daisies, then ten more as a solo artist). Rocker Girl Camp. Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition. Wade Davis collaborations.
Lots of people way beyond BC’s North know Rachelle too. And, in 2008, one of those people wrote a biographical article about her on the German-language Wikipedia site. Since 2008, the article has been regularly updated with minor tweaks to keep the original information current and accurate, with the latest update made in 2016.
Technically anyone can write an article on Wikipedia. In truth, though, an army of volunteer moderators check that articles are accurate and factual, and that the people about whom articles are written are actually “notable” (as opposed to, say, me).
So the intriguing question is: Who was this mysterious German fan?
And when is someone going to translate the article for the English-language Wikipedia?
Guest blog by Jennifer Zickerman