UVic Anthropology
COR B228, 3800 Finnerty Road V8P5C2 Victoria, BC, Canada

As you head into the final weeks of the fall term, we wanted to share this powerful Self Care video featuring Elder in Residence Gerry Ambers. It was originally... taped for the Orange Shirt Day 2020 event at UVic. Gerry has some excellent recommendations on how to look after yourself in these stressful times. Stay well. Hugs from the IACE Team. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hlbHheuIoc&feature=emb_logo See more

Three upcoming workshops on sustainability that might be of interest.

Congratulations to Brian Thom (UVic Anth) and Sarah Morales (UVic Law) on their new chapter in the University of Toronto Press book Creating Indigenous Property: Power, Rights, and Relationships. Their chapter The Principle of Sharing and the Shadow of Canadian Law looks at ongoing Coast Salish legal orders around land tenure and their challenges under the shadow of Canadian law about private lands. The book is an exciting collection of essays in the emerging and important field of Indigenous Law. https://utorontopress.com/ca/creating-indigenous-property-2

If you wish to remotely attend this defence, please email [email protected] for the zoom details.

Environmental Studies Research Colloquium November 18, 2020 11:30-12:30pm Umeek/Dr. Richard Atleo: Principles of Tsawalk: A Nuu-chah-nulth Worldview... Contact [email protected] for Zoom login credentials Biography: Umeek, or Dr. Richard Atleo, is a Nuu-chah-nulth hereditary chief and diverse intellectual. With a deep connection to his traditional lands, Umeek continues to engage in a rich suite of career involvements, within and beyond academia. He taught in the First Nation Studies Department at Malaspina University College, was the co-chair for Clayoquot Sound’s Scientific Panel for Sustainable Forest Practices and has held positions at both UBC in the Anthropology department as well as Resource and Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University. He is currently Research Liaison at the University of Manitoba, supervisor for a First Nations Root Garden Research Project, Associate Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria, and co-director of the Centre for Indigenous Environmental Resources. Umeek is also the author of two books; Tsawalk: A Nuu-chah-nulth Worldview (2005), and Principles of Tsawalk: An Indigenous Approach to Global Crisis (2012), a synthesis of which he will be presenting on. Abstract: The Nuu-chah-nulth worldview recognizes the concept of tsawalk, approximately translated as one - an ontology that views all of nature as intricately connected in a unified whole. The perspective of Heshook-ish tsawalk - everything is one, challenges the hegemonic Western discourse that separates and distances itself from appreciating the innate relational aspect of all life. This Western framework has destabilized global systems and disrupted the balance of nature’s relationships; and yet this same Western model is typically applied to solve the self-same issues it has caused. Through his talk, Umeek explores the ways in which Indigenous understandings of the deep relationality to life provide an apt framework to repair our currently out of balance world. Stretching back from time immemorial, Umeek highlights how Nuu-chah-nulth philosophy, environmental protection, and governance embody a foundation to creating a progressive future - one that restores balance with the world around us and achieves equitable and sustainable livelihoods for all.

The new website for the BC Heritage Emergency Response Network is live! This site provides resources and support for heritage institutions planning disaster res...ponse and recovery. Congratulations to everyone who worked on the project, including Royal BC Museum senior conservator, Kasey Lee! http://www.bchern.ca/ See more

Environmental Studies Research Colloquium November 25, 2020 11:30-12:30pm Contact [email protected] for Zoom login credentials... Dr. Leslie King: Learning from Northern People: Northern Knowledge for Resilience, Sustainable Environments and Adaptation in Coastal Communities Biography: Currently a Professor in the School of Environment and Sustainability at Royal Roads University in Victoria, Dr. King directs the Canadian Centre for Environmental Education and is program head of the Masters in Environmental Practice and Bachelors in Environmental Practice programs. Leslie conducts collaborative, interdisciplinary research into local and international problems, connecting decision makers, communities and academia to address complex environmental problems. With research sites in Africa, the Arctic, and with First Nations and local communities in North America, she has also worked in Asia on Institutional Dimensions of Global Environmental Change. With degrees from the University of British Columbia, York University, University of Toronto and the London School of Economics, Leslie has designed and implemented new, innovative and applied environmental programs, departments and faculties in Canadian, US, and African Universities, and has recently launched a Graduate Certificate in Science and Policy of Climate Change at Royal Roads University. Abstract: Vilhjalmur Stefansson and other Arctic explorers who followed him, including Orkney’s John Rae, owed their survival and future to the knowledge they gained from Inuit people during their explorations in dangerous times in harsh but fragile environments. We are now experiencing another dangerous time of climate and rapid environmental and social change. In large part our survival and future depend on the lessons we are learning from Northern people on the front lines of climate change and biodiversity loss about how to adapt and thrive in conditions of dramatic uncertainty and change. Climate researchers are modern explorers attempting to learn from the knowledge, ancient and contemporary, held by Northern people which may yet ensure our survival. This talk will introduce some of the emerging findings from that research that may help us in lower latitudes to prepare for, respond to, and survive dramatic changes in the social-ecological systems upon which we depend.

Hear from Katie Hughes next Thursday at 7pm during our virtual tour and curator's discussion of "To Fish As Formerly: A Story of Straits Salish Resurgence"! Reg...ister for the free event here: https://uvic.zoom.us/web/register/WN_SkGbZXLpRse_38R8SkbQiw Katie Hughes is a recent graduate of the Public History MA program in the UVic History Department and a museum professional. Katie co-curated the Legacy's current exhibition "To Fish As Formerly: A Story of Straits Salish Resurgence". Her graduate research focused on sharing the WSÁNE story of the revitalization of the SXOLE with the public. In collaboration with Nick Claxton, Katie worked with a broad range of Indigenous and non-Indigenous community members, elders, and artists to develop content and curate artworks for the exhibition. Drawing from Indigenous cultural and oral histories and colonial historical sources, Katie focused on capturing the history of the Reef Net and its resurgence in the exhibition text, artworks and objects. Katie is currently on maternity leave from her position as Community Engagement Coordinator at UVic Legacy Galleries.

The latest episode of the podcast Lore opens with a description of the UVic research done on Triquet Island. The rest of the episode focuses on folklore and ghost tales on Vancouver Island in general. https://www.lorepodcast.com/episodes/158

Why do we carve pumpkins at Halloween? Camosun anthropology instructor Nicole Kilburn shares the Irish folklore origins of this tradition. https://youtu.be/1vUB0pjpZBo

Are you graduating this academic year? Want help shape your grad year, plan great initiatives, and add more experience to your résumé? Get involved in Grad Class Exec! Come to the Grad Class AGM coming up on November 24 at 1pm and be entered to win one of two $100 Indigo Gift Cards! Learn more here: uvss.ca/gradagm