Karen Strong - Fall 2022

Saturday Speakers Series - Fall 2022


SSS - Fall 2022

Fall 2022 Saturday Speaker Series: First Nations of Vancouver Island

Admission Fee: $15.00 per presentation
Time: 10:00 am to Noon
Online Location: Zoom
In-person Location: Parksville Campus

Registration opens Thursday, August 18 at 8:30 am on Eventbrite!

Overturning History: The White And Bob Case

September 17, 2022 from 10:00 am to Noon

The pivotal land claim case, White and Bob, that turned British Columbia history on its head.

Eventbrite registration opens August 18

SSS - Sept 17

Presenter

Dr. Robin Fisher, historian and former provost and Vice-President Academic of Mount Royal University (Calgary), has taught at several Canadian universities and has researched and published on the history of First Nations/newcomer relations in British Columbia.

About The Talk

The White and Bob case involved two Snuneymuxw men convicted under provincial game regulations for hunting out of season on Mount Benson. They sought to have their conviction overturned in an appeal that tested the fundamental land claims of First Nations people in Canadian law. It was tried in the Nanaimo courthouse in 1964. Their claim was based on a Treaty signed with James Douglas in 1864. For one hundred years the Province of British Columbia had taken the position that there was no such thing as First Nations title to the land: there was simply nothing to discuss. White and Bob overturned that position and initiated another fifty years of litigation before Aboriginal title was established in law.

Biography

Robin Fisher has been a teacher and administrator in several western Canadian Universities. Though not of First Nations descent, he has been honoured with a Blackfoot name, Stum eek see yaan. He has written several books on the history of British Columbia including the prize winning Contact and Conflict: Indian-European relations in British Columbia: 1778-1890, Duff Pattullo of British Columbia and Wilson Duff: Coming Back, a Life. He lives in Nanaimo and continues to teach in the VIU Elder College Program and is vice-chair of the ElderCollege Board.

What Lies Behind The Treasure

October 22, 2022 from 10:00 am to Noon

Taking a deeper look at the inspiration behind and beyond Pacific Northwest Coast art.

Eventbrite registration opens August 18

Haa'yuups

Presenter

Haa’yuups, ritualist and speaker, Head of House of Takiishtakamlthat-h (Earthquake House), Clan 'Tlikuulthat-h, Tribe Huupa'chesat-h (People with house over the river).

About The Talk

While scholars have looked at the surface of Pacific Northwest Coast art, Haa'yuups delves behind and beyond the surface. He pays particular attention to what is behind the objects and belief systems at the roots of the ceremonies. This in depth presentation concentrates on four items regularly used in Nuchalnuth Ceremonies. A knowledge keeper, Haa'yuups portrays a view of the world where people see themselves as part of a whole.

Biography

Haa'yuups, ritualist and speaker, is a member of the Huupachesat-h First Nation of the Nuu-chah-nulth peoples, Head of House of Takiishtakamlthat-h (Earthquake House), Clan 'Tlikuulthat-h, Tribe Huupa'chesat-h )People with house over the river). He is a fisherman, teacher, researcher, interviewer, author, and public speaker. An acclaimed traditional Nun-chah-nulth carver, singer, dancer, composer, and designer of regalia and thliitsapilthim (curtains) or guiding through the process of ceremony, he also served as co-curator to restore and conserve a section of First Nations cultures of the Pacific Northwest in the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

Image by: David Goatley

Food Plants Of Vancouver Island First Peoples

November 19, 2022 from 10:00 am to Noon

This presentation describes some of the key plant foods used by Vancouver Island Indigenous Peoples and the ongoing importance of these foods in the present day.

Eventbrite registration opens August 18

SSS - Nov 19

Presenter

Dr. Nancy J. Turner, CM, OBC, FRSC, Professor Emeritus, University of Victoria

About The Talk

Indigenous Peoples of Vancouver Island have, for thousands of years, relied on a wide range of plant and animal foods for their health and nutrition. These foods are also culturally important, as featured in people’s trade and exchange systems, and within Indigenous languages and stories. Many of these food species have been carefully tended and managed over countless generations. Recently, these foods have faced a range of threats, from industrial development and urbanization, to pollution and impacts of invasive species, exclusion of people from their homelands, and global climate change. Fortunately, ecocultural restoration holds promise for renewing and revitalizing many of these species.

Biography

Nancy Turner, CM, OBC, FRSC, Professor Emeritus, University of Victoria, is a Distinguished Professor Emerita in Environmental Studies, University of Victoria. She is an ethnobotanist who has worked with Indigenous elders and cultural specialists in western Canada for over 50 years, learning about traditional knowledge of plants and environments. She has authored and co-authored/co-edited over 30 books and over 150 book chapters and papers. She has received a number of awards including Order of Canada, Order of British Columbia, and fellowship in the Royal Society of Canada, as well as honorary degrees from VIU, UBC, UNBC and SFU.