Wendy Wickwire will talk about the Extraordinary Legacy of Ethnographer James A. Teit (1864-1922) and her award winning book  At the Bridge: James Teit and an Anthropology of Belonging

Between 1894 and 1922, some of the leading anthropologists and scientists of the day drew on the research services of James Teit of Spences Bridge, BC to compile data on the physical and cultural landscape of the so-called “plateau region” of northwestern North America. By the time of his death in 1922, Teit’s unusual research collaborations with scientists and Indigenous knowledge-keepers led to seven major monographs and thousands of pages of fieldnotes, countless maps, photographs, and major artifact collections.  Despite this enormous output — a legacy that included years of advocacy work with BC’s Indigenous political organizations on their outstanding ‘Land Question’ – Teit disappeared from view. This talk highlights his  little-known story, drawing particular attention to some of his most important contributions: his pioneering work with Indigenous peoples in the spheres of ethnobotany, zoology and ecology. His interviews with Nlaka’pamux women on their knowledge about plants – as foods and medicines especially  — yielded over 600 pages of fieldnotes that are invaluable in Indigenous communities today.

Wendy Wickwire is an emeritus professor in the Department of History at the University of Victoria.    Among her publications are: Stein: The Way of the River (with Michael M’Gonigle), Talonbooks, 1988;  Write It On Your Heart: the Epic World of an Okanagan Storyteller (with Okanagan elder, Harry Robinson), Talonbooks, 1989, ; Nature Power: In the Spirit of an Okanagan Storyteller (with Harry Robinson), Douglas &McIntyre, 1992 – reissued by Talonbooks, 2004);  and Living By Stories: A Journey of Landscape and Memory (with Harry Robinson)  (Talonbooks, 2005). Her most recent book, At the Bridge: James Teit and an Anthropology of Belonging (UBC Press, 2019) won the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences’ $10,000 Canada Prize; the Canadian Historical Association’s Clio prize; the Canadian Anthropology Society’s Labrecque-Lee book prize; the Canadian Studies Network’s best book prize, and the International Pierre Savard book prize. Wickwire lives with her partner, Michael M’Gonigle, in Central Saanich.

Note unusual date and location: first Thursday November 6, at First Nations House of Learning on UBC’s Point Grey campus,in cooperation with Xwi7xwa Library.
Directions: from Fraser River Parkade walk 1/2 block South -or- from UBC bus loop walk west 3 blocks along University Blvd, then north 1.5 blocks along West Mall, just past Agricultural Rd. 

This presentation will be a hybrid of in-person and online. On the Monday preceding the event, Nature Vancouver members will receive the Zoom link in the weekly e-News. The talk will begin at 7:30 pm. Non-members are welcome and should Email zoom-request@naturevancouver.ca a few days ahead to register for the link.

You can download a copy of the poster for this event (PDF 8.5×11″ 3MB).