October 20, 2022: IRES Professional Development Seminar with Chelsey Armstrong

Talk summary:

Land-use scientists increasingly recognize that ecological and anthropogenic forces have long interacted in complex ways, forming many of the landscapes we observe today. In the Pacific Northwest, historical Indigenous land-use and forest management has resulted in forest gardens: ecosystems dominated by edible fruit, nut, and berry producing trees and shrubs, managed by Indigenous peoples in the past and which continue to grow today. This presentation will provide an overview of forest garden research in collaboration with Ts’msyen, Sts’ailes, and Nuchatlaht Nations, focusing on archaeological and historical-ecological methods and data. Anti-colonial perspectives are explored as a means of centralizing Indigenous sovereignty and practice (action) while challenging ongoing colonial/extractive dynamics in scientific research.

Bio:

Dr. Armstrong is a historical ecologist and archaeologist specializing in ancient human land-use in the Pacific Northwest. She is a settler scholar and assistant professor in Indigenous Studies at Simon Fraser University, and director of the Historical and Ecological Research Lab.