IRES Seminar Series

Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm 

Via Zoom only. 

Please email communications@ires.ubc.ca for video.

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Metaphysica: Intersecting Western and Native Ideas

Abstract:

You wake up every morning to what you think is ‘reality’……. ‘this is the way it is’. Never thinking about the underlying foundational basis for what you think is real. There may be an objective reality ‘out there’. But paraphrasing Stephen Weinberg, a quantum physicist, an objective reality exists out there but, as soon as you put a human being in the picture, the human being puts a human interpretation on it. So it is no longer an objective reality. Why does this happen? All societies at one time or another claim a territory. Over time, through mutual relationship with the totality of the territory, a culture arises. As part of the culture, interpretive criteria we call metaphysics/paradigms are developed. These become the society’s interpretive tools. One society’s interpretive tools are going to be different from another society’s interpretive tools because of different environmental and geographical settings. The presentation will speak to some of the differences and ramifications of different societal interpretive tools.

Leroy Little Bear

Blackfoot researcher, professor emeritus at the University of Lethbridge, founding member of Canada’s first Native American Studies Department, Director of the Harvard University Native American Program and the recipient of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award for Education

Bio:

Leroy Little Bear is a member of the Small Robes Band of the Blood Indian Tribe of the Blackfoot Confederacy.  He was born and raised on the Blood Indian Reserve; graduated from St. Mary’s School on the Blood Indian Reserve; graduated from the University of Lethbridge (Lethbridge, Alberta) with a B.A. Degree in 1971; graduated from the College of Law, University of Utah (Salt Lake City, Utah) with a Juris Doctor Degree in 1975.

From 1975 to 1996, Mr. Little Bear was a professor in the Native American Studies Department at the University of Lethbridge.  In January 1997, Mr. Little Bear retired from the University of Lethbridge.  From January 1998 to June 1999, Mr. Little Bear was the Director of the Harvard University Native American Program.

Mr. Little Bear has served in a legal and consultant capacity to many Indian Tribes and organizations including the Blood Tribe, Indian Association of Alberta, and the Assembly of First Nations of Canada.  He has served on many different committees, commissions, and boards including the Task Force on the Criminal Justice and Its Impact on the Indian and Metis Peoples of Alberta from 1990 to 1991.

Mr. Little Bear has authored many articles including “A concept of Native Title” which has been cited in a Canadian Supreme Court decision.  He has co-authored books including Pathways to Self-Determination, Quest For Justice, and Governments in Conflict with Dr. Menno Boldt and Dr. Anthony Long.

In 2003, Mr. Little Bear was the recipient of the Canadian National Aboriginal Achievement Award in Education.  In June 2004, Mr. Little Bear was the recipient of an honorary doctorate degree in Arts and Science from the University of Lethbridge and from the University of Northern British Columbia in 2016.  Mr. Little Bear received the Alberta Order of Excellence in 2016, and most recently was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2018.

Mr. Little Bear, with his wife Amethyst First Rider, were major movers of the historic Buffalo Treaty signed by First Nations on both sides of the USA- Canada border.  Both dedicate a large amount of their time to buffalo restoration.

IRES Seminar Series

Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)

Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall

Email communications@ires.ubc.ca for video.

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Storytelling by Allen Edzerza 

Abstract:

Allen will be answering and discussing these 4 questions:

• What is the importance and value of storytelling?
• What makes a story compelling or impactful?
• How can we construct or craft stories about the work that we are doing?
• How might we use storytelling in our lives and work?

Guiding Principles for Allen’s Talk

A statement of sacred responsibilities and inherent rights granted to our People by the Creator.

Oneness of all Things

1)    Our relationship to the land is inseparable and enduring based on the belief that all things have a spirit and are of oneness.  We must listen to the spirit of the land.

Protection of the Land

2)    We are born into our ancestral land and as a result have a sacred responsibility to work to preserve and protect our ancestral lands for present and future generations. We cannot be separated from our land.

Respect is Paramount

3)    Respect for ourselves, each other, the land and environment is a core value passed on by our ancestors.

Water is Sacred

4)    As part of our life-blood, water is a sacred and precious resource, and must be protected and respected.

Balance must be Maintained

5)    Balance must be maintained with our land and all our relations now and for future generations.

6)    Sharing is an important principle of our culture, including the sharing of the land and the benefits derived from the land.

Sacred Laws

7)    Our sacred laws and our code of conduct are the basis of our relationship to the land and to our culture.

Traditional Knowledge

8)    Traditional knowledge is an accumulation of knowledge and wisdom founded on observation and interaction with the land and passed on by our elders from generation to generation through stories and legends.

Respect for Future Generations

9)     It is our sacred responsibility to strive to protect our ancestral lands for future generations.

Allen Edzerza

Consultant/Negotiator

Bio:

Allen is currently leading mining reform discussions with the Government of British Columbia on behalf of the First Nation Energy and Mining Council.

Allen worked with the Gordon Foundation to develop an IBA Community Toolkit and assisted in conducting workshops with First Nations on the IBA Community Toolkit across Canada.

Allen was appointed to the Office of the Premier, Government of British Columbia as Special Advisor on Aboriginal issues.  In this capacity, Allen assisted the Province to foster a better working relationship with First Nations by improving communications and coordination between the Province and First Nations.

Allen has served as an Advisor and Chief Negotiator for the Premier and Cabinet for the Government of the Yukon in 2002/ 2003.

Allen has been a senior negotiator for the past 25 years serving as Lead Negotiator for the Tahltan Central Council, Chief Negotiator for the Kaska Nations and held several senior positions in INAC, Government of Canada.

Allen is a member of the Tahltan Nation and a recognized artist with works in several major collections.

IRES Seminar Series

Time: 12:30pm to 1:30pm (every Thursday)

Location: AERL Theatre (room 120), 2202 Main Mall

View video.

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Epistemic Communities and Uncertainty in the Risk Assessment of Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals

Abstract:

As with other complex areas of scientific research, the risk assessment of endocrine-disrupting chemicals involves significant uncertainty. However, the degree, nature and locus of this uncertainty appear to be understood differently by different scientists in the field. This study aims to take a first step towards ‘mapping’ how uncertainty is characterised by different EDC scientists through ‘brokered dialogue’. The brokered dialogue methodology involves filming interviews with experts on a given side of a conversation before showing the footage to experts from a different side for comment. This novel research technique revealed a number of surprising similarities and divergences in EDC experts’ uncertainty characterisations and discussing these and their potential significance will form the core of the talk.

Jack Durant

IRES MA Program

Bio:

Jack works as part of the Egesta lab and is supervised by Gunilla Öberg and Daniel Steel. Prior to joining IRES in 2019, Jack studied philosophy in the UK where his research projects centred on political philosophy and philosophy of mind. After a brief period of working in environmental conservation, Jack became interested in questions surrounding the production of environmental science. His focus since joining the Egesta lab has been on how the cultural components of science affect its reliability.

Multi-hazard risks: Understanding how context and interacting factors influence natural hazard beliefs and management actions

Abstract: 

Given the increasing frequency of disasters and consequences of occurrence, due, in part, to climate change and the amount of property and infrastructure at risk, scholars and practitioners have urged communities to strive for building disaster resilient communities. However, working towards resilience requires understanding how experts and communities perceive and make decisions around natural hazard risks, particularly when faced with multiple hazards. This presentation opens with a brief background of multi-hazard risks and natural hazard and risk perception research before presenting the results from a series of twenty-nine interviews with emergency and risk managers in British Columbia. The presentation will focus on understanding how different natural hazards are perceived and managed, how multi-hazard perspectives are incorporated into practice, and how future threats may change practices.

Alexa Tanner

IRES PhD Program

Bio:

Alexa Tanner is a PhD Candidate at the University of British Columbia in the Institute for Resource, Environment and Sustainability. The focus of her research is understanding how people perceive risks and make risk management decisions associated with natural hazards. In her recent work, this is applied to risk management in multi-hazard environments, the maritime transportation system, and emergency evacuation behaviour. Her research incorporates risk perceptions into natural hazard risk management with the aim of fostering disaster resilient communities.