Decolonizing Bird Knowledge Symposium

Wild Bird Trust of BC

Conversations and walks about people, place, and Indigenous Knowledge

Wild Bird Trust of B.C.

IN PERSON tickets are SOLD OUT. Virtual tickets are still available. To register, visit: <a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1076793210479" title="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1076793210479">https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1076793210479</a>

In the spirit of migration: “We didn’t cross the borders, the borders crossed us.”Speakers:Stephen Carr Hampton (Cherokee Nation/Choctaw), Melissa Hafting (Moderator/Walk Lead), Jordan Rutter (Bird Names for Birds), Karen Thomas (Tsleil-Waututh, archeologist, President/Wild Bird Trust), Cease Wyss (Squamish, ethnobotanist), Tykee James (Speaker, co-founder of Birder’s Fund and the Freedom Birders project), Irwin Oostindie (VP/Wild Bird Trust, Dutch Settler),and Les George (Tsleil-Waututh, Secretary/WBT).About the EventBirding across Turtle Island is undergoing a long overdue moment of accountability and diversification, and this first-of-its-kind gathering heralds the future for birding. Join us in person or via Zoom to hear inspiring speakers on Indigenous Knowledge and decolonization of birding and bird knowledge. Through outdoor walks, a networking lunch, practical case studies and theoretical sessions this will be an inspiring day!At its heart, Indigenous Knowledge holders continue to confront the biases embedded in western science that dominates this space, reflecting its colonial roots. Together we want to go further and address land dispossession and other decolonizing birding issues.Hear and learn from our speakers about:<ol><li>Emerging culture shift in birding communities and efforts to decolonize, diversify, and implement ‘Two Eyed Seeing.’</li><li>Lessons of tackling bird names and efforts at un-naming from the USA.</li><li>Amplify projects around building inclusivity and cultural safety.</li><li>Consider where we bird and First Nations’ land rights beneath our feet. How does UNDRIP impact birding?</li><li>Be inspired by what Indigenous Knowledge teaches us about biodiversity and birding.</li></ol> Why is the Wild Bird Trust of BC doing this work?Wild Bird Trust of BC has worked methodically for 7 years towards land back of the only wildlife sanctuary in Vancouver’s harbour. We now recognize that by creating this celebrated birding conservation area 30+ years ago we displaced Tsleil-Waututh Nations from land and waters they have stewarded for millennia. Today the Wild Bird Trust of BC is controlled by Tsleil-Waututh community members, marking the first time a conservation organisation has surrendered control to a local First Nation.Through public programs and our magazine<a href="https://wildbirdtrust.org/about-wbt/publications/wingspan-magazine/" title="https://wildbirdtrust.org/about-wbt/publications/wingspan-magazine/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"> ‘Wingspan,’</a> we educate the community and promote this practice. In 2022 we created a Decolonizing Ornithology Advisory committee including Melissa Hafting (Author, BC Birder Girl), Jeffrey Nichols (President RAVEN Trust), and Irwin Oostindie (WBT Board, Decolonization Planner). Our work proposes a disruption in birding practices here in British Columbia, and beyond, towards inclusive birding that reconsiders bird knowledge through an Indigenous lens. Our guest speakers and moderators: <ul><li>Jordan Rutter (Speaker)</li></ul>Jordan Rutter is a life-long birder with a passion for connecting others to the natural world through birds. She is the co-founder of Bird Names for Birds, an initiative advocating that eponymous common bird names be changed using a new decision-making process developed that would include all community members. Building on her 15+ years of experience in ornithology and science communication, Jordan's interest in improving birding accessibility is connected to her passionate belief that the joy of birds belongs to everyone. Jordan has an M.Sc. in conservation biology from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. Follow Jordan Rutter’s work with <a href="https://birdnamesforbirds.wordpress.com/?goal=0_364fcccf6b-b769af0278-&mc_cid=b769af0278&mc_eid=UNIQID" title="https://birdnamesforbirds.wordpress.com/?goal=0_364fcccf6b-b769af0278-&mc_cid=b769af0278&mc_eid=UNIQID" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Bird Names for Birds.</a> <ul><li>Steve Hampton (Speaker)</li></ul>Member of the American Ornithological Society's Ad Hoc Committee for English Bird Names, where he helped draft the recommendation to change all honorific names. He worked for the California Dept of Fish &amp; Wildlife for 25 years, involved in oil spill damage assessments, seabird restoration, and tribal coordination. He lives in Port Townsend, Washington (also known as qatáy, S'Klallam lands) and serves as the Conservation Chair of Rainshadow Bird Alliance (formerly known as Admiralty Audubon Society). We can't wait to hear Steve discussing Indigenous Knowledge and the challenges around Western ornithology! Steve’s writings are at <a href="http://stephen-carr-hampton.com" title="http://stephen-carr-hampton.com" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">stephen-carr-hampton.com</a>. <ul><li>Melissa Hafting (Walk Lead, Board member/Wild Bird Trust)</li></ul>Melissa is the author of<a href="https://rmbooks.com/book/dare-to-bird/" title="https://rmbooks.com/book/dare-to-bird/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"> Dare to Bird: Exploring the Joy and Healing Power of Birds</a> and runs the BC Rare Bird Alert website, where she keeps track of all the rare birds reported in the province and helps out twitchers. In 2014, she founded the BC Young Birders Program which brings together youth of all races, sexual orientations and genders out on fun birding field trips in nature. She has a strong passion for wildlife conservation and is from Vancouver. She is an eBird reviewer for 4 regions in BC and loves to travel around the ABA and abroad looking at birds. Melissa won this year’s Alan Duncan Bird Conservation Award winner from BC Bird Week. Read about it <a href="https://vancouverbirdcelebration.ca/this-years-alan-duncan-bird-conservation-award-winner-is-melissa-hafting/?goal=0_364fcccf6b-b769af0278-&mc_cid=b769af0278&mc_eid=UNIQID" title="https://vancouverbirdcelebration.ca/this-years-alan-duncan-bird-conservation-award-winner-is-melissa-hafting/?goal=0_364fcccf6b-b769af0278-&mc_cid=b769af0278&mc_eid=UNIQID" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">here</a>! <ul><li>Cease Wyss (Speaker)</li></ul>T’uy’t’tanat Cease Wyss is an Indigenous Matriarch of the Skwxwu7mesh, Sto:lo and Hawaiian people. Through her work as an ethnobotanist, artist, activist and community-based educator, they strive to share Indigenous customs, teachings, and futures and to connect Indigenous peoples. Wyss’s thirty-year career encompasses a vast array of practices, from weaving, making remedies, medicine walks to the realm of Indigenous Digital Futurisms. Ceases’ interactive, community-based work is insightful and informative of their contemporary conditions. Cease Wyss has been an inspirational teacher at Maplewood Flats sharing her vast array of knowledges impacting ecology and Indigenous rights. Her ideas are shared on her website <a href="https://tuyttanatceasewyss.ca/about" title="https://tuyttanatceasewyss.ca/about" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://tuyttanatceasewyss.ca/about</a> <ul><li>Tykee James (Speaker)</li></ul>Organizer of the first Black Birders Week in 2020, Tykee is the co-founder of <a href="http://www.amplifythefuture.org" title="http://www.amplifythefuture.org" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Amplify the Future</a>, which seeks to amplify opportunities for equity in higher education, careers in conservation, and joy in outdoor recreation. Since 2018, he is Government Affairs Coordinator, National Audubon Society in Washington, DC. There he has been grounded in his specialized role: organizing bird walks with members of Congress and congressional staff.He co-founded Birder’s Fund and the Freedom Birders project, two feature programs of Amplify the Future, and is President of the DC Audubon Society, while sitting on the board for the Wyncote Audubon Society, the Birding Co-op, and Justice Outside, and serves as an elected councillor for Wilson Ornithological Society. He is a producer for <a href="https://anchor.fm/wildlife-observer-network" title="https://anchor.fm/wildlife-observer-network" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Wildlife Observer Network</a>, and co-hosts two podcasts: Brothers in Birding and On Word for Wildlife. Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/tykeejames/?hl=en" title="https://www.instagram.com/tykeejames/?hl=en" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">@TykeeJames</a> <ul><li>Les George (Tsleil-Waututh, Secretary/(Tsleil-Waututh, Archeologist, President/Wild Bird Trust))</li></ul>Les George is a respected storyteller and cultural guide from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation. He is the grandson of the late Chief Dan George and has strong family connections to the Squamish and Musqueam Nations. Les continues to share his culture and heritage, guiding tours that highlight Tsleil-Waututh village sites and traditions. His work helps foster intercultural understanding and appreciation for Indigenous cultures. In 2023, Les George<a href="https://www.vpl.ca/library/news/2023/indigenous-storyteller-in-residence-les-george?goal=0_364fcccf6b-b769af0278-&mc_cid=b769af0278&mc_eid=UNIQID" title="https://www.vpl.ca/library/news/2023/indigenous-storyteller-in-residence-les-george?goal=0_364fcccf6b-b769af0278-&mc_cid=b769af0278&mc_eid=UNIQID" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer"> was named</a> the Indigenous Storyteller in Residence at the Vancouver Public Library. <ul><li>Karen Thomas (Tsleil-Waututh, Archeologist, President/Wild Bird Trust)</li></ul>Karen Rose Thomas is the President of the Wild Bird Trust of BC, and from the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (TWN) with family ties to the Semiahmoo and Squamish Nations. She works for Inlailawatash as an Archaeologist and has worked for TWN as a consultation and accommodation assistant, and as a referrals analyst. She has a comprehensive understanding of First Nations’ governments, intergovernmental relations and the consultation process. She has served on the Board of the Museum of Vancouver and the First Peoples’ Cultural Council’s Indigenous Cultural Heritage Advisory Committee. Karen Thomas is a PhD student at UBC Archeology, holds an MA in anthropological archaeology from UBC, and holds a B.A. (Hons) in Archaeology with a minor in Anthropology and Cultural Resource Management from SFU. <ul><li>Irwin Oostindie (Speaker, Vice President/Wild Bird Trust)</li></ul>Irwin is a Dutch settler and has served as the President of the Wild Bird Trust (2017-2022) and as its Planning Director. He has an MA in Communications at SFU, doing engaged research on issues of place-based redress and how reconciliation functions as a spectacle. He holds a Graduate diploma in Urban Studies at SFU and a Post-Graduate Certificate in Media Arts from Capilano University. He has been an Executive Director or Communications Director for many non-profits in BC and is Director of Voor Urban Labs, an urban planning and research company based in Chinatown, Vancouver. Irwin Oostindie lectures regularly and advises NGOs in the decolonization process. Hear his stories about the Wild Bird Trust of BC’s decolonization efforts in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weVCho9kAlM&t=2230s" title="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weVCho9kAlM&t=2230s" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">this talk</a> for the BC Outdoor Recreation Council.More November 30 Symposium speakers and roundtable participants will be announced in the coming week! Get registered!

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