Join us on October 26 for the next in our series of online dialogues, Stewarding Our Marine Relations.

Moderator Saul Brown (award-winning Haíɫzaqv and Nuu-chah-nulth researcher on marine stewardship and governance) will facilitate a conversation amongst Nang Jingwas Russ Jones (marine scientist, Haida Hereditary Chief, and Manager of Marine Planning for the Haida Nation), Dr. Sm'hayetsk Teresa Ryan (Tsimshian marine scientist and resource management expert), and Dr. Anne Salomon (a marine ecologist and Professor, Resource & Environmental Management at Simon Fraser University) to discuss how we can address challenges in marine planning and restore balance in our important shared marine ecosystems.

The Dialogue will look at the consequences of a reductionist scientific approach to resource management for the wellbeing of fish and fisheries - looking at Pacific herring as a particularly instructive example, amongst others - as well as the well-being of marine ecosystems and Peoples. It will explore how the stewardship knowledges and practices of coastal Indigenous Peoples, collaborative marine-use planning, and applied marine ecology are needed to restore balance in our relations with the marine ecosystems, restoring their former abundance and our mutual ability to survive and thrive into the future.

Please register today to participate in this important conversation.

Speaker Biographies:

Saul ‘Hazil’hba Brown

Saul ‘Hazil’hba Brown is from the Nuu-chah-nulth and Heiltsuk Nations and is in his final year of study in the Joint Degree Program in Canadian Common Law and Indigenous Legal Orders at the University of Victoria. His academic writing has focussed on Indigenous marine stewardship and governance and he is the recipient of the Jamie Cassels Undergraduate Research Award from the university’s Department of Political Science.

As a food sovereigntist and a student of Heiltsuk Gvi’ilas (laws) and governance, he sees the intrinsic value and necessity of giving effect to Heiltsuk laws out on the water and land. He has worked with elders on numerous files with the intent of breathing life into Heiltsuk ancestral law in the contemporary. Saul is also the former negotiator for the Heiltsuk reconciliation process and has worked as a governance advisor for First Nations across the province. He is dedicated to making the space for Indigenous legal systems to flourish within what is now known as Canada.

Dr. Sm'hayetsk Teresa Ryan

Dr. Teresa Ryan Smhayetsk was born into the Gitlan tribe of the Tsimshian Nation. Her research is motivated by her Tsimshian heritage and the guidance provided by her Grandfather to become a fisheries scientist. She completed her PhD in Resource Management and Environmental Studies at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. Her research has focused primarily on increasing the profile and appropriate use of Ancestral Knowledge systems in sustainable management of natural resources. Her PhD dissertation is an Aboriginal perspective of Aboriginal economy with evaluation of the eco-socio linkages associated to the eulachon “Grease” producing region in north-central coastal BC. Her current research investigates salmon fishing technology and strategies that were used to increase abundance and maintain salmon biological diversity while contributing marine-derived nitrogen to healthy coastal forests. She is currently a Teaching and Learning Fellow in the Forest and Conservation Sciences department in the Faculty of Forestry at UBC in Vancouver. Teresa is a cedar basket weaver, learning Tsimshian cedar weaving from her Mother Bilhaam ne’ex Loa Ryan. Together they have taught several classes in traditional weaving styles.

Nang Jingwas Russ Jones

Russ Jones, Nang Jingwas, has worked for the Council of the Haida Nation as both a consultant and employee in the field of fisheries and marine planning. Russ has a Master of Science in Fisheries from the University of Washington. He led the development of the Haida Gwaii Marine Plan that was approved by the Haida Nation and Province of BC in April 2015. In 2004 he served on a three-member First Nation Panel on Fisheries that wrote the report Our Place at the Table: First Nations in the BC Fishery. He is a Commissioner on the Pacific Salmon Commission and was a past commissioner of the North Pacific Anadramous Fish Commission. He has published papers on a variety of topics including Haida marine planning, Haida ethics and values, First Nations and marine protected area policy, co-management of the Haida Gwaii razor clam fishery, abalone stewardship and ethical analysis of the herring fishery.

Dr. Anne Salomon

Anne Salomon seeks to advance our understanding of how human disturbances alter the productivity, biodiversity and resilience of coastal marine ecosystems to inform ecosystem approaches to marine conservation. Broadly, Anne is interested in the cascading effects of predator depletion on marine food webs, marine reserve design and evaluation, climate change impacts on coastal ocean ecosystems, alternative state dynamics, and the resilience of social-ecological systems. Ultimately, Anne strives to engage coastal communities and government agencies in collaborative research and encourage constructive dialogue among stakeholders to navigate the tradeoffs between coastal conservation and resource use. Amongst other projects, her current collaborative research includes investigating the ecological and socio-economic drivers of Pacific herring dynamics and their role as a pulse nutrient subsidy to coastal ecosystems. Dr. Salomon and her students complement their field-based research with stable isotope analyses, ecosystem modelling, historical ecology, archaeology, traditional knowledge, satellite remote sensing, and the quantitative techniques required to draw these multiple lines of evidence together.

RWoK Conveners:

ELDER DR. DAVE COURCHENE

Known to many as Nii Gaani Aki Inini (Leading Earth Man), Dave Courchene has touched many lives through his teachings. A respected Elder and knowledge keeper of the Anishinaabe Nation, he has devoted his life to creating a healthy environment for current and future generations, carrying messages of hope and peace around the globe, and learning the knowledge and traditions of Indigenous Peoples around the world. Serving as a member of the Wisdom Keepers of the United Nations since 1992, he has acted in an advisory capacity to the UN in areas of spirituality and sustainable environmental stewardship. In his efforts to bring a message of peace and hope to the world, Elder Courchene founded Turtle Lodge International Centre for Indigenous Education and Wellness – a partner in the Reconciling Ways of Knowing: Indigenous Knowledge and Science project – as a place of learning, healing and sharing for all people, in 2002. He has built alliances with institutions, academics, and policymakers across the country, and is known for his ability to inspire dialogue and cross-cultural understanding. Elder Courchene’s work has been recognized with many prestigious honours, including, most recently, an Honorary Doctor of Laws from the University of Winnipeg.

DR. NANCY TURNER

Dr. Nancy Turner is an ethnobotanist whose research integrates the fields of botany and ecology with anthropology, geography and linguistics, amongst others. She is interested in the traditional knowledge systems and traditional land and resource management systems of Indigenous Peoples, particularly in western Canada. She has worked with Indigenous Elders and cultural specialists in northwestern North America for over 40 years, collaborating with Indigenous communities to help document, retain and promote their traditional knowledge of plants and habitats, including Indigenous foods, materials and medicines, as well as language and vocabulary relating to plants and environments. Her interests also include the roles of plants and animals in narratives, ceremonies, language and belief systems.

DR. DAVID SUZUKI

Dr. David Suzuki is a father, grandfather, environmental activist, and an award-winning geneticist and broadcaster, known particularly for his roles in the CBC Radio show Quirks and Quarks and CBC Television’s The Nature of Things. He is widely recognized as a world leader in sustainable ecology and has received numerous awards for his work, including a UNESCO prize for science and a United Nations Environment Program medal. Along with his partner, Tara Cullis, Miles Richardson, and others, he helped co-found the David Suzuki Foundation in 1990. For his support of Canada’s Indigenous peoples, Suzuki has been honoured with eight names and formal adoption by two First Nations.

MILES RICHARDSON, O.C.

Miles G. Richardson, OC, is a citizen of the Haida Nation and Canada. In 1984, he was the youngest person to be elected President of the Council of the Haida Nation (CHN), a position he held until 1996. As President of the CHN, Mr. Richardson led the drafting of the Constitution of the Haida Nation; development of the first comprehensive Haida Nation land and marine use plan, enacted under Haida law; and negotiation of the Gwaii Haanas Agreement, the first Nation-to-Nation agreement between the Haida Nation and Canada, which protected the Gwaii Haanas area of his people’s homeland, Haida Gwaii. Mr. Richardson was a member of the BC Claims Task Force, a delegate of the First Nations Summit Task Group, and later Commissioner and then Chief Commissioner of the BC Treaty Commission. In 2007, Mr. Richardson was named an Officer of the Order of Canada. He is a founding Director of the David Suzuki Foundation, having served on its Board of Directors since its incorporation in 1990, and has served on numerous other boards and societies. He currently serves as Director of the National Consortium on Indigenous Economic Development.