Joint University of Saskatchewan - University of Victoria -

Stó:lő Nation

Ethnohistory Field School

 

May-June Summer Session

Occurs in Stó:lő Communities (Fraser Valley, British Columbia)

Stó:lō Resource Centre

 

Instructors:

Keith Thor Carlson, University of Saskatchewan. 306-966-5902 wk, 306-373-4478 hm, keith.Carlson@usask.ca

John Lutz, University of Victoria. Cell 250-217-4207; Wk 250-721-7392, Hm 250-388-0871, jlutz@uvic.ca

 

John and Keith's Cultus Lake Home: 168 First Avenue, Cultus Lake

 

Associated Stó:lō Research & Resource Management Centre (SRRMC) staff:

Albert ‘ Sonny’ McHalsie, Historian / Cultural Advisor.  Sonny.mchalsie@stolonation.bc.ca; 604-824-2420

Tia Halstad, Librarian / Archivist, tia.halstad@stolonation.bc.ca; 604-824-2420

David Schaepe, Director / Senior Archaeologist, dave.schaepe@stolonation.bc.ca; 604-824-2420

 

Required Text:

1)      Keith Carlson, The Power of Place, the Problem of Time:  Aboriginal Identity and Historical Consciousness in the Cauldron of Colonialism (University of Toronto, 2010).

2)      Keith Carlson et. al. eds. A Stó:lő Coast Salish Historical Atlas  (Chilliwack: Stó:lő Heritage Trust, 2001) available for purchase the first week of classes at author discount rate approx $56.

 

Content: 

This unique collaborative field school opportunity involves students and faculty spending four weeks in April-May living in Stó:lő communities, near Chilliwack, BC.  Initially students attend seminars led by regular faculty and the Stó:lō Nation’s SRRMC staff – our field school co-hosts - on ethnohistory theory and method, including critical responses to the field as it has been practiced.  These include readings that focus on Central Coast Salish Ethnography and BC/Northwest Coast History and the history of Native-Newcomer relations.  Finally, the students, under the guidance of faculty and Stó:lő mentors and community-based researchers, engage in independent concentrated research projects that have been identified as important by the Stó:lő.  Copies of the final versions of these reports will be cataloged and made available as part of the Stó:lő Archives research collection. They will also be made available on line as pdf files.

 

The Ethnohistory field school format is designed to accomplish two primary objectives: 1) To bring history students into an indigenous learning and knowing context where they can foster meaningful relationships with Indigenous People while practicing oral history and ethnohistorical analysis. 2) To make available highly skilled students with training that can assist in interpreting complex historical issues identified by the Stó:lő community as having important contemporary significance.

 

This unique educational experience will provide students with the opportunity to engage in historical analysis with practical application.  Students will develop skills, acquire experience and forge relationships that will open future professional and employment opportunities.  Student research project may form the basis of future masters or doctoral thesis and dissertation work.

 

Traditional classroom-style seminars will be held during the first two weeks of the field school.  Formal cultural orientation activities (such as place name tours) will be facilitated by representatives of the Stó:lő community during the first two weeks and thereafter less formally throughout the remainder of the field school.  When formal seminars end and students will meet individually and as a group with faculty regularly to discuss the progress they are making on their projects and to collectively devise means of overcoming methodological and other problems students might be encountering.

 

Assignments:

1) There is a one page research prospectus which is due in the middle of the second week of the course.  This will outline your research project, the analytical approach and methods you intend to use and what you hope the outcome will be.  Append to it an annotated bibliography of the material you have looked at and if you plan to do interviews, attach the draft questions.  Finally, append a contingency plan should your research not unfold as planned. 2) The main assignment is an approximately 4,000 word essay the format of which is detailed below.

 

Evaluation:

Research Paper 60%

Participation 30%

Discretionary Grade 10%

 

Arrangements:

The field school begins at 1:30pm April 26th 2011 in the lobby at the Stó:lő Resource Centre (building 10)  7201 Vedder Road.

 

For the first week of their stay students will be billeted with individual Stó:lő families.  In the second week of their stay students will move to the Stó:lő Nation administrative grounds where they will reside for the remainder of the field school.  During the final week students, under the guidance of the Stó:lő and faculty advisors, host a “thank you” potlatch feast where they will formally show their appreciation to all those community members who assisted them through the course of their field experience. The “field portion” of the school will end at 4 pm on May 20th. The students will return to Saskatoon and Victoria and then work independently to complete their research papers by June 25th.  Graded papers will be returned to the students by July 18thth and students will have the option of making revisions before submitting their paper, via the faculty, to the Stó:lő Archives on August 31, 2011.

 

Ethics:

Students and faculty are ambassadors for their universities and academia in general.  They are also regarded by Stó:lő leaders as role models for Stó:lő youth.  As such, students and faculty will create a code of ethics for the course and any breach of this code may make it impossible for students to complete the course.