I have had the pleasure of co-instructing a field-trip + seminar-based course exploring Indigenous Geographies course (GEOG 491) at UVic Geography this Fall 2008 term. Claire Hutton MRM (SFU) was my co-instructor. When we began to plan the course almost a year ago Claire and I set out some ground rules: this course was to be characterized by indigenous voices speaking about indigenous concepts of space, nature, law, ethics, resource management and tools - we would work hard as guides and facilitators. We guided the course towards experiential learning, self-reflective learning, cross-cultural awareness and community-based research. We wanted our students to come away with a better understanding of how place makes people (indeed how place made each of them), and with a strengthened sensitivity and respect for different knowledge systems.

More information about the course can be found at http://geog491.geomemes.com
The website is password protected - please email me for access (see Bio for contact info).
I hope to lead GEOG 491 in September 2009, with a field trip focused on Alert Bay. If you would like to take this course, please contact myself and the Department of Geography Chair, Phil Dearden.

We began the course with a 6-day field trip during which we visited a cross-section of indigenous leaders in Coast Salish and Nu-chah-nuth territories on souther Vancouver Island: Elders, treaty negotiators, band managers, restoration ecologists, land managers, technicians, social workers and forest managers from Cowichan Tribes, Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group, Snuneymuxw First Nation, Hupacasath First Nation, and Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation. The field trip was also a camping trip so as we immersed ourselves in new cultural worlds (including reserve-scapes), we also experienced rainscapes, beachscapes, smokyfiresidechat-scapes and even windblowingtentsintobay-scapes.

Throughout the remainder of the term we held bi-weekly Monday night seminars in which we had guest speakers, journal article un-packings, debates, theatre/movement practice, and final project presentations. Our wonderful guest speakers were: Tim Kulchyski (Cowichan Tribes: culture revitalization); Mutang Urud (Kelabit Penan (Borneo), hunter gatherer views of nature); Lorenzo Magzul (Kaqchikel Mayan, food security); Sarah Morales (Cowichan Tribes, UVic Law PhD candidate, legal aspects and indigenous rights); Heather Casteledon (UVic Geography, PhotoVoice & Digital Storytelling); Stephanie Peter (Cowichan Tribes, Indigenous Peoples and Climate Change); and Prof. Gillian Calder (UVic Law, Theatre of the Oppressed).