Public Presentation - 2019 Archives

Public Presentation 2019 - Archives

Winter 2019 Lineup

What do we know about and what don’t we know about the unique qualities of our species, based on our evolutionary genetics compared to other primates and mammals? Modern genomics does not seem to explain our unique brain power including language, reasoning and abstract thought when examining the DNA differences between our closest relatives and us. Why do they not talk, write books, build planes, play music, ski, grow pot and brew beer – to name a few human pastimes?

A groundbreaking look of the lives of transgender children and families, with book signing and discussion invited after the presentation.
Some “boys” will only wear dresses; some “girls” refuse to wear dresses at all. In both cases, as Ann Travers shows in this fascinating account of transgender kids, these are often more than just wardrobe choices. From very early ages these children find themselves to be different from the sex category that was assigned to them at birth. How they make their voices heard—to their parents and friends, in schools, in public spaces, and through the courts—is the focus of this talk and the book on which it is based.
Based on over five years of research in Canada and the U.S., and interviews with trans kids and their parents, The Trans Generation offers a rare look into what it is like to grow up as a transgender child. Illuminating the day-to-day realities of trans kids who regularly experience crisis as a result of the many ways traditional sex categories regulate their lives, Travers offers an essential and important new understanding of childhood.

This presentation focuses on some of the collaborations which have built a K-12 Sm’algyax Language and Culture school in the community of Kitsumkalum. Colleen will share a school-wide culture which has resulted in significant academic successes for students attending.
Signed in 1794 between the U.S. and the British, the Jay Treaty grants Status Indians born in Canada, who have 50 per cent blood quantum, the right to live and work in the United States with all the rights of a citizen. Those who meet this criteria can essentially live as their lives as our ancestors did - borderless. For those of us who are US Born First Nations who are Indigenous to Canada, however, the Canadian border is nearly impenetrable because this country never codified the Jay treaty. This paper examines how Canada’s refusal to reciprocate the Jay Treaty acts as an Indigenous border wall by denying First Nations people the right to live and work in our their territory.
As a mother of three very young children, I am concerned about being buried in single use plastics. I formed a nonprofit organization called Plastic Free Terrace, where I provide public education, workshops and alternatives. I am working on phasing out single use plastics in Terrace with the help of family, friends, community members and local business.

ENVS 414 Students (Kara, Charlie, Anthony, Eden) will engage in an Oxford-style debate; audience participation is invited!

Fall 2019 Lineup

This presentation builds on the authors’ close engagements in the Collaborative Fiscal Policy Process (CFPP) to offer an insider’s view of the approach established by Canada with selfgoverning Indigenous governments (SGIGs). The discussion will look at some of the changing attitudes among certain departments within the federal system and speak to the importance of relationships and the respect required to collaborate effectively. More broadly, the presentation examines more cooperative approaches in negotiating concessions between Canada and Indigenous Governments, and as a means to avoid dispute resolution and court.

  • No recording available.

While climate change, ecotoxicity, and biodiversity loss are keystones of modern human land-use, we know that humans have not always negatively influenced the environments they inhabit. Using a suite of historical-ecological and archaeological methods, I explore anthropogenic impacts in the Skeena watershed over the last 5,000 years. I highlight how we untangle past cultural and biophysical processes that have resulted in functionally diverse and resilient ecosystems observed today. Examples drawn from the Coast to the Interior emphasize the important role of historical ecology in contemporary land-use practices and Indigenous rights and title.