British Columbia: 2025.02.13 Ethnobotanist Nancy Turner in Vancouver

Wild Cultivation: Traditional Plant Management Systems of Northwest North America,
- Thursday Feb 13, 2025 at Unitarian Hewett Centre - 949 W 49th Ave, Vancouver, BC and online via Zoom (see naturevancouver.ca)
- There will be wild foraged tea, snacks and socializing from 7pm. The presentation begins at 7:30.
- Non-members are welcome in person or on-line. Please email enews@NatureVancouver.ca a few days ahead to request the Zoom link.

The Talk
Indigenous agriculturalists of North America are known for their domesticated annual crops such as maize, beans, squash, and sunflowers. Most North American Indigenous Peoples, however, have been described as “Hunter-Gatherers,” with the implication that, in terms of plant foods, they simply randomly harvest the wild berries, greens and roots they encounter. This label scarcely acknowledges the sophisticated techniques and approaches these peoples have often applied to sustain and enhance their plant foods and habitats. These management practices and associated knowledge are as relevant today as in the past. They have excellent potential for application in ecological restoration, food production, permaculture, and biodiversity conservation. Indigenous plant managers bring their personal knowledge and techniques and practices passed down through generations, to cultivate “wild” species. ...read more on NV website
The Speaker
Nancy Turner is a world renowned ethnobotanist, and a retired professor from the University of Victoria here in BC. She has worked with First Nations elders and cultural specialists in northwestern North America for over 50 years, helping to document, retain and promote their botanical/environmental expertise. Her 2-volume award-winning book, Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge (2014; MQUP), integrates her long-term research. She has authored/co-authored/co-edited 30 other books, including: The Earth’s Blanket (2005); “Keeping it Living” (2005); Plants, People and Places (2020); Plants of Haida Gwaii (2021); and Luschiim’s Plants (2021), and over 150 book chapters and papers. She has received a number of awards for her work, including Order of British Columbia (1999) and Order of Canada (2009), and honorary degrees from VIU, UNBC, SFU and UBC.