UBC ETHNOGRAPHIC FIELD SCHOOL Project (North Coast BC- Lach Klan (GitxaaŁa) and Prince Rupert )

 

Course Objectives

The ethnographic field school, conducted on the north coast of BC based in Prince Rupert in June 2006 and July/August 2007, has several objectives. First, the school has been established in order to develop and maintain ties with First Nations seeking to conduct research aimed at recording, enhancing, and preserving their own cultural systems and social relations. We see this as a proper objective within the tradition of anthropological research, and wish to create and maintain such ties by conducting mutually useful research within First Nations communities and by helping to train community members in anthropological methods. Second, the field school provides an opportunity for graduate students to enhance their understanding of contemporary First Nations, the history of the communities, and the relationships of the communities to mainstream societies’ economic and political institutions. Third, participation in the field school provides a means to learn, develop, and explore field methods.

Instructors

Dr. Charles Menzies (UBC) and Dr. Caroline Butler (UNBC)

Student Responsibilities

Students are responsible for several academic and practical tasks.
1. An intellectual product of value to our Partner Organizations.
2. A paper on an appropriate topic (derived from the research conducted furing the field school), with a maximum of ten pages. The paper should consider most or all of the following: the research problems; assess the available data; describe methods of analysis; provide tentative conclusions; suggest how this work might develop further.
3. A field journal
4. An oral presentation as part of a community meeting.

News Coverage

• CBC Interview on Daybreak North.
• Northern View. September 2007.
• Prince Rupert Daily News. August 2007.
• Prince Rupert Daily News. July 2006.

Student Project Reports, 2007

• Planet Youth -Visual Anthropology Project and MA Thesis
• Gitxaała Gardens
• Gitxaała Hunting and the Implications of Develpment
• Youth Programming in Gitxaała
• Gitxaała Foods and Preparation
• Consultation Processes and Development

Student Project Reports, 2006

• Socio-economic impacts of the implementation of fisheries quotas
• An examination of the introduction of Forest Range Agreements in the industry.
• The environmental movement in Prince Rupert
• Overview of services available for aboriginal women in Prince Rupert
• Selected profiles of Gitxaała elders and community leaders
• Profiles of First Nations families negotiating current economic transitions