Virtual Discussion - "Franz Boas, James Teit, and Early Twentieth-Century Salish Ethnography"

Through the letters exchanged by James Teit, Franz Boas and Edward Sapir, Franz Boas, James Teit and Early Twentieth Century Ethnography (University of Nebraska Press, 2024), brings forward critical issues that shaped the anthropology of their day, but it also points to work that Teit did to preserve knowledge embedded in other forms integral to Salish cultural life. Presently, Canadian courts and governments give priority to summative ethnographies, while Indigenous communities need to draw on every form of past and current cultural knowledge to do everything from advocating for title and rights to negotiating industrial presence on tribal lands to ensuring cultural survival. Teit’s multifaceted work, his unique blurring of lines between ethnologist and friend, his grounding in community and on the land, have provided a rich a varied collection of local knowledge, referenced in his letters but preserved elsewhere. The legacy of his work and the potential for the future is dependent on our ability to create space for diverse voices, give recognition to their validity alongside written records, and, here, we are prepared to ask difficult questions like "what did Teit get wrong?", "what did he simply not know?" and "what did he not ask?"
The event was held on Wednesday, April 17 at 1:00 p.m. ET via Zoom.
Participants:
Andrea Laforet formerly served as director of ethnology and cultural studies at the Canadian Museum of Civilization and is adjunct research professor in the School for Studies in Art and Culture, Carleton University, Ottawa, Ontario.
Angie Bain is a researcher, analyst, and oral historian with the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs and the Lower Nicola Indian Band in Merritt, British Columbia, specializing in land claims, litigation, and community histories.
John Haugen holds a certificate in research from Simon Fraser University, is a Nlaka’pamux Knowledge Keeper, and is a researcher at Nlaka’pamux Nation Tribal Council in British Columbia.
Sarah C. Moritz is an assistant professor of anthropology at Thompson Rivers University, Kamloops, British Columbia.
Andie Diane Palmer is an associate professor of anthropology and interim director of the Kule Folklore Centre at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta.
Both volumes are available here: www.nebraskapr...
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