🌿The Extraordinary Legacy of BC Ethnographer James Teit – Wendy Wickwire

Wendy Wickwire will talk about James Teit and her award winning book At the Bridge: James Teit and an Anthropology of Belonging
Note unusual date and location: first Thursday November 6, at First Nations House of Learning on UBC’s Point Grey campus.

Between 1894 and 1922, some of the leading anthropologists and scientists of the day drew on the research services of James Teit of Spences Bridge, BC to compile data on the physical and cultural landscape of the so-called “plateau region” of northwestern North America. By the time of his death in 1922, Teit’s unusual research collaborations with scientists and Indigenous knowledge-keepers led to seven major monographs and thousands of pages of fieldnotes, countless maps, photographs, and major artifact collections. Despite this enormous output — a legacy that included years of advocacy work with BC’s Indigenous political organizations on their outstanding ‘Land Question’ – Teit disappeared from view. This talk highlights his little-known story, drawing particular attention to some of his most important contributions: his pioneering work with Indigenous peoples in the spheres of ethnobotany, zoology and ecology. His interviews with Nlaka’pamux women on their knowledge about plants – as foods and medicines especially — yielded over 600 pages of fieldnotes that are invaluable in Indigenous communities today.
Directions: from UBC bus loop walk west 3 blocks along University Blvd, then north 1.5 blocks along West Mall, just past Agricultural Rd. Or from Fraser River Parkade walk 1/2 block South.
See also [NatureVancouver.ca/events/2025-11-13_james-teit_wendy-wickwire/](https://naturevancouver.ca/events/2025-11-13_james-teit_wendy-wickwire/) for Zoom info