Acknowledgements
This work has evolved as a creative collaboration of many individuals whose encouragement and support became instrumental in the production of this book. The editors gratefully acknowledge all those who made this book possible. We are especially thankful to the participants of the 2003 conference at Dunsmuir Lodge for their oral and written contributions to the Vision statement. Their inspiring thinking and continuing quest for a decolonized science curriculum honours Indigenous people everywhere.
The Aboriginal Knowledge and Science Education Project would not have been possible without representatives, encouragement and support from the Ministry of Education, the University of Victoria, school districts, Elders, community resource persons and responsive graduate students.
A very special thanks is extended to Dr. Rick Kool (Royal Roads University) for helping to supervise graduate students, review specific articles, and engage in numerous constructive discussions with students and the editors regarding WS and TEK. We gratefully acknowledge Dr. Glen Aikenhead (University of Saskatchewan) for engaging in numerous scholarly discussions regarding IK, IS, WS, and TEK, and for meticulous editing of manuscripts. We also gratefully acknowledge John Corsiglia (instructor, University of Victoria) for reviewing all the manuscripts, and for continuous support and guidance throughout the project.
Very special thanks are also extended to Gwi’molas Vera Newman the off-campus Elder and resource person coordinator for the ‘Yalis (Alert Bay) summer sessions. We gratefully acknowledge Chief Kwaxalanukwa‘me’ ‘Namugwis Bill Cranmer and all those who opened their homes and community to our graduate program and offered their advice and assistance. We also thank Chief Nulis Edwin Newman, Tłalilawikw Pauline Alfred, Chief ‘Namugwis Pat Alfred, ‘Mam’xu’yugwa Auntie Ethel Alfred, Ga‘axstalas Flora Cook, Wadzidalaga Wata Christine Joseph, Makwagila Nella Nelson, ‘Waxawidi William Wasden, Jr., and Michael Barry (marine biologist), Dr. Paul Spong (whale researcher) and Dr. David Garrick (anthropologist) who shared their considerable knowledge and wisdom with our graduate students. We also thank T’łakwa’am Gilbert Cook and Vicki Cook, and Chief O’waxalaga‘lis Roy Cranmer who took us on overnight camping field trips on their seine boats, and filled us many times with delicious salmon roasted over an open fire. We also thank all those ninogad (wise ones) who shared and allowed their knowledge to be recorded for our use and benefit.
We also thank guest speakers Dr. Budd Hall (then Dean of the Faculty of Education) and Dr. Rajesh Tandan (Society for Participatory Action Research in Asia, New Delhi) for travelling to ‘Yalis (Alert Bay) and delivering an inspiring talk and workshop giving new meaning to academic research by redefining relationships between the researcher and the researched subjects.
The collaboration also included Ed McMillan (Sim’oogit W’ii T’axgenx), past Director of Instruction, School District 92, Nisga’a. Project affiliates include the ‘Namgis First Nation (Alert Bay), Kwakiutl Band Council (Fort Rupert), the West Shore Centre for Learning and Training (Victoria), the First Nations Education Division of the Victoria School District, the Bulkley Valley School District, the WSÁNEĆ (Saanich) School Board, and the Alert Bay Marine Research Laboratory Society.
We are grateful for the permission to adapt an article from Green Teacher Journal that has contributed to a timely and more complete picture of culturally responsive Indigenous Science Education in BC; Chapter 11 by Gloria Snively, Money from the Sea: A Cross-Cultural Indigenous Science Problem-solving Activity.
We are thankful to those who helped supervise graduate students and provided thoughtful feedback and inspiration on their progress during the project: Dr. Leslie Francis Pelton, Dr. Tim Pelton, and Dr. Ted Riecken. We are also thankful to those who read chapters and offered feedback: Dr. June Wyatt Beynon (Simon Fraser University), Ted Cadwallader (Aboriginal Enhancements Branch, BC Ministry of Education), Dr. Dwayne Donald (University of Alberta), Dr. Frank Elliott (University of Alberta), Dr. Trish Rosborough (Aboriginal Enhancements Branch, BC Ministry of Education), Dr. Nancy Turner (University of Victoria), and Jean Wilson (reviewer).
We are grateful to Jane Mertz, a skillful and patient editor and good friend. We are grateful to Inba Kehoe and the staff in the Copyright and Scholarly Communication Office at the University of Victoria Libraries, for their thoughtful guidance and support during the production phase of the book. Last, but not least, we acknowledge the hard work, inspiration, and dedication of all those graduate students who conducted research, completed graduate degrees, and contributed chapters for this book.
Our acknowledgements would not be complete without paying tribute to the late Yup’ik science educator and scholar, Dr. Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley, who taught one of the graduate courses in ‘Yalis. Kawagley asserts that strong bridges are built by examining the collective ways people in Eurocentric and Indigenous cultures experience and make sense of their natural worlds. Words cannot capture his inspired teachings and gentle spirit, but the wisdom of his stories will be with us always as we strive to find new approaches to science education that invite all students to participate by articulating a cultural approach to science.
Last, we are grateful to Laura Corsiglia for providing us with several of her spontaneous ink drawings that appear in this book. Growing up in the Gitlaxt’aamiks Nisga’a community of the Nisga’a First Nation was formative to Laura’s work and worldview. She attended Nisga’a Elementary Secondary School before completing a graduate degree in art from the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. She has written and illustrated several titles, including a definitive manual on seabird rescue and rehabilitation.
This research was funded in part through grants from the Aboriginal Enhancements Branch of the British Columbia Ministry of Education, the Social Sciences and Humanities Council of Canada, and small grants from the Faculty of Education and the Department of Linguistics at the University of Victoria. The publication of this book was funded by an Open Education Resources grant from BCcampus.
