Relational Technologies Speakers Series | “Giving the Land Back its Spirit”: Indigenous Place Name Reclamation, a Taku River Tlingit example
October 11, 2023, 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm
This is a hybrid event co-hosted with CEDaR (Community Engaged Documentation and Research), the Relational Technologies Research Cluster, and the Institute for Community Engaged Research (ICER).
When & Where?
Wednesday, October 11, 2023
2:00 - 3:00 PM
Title: “Giving the Land Back its Spirit”: Indigenous Place Name Reclamation, a Taku River Tlingit example
Abstract
In this presentation, we discuss the Learning to Talk to the Land project, which was a partnership between Taku River Tlingit First Nation and Christine Schreyer, an associate professor of Anthropology at UBC’s Okanagan campus. The goals of the project were to document Tlingit placenames through a participatory mapping website, as well as to document the importance of place names to Taku River Tlingit citizens. Place names are anchors of Tlingit language on the land. They are important markers of Taku River Tlingit territory, as well as markers of where our ancestors traveled, and where they continue to travel. They are key markers in Tlingit stories, they carry ecological knowledge, and they are a legacy passed down through generations of Tlingit speakers.
In interviews with community members, they described how reclamation of place names allows the community to “get into a good rhythm with the land” (Louise Gordon interview 2010 with Christine Schreyer); “gives the land back its spirit” (Bryan Jack interview 2010 with Christine Schreyer) and provides opportunity to “learn to talk to the land and call it the right name” (Susan Carlick interview 2011 with Christine Schreyer). Schreyer also worked with the Taku River Tlimgit First Nation to submit applications to the British Columbia government to have Tlingit names reclaimed on government maps and 14 Tlingit names have been reclaimed as of July 2023. In this presentation, Schreyer and Cochrane collaborate to describe the history and importance of this place names reclamation, as well as steps communities can take to submit their own Indigenous place names reclamations.
Guest Speakers: Dr. Christine Schreyer and Tamis Cochrane
Located within the CEDaR (Community Engaged Documentation and Research) Space, the Relational Technologies research cluster brings collaborative interdisciplinary teams together to support community-led cultural survivance through immersive and interactive storytelling across three broad areas: digital curation, mapping, and gaming.