​2025 West Coast Elders' Conference Highlights: Nancy J. Turner, PhD, OC, OBC, FRSC, Emeritus Professor | Renowned Ethnobotanist | Advocate for Indigenous Knowledge Systems

From Taking to Tending: Looking after the Lands, Looking after the Plants – a Learning Journey
Ethnobotanist Nancy Turner shares her understanding of how the First Nations in our region and beyond carefully tended and cultivated plants, animals and landscapes— not as “hunter-gatherers” as she had been taught in Anthropology.
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​Nancy Turner is one of the world’s leading ethnobotanists, celebrated for her groundbreaking work at the intersection of botany, ecology, and Indigenous knowledge. 

For over five decades, she has collaborated with First Nations Elders and cultural knowledge holders in western Canada, working tirelessly to document, protect, and celebrate traditional knowledge about plants, environments, and land stewardship.

Nancy’s research explores how Indigenous Peoples have long managed and cared for their lands, integrating deep cultural wisdom with sophisticated ecological practices. 

Her work illuminates the critical roles plants and animals play in traditional food systems, medicine, ceremonies, language, and belief systems. 

Through her collaborative approach, she has helped communities reclaim and sustain their rich cultural heritage, while also bringing Indigenous perspectives to the forefront of ecological policy and governance.

In 2015, Nancy was awarded the prestigious Pierre Elliott Trudeau Fellowship. With this support, she led a landmark symposium—Affirming Indigenous Peoples’ Land Rights with Ethnoecology and Ethnobotany—bringing together leaders and scholars to explore strategies for advancing Indigenous land rights in Canada. 

This important work culminated in the edited volume Plants, People, and Places (McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2020), now recognized as a key resource in the field.

A prolific author, Dr. Turner has written, co-written, or edited more than 30 books and over 150 scholarly publications. 

Her acclaimed two-volume work, Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge, synthesizes her life’s research and was honored with the Canada Prize in the Social Sciences. 

Other well-known titles include Plants of Haida Gwaii, The Earth’s Blanket, Saanich Ethnobotany, and “Keeping it Living”, among many others.

Nancy’s contributions have been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including membership in the Order of British Columbia (1999) and the Order of Canada (2009), as well as honorary doctorates from Vancouver Island University, the University of British Columbia, the University of Northern British Columbia, and Simon Fraser University.

With a lifelong commitment to bridging cultures and fostering respect for Indigenous knowledge and ecological wisdom, Nancy Turner’s legacy continues to inspire new generations of researchers, community leaders, and policy-makers.

We are honoured to have Dr. Turner as a Featured Speaker sharing her wisdom at the 2025 West Coast Elders' Conference from 1:30 - 2:30 PM on May 27, 2025.

Coast Salish Elder Raymond Tony Charlie, Penelakut Tribe, is a deeply respected educator, artist, public speaker, author, and residential school survivor who pours his heart into holistic healing as a path toward true reconciliation. 

In 2012, he courageously offered his testimony during the Truth and Reconciliation Commission hearings in Duncan, B.C.

Elder Ray Tony’s passion for sharing knowledge and guiding meaningful dialogue has made him a beloved mentor on reconciliation. 

In June 2021, he joined fellow Coast Salish Elder Florence James for a Listening Circle hosted by POLIS, where their wisdom and perspectives helped participants deepen their understanding of what reconciliation calls us to do, here and now.

Over the past several years, Elder Ray Tony embraced the monumental task of writing his personal story and healing journey—an honest testament to survival and resilience. 
His memoir, In the Shadow of the Red Brick Building, was published by Askew Creek Publishing in May 2022. 

On June 2, 2022, POLIS and the Centre for Global Studies honoured him with a special book launch event, recorded so that anyone eager to learn about the residential school system and reconciliation in Canada could benefit from his teachings.

We are profoundly grateful to have Elder Ray Tony Charlie join us at the West Coast Elders' Conference. 

By generously sharing his experiences and insights, he continues to inspire hope and courage on our collective journey toward healing and reconciliation.

Ray Tony Charlie will be with us on Wed, May 28, 2025, at the Crown Isle Resort and Golf Community from Noon to 3:30 PM. 

Link to purchase his book on Amazon: 
https://www.amazon.ca/Shadow-Red-Brick.../dp/1999148118

We are honoured to share new possibilities for health with Heiltsuk physician, Dr. Don Wilson, in his inspiring talk on Food as Medicine.

Dr. Don Wilson is a member of the Heiltsuk Nation, with ancestral ties to the Haisla and Kitasoo-Xaixais Nations. He was born and raised in Bella Bella, British Columbia.

He will share how healthy food can truly be medicine—nourishing our bodies and supporting our health. Supported by a grant from the Institute of Personalized Therapeutic Nutrition (IPTN), he will share how making thoughtful choices about ingredients and cooking methods can transform your wellbeing. 

As well as making this talk possible, IPTN, has sponsored free access to their Foundations Course for all interested conference attendees. IPTN is a not-for-profit collaboration between researchers, academics, practitioners, health decision-makers, and the patients we serve.
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As Canada’s first charitable organization dedicated to the advancement of evidence-based, personalized therapeutic nutrition, IPTN serves as a catalyst, rapidly moving new evidence from research to practice through training programs, professional leadership, and engagement. 

​The adoption of food-based approaches to treat chronic diseases has the potential to reduce unnecessary suffering and health care costs, and dramatically improve health outcomes and quality of life for Canadians. They advocate for therapeutic nutrition as a fundamental and required aspect of patient care. We applaud their efforts and know that blending Indigenous ways of knowing with western medicine will strengthen our communities—and our health!

To learn more about the work of IPTN, visit: ​https://www.therapeuticnutrition.org/about-iptn

The Queneesh Indigenous Community Society is thrilled to host Bruce Alfred – Master 'Namgis Kwakwaka’wakw Artist — for a Bentwood Box Making Workshop: Balancing Formline & Curving Wood. 

Have you ever wondered how Indigenous artists craft those masterful works of artistry known as the Bentwood Box. How do they hold together? Is it glue, nails, or magic? 

In truth, it's none of the above. The box is formed from a single piece of wood, grooved, steamed and bent into its final shape using hand tools and pure, inspired talent. 

Join Bruce Alfred, respected Kwakwaka'wakw artist and carver of the 'Namgis for a special Bentwood Box Demonstration Workshop at this year's West Coast Elders' Conference.

Bruce Alfred hails from "Yalis, Alert Bay on Cormorant Island off the north coast of Vancouver Island. His crests are Whale and Sun, Sisiutl, Raven, Thunderbird, and Kulus—the down-covered bird and younger sibling of Thunderbird.

Bruce comes from a long line of some of the most talented artists on the West Coast. He has worked with and been mentored by many names you will know—Tony Hunt, Doug Cranmer, Richard Hunt, Beau Dick, Wayne Alfred, Bill Reid and his brother Harold Alfred. Each name holds our respect and that list taken together requires a deep breath to consider— the talent, mastery and knowledge held between them—we are awed.

Bruce has produced many masterful works in his career and contributed greatly to many hugely significant projects—the replica building of a Haida village with Bill Reid and Doug Cranmer, his work in "Yalis, Alert Bay, including the restoration of the Mortuary Poles. 

We are hugely grateful to Bruce for his generosity is sharing his art, his stories, and his craft with all of us at his Bentwood Box Demonstration Workshop. It is an event not to be missed!

Bentwood Workshop: 10 AM to 12:30 PM on Thursday, May 29, 2025, as part of the West Coast Elders' Conference in Courtenay, BC, at the Crown Isle Resort.

A huge gilakas'la to the First Credit Union for their Impact Donation towards the West Coast Elders' Conference. First Credit Union is a community owned, cooperative financial institution with branches in Powell River, Texada, Cumberland, Courtenay, Union Bay, Bowser and Bowen Island. Incorporated in 1939, they are the first credit union founded in British Columbia.

​We have been more than thrilled with their services in helping Queneesh with our banking and are deeply honoured by their support of the conference! Their work helps individuals, businesses—and the environment! First Credit Union is a BC Green Certified Business. If you are looking for banking services, give them a call or visit them online at FirstCu.ca

In the soft light of a winter morning, deep in the heart of his home, Secwépemc Knowledge Keeper Gerry Thomas sits in quiet ceremony. His hands, steady and weathered like old cedar, move with purpose. In this sacred space—his humble basement workshop—he brings to life a practice gifted by his ancestors: the weaving of cedar bark baskets.

The warmth of the wood stove hums, and a distant melody plays on the radio, but it is the ancestral songs carried in his spirit that truly guide him. 

As his hands braid the bark, he remembers the teachings of his grandmother Christine Allen and his mother, the late Elder Mary Thomas. Their voices live on in him, like whispers in the wind, telling stories not only of survival—but of deep reverence for the land, the seasons, and the sacred circle of life.

This is no mere craft. This is a sacred act of remembering.

Thousands of years ago, before the world was covered in roads and noise, the People—the Secwépemc—wove baskets with the same love and intention. Near the village of Pritchard, where the land still breathes the old songs, burial baskets have been found resting 15 to 20 feet beneath the Earth’s skin. 

Elders and archaeologists alike believe they are more than 8,000 years old. These baskets carried food, medicines, and sometimes, the bones of those returning to the Spirit World. Their very presence in the soil is proof: we have always been here.

Even as the world rushes forward, this sacred tradition remains. The materials are gathered with prayer—cedar roots and birchbark from the forest, cherry bark to bring the Earth’s color and song to the sides. Each element is alive. Each carries a spirit. Each must be treated with respect.
In the time of our ancestors, winter was for weaving. The kekulis—our winter homes dug into the earth—were warm sanctuaries shared by families of four to six. 

Outside, a smaller pit house kept the winter’s hunt and gathered roots safe. Inside, shelves held dried berries, fish, and dried meats—small offerings of nourishment for long nights spent storytelling and creating. While the cold winds howled above, inside, the heart of the people pulsed with life, laughter, and teachings.

“Summer is for gathering,” Gerry remembers his mother saying. “The Earth gives us what we need when we walk with care.”

The cedar roots used to stitch the baskets must be used the same year they are gathered. Their spirit is freshest then.

In late fall, the people would hunt the male moose and deer, always leaving the females to walk freely—to carry the future in their wombs. This too was ceremony. This too was respect. The hides became drums that spoke the heartbeat of the land, and clothing that kept the people warm in long winters.

All of it—basket, hide, root, drum—woven not only by hands, but by a way of seeing the world. A way that remembers all life is connected, all time is sacred, and every act done in respect is a prayer.
Gerry Thomas does not just make baskets. He listens to the land. He remembers. He teaches through doing.

And with every stitch of cedar, he honors the breath of the ones who came before.

We are honoured to have Gerry Thomas with us at the 2025 West Coast Indigenous Elders' Conference in Courtenay, British Columbia, May 27-29, 2025.

We are honoured to have the team from the Ne'nagwa'nakwala Project with us at the West Coast Elder's Conference. Their work, undertaken by members from 'Namgis First Nation, is focused on investigating the potential burial sites and graves of former students at St. Michael's Indian Residential School in Alert Bay, British Columbia.

The project and its important work aims to locate missing students and address the ongoing legacy of the school. They are working to address the legacy of St. Michael's Residential School and locate missing students and their burial sites. The project involves searching for and investigating potential burial grounds and graves associated with the former school. 

The Queneesh Indigenous Community Society (QICS) would like to thank tThe Comox Valley Regional District (CVRD) for their ongoing support of our initatives, workshops, festivals and West Coast Elders' Conference.

​The CVRD has named Indigenous Relations as one of four strategic drivers, through which CVRD services are being delivered. To support Indigenous Relations as a driver, the CVRD adopted a framework in September 2019 to deliver core services with an Indigenous Relations lens and promote greater cultural awareness.

Their work continues to uplift our communities enhancing the knowledge and understanding of Indigenous culture and history, including the modern day legacy of colonial history; building capacity of all elected officials and staff to be engaged in collaborative work with Indigenous communities and people; and responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action and the United Nation’s Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

​The CVRD is committed to building its relationship with First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples and advancing reconciliation.  At its first meeting of 2021, the Board of Directors adopted a statement of reconciliation that will continue to guide the CVRD’s work with Indigenous peoples.

QICS would like to recognize the work and commitment of all of their employees, with a very special thank you to Christianne Wile, Senior Manager of Strategic Initiatives, for her counsel, dedication and tireless work building strength between our two organizations. 

To read more about their work and their Advancing Reconciliation Statement, visit: https://www.comoxvalleyrd.ca/indigenousrelations