From Taking to Tending: Looking After the Lands, Looking After the Plants with Dr. Nancy Turner, Ethnobotanist

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​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.