Associate Professor Charlotte Coté, Instructor Cynthia Updegrave, and graduate student Jessica Hernandez led a unique UW Study Abroad Program to Canada this summer. The program was co-sponsored by the Department of American Indian Studies, the Canadian Studies Center, and the College of the Environment. The class followed the annual Tribal Canoe Journeys from Washington State to the territories of the We Wai Kai and We Wai Kum Nations on Vancouver Island. It then travelled to Nuu-chah-nulth territory and visited Coté’s Tseshaht Nation and the Tla-o-qui-aht and Ahousaht Nations. During this program students were immersed in the cultural sharing of ceremony, ancestral knowledge, artistic expression, languages, and food – an experiential learning of Indigenous cultures and homelands, enhancing their understanding and respect for Indigenous traditions and environmental justice issues in the United States and Canada.
Tribal canoe journey to Canada
October 12, 2017