The Giving Voice pilot project brings Indigenous Marine Experts into university classrooms to share their knowledge with students working towards careers in marine sciences. 

 Indigenous history and ways of knowing are vastly underrepresented in universities on Canada’s West Coast, especially in the faculty of science. Students pursuing post-secondary education in marine and coastal fields are often unaware of the historical and cultural context behind much of BC’s marine sector. This pilot project aims to uplift Indigenous marine expert knowledge and build connections between First Nations and West Coast universities through a guest speaker series. Through the speaker program, Indigenous fishers are sharing their firsthand experience with marine changes over their lifetimes, their culture that revolves around the ocean, and ancient oral histories. We anticipate that this program will build bridges to help foster future relationships between universities and First Nations, and give students the tools to begin weaving together Indigenous knowledge and Western science in their future careers. 

This project is led by the Native Fishing Association and supported by the TBuck Suzuki Foundation. Project guidance is provided by a panel of Indigenous participants. All of the speakers who choose to generously share their knowledge are compensated for their time and expertise thanks to funding provided by the Counseling Foundation.  

If you would like to learn more about the project, or are interested in having a marine expert speak in your classroom, please get in contact with Hannah Fiegenbaum here.