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SFU: New book brings 10,000 years of Secwepemc (Shuswap) Indigenous Nation history to life

by ahnationtalk on March 16, 2018406 Views

A new book that details 10,000 years of the Secwépemc (Shuswap) First Nation’s history in B.C., written by SFU professor Marianne Ignace and adjunct professor Chief Ron Ignace, is being celebrated with a major award and a shortlist nod as a contender for a 2018 BC Book Prize.

Published last fall by McGill-Queen’s University Press, Secwépemc People, Land, and Laws – Yerí7 re stsq̓ey̓s-kucw is being recognized with the 2018 Basil Stuart-Stubbs Book Prize, which the UBC Library and the Pacific BookWorld News Society present annually to an outstanding scholarly book on B.C.

BC Book Prizes has shortlisted it for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize, which recognizes “the book that contributes the most to the enjoyment and understanding of the province of British Columbia.” The winner will be announced on May 4.

The book is also attracting stellar reviews from their academic peers and is being adopted in university curriculums across North America. The first printing of 1,000 sold out in two months and the book is now in its second printing.

The comprehensive, 588-page book details how the Secwépemc people of B.C.’s South Central Interior have survived and thrived over the past 10,000 years, developing innovative ways to achieve a sustainable livelihood from the land, and in the process of creating Indigenous laws of social conduct and reciprocal accountability with the environment.

The book is the culmination of the couple’s 30 years of linguistic and anthropological research.
“We set our elders’ stories in dialogue with archival sources from outsiders who came to our land, and with multidisciplinary information from earth science, linguistics, archaeology, ecology and geography,” says Marianne.

The authors then wove an account of how the Secwépemc people evolved as a nation, both through their emerging Indigenous laws, and through resilience in the face of colonization.

“I think the book definitely speaks to reconciliation,” she adds. “I really hope and think that what we’ve written will contribute to the Secwépemc people’s understanding of their ancestors’ profound knowledge and wisdom, and that the non-Indigenous public can learn about and appreciate their amazing knowledge and long history.”

Publishing the book, “has been an adventure for both of us and since it came out last fall we’ve been absolutely thrilled and humbled at how our own elders and community members have embraced it and recognized themselves in it and are enjoying reading it, which is exactly what we wanted.”

ABOUT SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY:

As Canada’s engaged university, SFU is defined by its dynamic integration of innovative education, cutting-edge research and far-reaching community engagement. SFU was founded more than 50 years ago with a mission to be a different kind of university—to bring an interdisciplinary approach to learning, embrace bold initiatives, and engage with communities near and far. Today, SFU is Canada’s leading comprehensive research university and is ranked one of the top universities in the world. With campuses in British Columbia’s three largest cities – Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey – SFU has eight faculties, delivers almost 150 programs to over 35,000 students, and boasts more than 150,000 alumni in 130 countries around the world.

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Simon Fraser University: Engaging Students. Engaging Research. Engaging Communities.

March 16, 2018
Simon Fraser University
University Communications
www.sfu.ca/university-communications
778.782.3210
SFU Media Experts Directory

Contact:
Marianne Ignace, ignace@sfu.ca
Jacqui Davis, Publicist, 514.398.2555; jacqueline.davis@mcgill.ca
Marianne Meadahl, University Communications, 778.782.9017; Marianne_Meadahl@sfu.ca

Photos:
http://at.sfu.ca/ALIBhk
http://at.sfu.ca/tbfVGa

NT5

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