Plant Teachings from My Auntie

Geraldine Manson, C’tasi:a is a respected Snuneymuxw Elder and Traditional Knowledge Keeper. She is a Vancouver Island University Elder-in-Residence, where she provides support to faculty members and First Nations students, assists with the understanding of First Nations practices in relation to traditional health and healing, provides guidance, blessings, and protocol for ceremonial and cultural events, and hosts guests and visiting Elders.

For over two decades C’Tasi:a has worked with the Gabriola Historical and Museum Society as a knowledge holder and spiritual guide on the Museum’s Truth and Reconciliation initiatives. She has also dedicated her time to helping Gabriola Island residents to understand the importance and sacred significance of ancestors and sites within the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw People. C’tasi:a is the author of Snuneymuxw History Written in Places and Spaces.

Nancy J. Turner is an ethnobotanist, distinguished Professor Emerita, and former Hakai Professor in Ethnoecology with the School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, BC. She has worked with First Nations elders and cultural specialists in northwestern North America for over 50 years, helping to document, retain, and promote their traditional plant-based knowledge, and has been formally adopted into Haida, Kwakwaka’wakw, Songhees, and Nisga’a families. Nancy has authored or co-authored over 30 books including her encyclopedic and award-winning Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge: Ethnobotany and Ecological Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America, and Luschiim’s Plants: Traditional Indigenous Foods, Materials and Medicines (coauthored with Quwut’sun Elder Dr. Luschiim Arvid Charlie). She is a member of the Order of British Columbia and the Order of Canada, and lives in Nanaimo, BC on the traditional territory of the Snuneymuxw First Nation.