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Chelsey Geralda Armstrong leads innovative research supported by New Frontiers in Research Fund
Chelsey Geralda Armstrong, an assistant professor in Indigenous Studies at Simon Fraser University, has been awarded an Exploration grant by the New Frontiers in Research Fund.
Armstrong, an archaeologist and historical ecologist, will lead the two-year project, titled “Reshaping Nature: Disentangling Colonial Myths from Indigenous Landscape Management.”
Working in partnership with Wilp Luutkuziiwus and Wilp ‘Wii K’aax, Armstrong and an interdisciplinary team of research collaborators will examine how long-term Gitxsan land-use practices and engineering shaped landscapes across the Skeena River watershed.
Gitxsan histories suggest people purposefully managed and cultivated the land for far longer than is currently accepted in mainstream scientific practices. Armstrong’s team uses archaeological and geomorphological data within specific adawx (stories) and ayook (laws) to trace this history of stewardship — including forest garden management, cultural fire, and the engineering of terraces, drainage systems, and soil modifications — in two Gitxsan Lax’Yip (Territories) in northwestern BC.
Combining archaeological survey with airborne laser scanning and geomorphological and hydrological models, the team, including Shawn Chartrand from the School of Environmental Sciences at SFU, will collect measurable data of how Gitxsan people, across diverse landscapes, influenced river systems, groundwater, and soils in the region, redefining contemporary earth and environmental sciences. This research re-assesses scientific knowledge production, following Gitxsan scientific philosophies that are grounded in deeply empirical and place-based expertise.
Our faculty specialize in a variety of research areas across the field of Indigenous Studies. Find out more about research at SFU Indigenous Studies.