Generations of Feminist Ecologies in Restoration and Stewardship

Join us as historian Alexandra Peck (UnivBC) moderates two panels that bridge generations and explore the role of femininity in land stewardship, reflect on historical challenges and triumphs, while fostering dialogue about current and future ecofeminist initiatives in ecological restoration.

The first panel of elders will discuss the history of land stewardship that has always been deeply woven with feminism since time immemorial. Coast Salish women played pivotal roles both on the water and ashore—engaging in trade with tribal allies, tending camas prairies, harvesting medicinal plants, and weaving intricate basketry. In pre-colonial Coast Salish society, a woman’s ability to create and inherit wealth via crops and handiwork granted her seemingly ‘unlimited status and authority.’ With the arrival of settler colonialism, women were compelled to navigate new challenges, finding innovative ways to preserve their independence and connection to the land.

In the second panel of young Native American leaders, we will discuss a resurgence and revival of feminist ecological practices, calling on the historical traditions of the elders’ panel and the deep cultural roots of feminism in Indigenous stewardship.