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Research
SFU student defends thesis in home territory, brings research on Haíłzaqv language and clam gardens to her community
SFU resource and environmental management alumnus, Desiree Lawson, completed her master鈥檚 the way it started 鈥� rooted in her home community 鈥� by defending her thesis on revitalizing and future-proofing Hai虂色zaqv (Heiltsuk) clam gardens through ancestral laws in her home community of Bella Bella.
While Lawson always wanted to continue her learning beyond a post-secondary diploma, or even an undergraduate degree, the path forward wasn鈥檛 always clear.
鈥淢y mom always pushed me when I was growing up, saying 鈥榚ducation is key.鈥� That was always in my head,鈥� says Lawson.
She first enrolled at Vancouver Island University (VIU) in Nanaimo as a nursing student, but ultimately decided to pursue a bachelor's of natural resource management after an internship with Fisheries and Ocean鈥檚 Canada opened her eyes to career pathways that were a better match with her interests.
While earning her bachelor鈥檚, Lawson spent her summers back home in Bella Bella where she worked as a BC parks ranger and coastal guardian watchman for the Ha铆色zaqv Integrated Resource Management Department (HIRMD), to name a couple. It was in this role that Lawson learned of a field school in Bella Bella offered by SFU and led by Anne Salomon, a professor in SFU鈥檚 School of Resource and Environmental Management. Though it was a master's level field course, Lawson applied after deciding that the opportunity to take part in a field school in her home territory was too good to pass up.
Lawson was accepted into the field school and spent three weeks at the Hakai Beach Institute working alongside Salomon before returning to VIU to complete her undergraduate studies.
When Lawson decided to return to school for her master鈥檚, she researched programs all over the country, deciding on SFU鈥檚 resource and environmental management program.
鈥淚 kept thinking about Anne and all the great work she has done in my territory and with my nation,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 told her I wasn鈥檛 necessarily the typical candidate, but I was really determined to do this. Luckily, Anne was even more determined.鈥�
Lawson explains that when she initially applied, she told her soon-to-be supervisor that she wasn鈥檛 sure what she wanted to focus on 鈥� that because she loved so many things, she could really study anything.
鈥淚 told her I wanted to study something that would be worthwhile, something important to my Nation and something that would support the stewardship department's decision-making processes.鈥�
With this goal in mind, Lawson spoke with the HIRMD and sought guidance from the Hereditary Chiefs to understand the priorities of her community. Together they decided that Lawson would seek to future-proof H谩铆艂zaqv clam gardens (位铆位谩bac虛i) using both ancestral laws (千v铆岣访, 色谩xva铆) and gifts from her ancestors - data.
As she was preparing to begin her master鈥檚 program, Lawson enrolled in a 900-hour Ha铆艂zaqv岣穉 language program that was being offered in Bella Bella through SFU鈥檚 Indigenous Languages Program (INLP). Initially, Lawson thought she would have to delay her graduate studies for the opportunity to learn her Nation鈥檚 language.
鈥淎t that time there were only nine fluent speakers in our community, so it was really important to take the course,鈥� she says.
Recognizing that learning her Nation鈥檚 traditional language would be invaluable to learning about past relationships between Ha铆艂zaqv peoples and the 位铆位谩bac虛i she decided to do both and use the language program as an opportunity to learn ancestral laws and stories as part of her research methods.
鈥淚n the language program, I chose a story that was connected to clams, and what our Elders refer to as climate change or connecting to climate change. I was able to take that story and translate it into my language and then share that in my language with our fluent speakers and talk about it with them,鈥� says Lawson.
Alongside analyzing Ha铆色zaqv stories, Lawson had traditional 位a虂ba虂yu虂 (clam digging sticks) built and tested by children and knowledge holders in the 位谩bac虛i to help revitalize knowledge. To understand threats to Ha铆色zaqv 位谩bac虛i she compared the current height of rock walls that protect the 位谩bac虛i with future sea level rise projections and studied clam growth rates throughout Ha铆色zaqv territory to inform future restoration initiatives. To help future-proof these 位谩bac虛i, Lawson explains that she then took Ha铆色zaqv children to the 位谩bac虛i to learn about them and how to care for them.
Ready to defend her master鈥檚 thesis, Lawson and her supervising committee made the nearly 500 km trip to Bella Bella, where she defended her thesis in the Gvukva鈥檃u虂s Hai虂色zaqv (House of the Hai虂色zaqv) with an audience of her family and community. 鈥淓arly the next morning, I took them all to my favourite clam garden. It was all scheduled around the tide 鈥攎y whole life then was scheduled around the tide,鈥� she says.
While unconventional in academia, Lawson explains that the decision to defend her thesis in her community was obvious. "I knew I wanted to go home and stay home,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 really wanted to have my defense on a clam garden, to be connected to the land that I was learning about. I was really nervous, but having all that community support was great.鈥�
Lawson also developed a short documentary to help share her research throughout the Ha铆色zaqv community.
The provided some funds to support this project. The CRP Student Bursary initiative was made possible through the generous contributions of the following partners: WWF-Canada, Nature United, the Nature Conservancy of Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.