Dr. Brian Thom

Interests

Brian Thom My current research focus is on the political, social and cultural processes that have surrounded Coast Salish people's efforts to resolve aboriginal title and rights claims and establish self-government. I am interested in the interplay of culture, power and discourse in land claims negotiations, and in exploring the political and ontological challenges for indigenous people who engage institutions of the state. My work is keenly attenuated to developing practical policy outcomes from the insights gained from this research. My research is community-driven and politically engaged in matters of contemporary social significance.

Current Projects

I have had extensive experience with the BC Treaty Process, and am currently involved in research on issues related to shared territory and overlapping claims, and the development of regional approaches to aboriginal self-government. I am collaborating with colleagues from the Hul'qumi'num Treaty Group and the University of Arizona Indigenous People Law and Policy Program on reframing Indigenous land claims as issues of human rights. I am collaborating on a SSHRC-funded research projects related to co-management in National Parks (in collaboration with Robin Roth, Geography, York U), and am frequently involved in issues related to collaboration between Parks Canada and First Nations in the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. I am contributing to a SSHRC-funded research project focussed on developing corpora of Hul’q’umi’num’-language contemporary speech, translating and contextualizing powerful land claims speeches made by Hul’q’umi’num’-speaking elders (in collaboration with Su Urbanczyk, Linguistics, UVic). I am currently writing on the contemporary operation of customary land tenure in the Coast Salish world. I have developing and ongoing research interests in evaluating the status of Coast Salish traditional foods and food security, and examining public policy approaches to reconciling indigenous intangible property rights with the intellectual property system.

2011-2012 Courses

Fall 2011 Term: ANTH 541/641 Advanced Research Seminar in Indigenous Peoples; ANTH 318 Introduction to Ethnographic Research Methods; ANTH-CSC 590 Directed Reading in Computer Science and First Nations (Contact Dr. Thom directly about ANTH 590).

Spring 2012 Term: ANTH 395 Ethnographic Mapping and Indigenous Cartographies; ANTH 336 Contemporary Aboriginal Peoples of Canada

For more information about my research areas please see Brian Thom's WEBSITE

Selected Publications

2010 The Anathema of Aggregation: Towards 21st Century Self-Government in the Coast Salish World. Anthropologica. 52(1):33-48. LINK

2009 The Paradox of Boundaries in Coast Salish Territories . Cultural Geographies . 16(2):179-205. LINK

2008 (Eric McLay, Kelly Bannister, Lea Joe, Brian Thom, and George Nicholas) ‘A'lhut tu tet Sul'hweentst [Respecting the Ancestors]: Understanding Hul'qumi'num Heritage Laws and Concerns for the Protection of Archaeological Heritage. In First Nations Cultural Heritage and Law , edited by Catherine Bell and Val Napoleon, pp150-202. Vancouver: UBC Press.LINK

2008 Dis-agreement in Principle: Negotiating the right to practice Coast Salish culture in treaty talks on Vancouver Island , BC . New Proposals: Journal of Marxism and Interdisciplinary Inquiry . 2(1):23-30. LINK

2006 Protecting and Protecting Aboriginal Intangible Property in Canada : Copyright and Contracts in Research Relationships with Aboriginal Communities in Canada . 17pp. Department of Canadian Heritage, Copyright Policy Branch, Ottawa . LINK

2004 Le sens du lieu et les revendications territoriales contemporaines des Salishs de la Côte. Recherches Amérindiennes au Québec , 34(3):59-74. (no URL available)

2004 (Brian Thom & Don Bain) Aboriginal Intangible Property in Canada : An Ethnographic Review / Biens immatériels autochtones au Canada : une étude ethnographique. 140pp. Industry Canada, Marketplace Framework Policy Branch, Ottawa. LINK

2003 The Anthropology of Northwest Coast Oral Traditions. Arctic Anthropology . 40(1):1-28. LINK

2001 Aboriginal Rights and Title in Canada After Delgamuukw : Part One, Oral Traditions and Anthropological Evidence in the Courtroom. Native Studies Review. 14(1):1-26. (no URL available)

2001 Aboriginal Rights and Title in Canada after Delgamuukw : Part Two, Anthropological Perspectives on Rights, Tests, Infringement & Justification. Native Studies Review. 14(2):1-42. (no URL available)

2001 Harlan I. Smith and the Jesup North Pacific Expedition. In: Gateways: Exploring the Legacy of the Jesup North Pacific Expedition , edited. by I. Krupnik and W. Fitzhugh . Pp. 139-180. Arctic Studies Center , National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington . (no URL available)

2000 Precarious Rapport: Harlan I. Smith and the Jesup North Pacific Expedition. European Review of Native American Studies . 14(2):3-10. (no URL available)