Dissertation Defence: Honouring Their Story

Ellen Simmons, supervised by Dr. Lael Parrott, will defend their dissertation titled “Honouring Their Story: The Syilx People and kiʔlawnaɁ (Grizzly Bear). Reframing Environmental Care Through an Indigenous Lens” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Earth and Environmental Sciences.

An abstract for Ellen Simmons’s dissertation is included below.

Examinations are open to all members of the campus community as well as the general public. Registration is not required for in-person exams.

Abstract

Indigenous and Western sciences offer diverse approaches and tools for understanding ecosystems and how these inform the praxis of environmental management and care. However, recognizing their distinct epistemological foundations is critical, particularly for collaborative progress. Indigenous Knowledge systems contain imprints of collective memory and lived practice, specific to place, reflecting how people have come to care for their territories over thousands of years. Western science, on the other hand, advances understanding through evolving methodologies and technological tools. While both systems are indispensable, contemporary environmental legislation and decision-making frameworks are structured mainly around Western scientific approaches and the reliance on the data generated. Within these frameworks, economic priorities also exert influence over ecological outcomes.

This dissertation examines some of the deeply complex traits of Indigenous Knowledge and understandings, as well as exploring some of the attributes of complex systems science (CSS). From this, the intent is to expose and propose a potential shared space to position these two worldviews side by side. It does so through a shared ecological concern that has been addressed by both Indigenous and Western scientific knowledge: the pressing absence of kiʔlawnaɁ (grizzly bear, Ursus arctos) and their critical habitat requirements in the South Okanagan Similkameen region. Today, their absence, particularly in the lower-valley bottom areas, has quietly become normalized and largely unquestioned. This work also examines some of the factors that have contributed to kiʔlawnaɁ’s slow decline, and importantly, explores how these two diverse ways of knowing can be brought into dialogue together to support future pathways for kiʔlawnaɁ’s habitat and overall ecosystem health in this region.

Foundational to this dissertation were the conversations held with syilx Elders and Knowledge Holders from across the Okanagan, Similkameen, and Upper Nicola regions. Their insights into kiʔlawnaɁ’s occupation, environmental change, socio-ecological impacts and forest management practices inform the examination of the species’ gradual decline. Forestry is considered to provide one example of the several landscape changes over time alongside regional settlement during the 19th and 20th centuries. Insights from these conversations suggest that the slow absence of kiʔlawnaɁ in the Southern Interior reflects broader ecological thresholds, challenging assumptions about the resilience of outlying grizzly bear populations.