Report on May 2010
Anthropology of
Northwest Native Peoples
At the Camp Fire, Quadra Island
Canadian Quest Unforgettable Spectacle
Travel Course May 2010
Enrollment had to be closed on this year’s Northwest Natives
course when the maximum of 20 students signed up for the
six-day excursion to British Columbia to study art and
anthropology.
The course was taught by culture expert Dr. Forrest Inslee
and directed by Communication Department Chair Professor
Gary Gillespie. For the last four years, it was offered on a
weekend in September. This more in depth version spanned six
days -- two days each in Victoria,
Quadra Island and Vancouver, British Columbia.
On Monday, May 10th, on the way to the Canadian
boarder, the class stopped at the
Tualip Report in Marysville, where a resort director
gave the students a tour of the hotel, explaining how the
Tualip tribes incorporated modern native art to express
their culture.
On Tuesday in Victoria, students spent two hours at the
Royal British Columbia Museum exploring the third floor
devoted to first nations culture.
The class visited the
Campbell River Museum on Wednesday, located at the
northern end of the Vancouver Island. We were treated by a
guided tour by Curator Linda Hogarth who provided profound
insights into native culture.
The next day, the Northwest University group stopped at Cape
Mudge Village, a native town, on the south tip of Quadra
Island to see the
Kwagiulth Museum an extensive collection of native
artifacts – or treasures as the first nation’s people call
them – including tools, masks, jewelry, regalia, totem and
house poles and canoes.
In down town Vancouver, the group visited the
Bill Reid Gallery – a private gallery devoted to modern
native art and was welcomed by Executive Director Dr. George
MacDonald, an expert on the art of the Haida people.
MacDonald took the time to share his understanding of the
nature of happiness, encouraging the students to see art as
a part of creating a meaningful life.
Then, on the last day of the trip the class saw the
University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology –
probably the best of its kind in the world.
Besides visiting the native themed museums and gallery,
students enjoyed a native prepared salmon dinner followed by
a first nation’s dance exposition at the
Quwatsun Cultural Center in Duncan on Wednesday.
The highlight of the trip was the wildlife watching boat
trip at Quadra Island on Thursday, May 14 when the class was
fortunate enough to follow a pod of Killer Whales for two
hours in the waters south of Quadra Island.
Students were delighted to witness orcas jumping around them
dozens of times. Half of the class, dressed in orange
survival suits, got on board a zodiac boat and the others
sailed on one of the covered boats of the
Aboriginal Journeys tour company.
After the trip, one of the guides remarked that his camera
shot of a large male killer whale suspended in mid air was
the best photo of his 20-year career. One student, Rachel
Harris a communication major from Auburn, Washington,
captured a video of the jump.
The three-hour wild life boat trip reminded the students of
the connection to the natural world that is central to the
identity of native peoples in ages past as well as today.
Josh Bollinger, a Communication major from Everett,
Washington, said that being a few feet from to the whales,
seal and sea lions gave him a better appreciation of what it
must have been like to hunt in a canoe.
Each student was assigned a research topic and on Friday and
Saturday presented seven to ten minute oral reports to the
class. Topics included canoe making, the
potlatch, native dance rituals, masks, feasts and food,
pipes and storytelling.
At the farewell lunch at the Van Dusen Gardens near the UBC
campus, students presented professors Inslee and Gillespie
with thank you cards for their work in making the trip
possible. Students reported that their insights into
cultural communication and native life changed their
perspective on the world and inspired more study in the
future.
Immediately after the lunch, the group gathered around
benches outside to hear Thad Duffy, a youth ministry major
from Renton, Washington, give the final presentation for the
trip. His subject was storytelling and he ended with a
creative re-telling of the course as if it were a native
myth. He even created a “totem pole” on his laptop
incorporating photos of the group.
Each day of the trip was blessed by excellent weather. It
was sunny and approached 70 degrees most days, making views
of the islands and snow capped mountains vivid.
The strong response to the
course encourages professor Inslee and Gillespie to offer it
again next May. Student may reserve their spot by turning in
a $150 deposit beginning in September.
Anthropology of
Northwest Native Peoples
Understanding Culture through the Eyes of Artists
Explore remote reaches of Vancouver Island
Visit ancient First Nation sites
Take a
Wild life Watching boat trip
COMM 3843
A Northwest University Travel Course to Canada
Spring Semester 2010
AN Unforgettable
intercultural experience
Join
intercultural communication expert Dr. Forrest
Inslee
for six days of field study in
Vancouver, Victoria and Quadra Island, Canada. Learn the
traditional way of life of the First Nations Peoples of the
Northwest Coast -- and how these cultures are expressed
today -- from the perspectives of
communication studies. Visit ancient village and
fishing sites, go bear watching and see the best museums devoted to the
subject in the world.
Complete online assignments and
local sites visits on your own, then join the group for a
five night and six day trip to Canada. Earn three credits
for your General University Requirements under "any course
in Communication" in only one week.
All lectures will be held during the trip. In addition to
attending lectures and completing on site assignments,
students present an oral report and turn in a final term
paper. There is no exam.
Its a Spring 2010 course with some
online assignments before the travel begins in May -- that
means that your aid may cover the fee. Just think: one less
class to worry about all semester long until May.
