Tommy Happynook Receives His PhD

Submitted by Tommy Happynook

I have always had an interest in anthropology and right out of high school started working towards an undergraduate degree. My post-secondary journey was full of starts and stops.

I attended Camosun College for one term before stopping to work as a roofer for about a year before returning to Camosun for another two years.

I was able to complete the first two years of my undergraduate degree at Camosun and decided to accept an offer to work in the forest industry.

I worked in forestry for about two and a half years before I decided to go back and finish my undergraduate degree at the University of Victoria. Two years later, I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Anthropology.

That same year, I was accepted into, and started my graduate degree, in anthropology at UVic. After two and half years, I graduated with a Master of Arts degree in Anthropology. At this point, I needed a break and was hired to work at Camosun College.

I worked for Indigenous Education at Camosun College for about 10 years as a community liaison, advisor, and instructor. In 2017, I applied to UVic’s anthropology doctoral program. In 2020, I was hired by the UVic’s Anthropology Department and have been working there since June 2021. I completed my doctoral program in April 2022 and now have a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Anthropology.


My research documents the reclamation of knowledge, teachings, culture, language, responsibilities, and identity through my personal (re)connection to my family’s ḥ aḥ uułi and hereditary home, čaačaac̓iiʕas. In specific and intentional ways my research, fieldwork, and dissertation are part of a story of reconciliation between myself and čaačaac̓iiʕas, the ḥ aḥ uułi that my family was dispossessed from because of the impacts of colonization.

Despite the near severing of our relationship with čaačaac̓iiʕas and the near destruction of our ḥ aḥ uułi, čaačaac̓iiʕas is thriving, and now is the time to pick up my responsibilities and begin to re-establish a relationship with the natural and spiritual worlds found there. In my research the lands, waters, skies, and natural world are not a place and/or object of inquiry, they are non-human knowledge holders and teachers.


My research draws upon a diverse set of ethnographic, anthropological, and Indigenous literatures. Emphasis is placed upon the use of nuučaan̓uł scholarship, theory, and methodologies including muułmuumps (being rooted to the land), ceremony, language, song, and interviews. The research builds on four kinds of knowledge that are expressed as: 1) known knowledge; 2) incomplete knowledge; 3) unaccounted for and/or unknown knowledge; and, 4) ethnographic/anthropological knowledge.

Through this theoretical platform, I explore tangible and intangible cultural and hereditary forms of knowledge production. Importantly, I highlight the role of song and sound as critical vehicles through which contemporary Indigenous peoples can connect to historical places and times.

I place equal emphasis on the production of sound through song as I do through the reception of song and sound through a methodology of deep listening. Song and sound play a crucial role in my research and form the basis of knowledge transfer between myself, čaačaac̓iiʕas, and my yakʷiimit kʷiyiis nananiiqsu (ancestors).

Furthermore, the songs I received during my research are the analysis of my data and how I am choosing to disseminate that data. I argue that these connections provide ways for future agendas and aspirations for cultural resurgence and governance to emerge.

Huu-ay-aht to benefit from grant to help bring cultural property home

When Huu-ay-aht First Nations finalized the Maa-nulth Treaty, one of the most exciting opportunities it outlined was a plan to bring cultural treasures home from BC museums.

On May 17, the Province of BC and the BC Museums Association announced the 2020 Repatriation Grant recipients. Huu-ay-aht is one of 25 Nations to receive a grant. The Nation will receive $35,000 of the $454,000 grant to fund repatriation research and activities announced this week.

“We celebrated together in 2016 as we watched as many of our cultural treasures were returned,” explains Councillor Edward R. Johnson. “Our history was extracted from us, and this is about bringing back a little bit of our history, one piece at a time, knowing that our treasures are scattered all over the world.”

He added, this is a key part of recognizing the past and that Huu-ay-aht’s ancestors and treasures need to come home.

“We are just scratching the surface of reconciliation by bringing some of our treasures home,” he said.

The grant will be used to identify and catalogue the items the Nation wants repatriated from the Royal BC Museum. These will join the items previously returned in the Cultural Centre.

Throughout the history of Canada, Indigenous peoples have had their belongings, language, culture, and even ancestors taken from them and housed in museums, universities, and private collections across the world. For decades, Indigenous leaders have worked tirelessly to support the return of their communities’ ancestors and cultural patrimony.

Through the 2020 Repatriation Grants, the BCMA and the BC government are taking a critical step in reconciliation and supporting this work. These grants are funded through the B.C. government’s $500,000 investment in 2020.

“These items were bought or taken from our ancestors, and it’s time that we bring them home where they belong,” explained Tayii Ḥaw̓ił ƛiišin (Head Hereditary Chief Derek Peters). “The effort made by the province and the museum shows respect for our history and reconciliation in action. It honours our our sacred principles of ʔiisaak (utmost respect), ʔuuʔałuk (taking care of), and Hišuk ma c̕awak (everything is one) and ensure future generations do not have to go to a museum to experience their history.” A full list of the recipients and the details of the grants can be found at this link.

Historic moment as Councillor John Jack named regional district chair

The Alberni‐Clayoquot Regional District (ACRD) Board of Directors elected Director John Alan Jack as Chairperson of the ACRD Board for 2017.

Director Jack has represented the Huu‐ay‐aht First Nations on the Board since their treaty government joined as a voting member in 2012. This is the first time in history a formal First Nation representative has served as Chair on a Regional District Board in British Columbia. Director John Alan Jack is a third-term councillor with the Huu‐ay‐aht First Nations, a member to the Maa‐nulth Treaty, which grants his community self‐government, ownership, and authority over land, as well as access and control over resources.

Director Josie Osborne, the Mayor of the District of Tofino, was elected Vice‐Chair of the Board for 2017. Osborne served as Chair of the Board for the past two years. She decided not to seek re‐election of Chairperson for a third term.

“In the past years, the Alberni‐Clayoquot Regional District has led the way in pursuing meaningful reconciliation with First Nations. We will continue down that path in a focused and respectful manner,” Jack explained. “I look forward to seeking and creating new opportunities in cooperation with and for the benefit of all in the region.”

Investment in Bamfield by Huu-ay-aht appreciated by residents

In late January, the Nation purchased 11 properties in the Bamfield area. It took a lot of hard work to close the sale and even more to get the turnkey operations open and ready to accept visitors.

On April 23, 2016, Huu-ay-aht First Nations invited its citizens, dignitaries, and residents of Bamfield to join them in a celebration to mark this accomplishment.

The event exceeded all expectations, filling the Rix Centre for Ocean Discoveries for the luncheon and a large crowd gathered at The Hotel for singing, dancing, and a ribbon cutting. It was a chance for Huu-ay-aht to thank everyone involved in making it happen and welcome the community. It was also an opportunity for people in attendance to hear Huu-ay-aht’s vision for the future.

Following this successful event, Tayii Ḥaw̓ił ƛiišin (Derek Peters) and Elected Chief Councillor Robert J. Dennis Sr. received the following letter and a photo collage from the day. He wanted to share it with the community.

The letter follows:

Gentlemen,

I have been meaning to congratulate you both on your ribbon-cutting ceremony on April 23.

Bamfield needed a fresh start and you have been doing a wonderful job of being that catalyst and including the whole community in your plans.

Growing up in Bamfield in the 1950s and early 60s, I have watched the gradual decline of our community – first with the commercial fishing demise and then the stagnation of so much of the commercial property.

I feel a hope for Bamfield again, which I have not had for some time. 

Best regards and the best of luck on your venture,

Marc Phillips

 

 

Listen to your Elders about “The Heart of the People”!

This is the first part of the documentary “The Heart of the People”.  A unique opportunity to listen to Elders who are no longer with us, but speak about the Sarita River from the bottom of their tiičma (heart):

  • Willie Sport – cultural historian, fisher and trapper.
  • Lizzie Happynook – weaver whose pieces are exhibited at the Alberni Valley Museum.
  • Peter Joe – boat builder and former resident of the area.
  • Annie Clappis – member of the Huu-ay-aht Community Language Speakers.

You can also understand the history around the Specific Claims Tribunal of the Huu-ay-aht
First Nations regarding the value of the compensation Canada owes the Nation as a result of the way timber on former Numukamis IR1 was sold to MacMillan Bloedel in the 1940s. Forester Consultant Herb Hammond talks about how, in his opinion, the hemlock looper was used at that time as an excuse to log indiscriminately.