Acclaimed ethnobotanist Nancy Turner will present a lecture and help kick off an upcoming anthropology exhibit at Linfield College.
Turner, emeritus professor of environmental studies at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, will present “Well Grounded: Traditional Management of Root Vegetables in Northwestern North America” on Tuesday, March 5, at 7 p.m. in Ice Auditorium, in Melrose Hall.
Turner will also attend an opening reception for the exhibit “Rooted in Revolutions,” which will be held Monday, March 4, at 4 p.m., in the Linfield Anthropology Museum in Walker Hall.
The events are part of a week-long celebration of Miles K. Davis, Linfield College president, who will be inaugurated Friday, March 8.
“Rooted in Revolutions,” presented by the Linfield Anthropology Museum, explores the relationships between plants and people through the framework of major revolutions in human history: the agricultural, industrial and sustainability revolutions. The exhibit is curated by Linfield students and faculty and explores the ways in which people have used plants through history, highlighting local examples, and how we can use this knowledge to build a more sustainable future.
Turner is an ethnobotanist whose research focuses on botany and ecology. She is interested in the traditional knowledge and land resource management systems of Indigenous peoples, particularly in western Canada. She has worked with First Nations elders and cultural specialists in northwestern North America for more than 40 years, collaborating with Indigenous communities to help document, retain and promote their traditional knowledge of plants and habitats, including Indigenous foods, materials and medicines, as well as language and vocabulary relating to plants and environments. Her interests also include the roles of plants and animals in narratives, ceremonies, language and belief systems.
The lecture and exhibit are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Leslie Walker, museum coordinator, at lewalker@linfield.edu.
