Views On Sea Otters In Nuu Chah Nulth Territories British Columbia Enhydra Lutris Microform

Sea otters (Enhydra lutris), a threatened species under Canada's Species at Risk Act, are recovering on west coast Vancouver Island. Data from surveys and semi-structured interviews inform the study about perceptions and experience of two groups of respondents; conservation professionals and Nuu-chah-nulth-aht (people of west coast Vancouver Island) regarding sea otter recovery. Although most participants value sea otters, differences emerge on how many sea otters are enough, how decisions are made and whether an uncontrolled return of sea otters presents a human right issue. Conservation professionals, focus on perceived ecological benefits while many Nuu-chah-nulth participants question the science and focus on an ecosystem-dependent human interface. A diversity of socio-scientific views on biodiversity issues present rich, interdisciplinary learning opportunities for environmental education and communication. Meaningful consultation, validation, participation, dialogue with respect and equality provide opportunities to transform relationship and improve environmental communication and education about sea otter recovery.

Provides an update on the status of Enhydra lutris, the sea otter, since previous reports on the Canadian sea otter population in 1985 and 1987. Information is included on the otter's geographic distribution, protection status, population size and trends, habitat, general biology, and factors limiting the otter population. Concludes with discussion of the status of the species and a proposed conservation designation, with the rationale for such a status.

Two studies in salvage ethnology are detailed, one focusing on Barkley Sound peoples and their territories, the other on peoples to the southeast of Barkley Sound.

This book "illuminates the history of the many people who together have called this region home, and their relationships with the park landscapes, waters, and natural resources that continue to set the Columbia-Pacific region apart."--Cover.

This volume highlights the latest research on the foundations of sociopolitical complexity in coastal California. The populous maritime societies of southern California, particularly the groups known collectively as the Chumash, have gone largely unrecognized as prototypical complex hunter-gatherers, only recently beginning to emerge from the shadow of their more celebrated counterparts on the Northwest Coast of North America. While Northwest cultures are renowned for such complex institutions as ceremonial potlatches, slavery, cedar plank-house villages, and rich artistic traditions, the Chumash are increasingly recognized as complex hunter-gatherers with a different set of organizational characteristics: ascribed chiefly leadership, a strong maritime economy based on oceangoing canoes, an integrative ceremonial system, and intensive and highly specialized craft production activities. Chumash sites provide some of the most robust data on these subjects available in the Americas. Contributors present stimulating new analyses of household and village organization, ceremonial specialists, craft specializations and settlement data, cultural transmission processes, bead manufacturing practices, watercraft, and the acquisition of prized marine species.