Spencer Greening (La’goot) is from the Tsimshian community of the Gitga’at First Nation, and has worked professionally with his nation for several years. He has regularly engaged in government to government relations as an elected government representative and community spokesperson for the Gitga’at. He has also acted as a research coordinator where he managed several legal and cultural research projects for the Gitga’at working with Indigenous knowledge systems, Indigenous rights and title, and language revitalization.
Spencer holds a bachelor’s degree in First Nations/Indigenous Studies and an MA in Anthropology at the University of Northern British Columbia. He is currently a Ph.D. student at Simon Fraser University, where he is studying the relationship between Gitga’at Traditional Ecological Knowledge, language, and history in the context of Indigenous resource management. His broader research interests include Indigenous governance systems, cultural and political identities, and Indigenous oral histories. All of his work revolves around his deep connection to his home community, elders, territories, and the self-determination and decolonization of Indigenous peoples.
Spencer is actively engaged with cultural roles and work within the community of Hartley Bay and the greater Tsimshian Nation. He also works with the local school district, that serves several Tsimshian villages and the city of Prince Rupert, teaching Tsimshian language and culture, while working with the Sm’algyax language committee. Spencer’s personal connection to this work is very important, when he is not engaging with it professionally, he is spending as much time as he can on his traditional territory learning from his Elders.
Gugwilx'ya'ansk and Goats: Indigenous Perspectives on Governance,Stewardship and Relationality in Mountain Goat (Mati) Hunting in Gitga'at Territory.
2024
Indigenous peoples’ relationships with ecosystems hold valuable lessons on how humans can relate to – and be stewards in – the natural world. At the core of these lessons is the multifaceted way Indigenous peoples participate within ecosystems. In this paper I introduce Indigenous ecological stewardship through an autobiographical story of being groomed into a mountain goat hunter in my own community – the Gitga’at First Nation of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Through highlighting my learning process with Elders and my relationship with mountain goats and their harvest, this paper creates a conversation on living relationally within an ecosystem one harvests from. The Gitḵ’a’ata (Gitga’at anglicized), have a rich tradition of embedding environmental ethics within harvesting by weaving spirituality, traditional governance, and longstanding dedication to place. I structure this story around a Gitḵ’a’ata philosophy that is rooted in deep-time stewardship, and how in practice, this philosophy creates a triad of becoming, living, and tending the landscape. Under the guidance of my Elders, this takes the form of becoming a traditional mountain goat scholar; living the laws, governance, and harvesting practices; and tending the connection to place through spiritual ceremony and cultural values. I conclude by highlighting how this harvest is a snapshot of one species, and the morals, values, and stewardship practices associated with mountain goats can be just as in depth for many species. In applying the lessons described this paper, it is my hope that readers will be inspired to improve and reflect on their own relationships with the non-human world.
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