Sunday, June 23, 2019 at 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

Tyler McCreary presents Shared Histories: Witsuwit’en-Settler Relations in Smithers, British Columbia, 1913-1973, a collaborative exploration of “the intersection of settler dreams and Witsuwit’en reality” in the Dance Hall at Heritage Park. Shared Histories is the winner of this year’s Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing.

The event is free and open to everyone. Coffee and tea will be provided. Books will be for sale.

Shared Histories:
Shared Histories looks deeply into what happened at the intersection of settler dreams and Witsuwit’en reality in the small northwestern British Columbia town of Smithers. Planted in a swamp at the base of a mountain, this railway town tried to exclude the region’s first inhabitants. This collection of hidden histories reveals how generations of Witsuwit’en made a place for themselves in town despite local, provincial, and national efforts push them, and indeed all Indigenous peoples, to the fringes.

Tyler McCreary:
Dr. Tyler McCreary is an assistant professor in the Department of Geography at Florida State University and an adjunct professor in the Department of First Nations Studies at University of Northern British Columbia. Born and raised in Smithers, British Columbia, his research examines how Indigenous-settler relations configure the politics of land, labour, and community in Canada. He has published articles in Antipode, Canadian Geographer, Canadian Journal of Urban Research, Canadian Public Policy, Cultural Geographies, Geografiska Annaler Series B, Journal of Aboriginal Economic Development, and Leiden Journal of International Law. He and his research team have worked with Witsuwit’en and settler elders and conducted archival research to understand how Indigenous-settler relations shape the history of the northern town of Smithers, British Columbia.