Spencer Greening has a gift for balancing traditional Indigenous knowledge, research, language and culture with Western scholarship, politics and activism.

This gift has drawn the attention of his Gitga’at First Nation, Simon Fraser University and most recently, the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation.

“It is rare to find someone who can be a role model and take on leadership roles in both Indigenous and Western arenas,” notes Arnold Clifton, chief councillor and hereditary chief of the Gitga’at First Nation.

This remarkable ability has landed the archaeology PhD student one of 15 prestigious Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation scholarships. These scholarships are offered to “exceptional students who have distinguished themselves through academic excellence and civic engagement” from selected universities around the world.

Greening’s research project, Al’algyax Laxyuubs Gitk’a’ata (The Territory of the Gitga’at Speaks): Language, Place-based Knowledge, and Environmental Stewardship in the Heart of Gitga’at Territory, will utilize both ethnography and Indigenous methodology to assist in knowledge transfer and language revitalization in the Tsimshian tribe of the Gitga’at First Nation, located on the Northwest Coast of BC.

Excerpt taken from SFU News; read the full story