Lecture and 5-year anniversary celebration of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ postponed for safety of all who registered for this event, especially our Elders and others recognized as vulnerable to the coronavirus. When the event is rescheduled we will update our calendar with new information. 

Named in honor of the UW’s first vice president for the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity (1970), the annual Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture is dedicated to acknowledging the work of distinguished faculty by spotlighting nationally recognized research focusing on diversity and social justice. This year, the lecture will be held in conjunction with the five-year anniversary of the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House opening its doors, creating an Indigenous intellectual and cultural space at the University of Washington.

Reception: 5:30pm
Lecture: 6:30pm
Panel Discussion: 7:15pm

Cost: Free, with RSVP required: events.uw.edu…

ABOUT THE LECTURE
On March 12, 2015, the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House opened its doors, creating an Indigenous intellectual and cultural space at the University of Washington. It serves as a hub for bringing together people from diverse communities in the spirit of sharing, cooperation and collaboration with Indigenous peoples and communities. As an Indigenous food studies scholar born and raised in her Nuu-chah-nulth community Dr. Coté has studied, witnessed, and experienced how colonization and the ongoing impacts of settler colonialism have negatively affected her people’s physical, nutritional and spiritual health. Dr. Coté will discuss how the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ is connected to Indigenous decolonization by making Indigenous scholars and scholarship visible, and making the campus accessible to the larger Indigenous community. The annual “Living Breath of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ” Indigenous Foods symposium, founded by Dr. Coté, has become one of the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ’s signature events serving as an important place to foster dialogue and build collaborative networks as Indigenous peoples strive to maintain their traditional foodways and healthy relationships to the land, water and all living things. The creation of the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ and the “Living Breath of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ” symposium hold important lessons on what it means to Indigenize academic spaces.

ABOUT DR. CHARLOTTE COTÉ
Dr. Charlotte Coté, associate professor in the University of Washington’s Department of American Indian Studies, is from the Nuu-chah-nulth community of Tseshaht on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Dr. Coté has dedicated her personal and academic life to creating awareness around Indigenous health and wellness issues, taking an active role in working with Indigenous peoples and communities to address health disparities through the revitalization of traditional foodways and ancestral ecological knowledge. Dr. Coté is the author of numerous publications including “Spirits of Our Whaling Ancestors. Revitalizing Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth Traditions,” which raises issues concerning Indigenous self-determination, eco-colonialism and food sovereignty. The working title of her forthcoming book is “Hishuk’ish Tsawalk – Everything is Connected. Enacting Food Sovereignty and Restoring Health and Wellness in Northwest Coast Indigenous communities.” Dr. Coté is the recipient of numerous awards including the Na’ah Illahee Fund’s Spirit of Indigenous Leadership Award, Women of Color Empowered Foundation’s Women of Power: Future Builder’s Award, UC Berkeley’s President’s Research Fellowship Award, Friedrich-Alexander University’s Friedrich-Alexander Research Fellowship (Germany) and the Canada-US Fulbright Fellowship. She serves as chair of the UW’s wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ – Intellectual House Advisory Committee and is the founder and chair of the UW’s “The Living Breath of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ” Indigenous Foods Symposium. She serves as co-editor for the UW Press’ Indigenous Confluences series and co-hosted the UWTV’s Voices of the First People’s film series. Dr. Coté also serves on the boards of the Seattle-based Native-led nonprofit organizations Potlatch Fund and Na-ah Illahee Fund.Named in honor of the UW’s first vice president for the Office of Minority Affairs & Diversity (1970), the annual Samuel E. Kelly Distinguished Faculty Lecture is dedicated to acknowledging the work of distinguished faculty by spotlighting nationally recognized research focusing on diversity and social justice. This year, the lecture will be held in conjunction with the five-year anniversary of the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ - Intellectual House opening its doors, creating an Indigenous intellectual and cultural space at the University of Washington.

For questions, contact Sara Werner at omadevnt@uw.edu.

To request disability accommodation, contact the Disability Services Office at 206-543-6450 (voice), 206-543-6452 (TTY), 206-685-7264 (fax), or dso@uw.edu. The University of Washington makes every effort to honor disability accommodation requests. Requests can be responded to most effectively if received as far in advance of the event as possible, preferably at least 10 days.