Paper short abstract:

This paper discusses the resurgence of traditional food practices among urban Indigenous elders and activists in central Vancouver Island, Canada.

Paper long abstract:

In a context where the demands of urban life make 'living on the land' much less feasible, this paper explores the tensions between continuity and change within the resurgence of Indigenous food practices. Based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in 2013, it explores the nature of resurgence through three key questions. Firstly, how are the tensions between the continuity of traditional practices and the drastic changes to the environment and community life precipitated by settler colonialism negotiated through resurgent practices? How are traditional practices and knowledges evoked as a movement of shared meanings through time and across communities to make sense of uncertain contemporary circumstances? And, lastly, through exploring the merging of temporal spaces (between the past and present), can we uncover a way of thinking through and recognizing tradition or indigeneity without making an evaluation of some level of cultural 'authenticity'?