lax̌lax̌tkʷ – Dr. Jeannette Armstrong — Associate Professor in Indigenous Studies and Canada Research Chair in Syilx Okanagan Philosophy, UBC Okanagan
Dr. Armstrong is Syilx Okanagan. As an award-winning writer and activist, novelist, and poet, she is committed to address deeply biased misconceptions relating to Indigenous people. Her research in Indigenous philosophies and Okanagan Syilx thought and environmental ethics coded into Syilx oral literatures has been recognized locally and globally. Slash (1985) was her first and most famous novel. Armstrong’s second novel, Whispering in Shadows (2000) traces the life experiences of a young Okanagan activist woman. Her poetry is collected in anthologies. Dr. Armstrong is the recipient of the George Woodcock Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature (2016). She is also a recipient of the Eco Trust USA Buffett Award in Indigenous Leadership and serves on Canada’s Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge Subcommittee of the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.