Speaker: Lindsey Popken, M.S., University of Washington School of Marina and Environmental Affairs

Topic: 

Federal sea otter management in Canada faces scrutiny over its ability to adequately address
impacts on Indigenous self-determination and food sovereignty. Many Nuu-chah-nulth First
Nations maintain that Nuu-chah-nulth priorities, interests, and self-determination are undermined
and excluded from current sea otter management. This thesis examines resurgence efforts by
Nuu-chah-nulth Nations to re-establish ancestral governance through the case study of sea otter
management on Vancouver Island. Through a critical synthesis of management reports,
interviews with Indigenous and non-Indigenous actors, and a Feminist Standpoint Analysis, I
analyze past, present, and future plans for sea otter management on Vancouver Island. Findings
suggest that structural inequities, divergent normative and material priorities, and ontological
divergences animate a divide between Nuu-chah-nulth and Canadian state governing bodies
where it comes to sea otter management practices. Contemporary sea otter governance regimes
are reproducing the unequal power relations of colonialism, to the detriment of social,
environmental, legal considerations. I argue that Indigenous resurgence in sea otter management
is an enactment of Nuu-chah-nulth food sovereignty that is grounded in relationships of

reciprocity between all non-humans and Nuu-chah-nulth Nations, and works towards re-
establishing resurgent ancestral connections with the environment. Therefore, I identify a need to

transform the current management system to one rooted in Nuu-chah-nulth Knowledge, values,
and leadership, which would make it well-placed to collaborate with non-Indigenous entities in a
system that does not undermine these considerations.