Faculty and staff

Dr. Elsey is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Culture, Media and Society at UFV. She received her PhD in Sociology and Anthropology at Simon Fraser University in 2001, writing an interdisciplinary thesis entitled, The Poetics of Self, Body and World: A Phenomenological Re-interpretation of British Columbia Ethnography of Aboriginal Peoples. For the past 20 years, Dr. Elsey has focused her research on British Columbia First Nations concerns with a special interest in Indigenous land use and occupancy. Dr. Elsey is active in research and publishing on British Columbia Indigenous issues and on the question of Indigenous rights, in Canada, and on decolonization and reconciliation potentials. Her most recent research focuses on Metis and mixed heritage indigenous peoples with respect to questions of identity, aboriginal rights and politics. For the past number of years, she has been the review editor for the “Native Studies Review” published by the University of Saskatchewan’s Department of Indigenous Studies. Dr. Elsey teaches from a place of post colonial and decolonizing optimism and feels that the social sciences have the important responsibility of shedding light on the colonial past and to pursue a new kind of post- colonial project.

Canadian Anthropology Society

The Society for Applied Anthropology

ANTH 102      Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology
ANTH 111      First Nations in British Columbia: Traditional Cultures
ANTH 130      Anthropology of World Religions
ANTH 301      Key Ideas in Anthropology
ANTH 407      Social Change & Contemporary Representation
ANTH 469      Myth and Ritual
SOC 101        Introductory Sociology
SOC 210        Social Problems of Canadian Society
SOC 350        Classical Sociological Thought

British Columbia First Nations issue’s, Indigenous land claims issues and the topic of land and story, Metis history and identity, studies in mythology and folklore, social and anthropological theory (phenomenological anthropology), theories of aesthetics and art.

“The People Are In The Land and The Land is in The People.” (invited lecture) presented at the Annual Conference of the Society for Applied Anthropology in Vancouver, 2016. 

'Invited Guest Talk' at Capilano University for 'key note' event entitled, “Stein Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park A Living Museum”, sponsored by Capilano University, BC. Culture Days, and BC. Elder’s Council for Parks/to honor Nlaka'pamux elder Dr. Ruby Dunstan, 2017. 

"Joseph Dussault: The Story of One Native Canadian", included in Reclaiming a Denied Past Metis Ethnogenesis and Resurgence in Central and Eastern Canada, AAA/CASCA, (Juried) Vancouver, 2019.

“Getting the terms Right: Metis, First Nations or Non-status Indian: The Issue of Indigenous Imaginaries in the Construction of Identity", (invited) Canadian Anthropology Society Annual Conference, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, 2016. 

Elsey, Christine. 2023. Anthropology Instructor's Manual for Cultural Anthropology, 5^th Canadian Edition, by Schultz, Lavenda, Dods and Mulholland, Oxford University Press, Don Mills, Ontario.

Elsey, Christine. Sept 2023. Anthropology and the Global World: An Introduction to Social and Cultural Anthropology, Kendall-Hunt Publishing, Dubuque, Iowa, USA. 

Christine Elsey, The People are in the Land and The Land is in the People, in Open Access Journal of Anthropology Volume 3- Issue 2., Iris Publishers, San Francisco, USA. Sept 21, 2021. https://irispublishers.com/oajaa/pdf/OAJAA.MS.ID.000556.pdf

Elsey, Christine. "The Story of French-Canadian Metis Voyageur Joseph Dussault in the Pacific Northwest" in Eastern Metis: Chronicling and Reclaiming a Denied Past. Bouchard, Michel, Sebastien Malette, Siomonn Pulla, (eds). Lexington Books/Rowman and Littlefield, Maryland, 2021.

“The Poetics of Land and Identity Among British Columbia Indigenous Peoples” 2013, Fernwood Press.

Cultural Resources Report for the “Stein Nlaka’pamux Tribal Heritage Park Management Background Document” (1997) Ministry of the Environment Canada.

A Poetic Review of Seymour River Recollections in “Echoes Across Seymour” by Pavlik, Smith and Smith (2012) Harbour Publishing.

"All That We Say is Ours': Guujaw and the Reawakening of the Haida Nation" by Ian Gill, The Canadian Journal of Native Studies, Vol 31, No 1, 2011. (Book Review) pp 211-212.

"The Power of Place the Problem of Time: Aboriginal Identity and Historical Consciousness in the Cauldron of Colonialism" by Keith Carlson, Native Studies Review, Vol 21, No 1, 2012, (Book Review) pp 160-161.

"The First Nations of British Columbia: An Anthropological Overview by Robert Muckle, BC Studies, (Book Review) No. 188, Winter 2015-16, pp 107-108.