Leigh Joseph

Background

About Leigh Joseph

My ancestral name is Styawat and I am from the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish) First Nation. As an ethnobotanist, entrepreneur, researcher and community activist, my aim is to contribute to cultural knowledge renewal in connection to Indigenous plant foods and medicines. Wherever possible I draw on teachings learned from family and community members that are connected to Indigenous plants and the land.My interest in the relationship between food and culture started when I was a young girl. My paternal grandmother’s family is from the Snuneymuxw, or Nanaimo First Nations, and I visited her brother, my uncle Chester, and his wife Eva often on their land along the Nanaimo River. My memories of that time include picking fresh carrots, beets and peas from his garden and watching him prepare salmon that he and my aunt Eva caught and smoked on their property. I can still taste the fresh blackberry juice my aunt made to go with each meal. I remember their kitchen clearly: the clear plastic tablecloth over the 1950’s-style table, smell of the woodstove steadily burning, the counters full of jars of Indigenous medicines like Devil’s Club and Cuxmin. Hanging above the doors were the clean white stalks of dried Devil’s Club to offer us spiritual protection. These early experiences instilled in me a deep respect for the natural world. They also developed my awareness of how important the links between food and culture are.One of the most powerful ways I have found to connect to culture and community has been through learning from and working with Indigenous plants. My family history has shaped who I am. As a mother of two young children, I am aware of how my work with plants can offer them a connection to the land and to our traditional Squamish knowledge.I chose to complete Bachelor and Masters of Science Degrees as I believe that having an understanding of plant ecology, botany and plant biochemistry is an important foundation for my future work in the field of ethnobotany. In my doctoral work I am exploring the role of culturally important plants in the prevention and management of Type 2 Diabetes as well as in cultural revitalization and food security.Having the foundation of Western science, along with my cultural and spiritual views on ethnobotany, allows me to look for ways to indigenize the field of study as well as bring an Indigenous voice and perspective and pave the way for other Indigenous people who are interested in following a similar path.