I work with Indigenous peoples in British Columbia, Canada, to document of territoriality, food and resource harvesting practices, and to identify the Indigenous rights to land. These days, this usually means an effort to understand contemporary Indigenous land use in the context of mining and logging. My work includes an effort to understand the attitudes and biases that underpin consulting anthropology projects such as traditional land use and occupancy studies.
I am also working on projects with the Canadian Camping Association to confront issues related to cultural appropriation at children's summer camps. Prior to joining the department here at Guelph, I taught anthropology at Douglas College in New Westminster, British Columbia. I have also worked as a consulting anthropologist with First Nations communities throughout British Columbia and northern Alberta on projects related to land use planning, local and family history, and traditional knowledge.
McIlwraith, Thomas. 2017. Arthur Nole (1940-2015): Tahltan Elder, Raconteur, and Friend. In Histories of Anthropology Annual: Volume 11. Historicizing Theories, Identities, and Nations. Regna Darnell and Frederic W. Gleach, eds. Pp. 267-281. Lincoln, NB : University of Nebraska Press.
McIlwraith, Thomas and Raymond Cormier. 2016. Making Place for Space: Land Use and Occupancy Studies, Counter-Mapping, and the Supreme Court of Canada’s Tsilhqot'in Decision. BC Studies. 188(Winter):35-53.
McIlwraith, Thomas. 2012. A Camp is a Home and Other Reasons Why Indigenous Hunting Camps Can’t Be Moved Out of the Way of Resource Developments. The Northern Review. 36 (2):97-126.
McIlwraith, Thomas. 2012. We Are Still Native People: Stories of Hunting and History from Northern British Columbia. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
McIlwraith, Thomas. 2008. 'The Bloody Moose Got Up and Took Off': Talking Carefully About Food Animals in a Northern Athabaskan Village. Anthropological Linguistics. 50(2):125-147.
I am accepting 1-2 MA students in Public Issues Anthropology for September 2021 and September 2022. Along with students who are interested in topics about resource development and Indigenous peoples, I am particularly interested in working with students who would like to conduct research on topics related to children's camps and camping.