Nancy J Turner

Biographic Data

ID221344
NAMENancy J Turner
GIVEN NAMESNancy J
FAMILY NAMETurner
SIGNATURETURNER N J
AFFILIATIONSUniversity of Victoria
ORCID0000-0002-6810-619X
VERIFIEDYes
TOTAL WORKS64
TOTAL CITATIONS617
AUTHOR COUNT62
EDITOR COUNT2
FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR1977
LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR2025
H-INDEX12

  • Ethnoecological perspectives on environmental stewardship: Tenets and basis of reciprocity in Gitxsan and nłeʔkepmx (Nlaka'pamux) Territories

    Open AccessChelsey Geralda Armstrong, Jennifer Grenz et al.ARTICLEPeople and Nature2025

    Local and Indigenous Peoples steward and protect a significant proportion of biologically diverse ecosystems globally. This fact is increasingly acknowledged by researchers and international organizations, offering both opportunities and challenges at the intersection of Indigenous and western knowledge production in the context of environmental management research and policy. Drawing on half a century of ethnoecological research and personal exp…

  • Rethinking Cultural Keystone Practices: Conflict Resolution Practices as Examples of Salience and Well-Being

    Open AccessNancy J TurnerARTICLEEthnobiology Letters2025

    We explore and expand on the concept of Cultural Keystone Practices as an extension of the concept of Cultural Keystone Species and Places. These concepts have helped raise awareness of traditional human-environment interactions by focusing on community well-being and salience. We discuss several keystone-related terms and link them as interdependent for well-being, where salience itself might fall within one keystone concept or another. We focus…

  • Accumulated Wisdom: Alan Drengson, Merv Wilkinson and Ecoforestry

    Open AccessNancy J TurnerARTICLEThe Trumpeter2024

    As I was thinking about Dr. Alan Drengson and his legacy, contemplating what I could write about him that would capture his essence, I looked down at a card that was sitting on the table beside me and everything became clear.The card is produced by the Ecoforestry Institute Society.The photograph on the front (Image 1) -taken at Wildwood Ecoforest on Vancouver Island by EIS Board member, writer, and photographer Hans Tammemagi -is of a big, old s…

  • The global relevance of locally grounded ethnobiology

    Open AccessÁlvaro Fernández‐llamazare, Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares et al.ARTICLEJournal of Ethnobiology and…2024Cited by: 3References: 123

    While ethnobiology is a discipline that focuses on the local, it has an outstanding, but not yet fully realized potential to address global issues. Part of this unrealized potential is that universalistic approaches often do not fully recognize culturally grounded perspectives and there are multiple challenges with scaling up place-based research. However, scalability is paramount to ensure that the intimate and context-specific diversity of huma…

  • Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound. By David B. Williams

    Open AccessNancy J TurnerARTICLEWestern Historical Quarterly2023

    Journal Article Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound. By David B. Williams Get access Homewaters: A Human and Natural History of Puget Sound. By David B. Williams (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2021. ix+245 pp. Illustrations, maps, notes, index. $19.95, paper.) Nancy J Turner Nancy J Turner University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada [email protected] Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Acade…

  • Well grounded: Indigenous Peoples' knowledge, ethnobiology and sustainability

    Open AccessNancy J Turner, A Cuerrier et al.ARTICLEPeople and Nature2022Cited by: 28References: 23

    The biological knowledge and associated values and beliefs of Indigenous and other long-resident Peoples are often overlooked and underrepresented in governance, planning and decision-making at local, regional, national and international levels. Ethnobiology-the study of the dynamic relationships among peoples, biota and environments-is a field that places Indigenous Peoples' ecological knowledge and ways of knowing at the forefront of research i…

  • Scientists' Warning to Humanity on Threats to Indigenous and Local Knowledge Systems

    Open AccessÁlvaro Fernández‐llamazare, Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares et al.ARTICLEJournal of Ethnobiology2021

    The knowledge systems and practices of Indigenous Peoples and local communities play critical roles in safeguarding the biological and cultural diversity of our planet. Globalization, government policies, capitalism, colonialism, and other rapid social-ecological changes threaten the relationships between Indigenous Peoples and local communities and their environments, thereby challenging the continuity and dynamism of Indigenous and Local Knowle…

  • Adopting a Root: Documenting Ecological and Cultural Signatures of Plant Translocations in Northwestern North America

    Open AccessNancy J Turner, Chelsey Geralda Armstrong et al.ARTICLEAmerican Anthropologist2021Cited by: 10References: 61

    In recent years, there has been an increasing recognition of the role humans play in the structure, composition, and function of ecosystems. Ethnoecological documentation of traditional management systems of Indigenous Peoples in northwestern North America has contributed significantly to this rethinking. A less well-recognized but foundational part of traditional management of this region is the practice of transplanting plants and plant propagu…

  • Plants, People, and Places: The Roles of Ethnobotany and Ethnoecology in Indigenous Peoples' Land Rights in Canada and Beyond

    Nancy J TurnerBOOKPlants, People, and Places2020

  • “That Was Our Candy!”: Sweet Foods in Indigenous Peoples' Traditional Diets in Northwestern North America

    Open AccessNancy J TurnerARTICLEJournal of Ethnobiology2020

    At least 50 different plant foods in Indigenous Peoples' traditional diets in northwestern North America—including berries, root vegetables, greens, and tree sap and inner bark—are known for their sweet taste. Some were, and are, appreciated as confections themselves and others were used to sweeten foods and medicinal preparations. These sweet foods were remembered fondly by many elders from childhood times. However, many of these original sweet …

  • “Everything We Do, It's Cedar”: First Nation and Ecologically-Based Forester Land Management Philosophies in Coastal British Columbia

    Open AccessMarie J Zahn, Matthew I Palmer et al.ARTICLEJournal of Ethnobiology2018

    People's values and attitudes regarding the natural world determine the level of care with which they approach the use of natural resources. We studied how human relationships with nature influence people's actions, using western redcedar (Thuja plicata), a major forest tree of northwestern North America, as a study system. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eleven Northwest Coast Indigenous plant experts and eleven ecologists and for…

  • Reflecting on Ethnobiology from 1978 to 2018: A Dedication to Steve Weber

    Open AccessD Lepofsky, Wolverton et al.ARTICLEJournal of Ethnobiology2018

  • Management and Traditional Production of Beaked Hazelnut (k'áp'xw-az', Corylus cornuta; Betulaceae) in British Columbia

    Open AccessChelsey Geralda Armstrong, Wal’ceckwu Marion Dixon et al.ARTICLEHuman Ecology2018

  • Linking marine conservation and Indigenous cultural revitalization: First Nations free themselves from externally imposed social-ecological traps

    Open AccessLauren E Eckert, Natalie C Ban et al.ARTICLEConservation Ecology2018Cited by: 1

    Eckert, L. E., N. C. Ban, S.-C. Tallio, and N. Turner. 2018. Linking marine conservation and Indigenous cultural revitalization: First Nations free themselves from externally imposed social-ecological traps. Ecology and Society 23(4):23. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10417-230423

  • Values-led management: The Guidance of Place-Based Values in Environmental Relationships of the Past, Present, and Future

    Open AccessKyle A Artelle, Jessica Stephenson et al.ARTICLEConservation Ecology2018Cited by: 3

    Artelle, K. A., J. Stephenson, C. Bragg, J. A. Housty, W. G. Housty, M. Kawharu, and N. J. Turner. 2018. Values-led management: the guidance of place-based values in environmental relationships of the past, present, and future. Ecology and Society 23(3):35. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-10357-230335

  • Adaptive capacity: From Assessment to Action in Coastal Social-Ecological Systems

    Open AccessCharlotte K Whitney, Nathan J Bennett et al.ARTICLEConservation Ecology2017Cited by: 5

    Whitney, C. K., N. J. Bennett, N. C. Ban, E. H. Allison, D. Armitage, J. L. Blythe, J. M. Burt, W. Cheung, E. M. Finkbeiner, M. Kaplan-Hallam, I. Perry, N. J. Turner, and L. Yumagulova. 2017. Adaptive capacity: from assessment to action in coastal social-ecological systems. Ecology and Society 22(2):22. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-09325-220222

  • Historical Ecology of Cultural Keystone Places of the Northwest Coast

    Open AccessD Lepofsky, Chelsey Geralda Armstrong et al.ARTICLEAmerican Anthropologist2017Cited by: 40References: 56

    For many Indigenous peoples, their traditional lands are archives of their histories, from the deepest of time to recent memories and actions. These histories are written in the landscapes' geological features, contemporary plant and animal communities, and associated archaeological and paleoecological records. Some of these landscapes, recently termed "cultural keystone places" (CKPs), are iconic for these groups and have become symbols of the c…

  • Why protect nature? Rethinking values and the environment

    Open AccessKai M A Chan, Patricia Balvanera et al.ARTICLEProceedings of the National…2016

    Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), a peer reviewed journal of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) - an authoritative source of high-impact, original research that broadly spans the biological, physical, and social sciences.

  • “Roots of Reflection”: Spiritual Aspects of Plant Harvesting, Ethnoecological Practice and Sustainability for Indigenous Peoples of northwestern North America

    Nancy J TurnerARTICLELes actes de colloques du musée…2016

    In northwestern North America, as in other regions of the world, Indigenous peoples have developed rich systems of ethnoecological knowledge, incorporating concepts of kincentricity (kinship between humans and all other lifeforms), and caretaking philosophies that embody responsibilities to sustain, and never to take for granted, those species that provide for humans. These ideas are engrained in traditional harvesting and use of resources, as re…

  • Salmonberry Bird and Goose Woman: Birds, Plants, and People In Indigenous Peoples' Lifeways In Northwestern North America

    Open AccessNancy J Turner, Jonaki BhattacharyyaARTICLEJournal of Ethnobiology2016

    Both birds and plants are major components of the world's biocultural diversity. Salient species of both are recognized and named in virtually every language and both feature in countless ways in people's systems of knowledge, practice, and belief, as sources of food, materials, and medicines, and as ceremonial and religious symbols. However, these two major biological groups are also linked together, and their ecological associations are likewis…

  • Cultural Keystone Places: Conservation and Restoration in Cultural Landscapes

    Open AccessA Cuerrier, Nancy J Turner et al.ARTICLEJournal of Ethnobiology2015

    Sense of place" as an anthropological, geographical, and philosophical construct has been a focus of research in recent decades, particularly following the publication of Keith Basso's Wisdom Sits in Places. Simultaneously, the emergence of the concept of social-ecological systems and their value in the application of conservation and restoration practices has highlighted the unique benefits of recognizing the interconnectedness of social and eco…

  • "Kwakwaka'wakw "Clam Gardens: Motive and Agency in Traditional Northwest Coast Mariculture

    Open AccessD Deur, Adam Dick et al.ARTICLEHuman Ecology2015Cited by: 24References: 16

    The indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast of North America actively managed natural resources in diverse ways to enhance their productivity and proximity. Among those practices that have escaped the attention of anthropologists until recently is the traditional management of intertidal clam beds, which Northwest Coast peoples have enhanced through techniques such as selective harvests, the removal of shells and other debris, and the mechanica…

  • Comparing instrumental and deliberative paradigms underpinning the assessment of social values for cultural ecosystem services

    Open AccessChristopher M Raymond, Jasper O Kenter et al.ARTICLEEcological Economics2014

  • Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge: Ethnobotany and Ecological Wisdom of Indigenous Peoples of Northwestern North America

    Nancy J TurnerBOOKAncient Pathways, Ancestral…2014Cited by: 17

    Volume 1: The History and Practice of Indigenous Plant Knowledge. Volume 2: The Place and Meaning of Plants in Indigenous Cultures and Worldviews. Nancy Turner has studied Indigenous peoples' knowledge of plants and environments in northwestern North America for over forty years. In Ancient Pathways, Ancestral Knowledge , she integrates her research into a two-volume ethnobotanical tour-de-force. Drawing on information shared by Indigenous botani…

  • Indigenous Climate Change Adaptation Planning Using a Values-Focused Approach: A Case Study with the Gitga'at Nation

    Open AccessMichael G Reid, Michael Reid et al.ARTICLEJournal of Ethnobiology2014Cited by: 4References: 25

    Local values and knowledge can be important components in creating robust climate change adaptation strategies for marginalized communities. Incorporating local values into the climate change planning process in a structured way and effectively using local knowledge not only improves the identification of priority actions for climate change adaptation, but also supports successful implementation. Much of climate change adaptation planning in rece…