Wilderness Speaker Series Features Salish Kootenai College Professor

Ryan has extensive experience in the backcountry that started with the Boy Scouts and Young Adult Conservation Corps, then continued with his solo ventures and archaeological work with the Tribal Preservation Department of CSKT. He has long been fascinated by the vast network of trails that were traveled by indigenous tribes during seasonal rounds to reach different ecosystems, food sources and cultural resources throughout the year. Ryan’s talk will explore how the Salish used these trails to connect to the vital resources that made it possible for generations not just to survive, but to thrive in their homelands.

Ryan is the department head of Culture and Language Studies and Indigenous STEM instructor for the Native American Studies Division at Salish Kootenai College, lending experiential learning on subjects of culture and science. Previous to this position he spent eight years as a business partner and field supervisor for an archaeological firm called EthnoTech, and served as the as the supervisor of archaeological field survey for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes Historic Preservation Department. Ryan’s experiences with his elder’s teachings and his decades-long study of traditional ecological knowledge, ethnobotany, and indigenous sciences, combined with his extensive experience in field archaeology, bring a unique quality and perspectives to his teachings and outdoor experiential opportunities.