Recording traditional knowledge, folklore, and memories of land and sea.
I have been a practicing oral historian since 2017, and have participated in projects alongside archaeologists, GIS analysts, community leaders, business owners, and First Nation band councils across Canada.
My oral history work is rooted in place, and often includes the use of paper or GIS maps to create visual and audio depictions of land use, traditional harvesting, ecological knowledge, and relationships with the land. Sometimes I write reports on what I’ve heard. Sometimes I create visual StoryMaps. More often, I return recordings to communities and families.
My personal work focuses on social history and its overlap with the natural world, and I have a particular interest in Scottish environmental history and memories of working the land and sea.
PRESENTATION PARTNERS:
Projects:
Archaeology and Red Bay
I am currently working on a project that records stories and memories about the groundbreaking marine and terrestrial archaeology that took place in Red Bay, Labrador, in the 1970s and 1980s.
2024-Present
Traditional Knowledge and Land Use
I have been privileged to help develop, manage, and execute traditional knowledge and land use studies across Canada. While working with Know History, I helped record and preserve stories, memories, and intergenerational knowledge shared by Elders and knowledge keepers.
2017-2025
The Timber Wars
Oral history interviews about working class perspectives of the Pacific Northwest Timber Wars. Interviews took place in former logging communities, and had a particular focus on family history, community history, and deindustrialization. Eventually, these contributed to my book Tree Thieves.
2019-2021
Old-growth in the Amazon
Oral history and folklore interviews about forest conservation, community history, traditional knowledge, and timber poaching in the Peruvian Amazon. This work was supported by the National Geographic Society.
2018
Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc Ck’úl’ten Te M-sq’7est.s
Led interviews about harvesting, culture, family history, and land rights. This project was community-run by Tkʼemlúps te Secwépemc, and created an archive of intergenerational knowledge now stored at the Secwépemc Museum and Heritage Park.
2017-2019
Britain’s Last Whalers
For my Master’s dissertation at the University of St Andrews, I interviewed two dozen former whalers who witnessed the final days of Britain’s whaling industry in Antarctica. These interviews took place in Shetland, Fife, and the Highlands of Scotland.
2017
To talk more about oral history and potential projects, feel free to contact me at:
lyndsiebourgon (at) gmail (dot) com