Biography
Professor Charlotte Coté (Tseshaht/Nuu-chah-nulth) has been teaching in AIS since 2001. Dr. Coté holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in Comparative Ethnic Studies from the University of California at Berkeley, a B.A. in Political Science from Simon Fraser University in B.C., and a Diploma in Broadcast Communications from the B.C. Institute of Technology. She is Affiliated Faculty in the UW's Jackson School Canadian Studies Center. Dr. Coté serves as co-editor for the UW Press’ Indigenous Confluences series with UBC Professor Dr. Coll Thrush.
Dr. Coté is the author of Spirits of Our Whaling Ancestors: Revitalizing Makah and Nuu-chah-nulth Traditions (UW Press, 2010). which raises issues concerning Indigenous self-determination, eco-colonialism, and food sovereignty. Her current book, A Drum in one Hand, A Sockeye in the Other. Stories of Indigenous Food Sovereignty from the Northwest Coast (UW Press, 2021) combines Food and Indigenous Studies scholarship with personal memoire, stories, case studies, and Indigenous language and philosophy to show how traditional foods play a major role in physical, emotional, spiritual, and dietary wellness. Her other publications include, “Indigenizing” Food Sovereignty. Revitalizing Indigenous Food Practices and Ecological Knowledges in Canada and the U.S.,” and “Food Sovereignty, Food Hegemony, and the Revitalization of Indigenous Whaling Practices.”
Dr. Coté is chair of the UW’s wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ (a Lushootseed word meaning “Intellectual House”) Advisory Committee; a two-phase project that honors Coast Salish culture and architecture and provides a cultural and intellectual space that exemplifies the spirit of sharing, cooperation, and commitment to Indigenous knowledges and communities. Phase One was completed in March, 2015.
Dr. Coté is co-founder and chair of the UW’s annual “The Living Breath of wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ” Indigenous Foods Symposium held in May at the wǝɫǝbʔaltxʷ.
Dr. Coté’s areas of research and specialization: Indigenous food traditions, food sovereignty, health/wellness, traditional ecological knowledge, story as theory, environmental/social justice, Indigenous resistance/resurgence, federal Indian law, Indigenous film/media.
Teaching: AIS 380 - Indigenous Food Sovereignty, AIS 270 — Native Peoples of the Northwest Coast, AIS 480 — Indigenous Resistance and Resurgence Movements in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, AIS 335 — Native Americans and the Law, AIS 103 - The Indigenous Pacific Northwest.
Dr. Coté serves on the Board of Directors for the UW's Center for American Indian/Indigenous Studies (CAIIS), the Burke Museum's Native American Advisory Board, the Na-ah Illahee Fund Board, and the NDN Collective (Northwest Coast Representative). She also served on the Potlatch Fund Board of Directors, and for seven years served as President.