Cliff researches and teaches Indigenous governance, political economy, and resource management. He is interested in how Indigenous communities navigate/adopt/resist mainstream capitalism while working to sustain their unique cultural identities and worldviews. Cliff is particularly interested in how Indigenous communities and leaders continue to assert agency within the confines of settler colonial politics and economics. He has recently published on Indigenous land and water relations and Indigenous ambivalence to the Trans Mountain pipeline.
Current research projects:
Turning the Tide: Exploring Clean Marine Propulsion in Coastal Indigenous Communities: Cliff is the principle investigator of an interdisciplinary team, including Dr. Jonn Axsen and Dr. Zuomin Dong, and PhD candidate, Sarah Ozog, that will be exploring cleaner marine propulsion options for coastal Indigenous communities in British Columbia with funding from the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions in 2022 and 2023. We are currently working with the Skidegate Band Council and the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council.
Cliff is a co-applicant with Dr. Dawn Hoogeveen (co-applicant) and. Dr. Lyana Patrick (principle investigator) on a two-year (2022-2023) CIHR-funded research project titled, “COVID-19 and Indigenous public health sovereignty in British Columbia: Addressing systemic inequity through community-driven solutions.” Our research questions examine Indigenous territorial integrity during the pandemic, multiple crises management (COVID-19, forest fires, and other climate change related impacts), and unique Indigenous-centric perspectives on community health. We are currently working with the Stellat’en First Nation, Nadleh Whut’en Band, and several nations of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council.
Cliff will soon begin work on “Understanding Ada'itsx (Fairy Creek) Through Nuu-chah-nulth Eyes.” This area has received international attention with people coming from around the world to defend old growth forests, despite the ambivalent feelings of the Pacheedaht First Nation. An injunction (by the logging company) has led to the largest acts of civil disobedience (not counting Canadian flag waving truckers et al) since the 1993 War in the Woods in Clayoquot Sound. The goal of this project is to gather the perspectives of Pacheedaht leaders on Ada'itsx/Fairy Creek vis-a-vis self-determination, resource management, inter-governmental, and environmentalist-relations. This project is funded by the SFU/SSHRC Institutional Grants Program.
previous research projects:
Cliff was a co-investigator for the nearly complete Corporate Mapping Project, which focused on “mapping” how power and influence play out in the oil, gas and coal industries of BC, Alberta and Saskatchewan.