Dr. Edōsdi (Judy) Thompson

Biography

Dẕenēs hoti’e. Edōsdi ushyē. Tałsetān didene hots’iye esdāts’ehi. Tsesk’iye esdāts’ehi. Eskinā'et kāge tehkahje. Tlabāne de’ots’ih ja’ sini. Edlā ja’ Tāłtān, Ete’e Gitxsan ja’ atē.

My name is Edōsdi, and I am a member of the Tahltan Nation with patrilineal ties to the Gitxsan Nation. My name means “someone who raises up children and pets” or someone who is a teacher. I started my teaching journey as an elementary school teacher, which has shaped who I am as an academic. My teaching and educational work has influenced how I see research in that I try to raise up all those I interact with, communicate with, and work with. Guided by what I have learned from my Elders and Ancestors, my research has focused on community involvement, engagement, and action. To-date, my biggest impact has been leading my nation’s language revitalization efforts.

In 2020 and 2024, I received two long-term grants from Canada Council for the Arts (CCA) for my research project, “Sharing the Teachings of our Ancestors,” which has provided artistic and language mentorship through Ancestral legacy. As part of the first CCA grant and inspired by Ancestral teachings, 31 artists (eight established, 23 emerging), three knowledge holders, and three fluent speakers worked together to create regalia, paintings, jewellery, stories, and songs. Additionally, I curated an exhibit of my Gitxsan grandmother’s art and life. We are now working on multimedia books that share our Ancestors’ stories in their Tāłtān or Gitsenimx languages, such as graphic novels, non-fiction picture books, and children’s books.

Selected Publications

Artistic Exhibitions, Talks, Documentaries

Edōsdi (Thompson, J.C.) (Curator). (2024). Exhibit: From Usk to Dorreen and Everywhere in Between: The Life of Artist Elizabeth Linda Lowrie. Museum of Northern British Columbia, Prince Rupert, BC, September – December 2024. 

Edōsdi (Thompson, J.C.) (2019). Indigenous Languages Raise Us All Up. TEDxUNBC, Theme: Past the Future: UNBC, Prince George, BC. 05 October 2019.

Edōsdi (Thompson, J.C.), Bourquin, M. (Producers), & Bourquin, M. (Director). (2016). Dah Dẕāhge Nodes̱idē: We Are Speaking Our Language Again. [Video/DVD]. Dease Lake, BC: Tahltan Central Government.

Journal Articles

Edōsdi (Thompson, J.C.). (2021). Dah Dẕahge Nodesidē: We Are Speaking Our Language Again – The Implementation of a Community-based Tāłtān Language Reclamation Framework. KULA: Knowledge Creation, Dissemination, and Preservation Studies, 5 (1). 

Edōsdi (Thompson, J.C.) (2018). Tahltan Voiceability: A language revitalization research journey guided by Tahltan Voice. Collaborative Anthropologies, 11 (2): 1-18. 

Edōsdi (Thompson, J.C.), Dennis, O., Louie, P. (2018). Research, planning, and implementation of Tahltan language nests: Sharing our experiences. Cultural and Pedagogical Inquiry, 10 (2): 64-83. 

Thompson, J.C. (Edōsdi). (2008). Hede kehe’ hodzi’ kahidi’: My journey to a Tahltan research paradigm. Canadian Journal of Native Education, 31 (1), 24-40. 

Book Chapters

Edōsdi (Thompson, J.C.). (2017). The artistry of research: The strength and stability of voice. In K. Staikidis & C. Ballengee-Morris (Eds.), Transforming our practices: Indigenous art, pedagogies, and philosophies. Reston, Virginia: National Art Education Association Press.

Edōsdi (Thompson, J.C.). (2016). Gitga’at plant project: Bridging the gap between generations. In G. Snively & Wanosts’a7 L. Williams (Eds.), Knowing home: Braiding Indigenous science with western science. Victoria: University of Victoria.

Curriculum Resources

Edōsdi (Thompson, J.C.). (2020). Framework for Designing Science Resources, Indigenous education resources, Curriculum, BC’s Curriculum, Government of British Columbia.