Alejandro Frid - Changing Tides: An Ecologists Journey to Make Peace with the Anthropocene

Praise for Changing Tides

A needful and accessible book of soberly optimistic ecology as it is a condemnation of colonialist appropriation of territory and thought. By challenging Eurocentric science to pay deeper attention to traditional knowledge, Frid bridges the artificial gap between ways of human behavior on the planet with lyricism and respect.

Anna Badkhen, author, Fishermans Blues and Walking with Abel, and co-editor, Changing Tides

Seamlessly blends impeccable science with indigenous knowledge and offers a hopeful call to action to save our planet and ourselves. Beautifully written, poignant, and mind expanding, this outstanding book deserves a broad global audience so that we can begin right now to find our way back to our place in nature.

Marc Bekoff, Ph.D. author, Rewilding Our Hearts and The Animals Agenda: Freedom, Compassion, and Coexistence in the Human Age

This is a beautifully written book about the people, plants, animals and spirits that inhabit the British Columbia coast, a habitat under great strain from climate change and other human impacts. But this is not a doom and gloom tale; Frid marries lyrical writing, compelling stories and sharp ecological and cultural insights to provide an uplifting vision of how scientific and Indigenous ways of knowing working together could provide a way forward to prevent impending environmental collapse.

Mark L. Winston, Professor and Senior Fellow, Simon Fraser Universitys Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, and author, Bee Time: Lessons From the Hive, winner of the 2015 Governor Generals Literary Award for Nonfiction.

A positively uplifting read! Changing Tides offers not only a vision for a buoyant planetary future but also a carefully defended argument to believe in it. Frids stories reveal how Indigenous knowledge and science provide a potent combination to guide us through this time of great uncertainty.

Chris Darimont, Raincoast Chair of Applied Conservation Science, University of Victoria

The narrative here reaches far beyond the natural world. Its a story about kindness and respect, inspiration and reward. If one is interested in doing better for our collective futures, Changing Tides needs to be digested if for no other reason than valuable lessons from our past and present.

Joel Berger, scientist and author, Extreme Conservation

How is it possible to encapsulate the natural and cultural history of a coast, concerns for the future, the joy of being with people you admire in a place you love, and the qualities of an ecosystem burgeoning with intricate relationships, all in a single volume? Thats what Alejandro Frid has done, in this engaging, informative and life affirming book about his work on the central coast of British Columbia.

Nancy Turner, CM, OBC, FRSC, Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Victoria

A beautifully crafted journey into how we can change our destructive global culture and who we can learn from. Quite simply, this is what real hope looks like.

J. B. MacKinnon, author, The Once and Future World

Describing the wisdom from traditional and modern knowledge, Alejandro Frid brilliantly outlines a pathway for a viable and enduring future. Frid encourages us to change our cultural story so that we can manage the inevitable ecological changes due to the climate crisis.

Andres R. Edwards, author, Renewal and The Heart of Sustainability

In this beautifully rendered book, Changing Tides, Alejandro Frid addresses how we as humans can live and act in the face and fear of climate change. This book offers hope and paths forward, possibilities both place specific and universal, deeply personal yet holding promise for humanity.

Dr. Mehana Blaich Vaughan, author, Kaiulu: Gathering Tides

Copyright 2020 by Alejandro Frid. All rights reserved.

Cover design by Diane McIntosh.

Front cover Drummer Image: Alejandro Frid

(See note about cover image opposite.)

Fish illustration iStock

All photos Alejandro Frid unless otherwise noted.

All other artwork Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas (mny.ca)

unless otherwise noted.

Printed in Canada. First printing October 2019.

Inquiries regarding requests to reprint all or part of Changing Tides should be addressed to New Society Publishers at the address below. To order directly from the publishers, please call toll-free (North America) 1-800-567-6772, or order online at www.newsociety.com

Any other inquiries can be directed by mail to

New Society Publishers

P.O. Box 189, Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0, Canada

(250) 247-9737

LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION

Title: Changing tides : an ecologists journey to make peace with the anthropocene / Alejandro Frid.

Names: Frid, Alejandro, 1964 author.

Description: Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 2019014808X |

Canadiana (ebook) 20190148101 | ISBN 9780865719095 (softcover) | ISBN 9781550927023 (PDF) | ISBN 9781771422987 (EPUB)

Subjects: LCSH: Ethnoscience.

Classification: LCC GN476 .F75 2019 | DDC 306.4/2dc23

New Society Publishers mission is to publish books that contribute in fundamental ways to building an ecologically sustainable and just society, and to do so with the least possible impact on the environment, in a manner that models this vision.

FRONT COVER IMAGE: Edward Johnson, originally from the Esketemc Nation and married into the Tilhqotin Nation, drums during a ceremony at Teztan Biny, a lake sacred to the Tilhqotin peoples of interior British Columbia. The drum was created by the great artist Eugene Hunt (19462002) of the Kwakwakawakw Nation of Vancouver Island and the adjoining mainland; my father, Samuel Frid (19352010), acquired it in the 1980s and passed it on to me in the early 1990s. It remained with my family until September of 2018, when I gave it to Cecil Grinder and Doreen William, both Tilhqotin, to celebrate their wedding. Outside the photograph, Cecil and Doreen stand by the shores of Teztan Biny. The web of social, geographic, and cultural relationships held within this image reflects the trade economy, cross-pollination, and adaptability that are integral to First Nations. These are all major themes of this book.

For Gail and our forest time
For Twyla Bella and her stories to be