Born in Victoria in 1943, Randy Bouchard has undertaken ethnographic, linguistic, and ethnohistorical research with numerous First Nations throughout British Columbia. His work has been ongoing since 1968. Beginning in 1971 and continuing today, he has worked closely with socio-cultural anthropologist Dr. Dorothy Kennedy. In 1972 Bouchard and Kennedy founded the BC Indian Language Project, dedicated to the documentation and preservation of BC’s First Nations languages, cultures, and histories.
Bouchard and Kennedy’s comprehensive study of the Indigenous people of the Desolation Sound area, Sliammon Life, Sliammon Lands, was published in 1983. They are also co-editors of Indian Myths & Legends from the North Pacific Coast of America, published in 2002.
Bouchard and Kennedy continue to contribute to the establishment of Aboriginal rights and title claims, having recently shown that the Squamish and the Lil’wat First Nations both have Aboriginal rights and title interests in the Whistler area, making them First Nations co-hosts of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
The Lil’wat World of Charlie Mack, published in February 2010, is Kennedy and Bouchard’s tribute to one of their First Nations collaborators.
Short-listed 2003 BC Book Prize: Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize
Short-listed 2003 BC Book Prize: Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize