Spencer Greening (La’goot) is from the Gitga’at First Nation of the Ts’msyen (Tsimshian) peoples. He has worked professionally with his Nation for over a decade, where he engages in cultural research and political consulting. Spencer has been regularly engaged in government to government relations, including when he was an elected government representative and community spokesperson for the Gitga’at. He has also acted as a research coordinator, having managed several legal and cultural research projects for the Gitga’at, all of which revolve around Indigenous knowledge systems, Indigenous rights and title, and language revitalization.

Spencer holds a bachelor’s degree in First Nations/Indigenous Studies and an MA in Anthropology from the University of Northern British Columbia. He conducted his doctoral studies at Simon Fraser University in Interdisciplinary Studies where he was a Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar. Upon completing his Ph.D. in the spring of 2024, he began pursuing postdoctoral research at the University of Victoria. As a postdoctoral fellow, he explores the ecological ethics, governance, and laws surrounding Indigenous harvesting practices and the insights they give into living in relationship with the non-human world.

His broader research and work interests include Indigenous governance, politics, and histories. All of his work revolves around his deep connection to his home community, Elders, territories, and the self-determination of Indigenous peoples.

Spencer is actively engaged with cultural roles and work within the community of Hartley Bay and the greater Ts’msyen Nation. He also collaborates with the local school district, who serves several Ts’msyen villages and the city of Prince Rupert, teaching Ts’msyen language and culture. Spencer’s personal connection to this work is very important, when he is not engaging with it professionally, he is spending as much time as he can on his traditional territory harvesting and learning from his Elders.