Dene Understanding of the Land: On Habitats and Relationships, and Reflections on Change

I attended the Society of Ethnobiology 31 Annual Conference in Fayetteville Arkansas April 16-20, where I presented a paper in the symposium on Native North American Ethnobiology on the afternoon of April 17. The session was quite diverse, and had three Native American presenters among the participants, including a former MA student of mine from the MAIS program, Zoe Dalton, now at the University of Toronto doing her PhD in Geography. . The paper was well received, and I received positive comments from several of the Cherokee attendees as well as from colleagues, who also offered helpful suggestions for working further with the ideas presented, including suggestions to present the analysis in terms of cultural keystone species, and also of source material from NOAA on environmental change and Inuit traditional knowledge. Other highlights of the conference were: The Native Scholars’ Symposium: Indigenous Ethnobiology, a panel discussion featuring a series of Cherokee artists, and academics with whom they had collaborated in various ways. This discussion explored some of the positive, and potentially problematic aspects of collaboration between indigenous peoples and (non-indigenous) academics. The Cherokee art show and address by Dr. Nancy Maryboy, Navajo/Cherokee astronomer, on indigenous and western sciences and indigenous education at the Conference Banquet. The field trip to the Arkansas wine growing district, where we learned about how German viticulture traditions were brought to Arkansas in the 1870’s, and how grape growing and wine making incorporated hybridization of Viutis vinifera with two native North American grape species. We toured the vineyard, and the working part of the winery, and learned something of the grape growing industry and its health food aspects. I also had an opportunity to meet with four of the contributors to my co-edited volume Landscape Ethnoecology, which is being revised after review for submission to Berghahn in May. Attending these meetings also facilitates networking with colleagues from all over the world and keeping abreast of current developments in Ethnobiology. Attendees included colleagues from Australia, Nepal and Kenya, as well as Americans, Canadians, and colleagues who had travelled from Latin America.Northern Athapaskan speakers experience shifting ecological conditions over the seasons, and over longer periods of time. People travel, animals travel, caribou migration routes shift. Traditional knowledge of Dene is flexible, relational and responsive, emphasizing observation, adaptation and resilience. With climate change, ranges of plant species, migrations of animal species, and weather patterns shift. Political and economic factors impinging on people and land are also changing. The nature, transmission and relevance of traditional knowledge of land is impacted by all of these factors. I describe aspects of Dene knowledge of landscape and reflect on the adaptive responsiveness of traditional understandings.Academic & Professional Development Fund (A&PDF

Gitksan medicinal plants-cultural choice and efficacy

BACKGROUND: The use of plants for healing by any cultural group is integrally related to local concepts of the nature of disease, the nature of plants, and the world view of the culture. The physical and chemical properties of the plants themselves also bear on their selection by people for medicines, as does the array of plants available for people to choose from. I examine use of medicinal plants from a "biobehavioral" perspective to illuminate cultural selection of plants used for medicine by the Gitksan of northwestern British Columbia, Canada. METHODS: Consultant consensus, "intercultural consensus", independent use of the same plants by other cultural groups, and phytochemistry and bioassay results from the literature, were employed in analysis of probable empirical efficacy of plant uses. RESULTS: 70% of 37 Gitksan medicinal plants were used similarly by other cultures where direct diffusion is not known to have occurred; eleven plants, including the eight most frequently mentioned medicinal plants, also show active phytochemicals or bioassays indicating probable physiologically based therapeutic effects. CONCLUSION: Analysis of intercultural consensus revealed that the majority of cultures in the British Columbia region within the plant ranges use the same plants, or closely related species, in similar ways. The rigor of this analysis is effected by the lack of consistent data on all taxa of interest for all cultures within the region

Trail of Story, Traveller's Path: Reflections on Ethnoecology and Landscape

Trail of Story examines the meaning of landscape, drawn from Leslie Main Johnson’s rich experience with diverse environments and peoples, including the Gitksan and Witsuwit’en of northwestern British Columbia, the Kaska Dene of the southern Yukon, and the Gwich’in of the Mackenzie Delta. With passion and conviction, Johnson maintains that our response to our environment shapes our culture, determines our lifestyle, defines our identity, and sets the tone for our relationships and economies. With photos, she documents the landscape and contrasts the ecological relationships with land of First Nations peoples to those of non-indigenous scientists. The result is an absorbing study of local knowledge of place and a broad exploration of the meaning of landscape

"Of rice-root, Crabapples, and Huckleberries: Evidence for Environmental Management by First Nations in Northwest British Columbia"

In northwest British Columbia, long indigenous occupancy and management of the landscape has had pervasive ecological effects. In such an environment discriminating "natural" and "anthropogenic" vegetation and plant distributions may be problematic. One approach to revealing the influence of First Nations on vegetation and plant distribution is through analysis of the anomalous distributions of plant species which are known to be ethnobotanically important. My research with Ken Downs, recently graduated MAIS student, focuses upon anomalies in the distribution of two key economic species: Pacific Crabapple; and rice root lily in the Skeena River region. Examination of historic management for berry species through landscape buring is another approach to documenting the influence of First Nations on habitats and productivity of managed species

“Tumplines” – a Look at the History and Ethnobiology of Northwest Coast Burden Straps, paper presentation.

I attended the conference in New Orleans at Tulane University. At the opening reception we were welcomed by the University and had a chance to look at displays in the Latin American library. I also was able to meet with my finishing masters student Sheila Grieve, who attended the conference andn presented on her final project, and my former student and AU tutor Janelle Baker, who gave a poster. I attended the sessions, and found them informative. I was particularly pleased to be able to hear the plenary organized by Gary Nabhan, who is internationally known for his work on community resource management and foodways. Sheila’s paper went well, and I was pleased to be there to hear it. I gave my paper on the second day of the conference, and it was very well received. It represented a new area and type of research for me, so I was pleased to get positive feedback. Having just received an ARF grant, I will be following up on the presentation and hope to put together a publication on the tumplines in the next year or two. I also created an informational display for the International Society of Ethnobiology to promote liaison between the two societies, and spoke to several indigenous scholars about an indigenous scholars and community expert contact list I’m helping to facilitate. I also engaged in conversations with various members of the board about issues in the society, and was asked to help document the conference photographically. The opportunity for networking with colleagues, keeping abreast of new work, and helping grad students and former grad students to make connections are also important aspects of attending the conference. I also met with several colleagues who are also members of the International Society of Ethnobiology to discuss activities of the two societies. The field trip I had hoped to attend was cancelled, so we had a short field trip to the Crescent City Farmer’s market, which is a part of the local Slow Food movement.The burden straps called “tumplines” in the anthropological literature are a distinctive carrying device used by Gitksan, Witsuwit’en and other peoples of the northwestern part of British Columbia, Canada. The burden straps are warp-faced patterned straps woven from yarn with either a string or yarn weft, and are typically 3 or 4 meters in length and about 6 cm wide. They are woven with a rigid –heddle technology unlike other local weaving and basketry techniques. The straps were employed in a number of different ways to carry burdens and children in the recent past. These enigmatic straps are considered traditional, and there are Gitksan and Witsuwit’en terms for the straps and the rigid heddle frames they are woven on. This paper will examine evidence for the origin of burden strap technology, and will describe uses, patterns, and ethnographic contexts

Thinking About Birds, Thinking With Birds-Perspectives from Northwest North America

The conference was stimulating and a wonderful opportunity for international networking with colleagues from Canada, the United States and around the world. In particular I connected with a collegue who is an ethnoecologist from Hungary, with whom I had previously corresponded, and a colleague from the US whose work I have previously cited. I spoke with the editor of the Ethnobiology textbook I have a co-authored chapter in while at the meeting. My new books were very well received and I was able to sell several copies for the publishers at the book sale. I also shared accommodations with my recent MAIS student Sheila Grieves, and spent time meeting with a graduate student from the University of Washington. I received very positive comments on the paper I presented, and one colleague asked if I had a copy available to share. I intend to work up the paper and submit it to the Journal of Ethnobiology for publication. The discussions were good in our session, and I made the acquaintance of colleagues from India and New Zealand who are also working on ethno-ornithology.Birds are salient actors in human environments around the world, and are carriers of meaning, their actions invested with a range of significance. This paper will present thoughts on the significance of birds in several cultures in Northwest North America based on long term research with Gitksan, Witsuwit’en, Kaska and Gwich’in . The observations I share were made by spending time on the land with people and in conversation —that is in everyday circumstances and through commonly repeated traditional stories. Accordingly what I present is a series of examples of certain salient birds and their meanings across the range of localities where I’ve worked. As such they are common birds, frequently observed. Relationships with these birds include: commensalism and sharing; power; birds as food; symbolic and metaphoric associations; and ecological relationships. Birds often appear as art motifs, and have strong roles in traditional narratives. Birds also enrich human experience

Gitksan plant classification and nomenclature

Volume: 19Start Page: 179End Page: 21

Addressing Adverse Childhood and Adult Experiences During Prenatal Care

Adverse childhood and adult experiences can affect health outcomes throughout life and across generations. The perinatal period offers a critical opportunity for obstetric clinicians to partner with patients to provide support and improve outcomes. This article draws on stakeholder input, expert opinion, and available evidence to provide recommendations for obstetric clinicians' inquiry about and response to pregnant patients' past and present adversity and trauma during prenatal care encounters. Trauma-informed care is a universal intervention that can proactively address adversity and trauma and support healing, even if a patient does not explicitly disclose past or present adversity. Inquiry about past and present adversity and trauma provides an avenue to offer support and to create individualized care plans. Preparatory steps to adopting a trauma-informed approach to prenatal care include initiating education and training for practice staff, prioritizing addressing racism and health disparities, and establishing patient safety and trust. Inquiry about adversity and trauma, as well as resilience factors, can be implemented gradually over time through open-ended questions, structured survey measures, or a combination of both techniques. A range of evidence-based educational resources, prevention and intervention programs, and community-based initiatives can be included within individualized care plans to improve perinatal health outcomes. These practices will be further developed and improved by increased clinical training and research, as well as through broad adoption of a trauma-informed approach and collaboration across specialty areas