Cultural importance of white pine (Pinus strobus L.) to the Kitcisakik Algonquin community of western Quebec, Canada (original) (raw)
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Economic Botany, 2021
This paper emphasizes the cultural value of plants in Nunatsiavut (Labrador, Canada), a self–governing Inuit region in the Subarctic. Via interviews with community members, we describe the links between plant usage and culture to understand the direct ways that plants are utilized for food, construction, gardening, and medicine, and to then link these uses to deeper cultural significance among three communities in Nunatsiavut (Hopedale, Postville, and Rigolet). Many plants were common amongst communities with a total of 66 taxa identified. About 75% of taxa were reported in at least two communities, corresponding to 95% of all responses. Edible plants were the most common reported usage, with emphasis on berry–producing taxa such as blueberry shrubs. Our study shows that a diversity of plants (i) support cultural activities; (ii) act as markers for historical events; (iii) highlight intergenerational exchange and valuing of plant knowledge; (iv) express the deep awareness that peopl...
Forests
Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus L.) is a cultural keystone tree species in the forests of eastern North America, providing numerous ecosystem services to Indigenous people. White pine abundance in the landscape has considerably decreased over the last few centuries due to overharvesting, suppression of surface fires, extensive management, and plantation failure. The Kitcisakik Algonquin community of western Quebec is calling for restoration and sustainable management of white pine on its ancestral territory, to ensure provision of associated ecosystem services. We present five white pine restoration and management scenarios taking into account community needs and ecological types: (1) natural regeneration of scattered white pines to produce individuals of different sizes and ages used as medicinal plants; (2) protection of supercanopy white pines used as landmarks and for providing habitat for flagship wildlife species, and younger individuals left as regeneration and future canopy trees; (3) the uniform shelterwood system to create white pine-dominated stands that provide habitat for flagship wildlife species and support cultural activities; (4) under-canopy plantations to yield mature white pine stands for timber production; (5) mixed plantations to produce forests with aesthetic qualities that provide wildlife habitat and protect biodiversity.
Napâttuit: Wood use by Labrador Inuit and its impact on the forest landscape
Études/Inuit/Studies, 2000
Napâttuit: Utilisation du bois par les Inuit du Labrador et son impact sur le paysage forestier Au Nunatsiavut, des études récentes ont montré que des changements majeurs affectent les écosystèmes de toundra forestière depuis plus de deux siècles, notamment au niveau de l'abondance et de la répartition des espèces arborescentes. Bien que ces changements puissent être attribués aux conditions climatiques variables de cette période, il faut aussi considérer les facteurs anthropiques, comme la récolte de bois, lors de l'étude écologique de la dynamique forestière. Cet article, basé sur une revue de littérature, des entrevues et des observations de terrain, documente les interactions entre les résidents de Nain (Nunatsiavut) et le paysage forestier depuis la fin du XVIII e siècle. Nain est l'une des rares communautés inuit situées au sud de la limite des arbres et les relations qu'entretiennent ses habitants avec le paysage forestier apparaissent ambivalentes et changeantes. Ainsi, même si la forêt a dû tout d'abord être perçue comme potentiellement dangereuse, elle a graduellement été intégrée aux modes d'utilisation du territoire et a même contribué à modeler certains aspects de la culture des Inuit du Labrador. Bien que continue, l'utilisation des ressources ligneuses par les résidents de Nain n'est pas homogène dans le temps. La coupe et la récolte ont changé avec le contexte socio-économique et ont laissé une empreinte sur le couvert forestier de la région, ce dont témoignent l'abondance de souches coupées et la rareté d'arbres morts naturellement.
Establishing Land Relationships Through the Saskatoon Berry
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Culturally driven forest management, utilization and values: A Nuxalk First Nations case study
The Forestry Chronicle, 2014
The forests of British Columbia have been managed for thousands of years to provide a range of products and services. For the Nuxalk people of Bella Coola, BC, their forests were used to build homes and canoes, act as a transportation system (grease trails), and provide material for clothing, fuel and cultural/artistic needs. These forests also provide a host of plants used for nourishment and medicine. The lives of First Nations people have been dramatically altered with the arrival of Western cultures; from a First Nations perspective, these traditional goods and services have been eroded. Today they seek to restore and protect the forests that provide these goods and services while at the same time recognizing the needs of a modern life, which include improved housing, energy that is environmentally friendly and the development of new products and services to sustain their economy. Eight research projects aimed at helping the Nuxalk people accomplish these goals are briefly descr...
Historical Roots of Canadian Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Maple Practices
This research is concerned with developing a historical baseline of Canadian Aboriginal and non--Aboriginal maple practices and the contribution of these activities to the well--being (WB) of communities up to approximately 1950. This research measures WB using two unique frameworks developed for Aboriginal and non--Aboriginal communities associated with maple products and practices. In order to describe WB in historical contexts the research used archival data obtained primarily from Library and Archives Canada (LAC) and Early Canadiana Online (ECO). Results from the research showed that in Aboriginal communities, dynamics related to emotional, physical and mental WB were referenced the most often among results. In non--Aboriginal communities economic and social dynamics of WB were identified as important influences of WB. Dynamics related to resilience were also found in the non--Aboriginal results. Furthermore, the research identified dynamics related to governance as important pieces of the historical contexts of maple products within Aboriginal and non--Aboriginal communities. The role of early government rules and regulations associated with maple products and the impacts of the Indian Act on Aboriginal maple producers are further explored and discussed. This research concludes by outlining the areas where more research remains to be completed. First and foremost I would like to thank my advisors Dr. Brenda Murphy and Dr. Annette Chrétien whose guidance, expertise and thoughtfulness were invaluable throughout the process. Thank you to my parents for their love, support and feedback. Thank you Anabelle for your smile and constant encouragement. Thank you to Library and Archives Canada and their staff for providing access to their collections and being my 2014 summer home. I would especially like to thank the security staff who always greeted me with cheer and curiosity as I signed in. Thanks to the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council for funding the larger projects associated with this research and Bryce Gunson for his seemingly effortless coordination and organization. Thank you to the entire staff at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo. Thank you to my colleagues at Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo including Grant Morin, Julien Morris, Robyn Hobbs and Aleks Szaflarska. Special thanks to Huzan Dordi who brought the office of 2E6 to life with his good nature and to my teammate Kaitlin Richardson for her advice and help throughout. Finally, I would like to thank all my friends who listened with open ears and interest as I spoke about classes, research and maple syrup. If they wanted to muzzle me they hid their frustration extremely well and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.
Journal of …, 2005
We worked with Iskatewizaagegan (Anishinaabe) elders to create a holistic representation of their plant knowledge as well as a more standard ethnobotanical system of classification. In order to understand the holistic approach, chosen by elders to represent their plant knowledge, it was necessary to understand the ontology, epistemology and phenomenology of plant knowledge. This is explored through an examination of the ethnobotanical data, collec.ted in 2000 and 2001, as a system of classification that includes the processes of classification, nomenclature, and identification. In conclusion, we propose that elders emphasize a holistic ethnobotany since they believe plant knowledge resides in the plants of a place and the relationships between persons and plants of that place. This leads to the conclusion that a critical factor in perpetuating knowledge over time, and between generations, is the ongoing creation of relationships through land-based activities.
Aninatoogoog Ezhi-maamwi-minobimaadiziyang (Maples and How We Live with Them)
2020
This paper starts with my own personal experience of turning maple sap into maple syrup in the prologue. This is done to ensure everyone knows the process of turning maple sap into syrup since many do not know. While then discussing Aninaatigoog (maple tree), Shkakamikwe (earth) or also the environment, I explain the importance of acknowledging the existence of Aninaatigoog and Shkakamikwe as living, breathing entities as part of a kingdom. I also discuss how important it is to communicate to them like any other group or community that shares the same space that we live in. Using traditional stories from the indigenous groups in the great lakes area, focusing on the Anishinaabeg and their language to better understand the Anishinaabeg ecological knowledge or their traditional ecological knowledge (TEK). I discuss the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 using traditional knowledge to explain the importance of what COVID-19 is trying to say and to place COVID-19 in context with the ecological disruption caused by colonialism. This is all done while trying to show the importance of sugarbush and how this ceremony strengthens the community. I also discuss some Aadizookaan, traditional stories and teaching of the Anishinaabeg, that have been published already. I relay these Aadizookaan to help show the difference in Anishinaabeg philosophy and compare this philosophy to a iii Western philosophy. I will then use a chapter to discuss the language of the Anishinaabeg to help show this deeper meaning into the philosophy of the Anishinaabeg and the relationship to Shkakamikwe. This all ties into traditional ecological knowledge and correlation with the environment, along with understanding the problems we currently observe today. I also discuss the importance of sugarbushing and how, even today in this modern society that we live in, it should be more widely practiced.