Restoration efforts at the 200 year old Hispanic Mission of San Javier del Bac in Arizona now include addition of prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica) cactus pad juice to lime plaster applied to exterior walls previously covered with non-lasting cement and other modern products. A conservator suggested that adding prickly pear juice would allow the exterior protective coat to both “last longer” and “better”. The question of “is this so?” was tackled by an archaeobotanist, an organic chemist, and a restoration architect. The answer focuses on mucilage molecules, and how they form a latticework to both give structure to the lime plaster and allow water molecules to pass through.

Straight growth forms of wild shrubs and trees unaffected by insects, diseases, or accumulated dead material have been valued cross-culturally for millennia for use in basketry, yet these growth forms do not occur readily in nature without disturbance. California data from ethnographic interviews, museum studies, and historical literature reviews are presented that demonstrate how fire and pruning were ancient horticultural techniques that were utilized by Native Americans in various temperate ecosystems to shape ecosystem structure, reduce the occurrence of insects and diseases, and activate specific developmental stages in shrubs and trees for twined and coiled basketry. Basketry materials from shrubs, trees, ferns, grasses, sedges, and wildflowers formed 50 percent of the plant material culture of California Indian tribes. Working hypotheses to explain the ecological rationale for indigenous management at both the organismic and ecosystemic level are proposed. Both the magnitude and extent of burning needed to satisfy large basketry material demands are discussed, and the types of potential ecological effects from these cultural practices are explored.

Numerous Ka’apor words for plants and animals seem to have been borrowed from Língua Geral Amazônica (LGA), a Tupí-Guaraní Creole. Some of these borrowings show evidence of marking reversals. Close examination of these borrowings can shed light on the directionality of the introduction of species, and on the origin of folk names for species, including economically important ones. In addition, where LGA influence on words for plants and animals is diverse, modern Tupian languages can be eliminated; it is possible to provide evidence from folk biology relevant to hypotheses concerning the Tupí-Guaraní homeland.

The Garry oak ecosystems of the Greater Victoria Region are some of the most endangered natural landscapes in Canada. These ecosystems, once intensively managed by local First Nations, are now highly reduced and degraded because of urban development and Indigenous resource management suppression. Although most restoration efforts in this area continue to focus on invasive species removal, there is a growing awareness for more progressive and holistic restoration projects that incorporate traditional environmental and horticultural knowledge. New applied ethnoecology research on blue camas (Camassia spp.) will be introduced as a case study and the efficacy of this research in ecocultural restoration will be explored.

The most widely recognized Andean chenopod is the domesticate quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa). Kañawa (C. pallidicuale) is another domesticate that is grown in the highest and driest regions of the Andes. While ethnohistoric and botanical work suggests kañawa was cultivated in Pre-Columbian times, it has never been documented archaeologically. I present the results of a morphometric analysis of modern chenopods from the southern Lake Titicaca region of Bolivia. This analysis reveals a suite of characteristics that permit the archaeobotanical identification of quinoa , its sympatric weed C. quinoa var. melanospermum, the wild vermifuge C. ambroisiodes, and the forgotten domesticate kañawa.

The propagation of ethnobotanically important plants is an integral part of collaborative conservation programs with indigenous communities. In collaboration with Tarahumara (Rarámuri) and mestizo communities in the Sierra Tarahumara, seeds of such culturally important plants as Ligusticum porteri (chuchupate), Helianthella quinquenervis (arareco), Psacalium decompositum (matarique), Iostephane madrensis (cachana), Cosmos pringlei (babisa), and Monarda austromontana (napaka) were germinated (listed in order from least to greatest percentage). The transplanting of H. quinquenervis was most successful and these herbs developed better in composted soils. Riparian habitat restoration includes ex situ propagation of stem cuttings of 6 shrubs.

A pilot field study is being collaboratively designed by the Skokomish Tribe, and The Evergreen State College in western Washington State, in which medicinal plants are locally accessed, prepared as botanical medicines, and administered through the Skokomish Health Clinic. This study grows out of previous Tribal/College projects and is one component of a broader study supported by the Northwest Indian Applied Research Institute. This research will examine the hypothesis that post-contact disruption of Indigenous access to plant resources has had negative sociocultural (including economic and health) and ecological consequences, and that improved access will have benefits in both areas. The sociocultural and ecological effects of this improved access to medicinal plant resources on the Skokomish Reservation will be monitored and evaluated.

Giesta, a broom one to two meters tall, dominates the vegetation on the sandy, granite-derived soils typical of the hillsides of the county of Trancoso, Portugal. One species establishes readily and grows rapidly in fallow rye fields, where it restores nitrogen and organic matter. These benefits are ensured by a belief that three years old brooms provide the most desirable fuel for firing ovens to bake bread.

Wetlands fill a unique ecological niche as reservoirs of biodiversity. Humans have long since utilized these sites as areas for food gathering, transportation, and hunting. The choice to practice these traditional activities is eliminated if wetland sites are destroyed. When young people no longer watch elders gather wetland plants, they begin to lose connection to these sites. By reclaiming these areas we not only restore ecological function, we restore cultural practices.

Perideridia spp., commonly known as Ipos or yampah, has provided major subsistence crops for groups throughout Western North America. In this paper, behavioral chains will be outlined through the application of ethnobotanical information from those groups using Perideridia spp. Additional consideration will also be given to the management strategies, which might have used upon these crops. Over the last three years, experiments have been conducted by the author, which provide more insight into these behavioral chains. The results of these experiments will be examined, along with the behavioral chains themselves, for the potential insight they may give the paleoethnobotanical determination of the past use and management of Perideridia spp.

The Ecological Restoration Institute conducts landscape-scale research on the restoration of forest ecosystems in the arid Southwest. We focus on preservation of wildlands and fostering sustainable wildland interaction. The Institute works directly with the Kaibab Paiute tribe in northwestern Arizona in managing sagebrush grasslands for wildlife and cultural use. However, the effects of restoration on edible, medicinal, and utilitarian plants utilized by other groups are not currently studied. The impacts of restoration ecology on these botanical resources are assessed with regards to functional use groups and cultural landscapes.

The Huana Tlingit of Southeast Alaska perceive Glacier Bay to be their traditional homeland and “icebox,” while the US National Park Service is charged with preserving Glacier Bay as a pristine wilderness. The historic contest for control of Glacier Bay recently became focused on the right of the Huana Tlingit to harvest gull eggs at the famed South Marble Island colony in the heart of Glacier Bay, a site enjoyed as a wildlife sanctuary by thousands of tourists every year. Can Huana tradition and the Park Service mandate be reconciled? We report the results of an ethnographic study of traditional Huana Tlingit gull egg harvest strategies, based on sophisticated knowledge of gull breeding biology and designed to produce a sustainable harvest.

Knowledge concerning health, well-being and illness is generated and shaped in the context of multivariable environments. Concepts like the existence of health and disease may remain relatively constant but others such as causal factors that result in illness, appropriate and efficacious treatment for a particular disease or specific cultural implications in relation to an infirmity will continually be renegotiated in response to dynamic circumstances. Local or situated knowledge systems such as those related to traditional medicine are created over time through the process of a specific cultural group's coevolving relationship with its biophysical environment. This talk will examine how the loss of access to and the environmental degradation of a culturally significant geophysical location may affect a community's understanding of well-being and health and how this process may influence the ability to counteract illness.

Aristolochia salvadorensis (Aristolochiaceae), an endemic species to southwestern El Salvador, is being studied to determine its population genetics. Plant sample were collected in El Impossible National Park of El Salvador at different altitudes within its range. This plant was selected because of its medicinal values to the local community for treatment of cholera. Aristolochia salvadorensis has not been previously studied. We will be looking at mitochondrial DNA that has been isolated from the plant leaves and in addition, pollination syndrome. Future research on this plant includes population genetics and seed dispersal biology.

Mountain Tobacco, Nicotiana attenuata, an important cultural plant, has a long history of encouragement with the use of fire by humans. We conducted a three-year study of the population dynamics of N. attenuata after the 1996 fire at Mesa Verde National Park that included an analysis of population density, seed production, and tests to determine the effects of light on seed germination. Our results agree with prior results in that we saw a relatively low density of robust plants the first year, followed the second year by a denser population. We found the seed production to be roughly the same for both years. No plants were found the third year. These results are consistent with a prior report that inhibitory biomolecules present in pre-fire soils keeps N. attenuata seeds from germinating. These are destroyed by fire, but rapidly build up in post fire soils. Our tests show that light inhibits germination of N. attenuata. A negative light response insures that minute seeds germinate below the soil surface. Prior reports of a smoke induced germination response for N. attenuata are difficult to access because post fire release from inhibitory biomolecules together with this negative light response, can explain the post fire population dynamics that we observed.

A review of early Forest Service documents stored in the National Archives and Records Administration revealed detailed reports for forest fires for the years 1904 and 1905, for the area that is now within the Gifford Pinchot National Forest, in Southwest Washington State. Fully half of theses fires were attributed to purposeful burning by Indians, and analysis of the pattern of fire occurrence provides insight into native people's attempts to manage forest resources, particularly huckleberries, through the use of fire. These documents chronicle the time period when Forest Service policy and management began to interfere with traditional burning practices.

Tmixw Reaearch will enhance the understanding of Nle’kepmx indigenous science. To date the western scientific perspective of the natural resource sector has ignored the wisdom of indigenous people. This paper addresses the research methodologies from the perspective of the Nle’kepmx people of the Nicola Valley. The research team is revisitng the traditional methods of resource management to prove that indigenous science has validity not only from an indigenous perspective, but to show that there is a place fro indigenous science that transcends the western/contemporary scientific views and methodologies. The Nle’kepmx Elders and community members have taken a strong leadership role in directing the research which is based on collections of local oral history. The Supreme Court of Canada Delgamuukw court decision has implication for this research.

Fishery resources are an integral component of northwest aboriginal cultures. Classification and naming systems are elaborate and reflective of aboriginal dependency on fishery resources. Reconstruction of ethnoichthyological systems relies heavily on secondary research. Previously collected ethnobiological data are often unreliable in that the terms collected do not necessarily label the intended species. Such is the case with “bullheads” (Ictaluridae: Ictalurus spp.) and sculpin (Cottidae: Cottus spp.). The problem with bullheads is illustrative of the potential for confusion when scientific, vernacular, and native naming systems collide.

Seven species of medicinal plants, Hamelia patens (Rubiaceae), Calea urticofolia (Compositae), Calea ternifolia (Compositae), Tagetes lucida (Compositae), Aristolochia salvadorensis (Aristolochiaceae), Calycophyllum candidissimum (Rubiaceae) and Myroxylon balsamum (Leguminosae) from El Salvador were tested for antimicrobial activity. These plants are used by local people, including midwives, in El Salvador to treat infections. Ethanol (95%) extractions were used to assess the antimicrobial properties of the plants against bacteria and fungi. None of the plants inhibited the growth of all the bacteria tested, but all plant extracts affected at least one culture. Our results verify the effectiveness of these medicinal plants.

Driven by migration and colonization, Nanegal has been converted from a forested landscape to one dominated by pasture and sugar cane. While restoration ecologists argue for stabilization and reversal, local people view most of the changes as “progress.” A joint objective of the Future Visioning and Ethnoecology projects is to test the “fit” between modelers' rules and predictions pertaining to land conversion and local people's perceptions of the same changes. Story completion test was used for culturally “ground-truthing” a modeler's set of “derived rules” vis-à-vis local models and aspirations. The results point to the need to make local viewpoints heard because they do no necessarily correspond to scientific models that guide research and policy.

This project uses both Native American traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) and scientific ecological knowledge (SEK) to understand the ecological requirements for, and the current and past distribution of Hierochloe odorata, sweetgrass. This species is of great cultural significance to the Haudenosauneee, or Iroquois Confederacy. Native basket weavers report that sweetgrass populations have diminished and it is now difficult to find. This presentation will include both the TEK of sweetgrass gatherers and SEK derived from botanical studies that were used to determine the status of sweetgrass and examine possible threats to it population.

In this paper, I will discuss the opportunities and constraints of incorporating Traditional Resource Management (TRM) into riparian and wetland restoration design, construction and adaptive management. An expanded repertoire of restoration objectives and management strategies are created by the synergism of restoration and TRM. The modern challenge is to determine how and when it is appropriate to incorporate TRM into restoration projects. Extensive ecological and cultural modifications occur in the present landscape, such as impaired water quality, pesticides, toxins, and the presence of exotic plants and animals. I would like to discuss the challenges experienced in specific restoration projects.

Throughout much of the Far West, Native Americans traditionally harvested tobacco from intentionally sown patches. When their cultivation of tobacco ceased, the ranges of these species contracted markedly. Why? Experimental cultivation of Nicotiana quadrivalvis and Nicotiana attenuata within the northern portion of the California Floristic Province suggests that a lack of disturbance coupled with competition from indigenous species inhibit the ability of these tobaccos to survive without human assistance. Experimental cultivation elucidates cultural-ecological characteristics that influence the biogeography of these species.

Wetlands have long been distinguished by ecologists as hotspots of biodiversity . Yet the immense cultural value of these sites often goes unrecognized. Historically, wetlands have been significantly altered throughout North America; British Columbia has been no exception. The loss of wetlands has represented a significant loss of cultural knowledge and heritage for First Peoples. In this paper, we document the ecological and cultural history of wetlands and the impacts of their loss to the cultural heritage of the First Peoples. We provide case examples of some key wetlands of southern British Columbia and the history of their alteration and loss. Finally, we propose ways in which wetlands restoration can enhance biological and cultural values.

John W. Hudson, a medical doctor turned ethnographer and collector for the Columbian Field Museum of Chicago, conducted extensive research among the Potter Valley Pomo of Mendocino County, California, from 1890 through the 1920s. His field notes, unpublished manuscripts and miscellaneous documents include an unprecedented wealth of ethnobotanical data, constituting what may be the most complete record of plant use by any indigenous Californian group. This paper presents the results of the first systematic analysis of his writings. It explores how the intersection of unique historical circumstances and individual personalities yielded a rich perspective of human interactions with the botanical environment during this early period in Mendocino County history.