XXIII. Music, Language and Names

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Ethnobotany uses data obtained from plants and from people. While ethnobotanical methods manuals (Albuquerque et al. 2019; Alexiades 1996; Martin 1995) guide researchers in preparation of plant data for future preservation and scientific accountability, they do not offer similar instruction for primary data obtained from people – even though such data may include audio- and video- recordings of little studied, endangered languages. We know that translations are not enough; ethnobiological knowledge is linked to the language that encodes it (Chiblow and Meighan 2021; McClatchey and Winter 2005; Stringer 2024). Recordings are valuable to members of the community and other researchers. This presentation explains basic methods for increasing the reproducibility of ethnobotanical field data (Berez-Kroeker et al. 2018). With examples from my own and others’ collections in endangered language archives, I demonstrate how data collected in local languages is processed and preserved, while noting current limitations to archival design for interdisciplinary projects.

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We are beginning a project working with tribal nation language programs to add tribal nation names and ethnobotany to the USDA Plants Database. Our project is now recruiting tribal language programs to work with us in adding linguistic diversity and ethnobotany to the USDA Plants database. With funding to help tribal language programs with the work, we will match scientific names of plants already in the database with Native names, plant uses, audio clips of the plant names being said, and possible images of plants being used. We will empower language programs to decide whether names or uses are appropriate to share.  Our goal is to work with 5 language programs this year and another 7 next year. We believe that this effort will support Native languages programs, highlight traditional ecological knowledge and encourage Indigenous language use. Your ideas and suggestions are welcomed.

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Papua New Guinea is the most floristically rich island in the world, and the most linguistically diverse, with over 850 languages spoken, each finely attuned to, and interwoven with the environment in which it is spoken. Collaborative efforts between a linguist, an ethnobotanist, and an Indigenous community are documenting the Arapesh vernacular plant names and ethnobotanical terms and concepts to create a rich digital repository of co-created multilingual audio-visual recordings, texts, and stories, within appropriate ethical frameworks. One field method was to initiate Indigenous-created videos using high quality smartphones, emphasizing local concepts of distinguishing characteristics to identify plants, and details such as pronunciations, and how to harvest, prepare, and use the plants. Digital storytelling is one way they are preserving portions of their language associated with biocultural heritage vital to their enduring relationships with the environment and each other.

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Indigenous music represents one example of the relationship between Indigenous cultures and their environment. Using natural materials for the fabrication of musical instruments is arguably a practice as old as culture itself. As part of the cultural connections between Indigenous cultures and their local environments, we aim to document the natural materials (plants and animals) traditionally used for the fabrication of Native American musical instruments, the types of instruments fabricated, and the kinds of music/sounds produced by each one of them. This documentation also analyzes the effects of external factors, such as climate change, access to land, and others, on the production of the natural materials required for fabricating musical instruments. This presentation reflects our ongoing collaboration with the Hopi tribe in northern Arizona. The preliminary results presented are one part of a bigger project comparing the ethnobotany of music between Native American and Andean music production.