Historical Ethnoecology in Practice

To understand agroecology’s configuration of human and non-human relations, one requires an interdisciplinary and holistic approach. Since agroecologists claim that the conservation of biodiversity and cultural diversity go hand in hand, agroecology invites study through the lens of anthropology. Agroforestry is one of the significant practices of agroecology, which is a land-use system integrating forestry and agriculture. Japan has a longstanding history of using forest resources for farming, as traditional settlements are usually surrounded by forests and mountains. One could argue that there is no clear boundary between forests and farms in Japanese agroecosystems. This research examines such agroecosystems in rural Japan, with reference to my ethnographic fieldwork in a satoyama village in the Ibaraki Prefecture. With the discussion of how people give names to farms and plants, the study will explore how the sustainability of local food system is pursued in the time of coronavirus crisis.

In recent years there have been attempts to examine Ethnobiology from an evolutionary perspective. I discuss several potential sources of confusion in applying Evolutionary concepts to Ethnobiology. There has been little acknowledgment of how the field of biological evolution is changing in the 21st Century. In this presentation I focus on Niche Construction, a 21st century concept that argues that organisms shape their own environments along with those of other species. This concept can be considered in terms of the Creation stories of Indigenous Peoples, which emphasize the role of ecosystem processes. This creates a new way of looking at how Natural Selection can act upon how multiple organisms impact the survival and existence of other species. I discuss an example from Western Science that illustrates how a single organism, recognized as a creator by Indigenous Nations can transform an ecosystem through niche construction.

Snowshoes enable travel over land and frozen waterways in places with substantial winter snow. Without snowshoes, hunting and other subsistence activities, travel and trade would be difficult or impossible in the winter season.  Extending earlier ethnographic work, I have examined snowshoes in museum collections over the past few years to get a better sense of factors influencing snowshoe design in Northwestern North America. I present results that show association of snowshoe design with specific cultures, with varying landscapes, with different types of use, ages and gender, with available materials, and over the time of record (in western North America from the first half of the 19^th Century through the early 21^st Century).  With the introduction of the snow machine, and with contemporary synthetic materials this formerly essential technology is in danger of disappearance, although traditional snowshoes remain iconic of the North and of Canada.

Land-use scientists increasingly recognize that ecological and anthropogenic forces have long interacted in complex ways, forming many of the landscapes we observe today. In the Pacific Northwest, historical land-use has resulted in Indigenous forest gardens: ecosystems dominated by edible fruit, nut, and berry producing trees and shrubs and managed by Indigenous peoples in the past and which continue to grow at archaeological village sites today. This presentation will provide an overview of forest garden ethnoecology, archaeology, paleoethnobotany, and functional ecology at two village sites in Gitselasu (Ts’msyen) and Sts’ailes (Coast Salish) communities (in so-called British Columbia). This relatively new research contributes to a growing body of evidence which reveals the ways in which humans can have positive effects on their lived landscapes and supports descendant communities seeking to re-integrate land-based foodways and livelihoods in unprecedented times.

In the semi-arid forests and savannahs of East Africa, Maasai pastoralists tend bees as well as cattle. Men collect and ferment honey with various plant materials to make enaisho namuka, honey wine. Using participant observation and ethnographic interviews from our 2020 field work with a Maasai community in Northeast Tanzania, we build on historical accounts to present the modern production and use of honey wine. Production requires detailed ecological knowledge to harvest honey and prepare the brew. Beyond the medicinal value of its ingredients, we also examine the social and ecological relationships the beverage represents within Maasai communities. Particularly, we use examples of how people use drinking the brew as an occasion to connect members of the community, often to smooth over disputes between members of opposing agesets. As social and environmental changes introduce new challenges to a conservatively traditional society, we discuss the role of honey wine in negotiating cultural and environmental changes.

In the Western Ghats of India, one of the eight hottest biodiversity hotspots in the world, inhabit the Habshis (Siddis), an ethnic African diaspora. The forest has been their home for 400 years and they are entirely dependent on it for their livelihoods. In recent times, the landscapes are being modified with developmental activities leading not only to the loss of biodiversity and livelihoods, but also traditional ecological knowledge of the community.

Indigenous knowledge can largely aid in informing biodiversity conservation. About 510 species of birds are documented from the Western Ghats, several being endemic and threatened due to habitat loss. This preliminary study documents the tribe’s ethno-ecological knowledge and relationship with endangered, large-bodied avian seed-dispersers, the hornbills, that play a crucial role in forest regeneration. It emphasises on the importance of ecological, cultural, linguistic and spiritual inter-relatedness of human-bird-plant interaction and its preservation, for sustaining healthy ecosystems and livelihoods.