Secwepemc Cultural and Spiritual Presence in Mid-Elevation Grasslands

The homeland of the Secwepemc people in the South Central Interior of British Columbia features unique mid-altitude grasslands which for thousands of years were a crucially important part of the seasonal round of the Secwepemc. With “belly high” bluebunch wheatgrass (Agropyron spicatum) until the mid-eighteen hundreds, these grasslands provided prolific root gathering areas, featuring balsamroot (Balsamorhiza sagittata), large fruited desert parsley (Lomatium macrocarpum), nodding onion (Allium cernuum), bitterroot (Lewisia redeviva) and others. Some one hundred plants known as food and medicinal plants are associated with such habitats.  Aside from providing large biodiversity of small mammals, birds, reptiles, these grasslands were associated with large herds of elk, with evidence that they were selectively hunted with the help of hunting blinds and game fences. Upland lakes provided trout (Onchorhyncus and Salvelinus spp.) habitat, also selectively harvested with a variety of methods. Spiritual associations, stories and named places, and the scant physical evidence they leave further allow us to “read” the human past. For the past one hundred years, cattle range, homesteading, and more recently mining development have changed, and continue to threaten the very existence of these areas. This poster will address past and ongoing Secwepemc knowledge, presence and connections to such grasslands in the area south of Kamloops.