PARENT SESSION
Oral Session # 43: A. Insect Ecology I; B. Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Presiding: E Borer and SP Yanoviak
Wednesday, August 6. 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, SITCC Meeting Room 105.

Ethnobotany of the Miami.

Gonella, Michael^{*,1, 2}, ¹ Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, USA² Myaamia Project, Oxford, Ohio

ABSTRACT- Documentation of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) holds particular value for indigenous communities pursuing academic venues of cultural education and for determining the applicability of TEK to conservation on tribal lands. The Miami communities of Oklahoma and Indiana have formalized their desire to document plant-related TEK and other cultural information in the formation of the Myaamia Project. Ethnographic research on ethnobotanical TEK of the Miami and interviews with tribal members has been initiated to document cultural uses of plants. Gathered data includes over 100 culturally important plant species, and related TEK, organized into a ethnobotanical database. Specific applications of ethnobotanical Miami TEK are being investigated through experiments reintroducing the traditional harvesting regimes on two common meadow plants, common milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) and indian hemp (Apocynum cannabinum), and one common wetland plant, arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia). Experimental data are predicted to help management of these culturally important plants and ensure that their historic abundances remain available for use in contemporary Miami cultural practices.

Key words: TEK, harvesting, ethnobotany, Miami