PARENT SESSION
Oral Session 17: Traditional Ecological Knowledge.
Presiding: E Sulzman
Monday, August 2, 8:00 AM to 11:30 AM, Meeting Room F 151.

Integration of traditional ecological knowledge in the restoration of basketry plants.

Shebitz, Daniela^*,1, ¹ University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

ABSTRACT- Cultural baskets made from local plants are not merely art forms. They can strengthen cultures by preserving traditions, providing a means of income, and reinforcing communities. The perseverance of indigenous traditions such as basketry is dependent upon the availability of culturally significant resources. When materials cannot be obtained, traditions associated with those resources are also threatened. This presentation highlights two studies in which traditional ecological knowledge has been incorporated into restoration projects of culturally significant species. The first case study involves Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) knowledge of a change in the presence of sweetgrass in the northeastern United States. Haudenosaunee herbalists and basketweavers report declines in sweetgrass populations at traditional gathering sites. Knowledge concerning population trends and habitat requirements of sweetgrass plays a vital role in this project. This knowledge, used in conjunction with a scientific ecological study, assists in determining if the population of sweetgrass is declining, and in understanding its habitat requirements. The second study incorporates indigenous land management practices in the restoration of an historic beargrass savanna. Savannas maintained through anthropogenic burning were common in the Puget Sound Lowlands of the Pacific Northwest prior to 1850. The occurrence of historic savannas throughout the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State is supported by air photographs from 1929, General Land Office Survey records and accounts from early residents and botanists. For over a century, fire suppression has accelerated succession in these areas. A beargrass savanna restoration project was initiated in the late 1990s in an area believed to previously have been a savanna maintained by the Skokomish Tribe. A 33 acre unit in the Olympic National Forest was burned in autumn, 2003. The regrowth of beargrass and associated species is being monitored to determine the influence of fire on the regeneration of the culturally significant plants.

Key words: Basketry, Restoration, ,