Qeemu Revitalization: A Nez Perces Case Study (Nez Perce Nation, ID, USA)
Abstract
We talk a good talk of our Indigenous Lifeways, but we hardly walk the good walk. I do not plan to live my life talking, I plan to live my life walking. I come from the Whitebird Band, Payoopayoo XayXayX. We are from the blood of the Monster, the Nimiipuu, or as many know us, the Nez Perce. There are so many ways our ancestors were the original and essentially the first scientists. Our ways of life have been considered as shamanistic or a joke throughout the world and in academia. I believe we are now in a time and age that our Indigenous Peoples lifeways have more validity in all aspects of life. We have Indigenous Studies, Native Studies, Native Environmental Sciences, and Traditional Ecological Sciences in Colleges and Universities that have allowed our historical knowledge to be taught and studied for sustainability and research. For me, Native Environmental Science is a look into the world through a Native perspective. In this day in age, we are finally being heard, adhered too, and almost understood. Society is becoming more aware of our previous relationships with our environments, and they all want to know more. This is how our people can teach not only non-natives but ourselves to bring back our Indigenous Knowledge to understand the world around us once again. Plants are used throughout the world for medicine, tools, foods, and overall spiritual wellness. Our ancestors knew the use and purpose of each living plant on our homelands and were able to harvest these plants so that they can continue living. Now that our populations have dwindled, the knowledge holders have dwindled, and so our plant populations have dwindled. Qéemu, Apocynum Cannibinum, or Indian Dogbane, was prominent in the Kamiah, Idaho area. It is a plant that my ancestors would harvest for the fibrous material inside the stalk. I developed a habitat suitability model of Qéemu based on the Nez Perce traditional gathering locations, the NLCD Land Cover, and the USDA soil survey (SSURGO database). This model will help my community identify the most suitable sites for mitigation and restoration. Through this restoration of knowledge, the doors can be opened for revitalizing other traditional plants. Our people can start to bring healing not only to our knowledge but to our lands once again.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2021
- Bibcode:
- 2021AGUFMSY45D0805S