Salmonberry Bird and Goose Woman: Birds, Plants, and People In Indigenous Peoples' Lifeways In Northwestern North America

Journal of Ethnobiology 36(4):717-745. 2016
doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.2993/0278-0771-36.4.717

Nancy J. Turner^1* and Jonaki Bhattacharyya²

¹School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria, PO Box 1700 STN CSC Victoria, BC V8W 2Y2, Canada.

²School of Environmental Studies, University of Victoria.

*Corresponding author (nturner@uvic.ca)

Both birds and plants are major components of the world's biocultural diversity. Salient species of both are recognized and named in virtually every language and both feature in countless ways in people's systems of knowledge, practice, and belief, as sources of food, materials, and medicines, and as ceremonial and religious symbols. However, these two major biological groups are also linked together, and their ecological associations are likewise reflected in cultural knowledge systems. In northwestern North America, there are many examples of the intersection of botanical and ornithological knowledge, reflected in people's vocabulary, narratives, belief systems, and management practices. Here we provide diverse illustrations of this intersection in cultural knowledge of plant-bird associations. These examples link together observations of bird habits and habitats with particular plant species and show how this complex integrated knowledge and experience has helped promote cultural richness and well-being for First Peoples of the region. Bird species from swans (Cygnus spp.) to hummingbirds (Trochilidae) and plants from edible root vegetables to nectar-producing flowers are exemplified as major representatives of ethnoecological connections. These relationships remind us of the importance of interspecies ties to environmental and cultural integrity—a key to sustainable living into the future.

Keywords: birds, plants, Indigenous, ethnoecology, northwestern North America

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¹Note, the Secwepemc practical spelling is: tucictsemc t'en qweq'wíle!

²A parallel version of this story is the Nuu-chah-nulth story of the creation of deer by the Transformer (Atleo 2004).