Dormant Ethnobotany: a Case Study of Decline in Regional Plant Knowledge in the Bull Run Mountains of Virginia

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Dormant Ethnobotany: a Case Study of Decline in Regional Plant Knowledge in the Bull Run Mountains of Virginia Department of Environmental Studies DISSERTATION COMMITTEE PAGE The undersigned have examined the dissertation entitled: Dormant Ethnobotany: A Case Study of Decline in Regional Plant Knowledge in the Bull Run Mountains of Virginia Presented by Susan Leopold Candidate for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and hereby certify that it is accepted. Committee Chair Name: Beth A. Kaplin Title/Affiliation Director of Doctoral Environmental Studies Program, Antioch New England Committee Member Name: Joy Ackerman Title/Affiliation Core Faculty Department of Environmental Studies, Antioch New England Committee Member Name: Warren Hofstra Title/Affiliation Professor of History, Shenandoah University Defense Date: February 4th 2011 Date Submitted to the Registrar‘s Office: March 15th 2011 Copyright Susan Leopold® 2011 Dormant Ethnobotany: A Case Study of Decline in Regional Plant Knowledge in The Bull Run Mountains of Virginia By Susan Leopold TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO DORMANT ETHNOBOTANY ....................................................................... 2 CHAPTER 2. RESEARCH METHODS .................................................................................................................... 12 2.1 MIXED METHODOLOGY APPROACH ............................................................................................................... 12 2.1.1 Qualitative interviews. ......................................................................................................................... 16 2.1.2 Ecological studies. ............................................................................................................................... 22 2.1.3 Triangulation. ...................................................................................................................................... 25 2.2 CASE STUDY SELECTION ................................................................................................................................ 26 CHAPTER 3. ESTABLISHING THE CRITICAL TRANSITION PERIOD TO DORMANT ETHNOBOTANY .. 33 3.1 THE GREAT DEPRESSION ............................................................................................................................... 34 3.2 WORLD WAR II .............................................................................................................................................. 43 3.3 THE POST-WAR ERA ...................................................................................................................................... 45 CHAPTER 4. DORMANT ETHNOBOTANY FROM THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVE ....................... 50 4.1 ETHNOBOTANY AS AN INPUT OF HUMAN CAPITAL INTO HOUSEHOLD PRODUCTION ...................................... 51 4.2 EFFECTS ON THE STRUCTURE OF THE LOCAL ECONOMY ................................................................................ 54 4.3 IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CONCEPT, CAUSES, AND CONSEQUENCES OF DORMANT ETHNOBOTANY ................. 59 CHAPTER 5. DORMANT ETHNOBOTANY FROM THE CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE .................................... 61 5.1 SENSE OF PLACE ............................................................................................................................................ 65 5.2 INSIGHTS OFFERED BY FOLKLORE ................................................................................................................. 69 5.1.1 Knowledge as power and necessity. ..................................................................................................... 81 5.3 CULTURAL ISOLATION AND SOCIAL STIGMATIZATION AS A FACTOR IN THE TRANSITION ............................. 82 5.4 IMPLICATIONS FOR CONCEPT, CAUSE AND CONSEQUENCE OF DORMANT ETHNOBOTANY ............................. 88 CHAPTER 6. DORMANT ETHNOBOTANY FROM THE ECOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ................................ 91 6.1 ECOLOGICAL COMPARISON OVER A 50-YEAR PERIOD ................................................................................... 93 6.2 HUMAN-PLANT INTERACTIONS .................................................................................................................... 103 6.1.1 Foraging. ........................................................................................................................................... 104 6.1.1 Fires. .................................................................................................................................................. 113 6.3 TRANSITION TO DORMANCY – NATURAL FACTORS (THE CHESTNUT BLIGHT) ............................................. 115 6.4 TRANSITION TO DORMANCY - THE ROLE OF THE MODERN CONSERVATION ETHIC ..................................... 117 6.5 CONSEQUENCES OF DORMANT ETHNOBOTANY ON THE ECOLOGY OF THE BULL RUN MOUNTAINS ............. 125 6.6 IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CONCEPT, CAUSES, AND CONSEQUENCES OF DORMANT ETHNOBOTANY ............... 127 CHAPTER 7. CONCLUDING THOUGHTS AND INSIGHTS .............................................................................. 131 LITERATURE CITED .............................................................................................................................................. 146 APPENDIX I. INTERVIEW GUIDE OF QUESTIONS .......................................................................................... 156 APPENDIX II. IMAGES FROM ALLARD‘S JOURNAL ....................................................................................... 162 i TABLE OF FIGURES FIGURE 1. LOCATION OF THE BULL RUN MOUNTAINS (CIRCLED) IN VIRGINIA. ............................... 3 FIGURE 2. COUNTY MAP OF VIRGINIA. .......................................................................................... 15 FIGURE 3. MAP OF VEGETATION PLOT SAMPLES. .......................................................................... 25 FIGURE 4. MAP OF CONSERVATION AREA IN THE BULL RUN MOUNTAINS. .................................. 30 FIGURE 5. PHOTO OF BULL RUN MOUNTAINS. .............................................................................. 31 FIGURE 6. MANEUVER GROUND WITH CROPS, 1904. ..................................................................... 38 FIGURE 7. PHOTOGRAPH OF ALDIE MILL. ...................................................................................... 39 FIGURE 8. GRAPH OF U.S. CENSUS BUREAU STATISTICS OF PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY. ............... 46 FIGURE 9. BEVERLY MILL. ............................................................................................................. 48 FIGURE 10. MANIFESTATION OF CULTURE AT DIFFERENT LEVELS OF DEPTH. ............................... 63 FIGURE 11. MAP OF VIRGINIA 1787. .............................................................................................. 74 FIGURE 12. HOMESTEAD. ............................................................................................................... 78 FIGURE 13. MAP OF ONE OF ALLARD‘S OBSERVATION LOCATION. ................................................. 96 FIGURE 14. PHOTOGRAPH OF LOST JOHN. .................................................................................... 104 FIGURE 15. PHOTOGRAPH OF JACK DAWSON AND HIS HOUSE. ..................................................... 107 FIGURE 16. HAND WOVEN BASKET. ............................................................................................ 113 FIGURE 17. TIMELINE OF KEY EVENTS. ....................................................................................... 134 FIGURE 18. LEK AND ITS SOCIAL AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS IN THE BULL RUN MOUNTAINS. 142 ii ABSTRACT This dissertation introduces and applies the concept of dormant ethnobotany, a concept that helps explain the socio-economic, cultural and ecological aspects and implications of the transition away from active use of ethnobotanical knowledge and the factors that may lead to its re-emergence. Dormant ethnobotany is the study of relationships between people and plants that are inactive, but nonetheless still alive in memories, the historic record, and folklore and thereby capable of reemergence in support of the transition to a more sustainable society. The dissertation extends the field of ethnobotany from its current roots in the dynamic ethnobotany of indigenous peoples. I studied dormant ethnobotany from three significant perspectives – socio- economic, cultural, and ecological – using a multiple methods approach and in the context of a case study of the Bull Run Mountains of northern Virginia‘s Piedmont Region. The research is further refined by focusing on the mid-1940s to the mid-1950s as the key transition period from dynamic to dormant ethnobotany in this geographic area. Each perspective helps shape the concept of dormant ethnobotany and explains its causes and consequences. In this abstract I state key findings about the significance of dormant ethnobotanical research, how it should be conducted, and its relevance to sustainable development. Understanding the causes and consequences of dormant ethnobotany in turn sheds light on the pathways for ethnobotany to reemerge and the benefits of this reemergence as the world turns towards more localized, sustainable production systems consistent with the preservation of traditional ways of interacting with the land. 1 Chapter 1. Introduction to Dormant Ethnobotany Ethnobotanical resources and knowledge were a prominent component
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