ETHNOBOTANY OF TWO CREE COMMUNITIES IN THE SOUTHERN BOREAL FOREST OF SASKATCHEWAN A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon By Christina Marie Clavelle June, 1997 © Copyright Christina Marie Clavelle, 1997. All rights reserved. Permission to Use The author has agreed that the Libraries of the University of Sakatchewan shall make this thesis freely available for inspection. It is also agreed that permission for extensive copying of this thesis for scholarly purposes in any manner I in whole or in part, may be granted by the professors who supervised the work, or, in their absence, by the Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which this thesis work was undertaken. It is understood that any copying or publication or use of this thesis for financial gain shall not be allowed without the written permission of the author. It is further understood that due recognition shall be given to the author and to the University of Saskatchewan in any use of material in this thesis. Requests for permission to copy or to make other use of material in this thesis in whole or in part should be addressed to: Head of the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5A5 Abstract Studies were conducted at two Cree communities in the southern boreal forest of Saskatchewan, to determine the nature of the interactions between the people and their plant environment. Investigations took the form of informal interviews and observation. As much as possible, plants were collected in order to identify them. Some 46 species, members of 28 families, were identified by respondents as having, or having had in the past, some utility to the people. For the most part, the uses were for healing (36 species). However, 13 species were reportedly used for food or "condiments," two for non-medicinal beverages, and six for miscellaneous uses such as for diapering material, smoking mixtures, hide preparation, or food preservation. Emphasis on plants as healing agents was marked; however, it was not unusual. Such emphasis has also been noted in other ethnobotanical work conducted throughout the boreal forest. Historic references to plant use in the boreal forest were found to be somewhat sparse, though in relatively recent times several ethnobotanies have been compiled in this area. Information from other boreal forest ethnobotanical studies was included for comparative purposes and showed some similarities, but also considerable variation, especially in medicinal applications. Applications of this research include contributions to the preservation of traditional knowledge, an expansion of the ethnobotanical database, and the application of ethnobotanical information to interpreting the boreal forest archaeological record. ii Acknowledgements I wish to thank everyone who helped in the completion of this thesis. To Donna Burns of the James Smith Cree Nation for helping and teaching me throughout two summers of fieldwork, and to Beulah Flett, from the Shoal Lake Cree Nation, for her help and for sharing some of her knowledge of tradition with me, I am indebted. They helped me immensely, not least of all by sharing their kindness and humour. I gratefully acknowledge the elders who chose to participate in this project. They are truly wonderful, generous people, caretakers of a very large body of knowledge, not only regarding traditional plant use, but also encompassing many other aspects of traditional culture. I feel very honored to have had the chance to meet and talk with them, and I am grateful for the trust they showed in sharing some of their knowledge with me. I would also like to thank the Chiefs and Councils of the James Smith and Shoal Lake Cree Nations, for allowing me into their communities to do this project, as well as the band office staff and other community members for all their help (especially Sharon Burns and Michael Marion at James Smith and Gerald Bear at Shoal Lake). lowe a great debt of gratitude to the George Burns family, who welcomed me into their home and made me feel like part of their family. Their kindness, generosity and humour were much appreciated. My supervisors, Dr. David Meyer of the University of Saskatchewan and Dr. Robin Maries of Brandon University, and the other member of my committee, Dr. Vernon Harms of the University of Saskatchewan, provided much needed advice and support, for which I thank them. I would also like to thank Dr. Taylor Steeves for his insightful comments on the final draft of this thesis. For generously sharing ideas and resources in the later stages of my work, I thank iii Dr. Alwynne Beaudoin and Dr. Jack Ives, both of the Provincial Museum of Alberta. I am grateful also to Anna Leighton for her inspiration and advice, to Peggy Ann Ryan of the Fraser Herbarium at the University of Saskatchewan, for all her assistance, and to Shelley McConnell for creating the wonderful maps. Thank you to all my friends, who listened to me, advised me, and above all encouraged me in this endeavour, especially D'Arcy Green, Shelley McConnell, and Denise Clavelle. A big thank you also goes to my family, especially my parents, Evelyn and Roger Clavelle, for their unfailing support and encouragement over the years. Finally, I must acknowledge the financial support of the Canadian Forest Service, who provided the bulk of the funding to make this important project possible. Thanks also to the Saskatchewan Heritage Foundation for their generous financial assistance. iv Table of Contents Permission to Use .i Abstract ii Acknowledgments .iii Table of Contents v Ust of Figures vii List of Tables ,vii Listof Plates vii Chapter 0 ne: Introduction 1 1.1 Statement of Objectives 1 1.2 Societal GroupingsandTerritories 3 1.3 Methods : 9 1.3.1 Location and Season of Fieldwork 9 1.3.2 Data Collection and Plant Identification 11 1.3.4 Orthography 14 1.4 Chapter Outline 14 Chapter Two: Regional Environment. 15 2.1 Glacial and Vegetation History 15 2.2 RegionalClimate 17 2.3 Physiography andSoils 17 2.3.1 The James SmithArea 18 2.3.2 The Shoal Lake Area 20 2.4 Regional Flora 20 2.5 Regional Fauna 29 Chapter Three: Pre-Contact and Contact History of the Saskatchewan River Valley 32 3.1 The Late Pre-Contact Period 32 3.2 The Historic Record 32 3.2.1 Smallpox Epidemic, 1780-1781 34 3.2.2 Demographic Changes 34 3.2.3 Ojibwa Assimilation and Continued Influence 35 3.2.4 The Period 18OOto 1870 36 3.2.5 Development of the Pas Mountain Deme, and the Taking of Treaty, 1850-1880 36 3.2.6 Fort aLa Corne, 1850 Through the Early 1900s 40 v 3.3 The PresentSituation 41 3.3.1 James Smith Reserve 41 3.3.2 Shoal Lake Reserve 42 Chapter Four: The Importance of the Plant Environment to Northern Algonquian Culture 45 4.1 Historic and Ethnographic Evidence 45 4.2 Plants in ContemporaryCulture 50 4.2.1 Plants for Food, Condiments, and Beverages 54 4.2.1.1 PlantFoods 54 4.2.1.2 Condiments Derived From Plants 59 4.2.1.3 Beverage Teas 61 4.2.2 Plants for Miscellaneous Uses , 64 4.2.3 Plants as Medicine 67 4.2.3.1 Attitudes Towards Traditional Medicire 67 4.2.3.2 Bad Medicine 69 4.2.3.3 Metaphysical Elements of Medicines 71 4.2.3.4 Medicinal Plants in the Study Area 73 4.3 Cultural Significance, Folk Taxonomy and Mythology 79 4.3.1 Determining Cultural Significance 79 4.3.2 CreeFolkTaxonomy 83 4.3.3 Plants in Cree Mythology 87 4.4 Ojibwa Infteoces 91 Chapter Five: The Relevance of Ethnobotanical Studies to Archaeology 95 5.1 The Nature of the Palaeoethnobotanical Record 95 5.1.1 Macroremains 96 5.1.2 Pollen 97 5.1.3 Phytoliths 100 5.1.4 Analysis of Residues on Tools or Ceramics 101 5.2 Palaeoethnobotany in the Boreal Forest: Problems and Possibilities 101 5.2.1 Plant Remains and Associated Artifacts 105 5.2.2 Features 109 5.2.3 Sitelocations 110 5.2.4 Cultural Modification of the Landscape 111 5.3 Conclusions 113 Chapter Six: Summary and Conclusions 116 6. 1 Summary 116 6.2 Conclusions 118 6.2.1 Fulfillment of Research Goals 119 6.2.1.1 Traditional Knowledge Preservation and Contributions to Ethnobotanical Knowledge 119 6.2.1.2 Suggestions for Archaeology 122 vi References Cited 124 Appendix A: Guide to Cree Orthography and Pronunciation 142 Appendix B: List of Respondents 144 Appendix C: Annotated List of Plants Reported in the Study 145 Appendix D: Unidentified Plants Reported in the Study 179 List of Figures 1.1 Locations of the studycommunities 4 2.1 Vegetation zones of Saskatchewan 22 List of Tables 2.1 Species characteristic of plant communities in the Saskatchewan River Delta 27 4.1 Families represented by ethnobotanical data from the study communities, numbers of species reported from each, and breakdown of usage types 51 4.2 Plants used as food in the study area 54 4.3 Species used for miscellaneouspurposes ~ 64 4.4 Medicinal plants used by the Crees of the Saskatchewan River Valley 73 4.5 Importance Values of plants reported in the study, based on fieldwork and published ethnobotanies 82 4.6 Two "type" forms with intensifying modifiers, as recorded in the study area 86 4.7 Some major groups of Cree morphemes, from plant names in the study area 88 List of Plates 1.1 Two elders removing strips of balsam fir (Abies balsamea) bark for use in healing 12 1.2 Freshly dug ratroot (Acarus americanus) rhizomes 12 2.1 Moist meadow area on James Smith reserve 19 2.2 Wetland area south of Shoal Lakereserve 19 vii 2.3 Typical trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides), balsam fir (Abies balsamea) and white spruce (Picea glauca) community, approximately 20 km north of Nipawin 23 2.4 Even-aged jack pine (Pinus banksiana) stand, James Smith reserve 23 4.1 Pickingblueberries 58 4.2 Crushing chokecherries, James Smith reserve 58 4.3 Wild mint (Mentha canadensis) 63 4.4 Black spruce bog south of Shoal Lake reserve 63 4.5 Ratroot (Acorus americanus) plants 81 4.6 Dried yellow pond-lily (Nuphar lutea ssp.