University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 2019 Recovering our Roots: The Importance of Salish Ethnobotanical Knowledge and Traditional Food Systems to Community Wellbeing on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. Mitchell Rose Bear Don't Walk University of Montana, Missoula Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Part of the Botany Commons, Comparative Nutrition Commons, Cultural History Commons, Environmental Public Health Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Indigenous Studies Commons, Other American Studies Commons, Other Food Science Commons, and the Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Bear Don't Walk, Mitchell Rose, "Recovering our Roots: The Importance of Salish Ethnobotanical Knowledge and Traditional Food Systems to Community Wellbeing on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana." (2019). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 11494. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11494 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. 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RECOVERING OUR ROOTS: THE IMPORTANCE OF SALISH ETHNOBOTANICAL KNOWLEDGE AND TRADITIONAL FOOD SYSTEMS TO COMMUNITY WELLBEING ON THE FLATHEAD INDIAN RESERVATION IN MONTANA By MITCHELL ROSE BEAR DON’T WALK B.A. Political Science, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 2016 Thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science In Environmental Studies The University of Montana Missoula, MT December 2019 Approved by: Scott Whittenburg, Dean of The Graduate School Graduate School Rosalyn LaPier, Chair Environmental Studies Daniel Spencer Environmental Studies Marilyn Marler UM Natural Areas Specialist, Adjunct Faculty Biology © COPYRIGHT by Mitchell Rose Bear Don’t Walk 2019 All Rights Reserved ii Bear Don’t Walk, Mitchell Rose, M.S., Fall 2019 Environmental Studies Recovering our Roots: The Importance of Salish Ethnobotanical Knowledge and Traditional Food Systems to Community Wellbeing on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana. Chairperson: Rosalyn LaPier Co-Chairperson: Daniel Spencer This thesis provides a culturally-comprehensive review of the plants utilized for food in the Bitterroot Salish tribe of northwestern Montana. As part of the larger Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CS&KT) of the Flathead Indian Reservation, the Bitterroot Salish historically utilized hundreds of plants for food, medicine and hygiene. This thesis aims to highlight food plants and their important cultural components. The information herein is a combination of history, ethnography, linguistics, ethnobotany, and first-hand experience with the current Salish community to provide a holistic framework of understanding traditional food plants today. A comprehensive plant list is provided with Latin, Salish and common names as well as an in-depth look into ten plant species and their ethnobotanical components complete with pictures and nutrition information. The information presented suggests that a cultural framework in ethnobotanical research is necessary in understanding the Indigenous connection to the natural world and traditional foods to support a pathway for improved community health. Using a combination of Indigenous and scientific methodologies this thesis compiles information from the community in the form of interviews and surveys with relevant literature to facilitate an introductory framework of components necessary in understanding Indigenous relationship with food. These components are food sovereignty, Traditional Ecological Knowledge, culture, health and healing, as well as scientific understanding of plant foods in identification, harvesting, processing, cooking, and environmental ecology, botany, nutrition, and environmental science. In support of the belief that “food is medicine” this work looks at the deeper contexts that are involved in how Salish people relate to food, historically and present day and what reintegration of those foods can do for future tribal and community health. iii Recovering our Roots: The importance of Salish ethnobotanical knowledge and traditional food systems to community wellbeing on the Flathead Indian Reservation in Montana By M. Rose Bear Don’t Walk Table of Contents List of Figures (photos, maps) List of Tables (tables, charts) Acknowledgements/Dedication Chapters: 1. 1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………..1 1.2 Research questions…………………………………………………………….5 1.3 Research problem……………………………………………………………...6 1.4 Relevance and thesis layout…………………………………………………...9 1.5 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………...15 2. 1. A Salish Researcher in Salish Country………………………………………..17 2. Research ideologies, research methods and Indigenous peoples…...................25 3. Literature review………………………………………………………………44 3. 1. The Salish People and Plants………………………………………………….54 2. The ancestral landscape……………………………………………………….56 3. Tribal History………………………………………………………………….69 4. 1. Sqelixʷ: Indigenous renewal and the “ecological triangle”……………………75 2. Salish health; then and now…………………………………………………...82 3. Salish language & culture; linguistic paradigms and cultural adaptation……106 4. Traditional ties; Salish perception and survey data………………………….121 5. 1. The plants: Sq̓ elixʷ sʔiłn……………………………………………………...136 2. Etymology of plants………………………………………………………….140 3. Salish taxonomy and plant list……………………………………………….147 4. Traditional food plant pages…………………………………………………149 6. 1. Conclusion…………………………………………………………………163 References Cited Appendices v List of Figures Figure 1: Columbia Plateau Tribes and Ancestral Territories (Walk 1998)………………3 Figure 2: Distribution of Salishan dialects (Boas 1928)…………………………………..4 Figure 3: Selected Salish placenames in the Bitterroot Valley. (Salish Pend d’Oreille Culture Committee Tribal Preservation Office. 2004. Map by Michael Louis Durglo Sr)………………………………………………………………………………………...64 Figure 4: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Kinnikinnick) blossom. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..113 Figure 5: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (Kinnikinnick) berries. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..113 Figure 6a: Claytonia lanceolata (Spring Beauty) Blooms. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..150 Figure 6b: Claytonia lanceolata (Spring Beauty) tubers. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]………………………………………………………………………………….150 Figure 7a: Succulent Lewisia rediviva (Bitterroot) leaves signal harvest time. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………….152 Figure 7b: Lewisia rediviva (Bitterroot) in bloom. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..152 Figure 8a: Fritillaria pudica (Yellowbell) plant. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..154 Figure 8b: Fritillaria pudica (Yellowbell) plant and corms. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..154 Figure 9a: Camassia quamash (Camas) flower in bloom. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPG]……………………………………………………………………………………155 Figure 9b: Camassia quamash (Camas) bulbs for Camas bake. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPG]……………………………………………………………………………………155 Figure 10a: Vaccinium spp (Huckleberry) ‘eye’. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..157 Figure 10b: Vaccinium spp (Huckleberry) flower. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..157 vi Figure 11a: Amelanchier alnifolia (Serviceberry) flowers. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..158 Figure 11b: Amelanchier alnifolia (Serviceberry) fruits in varying degrees of ripeness. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..158 Figure 12a: Mentha arvensis (Wild Mint) plant. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………..........................................................................159 Figure 12b: Cluster of Mentha arvensis (Wild Mint) flowers. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..159 Figure 13a: Monarda fistulosa (Beebalm) flower. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..160 Figure 13b: Monarda fistulosa (Beebalm) plant. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..160 Figure 14a: Prunus virginiana (Chokecherry) buds. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..161 Figure 14b: Prunus virginiana (Chokecherry) fruits. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..161 Figure 15a: Rosa woodsii (Wild Rose). (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..162 Figure 15b: Rosa woodsii (Wild Rose) hips. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019) [JPEG]…………………………………………………………………………………..162 vii List of tables and charts Chart 1. A Salish Ecological Triangle. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019)………………………..79 Chart 2: Salish Survey Age Demographic. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019)…………………..128 Chart 3: Knowledge of traditional food plants. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019).…………….129 Chart 4: Food plant interaction. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019).…………………………….130 Chart 5: Plant engagement effect on wellbeing. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019)……………..131 Chart 6: Aspects of plant knowledge; community interest. (Bear Don’t Walk 2019).…133 Chart 7: Ranking interest in traditional food plant knowledge. (Bear Don’t Walk