Abstract

Land-use scientists increasingly recognize that ecological and anthropogenic forces have long interacted in complex ways, forming many of the landscapes we observe today. For example, Indigenous peoples’ legacies of plant cultivation and management can have profound effects on contemporary forest structure and species composition long after such practices have ceased. Despite relatively rich ethnographic accounts of practices like orcharding and fruit tree management in the Pacific Northwest of North America, archaeological research documenting these practises have been lacking. This presentation combines various lines of evidence from ecological and archaeological sources, allowing us to document and better understand Indigenous orcharding and forest gardening throughout British Columbia (Canada). This relatively new research contributes to a growing body of evidence which reveals the ways in which Indigenous peoples’ land-use has positive effects on the lived landscapes and supports descendant communities seeking to re-integrate land-based foodways and livelihoods in unprecedented times.

Register: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJYudu-vqDgsG9WjBat2ln-qVx5ZqFqkV4oV