Social-ecological relationships within changing landscapes: Integrating spatial analysis and traditional ecological knowledge to locate culturally-significant plants

Background/Question/Methods

Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) includes knowledge, practices and beliefs inherited from elders, derived from personal experience, and influenced by relationships with other communities. TEK is dynamic and diverse, allowing indigenous communities to respond to social and ecological change. This study in collaboration with elders on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation investigates the diversity and dynamism of their knowledge about plants. Fifty years ago, these elders’ communities were relocated out of floodplain forests that were inundated by the Oahe Reservoir. In recent decades, agricultural activity in Standing Rock has intensified and land tenure changes restrict public access to many tribal lands. Our study asks how these social-ecological changes have impacted elders’ knowledge about and relationships with plants.

Results/Conclusions

Following the destruction of floodplain forests on Standing Rock, communities responded to dramatic social-ecological change by drawing on TEK about plants that grow in native prairie, ravines and roadside ditches near new communities. Now, habitat degradation and lack of access to gathering sites are challenging relationships with these plants. Our study integrates spatial analysis and TEK to model habitats for food and medicinal plants. These models locate opportunities for elders to share ecological knowledge with their grandchildren and strengthen key relationships within their landscape.