Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
tion (Alcoze and Hurteau 2001). Ethnographic data including linguistic analysis, ma-
terial culture, and the oral tradition can provide detailed compositional data for the
reference state. Unfortunately, few ecological scientists are trained to access these
valuable data sources.
Martinez (1995) reports that presettlement plant inventories can be derived from
the plant names in the indigenous languages of the region. Likewise, species compo-
sition of lands with uninterrupted indigenous management regimes can provide in-
valuable information as to the composition of the presettlement vegetation. For ex-
ample, the tallgrass prairies of Walpole Island First Nation in eastern Canada are
regarded as among the most species rich on the continent. These intact ecosystems
are regarded as exemplars of the presettlement state, in large part because the “nat-
ural” disturbance regime that generated these prairies is also intact. The high ecolog-
ical integrity of these grasslands stems in part from an uninterrupted history of pre-
scribed burning by the Potawatomi, Ojibwe, and Ottawa peoples responsible for these
ancestral lands. Thus the ideal of “Nature” as a state free of cultural influences is
called into question, when we recognize some of our most cherished landscapes as ar-
tifacts of indigenous management. It may not be possible to restore “presettlement”
landscapes without consideration of TEK and, indeed, without restoration of the cul-
tural practices by which indigenous peoples sustained them.
The Role of TEK in the Restoration Process
Traditional ecological knowledge can also provide an alternative way of approaching
the restoration process. The dominant metaphor in this approach is not nature as ma-
chine with humans in control, but nature as a living community, peopled with hu-
man and nonhuman persons, all contributing to the integrity of the system. This pro-
cess of restoration stands in sharp contrast to the mechanistic view of restoration “as an
attempt to force transitions toward the desired state” (Hobbs and Norton 1996). In in-
digenous land management, humans play a subsidiary role. As one elder advises, “Go
slowly. Listen to the land, it will tell you what to do.” Because the process is under-
stood as directed by nature, the practitioners adaptively change the plan as the land re-
sponds to treatments. The stated goal of the restoration is to help a site evolve through
cyclical changes, rather than establishing a linear trajectory (Long, Tecle, and Bur-
nette 2003). A similar framework formed the basis of the Karuk tribal forest restoration
model (Martinez 1995), which also conceived of restoration as a partnership with nat-
ural processes rather than an imposed formula. It was understood that plants that ar-
rived as volunteers did not need to be removed to correspond to the end design.
Rather they were carefully observed and understood as bringing something of value
needed by the developing community. The practitioners were receptive to the poten-
tial contributions of unintended species, consistent with the worldview of plants as
carriers of knowledge. The restoration team looked for feedback of mutual learning
between the land and the people.
Likewise, the experience of the White Mountain Apache Nation tribe dem-
onstrates how cultural traditions and TEK can act as guiding forces for restoration.
Their lands in eastern Arizona had been degraded by federal mismanagement.
