@prefix vivo: . @prefix edm: . @prefix ns0: . @prefix dcterms: . @prefix skos: . vivo:departmentOrSchool "Forestry, Faculty of"@en ; edm:dataProvider "DSpace"@en ; ns0:degreeCampus "UBCV"@en ; dcterms:creator "Arias-Bustamante, Jose"@en ; dcterms:issued "2014-01-02T18:55:05Z"@en, "2013"@en ; vivo:relatedDegree "Master of Science - MSc"@en ; ns0:degreeGrantor "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:description """Climate change is one of the current threats that are impacting the world, and its consequences are greater when it comes to vulnerable communities. Despite its vast areas covered by untouched forest and plenty of natural resources, British Columbia, with a myriad of First Nations and other Indigenous peoples, is not the exception. First Nations culture and knowledge are based on natural resources; therefore, trying to understand what are the major impacts of a changing climate becomes paramount. Through this research, I sought to examine and characterize potential climate changes impacts in the lands covered by the Nisga’a Nation (Northern BC), and how these impacts are affecting traditional forest practices of the Nisga’a people. The method I used to gather the stories of participants in this study was participatory interviews. For the knowledge interpretation and analysis, I integrated individual research stories and thematic coding. I also conducted a community presentation during which the results were presented to the Wilp Wilxo’oskwhl Nisga’a Institute Board of Directors, enabling the findings to be validated. The Nisga’a People are very concerned about the consequences that climate change could have on fish, not only because of the warmer temperatures, but also because of the flooding and the high level of the Nass River. Forests and the river are intimately connected, so any impacts on forests would have implications on the river, and consequently on fish. For instance, flooding and pests pose great risk to forests. Flooding affects the regeneration of forests species, and pests affect growth, even killing important cultural species for the Nisga’a people (e.g. western redcedar). Thus, by improving the forest’s resilience, the conditions that fish are facing during the spawning seasons would be also improved. To improve current conditions, the findings suggest that it is an imperative to revitalize a more traditional Nisga’a-oriented approach to resource management by adopting an integrative approach, where the management is undertaken from a resilience point of view, allowing the Nisga’a forests to return to their past non-degraded status (i.e. before logging started), and thus able to absorb the expected and unexpected impacts deriving from climate change."""@en ; edm:aggregatedCHO "https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/45700?expand=metadata"@en ; skos:note """ i INDIGENOUS KNOWLEDGE, CLIMATE CHANGE AND FOREST MANAGEMENT: THE NISGA'A NATION APPROACH by Jose Arias-Bustamante B.Sc. in Forestry, University of Chile, 2009 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE in The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (Forestry) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) December 2013 ? Jose Arias-Bustamante, 2013 ii Abstract Climate change is one of the current threats that are impacting the world, and its consequences are greater when it comes to vulnerable communities. Despite its vast areas covered by untouched forest and plenty of natural resources, British Columbia, with a myriad of First Nations and other Indigenous peoples, is not the exception. First Nations culture and knowledge are based on natural resources; therefore, trying to understand what are the major impacts of a changing climate becomes paramount. Through this research, I sought to examine and characterize potential climate changes impacts in the lands covered by the Nisga?a Nation (Northern BC), and how these impacts are affecting traditional forest practices of the Nisga?a people. The method I used to gather the stories of participants in this study was participatory interviews. For the knowledge interpretation and analysis, I integrated individual research stories and thematic coding. I also conducted a community presentation during which the results were presented to the Wilp Wilxo?oskwhl Nisga?a Institute Board of Directors, enabling the findings to be validated. The Nisga?a People are very concerned about the consequences that climate change could have on fish, not only because of the warmer temperatures, but also because of the flooding and the high level of the Nass River. Forests and the river are intimately connected, so any impacts on forests would have implications on the river, and consequently on fish. For instance, flooding and pests pose great risk to forests. Flooding affects the regeneration of forests species, and pests affect growth, even killing important cultural species for the Nisga?a people (e.g. western redcedar). Thus, by improving the forest?s resilience, the conditions that fish are facing during iii the spawning seasons would be also improved. To improve current conditions, the findings suggest that it is an imperative to revitalize a more traditional Nisga?a-oriented approach to resource management by adopting an integrative approach, where the management is undertaken from a resilience point of view, allowing the Nisga?a forests to return to their past non-degraded status (i.e. before logging started), and thus able to absorb the expected and unexpected impacts deriving from climate change. iv Preface All research included in this thesis was reviewed and approved by the University of British Columbia Behavioural Research Ethics Board (UBC BREB). The ethical review application was determined to be of Minimal Risk and approved on April 19, 2012. UBC BREB Number: H12-00705. v Table of contents Abstract .......................................................................................................................................... ii ?Preface ........................................................................................................................................... iv ?Table of contents ........................................................................................................................... v ?List of tables................................................................................................................................. vii ?List of figures .............................................................................................................................. viii ?Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................... ix ?Dedication ...................................................................................................................................... x ?CHAPTER 1: ? Introduction ....................................................................................................... 1 ?1.1. Forests and Indigenous people in British Columbia .................................... 2 ?1.2. Potential impacts of climate change in British Columbia ........................... 4 ?1.3. Indigenous knowledge and climate change ................................................. 7 ?1.4. Research objectives ................................................................................... 11 ?CHAPTER 2: ? Methods ............................................................................................................ 13 ?2.1. Area of study ............................................................................................. 13 ?2.2. Methodology .............................................................................................. 14 ?2.3. Ethical considerations ................................................................................ 19 ?CHAPTER 3: ? Traditional forest practices of the Nisga?a people ....................................... 22 ?3.1. Gangan - Trees in the Nisga?a forest ........................................................ 25 ?3.2. S?'an - Plants in the Nisga?a forest ............................................................ 41 ?3.3. G?ayda ts?uuts? - Fungi in the Nisga?a forest ............................................. 51 ?3.4. Hoon ? Fish ............................................................................................... 54 ?3.5. Yats'iskw ? Wildlife ................................................................................... 58 ?3.6. Chapter Summary ...................................................................................... 62 ?CHAPTER 4: ? Climate change and the Nisga?a people ........................................................ 64 ?4.1. Perceptions of the Nisga?a people about climate change .......................... 65 ?4.2. Effects of climate change described by the Nisga?a people ...................... 79 ?4.3. Concerns and problems ........................................................................... 104 ?4.5. Chapter summary ..................................................................................... 111 ?CHAPTER 5: ? Managing the Nisga?a forests under climate change ................................. 114 ?5.1. Three different approaches to draw from ................................................ 114 ?5.2. Managing the Nisga?a forests and adapting to climate change ............... 142 ?5.3 Chapter summary ...................................................................................... 156 ?CHAPTER 6: ? Conclusions .................................................................................................... 159 ? vi 6.1. Recommendations ................................................................................... 163 ?6.2. Limitations of the study ........................................................................... 164 ?6.3. Further research ....................................................................................... 165 ?Bibliography .............................................................................................................................. 167 ?Appendices ................................................................................................................................. 177 ?Appendix A: Node Description ...................................................................... 177 ?Appendix B: Other Trees ................................................................................ 179 ?Appendix C: ?Sisatkw: the cleansing ritual to extend the life? ...................... 188 ?Appendix D: Berries ....................................................................................... 189 ? vii List of tables Table 1. Themes defined according to the specific objectives. .................................................... 17 ?Table 2. Other trees uses by the Nisga?a people ........................................................................... 40 ?Table 3. Most common berries used by the Nisga?a people ......................................................... 45 ?Table 4. Other Nisga?a plants less frequently mentioned by the collaborators ............................ 51 ?Table 5. Pacific salmon species that spawn in the Nass River. .................................................... 57 ?Table 6. Pest and pathogens effects on traditional forest practices of Nisga?a people ............... 104 ?Table 7. Themes defined according to the specific objectives ................................................... 177 ? viii List of figures Figure 1. Area of study, Nisga?a Nation Lands ............................................................................ 13 ?Figure 2. Nisga?a worldview, adapted from the (Nisga?a Tribal Council 1995b) ........................ 22 ?Figure 3. Traditional forest practices of the Nisga?a people ......................................................... 25 ?Figure 4. Trees used by the study collaborators ........................................................................... 26 ?Figure 5. Traditional Smokehouse at Gitwinksihlkw village ........................................................ 28 ?Figure 6. Culturally modified tree from the Nisga?a Land, Nisga?a Museum .............................. 31 ?Figure 7. Plants described by the study collaborators ................................................................... 41 ?Figure 8. Climate change experiences of the Nisga?a people 3D Cluster Map ............................ 65 ?Figure 9. Winter extreme and mean minimum T?C. Nass Camp weather station, BC ................ 67 ?Figure 10. Minimum temperatures (?C) at Nass Camp weather station, BC, for February 1975 and 1986 ...................................................................................................................... 68 ?Figure 11. Minimum temperatures (?C) at Nass Camp weather station, BC, for January 1991 .. 69 ?Figure 12. Variation in the water level of the Lisims at Gitwinksihlkw Suspension Bridge ......... 76 ?Figure 13. Summer extreme maximum and mean T?C. Nass Camp weather station, BC ........... 77 ?Figure 14. Maximum temperature (?C) in June 2004 at Nass Camp weather station, BC ........... 78 ?Figure 15. Clearcuts pursued in the Nass Valley during the 60s ................................................ 130 ?Figure 16. Forest management evolution occurred in the Nisga?a Land and the forests conditions that resulted from it ................................................................................................... 143 ?Figure 17. Aboriginal Forest Planning Process (AFPP) informing NLG forest management to manage for climate change ....................................................................................... 147 ? ix Acknowledgements I want to extend my gratitude to my collaborators in the Nisga?a Nation, who kindly opened their doors and shared their experiences and time with me. At the same time, I want to thank Ms. Deanna Nyce for providing her supervision while I was doing the fieldwork, and after, revising the cultural appropriateness of my writing. I also want to offer special thanks to Irene Seguin for her hospitality and friendship, providing me with a home while I was in the field. I offer my enduring gratitude to my supervisor Dr. John Innes for giving me enough independence to develop this research, but at the same time providing me with opportune advice when I needed. Also, I want to thank him for facilitating my first contact with the Nisga?a Nation, otherwise I would not be able to start this research. I extend my thanks to my supervisory committee, Dr. Sheryl Lightfoot and Dr. Gary Bull, for their insight in the preparation of this research. Especially to Dr. Lightfoot, her support was very important to tailor this research into an Indigenous framework. I also want to acknowledge Conicyt ? Becas Chile, TerreWEB and Kloshe Tillicum, whose funding opportunities made this research possible. Special thanks to my research group, where I found very good friends. I owe particular thanks to my friend Dr. Patrick Waeber, whose crazy ideas and insights helped me to design my research and encouraged me to persist. Finally, I want to deeply thank my wife and daughters. To my wife, for her support, patience and encouragement to pursue in this endeavor. To my daughters, Rayen for reminding how important it is to be a child and showing me that it is possible to be relaxed, and Amancay for giving me the last push I needed to finish this thesis. x Dedication To my beloved wife and daughters 1 CHAPTER 1: Introduction Implementing an Indigenous epistemological framework in order to include Nisga?a voices at every stage of the research, this research examines and characterizes the potential impacts of climate change in the territory of the Nisga?a Nation (Northern British Columbia). The main aim was to improve our knowledge about the effects of climate change on Nisga?a traditional practices, and to provide this knowledge as a guide in policy and practice development in British Columbia. This is crucial, as the effects of climate change are becoming more evident year after year. For instance, according to Turner & Clifton (2009), pollen records show that western redcedar (Thuja plicata), the most important tree for coastal First Nations and a source of many basic materials (e.g. wood for canoes, houses, house poles) predominated in coastal forests only between 5000 and 2500 years ago, more than 5000 years after people had settled in this region. Sea level variations are another example of major changes that Indigenous peoples have overcome and accommodated in the past millennia; from Haida Gwaii to Vancouver Island, populations have experienced sea levels that are both higher (by as much as 100 m in some places) and lower (by 100?125 m or more at some points) than at present (Turner & Clifton 2009). Indeed, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in its ?Climate Change 2013: The Physical Science Basis? report has concluded that warming of the climate system is unequivocal, and since the 1950s, many of the observed changes are unprecedented over decades to millennia. The atmosphere and ocean have warmed, the amounts of snow and ice have diminished, sea level has risen, and concentrations of greenhouse gases have increased (IPCC 2013). Moreover, in the same report it is stated that the human influence on the climate system is clear, and thus limiting climate change will require substantial and sustained reductions of greenhouse gas emissions. 2 1.1. Forests and Indigenous people in British Columbia The 60-million-hectare area of forest and range in British Columbia generates a variety of resources for people, ranging from products derived from wood (e.g. lumber, paper) to non-timber forest products (e.g. mushrooms, berries, medicines). There are also many less tangible benefits. For example, forests act as a filter, generating a supply of fresh water. At the same time, forests and the streams within them provide habitat for fish and wildlife and, by protecting species at risk, forests are important reserves of biodiversity. Additionally, they provide areas for recreation, and are culturally and spiritually significant for Indigenous peoples (Spittlehouse 2008). Indigenous peoples have lived in what is now known as British Columbia and its surrounding areas for more than 10,000 years, developing distinctive and successful livelihoods using local resources and adapting to the landscapes and environments in which they have lived (Berkes et al. 2000; Turner et al. 2000; Turner & Clifton 2009). Having distinctive economic, practical, spiritual, political, and historical connections to their homelands, Indigenous peoples are diverse. Therefore, they cannot be treated as a single entity, as is done with industrial or post- industrial society (Turner et al. 2000). Indigenous peoples may not only have conserved local natural biodiversity, but may also have augmented it by manipulating the landscape (Gadgil et al. 1993). Such manipulations could increase landscape patchiness, for instance by introducing various successional stages, thereby enhancing diversity in the landscape. For these reasons, the principal knowledge-keepers of the site-specific holistic knowledge about different aspects of this diversity are Indigenous peoples. 3 Indigenous peoples play a key function in maintaining in situ resilient social-ecological systems (Cherrington 2008; Green & Raygorodetsky 2010). Turner et al. (2000) provide examples of how Indigenous peoples in British Columbia have lived sustainably within their local environments for many thousands of years. According to these authors, as a result of generations of experimentation and observation, the practices carried out by Indigenous peoples with the aim to conserve and improve their lands and natural resources have led them to understand complex ecological and physical principles. Thus, their management systems could be described in three different levels of complexity, (1) populations, by keeping distinct stands of a plant species for different purposes; (2) habitats, by creating and maintaining specific phases of succession using fire, thus favoring the productivity of a complex of plant species; and (3) landscapes, by using several approaches (e.g. seasonal rounds leading to variable harvesting regimes, conventions relating to ownership and authority over resources) to encourage landscape improvement (Turner et al. 2000). Numerous techniques implemented by Indigenous peoples to maintain the efficiency of their plant resources are grounded in the fact that practically all these plants in northwestern North America are perennials. For instance, individual trees are not generally destroyed, except if a whole tree is needed for construction or canoe carving. Rather, needed parts are collected from living trees afterwards (Turner et al. 2000). For example, Northwest Coast Indigenous peoples harvested (and still do) the inner bark of western redcedar for making baskets, mats, cordage, and clothing (Turner 1998). Usually, less than one-third of a tree?s perimeter would be removed, and thus, the tree remains living. According to Stryd (2001), these living trees are known as Culturally Modified Trees (CMTs), and they are frequently encountered in the coastal forests of British Columbia. CMTs comprise not only redcedar and birch trees used for their bark, but also 4 trees with planks split from them for use in house construction and trees modified during the removal of edible phloem tissues. Tree bark is also harvested for medicine by cutting thin bands from the trunk or trimming twigs (Turner & Hebda 1990). Even when whole trees were taken from the forest, the harvesting was done from an ecological perspective. Every time a tree was harvested, it was done selectively, thereby always maintaining a forest cover (Turner et al. 2000). According to Gottesfeld (1994) and Turner (1999), Indigenous peoples from British Columbia mastered ecological succession through burning the landscape, thus enhancing successional species. Moreover, Turner et al. (2000) argue that they also had a comprehensive understanding of the crucial habitats of several species of cultural importance, the site characteristics in which they were most fruitful, and the best approaches for processing and storing them. Similar strategies were used to monitor, manage, and harvest other resources, such as salmon and game. Selected individuals, such as the chiefs and their families, often assumed the responsibility for monitoring and regulation of certain resources within a particular territory. The involvement of children in traditional practices was crucial. In doing so, they benefited from observing and assisting their elders, parents, and grandparents; and thus, they gained hands-on knowledge that would be important for their future as potential stewards of the land (Turner et al. 2000). 1.2. Potential impacts of climate change in British Columbia Examples of environmental decline in BC that may at least to some extent be attributable to climate change include: dying western redcedars on many parts of Vancouver Island, forests decimated by mountain pine beetle (MPB) infestations, spruce budworm and other insect pests, Dothistroma outbreaks in lodgepole pines, noteworthy declines in frog and other amphibian 5 populations, and failure of oolichan runs in a number of rivers along the coast, especially the Kingcome and Bella Coola rivers (Turner & Clifton 2009). In the case of the MPB, Ostry et al. (2010) explain that the expansion of MPB was due to warmer winters. MPB are indirectly associated with fire (Meyn et al. 2010) and flooding (Walker & Sydneysmith 2008). The presence of large areas of dead standing trees (Walker & Sydneysmith 2008), in combination with an increase of precipitation (Loukas et al. 2002) due to climate change, may intensify spring water run-off patterns, and increase the potential for flooding and drinking water contamination. Furthermore, the degree and position within a watershed, as well as the watershed?s geography, determine the extent of hydrological impacts resulting from an MPB infestation. These impacts will decline as infested zones recover, however higher flows could continue, at a diminishing rate, for as long as 60 to 70 years (Walker & Sydneysmith 2008). Ostry et al. (2010) conclude that communities in the Interior and Northern Interior of BC are therefore vulnerable, not only in terms of their reduced economic and health resilience, but also because of the direct and indirect impact of these major biological declines. Turner & Clifton (2009) emphasize that Indigenous peoples in BC are strongly dependent on the cyclical productivity of some resources, as well as the predictability of rainfall, snowpack and glaciers, to sustain the minimum habitat conditions for important resource species, such as Pacific salmon. These characteristics are shifting, becoming less foreseeable, and thus, making people feel more helpless and at higher risk, despite modern weather forecasting systems, enhanced communication, and better technologies. In addition to the impacts described above, the potential ranges of species will move northward and upward in elevation as the optimal growing conditions for local populations (genotypes) of trees can be relatively narrow (Hamann & Tongli 2006; Spittlehouse 2008; Coops & Waring 2011; Voggesser et al. 2013). For instance, Daniels et al. (2011) have argued that Alaska 6 Yellow-cedar is in decline in coastal British Columbia and Alaska, and that small changes in average climatic conditions, coupled with extreme weather events, can have large ecological effects. Under a transformed climate, species may endure in their present location, but growth rates may be affected and competition from other species more suited to the new site conditions may be greater (Walker & Sydneysmith 2008). In general, native and planted stands located in the drier and warmer regions of BC are expected to be less productive. In contrast, slight increases in productivity are projected in northern stands (Rehfeldt et al. 2001; Spittlehouse 2003; Johnston & Williamson 2005). Forest management, as well as species occurrence and growth, will be affected by climate change (Spittlehouse 2008). For example, access to timber, fire protection activity, and road design and maintenance are all weather-dependent activities. Finally, the role of forests and forest management in the global carbon balance will be affected by climate change through changes in forest growth and disturbance. Indeed, recent forest fires and insect attacks have resulted in a negative carbon balance for Canada?s managed forest, and a much-reduced positive balance for British Columbia?s forests (Kurz et al. 2008; Spittlehouse 2008). Existing policies regarding forest exploitation and conservation are based on understanding how forests evolved under historical climatic conditions, rather than on future climates. This may constrain the ability of the sector to incorporate properly not only the negative impacts of climate change in different forest regions, but also the potential positive ones (Walker & Sydneysmith 2008). Even though resource-based communities, such as Indigenous communities in BC, are vulnerable to many of the ecological, economic and social impacts of climate change, research about how climate change processes are understood at a local level, and about the capacity of resource-based communities to cope with and respond to such changes, is still in its infancy 7 (Walker & Sydneysmith 2008). According to Walker & Sydneysmith (2008), as the majority of BC forests are located on crown land, the provincial government is accountable for establishing guidelines, developing management goals and assessing the stewardship procedures of forest companies. However, there are today no prerequisites or standards to incorporate measures for climate change adaptation into forest management plans, and experiments that would aid people to incorporate such activities are scarce. 1.3. Indigenous knowledge and climate change Indigenous peoples have been able to survive in particular areas for long periods through dependence on the resources of their homelands (Turner et al. 2000; Lynn et al. 2013; Voggesser et al. 2013). Although some groups have become marginalized within their countries, they have managed to remain distinct linguistically and culturally, and thus continue to define themselves according to their surrounding environment. Their understanding of guardianship over their territories requires thorough management and conservation by the present generation for the sake of future generations (Turner et al. 2000). Indigenous knowledge, according to Berkes et al. (2000), is defined as: ?A cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment?. A better understanding of this definition of Indigenous knowledge can be gained from the following quote: ?My, my early childhood, I was raised, I was raised by my grandparents, after I lost my mother at the age of two, hey, so they exposed me to the elements, their ways of life, stands from the need to survive, to have a respect for the forest, the wildlife, the rivers and the ocean, anything that gives you sustenance. I have regard for that. One of the 8 most important things that both grandparents incentivized in me was to have great respect for what is surrounding me, and only take what I needed, if we had over abundance of fish, share with someone else that needed, and as far as shelter is provided by the tree, because they said ?all trees, all plants are living entities, they have souls, so each time you take something from it, talk to them, thank them for the gift, the gift of life?, and it is so really true in my whole being? (Interviewee 10 2012). Being a complex of knowledge, practice, and belief, traditional knowledge tends to be practical and closely associated to a system of life. Instead of being passed on through book learning, it is multigenerational and is passed on orally (Berkes 2004). The transfer of knowledge occurs in several distinct means, and by a myriad of culturally facilitated venues, thus, starting with the training of children by their relatives, especially their parents and grandparents, and also through their involvement in traditional management activities (Turner et al. 2000; Lynn et al. 2013). Being integral to the process of knowledge transfer, language was the target of the Residential School system for indigenous children over the last century, in which their languages were forcibly suppressed and effectively eliminated, hindering the perpetuation of Indigenous knowledge. Even though the extensive loss of specialized terminology (e.g. names for plants and animals) and discourse associated with peoples? connections to the land is a major calamity, the concepts are at least partially preserved to current days (Turner et al. 2000). Compared to scientific knowledge, Indigenous knowledge is different in a number of significant ways (Berkes 2004; Cochran et al. 2013). Additionally, Indigenous knowledge is embedded in its particular community and is contextually bound, does not create a subject/object dichotomy, and requires a commitment to the local context, unlike western knowledge which values mobility and weakens local roots (Banuri & Apffel-Marglin 1993). Nyong et al. (2007) argue that the value of Indigenous knowledge in climate change studies has received little attention despite this traditional knowledge potentially bringing a number of 9 benefits to research. For instance, Indigenous knowledge systems provide mechanisms for participatory approaches (Conner 2005). They could facilitate understanding and effective communication and increase the rate of dissemination and utilization of climate change mitigation and adaptation options (Conner 2005; Nyong et al. 2007; Turner & Clifton 2009; Lynn et al. 2013; Voggesser et al. 2013). People dependent on local resources for their livelihoods are often able to assess the true cost and benefits of development better than any evaluator coming from outside (Berkes 1993). Their time-tested, in-depth knowledge of the local area is an essential part of any impact assessment. For instance, Herman-Mercer et al. (2011), working with the Indigenous communities of St. Mary?s and Pitka?s Point in Alaska, concluded that the changes in the environment observed by hunters, elders, and the community as a whole are having impacts that range from subsistence to safety. Nevertheless, as described by Turner & Clifton (2009), Indigenous people have continued to innovate in the face of change. Thus, Gitga?at people have initiated some creative solutions in response to unseasonable rainfall events that have recently impacted their ability to harvest and dry their seaweed and halibut in the month of May. These include building outdoor shelters for cutting fish, and constructing variously designed trays and racks to enable women to hang their spring salmon and halibut ??wooks?? over the stove for indoor drying. Indigenous peoples have much to contribute, and teach us (non-Indigenous peoples and researchers), about climate change effects, and about attempts to respond to, and cope with, climate change at both global and local levels (Turner & Clifton 2009; Herman-Mercer et al. 2011; Cochran et al. 2013; Lynn et al. 2013). The impacts of climate change pose threats to biodiversity, land features, and culturally important species, the indicators on which Indigenous peoples' traditional ecological knowledge is grounded (Nilsson 2008; Mackendrick 2009; 10 Cochran et al. 2013; Voggesser et al. 2013). Consequently, the survival of several Indigenous peoples is threatened by climate change (Tsosie 2007; Voggesser et al. 2013). Under threat from occurring and projected climate changes, traditional knowledge remains an important part of Indigenous cultures. For example, it remains important in social and cultural institutions, including the networking, sharing, and community cohesion associated with traditional practices such as hunting, fishing, and harvesting traditional foods; sharing those foods among families; and in the process of teaching younger generations about land use and cultural identity (Wesche & Armitage 2006; Downing & Cuerrier 2011). Moreover, Menzies & Butler (2006) describe that traditional ecological knowledge has survived past and recurring oppressive and inequitable policies, such as those discussed by Turner et al. (2000), by adapting to changing economic and environmental conditions; even though in some cases it has been and is being lost as a result of population declines and disruptions in transmission across generations. Being based on years of accumulated experience between humans and the land, traditional knowledge still offers insight useful in new conditions (Riewe & Oakes 2006; Cochran et al. 2013). For instance, as stated by several authors, during the lifespans of present-day elders or their recent ancestors, there have been incidents such as great tidal waves, earthquakes, extreme weather situations, or volcanic eruptions that have affected their lives exceptionally, and which they have had to respond and adapt to (Hunn & Norton 1984; Cruikshank 2005). Many of these unfortunate events have functioned as reminders to people of the instability of the resources that sustain them and the need for contingency plans (Turner & Clifton 2009; Acharya 2011). Although climate change is a global problem, human activity happens at a much smaller scale and is molded by the local climate, landscape, and community features, embracing social, cultural, economic, and political factors (Adger 2006). Finally, Indigenous knowledge about 11 climate change can enhance mainstream Western society?s appreciation of the cultures that hold this knowledge. As stated by Turner & Clifton (2009), ?Indigenous perspectives ? about the interconnectedness of life, the importance of a long-term view of the future, the linking of human health and well-being to the health of the environment as a whole ? need to be infused into western urbanized society in ways that allow understanding and consideration?. The recording of such knowledge is significant in the political realm as a tool for social change (Berkes 1993). 1.4. Research objectives ?From the banks of the Nass River to the rugged slopes of the Coast Mountains, Nisga?a Lands are covered with trees. Nisga?a forests are blessed with an abundance of cedar, hemlock, Sitka spruce, lodgepole pine, balsam, and cottonwood. From these forests, the Nisga?a people have always harvested bark for baskets and hats, and wood for fire, dwelling, canoes, and the poles that grace their villages? (NLG 2001). It is evident from this statement that tree species and the forest they form are of central importance to the Nisga?a people. 1.4.1. General objective As described above, several potential impacts could affect the health of Nisga?a forests, and therefore some of the traditional practices associated with the forests. These include carving and mushroom picking, as described in the Collected Wisdom-Annual Report (NLG 2004). For carving, the 2004 report states: ?For countless generations, Nisga?a carvers have favoured redcedar for producing majestic totem poles that tell of clan and family relationships. Through craftsmanship and tradition, the wood is transformed into an expression of Nisga?a art and culture. Redcedar, known as Simgan or Sacred Tree, is just one of the valuable species that thrive on Nisga?a Lands? (NLG 2004). 12 In the 2001 report, the NLG states that pine mushrooms are the second most important resource found in the Nisga?a forests (NLG 2001). The general objective of this research was to examine and characterize potential climate changes impacts in the lands covered by the Nisga?a Nation, and how these impacts are affecting traditional forest practices of the Nisga?a people. 1.4.2. Specific objectives The specific objectives that enabled eliciting the necessary information to accomplish the general objective described above were as follows: a) Identify and describe Nisga?a traditional forest practices; b) Identify and describe Nisga?a experiences regarding climate change; and c) Identify and describe forest management approaches utilized on the Nisga?a forests and their implications to climate change and climate change adaptation. 13 CHAPTER 2: Methods 2.1. Area of study The Nisga'a Nation, governed by the Nisga?a Lisims Government (NLG), is located in Canada, in the Nass Valley, on the rugged Northwest Coast of the province of British Columbia (NLG 2012d). The Nisga'a Nation is composed of four villages (Figure 1): Figure 1. Area of study, Nisga?a Nation Lands Source: Wikipedia (2009) and Google (2012) ? Gingolx, located on the northwest coast of British Columbia on Portland Inlet, approximately 170 km northwest of Terrace. This village has a population of approximately 500 residents (NLG 2012a). ? Lax?g?alts?ap, located on the Nass River estuary, approximately 150 km north of Terrace. This village has a population of approximately 520 residents (NLG 2012e). N 1 4 3 2 14 ? Gitwinksihlkw, located on the north bank of the Nass River, 100 km northwest of Terrace, British Columbia. This village has a population of 250 residents (NLG 2012c). ? Gitlaxt'aamiks, it is the Capital of the Nisga'a Nation. It is located 97 km northwest of Terrace, British Columbia. This village has a population of approximately 1,800 residents (NLG 2012b). 2.2. Methodology As a non-Indigenous researcher interested in issues that affect Indigenous communities, I followed Indigenous methods. Restoule (2004), cited by Lavall?e (2009), described Indigenous methods as incorporating experiential learning where the participant is fully engaged. The actual technique of data collection is respectful of and includes Indigenous protocols, values, and beliefs that are important to a specific community. 2.2.1. Knowledge gathering This research sought to examine Indigenous traditional knowledge preserved by Elders, generation after generation (Gadgil et al. 1993; Agrawal 1995). According to Smith (1999), elders fluent in the language and with specialized knowledge of the land, the spiritual belief systems, and the customary life of the community, have taught traditional practices. Highly structured interviews are therefore inconsistent with accessing knowledge that imbues both the fluidity and regulation of the storyteller?s role within oral tradition, or that responds to the relational nature of Indigenous research (Kovach 2009). Kovach (2009) argues that an open-structured conversational method shows respect for the participant?s story and allows research participants greater control over what they wish to share with respect to the research question. Bearing this in mind, participatory interviews were conducted with research participants. 15 According to Mackin (2004), in personal communication with Ms. Deanna Nyce , Wilp Wilxo?oskwhl Nisga?a Institute (WWNI) President and CEO, these kinds of interviews are: ?A conversational approach that leaves interviewees free to tell what they believe is important about the built and natural environment?. Consistent with Pittman (2009), these participatory interviews helped me to develop a deeper understanding of the vulnerabilities identified by community members and the processes shaping them. 2.2.2. Selection of knowledge holders Knowledge holders (the collaborators1) were selected in a purposive manner, as their participation was dependent upon their knowledge and experience related to this research (Pittman 2009). Two techniques were used to select the collaborators to be interviewed. The first was intensity, which seeks cases rich in information regarding the phenomenon of interest (Patton 2002). The second technique was snowball or chain, in which all respondents were asked to direct the researcher to community members that they thought could help the study (Patton 2002). 2.2.3. Number of knowledge holders In qualitative research, there are no clearly defined rules for defining the number of knowledge holders to be included in a study (Patton 2002). My goal was to include as many perspectives and experiences from the community as possible, bearing in mind the obvious constraints of the study, such as time and funding. In order to accomplish this, additional participants were sought 1 I mostly used the term collaborators, instead of research participants, to refer to the people I have interviewed, as a way of acknowledging their time and effort to share with me their knowledge and experiences. Thus, most of this work was possible due to their collaboration in the research. 16 until no new insights were gained from interviews (Pittman 2009). The initial collaborators was recommended by Ms. Deanna Nyce at WWNI, and included elders, resource managers and leaders from the four villages. Thus, I was able to interview 17 collaborators, before I decided to conclude the fieldwork base on ?theoretical saturation?. This represents a point in the interviews at which no new insights were being obtained and no new themes were being identified (Bowen 2008; Petheram et al. 2010). 2.2.4. Knowledge interpretation and analysis Qualitative research methods involve both interpretative and analytical approaches to find meaning from the insights of an inquiry (Kovach 2009). Thus, the derivation of interpretative meaning involves subjective accounting of social phenomena as a way of providing insight or to clarify an event; it involves an inductive way of knowing. On the other hand, analysis works to decontextualize knowledge through the organizational act of sorting data. The practice involves working with transcripts to arrive at a meaningful unit, or what is commonly referred to as coding. Following the experience of Fitznor (2002), my research integrated individual research stories presented as much as possible in their own voice and thematic coding. Thus, as discussed by Kovach (2009), the truth of the stories is held within the life context of the storyteller. For the thematic coding, all interviews were digitally recorded during the fieldwork and were then imported into NVivo 10, a software program that is commonly used for the analysis of qualitative data (Pittman 2009). Once in Nvivo 10, the interviews were transcribed verbatim in order to maintain the context of the ideas mentioned by the collaborators. To be consistent with the Indigenous framework, once the transcription of the interviews was finished, the participants 17 had the opportunity to edit and comment on the content in their interview, so that only what they wanted to share publicly was included. After transcription and editing, the interviews were coded in Nvivo. For the coding process, different themes or nodes were defined in accordance with the specific objectives of the research. In Table 1 demonstrates the different themes that were used during the analysis of the knowledge. For a complete table with parent and children nodes see Appendix A. Table 1. Themes defined according to the specific objectives. Specific Objectives Themes/Nodes Sources References Identify and describe Nisga?a traditional forest practices Trees 16 414 Plants 13 215 Fungi 8 43 Fish 16 330 Wildlife 15 170 Identify and describe Nisga?a experiences regarding climate change Climate change 16 560 Identify and describe forest management approaches utilized on the Nisga?a forests and their implications to climate change and climate change adaptation Management 14 805 Although the telling of a collective story with each participant representing a character brings an Indigenous approach back to the research, the grounded theory method of coding the participatory interviews was essential because it helped to organize the themes to tell the collective story associated with the research interest (Lavall?e 2009). 18 Finally, to aid understanding of important themes (e.g. trees and plants, or climate change) two bar graphs were produced for Chapter 3 to represent traditional forest practices of the Nisga?a people, and a 3D Cluster Map for Chapter 4 representing the experiences of the Nisga?a people regarding climate change. The numbers of references for each of the children nodes, within the parent nodes ?Trees? and ?Plants?, were used to create the bar graphs for trees and plants. The numbers of references represented how frequently different collaborators mentioned the name of a tree or plant, depending in which parent node the analysis was being done. These data were obtained from the summary report for each node in Nvivo 10, and then imported to MS Excel, where the graphs were created. In the case of the 3D Cluster Map, where the items in the cluster analysis are represented as bubbles in space, a word frequency query was run to obtain the frequency of the words contained in the parent node ?Climate change?. The 3D Cluster Map was thus derived from the results of the query2, and the words that co-occurred were clustered together. Word frequency was used to determine the size of the bubble in the diagram; bigger bubbles represent words used with greater frequency. This aided the identification of the most common words used by collaborators when discussing their experiences of climate change. The clustered words were then used to structure Chapter 4. 2 3D Cluster Maps derived from frequency queries are different to the ones that could be obtained when doing a cluster analysis between different nodes, where the nodes are clustered by word similarity. Therefore, the words contained in the selected nodes are compared. In doing so, nodes that have a higher degree of similarity based on the occurrence and frequency of words are shown clustered together. Nodes that have a lower degree of similarity based on the occurrence and frequency of words are displayed further apart. 19 2.2.5. Communication of results Findings from Indigenous research must make sense to the general Indigenous community (Kovach 2009). I considered conducting a workshop with the interviewed collaborators to both present and validate the results. However, due to constraints in time and funding, and on the advice of Ms. Deanna Nyce (WWNI President and CEO), I presented the results of the study to the WWNI Board of Directors3 on June 21st 2013.The feedback and revisions derived from the presentation were included in this thesis. This process was intended as an act of reciprocity and involvement towards the research participants (Smith 1999; Lincoln & Guba 2000; Lavall?e 2009). Provisions five and six of the WWNI research protocol will govern the publication of my results in the academic literature (e.g. journal publications). Publishing will inform other scholars of the situation of the Nisga?a Nations and the impacts of climate change on their land. In addition, two posters have been produced from the study, which were presented in the 4th Biennial Conference of the International Association for Ecology & Health (15-18 October 2012, Kunming City, China) and the 2nd UBC Future Forestry Leaders Symposium (7 December 2012, Vancouver, BC. Canada). 2.3. Ethical considerations This research followed the ethical approaches proposed by the Canadian Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS). This is a joint policy of Canada?s three federal research agencies ? the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of 3 The WWNI Board of Directors comprises 6 members, plus the president Ms. Deanna Nyce. For more information visit online: [http://wwni.bc.ca/?page_id=38] 20 Canada (SSHRC) ? regarding ethical conduct for research involving humans (Government of Canada 2011). The study also followed and acknowledged all the provisions included in the WWNI research protocol, including the following key concepts: (1) Informed consent; each potential research collaborator was provided with a copy of an introduction letter to this research, plus an informed consent form; (2) Confidentiality; according to TCPS, the ethical duty of confidentiality refers to the obligation of an individual or organization to safeguard entrusted information, therefore the gathered knowledge was available only to the participants, myself and my supervisor; (3) Security; as defined by TCPS, corresponds to measures used to protect information, thus the data was kept in a laptop computer protected by a password; (4) Identifiable Information; according to the types of information defined by TCPS in Chapter 5 section A, this research asked for anonymous information. Finally, to ensure the achievement of these requirements, the research proposal was submitted to both the WWNI and the Behavioural Research Ethics Board (BREB) of the University of British Columbia. This research accomplished the above requirements not only to get the approval from both boards, but also to enhance the respect in the relationship with the participants, described by Smith (1999) as: ?A reciprocal, shared, constantly interchanging principle expressed through all the aspects of social conduct?. An important issue raised by Kovach (2009) is the power dynamics between the researcher and participant; the power of the researcher is in communicating his or her own interpretations of the teachings. To mitigate this power differential, to value the relationship and to be congruent with the methodologies, participants had final approval of their contributions. This is consistent with Agrawal (1995), who argues that to productively engage Indigenous knowledge in development 21 and research, researchers must go beyond the dichotomy of indigenous vs. scientific and work towards greater autonomy for Indigenous peoples. Further, he claims that in order to empower marginalized groups, shifts in existing power relationships are crucial. Consequently, the appropriate response from those who are interested in preserving the diversity of different knowledge might then be based in trying to reorient and reverse state policies and market forces to allow members of threatened populations to determine their own future, and attempt, therefore, to make possible in situ preservation of Indigenous knowledge (Agrawal 1995). 22 CHAPTER 3: Traditional forest practices of the Nisga?a people ?We don't use grass for anything, lots we have, that is the wonderful thing about the Nass Valley, it is because our territory, and this makes the difference with all First Nations, because our territory stretches from the mountains tops to the ocean, we get everything, we get every kind of berries imaginable [?], we get all kind of meats, all kind of trees? (Interviewee 11 2012). A worldview or cosmology incorporates basic beliefs concerning religion and ethics, and structures observations that create knowledge and understanding (Berkes et al. 2000). A worldview that offers appropriate environmental ethics is an indispensable constituent of traditional knowledge and practice for ecologically sustainable outcomes. In the case of the Nisga?a people, at the highest level, people were traditionally tied to animal spirits and the spirits in the land, and all are ultimately connected to the Supreme Being (Figure 2). Figure 2. Nisga?a worldview, adapted from the Nisga?a Tribal Council (1995b) ?? Had responsibilities to behave with proper respect toward animals and the environment ?? Learn by contact with animal spirits People ?? Representative of spirit world ?? Taught the proper modes of respect to animals used as resources ?? Could intervene in human affairs Animal ?and ?land ?spirits ??? Creator ?? Provider Supreme ?Being ? 23 People understood the traditional Nisga?a economic system, which entails proper behavior toward and management of relations between people, land, and animals and plants, as an expression of this relationship. In this view, the economic resources, land and animals, were far from inanimate tools; rather they were spirit and corporeal beings in their own right (Nisga?a Tribal Council 1995b). This statement is evident from the following quote: ?In the Nisga'a worldview we are animus, everything is alive, everything has a soul, and spirit, a perspective on things, a wish to communicate, from itself, a goal in life that it seeks to achieve, and it is living a life, and when it does it becomes something else? (Interviewee 12 2012). The Nisga?a Tribal Council (1995b) states that in the historical scheme of things, animals frequently operated as helping spirits, acting as messengers between particular wilps4 and the Supreme Being. The historic relations between particular wilps and the animal spirits were commemorated through crests, and written for public view on house poles. The crests and house poles were markers of the different wilps? history of relations with spirit and non-spirit animals. Spirits intervened in human affairs and some of the interventions were not benign. Relationships were dual. Animals were helpers and messengers, but people had responsibilities to behave with proper respect toward animals and the environment. Indeed, contact with animal spirits taught Nisga?a people the proper modes of respect for animals used as resources, and the proper conduct that was required when butchering salmon and other animals, and when disposing of unused parts (Nisga?a Tribal Council 1995b). Regarding the contact with animals, Interviewee 3 (2012) mentioned: ?Our people talk to the salmon and we have stories of the salmon also talking, every creature our people believe has a language of their own, the birds of the air, the animals of the forest, the salmon and mammals in the ocean, they all have a language that they 4 House in Nisga?a language, which is an extended family with a shared female forebear 24 use to speak and we have stories of our ancient people talking to these animals, talking to the birds of the air, animals in the forest, they talk to the salmon in the river, you know, the great salmon run in our river? Communicating with animals, and thus with the spiritual power, would be the main reason for the success of different kinds of harvesting activities, even more than people?s skills and knowledge. Therefore, in the Nisga?a worldview, proper behaviour, toward both human society and the animal world, were the conditions for having successful harvesting seasons. Analyzing several Traditional Ecological Knowledge systems, Berkes et al. (2000) were able to show that there is a component of local observational knowledge of species and other environmental phenomena, a component of practice of how people perform their resource use activities, and further, a component of belief regarding how people fit into or relate to eco-systems. With this in mind, in this section traditional forest practices are considered as any interaction between Nisga?a people and the forest ecosystem, and are described under the Nisga?a worldview for using and managing forest ecosystem components such as trees, other plants, wildlife and fish (Figure 3). For instance, trees provide wood and bark, which are then used for building and carving (wood), and for weaving and food (bark). In the same sense, plants have several uses, although the most important are those associated with medicine and spirituality. Finally, fish and wildlife are important sources of food for the Nisga?a people. Although this section is about traditional forest practices, fish and wildlife are mentioned as part of the forest practices, because forests and the streams within them provide habitat for fish and wildlife. In addition, by protecting species at risk, forests are important reserves of biodiversity. 25 Figure 3. Traditional forest practices of the Nisga?a people 3.1. Gangan - Trees in the Nisga?a forest Figure 4 shows the 14 species of trees that were mentioned during the interviews as the most used by the Nisga?a people, as measured by the number of references5 given by the interviewees within the node defined for each species. Western redcedar was the most frequently mentioned tree species throughout the interviews, followed by Sitka spruce, western hemlock, cottonwood and Pacific yew. These species are explained in more detail in this Section; with the remainder being summarized in Table 2 in Section 3.1.6 ?Other trees?. 5 The number of references was one factor used to define the importance of tree species, but also the content provided by the different collaborators for each of the different species was used to determine the importance of the species that was being analyzed. Forest Wildlife Fish People Food, shelter, medicine, wood Respect, stewardship and management 26 Figure 4. Trees used by the study collaborators 3.1.1. Simgan - Western redcedar (Thuja plicata Donn ex D. Don) ?Cedar tree is so useful, they believe that, it makes itself useful, it wants to be useful, so it is important to acknowledge itself giving in its utility and, so again, why it is called the sacred tree, because it gives up itself, to better ourselves to better our life, it is willing to die and make itself more useful to use? (Interviewee 12 2012). Western redcedar is called Simgan in Nisga?a, and the literal translation of this Nisga?a word is real tree. This provides an indication of the importance of redcedar for the Nisga?a people and their survival. The following quotation provides a perspective on the origin of this word and the importance of redcedar in Nisga?a lives: ?Because it was so widely use and heavily depended on, our name for cedar is simgan, it translates to the real tree, or probably closest to the sacred tree. They said when the creator was designing the valley for us, the first tree he planted was cedar, because he knew that we will depend on it so much. The other reason it is known as a simgan, is in 0 20 40 60 80 100 120 Number of references 27 the Nisga'a worldview we are animus, everything is alive, everything has a soul, and spirit, a perspective on things, a wish to communicate, from itself, a goal in life that it seeks to achieve, and it is living a life. And when it dies it becomes something else, so the cedar tree, as soon as it is no longer a cedar tree, the tree is dead, but the things you make from it are born. So, if you make a mask, that mask is considered to be alive, and when it is no longer a mask, it dies, and whatever it becomes is something else? (Interviewee 12 2012). There is thus no doubt that the redcedar is the most highly regarded and most utilized tree by the Nisga?a people. The uses depend on which part of the tree is being used; the most frequently named tree parts during the interviews were wood and bark. People mentioned carving and building as the main uses of redcedar wood developed by the Nisga?a people. The main use of redcedar bark mentioned by interviewees was weaving, as well as its use in smoking fish. Use of the wood According to 10 of the collaborators, redcedar wood was used for carving totem poles, canoes and even masks, because it was easy to manipulate (Interviewee 8 2012). In fact, the Nisga?a people used to trade canoes with the Haida, in a special ceremony when someone was getting married, or just to honour a chief from the other Nation (Interviewee 10 2012). Redcedar wood was used for building longhouses and smokehouses, because it has an even grain, and thus it splits easily. Moreover, this wood last longer because of it chemical properties. Additionally, dried redcedar wood is very light (Interviewee 12 2012). Figure 5 depicts a traditional smokehouse made out of redcedar wood. It is identifiable as a traditional smokehouse by the section on the roof that allows the smoke to circulate. This is mentioned in the quote of Interviewee 11 (2012): ??and it is a traditional smokehouse, my grandfather helped my husband to make it, there are a lot of places for the air to get out, so the smokes circulate? 28 Figure 5. Traditional Smokehouse at Gitwinksihlkw village The use of the redcedar wood in the smoking process was not only associated with the construction of smokehouses, but also it was directly related to fire lighting and the hanging of oolichan fish during the winter. Thus, during the wintertime it was so cold that even starting a fire was a difficult task, which is why the Nisga?a people used redcedar kindling to facilitate the process. The oolichan sticks, which are little poles used to string oolichan fish harvested in late February, March and April, are approximately 40 inches long, just according to the size of the fish (Interviewee 1 2012). 29 In the past, the methods used today to preserve food were unknown, so preserving food for long periods was difficult. However, the Nisga?a people were able to preserve food in small containers for long periods of time. They designed boxes made out of a single piece of redcedar wood (Interviewee 12 2012), known as bentwood boxes that were used to store food (Interviewee 6 2012). The Nisga?a would place the food in layers, separated by a layer of oolichan grease. The box would then be closed with a redcedar wood top and placed in a hole in the ground, covered with soil, and left for up to a year6. The food stored in the box would maintain its freshness and would be ready to be eaten after the box was opened. Use of the bark The bark of the redcedar, hat'a? in Nisga?a, has several uses, with both the inner and the outer bark being used by Nisga?a people. However by far the most mentioned use in the interviews was weaving. Nisga?a people used to have special places where they went to get redcedar bark during May or June. Explaining the bark collection process, Interviewee 6 (2012) recalled: ?We start maybe in June, that is when it is ready to be peeled off the tree. Take about this wide, and then you just pull it up like this, and pull it as far as you can, it would come out maybe about 20-25 feet long, almost to the end of the tree. ? When you are chopping around it, you try not to go too far in, because you are going to ruin the inner bark of the tree, the main tree. So you just try to get the outside part of it, so it doesn't get ruined, and we only take about three pieces off on each tree, so that the next year it grows back. It grows back because the tree is still alive. It is not ruined. That is how we do it with these trees? (Interviewee 6 2012). Weaving the inner bark of the redcedar is one of the most common practices carried out by Nisga?a people, even today. In the past, Nisga?a people used redcedar bark, even for clothing, as indicated in the following quote: 6 Follow up conversation with Interviewee 17, 2012. 30 ?The use for the outer bark, you can beat it and separate it into fine fibers, you can use that to make clothing. The inner bark is a little bit harder. You can strip it and make really flat pieces, and you can use it to make raingear or mats, and baskets? (Interviewee 12, 2012). The practice of bark collection is still common amongst the Nisga?a people. However the use of the bark is changing. Two collaborators mentioned that nowadays the redcedar bark is being used to make wedding gifts and decorations, such as small flowers. Another use of the redcedar bark is in the smoking process. The way the redcedar bark fits into smoking is through its use in stringing oolichan fish during the spring (Interviewee 13 2012). 3.1.1.1. Culturally modified trees Redcedar bark is widely used by the Nisga?a people, as described above. They used to take one portion of the bark off, and the trees that were healthy enough to survive and close the wound are today known as culturally modified trees (CMT). Those trees whose bark started to peel back were cut down and used for other purposes (Interviewee 10 2012). According to Interviewee 12 (2012), when you look at a cross section cut from the main stem of a CMT, it is possible not only to count the rings of the tree to see how old it is, but it is also possible to see (and date) when bark has been removed from the tree. Figure 6 shows a cross-section of a CMT exhibited in the learning room of the Nisga?a Museum. 31 Figure 6. Culturally modified tree from the Nisga?a Land, Nisga?a Museum In relation to the repeated use of particular redcedar trees for bark stripping, Interviewee 12 (2012) recalled that: ?We once found a CMT. The tree was over 700 years old, and it had been used repeatedly for bark. So its bark was taken off, and it healed and they took more bark off in another part and it healed, and they took more bark off in another part and it healed. So over 700 years people repeatedly used this single tree for bark, never taking off more than they needed to, so that it could heal? (Interviewee 12 2012). According to Interviewee 7 (2012), CMTs became a very important part of the treaty negotiations, because the Nisga?a people used them to prove that they had been living in the land they were claiming far before European colonization. 32 3.1.2. See?s - Sitka spruce (Picea sitchensis (Bong.) Carri?re) ?We have another tree. It is called see?s and this tree is one of the biggest trees that used to grow in our territory. The fir, the fir, not the fir, I forgot, I'm losing track of my names, but this tree [occurred] before the logging took place here in the mid-1950s, 1960s. The base of the tree would be 10 feet across, 10-12 feet, and the tree itself would grow up to 3, 4, 5 hundred feet tall, a huge, huge tree. It used to grow in the lower part of our land? (Interviewee 3 2012). Use of the wood The wood of the Sitka spruce, according to two of the collaborators, was traditionally used for firewood during the spring and winter. They mentioned that: ?There is a certain kind of tree that they use also for making firewood, that is gonna give a nice blue flame, and give off nice heat in the winter time. They don't just go and get any kind of trees,?, the Spruce that is full of pitch gives a blue flame ? (Interviewee 4 2012). Use of the bark Traditionally, the bark of the Sitka spruce was used as food. The Nisga?a people used to scrape the inner bark of the spruce, and eat it mixed with other plants, such as wild rice. The name that the Nisga?a people gave to this food was ksuuw?, which means the inner bark of the tree. In fact, as it appears in the Nisga?a First Voices web site (FirstVoices 2011), ksuuw? is defined as ?a food made of processed inner hemlock bark?. However, it seems like this word is used more broadly since one of the interviewees used it to make reference to the inner bark of the spruce: ?The Spruce, again, today the spruce, the sap will be running soon, and it is a thick, thick bark on the spruce, and again is the same thing, you carve out maybe three times this size in a tree. Same thing, you say thank you, I come to harvest the inner bark. And it is called ksuuw?. Ksuuw? is the [name]. You take the bark off, you scrape a very thin layer underneath, it has a very sweet texture, and you can do it in strings, like spaghetti? (Interviewee 1 2012). 33 Use of the branches According to the ancient survival stories of the Nisga?a people, the branches of the Sitka spruce were used to anchor the canoes during the great flood thousands of years ago. Interviewee 3 (2012) recalled that: ?The branches of, of the Spruce tree were used to insure the survival of our Nation at the time of the great flood. The great flood happened 1000s of 1000s of years ago, and they were instructed to make wedges from the branches of the Spruce tree. It is as hard as iron, and they were instructed to make the wedges 2 feet or longer, that would be used, that will be driven into the crack in the rock, as the flood water rose, to anchor the canoes to the mountain ". Another parts of the spruce branches used by the Nisga?a people are the buds, which were used traditionally as a food. The Nisga?a people used to gather the fresh buds of the spruce, which were eaten raw or prepared as a tea, in order to avoid getting sick (Interviewee 11 2012). Later, it was discovered that these buds are important source of vitamin C (Parish 1995). Use of the sap and resin The sap and the resin of the spruce were well-known to the collaborators in this research. Both were identified as having medicinal characteristics that were able to heal blood poisoning (Interviewee 10, 2012) and carbuncles (Interviewee 5, 2012). The medicine was prepared as a poultice and applied to the affected area, leaving no scars on the skin of the patient. Its use is explained in the following quote: ?The pitches have a great medicinal quality, same as the Spruce sap, and the resin that comes from the Spruce. Hey, you can make a poultice out of the Spruce resin, along with its needles. Say you have a blood poison infection, or gangrene: make a poultice, put it on and cover it up for a couple of days. Pull it out; you could see all the matter coming out pulled out by this poultice. It doesn't leave any scars, that is the beauty of all this. There are no scars wherever you applied? (Interviewee 10 2012). 34 Another collaborator indicated that spruce sap also had other uses: ?[Her father] couldn't move, couldn't do nothing. Then my grandmother went over to see her father, take a look at him and then left, went back to the bush here, and found a Spruce tree. A lot of sap coming out of it, coming out of the tree, put it in a can, then she went back to the house and start cleaning it, cleaning the sap. There was no cure for the carbuncle, but she like anyone else asked permission to use it on him? (Interviewee 5 2012). Use of the roots Together with redcedar, the spruce is used for weaving mats, baskets, rope and even raingear. However, rather than the bark, it is the long roots that grow following water sources that are used: ?Big spruce trees growing beside swamps and waterways, and their roots will go a long way and, they become really long and really thin. You can pull those over the ground, and they are really good for twisting into rope or to weaving and making things like raingear, mats, and baskets? (Interviewee 12 2012). 3.1.3. Giikw - Western hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla (Raf.) Sarg.) ?The other species is the Hemlock? (Interviewee 1 2012). Use of the wood Traditionally hemlock was used mainly for firewood, but rather than using it for smoking in the smokehouse, Nisga?a people used it for heating their houses and other buildings such as the school, as stated in the following quote: ?When they had the old school here, all they burnt was Hemlock. And they did the same thing. They left the bigger trees there, and there are always trees standing, and then just cut down the kind of smaller ones, the ones that are easier to handle? (Interviewee 7 2012). 35 Another use for hemlock wood is the poles for hanging fish in the smokehouse. The reason for using hemlock wood is primarily its growth form: the tree has long, thin branches. However, according to one of the collaborators, it also seems to have antibacterial properties, which is consistent with its high tannin content (Interviewee 11 2012). Another traditional use associated with hemlock wood is the poles for supporting the nets used to catch oolichans during the winter. As described in one of the interviews, approximately 40 years ago, the river used to freeze, enabling the Nisga?a people to do ice fishing. This involved digging, in the direction of the river current, two long, thin holes through the ice about 40 feet apart, big enough to let the net go through it. Once they finished digging the holes, the hemlock poles were used to introduce the fishing net through the up-river hole. The net would pass under the ice, coming up at the down-river hole. Using the hemlock poles, the fishers would pull the net up to get the oolichans (Interviewee 11 2012). Use of the bark Eating the inner bark of the western hemlock is one of the main traditional forest practices of the Nisga?a people. This plays an important role in their culture, for this reason they have a word for the inner bark of hemlock. This word is ksuuw?, which means a food made of processed inner hemlock bark, despite that this Nisga?a word is also used to refer to the inner bark of other species: ?We also eat some cambium, the sap, from different species, hemlock. It has a really mushy and soft part. In June, you have to cut it down and strip the bark off and you take the bark and scrape it. It is called ksuuw?, and you either dry that, and in the winter time it is so good and you mix it with, we call it dayks, oolichan grease and fresh snow? (Interviewee 13 2012). 36 Although its collection is one of the most important forest practices, mentioned several times by seven of the research collaborators, it is not practiced today. Indeed, while some interviewees were aware of the practice, none had tried this traditional dessert themselves. The inner bark of the hemlock was used not only as a dessert in the past, but also had medicinal value. In the case described by the collaborator, the patient had swallowed a quarter, and the inner bark of hemlock mixed with hot water helped the patient clean out their digestive system (Interviewee 10 2012). Use of the branches Finally, the Nisga?a people traditionally used the branches of hemlock, as well as the wood, for fishing. In this case, as explained in one of the interviews, the Nisga?a people used the branches in the herring spawning areas to collect the eggs of the herrings: ?They used to use the hemlock branches when they were getting herring eggs. They put the branch in the water, down on the coast, and then the herring will spawn in the branch, and then they will have herring eggs on hemlock branches? (Interviewee 11 2012). After the branches were covered with herring eggs, they would be cooked. The hemlock branches imparted a special flavour to the eggs, highly appreciated by the Nisga?a people (Interviewee 11 2012). 3.1.4. Amm?aal - Black cottonwood (Populus balsamifera ssp. trichocarpa (Torr. et A. Gray) Brayshaw) ?Cottonwood is the most plentiful tree on the lower river edges ? it is mainly used today for the smoking of salmon products? (Interviewee 3 2012). 37 Use of the wood In the past the Nisga?a people used the wood of cottonwood for making short-term canoes. The Nisga?a name for canoe is amm?aal, which means that people can make a good canoe out of the cottonwood (Interviewee 7 2012; Interviewee 17 2012). As mentioned in the interviews, the timber of cottonwood is very heavy when fresh, but once it dries out, it becomes very light. Thus, people were able to carve very light canoes that were used to travel the river. These canoes were used to carry a single person, in contrast to the much larger, heavier, ocean-going canoes carved from western redcedar (Interviewee 7 2012). The tree species used as fuel in smokehouses vary depending on the intensity of the fire needed to smoke the salmon. During summer, less heat is needed, and therefore cottonwood is used as firewood (Interviewee 10 2012). The Nisga?a people did not cut down cottonwood trees to use in smoking salmon. Instead, people sought dead cottonwood trees, which they called rotten cottonwood. This wood has started to decay, and burns slowly. The process is known as cold smoking, and the objective is to use the smoke rather than the heat to prepare the fish. Therefore, in warm weather, the Nisga?a people would use very old cottonwood, quite fluffy and very dry, and some people would even put some water on the wood so that it burned more slowly. Otherwise, if there was a fire in smokehouse with a lot of heat, the fish would cook, and therefore would not last long as smoked fish, which according to one of the research collaborators could last about 12 months (Interviewee 11 2012; Interviewee 12 2012). 38 3.1.5. Haxwdakw - Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia Nutt.) ?There is another tree that very rarely grows on Nisga'a Land. This tree is called haxwdakw in Nisga'a, haxwdakw, and today is called the Yew wood, and it is found mainly on the coastal region of the Province of British Columbia? (Interviewee 3 2012). Use of the wood As described by the interviewees, the yew wood has a fine grain and it is heavy in nature, so the wood is very strong. That is why the Nisga?a people used to make bows and arrows out of it. A bow in Nisga'a is called haxwdakw (Interviewee 11 2012). According to Interviewee 10 (2012), not only bows and arrows were made out of yew wood, but also spikes and hooks, because the wood is very strong and has a high value. It is so scarce that people were not allowed to just go and get it. Instead, they had to seek permission from the owners of the territories to harvest it. Another important traditional use of yew wood identified by three research collaborators is for medicine. One of them mentioned that it could be boiled and then drunk as a tea or tonic (Interviewee 10 2012). Interviewee 5 (2012) stated that there was a man in the Haida Gwaii who used to prepare drops made out of yew wood, an extract of this story is found in the following quote: ?There was a man over the Queen Charlotte Island. He made some medicine for Stewart. It came in a little bottle and it lasted 60 days, and I really, I can say, I testify to medicine made from trees, that it really does work? (Interviewee 5 2012). Today, there are still people taking medicine made from yew wood. And there are some who firmly believe that yew wood is a powerful medicine that could be used for cancer prevention and treatment: 39 ?And as a matter of fact, that is one of the medicines that our people took, that is Yew wood, for cancer, even the scientists were using the bark from it for cancer treatment? (Interviewee 10 2012). The information provided by Interviewee 10 (2012), is confirmed by several studies, such as those of Jenning et al. (1992), Strobel et al. (1994) and Lee et al. (2012). These authors state that an anti-cancer compound taxol (paclitaxel) is present in yew trees. Taxol is active against advanced refractory ovarian cancer, as well as breast cancer (Strobel et al. 1994), and it is undergoing clinical trials for efficacy against a variety of other cancers (Lee et al. 2012). The yew wood is the only tree that the Nisga?a people have difficulties obtaining. As mentioned by one of the interviewees, only certain people were meant to find the yew wood, and even this required some luck (Interviewee 4 2012). As described by Interviewee 11 (2012), the yew grows on the coast, with just a few in the valley. The main reason (according to the interviewees) is the absence of salt water in the valley. Interviewee 11 stated that it was easier to find it in their outer islands; one of the places where the Nisga?a people obtain yew wood is Metlakatla, in Alaska. Metlakatla is where Interviewee 11 obtained the yew wood used as a gift for another research collaborator during one of interviews. The Nisga?a people would get this precious wood from Alaska, which they exchanged for products and food that is not possible to get in Alaska, such as bags of dried fish and oolichan grease. 3.1.6. Other trees Table 2 summarizes the remaining trees mentioned by the collaborators during their interviews. For a more detailed description see Appendix B. 40 Table 2. Other trees uses by the Nisga?a people Nisga'a name Common name Scientific name Traditional Use Luux Red alder Alnus rubra Bong. Firewood for smoking oolichan (I12, I15); Kitchen utensils and artwork carving (I1); bark used for medicine (I10); roots used to make rope and waterproof clothes (I16) K?ookst Douglas maple Acer glabrum var. douglasii (Hook.) Dippel Intricate carving (I13), building houses (I1), making the frame for snowshoes (I13), sleds (I10), bows and arrows (I11, I12) Sgwinee?e Yellow cedar Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach Poles to build the frames of longhouses (I1), carving (I1), medicine against cold (I10) Ho'oks (alda) Amabilis fir Abies amabilis (Dougl. Ex Loud.) Dougl. Ex Forbes. Planks to build houses (I7), the inner bark was edible (I13), the pitch and sap have medicinal properties (I10) Haawak? Paper birch Betula papyrifera Marsh. Firewood (I7), the bark of the birch was used as a candle (I11), construction of sleds (I10) Sginist Lodgepole pine Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm. Dougl. ex Loud. Firewood (I11), pitch has medicinal properties (I13) S?'an-milks Pacific crab apple Malus fusca (Raf.) C.K. Schneid. Hammers used during the oolichan fishing process (I11), the berry is edible (I6&I12) Ambokkw Trembling aspen Populus tremuloides Michx. Firewood to smoke salmon (I13) Xlaahl Pacific willow/ red willow Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra (Benth.) E. Murr. Used as a hardwood, with no specification of a certain use (I13)7 7 No information was reported for a Nisga?a use of xlaahl for food, medicinal, spiritual, ceremonial or technological purposes, nor was there information noted in the Nisga?a literature consulted. However, since two names exist for willow, it is possible that they were used by the Nisga?a. One collaborator recalled that when sun-drying oolichans, it is best to remove them before the willows break bud, otherwise the smell from these buds gives oolichans a bitter taste. Another collaborator who knew that aspirin and other pain medicines containing salicyclic acid were based on this compound from willows thought that it was likely that the Nisga?a would have developed a use for willows to control pain, even though she couldn?t recall such a use (Burton 2012). 41 3.2. S?'an - Plants in the Nisga?a forest Figure 7 shows the main Nisga?a forest plants used and described by the collaborators during the interviews. Devils? club is the most used and known plant by the collaborators, and for Nisga?a people in general, as stated by Burton (2012). According to this author, Devils? club has important medicinal and spiritual characteristics that are of great use for the Nisga?a people. Other important plants are the different kinds of berries that grow on the Nisga?a land, including but not limited to blueberries, soapberries, and salmonberries. These berries represent an important source of food for Nisga?a people, even nowadays. Other plants shown in Figure 7, such as Indian hellebore, Labrador tea, and ferns are described in more detail in the following subsections together with Devils? club and berries. The rest of the plants in Figure 7 are summarized in Table 4. Figure 7. Plants described by the study collaborators 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 Number of references 42 For the sake of data visualization, in Figure 7, the different kinds of berries used by the Nisga?a people were grouped together as ?berries?. As a result, it could appear that berries are as important as Devil?s club for the Nisga?a. However, Devil?s club undoubtedly had more references compared to each of the different berries discussed by the collaborators in their interviews. 3.2.1. Wa?ums - Devil?s club (Oplopanax horridus (Sm.) Miq.) ?Medicinal kind of plants, Devil's club, would be the first one to come to mind. It was known as Devil's club by non-Nisga?a, as you can imagine, if you were an explorer. It is unique to the west coast of North America. I'm not sure what its range is north and south, but I know, you get a little bit of it in the Rockies, and nowhere else. So east of the Rockies nothing, and there is probably very little of it in between the Rockies and us, but certainly on the coast here it is quite abundant. It grows in every wet little cranny and crack, along the edges of swamps, along the edges of creeks, wherever there is enough light. So if the tree canopy opens up, Devil's club would be there? (Interviewee 12 2012). According to the descriptions made by the collaborator, Devil?s club seems to be the most widely used plant by the Nisga?a people. In fact, according to Burton (2012), Wa?ums, as devil?s club is called in Nisga?a, is highly regarded by most Nisga?a. Its principal use is for medicine. Other uses mentioned were for the preparation of traditional ceremonies, and its use as an air purifier in houses. Nine collaborators mentioned that Devil?s club had a medicinal use. Two specifically mentioned that it would help to clean a person?s system. This is mainly because, as mentioned by Interviewee 12 (2012), the plant has diuretic properties. The same collaborator explained that wa?ums has emetic properties, which means that by drinking great quantities, it would induce people to vomit and would also provoke diarrhea. In fact, if people drank wa?ums tea over a long period of time, they would start to sweat, and smell like it (Interviewee 12 2012). 43 One of the interviewees mentioned that the entire plant was used for medicinal purposes, from the leaves to the bark. The same interviewee stated that if the plant had berries on it, these would also be used for medicine (Interviewee 8 2012). However, Interviewee 13 (2012) stated that there is a certain time of the year when the harvesting of Devil?s club should be done. According to this collaborator, harvesting should be done very early in the spring before the sap starts to flow, otherwise it could be toxic if done at the wrong time. The following quote from Interviewee 5 details the medicinal power of wa?ums (bearing in mind that this a medicine made out of several ingredients, with the main one being haxwdakw, in combination with wa?ums): ?His mother also made medicine from Devil's club. I'm one that took her medicine. I was supposed to die, and I'm 61 years old, and this happened when I was 24. I had a tumour in my tummy. Well, they found out that it was growing so rapidly, they let me come home and see my three children. I made arrangements for everything and I went back. In those days I was here. She made me have some medicine and when I got back to the doctor in Prince Rupert, I was supposed to go for my surgery. They couldn't found anything? (Interviewee 5 2012). In addition to preparing tea out of wa?ums and drinking it to clean the system, other collaborators mentioned that wa?ums was also used for bathing (Interviewee 11 2012; Interviewee 12 2012). According to Interviewee 12 (2012), people used to bath in wa?ums because of its antibacterial properties. Thus, people would add wa?ums to their bathing water, and it would take all their body toxins, giving them a sharper body and mind (Interviewee 1 2012). The characteristics described above make wa?ums the ideal plant to be used in cleansing ceremonies. According to Interviewee 12 (2012), in these kind of ceremonies wa?ums diuretic and emetic properties are very important because the person going through this purifying process wants to flush everything out of their body as quickly as possible. In the following lines there is a 44 quote from Interviewee 12, describing a cleansing ceremony called sisatkw (Full quote in Appendix C): ?We have a ritual called ?sisatkw?, which literally translates to making days. Almost, perhaps, it is a meaning for extending your life, or, similar to doing your time. It was a month long ritual, where you would fast for four days period, drinking [and] bathing in Devil?s club, and nothing else. And over those four days you would isolate yourself from your family and community, focusing only on yourself. So you are meditating and praying, cleaning yourself mentally as well, by not dwelling on things, nobody else to interrupt the ceremony. At the end of the month long ritual, they say you are clean in mind, body and spirit, and you smell like Devil's club, and you do the ceremony, say, before you went hunting, or before you went into a public ceremony where you would be round a lot of people? (Interviewee 12 2012). Even though wa?ums is a powerful medicinal plant, there are some risks associated with its inappropriate use. As mentioned by Interviewee 12 (2012), there is a warning that comes with this knowledge of devil's club tea, and what it can give to people. In the Nisga?a worldview, devil's club is considered to be very rough and very violent. Therefore, devil's club would be very hard on someone who is fragile. For instance, if people are very old, or very young, if they are pregnant, or they are already very sick, taking devil's club tea can hurt them more than it would help them. Being in this situation, they would look to other plants like ferns to help ease the power of devil?s club, ferns being considered to be very kind and gentle. For this reason, if they are bathing in devil's club, they might include some fern in the bathtub, so that the ripping and tearing from the devils' club is eased, or lessened, by the presence of the fern. Finally, in addition to the medicinal uses of wa?ums, some of the collaborators mentioned that this plant was used in houses for different purposes. For instance, some stated that wa?ums could be used in the house to purify the air (Interviewee 2 2012; Interviewee 13 2012), and also to protect the house from bad spirits (Interviewee 11 2012). 45 3.2.2. Maay? - Berries Berries are the second most used plants from the Nisga?a forest, and according to Interviewee 8 (2012), July and August are the months when the Nisga?a people should be looking at picking berries, although the season generally starts around mid-June. Table 3 summarizes the different berries mentioned by the collaborators during the interviews (For more details see Appendix D). Table 3. Most common berries used by the Nisga?a people Nisga'a name Common name Scientific name Traditional Use Huksa?alt Oval-leaf blueberry Vaccinium ovalifolium Sm. Preserved in jars and also dried for winter (I8), mixed with oolichan grease in order to treat a certain illness (I8) Is Soapberry Shepherdia canadensis (L.) Nutt. Used to prepare Indian ice cream (I12), this dessert would have laxative properties (I8); as drinking potion, it could help to treat arthritis, and also would have some energizing properties (I8); face cream. Miik?ookst Salmonberry Rubus spectabilis Pursh The berries and the sprouts of the plant were eaten (I10) Loots? Elderberry Sambucus racemosa L. Mixed together with other berries, all pressed together (I12); used as a medicine to clean the system of the person taking it (I15) T?ipyees Stonecrop berry Sedum divergens S. Watson The berry is eaten mixed with oolichan grease, and some sugar (I13) Naasik' Raspberry Rubus idaeus L. Used to make raspberry vinegar, something like syrup, which they would mix with water getting as a result something similar to a pop (I11) 46 Interviewee 6 (2012) recalled the preparation of most of the berries: ?There is a lot of things you can get out of the forest. The blueberries, the blackberries, the huckleberries, those are our desserts, eh. And those things ? you used to dry them. You used to squish them first and put them on a flat surface, a clean flat surface. And then when they are dried, you put the juice you got out of it, and poured [it] over them to keep them together. And when that side is dried you turn it over and then you put some more on the other side. You do that maybe a couple of days until you run out the juice, you do the same thing with the soapberries. That is how they used to keep it in the winter? (Interviewee 6 2012). 3.2.3. Ts'iks - Indian hellebore (Veratrum viride Aiton) ?The False hellebore, we call it ts'iks. It is on the ground and it come up really high like this, and we dig out the roots. It?s also one of our cures, and to keep the bad humor away. It is something like a lucky charm? (Interviewee 6 2012). According to Interviewee 11 (2012), old people believed that ts'iks was a poisonous plant; although this collaborator stated that this plant was not poisonous. Instead, the plant is a paralyzer but, in the words of Interviewee 12 (2012), still quite toxic: ?It's considered quite toxic. If you have a cut and you put hellebore on it, you could be killing yourself. It's paralytic ? if you eat it you become paralyzed, and be unable to breathe. I don't know whether you die from not breathing before you die from your heart not beating, but one of them will stop and then you die? (Interviewee 12 2012). Even though some Nisga?a considered ts?iks poisonous, this plant was used to treat arthritis. As mentioned by Interviewee 11 (2012), it was used as a topical to reduce pain, a kind of natural anesthetic. In this sense, according to Interviewee 12 (2012), because it has paralytic properties, some people used it to reduce the pain from toothache: ?I heard different people talk about using it as something for tooth sickness. You chew on it and then take the tooth sick away. I also know that there is a woman in this village who had to rush to the hospital because she chewed a little too long? (Interviewee 12 2012). 47 As discussed by Interviewee 11 (2012), due to language constraints while doing the Nisga'a phrase dictionary, this plant used to get confused with another plant. Thus, ts'iks was included in the dictionary as another plant called ?'ots, False Solomon?s seal (Maianthemum racemosum (L.) Link ssp. amplexicaule (Nutt.) LaFrankie), which is a harmless plant used for medicine. According to Interviewee 11 (2012), ?'ots has a wonderful berry on it and the flowers smell wonderful, therefore, it would be very difficult to confuse it with ts'iks, which is a bigger plant. Nonetheless, this collaborator recalled that: ? A few years ago in this village, cause it was written down that it was something else ? hearing how good it was, a couple of young girls here thought they were going to have some of this to lose weight. So they drank it, they ended up getting medevac?ed to the hospital, because they started to get paralyzed from it? (Interviewee 11 2012). Another use for ts'iks mentioned was as a talisman; it was believed that carrying the root of ts'iks would keep away bad spirits or bad intentions (Interviewee 12 2012). Interviewee 12 (2012) mentioned that to avoid the harm of bad spirits, ts'iks could be added to bath water, which would invigorate and clean the body of the person bathing in it. 3.2.4. Tiim laxlax?u - Labrador tea (Rhododendron groenlandicum (Oeder) Kron & Judd) ?And there is something they call Labrador Tea, or whatever they call it. Very sweet tea that we still drink today, and our people know it as Tiim laxlax?u. It is a swamp plant. You take the leaves off, and make sure there isn't sap, because it doesn't work that well when there is too much sap in it? (Interviewee 10 2012). According to four collaborators, Tiim laxlax?u was prepared as a tea for refreshment as well as for medicine. Interviewee 8 (2012) mentioned that the aroma of the tea would open the nose and clear a dry throat. Interviewee 11 (2012) stated that this tea should be picked in springtime. Picking in the summertime was not recommended because it is harder to do so. The reasons why it is difficult are explained in the following quote: 48 ?I don't like picking in the summer time, because, number one, my grandmother taught me, was that after flowering it is not as powerful and they are harder to pick because you get the new shoots which are on top, and you are supposed to pick the leaves that are orange underneath, which are old shoots. And then you have all the shrubs around it, so they are harder to pick in the summer time. In the spring time is really easy, but I didn't get it in the spring? (Interviewee 11 2012). Interviewee 8 (2012) further explained how to know when is the right time to pick the leaves of the Tiim laxlax?u. In doing so, this collaborator mentioned that the Nisga?a people used to check the length of the leaves, thus, if the leaves are still shorter than a certain length by the middle of July or early August, then they are growing slowly and not ready to pick. However, if they have reached this length, they are fully-grown and ready to be picked. 3.2.5. T?uuna?akw ? Bulrush or Cattail (Typha latifolia L.) ?It is usually in April and early May when you go and pick it. There is only one place in the Valley where it is the sweetest. That is Fishery Bay camp down in Greenville? (Interviewee 10 2012). According to Interviewee 17 (2012), it was the root of the t?uuna?akw that was used as a food. The same collaborator mentioned that this root could be dried out and made it into flour, which ultimately would be used to prepare bread. In another description of this plant, Interviewee 10 (2012) mentioned that they used to pick it as a way of satisfying the old people, because they were in need of someone to assist them. This collaborator recalled this as: ?You see these old people acting like children again, laughing about what they are having. And the memories are brought back, as the most pleasant sounding thing in my own mind, hearing them tell stories like children. They are old people, like myself now, but they are very old, and some were very ? well I wouldn?t call exactly helpless, but needed someone to assist them? (Interviewee 10 2012). As mentioned in the preceding chapters, Indigenous knowledge is transmitted from generation to generation by oral stories, and this example indicates how it works. While Interviewee 10 (2012) 49 was remembering how they used to please the old people it was mentioned that this was unique, because elders never asked young people to go and pick the food for them. Instead, the old people would tell them stories about what they used to do when they were young, and that was the signal for the young people to go and pick what the elders wanted. 3.2.6. Damtx ? Ferns ?Ferns are considered to be very kind and very gentle, and when we're wiping fish, for example, we would take the fern, and wipe its body with the fern, help easing the soul out of that fishes' body, so it doesn't to feel the knife against its flesh and we had it open? (Interviewee 12 2012). As ferns, according to the Nisga?a worldview, were considered kind and gentle, they were mainly used when preparing salmon for smoking (Interviewee 11 2012; Interviewee 12 2012). They were also used in cleansing ceremonies to diminish the effects of devil?s club on the person carrying out the ceremony: ?If you are bathing in devil's club, you might put it in your bath tub. In the current context, might put some fern in the bath with you as well, so that the ripping and tearing from the devils' club is eased, or lessened, I guess, by the presence of the fern? (Interviewee 12 2012). As stated by Interviewee 10 (2012), the Nisga?a people used to collect fiddleheads. This collaborator mentioned this as if it was a separate plant, but fiddleheads are simply the furled fronds of a young fern harvested for use as a vegetable (Burton 2012). According to Burton (2012), the name of the plant that Interviewee 10 is referring to is bracken (Pteridium aquilinum (L.) Kuhn). However, in her dissertation, she stated that there was no information reported or recorded for Nisga?a use of this plant; she mentions that the Tlingit people used to eat the young fiddleheads. Apparently, it seems that just some community members are aware of the use of this 50 fern, because none of Burton?s collaborators make any mention about this. In my research, only one out of the 17 collaborators mentioned eating fiddleheads: ?The other plant we use is almost universal and that is fiddlehead. When they first start sprouting in early spring, they look like bear claws. That is the best time. When one of my grand aunts used to pick it, I helped her with a big bag, and she used to [draw] them. Boy, they were delicious? (Interviewee 10 2012). Another aspect that was not mentioned by Interviewee 10 is the fact that in Burton?s dissertation it is stated that the Tsimshian (Gitga?at) people considered the roots of bracken to be poisonous. Some studies, as old as Evans & Mason (1965), and as new as Gil da Costa et al. (2012), relate bracken to carcinogenic effects on humans and animals. According to Gil da Costa et al. (2012), some human populations, for instance in Japan, in the Ouro Preto area in Brazil, and in Canada also eat bracken crosiers (another name for the young, unfurled fronds of bracken) as a delicacy, known as warabi, as broto de samambaia and as fiddleheads, respectively. The authors state that even cooked or salted bracken has been shown to keep some of its carcinogenic potential and bracken-eating Brazilians showed increased chromosomal aberrations in peripheral blood leukocytes, compared with non-bracken eating controls. Nevertheless, in contrast to previous studies on farm and laboratory animals, there has been no association observed between bracken fern consumption and high bladder cancer mortality in New England and or increased bladder cancer risk in Canada, where bracken furled fronds are eaten. 51 3.2.7. Other plants Table 4 summarizes the other plants mentioned during the interviews. Table 4. Other Nisga?a plants less frequently mentioned by the collaborators Nisga'a name Common name Scientific name Use Gasgam ts'im ts'eets'iks Northern rice-root Fritillaria camschatcensis (L.) Ker Gawl Used as a food, mixed with ksuuw? (I1, I6), or with sugar and grease (I4) Amhlalxw or maa? hlalxw Red osier dogwood Cornus stolonifera Michx Used when boiling oolichans to impart flavor (I11, I12); also used as pain medication (I11) Ham?oo? Cow parsnip Heracleum maximum Bartram Kind of vegetable (I11); also used as a straw (I11) K'ots False Solomon's seal Maianthemum racemosum (L.) Link ssp. amplexicaule (Nutt.) LaFrankie Could be used for medicine (I11); also used for house decoration (I11) Sdatx Stinging nettle Urtica dioica L. Used as a tea (I15) Bilak Moss --- Medicinal use, it has antibiotics in it (I17) --- Common plantain Plantago major L. Used to alleviate rashes on the skin (I11) --- Holly-leaved barberry Mahonia aquifolium (Pursh) Nutt. Used as food, the berry is edible (I17) 3.3. G?ayda ts?uuts? - Fungi in the Nisga?a forest Eight collaborators discussed or mentioned something about fungi in the Nisga?a forest. In doing so, the one most frequently commented on was the Pine mushroom, with all eight mentioning this species. The other species that was mentioned by one of the eight collaborators was Amanita muscaria. 52 3.3.1. Pine mushroom (Tricholoma magnivelare (Peck) Redhead) ?The Nisga'a never had, I don't think they did anything with pine mushroom, or mushrooms per se. I don't know why, other than that it was just called a hat for a bird. That is the Nisga'a name for it, hat for a bird; bird sits under the big mushroom, sit under there. Other than that, it wasn't until the 80's, the early 80's, that pine mushrooms, and picking mushrooms became predominant? (Interviewee 17 2012). It seems that pine mushrooms were traditionally of no interest to the Nisga?a people. Interviewee 7 (2012) stated outright that mushrooms were not important to the Nisga?a people, as they never ate them. However, according to Interviewee 14 (2012), the interest in pine mushrooms started in a very singular way. As described by this collaborator: ?We had a funeral one year ? a few years ago. My grandson's father was a Japanese, on his father?s side. , We have a graveyard above our village where there are pines, pine trees. During the funeral ceremony this man walked in the forest, where there was mushroom, and he picked it. He knew what it was, pine mushroom, nobody knew what it was. Japanese cooked it, and then he told people what they were, that they were valuable plants? (Interviewee 14 2012). After the Nisga?a people were introduced to mushroom picking, they started going out to collect mushrooms, although they did not know how to do it, or even what to look for (Interviewee 1 2012; Interviewee 14 2012). Three of the collaborators agreed that this activity was very lucrative, but at the same time very disrupting for the ecosystem. Interviewee 17 (2012) recalled: ?Back in the bush here, there are areas, when the mushrooming was good. I could make a thousand dollars a day picking mushrooms. Ten days, 10,000 dollars, every day, picking pine mushroom, and you could do that year after year. Same areas produce a lot of mushroom? (Interviewee 17 2012). Mushroom picking generated a lot of income because in the best period there were about ten to fifteen buyers from different companies competing for the mushrooms from each picker. 53 Therefore, the price would rise exponentially; it has even reached $150 a pound when the mushrooms were scarce. Nonetheless, about fifteen years ago, according to Interviewee 11 (2012), the buyers all joined together into a single company located in Vancouver. As a result, while there are still fifteen buyers, all of them belong to the same company. This has created a monopoly, eliminating competition amongst the buyers and reducing the prices paid to pickers. Being so lucrative, this activity attracted a great number of mushroom pickers. It became very disruptive to the ecosystem, since people did not know how to harvest the pine mushrooms. As a result, the Nisga?a Lisims Government decided to manage the resource, and at the same time, to control the harvesting, through the issue of mushroom picking permits. About this Interviewee 1 (2012) commented: ?The pine mushroom ? you need a permit. And the reason for that, of course, is that it?s been commercialized, and very lucrative. Years back when it was first introduced to us, 20 years ago, the pine mushroom, was very lucrative, so our government thought that we need to managed it, to the extent it will be available every year? (Interviewee 1 2012). Certain harvesting areas are reserved for Nisga?a people. Nisga?a and non-Nisga?a can apply for picking permits, but non-Nisga?a people have to pay more for the permits. The reason for this, according to Interviewee 7 (2012), is that non-Nisga?a people do more damage to the forest. The same collaborator stated that by the end of the mushroom picking season, the Nisga?a pickers were collecting garbage and packing empty cans left in the forest by non-Nisga?a pickers, in an attempt to keep the picking areas clean. 54 3.3.2. Fly amanita (Amanita muscaria (L.) Lam.) One collaborator mentioned that because of the hallucinogenic properties of amanita the Nisga?a people used to prepare a drug from it. This collaborator recalled that: ?They would make certain kinds of hallucinogenic, basically drug, that would help you walk a long way. They just put it on their tongue and suck it all day, walks miles, and miles, hunting. I don't know what it is, what the recipe is now, I suspect it's a certain type of Amanita muscaria mushroom, that's grows here, certain white red light mushroom. You look at some of the stories, they've must have been making drugs? (Interviewee 17 2012). This kind of drug is mentioned in the Origins (Nisga?a Tribal Council 1995a). This volume explains how the Nisga?a communities were settled in the Nass Valley, and they talk about the chief of heaven, and his grandson. In one of the trips the grandson made to the house of the chief of heaven, he used the drug mentioned by Interviewee 17 (2012). According to the Nisga?a Tribal Council (1995a), the grandson was going from one village to another, and in each village there were guardians, and he gave this drug to them, so that he would be allowed to enter the village, and at the same time avoid being betrayed by the guardians. 3.4. Hoon ? Fish ?There is the Moon. If it is sitting like a bowl, and it got a start there, we are gonna have great abundance, with all the four seasons that the Nisga'a people have. We have a season, like right now, it is the Miso?o and then we do all our fish? (Interviewee 5 2012). Fish are so important for the Nisga?a people that even their calendar season starts with the fishing season: oolichan fishing in early April. In the words of Interviewee 8 (2012): ?First is the oolichan cycle, that goes up in the river. Then next thing in the season is called the Chinook salmon. That is when the people start using nets. Some people still use nets, but majority of us use rod and reel, just to trying to keep the stock, the stock of Chinook salmon? (Interviewee 8 2012). 55 According to Interviewee 12 (2012), the Nass River has been more constant in its produce than the other rivers in the region. The same collaborator stated that it has good fish runs every year, both of oolichans and salmon. 3.4.1. Saak ? Oolichans (Thaleichthys pacificus Richardson) ?For the oolichan, for the small fish we harvest in late February, March and April: that is when you look it and it comes? (Interviewee 1 2012). Oolichan start in February and continue until April. As stated by Interviewee 8 (2012), because the Nisga?a people harvest their resources on a seasonal basis, they wait until their first cultural feast, which is determined by what they call the ?sacred fish? or the ?saviour fish?. This signifies the start of the fishing season. According to Interviewee 14 (2012), oolichan used to save the Nisga?a people. These fish contain important fats, such as linoleic and omega 3 fatty acids. They also contain protein, calcium and vitamins. While oolichan can be eaten fresh, half-smoked and smoked (Wilford & Maloney 1998), the Nisga?a people used to smoke it, dry it, and boil it to produce grease, which is of great value for them (Interviewee 14 2012). Most of the oolichan harvest is converted into oolichan grease, a nutritious dietary fat. The grease is an essential ingredient in traditional food. In the past, grease was traded up and down the coast and the interior as far as Prince George. Today, grease remains very valuable and is traded for other essential traditional foods, such as herring roe and seaweed (Wilford & Maloney 1998). Interviewee 11 (2012) mentioned that the Nisga?a people used to fish for oolichan on the ice, because the river used to freeze up each winter. They would dig holes in the ice, as described in 56 Section 3.1.3. However, the same collaborator stated that nowadays the fishing is done from a boat, and it is harder because the ice has broken up and is coming down the river. Interviewee 10 (2012) stated that oolichan used to spawn further up the river, past the New Aiyansh (Gitlaxt'aamiks village) community, which is the northernmost Nisga?a village. The same collaborator described how today oolichans spawn close to the bridge that goes to Greenville (Lax?g?alts'ap village). This collaborator believes that the spawning areas are moving further and further downriver towards the coast. Another collaborator indicated that there are some oolichan spawning areas close to Canyon city (Gitwinksihlkw Village) where the forest is going to be logged, which could affect the spawning areas (Interviewee 14, 2012). Forest practices can alter the habitat suitability through sediment production, changes to peak stream flows, and physical impacts to spawning reaches (Wilford & Maloney 1998). However, it is not only forestry practices that can be responsible for a decline in oolichan stocks. Other causes include marine productivity and predation, when the larvae move to the ocean, and by-catch in fisheries, mainly from shrimp trawling. Moreover, pollution may damage the immune system of the fish, and lower their reproductive ability through hormone mimicry. Finally, natural variations in streamflow volumes and water quality affect spawning ability, as well as egg survival (Wilford & Maloney 1998). 3.4.2. Pacific Salmon (Oncorhynchus spp) ?Every creature our people believe has a language of their own. They all have a language that they use to speak and we have stories of our ancient people talking to the salmon in the river, the great salmon run in our river? (Interviewee 3 2012). The Nass River salmon run mentioned by Interviewee 3 (2012) above comprised the different species described in Table 5. 57 Table 5. Pacific salmon species that spawn in the Nass River. Nisga'a Name Common Name Scientific Name Run season milit Steelhead Oncorhynchus mykiss Walbaum Spring-run: March to the end-of-May; Fall-run: Mid-August to mid-December ya'a Chinook / Spring salmon Oncorhynchus tshawytscha Walbaum Mid-April to end-of-August ee? Coho salmon Oncorhynchus kisutch Walbaum August to mid-November ??a?it Dog salmon Oncorhynchus keta Walbaum Mid-July to August sdim?oon Pink salmon Oncorhynchus gorbuscha Walbaum July to mid-September miso'o Sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka Walbaum Mid-June to end-of-September According to Interviewee 1 (2012), by May and June salmon come to spawn in the river (referring mainly to ya'a and miso'o, in Table 5), then by August and September they finish in the spawning areas. This collaborator emphasized that people must never go to the spawning areas, because only natural processes happen there, such as the bears that survive from the fish. People must let it happen, therefore no human activities or development are allowed in those areas. The Nisga?a people depend on salmon, which is why when they are fishing for salmon, they do the same that they do with the forest; they talk to the salmon when they want to take one. There is no over-fishing ? they only take what they need. Having this in mind Interviewee 8 (2012) recalled: ?Back in the 50's when people used to fish for salmon, they used to take home roughly about 50 to 100 salmon per house?. Knowing that over-fishing could lead to a salmon decline, the Nisga?a people decided to reduce the amount of fish being caught in order to preserve the stock (Interviewee 8 2012). As stated by Interviewee 8 (2012), there are Nisga?a people that go fishing, and they like to go fishing, so 58 instead of taking the fish home, they distribute the fish among the people. They give fish to the people that used to prepare salmon, and the people reward the fishermen in their traditional way. Interviewee 2 (2012) indicated that when the Nisga?a people gut fish, the guts should be returned to the river. The same collaborator stated that the Nisga?a people called the river the ?Graveyard of the fish?. Another collaborator talked about how the old Nisga'a people used the snowpack on the mountains as an indicator of what called the salmon to return to the river. According to Interviewee 7 (2012), one of the things that they always talk about, and what they really believe, is that if there is no snowpack in the mountains then there will few salmon in the river. This collaborator stated that: ?There is no scientific thing about it, but it is a belief that they have and it does happen. I've seen it happen, when there is a big snowpack then everybody has a really good salmon season when they are fishing and getting food? (Interviewee 7 2012). A melting snowpack results in clear water, whereas heavy rain results in a lot of sediment in the river. The salmon run better under the former conditions (Interviewee 7 2012). 3.5. Yats'iskw ? Wildlife ?When I was trapping with my father on his hunting ground, he would talk, tell these stories about the animals we are going to trap, the martin and the beaver, the wolf, many, many other kind of animals, bears. And he would say to us we are going to take so much of the land. We have to leave some animals behind to reproduce for the next year and the years after that. We only take what we need of the land and we have to leave the rest behind in order for the species to reproduce themself? (Interviewee 3 2012). As explained above, animals play an important role in the Nisga?a life, not only because they provide the maintenance for the Nisga?a people, but also because they are the connection between the people and the spiritual world. In the Nisga?a worldview, animals? spirits taught the 59 Nisga?a people how to behave and how to make use of the natural resources. Animals taught the Nisga?a people how to use them as resources: ?They all have a language that they use to speak and we have stories of our ancient people talking to these animals, talking to the birds of the air, animals in the forest? (Interviewee 3 2012). According to the Nisga?a Tribal Council (1995b), the ability to talk to animals would be the reason for the success of different kinds of harvesting activities, rather than just being simply attributed to people?s skills and knowledge. Proper behaviour, towards both human society and the animal world, was the pre-condition of success. People had to follow the laws of both worlds. In doing so, the Nisga?a people have been very successful, and the following quote describes this belief: ?Because of our abundance of our food back in the 1930s ? we heard it was the hungry 30s ? everybody else was starving on outside of the world, big cities. But the Nisga'a people never felt it, because of the abundance of food, what we pick, shoot bear, deer? (Interviewee 4 2012). Interviewee 14 (2012) stated that the animals still have the freedom to walk around where they want to be. In addition, the same collaborator mentioned that the Nisga?a people never walled them; instead, their forefathers used to survive on animals such as, moose and grizzly bear. 3.5.1. Smax ? Bears Interviewee 12 (2012) referred to bears as the biggest animal that they hunted. This collaborator recalled: ?We hunt with spears, we have bows and arrows, and eventually we have guns as well, but historically our biggest hunting weapon was the spear, and the biggest animal we hunted for was bear, black bears and grizzlies? (Interviewee 12 2012). 60 According to Interviewee 16 (2012), today there is an abundance of likin?skw ? grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis Ord) in the surroundings of Lax?g?alts?ap village. This collaborator associated this abundance with the vast variety of species that are available for them to eat in the area. The great abundance of grizzly bears described by Interviewee 16 (2012) could also be explained by the forest practices discussed by Interviewee 7 (2012), who mentioned that the increase in the bear population could be related an increase in blueberries, which are an attractive food for bears. Interviewee 7 (2012) recalled: ?But that's wildlife management, it doesn't have to do anything with the weather. With the increase of population of bears, and the Grizzly bears, they are just roaming around all over the place, they are starting to get pretty dangerous. Yeah, there is a lot of bears, and that could have something to do with forest practices, because there are so much more blueberries now, in there? (Interviewee 7 2012). A third collaborator mentioned that the abundance of ul ? black bears (Ursus amaricanus Pallas) in the community was associated with the lack of hunting. This collaborator stated that: ?You see a bear on every corner on the road, there, black bears all over the place. I don't think anybody hunts around here anymore. Nobody hunts, nobody hunts, I used to hunt, I used to get a lot of black bears when I was younger, 20, 30 years ago. I haven't shot a bear in about 20 years? (Interviewee 9 2012). Interviewee 9 (2012) mentioned that the Nisga?a people never used to keep an entire animal for themselves. They would share it with family and especially with elders who could not go out hunting. 3.5.2. Xadaa ? Moose (Alces alces Linnaeus) According to Interviewee 17 (2012), the first time Nisga?a people hunted for moose was in 1939; prior to that date there were no moose in the valley, instead there were elk and deer in the valley. 61 After the appearance of moose, the elk and the deer were displaced. This Interviewee stated that it is still possible to find some deer in the Nass Valley, but they are very rare. Two of the collaborators agreed that moose are getting scarce in the Nass Valley. Interviewee 10 (2012) mentioned: ?With the moose population almost, I think they almost got wiped out down the lower part of the river. I know because my son does lot of research on the flood zone with helicopters with the Nisga'a Fishing, and they know where the moose are. There is a lot of moose up there, but they are out of our territory? (Interviewee 10 2012). Interviewee 9 (2012) explained that many Nisga?a hunters are leaving the Nisga?a land to get their moose. For instance, they go towards the Terrace area, as well as the Smithers area, and even beyond Smithers. There was speculation that the scarcity of animals and the availability of new places to buy food, such as supermarkets, was leading to a change in traditional practices associated with the forest. According to Interviewee 9 (2012), if people do not leave the Nisga?a land to hunt, they might prefer ?to go to the closest Safeway and buy beef?. 3.5.3. Wan ? Deer (Odocoileus hemionus Rafinesque) Although Interviewee 17 (2012) mentioned that moose had displaced the deer in the Nisga?a territory, Interviewee 10 (2012) stated that the deer population is recovering: ?I've been told that the deer population is building up again, but I have to see them, other than two odd ones that cross over, because in certain areas there used to be a lot of deer, but the logging kind of chased them off? (Interviewee 10 2012). 62 3.5.4. Matx ? Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus Blainville) Mountain goat was another wild animal that the Nisga?a people used to hunt. Although hunting this animal in the mountains was challenging, people still did so because of its meat quality. Interviewee 14 (2012) recalled: ?My son, his uncle used to take him out hunting when he was little, go out hunting moose, go up for mountain goat. They like, right now they like, they prefer mountain goat and moose. Mountain goat eats a lot of grass. It is just like beef? (Interviewee 14 2012). 3.6. Chapter Summary Throughout this chapter it has been possible to identify and describe Nisga?a traditional forest practices, which was the first specific objective of the study. Under the Nisga?a worldview, the economic resources, land and animals are far from inanimate tools; rather they are spirit and corporeal beings in their own right (Nisga?a Tribal Council 1995b). Thus, it is possible to appreciate that the Nisga?a peoples? survival has been intimately associated with forest ecosystems, but at the same time the conservation of the forest resources has been the successful result of the relationship between the Nisga?a people and the spirit of the land. These successful experiences are embedded in the Indigenous knowledge, which is transmitted orally to younger generations. And in the experiences described throughout this chapter, it is possible to understand and learn why forest ecosystems are so important not only to the Nisga?a people but also to other Indigenous communities that share similar worldviews. For instance, in this chapter the importance and uses of 14 tree species have been described, emphasizing the five species that were mentioned in more detail by the collaborators (Simgan, Seeks, Giikw, Amm?aal, and Haxwdakw). 15 plants have been described, including Wa?ums, Maay?, Ts'iks, Tiim laxlax?u, T?uuna?akw and some Damtx. Other species of value have been described, including fungi (pine 63 mushroom and fly amanita), fish (oolichan and salmon) and wildlife (grizzly bear, moose and others). These all play an important role in the Nisga?a life. As stated in the introduction, the success of the Nisga?a people was based in their ability to communicate with animal spirits, which taught Nisga?a people the proper way of behaving and managing resources. Although this study is not completely exhaustive, this chapter is an attempt to identify and describe the traditional forest practices of the Nisga?a people, and thus emphasizes the role forests play in the life of the Nisga?a people and their culture. The following chapter looks into the experiences of the Nisga?a people as they relate to the climate and how the changes in the weather have affected their traditional forest practices. It also examines their vision for future opportunities, or potential problems that could be generated by climate change on the Nisga?a lands. 64 CHAPTER 4: Climate change and the Nisga?a people ?We are probably sitting on something like an eggshell today, the way I feel it anyway, like an eggshell, because the weather will continuously change for the worse, same way with the rain, same way with the snow? (Interviewee 8 2012). Climate change is both a local and a global phenomenon, and consequently any insights about it that can be gained from Indigenous knowledge are of huge potential interest, given the difficulties that Western science has in dealing with complex environmental problems such as climate change (Berkes 2008). As stated by Turner et al. (2000), the Indigenous Peoples of British Columbia rely heavily on the anticipated seasonal abundance of particular resources, and thus depend on predictable rainfall, snowpack and mountain glaciers to maintain critical habitat for Pacific salmon and the other important resource species described in the previous chapter. This chapter firstly provides an overview of the different perceptions that Nisga?a people have regarding the changes in the weather, mainly discussing their past and present experiences regarding the weather and their life in the Nass Valley. As recommended by my Aboriginal collaborators, this section of the chapter have been organized according to the different seasons starting with Tx?as-maadim ? during winter ? with the main measures of change being the amount of snow on the ground and ice on the Nass River. The second part of the chapter deals with the different impacts that the Nisga?a people associate with climate change. In this section, I discuss the impacts of climate change on the main resources described in Chapter 3. Through this analysis, I also examine the impacts on traditional Nisga?a forest practices associated with these resources. Finally, I present the different concerns about the impacts of climate change raised by the research collaborators. 65 4.1. Perceptions of the Nisga?a people about climate change The perceptions of the Nisga?a people regarding climate change can be divided into three groups (Figure 8). In the first cluster, it is possible to identify changes in the weather, which would be associated with changes in precipitation patterns represented by the amount of snow during the winter (blue bubbles). A second group relates to changes in the river, mainly associated with changes in the flow of the river (light blue bubbles). The third cluster is associated with changes in summer temperatures, which mainly relate to warming temperatures (yellow bubbles). Figure 8. Climate change experiences of the Nisga?a people 3D Cluster Map 66 The 3D Cluster Map8 in Figure 8 also provides information regarding the most important concepts described by the collaborators when referring to climate change. Most of the changes were associated with the winter. The issue most frequently mentioned was ?snow?, which is represented by the biggest blue bubble in Figure 8. This term was widely used to describe the changes that collaborators have been experiencing during their lives. Other terms associated with winter that were used to describe changes in climate were related to the river and the ice on it. There were fewer references to changes associated with the summer and the other seasons. In such cases, the terms more commonly used were warming and hot. These findings are analyzed in more detail in the following sections. 4.1.1. Tx?as-maadim ? During winter ?When you talk about the weather, I guess you should start with the winter. Wintertime nowadays, winters have been very mild. That is what I noticed, especially around here, very mild. We have some cold snaps, but they don't last long? (Interviewee 9 2012). The most frequently reported changes were associated with winter. As recalled by Interviewee 13 (2012), winters used to be defined by very cold temperatures, with persistent winter temperatures of approximately -40?C. The same collaborator stated that nowadays there are usually one or two weeks at about -20?C. Although some people would consider -20?C very cold, in the Nass Valley such temperatures are considered evidence of warming and are associated with shorter snow seasons and the river remaining ice-free. Figure 9 portrays the trend described by Interviewee 13 (2012), showing clear warming during the winter months, especially February. This warming trend described by the collaborators has also been identified by Woods 8 Derived from the results of a word frequency query, and therefore, the words that co-occurred were clustered together. For more details see Chapter 2, section 2.2.4. ?Knowledge interpretation and analysis?. 67 et al. (2005) in their study area located in the Kispiox Forest District of northern British Columbia. Figure 9. Winter extreme and mean minimum T?C. Nass Camp weather station, BC Source: Environment Canada (2013) Regarding the warming trend that is affecting the winter months, another collaborator stated that: ?I think I'm observing that the winters aren't as cold as they used to be. When I was quite young, it was, I?ve gotten frost bite in my ears a few times, and it used to be typically about a week in February, where you could expect to get between minus 20 and minus 30. It still gets cold in February, but never for a whole week, and it has been long since we had minus 30. I think we had minus 20 very briefly last year. We had a couple of green Christmases in the last 15 years? (Interviewee 12 2012). The information described by Interviewee 12 (2012) is corroborated by the information presented in Figure 10. This figure shows two different years where February temperatures have dropped below -20?C for more than 5 days. For instance, during February 1975, there was a period of 10 days, between February 5th and 14th, where the temperatures dropped below -20?C. 68 It reached -28.3?C, which is close to what the collaborator described above. There was a similar period below -20?C during February 1986, although it was a shorter, lasting 5 days between February 17th and 21th, with the lowest temperature reaching -28.5?C. Figure 10. Minimum temperatures (?C) at Nass Camp weather station, BC, for February 1975 and 1986 Source: Environment Canada (2013) Since 1970, the coldest day during winter in the Nass Valley, as recorded in the National Climate Data and Information Archive, was during the winter of 1991. It occurred on 9 January 1991, reaching -32.5?C. Throughout the week, the temperature remained at -30?C or below (Figure 11). The average for the 7 days was -31.14?C. -35 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Temp (?C) Days Febraury 1975 ?1986 ? 69 Figure 11. Minimum temperatures (?C) at Nass Camp weather station, BC, for January 1991 Source: Environment Canada (2013) The information in Figure 11 corroborates what collaborators described as being a very cold winter. However, even though February used to get really cold, as recalled by Interviewee 12 (2012) and supported by the Figure 10, the available data for the period 1970 to 2013 indicate that the coldest month during wintertime has been historically January, with an extreme minimum temperature average of -22.8?C. However, even January temperatures have been warming (Figure 9). 4.1.1.1. Maakws ? Snow on the ground The amount of snow provides an important indicator of winter conditions for the Nisga?a people, and it is in this value that the most noticeable changes have been observed. For instance, the length of the snow season and the amount of snow falling during the winter were described by -35 -30 -25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Temp (?C) Days January 1991 70 the collaborators as ways that they could tell that the climate had changed since they were children. Three collaborators mentioned that in the past, the Nisga?a people expected snow by November. The Nisga?a word for November is gwilatkw, which means like a blanket because that is the time when people expected to get the first blanket of snow (Interviewee 12 2012). Interviewee 7 (2012) and Interviewee 15 (2012) confirmed that in the past it started snowing in November, and that the snow would lie until the middle of May. Both collaborators stated that nowadays the snow season is considerably shorter because it starts snowing in January and the snow is gone by the middle of March. Interviewee 7 (2012) recalled: ?When I was younger the snow started snowing in November and stayed by the middle of May. Now, almost all the time, it doesn't snow until January and it doesn't last until May. It is usually gone by the beginning/middle of March, so the snow season is way shorter than it used to be. It is almost half of what it is used to be. It is just good for the people I guess. Yeah, that is one of the biggest areas that I've noticed, snow, the length of the winter you just notice on the ground? (Interviewee 7 2012). Both the duration of the snow season and the amount of snow falling during the winter have changed. According to eight of the collaborators the amount of snow falling in the past was significantly greater than at present. Interviewee 14 (2012) stated that the snow used to be 13 feet deep. Five collaborators mentioned a great snowfall that occurred about 30 years ago. All of them agreed that this snowfall was so heavy that the snow was over 6 feet deep in most places, even, according to Interviewee 5 (2012), reaching depths of 18 feet. According to Interviewee 5 (2012) and Interviewee 8 (2012), during that time there was so much snow that people had to keep shoveling off snow and keeping a way open to their house emergency purposes, so that everybody could walk around. One of the collaborators recalled that: 71 ?I think it was 1980s or 70s snow fell in the community here. It was a big snow storm, that when you dug, when you went out to shoveling a road, you have to throw on almost as high as your roof, because the snow was so deep. And people when they dug out from their houses, the snowstorm will cover their window in no time. That is what had happened back in the 70s, people were standing on their roof, shoveling off snow and then coming down to try to make a way from their house? (Interviewee 8 2012). According to Interviewee 15 (2012), it used to snow so heavily in the past that the snow would reach the top of the houses and children would slide from the roofs. The same collaborator stated that nowadays they either do not get so much snow or it does not get as cold as it did in the past. As Interviewee 15 (2012) mentioned: ?Today, you don't even see that, we get snow in the winter time, we get 3, 4 feet of snow. We don't call it snow, we don't call it, I don't call it winter at all? (Interviewee 15 2012). One of the collaborators from Gingolx, the coastal Nisga?a village, stated that they do not get as much snow as the people that live up in the valley in the villages of Lax?g?alts?ap, Gitwinksihlkw and Gitlaxt'aamiks do. In the coastal village of Gingolx, the winter is generally mild (Interviewee 8 2012). Thinking of the future, Interviewee 12 (2012) commented that: ?We?ll get more snow, is not gonna get above zero, right? It is northerly, so it's still gonna be cold in winter, but it means we are gonna get wetter, so instead of being dry, we would get more wet snow, more snow. It means we would have more snow to melt in the spring, so it'll be flooding more in the spring? (Interviewee 12 2012). Two other collaborators confirmed this statement, mentioning that the snow was deep last winter but that it was melting by the time that the fieldwork for this research was being done during the summer of 2012. A lot of snow during the winter combined with a few days of high temperatures (about 25?C) on June 23 and 24 of 2012 melted the snow and resulted in the river flooding in several places. Interviewee 5 (2012) recalled that: 72 ?We had a big winter last winter, and there,..., the snow is melting, and you know when we had those hot days, those few perfectly hot days, and, it melted the snow, and that is why there is so much water. And then the rain came, and added more to it, so it wasn't, like the rain doesn't do very much good for anybody when it starts raining? (Interviewee 5 2012). 4.1.1.2. K?alii Aksim Lisims ? the Nass River The Nass River is of paramount importance to the Nisga?a people, since it is the main source of food, oolichan and salmon. Any changes affecting this important resource would be immediately perceived by the Nisga?a people. The Lisims is thus another way of determining the effects of climate change in the memories of the collaborators. As described in the previous section, winters in the past used to be much colder than at present. As described by 7 collaborators, the Lisims used to freeze in winter. Interviewee 9 (2012) recalled: ?It seems to me that the winter weather has been less severe than I remember when we were little kids. I don't know, maybe being a kid things tend to get bigger, but I don't think so. I remember how long the winter used to stay, like the snow stayed. The ice was frozen; the river was covered with ice for long, long periods. I remember, around April, nowadays, it is rare that you see it stays past March, say, middle of March. It's rare that you see ice on the river. It is usually clear by then? (Interviewee 9 2012). Interviewee 11 (2012)9 stated that 30 years ago it needed to be - 20?C for more than two weeks to get thick ice in the river. In addition, Interviewee 17 (2012) stated that as a child, the temperatures would reach -40?C. This would allow people to walk on the ice: ?Our people used, in the winter time, used to walk down the river, on the ice to go to the fishing camp, in the mouth of the river. That doesn't happen anymore? (Interviewee 14 2012). 9 Personal communication with Interviewee 11. June 19, 2012. 73 Not only would people be able to walk on the ice, they would also be able to drive on the frozen river. According to 4 of the collaborators, the river was used as a highway. Interviewee 9 (2012) recalled that they used to steer their boats on sleighs, with great sails that propelled them along the river using wind power. This collaborator stated that they were able to travel up the river as far as Gitlaxt'aamiks, and down the river as far as Gingolx. One of the main reasons to drive the frozen river was to collect supplies coming from Prince Rupert. Interviewee 9 (2012) recalled that: ?They used the iced river as a highway. We used to get our supplies coming from down there like in the wintertime, from Prince Rupert. The boat would come down around Mill Bay area, if they can't make to Mill Bay, then to Gingolx and then come up on the ice. Guys will go down there with the sleighs and transport it up, pulling them up on the ice, probably about 50 years ago, 60 years, yeah, around there. I was young then, that would be in the 50s? (Interviewee 9 2012). According to Interviewee 11 (2012), 40 years ago the ice on the river was thick enough for people to drive their cars on it. Interviewee 11 (2012) and Interviewee13 (2012) agreed that the river now freezes rarely; when it does, the ice is not as thick as it used to be when they were young. Finding drinking water during the wintertime was an issue for Nisga?a people. According to Interviewee 10 (2012), they used well water. However it used to get so cold that it was impossible to find water in the wells. They would therefore go to the main river, which was frozen, to extract drinking water for the fishing camp. They would do so by cutting through the ice. The same collaborator recalled that one winter they had to cut through almost 8 feet of ice to get to the drinking water. They also cut through the ice to catch oolichan. According to Interviewee 10 (2012), when the ice was about 8 feet thick, they had many difficulties fishing. During that winter the entire camp, 74 about 50 people, had to work together to find a place where the ice was thinner. Interviewee 10 (2012) indicated that ideally the ice should be about 3 feet thick, which would enable people to fish without inconvenience. In the past, the ice on the river sometimes constrained oolichan fishing. However, mostly the ice on the river was thick enough to allow people walk over it, but not so thick as to hinder oolichan fishing. Today the situation is totally different. According to Interviewee 11 (2012) the river no longer freezes and, when it does, the ice is not thick enough to allow people to fish for oolichan in the traditional way. This collaborator recalled that: ?Winter is a lot warmer, and the biggest impact of that is, again, oolichan fishing, because they used to always fish for oolichan on the ice, because this river used to freeze up all the time. It doesn't anymore. So, down below it would be really thick and they put holes in the ice, and that is how they fished for oolichan. Nowadays they are always fighting with the ice, because the ice is already melted and it is coming down the river, so they are always fighting with the ice in the river. Before, it was easier? (Interviewee 11 2012). Interviewee 11 (2012) and Interviewee 17 (2012) agreed that it had been about four years since the last time the river froze. Interviewee 17 (2012) stated that over the last 10 years the river has only frozen once. Interviewee 11 (2012) added that it was about 30 years since the river has had sufficiently thick ice to allow people to go ice fishing. Interviewee 12 (2012) explained that the river does not get completely frozen because the canyon is quite narrow, so even in the winter the river still moves quite quickly. This is aggravated by the warmer temperatures that do not provide the opportunity for the river to freeze over. 75 4.1.2. The remaining seasons Two collaborators mentioned that defined seasons no longer occur; instead Interviewee 13 (2012) mentioned that the seasons seem to roll all together. This collaborator recalled that: ?The seasons seem to all get mixed together, so much you have a long cold summer, you have a wet and not very hot, you may get one or two weeks of hot weather, and that is about it, whereas before you get at most of the time, all through the month of July would be very warm. You?d know it is summer time, but today, that's not the case, so, that is what I meant by we don't have defined seasons. We can't tell exactly whether you are in spring, in summer, fall. In the middle of summer it would seem like fall, and same thing with winter? (Interviewee 13 2012). From the experiences of Interviewee 16 (2012), the seasons seem to be shifting backwards. Therefore, spring normally occurred in April, May and June, but today this is still more like winter. In addition, Interviewee 6 (2012) mentioned that they even have snow on the mountains during June. The idea of shifting seasons described by Interviewee 16 (2012) is supported by the experiences of Interviewee 12 (2012). This collaborator mentioned that the spring of 2012 was really cold. Thus, according to what Interviewee 16 (2012) explained about shifting seasons, the cold spring described by Interviewee 12 (2012) would be more an extension of winter. Due to the cold spring the snow melted slowly, which diminished the probability of flooding. Continuing with the shifting seasons, Interviewee 16 (2012) explained that July and August is now similar to spring weather. As the temperatures started to rise in July 2012, the snow melted faster than in the previous months, resulting in the river being particularly high for that specific month (Figure 12). Interviewee 2 (2012) mentioned: ?The weather is totally changed. Look at our river. It is not supposed to be as big as this, and still rising up and down. I have a marker here; a stone, and I watch it every morning. It drops sometimes less than a foot, the next day it goes up over. It stayed, didn't go down, this is not how big the river is? (Interviewee 2 2012). 76 Figure 12. Variation in the water level of the Lisims at Gitwinksihlkw Suspension Bridge Finally, Interviewee 16 (2012) explained that between August and September the temperatures are getting higher. In fact, the same collaborator stated that September is very hot, more like a summer month instead of a fall month. However, Interviewee 12 (2012) mentioned that during fall there would be more rain and therefore there would be more flash floods, such as the one in 2011. This collaborator mentioned that: ?Last year, it rained for over a month, steady, just pouring rain for a month, every day, every night, for over a month. It's hard, as you can imagine. Think of your wettest rainstorm in Santiago, we had that for a month last year, and that month everything flooded just everything. The river just came up in a week, and was flooding for a month, and the worst of it, we had the road went out again last year? (Interviewee 12 2012). 77 4.1.2.1. Tx?as-sint ? During summer According to five of the collaborators, summer temperatures are getting warmer. Even though Interviewee 1 (2012) mentioned that there have been temperatures over 40?C, it is possible to observe in Figure 13 that the most extreme temperature experienced in the Nass Valley in the last ten years was in June 2004. During that month the temperature reached 36?C. And within the last 25 years, in August 1990, the temperature reached 36?C. However, it is important to mention that there are missing data in the National Climate Data and Information Archive (Environment Canada 2013), and particularly the year 2010 is absent. This year is the one mentioned by Interviewee 1 (2012) and Interviewee 17 (2012) as being one of the hottest years in their history. Figure 13. Summer extreme maximum and mean T?C. Nass Camp weather station, BC Source: Environment Canada (2013) 78 Even though the collaborators mentioned that the summers are getting warmer, it is evident from Figure 13 that July and August, the warmest months of the summer, with mean temperatures of 21.33?C and 21.03?C, respectively, are cooling. Although July and August are getting cooler, June and September seem to be becoming warmer, with the trend being most evident in June: ?In certain years you would just get scorching heat, and more so now where we get 30 pass degrees, consistently. Sometimes you would get like 30 degrees for four days, five days, six days, seven days, like one time it was about 30 degrees for about two and a half weeks, three weeks, once when I was 19 years old? (Interviewee 16 2012). It was mentioned above that on 20 June 2004 an extreme maximum temperature of 36?C was reached (Figure 14). The temperature occurred in a week when the temperatures were consistently above 30 degrees. These very warm temperatures particularly affect salmon, as they are not able to move up in the river to the spawning areas (Interviewee 16 2012). Figure 14. Maximum temperature (?C) in June 2004 at Nass Camp weather station, BC Source: Environment Canada (2013) 0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Temp (?C) Days June 2004 79 Temperatures are also high in June, which are consistent with the warming trend described above. For instance, June 23 was one of the hottest days of 2012 and according to Environment Canada (2013), with the temperature reaching 30?C. Interviewee 5 (2012) mentioned: ?We see like I keep referring back to the beautiful hot day that we had last week, like Saturday for instance, first time we have ever, ever seen a 31 degree hot weather? (Interviewee 5 2012). 4.2. Effects of climate change described by the Nisga?a people ?Everything that you do, everything that YOU DO! There is a reaction to it, so we were taught to respect everything. Even, like, the trees ? they were our brothers and our sisters; everything, not just the human beings, but the animals, the trees, the plants, the rocks. Everything was alive, and they said that when you abuse them, things will happen, which is what is happening? (Interviewee 11 2012). 4.2.1. Hoon ? Fish According to Interviewee 7 (2012), Interviewee 16 (2012) and Lynn et al. (2013), fish are very sensitive to changes in the temperature of the water. Interviewee 7 (2012) commented that during July the weather was still cold and the water in the river was also cold. As a result, some species of salmon would not move up the river. This interviewee also explained that by the time the water gets warm enough for the salmon to go up to the spawning areas, they are too weak and old to complete their journey as they have been waiting for so long. Another collaborator added that when the water was so cold, the salmon would stay in the bottom of the river where apparently it was warmer that at the surface. Interviewee 8 (2012) explained that this phenomenon affects the Nisga?a fishers, since when people goes out fishing the salmon are in the bottom of the river, close to the riverbed. Interviewee 8 (2012) mentioned that: ?They see the salmon, but they can?t get them on their nets, because they go below, they go down lower, closer to the ground, that is one of the things that happened, and with 80 that I'm sure the climate change has cost a lot. It costs us a lot of, I might say, hardship, because the people depend on the salmon for preserving? (Interviewee 8 2012). Not only will salmon fail to move up river when the water is too cold, they will also hold back when the water is too warm. With increasing temperatures in September, salmon (e.g. coho, pink, and sockeye) will not move up the river to the spawning areas because the water gets too warm (Interviewee 16 2012). Indeed, predictions suggest that salmon populations throughout the Puget Sound, in the Pacific Northwest, are expected to decrease significantly as the temperature of water gets warm (Lynn et al. 2013). This problem has always been alleviated by glacial meltwater, which ensures that the river contains cold water (Interviewee 1 2012; Grah & Beaulieu 2013). However, according to Interviewee 1 (2012) and Interviewee 7 (2012), this phenomenon is also threatened by climate change. Interviewee 1 (2012) mentioned that: ?Our glaciers that feed our river and do the cooling off, they?re sort of shrinking, like you are noticing. Glaciers here, once they are gone probably July, middle August you will see nothing. That is the very mountain that is getting warm. Behind our village, where we live there is another range over, huge kilometers of glacier that is now shrinking, every year shrinking. The most noticeable one up north, the river up towards Stewart, the glacier when they built the road on the mountain side, the glacier is right there like where you are sitting, the road goes right here, this was 40 years ago, but now, it is a kilometer away from the road? (Interviewee 1 2012). Interviewee 1 is referring here to Bear Glacier, which has shown a dramatic recession in the years since the road to Stewart was constructed. Traditionally the Nisga?a people have known that the presence of snowpack in the mountains is a sign of the salmon returning to the river. However, as a consequence of the warmer winters, there is less snowpack in the mountain, and this will lead to fewer salmon in the river (Interviewee 7 2012). ?I've seen it happens, when there is a big snowpack then everybody has a really good salmon season when they are fishing and getting food. And if the water is too warm, then the salmon wouldn't move up the river either. They are really finicky, their radar goes on, 81 they feel water too warm they wouldn't move up the river, and then if it is too cold they won't come up. It has to be just the right temperature? (Interviewee 7 2012). Another noticeable change mentioned by four of the interviewees refers to a change in the pattern of fish that are coming back to the Nass River. Interviewee 13 (2012) stated that in a regular year, the first salmon that the Nisga?a people catch are Chinook or spring salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha). This is normally in May; the Nisga?a word for which is y?ansa'alt, which also used to refer to spring salmon. Instead of catching y?ansa'alt in their nets, the Nisga?a people are catching miso'o, which are sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka), and which they normally expect in June (Interviewee 13 2012; Interviewee 16, 2012). Additionally, Interviewee 10 (2012) mentioned that not only the y?ansa'alt came after the miso'o, but also that that the male y?ansa'alt come before the female y?ansa'alt. The same collaborator mentioned that: ?I?ve never seen it happen before, but big fish, great big bugs, 9 to 10 pounds in average came first, now the little guys that are coming are 6-8 pounds, the females. I learnt that yesterday from some of the guys that went out, all the small stuff are coming in now? (Interviewee 10 2012). According to Interviewee 15 (2012), the salmon run coming later than normal is an adaptation of the salmon to the weather. The same collaborators described that salmon would either arrive earlier, as in the case of miso'o, or later, as with y?ansa'alt. In addition to the impacts described by the collaborators, the changing climate can also increase threats to salmon and other species by widening the geographic scope of disease organisms. For instance, in Alaska, particularly in Yukon River and its tributaries, Chinook salmon are now generally diseased with a single-celled parasite formerly unknown in Alaskan salmon (Kocan et al. 2004 cited in Lynn et al. 2013). 82 4.2.1.1. K?alii Aksim Lisims ? the Nass River and fishing According to some of the interviewees, changes in the river are having two major impacts: flooding during the spring and summer, and melted ice in the river during winter. As stated by four collaborators, flooding during spring and summer would have several effects on fishing. First, during floods, the level of the river rises and the current strengthens. People are unable to go fishing, which affects their ability to collect and preserve food for the winter (Interviewee 2 2012). Also, when the current is very strong, turbidity increases and the fish hold in different areas and do not move up the river (Interviewee 1 2012). Interviewee 7 (2012) suggested that during floods there is so much silt in the water that most of the salmon die before they get to the spawning areas. This may the cause of the scarcity of fish mentioned by Interviewee 5 (2012). Another impact of flooding is the destruction of eggs in the salmon redds. Interviewee 12 (2012) explained that: ?If it is flooding all the time then their eggs would be unable to stay in the shallow creek. That is where they spawn, and if it's flooding a long time, then the eggs don't stay and the fish don't hatch, and we don't have salmon? (Interviewee 12 2012). The most noticeable change in winter relates to the extent of river ice. As explained in the previous section, the failure of the river to freeze during winter is one of the most frequently mentioned changes in recent years. This has severe consequences for one of the traditional activities carried out by the Nisga?a people, namely fishing for oolichan on the frozen river. Interviewee 15 (2012) stated that nowadays during winter, and more specifically during February and March, oolichan fishing is getting dangerous because the ice is thinner than in the past. According to Interviewee 11 (2012), by the time the Nisga?a people start fishing for oolichan the ice is already melted and moving down river: 83 ?They used to always fish for oolichan on the ice because this river used to freeze up all the time. It doesn't anymore, so down below it would be really thick and they put holes in the ice, and that is how they fish for oolichan. Nowadays they are always fighting with the ice, because it is already melted and it is coming down the river? (Interviewee 11 2012). The Nisga?a people continue to fish for oolichan in the winter as it is the first source of food that they have in the year, which is why it is called the ?saviour fish?. Instead of fishing through the ice, it is now done from a boat, which is also dangerous, but at least those fishing can avoid the ice coming down the river (Interviewee 11 2012). 4.2.2. Yats'iskw ? Wildlife Interviewees mentioned the safety of bears during hibernation, the migration of moose from the Nass Valley and changes in the behavior of birds. Interviewee 9 (2012) mentioned that changes in the weather were affecting bears during their hibernation. This collaborator explained that while the bears are sleeping in their dens, the temperature varies substantially. As a result, the snow cover is insufficient to protect the bears from cold periods during winter. This could explain why some bears get pneumonia and then die from being too cold during hibernation. Another potential impact that climate change could have on bears it associated with flooding events and the level of the river. Interviewee 16 (2012) mentioned that bears would enter the villages looking for food more often as they are unable to catch fish in the river when the water levels are too high. Interviewee 16 (2012) mentioned: ?Our grizzly bears, what are they gonna start doing when they can't catch fish in the streams because of the flow is so high. They come into our communities, like this community right now, and start to break in everything. We are gonna have more encounters with animals as time progresses, because they are not gonna have the things 84 they need out there anymore, because it is shifting their internal clocks. Need to shift with this, so do us, like you look at the fish run and the migration, all that stuff is changing? (Interviewee 16 2012). Moose are also being affected and according to two of the interviewees their population is starting to decrease. Interviewee 9 (2012) mentioned that they have been getting moose but they are less common. Interviewee 13 (2012) was more specific and stated that the moose population has declined drastically over the last 5 to 10 years. The same collaborator commented that: ?They have been suddenly going down, and scientists can't really pinpoint the reason why, and they usually tell us any number of reasons for, overhunting, pool changes, increase in the wolf population ? which is probably true, in the last years a lot of wolves in our area, but whether climate is another reason? (Interviewee 13 2012). Something that Interviewee 13 did not mention in his comments was the availability of food for moose. According to Dr. Joseph Gosnell10 moose eat red willow or Pacific willow (Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra), which is why its name in Nisga?a is xadaa, also the name of the plant11. Indeed, twigs of willow together with trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides), and birch (Betula spp.), as well as red-osier dogwood, comprise the most abundant and important source of winter food for moose in northern British Columbia (Rea & Booth 2011). However, Dr. Gosnell stated that red willow is disappearing from the Nass Valley, and this is why xadaa would be migrating to other areas where there is more of this food available for them. Downing & Cuerrier (2011) support this hypothesis, stating that animals are taking new travel routes, that they are not as healthy and that they are changing in abundance. As a result, hunting efficiency is declining, as hunters need 10 Personal communication. Wilp Wilxo?oskwhl Nisga?a Institute Board of Directors meeting. Gitwinksihlkw, BC. June 21, 2013. 11 ?In the Nisga?a student vocabulary book the red willow is listed as xlaahl. Perhaps both terms are right, they almost sound the same and sometimes some of our words do mean two different things. It all depends on how the word is used?. Personal email communication with Wilp Wilxo?oskwhl Nisga?a Language teacher. October 10, 2013. 85 to search out new migration routes and be more selective about the animals they keep, as they are more often diseased. Birds are also changing their behavior, with the most frequently mentioned being the American Robin (Turdus migratorius). The presence of this bird in the valley is associated with sockeye salmon moving up the Nass River. According to Interviewee 1 (2012), robins are appearing about a month earlier than usual. The same collaborator mentioned that: ?Normally that doesn?t happen till May, but for some reason this year they came early. So the Robins came in late March/April, then our sockeye came earlier than our spring salmon, our Chinook. In May, middle of May, the sockeye was already here? (Interviewee 1 2012). This association between the robin and salmon even had a song that was usually sung in May. According to Interviewee 6 (2012), and bearing in mind that the Nisga?a people believe that all the species have their own language, the robins say "Gigohlmaliit", which means, ?the steelhead are here?. Therefore, the song that the Nisga?a people used to sing during May is ?Gigohlmaliit, Gigohlmaliit?. However, in 2012, robins arrived earlier (Interviewee 1 2012). Interviewee 13 (2012) mentioned another abnormal behavior amongst robins, this time associated with their movements during the winter. The collaborator stated that: ?It was last January you saw Robins flying by, and that I just never heard of. Robins usually fly south in the winter, Robins are little birds, and you don't normally see them in the winter time? (Interviewee 13 2012). It is not only Robins that have changed. Some birds have disappeared from the area, whereas others are completely new to the Nass Valley. According to Interviewee 7 (2012) some of the 86 birds that have disappeared include pigeons, red crossbills (Loxia curvirostra), and swallows12. This collaborator mentioned that: ?One area that I know with the birds, is the, the changes in the birds. We used to have pigeons here, and you used to eat them. It used to be real small little birds all different color, red, yellow, orange, they had crooked beaks, one was one way, and the other one was the other way, we call them k'aahl-t'aa aa?, the crooked mouth, and it used to be just loaded here. Now you don't see them anymore and, the other birds that used to be here were swallows. Nowadays there is hardly any that comes here. They used to be here about the end of April, early May, and they stayed right till about now [July], and then they disappeared, and now they only stay for about three or four days and they are gone? (Interviewee 7 2012). In the case of the red crossbills, there are several subspecies that comprise at least 10 types of red crossbill (Young 2012), however because of the geographic range of these birds, there are only two types that match the one that Interviewee 7 (2012) was mentioning. Indeed, Young (2012) states that these birds look almost the same, and there are slightly differences that allow experts to distinguish between them. Thus, it is possible that Interviewee 7 (2012) when referring to the crooked mouth birds was talking about both types. According to Young (2012), these types are Lodgepole Pine Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra bendirei) and Sitka Spruce Crossbill (Loxia curvirostra sitkensis). Lodgepole Pine Crossbill?s geographic range covers from the south of Yukon and north of British Columbia to the west of US and east of Cascades (Lepage 2003). Sitka Spruce Crossbill?s geographic range covers coastal south Alaska to northwest California, and during the winters to northeast US (Lepage 2003). These birds feed on conifer seeds; while Lodgepole Pine Crossbill prefers lodgepole pine and Engelmann spruce and less often Douglas-fir, blue Spruce or white pines, the Sitka Spruce Crossbill prefers Sitka spruce in the Pacific 12 The species of swallows that Interviewee 7 (2012) was recalling in the quotation could possibly be the Tree Swallow (Tachycineta bicolor), the Violet-green Swallow (Tachycineta thalassina) and the American Cliff Swallow (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota). The breeding range for the three of these swallow species goes throughout the Nisga?a Land (Lepage 2003). 87 Northwest. It uses mainly other spruces and eastern white pine (Pinus monticola) when it occurs in the East (Young 2012). The only tree species that has been lost due to past forest management practices is Sitka spruce. Interviewee 7 (2012) may this have been referring to the Sitka Spruce Crossbill, and its disappearance from the Nass Valley may be due to the almost complete removal of Sitka spruce. Amongst the new birds that have come to the Nass Valley, Interviewee 7 (2012) mentioned that: ?There is a different species of little black birds, they never used to be here. I think they are just migrating through, and they are stuck here to eat all my cherries. .... Yeah, the birds have changed, the type of birds that there are here, the only thing that stays the same is the crows, and the eagles? (Interviewee 7 2012). 4.2.3. Galdoo?o ? Nisga?a forests ?? your trees are gonna change, your trees change, your forest are gonna change? (Interviewee 17 2012). The potential effects of climate change on the Nisga?a forest include disturbances such as flooding, fire, wind and pest outbreaks. This section focuses on these disturbances. They were mainly considered as negative effects by the collaborators, although there was one positive effect mentioned by Interviewee 13 (2012), a longer growing season associated with the warmer weather. Indeed, according to Downing & Cuerrier (2011), the warmer climate has resulted in trees having greater amounts of radial growth for the last two decades. 4.2.3.1. Pdaalhl ? Flooding According to Interviewee 3 (2012), flooding has been present in the Nisga?a people?s life since time immemorial. This collaborator mentioned that there are ancient stories that say that at one point in the past, seawater entered their territory, penetrating approximately 50 miles inland. 88 People at that time were fishing for oolichan beyond the area where the old community of Gitlaxt'aamiks was located: ?Our people harvested oolichan about 50 plus miles down river, to the south of us, so that tells me that is how high the waters, the seawater, came at one point in time in our nation?s history. Sea water all the way up there, and I would assume in different part of the world, where a great warming no doubt happened in the distant, distant past that caused the ocean levels to rise? (Interviewee 3 2012). Interviewee 16 (2012) also commented about seawater coming into the river. According to this collaborator, the tides today reach 23.9 feet. Consequently, if there were tides like the one mentioned by Interviewee 16 (2012) at the same time as a high river flow, the results would be devastating for the communities, especially for Lax?g?alts?ap, because it is located at the same level as the river. Interviewee 16 (2012) stated: ?We are in a tidal estuary, so when the tide comes and goes maybe two miles north of us and it pushes too, and then it stops, so holds back the flow of the river at that point, and the river comes down, and the tide pushes against it, so the tidal area is huge? (Interviewee 16 2012). Another collaborator mentioned that during the fifties there was a big flood during the winter. According to Interviewee 7 (2012), the reason for this was that the ice melted and blocked the lower part of the river, holding the water back. In the words of this collaborator: ?That was in the 50's, late 50's, I was just 8, what really caused that, was the rain up north, the storm they had up there broke up the ice and it just piled up down below, and just held the water back? (Interviewee 7 2012). According to five collaborators the biggest flood in people?s minds is the one that occurred during the fall of 1961, more specifically during the month of October. The collaborators remember this flood as the biggest mainly because one of the villages of the Nisga?a Nation had to be relocated after being washed away by the unexpected flood (Interviewee 7 2012; 89 Interviewee 10 2012; Interviewee 12 2012; Interviewee 13 2012; Interviewee 17 2012). What happened on that occasion, according to Interviewee 12 (2012), was that: ?The snow came early, and it was followed by torrential rain, so middle of October I guess, later October maybe, there was a whole bunch of snow, and then followed by a torrential rain. So the rain itself wouldn't be enough to bring the flood, but because there was all the snow already, snow melted at the same time and so, literally over night the river went from normal to 200 years flood levels? (Interviewee 12 2012). Even though it seems that the causes of this enormous flood were linked to weather conditions, another collaborator suggested that both weather conditions and logging activities in the Nass Valley were responsible. Interviewee 7 (2012) recalled that: ?The first time the real big flood came, it was high river, it was when the logging started up north and up toward Terrace in the Lava Lake area and up in behind these mountains and that was when the river started coming? (Interviewee 7 2012). Discussing future floods, three collaborators agreed that they would become more common because of the increase in precipitation during the spring and fall (Interviewee 12 2012; Interviewee 15 2012; Interviewee 16 2012). According to Interviewee 15 (2012), there will be more run off and snowmelt (from winter snowfalls) during the spring and heavy rainfalls during the fall. Consequently, the level of the river will rise, flooding all the areas adjacent to the river. The collaborators also spoke about the impacts of floods on the forest. Interviewee 12 (2012) mentioned that some of the species that form the Nisga?a forest might not be able survive in wetter conditions. For instance, redcedar and Sitka spruce require indirect sunlight, because they are shade tolerant, but at the same time they need enough moisture in the soil (Parish 1995). However, if there are frequent floods, resulting in waterlogging, neither species may survive and their distribution may shift to areas where the conditions are better. 90 Another issue regarding flooding and forest mentioned by Interviewee 12 (2012) is that the access to bottom areas will be harder, and the recovery of lands logged during the fifties may be impeded13. Interviewee 12 (2012) mentioned that in the 1950s, logging companies did not have standards to reforest the logged areas, and now the Nisga?a Lisims Government is having difficulty doing so because of the flooding. These areas, according to the same collaborator, have had persistent problems associated with stand establishment. Being constantly wet, they are unsuitable for conifer establishment, and the large cottonwoods that have taken over the area make conifer establishment even harder. Interviewee 12 (2012) stated that: ?We are actively seeking ways to rebuild that forest, and the flooding does not necessarily help. So those big floods, they kill any seedling you plant. If there is any flood that year, all the seedlings are dead. So, you brush up the stuff that don?t like the water, and you try to plant seedlings that like the water, but none of those seedlings are gonna like being under water? (Interviewee 12 2012). Asked if there was any possibility that some species might disappear from the Nass Valley, Interviewee 12 (2012) suggested that: ?It?s possible, some of the Hemlock and Balsam, if it's raining all the time they may not stay that much longer, they would move higher up the hill side? (Interviewee 12 2012). Interviewee 12 (2012) continued that cottonwood and alder, which are pioneering species, could be threatened if there is constant flooding. Although cottonwood has several adaptations that allow it to survive floods, it is not as well-adapted to prolonged flooding as some riparian species. Indeed, mature cottonwood show signs of stress when flood conditions last more than a few weeks (Borman & Larson 2002). Therefore, if those species affected constantly by flooding started to be lost from the Nass Valley, the consequences would be devastating for the 13 This is discussed in more detail in the next chapter. The main issue by the end of the 1950s was the huge clearcuts made by logging companies in the Nass Valley. 91 ecosystem. As cottonwood and alder are pioneer species colonizing areas that have been affected by disturbances, they help create the required conditions for other species (Parish 1995). In addition, Interviewee 12 (2012) mentioned that: ?Alder and cottonwood form a really important function regenerating the soil. I mean Alder put nitrogen back into the soil, the leaves from the Cottonwood and the Alder enrich the soil, making it easier for other trees to become established. So, if those start to disappear, then that would change the ecology of how soil gets re-enriched? (Interviewee 12 2012). 4.2.3.2. Lakw ? Fire ?Before man, there used to be always forest fires, but they all kept in step with nature. Man has intervened, and has changed the face of the planet and the climate through the destruction of the land? (Interviewee 9 2012). Natural forest fires have affected the Nass Valley in past, and are part of the ecology of the forest. For instance, Interviewee 16 (2012) explained that: ?If a forest was unhealthy and needed to burn down, you should let it burn. I've been in conversation before with elders in our community, where they said that, we shouldn't let forest fires turn off. That is what they said about the pine beetle in mid 90s ? they said we should it just let the whole forest burn down, instead of letting that bug spread everywhere? (Interviewee 16 2012). Being aware that forest fires are part of the natural process of forest regeneration, the Nisga?a people used them deliberately to create berry patches (Interviewee 11 2012) and to regenerate the land (Interviewee 11 2012). In relation to the deliberate use of fire, Interviewee 16 (2012) stated: ?Actually, I don't know of any terrible things that happened with the fires. I mean they were just considered part of, the ones that were done on purpose to create berry patches, they were just part of nature, that were forest fires? (Interviewee 17 2012). As described above, forest fires occurred in the area naturally. Since approximately 1958, when logging started in the Nass Valley, forest fires have been common. Interviewee 7 (2012) 92 explained that forest fires were the result of the old equipment used by logging companies. Some of the detail could be found in the following quote: ?Before I left for school the forest fires were very common, because of the old machines that they were using and the type of wires they were using in the bush for getting the wood out. That was where most of the fires came from. There wasn't that much from natural fires. Most of the fires that have been in the Nass Valley and the Nass management area have been man-made fires? (Interviewee 7 2012). Nowadays, according to Interviewee 14 (2012), there are regulations in place to minimize the potential risk of fire originating from logging operations. The requirements include the positioning of a water tank on site. Each machine is required to have a fire extinguisher. Although some collaborators mentioned that in the past there were always forest fires, both natural and man-made, there have not been big forest fires in the recent past. Four Interviewees mentioned that very occasionally there is a lightning strike in the forest that generates big flames, but such fires are extinguished very quickly because the ground is so wet and the lightning normally occurs together with rainfall during storms (Interviewee 5 2012; Interviewee 7 2012; Interviewee 8 2012; Interviewee 14 2012). Interviewee 12 (2012) mentioned that fires on the lava beds are more common. These fires are mainly started by drivers: someone throwing a cigarette out of the window can easily start a fire on the lava beds, as they are very dry. Interviewee 12 (2012) stated that: ?The fires on the lava bed are quite difficult to put down, because what is burning aren't trees necessarily. There are some trees, what is burning for the most part are the really dried lichens, and they are like kindling. They are like burning paper, but they don't just grow on top, they grow in between the rocks, and they grow down, and in the rocks. Your fire can disappear and pop up behind you, because it is burning, burning things down under the rocks. The rocks themselves retain heat very well, so once they get hot, it takes a long time for them to cool down? (Interviewee 12 2012). 93 Interviewee 17 (2012) stated that perhaps there would be more forest fires since the trees, and therefore the forest, are going to change. Nonetheless, according to Interviewee 13 (2012) the risk of forest fires should be lower under climate change due to an increase in precipitation, which would make the valley even wetter than it is today. 4.2.3.3. Ba'askw ? Wind ?Windstorms, I've seen them, a lot of woodlots getting blown down by windstorms, roofs being blown away? (Interviewee 10 2012). According to Interviewee 10 (2012) and Interviewee 13 (2012), there have been several windstorms in the valley that have affected the communities. Only one event is known to have had severe impacts on the forest. Four collaborators mentioned that the forest at the Lava Lake between the Nass Valley and Terrace was blown down by a windstorm (Interviewee 7 2012; Interviewee 12 2012; Interviewee 13 2012; Interviewee 16 2012). According to Interviewee 16 (2012), this windstorm had winds of 120-130 km/hr for about six to seven hours. The storm originated in the Gulf of Alaska. Although there can be very strong winds in the valley, Interviewee 12 (2012) and Interviewee13 (2012) agreed that in the case of Lava Lake blow down it was not only the strong wind that caused the disaster, but also the design of previous logging activities in the area. Interviewee 12 explained that: ?Because there were cut blocks and they weren't designed very well, so when a windstorm came through the valley a few years ago, all those cut blocks, the edges of the cutblocks fell down, and that started a chain reaction, where that tree falls and that one, because all these trees if they grow up with neighbors, they don't get a lot of resistance to lateral movement, because they never get full wind on, and you remove the trees beside them, and now they are getting a lot of wind on one side that they never had before. That tree falls on one beside it, and then they are all domino, so all the trees in that section of 94 the forest where they cutblocked out, they all fell down, making the cutblocks ten times bigger than they were before? (Interviewee 12 2012). 4.2.3.4. Pests and pathogens According to Murdock et al. (2013), the potential impacts of pests and pathogens outbreaks on host trees may range from reduction of growth to mortality; at the same time, pest populations are dependent of host abundance. The same authors state that the changing climate affects these associations by modifying forest distribution and composition, as well as influencing the organisms that live in forests, including pest and pathogen species. Pest and pathogen outbreaks can have significant impacts on forest health, carbon stocks, and the economies of forest-based communities at regional and provincial scales (Murdock et al. 2013). The collaborators discussed the mountain pine beetle (Dendroctonus ponderosae Hopkins) and, very briefly, other pests present in the area, such as the western hemlock looper (Lambdina fiscellaria lugubrosa Hulst), and white pine weevil (Pissodes strobi Peck). One collaborator mentioned Dothistroma needle blight of pines, caused by the fungus Dothistroma septosporum (Dorog.) Morelet. 4.2.3.4.1. Mountain pine beetle Mountain pine beetles (MPB) lay eggs under the bark of various pines, but primarily lodgepole pine (Parish 1995). The beetles introduce blue stain fungus into the sapwood, which seems to be involved in the mortality of the pines, although the precise mechanisms remain unclear. Trees infested by mountain pine beetle die within one or two years apparently because lateral galleries mined by the larvae, and the blue stain fungus carried into the tree by the beetles, disrupt the flow of water and nutrients (Campbell et al. 2007). In the case of the Nisga?a land, and most of 95 British Columbia, MPB mainly attacks old lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta Douglas), which is the most common pine species in the area (Parkins & MacKendrick 2007; Walker & Sydneysmith 2008). Normally, beetles infest and kill the oldest and most stressed trees in a forest. With warmer winters, the beetle population increases and can reach epidemic proportions (Safranyik et al. 1975; Campbell et al. 2007). According to three collaborators, the MPB has always been part of the environment (Interviewee 9 2012; Interviewee 12 2012; Interviewee 13 2012). However, during the past it has never been a great risk for the Nisga?a forest largely because the winter temperatures in the Nass Valley have controlled the population of the MPB. Interviewee 12 (2012) mentioned that: ?So, mountain pine beetle is part of the environment here. We have pine beetles, they haven't gone as bad as the ones elsewhere in BC, in part because our winters have been helping control the natural population. It isn't growing. It is there, and goes from tree to tree, but there isn't a high volume of beetles, where they aren't necessarily killing every tree they come to. The young pines are quite successful at pushing them out, so that even if some of the beetles survive, they are not killing the tree. And there aren't so many that they kill a whole bunch of trees every year. So they are here, but they haven?t started an epidemic? (Interviewee 12 2012). Even though MPB has not been a major issue in the Nass Valley, there have been some events, mainly in the area of Gitlaxt'aamiks and Gitwinksihlkw villages. The lower villages, Gingolx and Lax?g?alts?ap, have not have problems with this beetle, mainly because the age distribution and cover of lodgepole pines would not support an epidemic (Interviewee 10 2012). For some of the areas that were affected in the past, Interviewee 10 (2012) recalled that: ?Dad told me when he was working in the Skeena, they did experience problems with mountain pine beetle. They were logging with horses, and he said they cut all the infestation areas out, out of the woodlot; we wouldn't leave even one branch behind. Put them in a great big pile in the middle of winter ... set it on fire, go to someone else's woodlot and advised them to do the same thing? (Interviewee 10 2012). 96 An intervention that caused the spread of MPB was the suppression of wildfire, which used to control beetle populations (Taylor et al. 2006; Walker & Sydneysmith 2008). The suppression of wildfire increased the amount of mature lodgepole pine, which are susceptible to MPB attacks (Walker & Sydneysmith 2008). The abundance of susceptible host trees is the first condition described by Safranyik (1978) for a MPB outbreak to develop. Interviewee 16 (2012) stated that several elders in Lax?g?alts?ap village argued that the Nisga?a people should let forest fires burn when they were talking about the MPB infestation during the mid-1990s. Interviewee 16 (2012) recalled that: ?They said we should just let the whole forest burn down, instead of letting that bug spread everywhere. They should of, because the forest would be healthy, right? And the pine beetle would be burnt? (Interviewee 16 2012). According to Interviewee 9 (2012) and Interviewee 13 (2012), as well as Carroll et al. (2003) and Walker & Sydneysmith (2008), the weather plays an important role in the spread of MPB. Taylor et al. (2006) state that the size of mountain pine beetle infestations varies with short-term changes in weather. Thus, the second condition for a MPB outbreak to develop comprises a sustained period of favorable weather over several years (Safranyik 1978). Insect development and activity are dependent upon temperature and seasonal weather conditions (Taylor et al. 2006). Specifically, summer heat accumulation must be sufficient to allow development and reproduction followed by winter minimum temperatures that do not fall below thresholds that cause significant mortality (Carroll et al. 2003). The collaborators mentioned that in order to keep the MPB population under control there must be at least two weeks of -40?C (Interviewee 9 and 13, 2012), a principle that was described by Safranyik et al. (1975), and then used by Taylor et al. (2006) to define the range of MPB. 97 However, as stated above, winter temperatures have been getting warmer. The consequence of these changes could be the spread of MPB in the Nisga?a land. Interviewee 9 (2012) mentioned that: ?I think pine beetle has always been there, but due to the changes in the weather, in the climate, the winter has been warmer, so there was nothing to hold back this infestation. I heard someone said that pine beetles have always been there, but have been kept in step by the nature, so it's an extreme cold temperature. I don't know about that new ideas but I noticed that 3 years. I don't know if the southerns knew how fast it spreads from, like down in the interior area, from there it started moving all the way up, up to the north, and the weather here, the winters have been very mild? (Interviewee 9 2012). Not only have the changes in temperature allowed the MPB to spread, but windstorms have also helped. Interviewee 12 (2012) stated that the same windstorm that blew down the trees on the way to Terrace, described above, helped the MPB to move close to the edge of the Nisga?a territory. Interviewee 12 (2012) explained that: ?We've seen the epidemic of pine beetle moving toward us, and there was the same big windstorm that knocked a lot of trees down. We were concerned that it might have blown a lot of pine beetle here, because we could see them spreading with that windstorm, and there were a lot of pine beetle in the Rosewood area, and we could see them advancing and there were a lot of pine beetles at the edge of our territory, near Lava Lake? (Interviewee 12 2012). 4.2.3.4.2. Western hemlock looper The western hemlock looper was also mentioned by one of the collaborators. This is a defoliating insect that is normally present in the inland rainforest, and occasionally reaches outbreak levels (Alfaro et al. 1999). During an outbreak, looper populations will rapidly rise, remain active for 1 or 2 years, and then collapse, often causing high tree mortality (Alfaro et al. 1999), as well as suppressed growth (Coxson et al. 2012). Interviewee 12 (2012) stated that: 98 ?One of the kind of epidemics we had in recent history, it wasn't pine beetle, but I think it was called the looper. Hemlock, I think it is the hemlock. It kills hemlock. There is an area on the Nass, north of here where huge forest stands were killed by loopers. Yeah, it is a kind of bug, a caterpillar or something, eats the hemlock? (Interviewee 12 2012). According to Coxson et al. (2012) and Alfaro et al. (1999), the hemlock looper not only affects western hemlock, but also attacks western redcedar. Alfaro et al. (1999) state that hemlock looper has caused tree mortality in central British Columbia, including to stands composed of alpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa (Hook.) Nutt), western hemlock, white spruce (Picea glauca (Moench) Voss), and western red cedar. Looper defoliation makes trees more vulnerable to attack by secondary insect pests (Alfaro et al. 1999). The same authors found that after 4 years, high levels of tree mortality occurred in areas of severe defoliation, placing this pest as a serious cause of tree mortality in British Columbia?s forests. They concluded that tree mortality occurred rapidly, mostly within 2 years of the start of the infestation. Alfaro et al. (1999)state that the adult hemlock looper lay their eggs from September to early October in bark crevices and on moss and lichens on the tree trunk and lower crown. After overwintering, hatching occurs from May to early June. Given that winters in the Nass Valley are getting warmer and shorter, hemlock looper outbreaks could get more common due to greater over-winter survival of the eggs. 4.2.3.4.3. White pine weevil A third insect mentioned by one of the collaborators was white pine weevil. This collaborator stated that: ?We have diseases in our trees, we had the spruce weevil, killing spruce trees? (Interviewee 16 2012). 99 According to Alfaro et al. (2002) and King et al. (2011), white pine weevil is one of the most devastating pests of young spruce (Picea spp.) and pines (Pinus spp.) in North America. This weevil is a native insect that occurs across Canada and the northern United States (King et al. 2011). In Sitka spruce, the damage caused by this weevil can be so severe that young Sitka spruce trees often become stunted and bushy as a result of terminal leaders being repeatedly killed, and fail to achieve apical dominance (King et al. 2011). Although weevil attacks do not kill trees, they reduce growth and deform the stem, thus reducing both tree volume and stem quality (Alfaro 1998). King et al. (2011) state that in spring, adult weevils emerge from overwintering in the forest floor, climb to the top of young spruce, feed, mate and oviposit in the bark of the upper section of the previous year?s terminal shoot. Spring flooding events may interrupt this cycle and could control a potential weevil outbreak. Conversely, this pest may be favored by mild winters. In addition, warmer summers, and especially warmer temperatures in June, would allow more heat accumulation14 within stands. According to Alfaro (1998), the amount of heat accumulated during the growing season will determine the weevil?s ability to successfully complete its development cycle. Stands located where heat accumulation over a year exceeds a threshold of 785 degree-days above a base of 7.2?C are particularly susceptible to weevil attack. 14 Heat accumulation is expressed in degree-days (Alfaro 1998) 100 4.2.3.4.4. Dothistroma needle blight of pines ?There is this, that we call needle rust, that stroma that is coming in into our woods. It is new, fairly new, that attacks pine? (Interviewee 13 2012). The fungus responsible for the disease, Dothistroma septosporum (Dorog.) Morelet, infects the needles of lodgepole pine, causing necrotic lesions and premature needle drop (Welsh et al. 2009), and reducing photosynthetic capacity (Woods et al. 2005). Historically, Dothistroma needle blight has had only minor impacts on native forest trees, and mortality due to any foliar disease in natural forests is rare. Recently, this situation has dramatically changed in the northern temperate forests of British Columbia, Canada, where Dothistroma needle blight has severely affected native lodgepole pines (Woods et al. 2005). Murdock et al. (2013) consider Dothistroma needle blight to be one of the two main forest health issues that have been associated with climate change in British Columbia (the other being MPB). According to Woods et al. (2005), increases in the incidence of Dothistroma have been associated with increased precipitation. The severity of attack remains low except at warmer temperatures (15?20 ?C) under regimes of continuous moisture. The incidence of infection is highly sensitive to annual variation in weather. Rapid development of outbreaks can occur during periods of prolonged wet weather during the growing season (Welsh et al. 2009). Since the 1970s, the frequency of warm rain events has been increasing in northwestern British Columbia (Woods et al. 2005). The much more severe epidemic that occurred in 200215 is thought to be a result of a marked increase in the frequency of these warm rain events observed 15 According to Welsh et al. (2009) this year it was possible to fully appreciate the effects of the outbreak that was going on during the 2000, which is not very clear in their paper, because they also mentioned that during the 1997 there was the first instance of severe damage to a lodgepole pine stand. 101 during the mid- to late-1990s (Welsh et al. 2009). It is possible that recent increases in summer precipitation (Woods et al. 2005) and, more specifically, warm rain events over large areas, represent an environmental trigger that synchronized the 2002 outbreak, causing the widespread emergence of the disease (Welsh et al. 2009). The increase in available hosts on the landscape could also have contributed to an accumulation of inoculum that may explain the observed increase in severity and spread over time of Dothistroma needle blight. Consequently, as for MPB, the two main conditions for a potential outbreak described by Walker & Sydneysmith (2008) are present in the Nass Valley, one being the changes in weather patterns, and the other being an increase in host tree availability. However, in contrast to MPB that attacks mature lodgepole pines, Dothistroma needle blight more commonly attacks young trees for which forest management practices of the past 30 years have demonstrably increased the abundance (Woods et al. 2005), and it may also attack mature trees (Welsh et al. 2009). Although the damage to native species is normally limited to a reduction in annual growth approximately proportional to the severity of defoliation, during the past decade, the prevalence of the disease and the severity of damage appear to have increased (Welsh et al. 2009), with impacts on both managed and natural stands of lodgepole pine. Annual growth reductions and increased mortality of mature trees have both been recorded (Welsh et al. 2009). 4.2.4. Effects on traditional forest practices The collaborators discussed the disruption to the timing of traditional forest-related activities, such as the late blooming of berry bushes, or the difficulties caused by flooding while accessing traditional sites for medicinal plants. Climate change may result in several other effects on traditional forest practices. Disturbances associated with climate change, such as floods and pest 102 outbreaks, could have several impacts on species of great importance for the Nisga?a people, such as western redcedar and western hemlock. Traditional practices such as bark collection (redcedar) or ksuuw?16 collection (hemlock) could be affected. Interviewee 15 (2012) mentioned that there is a specific time of the year when the Nisga?a people used to harvest berries. Soapberry picking starts in late May or early June (Interviewee 7 2012), and the other species, such as blueberries, salmonberries, huckleberries and loganberries are usually ready at the end of June (Interviewee 8 2012). Both collaborators agreed that in summer 2012 there had been a delay in berry picking because of the late flowering of the berry bushes. Interviewee 8 (2012) mentioned: ?The climate has had an effect on all the berry bushes and things like that. We pick blueberries, salmonberries, huckleberries, loganberries. Those are some of the things that we haven't seen yet, used. In comparison, let's say about two years ago, people used to go out about this time, near the end of June picking berries. Nobody has gone now to pick berries yet, because the way the climate has changed? (Interviewee 8 2012). According to Interviewee 8 (2012), the effect of the climate has been such that people have not been able to gather berries at the traditional time. The reason seems to be the cold springs mentioned by Interviewee 16 (2012) and described in the previous section. Apparently, both berry picking and bark collection may be affected by climate (Interviewee 15 2012), as well as the collection of swamp tea (Interviewee 11 2012). However, it is delayed access caused by flooding rather than late springs that affect the collection of bark and swamp tea. Interviewee 15 (2012) mentioned: ?I think the only effect it would have is the delays in the traditional practices. Like if we were getting flooding rains, it flooded easily and lasts a week, then it precipitates back down to normal. We just sit back and wait for everything to go around, and then we go 16 Ksuuw? is defined as ?a food made of processed inner hemlock bark? (FirstVoices 2011). 103 out and start picking the cedar bark that they would use to string oolichan, for traditional uses? (Interviewee 15 2012) Interviewee 11 (2012) stated that swamp tea is usually picked in spring. In spring 2012, the road to access the picking area was flooded and was still closed in June 2012. Although delays in the timing of traditional practices are a consequence of climate change, the Nisga?a people have adapted (mainly waiting for the right time). There are, however, some other impacts that may be more difficult for the Nisga?a people to accommodate. Such changes are associated with damage caused by flooding and pests. While the former could affect the establishment of certain species in areas that continuously get flooded, the latter could lead to the loss of certain tree species in the forest. Some species are not adapted to prolonged flooding. If western redcedar and western hemlock fail to survive in the new site conditions, traditional practices such as bark and ksuuw? collection will be affected. Other species also play an important role in the regeneration of the forest. These pioneer species, such as alder and cottonwood, may be lost due to the changing conditions (Interviewee 12 2012). Some of the traditional forest practices described in Chapter 3 that could affected by pests and pathogens are redcedar bark collection, canoe and pole carving (pest: hemlock looper), western hemlock ksuuw? consumption (pest: hemlock looper), Sitka spruce ksuuw? consumption (pest: white pine weevil) and pine mushroom picking (pest: MPB and pathogen: dothistroma needle blight). Table 6 summarizes the potential consequences for these traditional forest practices. 104 Table 6. Pest and pathogens effects on traditional forest practices of Nisga?a people Pest or Pathogen Host Effects on host Effects on Traditional forest practices Hemlock looper Western redcedar, Western hemlock High tree mortality (Alfaro et al. 1999), as well as suppressed growth (Coxson et al. 2012) Western redcedar: for bark collection, carving and Devil?s club picking17 Western Hemlock: for ksuuw?, fishing and fish smoking. White pine weevil Sitka spruce Reduces growth and deforms the stem (Alfaro 1998), trees often become stunted and bushy (King et al. 2011) Making the trees smaller reduces the amount of firewood to be collected; it also reduces the surface of the cambium that can be eaten as ksuuw?, mainly because the weevil larvae mine down under the bark of the tree, consuming the phloem (King et al. 2011). MPB Lodgepole pine Overwhelm the natural defenses of healthy trees and kill mature lodgepole pine over many thousands of hectares (Safranyik et al. 1975; Campbell et al. 2007) Possibly, at the beginning there would be an overstocking of wood with a potential use as firewood because of the dead trees. However the death of the trees would affect the pine mushroom regrowth, due to the symbiotic relationship between both being broken. Therefore, affecting mushroom picking activities of Nisga?a people. Dothistroma needle blight Lodgepole pine Annual growth reduction and mature trees mortality (Welsh et al. 2009). 4.3. Concerns and problems ?So it affects the fish, it affects the wildlife, everything. It is a chain reaction, down the road, and it is slowly building for us, unfortunately, and it is gonna catch up, there is no question about that, it will sustain for some time but it will catch up? (Interviewee 1 2012). As stated in the above quotation, the impacts of climate change have started a chain reaction first affecting natural resources and then the communities that depend on them. The collaborators raised concerns about some of the potential consequences, and these are described below. For 17 According to Parish (1995) common overstory tree associates include western redcedar, which frequently grows with western hemlock and Douglas fir, and on the north coast, it also grows with amabilis fir and spruces. Therefore, the habitat for Devil?s club would be disrupted if western redcedar and western hemlock trees are killed by hemlock looper, and the spruce being affected by the weevil. This could affect, by consequence the abundance of Devil?s club. 105 example, people were very concerned about the consequences for fish, not only because of the warmer temperatures, but also because of the flooding and the high level of the river. Although they did not refer directly to the forest, their concerns about fish and flooding are associated with the appropriate management and conservation of the forests, mainly in riparian areas. Flooding was a major preoccupation for collaborators living in the lower villages. Collaborators also mentioned their concerns about berry and mushroom picking. 4.3.1. Hoon ? Fish Few studies have evaluated the effect of climate change on the traditional food systems of indigenous peoples. Depending on the community, local resources can make up a significant amount of a person?s diet (Downing & Cuerrier 2011). This is the case of the Nisga?a nation, where fishing is one of the main traditional activities still carried out by the Nisga?a people. Interviewee 12 (2012) stated that: ?Our culture depends heavily on salmon. Salmon are our key, keystone if you will, to our way of life? (Interviewee 12 2012). With salmon being so important to the Nisga?a culture, any impacts on their abundance or health could affect people?s food reserves. Three collaborators expressed concerns about rising water temperatures (Interviewee 11 2012), because the glaciers no longer provide sufficient meltwater to maintain cool water temperatures (Interviewee 1 2012). This is resulting in delayed salmon runs, and the fish are old and weak prior to running up river (Interviewee 7 2012). Some salmon fail to reach the spawning grounds because they die on their way up river (Interviewee 7 2012). 106 Another concern regarding fish was brought up by Interviewees 10 and 12. Both collaborators were concerned about the impacts that flooding would have on salmon and oolichan, respectively. Thus, Interviewee 12 (2012) stated that: ?If it is flooding all the time, it could seriously change the way our fish are, where and how they spawn, what their abundance levels are?. Interviewee 12 (2012) was also able to make an important link between the fish and the forest. This collaborator mentioned that the ability of forests to retain water with changes in rainfall and flooding events could be affected, and this might affect the fish due to higher levels of water in the river system: ?If it is flooding all the time then their eggs would be unable to stay in the shallow creeks. That is where they spawn, and if it's flood a long time, then the eggs don't stay and the fish don't hatch, and we don't have salmon? (Interviewee 12 2012). A similar concern was raised by Interviewee 10 (2012), but in this case was related to oolichan. This collaborator explained that oolichan used to spawn further up the river whereas now the furthest upstream spawning area is near the bridge that goes to Lax?g?alts?ap. This interviewee stated: ?That is how much floods have affected our valley. I'm afraid that once, once we lose the last spawning area, we are going to lose the oolichan too ? that is from the silt coming off the mountain sides, and ....... the oolichan are affected by the silt? (Interviewee 10 2012). According to Interviewee 11 (2012), the Nisga?a people used to be famous for oolichan; they had grease trails where people from different places came to get oolichan grease. This Interviewee stated that: 107 ?There have been some years where there hasn't been very many. I don't know why. Some people say because those purse seiners [in Alaska], who knows. Could be associated with the weather too? (Interviewee 11 2012). Interviewee 13 (2012) and Interviewee 16 (2012) also mentioned the declining stock of fish, both salmon and oolichan. Interviewee 16 (2012) expressed concern regarding the availability of fish resources for future generations. Referring to spring salmon the collaborator stated that: ?The biggest I've ever caught was a fish of 73 pounds, but it is becoming few and far between. So where are those fish gonna be for my kids, because of the climate change, and because of the impact of the degradation of the whole system?? (Interviewee 16 2012). 4.3.2. Pdaalhl ? Flooding Flooding and sea level rise were among the main concerns expressed by two collaborators, Interviewees 13 and 16. The Interviewee from the village of Lax?g?alts'ap mentioned that the area where the community was located by the Indian Affairs Agency was at high risk due to river flooding. The other collaborator mentioned that if the sea level rises, then the lower communities of Gingolx and Lax?g?alts'ap would be under water. Both scenarios would put the lower communities at risk. In the case of Lax?g?alts'ap, Interviewee 16 (2012) mentioned that about 100 homes would be affected, which in the face of such disaster would have to be relocated. Interviewee 16 (2012) mentioned that: ?No one is looking to the whole thing to say what it is gonna impact all of these years.As it gets warmer, as the water get higher, how is our management system for fisheries, for forest, for everything, adapting to address that? It is not fake; it is real. Like you look at the water levels coming up, and you think about that every year. Are we gonna have five millions dollars to build a dike on our community, like in Venice? No! We don't have that kind of money. Can we do that? No! We would have to relocate if the water keeps coming up, and how many people, other people around the world have to be relocated because of the sea levels. Sea levels impact us too? (Interviewee 16 2012). 108 Interviewee 16 (2012) also expressed concern regarding the impacts that sea level would have on forests. This collaborator stated that: ?Sea levels impact us too, and they'd impact our forest. How would they impact our forest when this area becomes flooded? The salt level or anything increased in sea level and the mixture of water, it would kill the trees. These trees aren't meant to have that stuff? (Interviewee 16 2012). 4.3.3. Infrastructure Roads and bridges are important forms of infrastructure that keep people connected, so their maintenance is critical. The Nisga?a highway, the route that connects the Nass valley to Terrace, is mostly surrounded by forest. A concern raised by Interviewee 8 (2012) was associated with windfalls and heavy rainfall during storms, which not only cause power outages because of tree falls, but also block roads because of landslides. Interviewee 8 (2012) mentioned that: ?With the climate change the weather, when it gets really stormy here, really bad, we get power outage because falling trees. And those are some of the things that concern me, how the forest feels it. It is as much as we do, because if the trees fall down, then we get slides, a natural slide, and things like that, from the rain. There have been one or two that happened here already, and one was recently, just about a year or two, because the weather, the way the climate was for us, again it was pretty heavy rain and wind that did the damage? (Interviewee 8 2012). Interviewee 12 (2012) mentioned that McKay Bridge on the Nisga?a highway was built for a 200-year-flood event, but the corner right beside the bridge was built two meters lower and can only cope with a 20-year-flood event. The aim was to use the corner as a pressure buffer, enabling a rising river to go around the bridge rather than forcing it to go under the bridge with subsequent damage to the bridge foundations (Interviewee 12 2012). Even in a massive flood, while the highway might be destroyed, the bridge would still be there. This strategy was adopted to save costs: the highway is cheaper to repair than the bridge. The concern of this collaborator is 109 actually related to the frequency of the flooding events. Floods now occur more or less one in five years, resulting in the highway having to be repaired 3 or 4 times in the last 10 years, a significant maintenance cost for the Nation. 4.3.4. Gi? ? Picking activities Berry picking was described in Chapter 3 as one of the most important forest practices of the Nisga?a people, and therefore any impact in the abundance of berries would affect their cultural activities. Mainly, because climate change may affect tribes? relationships with traditional foods (Lynn et al. 2013). The climate and the changes in weather conditions are among the concerns that preoccupied Interviewee 8 (2012), who stated that the weather during 2012 compared to 2011 was chillier, more or less 2 degrees colder, making a difference to all their traditional activities, including berry picking. The collaborator mentioned that: ?The weather has a bearing on our berry patches, in the areas that we go berry picking. It does make a difference when we have to wait and see what happens. And when we do have heavy storms with the weather, it does have an effect on berry bushes and everything there, and if there berries on them, then heavy storms knocks them down. That hurts us a lot. We can't change it, because it is a natural force? (Interviewee 8 2012). Berry picking is no longer necessary for survival; as one collaborator mentioned, it would be easier to go and buy the berries at Safeway in Terrace. Berry picking is instead a matter of cultural transmission, since families and especially grandparents and grandchildren join in, allowing elders to teach young children about the land and the environment. According to Downing & Cuerrier (2011), participating in outdoor activities such as berry picking also allows elders to transmit the local language to younger generations, since the language is mainly related to the land. Interviewee 11 (2012) mentioned that: 110 ?When we were young, the road was there. But as I said, it was difficult to get to Terrace, so we lived a lot of the land, which we don't anymore, but there might come a day when we need it, yeah, to live of the land? (Interviewee 11 2012). Another more contemporary practice is pine mushroom picking. Although this is a fairly new practice for the Nisga?a people, it has become an important source of income for some families. A major concern with mushroom picking raised by Interviewee 11 is associated with a potential MPB outbreak in the Nass Valley. The collaborator stated that: ?The mushrooms grow underneath. I'm concerned. If the pine beetle spreads too much here we won't have any pine left, and that is a big source of income for a lot of people right now. I don't know ? and that is due to climate change. I mean, it used to be really cold here in the olden days, for a long period of time. Now it gets warm fast, because when we work in oolichan in March, April, used to always be at least three feet of snow when I was little. In the last 30 years we probably only had, I don't know, three times when we had snow, and it's never been three feet? (Interviewee 11 2012). 4.3.5. Ayuukhl Nisga'a ? Cultural law of the Nisga'a Finally, one of the collaborators showed concern about people?s attitudes regarding the traditional and cultural believes of the Nisga?a people. According to Interviewee 9 (2012), the Nisga?a people believe in their Ayuukhl Nisga'a, which defines their code of ethics and behavior regarding other people and the environment. The same collaborator stated that if they do not have this belief, they are just like other people. The collaborator stated: ?One of the major concerns is the attitude of the general population now, and it all goes to cultural belief, what we believe in, our Ayuukhl Nisga'a, how we live. If we don't have that, we are just anybody else, that doesn't have any base. Like what we have, the laws, the protocols, and code of ethics that we follow, we call it Ayuukhl Nisga'a? (Interviewee 9 2012). Interviewee 9 (2012) thinks that most of the people in the Nisga?a communities do not know the Ayuukhl Nisga'a, especially the young people. According to the same collaborator, this is a major 111 issue because young Nisga?a are the future of their culture. In order to preserve the culture and, at the same time, adapt and prepare for future changes in the environment, they will need this knowledge. Interviewee 9 finally added: ?I think that is failing now. A lot of the younger people don't know, and lot of the people, even the old people, they know of it, some of it, but not all of it. It is really important, I think, to know most of the law, all the law that we live by, how to live as a human being, how to treat each other. I think it is the same as the laws and the 10 commandments. We live by the same, the same [believes] those people used to live by, and we still do, majority of us do, but the younger people are getting away from that, and that really concerns me in the future? (Interviewee 9 2012). 4.5. Chapter summary Throughout this chapter it has been possible to identify and describe Nisga?a experiences regarding climate change. As recommended by the collaborators, the first part of the chapter was organized according to the different seasons starting in Tx?as-maadim, which in Nisga?a language means winter. The results in this section of the chapter showed that there is a confirmed warming trend for the winter season, and thus the main measures of change are the snow on the ground and the ice on the Nass River. Regarding the former, collaborators stated that the snow season has shortened, lasting from January to the middle of March. However, the collaborators not only mentioned the length of the snow season, but also the amount of snow falling during the winter. According to eight of the collaborators the amount of fallen snow in the past was significantly higher than it is at present. Indeed, Interviewee 14 (2012) stated that they used to get snow that was 13 feet deep. About 30 years ago the Nass River used to freeze over, allowing people to walk and even drive on the ice, and most importantly to do ice fishing. Today the situation is totally different: the river no longer freezes and, when it does, the ice is not thick enough to allow the Nisga?a people to fish for oolichan in the traditional way. 112 For the remaining seasons, an interesting idea about shifting seasons was proposed, which would also explain why the winter is warming up. As stated by Interviewee 16 (2012), seasons seem to be delayed. Normally spring is in April, May and June. Nowadays, those months are still dominated by winter conditions. The second section of this chapter showed that as a result of the shifting seasons and therefore the winter season getting longer, the water in the river is too cold for salmon. This forces the fish to hold down river waiting for warmer conditions. Consequently, the fish get old and weak, which affects the fishing season. On the other hand, during some months (such as September), the water gets too warm, and again the salmon will not move up river to the spawning grounds. In addition, climate change could also be affecting bears during their hibernation period, mainly because of the lack of snow covering the caves where they are hibernating. Another animal being affected is the moose, since their main food source (red willow) is disappearing from the Nass Valley, and they are therefore moving to other areas. Amongst all the disturbances associated with climate change described in this chapter, flooding, pests and pathogens pose the greatest risk to forests. Flooding affects the regeneration of the species that form the forests, and pests affect growth, even killing important cultural species for the Nisga?a people, such as western redcedar and western hemlock. Climate change is also delaying the onset of some traditional activities, especially as related to the gathering of wild foods. On the other hand, climate change may directly affect the species involved in traditional forest practices. The impacts generated by climate change have started a chain reaction, first affecting natural resources, and then the communities that depend on them. People are very concerned about the 113 consequences that climate change could have on fish, not only because of the warmer temperatures, but also because of the flooding and the high level of the river. There are also some concerns about the appropriate management of riparian forests. Furthermore, flooding itself is another preoccupation of some collaborators living in the lower villages. Collaborators also mentioned their concerns about berry and mushroom picking activities. Although some of the results presented in this chapter coincide with findings of other research in BC (e.g. Turner & Clifton 2009), the novelty of this work is associated with its area-specific focus, since the Nass Valley has not been studied in the context of climate change research. The following chapter examines forest management under climate change. It focuses in particular on two different ways of management that have influenced the current state of the Nisga?a forests. 114 CHAPTER 5: Managing the Nisga?a forests under climate change The present chapter describes past and present forest management practices. The ?past? is described from the point of time that correspond to before logging companies came into the Nass Valley; ?present? refers to current guidelines in use by the Nisga?a Lisims Government (NLG). At the same time through the chapter, I will also contrast Nisga?a traditional management and Western management of forest resources. This not only provides context for the current state of the Nisga?a forests, but also explores why some impacts connected to changing climate, such as increased flooding, have been more severe as a result of Western management practices, despite having been carried out more than 40 years ago. Moreover, I explore why traditional Nisga?a management approaches have been so successful at maintaining healthy forests, and how this ancient knowledge could help inform the development of new guidelines that address climate change impacts. In parallel, I analyze current forest management flexibility and adaptability to climate change. Finally, I propose the use of an integrative approach to develop new guidelines for forest management that could improves Nisga?a forests resilience18, and thus adapt and mitigate current and future impacts of a changing climate. 5.1. Three different approaches to draw from 5.1.1. Traditional Nisga?a approach to resource management ?People of the land know, we communicate with each other, with the land, with the animals; if we don't respect that, they don't respect us? (Interviewee 10 2012). 18 Seixas & Berkes (2003) state, ?The resilience of an ecosystem is its capacity to absorb disturbances while maintaining its behavioral processes and structure. It can be defined as the capacity to buffer perturbations, to self-organize, and to learn and adapt.? 115 The above quotation harkens back to the Nisga?a worldview described in Chapter 1, illustrating the strong connection between people and land. Indeed, Nisga?a believe that people do not own the land; rather, the land is a gift from the Supreme Being ? a gift that Nisga?a people are responsible to look after (Interviewee 11 2012). The Nisga?a people are a matrilineal society comprised of four exogamous pdeek ? tribes: Laxgibuu ? Wolf, Laxsgiik ? Eagle, Ganada ? Raven and Gisk?aast ? Killer whale. Each pdeek is headed up by a Sim?oogit ? hereditary chief, and Sigidimnak? ? matriarch. The Sim?oogit of each pdeek is the man who is thought to have the greatest influence in the pdeek. The level of respect a Sim?oogit has gained in the community determines the amount of authority he has (Boston et al. 1996; Burton 2012). Members from each pdeek belong to a wilp ? house, which is an extended family with a shared female forebear. As the family became larger, supplementary houses called huwilp were erected to provide shelter for the remaining people from the original wilp (Griffin & Spanjer 2008; Burton 2012). Historically, the Nisga?a Traditional Territory was divided into 40 ango?oskw (traditional domains) owned by 60 huwilp (Wright 2002 cited by Burton 2012). A wilp was the basic economic unit in Nisga?a society. Each wilp had an ango?oskw with boundaries determined long ago by the forebears. Within each ango?oskw, there was an ant?aahlkw, berry and root picking place, and ankw?ihlwil, hunting land (Burton 2012). Interviewee 9 (2012) describes an ang?o'oskw as: ?A big area. That is where my forefathers used to live and gather their food, like that, it was in all the different houses, with all the different clans? (Interviewee 9 2012). Interviewee 11 (2012) stated that each wilp has a traditional area where they could engage in traditional activities such as berry picking, salmon fishing or bark collection. Interviewee 9 116 (2012) mentioned that Nisga?a people did not stay in one place within their ang?o'oskw; rather, they used to move to areas where the resources were abundant. In some cases, when some families had abundant resources to satisfy one activity, such as berry picking, but another family did not, those families would arrange a marriage between their children. This allowed families to access areas that had plentiful resources in another family?s territory (Interviewee 11 2012). 5.1.1.1. Management: a family thing According to Interviewee 17 (2012), the stewardship of the ang?o'oskw was the responsibility of a certain bloodline embedded in each wilp. Each wilp has a Sim?oogit as its head. Within each wilp, the wife of the Sim?oogit is a Sigidimnak? and the chief?s eldest female relative (whether his mother, sister or niece) is also a Sigidimnak?. The wife of a Sim?oogit will support the chief but does not have any formal decision making power in his wilp. The members of the same huwilp share histories of their origins and crests associated with that history (Boston et al. 1996; Burton 2012). As Interviewee 17 (2012) commented, a story or adaawa? carries the knowledge of a certain wilp regarding stewardship of their ang?o'oskw. Indeed, the Nisga?a Nation19 states that the adaawa? is the story of the wilp's traditions on its territory and its geography. It is the property of the chief, which gives the chief legitimate title to the ang?o'oskw. Moreover, each adaawak is specific to a particular family, and is taught to other sim'oogit candidates and related publically at feasts by a rightful teller as a means of legitimizing the transfer of the sim'oogit name and the ang?o'oskw attached to it. Although the sim?oogit governed the ang?o'oskw, it did not belong to him. Instead, the ang?o'oskw belongs to the wilp. When the chief passes on, the family member next in line and who has 19 Visit online: [http://www.nisgaanation.ca/adaawak-stories] 117 received training takes the chief position in the family, as well as the responsibility to oversee the wilp?s ang?o'oskw (Interviewee 15 2012). As stated by Interviewee 15 (2012): ?Whoever the chief is, he is there to protect the territory as well, for the children, and their children's children. It just keep getting handed down from generation to generation, to insure that we will always have a forest to sustain us, so it is not only commercial land? (Interviewee 15 2012). Interviewee 13 (2012) mentioned that it was the sim'oogit responsibility to oversee the activities carried out on his family ang?o'oskw to insure that there were enough resources in that area for his own family. Interviewee 13 (2012) added that if there were more resources than those required by his family, the sim'oogit or matriarch would allow others families to come to his ang?o'oskw, and thus, make use of the resources. As stated earlier, the chief did not manage everything by himself; instead, he had the support from his family. Especially when making decisions, he had the support of the sigidimna??. The chief?s family also helped him to maintain a non-written record of the knowledge about certain areas of the family?s property. As a result, these records were not restricted to one person, but each family member would have a record of what is available in different parts of the family?s ang?o'oskw (Interviewee 1 2012). Moreover, since the sim'oogit?s children were typically from another clan, the sim'oogit would depend on his nephews to monitor the land. According to Interviewee 11 (2012), this constellation exists mainly because Nisga?a people do not get married with someone from the same clan, and also because their society is matriarchal. Therefore, the newborns belong to their mother?s clan, so it keeps control in the matriarchal line. That is why the sim'oogit would have to send his sister?s children to monitor the territory. Ang?o'oskw were specific to each family; therefore, even to cross over that family?s ang?o'oskw someone from a different family would have to seek permission (Interviewee 1 2012; 118 Interviewee 14 2012). According to Interviewee 14 (2012), every chief would know the boundaries of his traditional territory, so no other chief could go over other chief?s ang?o'oskw. This was strongly enforced by each sim'oogit. As Interviewee 14 (2012) recalled: ?Two of the young ? a story of our village ? nephews of the chief were sent down to get ready for the oolichan camps, fishing down below Greenville. Those two young men got killed because they crossed the line without permission from the chief. So, they thought they were trapping, or whatever they were supposed to be doing, but they were just going across that land? (Interviewee 14 2012). Sim'oogit enforced ownership of their ang?o'oskw not only to other families, but also to other neighboring Nations. For instance, Interviewee 14 (2012) mentioned that there are stories about wars against other Nations that were trying to conquer the Nisga?a land, especially trying to control the oolichan and salmon grounds. Interviewee 14 (2012) remembered the oolichan war: ?The chief from here [Gitwinksihlkw Village] was the one that fought the last war. They challenged each other, these two chiefs. They weren't gonna fight the whole, two chiefs are gonna have it out. They used to have fire guns. He pulled up his revolver, and the chief from the Nisga'a Nation knew all that. In the Sandbars, where they were fighting, the water was toward each other. The chief from Tsimshian went in a deep part of that, and his gun got wet, he couldn't fire it. The chief from up here shoot him dead, that was the last war of that, and it was the chief from this village? (Interviewee 14 2012). 5.1.1.2. Principles of management According to what the collaborators described, there are five principles that Nisga?a people must follow when they manage natural resources. These principles are (1) take what is needed, (2) take for a purpose, (3) take carefully, (4) do not waste and (5) pay respect. These principles will be discussed in more detail in the following. 119 5.1.1.2.1. Take what is needed According to three collaborators, Nisga?a people only take as much as they need from the environment. Interviewee 3 (2012) recalled: ?Our forbearers only took what was needed from the forest, from the animals that live on our land, from the salmon that came from our rivers, the mammals that live in the ocean, and the birds of the air. They only took what they needed, and nothing more than that? (Interviewee 3 2012). Interviewee 9 (2012) explained that they take what their family needed to live and survive through the winter. The same collaborator added that in the past, they knew that food supplies only last a certain period of time before they would rot; therefore, they could only store their food for certain length of time, which is how they knew how much they would need (Interviewee 9 2012). As mentioned previously, this Nisga?a principle was applicable not only with the food, but also with trees. For instance Interviewee 10 (2012) commented that ?If I came across one [Cypress]. I wouldn't cut it down, not unless absolutely needed, not just for the sake of the money. That is the only time I ever cut a Cypress down, Yellow Cedar. That is how I am with wood. Redcedar is the same thing. The only time I would cut that down is when I really needed it, or someone in my family needed one? (Interviewee 10 2012). Interviewee 3 (2012) also explained that they used to take what they needed, in order to allow species to reproduce themselves for the following years. This collaborator recalled: ?When I was trapping with my father on our/his hunting ground, he would talk, tell these stories about the animals we are going to trap, the martin and the beaver, the wolf, many, many other kind of animals, bears. And he would say to us ?We are going to take so much of the land, we have to leave some animals behind to reproduce for the next year and the years after that?. We only take what we need of the land and, we have to leave the rest behind in order for the species to reproduce themself? (Interviewee 3 2012). 120 5.1.1.2.2. Cut for a purpose According to Interviewee 8 (2012), the practice of resource management in the Nass Valley has always been very important. The Nisga?a people did not cut trees down at any time; rather, they used to make sure that they cut a certain tree down for a specific purpose, such as cultural use. For instance, ?For cultural use and things like that, for example, like the redcedar, they don't just take any ordinary cedar, redcedar tree, down because of the size. They vary in size to huge trees that stand maybe over 100 feet or so. And one of the things they do, they look for the certain tree, a Cedar tree, to use for making a canoe? (Interviewee 8 2012). In the same sense, Interviewee 2 (2012) recalled that this principle was taught to them when they were children. This collaborator commented: ?I remember my father said that you don't just go in the bush and just cut anything down unless you are going to use it. This is what we were taught when we were children. You don't take an axe and bump up the tree, because the bark that keeps it growing and healthy, you damage the bark and the tree is not gonna be alive or whatever. This is what they taught us, so it was very important. I think they treasured the trees; they used them for totem. And they appreciate it. I have seen it, my father was a master carver? (Interviewee 2 2012). 5.1.1.2.3. Cut carefully The third principle of resource management was caution during the process of harvesting. Interviewee 7 (2012) and Interviewee 8 (2012) said that the Nisga?a people used to do selective cuts in the forest, looking for the trees suited to a certain purpose. Interviewee 7 (2012) added that the Nisga'a people never cleared out one area of western redcedar; instead, they carefully cut the selected tree and left the other trees standing in the area. In this regard, the same collaborator also gave the example of the western hemlock: 121 ?All they burnt was hemlock. And they did the same thing, they left the bigger trees there, and there are always trees standing. And then just cut down the kind of smaller ones, the ones that are easier to handle? (Interviewee 7 2012). Under the same principle, Interviewee 1 (2012) and Interviewee 7 (2012) stated that being careful was very important in order to not overharvest an area. Consequently, they used to select different areas to avoid the deterioration of a particular place. In the case of fuel wood, Interviewee 7 (2012) mentioned: ?The same thing they did, they were really careful. They didn't stay in one spot that had been left behind. Behind the village, they would go to one area, and go to another area, so that they don't leave a big open area in the bush? (Interviewee 7 2012). According to Interviewee 7 (2012), this principle also extends to the removal of a selected tree from the forest. While moving a tree out of the forest, Nisga?a people were very careful and made sure they did not damage anything during the process. Interviewee 7 (2012) recalled that: ?The last big Cedar tree that was taken out, they would take the whole village, and in that way they reduce the damage of the forest, because there were a lot of people taking it out? (Interviewee 7 2012). Finally, Interviewee 9 (2012) also mentioned that this principle applied to people walking throughout the forest. ?I remember my dad always telling me: ?when you walk thru there, walk thru here, walk thru, and when you go past, you don't need a trail, you don't need anything broken behind you. It is as if you were never here when you walk thru, you don't break any tree or anything. Be careful with what you are doing. Always think when you are out in the bush, because if you don't,? he said, ?something is gonna happen to you, you are gonna get hurt?" (Interviewee 9 2012). 122 5.1.1.2.4. Use wisely The fourth principle is associated with complete use of tree after it has been harvested, to avoid wasting any part of the selected tree. Collaborators offered two main reasons for this. The first reason was that the Nisga?a people were taught to never be wasteful with the resources, since the creator gave those resources to them (Interviewee 2 2012; Interviewee 8 2012). Regarding this, Interviewee 2 (2012) recalled: ?You don't throw things around, what God gave you. In the long run, you will run out of everything, because you throw things around, you don't clean it, you don't use it right. What we get from the nature, you pick it and you use it wisely, because if you don't you are not gonna be able to get next year. That was what they told us when we were children? (Interviewee 2 2012). The second reason given by Interviewee 7 (2012) and Interviewee 12 (2012) is about the tree itself. Thus, the Nisga?a people gave a use to every part of a selected fallen tree, and they did it for the sake of honouring the tree (Interviewee 12 2012). Even though this principle applies to all different species of trees, it is especially oriented to western redcedar, because it is a sacred tree (Interviewee 7 2012). Interviewee 12 (2012) explained: ?If you are taking planks, you might not, probably you are not gonna take the whole tree, but you certainly can take all the parts you can use, all the bark you can use, and then you start splitting planks. And all the different parts you can take from the tree, you will ? to ensure that the tree is fully honoured for the giving it has made. So you would take the planks you need for planks, and anything else you could use for poles, utensils, and masks. And you take all the wood, and the only thing you couldn't take were the things that you can't possibly find a use for? (Interviewee 12 2012). 5.1.1.2.5. Pay respect The final principle described by collaborators is about being respectful; not only with the trees, but also with everything that surrounds the Nisga?a people. Interviewee 11 (2012) stated that 123 everything people do has a reaction, and in that way they were taught to respect everything (Interviewee 10 2012), not just the human beings, but the animals, trees, plants and rocks, since everything is alive. According to four collaborators, the Nisga?a people used to talk to the selected tree before, and even after, it was felled to show respect (Interviewee 1 2012; Interviewee 8 2012; Interviewee 10 2012; Interviewee 12 2012). Interviewee 1 (2012) mentioned that they talk to the forest to pay respect to the trees. However, it was not just talking to the tree. The Nisga?a people, and especially the chiefs, were given a certain process to follow before and after they fell a tree (Interviewee 8 2012). Since the trees are perceived as being alive, Nisga?a chiefs were supposed to hold a ceremony. Interviewee 8 (2012) recalled that: ?After they take a certain tree down, they start a ceremonial dance, ceremonial presentation, to the tree because the tree is alive, as we know, because they grow and they get to certain width. And the Chief who wants to make a canoe will look at that tree and won't cut it down the same time he see it. He would be doing the ceremony, talking to it in our language and touching it. And one of the thing they have done too, they pray over the tree. That is for giving thanks to our creator for the wood that we are able to use for cultural things that we do? (Interviewee 8 2012). As mentioned in the previous quotation, Nisga?a people prayed to the selected tree. Four prayers were used by the Nisga?a people depending on the stage of harvesting (Interviewee 12 2012). The prayers described by Interviewee 12 (2012) follow: 1. Announcing that people are going to go to the area, and also announcing their presence to the tree and why they are there. 2. Telling the tree why they are going to cut it. For instance, telling why they are going to take off a piece of bark, or remove anything from the tree. 124 3. Used when a tree is felled. Telling the tree they are going to hit it and why it is necessary to harm it. In this case, they would say before the tree falls why it was so important that it falls, because now its life as a tree is over. 4. Used when a tree is removed from the forest. This prayer would be said before the tree is removed, telling the tree why it was so important, not only that people came into this area, not only that they cut it, not only that they knocked it down, but also why they do need to remove the whole tree, why no part of it can stay in the forest. If building a canoe for instance, it would be necessary to take the whole tree out of the forest. Interviewee 12 (2012) additionally mentioned that those prayers are mainly about reminding the Nisga?a people about the severity of what they are doing. Finally, the same collaborator commented: ?It?s telling the tree why it?s so important that we do it, by maintaining the identity of the tree. It?s a way of reminding yourself to be as fully respectful as you can, and how you use it. Not a lot of people do those things anymore, but I know some people still do it and I try too? (Interviewee 12 2012). 5.1.1.3. Traditional management activities Three collaborators mentioned the use of fire to improve the production of blueberries. According to Interviewee 7 (2012) and Interviewee 12 (2012), when an area in the forest has been burnt, the first plants that emerge are blueberries. Interviewee 7 (2012) mentioned that: ?They [old Nisga?a people] found that, quite a long time ago, that if you burn a place, the blueberries are the first to come back, so until the other trees start growing, then you get lot of blueberries? (Interviewee 7 2012). The use of fire not only allowed the Nisga?a people to increase the amount of blueberry bushes available to them, but also it increases the number of animals accessing the area, feeding on the 125 new plant growth (Interviewee 17 2012). Thus, the Nisga?a people were able to harvest both animals and berries. Other than using fire as a management tool, Interviewee 7 (2012) mentioned that Nisga?a used to break off the branches of blueberry plants in order to influence their height for them harvesting. This collaborator commented: ?So that the bushes won't get too big, they break off the branches. And it is just like pruning I guess, pruning the blueberry bushes? (Interviewee 7 2012). Another traditional management practice mentioned by Interviewee 10 (2012) was associated with pathogen infestations. A tree that they knew was being attacked by insects would be cut down immediately and used as firewood. Moreover, the same collaborator added that some of the insect larvae found in the infested trees were toasted and used as a food for old people. An important management activity undertaken by the Nisga?a people in the past was zoning; they had certain areas allocated for specific purposes. Interviewee 12 (2012) stated that they would have different areas for collecting western redcedar bark or for harvesting entire trees. The same collaborator explained that: ?They would manage it in that way by designating areas just for those purposes, allowing trees to return, allowing trees to heal, so that they can be used for other purposes at another time? (Interviewee 12 2012). Interviewee 12 (2012) mentioned that different areas would be known for their purposes, while other areas would be left alone because they did not have a specific purpose. 5.1.2. Non-Aboriginal approach to resource management ?I look at the picture of those old gentlemen there. One photograph is dated in the latter part of 1800s, and the other photograph on the right is dated 1913. Both my father's 126 father and my mother's father are in those pictures ? the first land committee within our nation. He is with those gentlemen that had the courage to stand up and say ?wait a minute, wait a minute! This is our land, this is our land! You have to ask us first before you can come on our land?. Nobody used to do that before, nobody cared. They just came and did whatever they wanted and left? (Interviewee 3 2012). In contrast to the Nisga?a people?s worldview and beliefs, Western management was based on the economic value of trees; therefore, its main representation was embodied in the logging companies. These companies came into the Nass Valley to take over Nisga'a's forest resources, involving no consultation or explanation of what was going to happen to the valley and the Nisga?a people?s lives (Interviewee 14 2012). 5.1.2.1. Logging ?That's how powerful they were with their land you can't walk over. You'll hear stories about people up river, fighting over anybody that crosses the line. They get killed over that, and when the company came in, I don't know why we didn't enforce that? (Interviewee 14 2012). Although the Nisga?a people did not do anything about logging companies coming into the Valley, Interviewee 13 (2012) offers another perspective, mentioning that logging companies came after the Indian Act20 was passed in 1951. This collaborator stated that the Nisga?a people relied on the Government to provide for them, through the Indian Act, which changed their lifestyle and outlook. According to five collaborators, logging started in the Nass Valley in the late fifties; two others stated that it was 1958. As indicated by Interviewee 13 (2012), these companies came when they 20 The Indian Act is a Canadian federal law that governs in matters pertaining to Indian status, bands, and Indian reserves. The Indian Act is a part of a long history of assimilation policies that intended to terminate the cultural, social, economic, and political distinctiveness of Aboriginal peoples by absorbing them into mainstream Canadian life and values. Visit online: [http://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/home/government-policy/the-indian-act.html] 127 got their tenure to log granted from the provincial government of British Columbia. They undertook their activities without consultation with the Nisga?a Nation or seeking approval. While companies paid some attention to watershed protection, other areas used for berry picking, or redcedar harvesting, were not considered for protection if company-targeted wood was present. Interviewee 13 (2012) said: ?So, we've been playing catch up ever since, to try get logging companies to be a little more sensitive to some of these uses that we have, trying to protect those sites, and it is only the money that speaks, so, economics, so they would come in and log anyway? (Interviewee 13 2012). As previously mentioned, the commercial orientation of logging companies explains why the companies came into the Nass Valley to log and take the natural resources from the valley (Interviewee 14 2012). Wood value at that time was high (Interviewee 8 2012), because of high market demand (Interviewee 13 2012). Consequently, the priority for the companies was to remove as much wood as possible (Interviewee 8 2012). Logging not only interrupted the economic system of the Nisga?a people by changing the value of forests from cultural to commercial, but also it changed the way in which the Nisga?a people travelled. Three collaborators stated that before logging there were no roads (Interviewee 3 2012; Interviewee 10 2012; Interviewee 12, 2012), and that the main means of transportation was boats: ?With the logging came the road, so before the logging our primary transportation was boat. Steam boats were here long before logging, so, if you had to go far you canoe out to the coast, and then you can get on a steam boat from Prince Rupert or Port Simpson, and then you go anywhere from there? (Interviewee 12 2012). According to Interviewee 3 (2012), the first road in the Nass Valley was built in 1958, the year when logging actively began. Roads allowed the Nisga?a people to drive to Terrace (Interviewee 128 12 2012). This had a major impact on traditional practices, such as hunting or berry picking, since they were able to get their supplies from the city, which was easier than getting them from the forest. Logging companies mobilized about 500 logging trucks each day, using roads distributed all over the Nisga?a land, leaving the valley with trees to feed the Watson Island pulp mill, located near the city of Prince Rupert (Interviewee 3 2012). In addition, Interviewee 3 (2012) mentioned that: ?Logging roads run all over the place on Nisga'a lands. Nobody cared about salmon spawning river or creeks, salmon- producing creeks. Nobody cared in those days. All they were looking at was a money-making-aspect of taking forestry off our land. Thank goodness today that has diminished to a great extent? (Interviewee 3 2012). The primary species harvested during this period were Sitka spruce and western redcedar (Interviewee 3 2012; Interviewee 8 2012; Interviewee 12 2012; Interviewee 13 2012; Interviewee 17 2012). Interviewee 3 (2012) stated that Sitka spruce was the prime tree that logging companies removed when the first road was built in the Nass Valley. Interviewee 13 (2012) recalled: ?If there is good spruce trees, solid quality wood there, then it would be logged, and that is what happened. You've seen the clearcuts from Gitwinksihlkw to Greenville, to Lax?g?alts'ap. Those are some of the biggest spruce that were growing in the bottomlands. Between Gitwinksihlkw and Lax?g?alts'ap was a pretty high site for growing. So, that was easy logging, low cost, close to the river, close to the road, so they concentrated in those areas, took out the biggest, the best, and the cheapest first? (Interviewee 13 2012). Interviewee 17 (2012) added that some of the Sitka spruce were so big that loggers could not do anything with them, not even cut them because they did not have the proper machinery at that time. According to Interviewee 17 (2012), what they did was drill holes in the logs, put in dynamite and detonate them, so the logs could be used for wood chips. This contravenes the 129 Nisga?a management principles considering proper use of the forest and other natural resources, especially regarding waste of trees that are felled for a certain purpose. According to Interviewee 10 (2012), standing timber is visible on either side of the roads; however, beyond that there is bare land because of past logging company practices. Collaborators identified these practices, first as clearcut, which was the main approach for harvesting forest resources, and second as river-drive, which was an alternative to logging roads, to transport the logs. 5.1.2.1.1. Clearcutting ?Our people used to get wood, but they never totally decimated an area, like the logging companies do with logging. They take everything out when they log? (Interviewee 11 2012). As it is possible to infer from the previous quotation, the practice of clearcut logging was devastating for the Nisga?a forests, considering that logging companies removed everything, even trees and other plants that were not going to be used for commercial purposes. This, however, was not the most destructive part of clearcut logging; it was the size of cuts. According to three of the collaborators, logging company clearcuts in the Nass Valley were disproportionally large, ranging from hundreds to thousands of hectares (Interviewee 7 2012; Interviewee 13 2012; Interviewee 17 2012). In order to better understand the extent of this practice, Interviewee 7 (2012) described one of the affected areas as follows: ?We had a big concern about the logging, right from Cranberry Junction right up to Meziadin Lake and north of Meziadin Lake ? all the way up to Bell II. And they were cutting the trees down in huge cut blocks. There was one cut block that we measured, up just past Meziadin, about 6 kilometers long ? the cutblock, that is how long it was? (Interviewee 7 2012). 130 In Figure 15, it is possible to appreciate the size of these affected areas. Furthermore, it is possible to see that the clearcut areas were located directly along the Nass River. Figure 15. Clearcuts pursued in the Nass Valley during the 60s In addition to what Interviewee 7 (2012) described, Interviewee 17 (2012) mentioned that near the Bowser Lake there was a cutblock of about 28 square miles21, which could be observed from space. According to the same collaborator, this lake is one of the areas where the salmon spawn. 21 7251.97 hectares 131 Interviewees provided several reasons that may explain the rationale for such big cutblocks. The economic value of wood at that time is the obvious reason, but collaborators also mentioned a progressive clearcut method that was employed, the remoteness of logged areas, and the pressure posed by Nisga'a Final Agreement22, which was going to be signed. Interviewee 13 (2012) explained that logging companies clearcut one patch one time, then they came back and clearcut the following patch, and 10 years after they repeated this operation. The result was that about 20 years ago there was a large cleared area. According to the same collaborator, this remains the current practice of logging companies; however, in order to avoid ending up with big cleared areas, companies are supposed to replant and wait until the plants get to the free-growing stage23, and then they can come and harvest the following patch beside it. Interviewee 7 (2012) described the second reason, the remoteness of logged areas, explaining these massive clearcuts in the Nass Valley. According to this collaborator: ?At that time when they were doing it, there was nobody living in that area, and hardly anybody ever went up there, because there was a gravel road, and well, nobody was watching them; they did what ever they wanted. They never replanted those areas? (Interviewee 7 2012). In addition to reasons described above, Interviewee 16 (2012) pointed out that logging companies were rushing in order to finish their operations in the areas they had their licenses, leaving nothing more than a devastated valley behind before the Nisga?a treaty was signed. As Interviewee 16 recalled: 22 Also known as the Nisga'a Treaty, is a treaty settled between the Nisga?a, the government of British Columbia, and the Government of Canada. As part of the settlement in the Nass River valley nearly 2,000 square kilometers of land was officially recognized as Nisga?a. For more details see online: [http://www.nisgaalisims.ca/nisgaa-final-agreement] 23 The free-growing stage is normally 5 to 15 years after plantation or natural regeneration establishment and is normally when the new forest?s tree species composition and density become stable and shaped for the future. For more details see online: [http://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/publications/00030/monocult.pdf] 132 ?They clearcut half of the places where huge rivers are coming down. There is this place called five thousand block, and before the treaty was signed, there was like 24 hours logging a day, seven days a week, going on there, so they could finish their blocks and get out here before anything. You go into that valley now, and basically the entire valley is stripped? (Interviewee 16 2012). 5.1.2.1.2. River driving The river drive was a common means of transporting wood during the period that logging companies were operating in the Nass Valley24. According to six collaborators, companies used to throw logs into the river in order to move them to the ocean (Interviewee 3 2012; Interviewee 4 2012; Interviewee 7 2012; Interviewee 9 2012; Interviewee 10 2012; Interviewee 16 2012). One of them mentioned: ?[In the] 1960s, 70s and part of 80s there was logging up the River, Nass River. They have what they call a log drive, where they dump the logs in the water, and the river would take them down? (Interviewee 4 2012). Interviewee 7 (2012) stated that timber in the river was guided with booms tied together, and at the same time they had boats that pushed the logs out and kept them from piling up. Despite this precaution, they were not able to prevent the logs from piling up, especially in front of islands in the river. The same collaborator mentioned that the only way companies were able to remove jams in the river was by dynamite; however, this could have enormous consequences for fish. For this reason, sometimes companies did not use this method, leaving the jams in the river, which introduced other risks for the Nisga?a Villages, such as flooding events. Interviewee 16 (2012) explained that companies also took advantage of the tide to move the logs down the river on their way to the ocean: 24 For a better understanding of this practice, visit online: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEC54R5U2PM] 133 ?They would pile drive logs into the river, and then connect wood inside them to make a gate and when the water would flow down, they would just let all the wood flow down to the ocean, and when the tide would come back in, they would have these gates that would come up with the tide? (Interviewee 16 2012). Interviewee 16 (2012) commented about the amount of time companies were able to transport through the river. According to this collaborator, by the time the Nisga?a Nation signed the Nisga'a Treaty, the companies had removed approximately 200 million board feet of timber from the valley, worth around one billion dollars. Interviewee 14 (2012) said: ?If we were part of what happened to us with our forest, before the treaty, we would be millionaires. For over 40 years they logged out our area, and to me the company that did that, they built a pulp mill in Port Edward down in Rupert, and this area was the one that supplied the pulp mill. They made billions, and billions, and billions of dollar and after 40 years they left, and left us with nothing? (Interviewee 14 2012). 5.1.2.1.3. Consequences As described by collaborators, logging activities that took place in the Nass Valley between 1960 and 1980s had a myriad of consequences for Nisga?a land and people. One of these was deforestation caused by overharvesting. Logging practices also caused the reduction of salmon runs as a result of habitat damage from log drives. Flooding was also attributable to the combined effects of deforestation and log drives. In addition, the activities of logging companies introduced further cultural shift in the Nisga?a Nation. Deforestation Deforestation is one of the greatest consequences of logging activities. According to Interviewee 1 (2012), areas that were logged in the past have not recovered, and have been recolonized by deciduous, broadleaf species instead of evergreen, needleleaf species previously harvested by logging companies. The collaborator mentioned that: 134 ?There is a danger, because it [logging] disrupted the balance of that mountain, of the ecosystem of that mountain. The disturbances, and so what that does, the natural elements now, winter storms, snow storms, ice storms, so there is no protection from that, as much as they say that they developed a method to cut in blocks, but still it happens, it still affects? (Interviewee 1 2012). As stated by Interviewee 1 (2012), companies avoided their obligation to replant because of high financial costs, since harvested areas were so extensive. The companies left areas to natural regrowth, since the soil had sufficient depth (Interviewee 1 2012); unfortunately, logging activities in harvested areas also compacted the soil, which likely reduced success for natural re-establishment of species such as western redcedar and Sitka spruce. Interviewee 1 (2012) explained that: ?In some areas there would never be any re-growth, because of the degradation of the soil. Some areas they figured that the soil was deep enough for the re-growth, but once they took a tree down, and they got machine there, they got dragging off the logs to a location where they were picked up by a machine they used, so they were dragging on and there, thinning down the ground. The ground is stirred so much; there is nothing but these small deciduous trees, and evergreen are really having a hard time to re-grow? (Interviewee 1 2012). In the case of Sitka spruce, overharvesting was so devastating that the presence of this tree has been reduced to the ecological reserve located in Gitwinksihlkw village (Interviewee 17 2012). On the other hand, the situation of western redcedar is not much different. Even though it has not disappeared from the Nass valley, Interviewee 13 (2012) stated that logging companies harvested all the big western redcedar, which consequently affected traditional practices carried out by the Nisga?a people: ?To carve totem poles and canoes, we don't have cedar that are the size that you can use today, and that is not because of our over harvesting; it is because of the logging companies that came in, in the late 50s and over 20, 30 years completely harvested all the big ones, the bigger cedars that we had? (Interviewee 13 2012). 135 Interviewee 14 (2012) added that facing the lack a western redcedar, the Nisga?a people have to go outside of their land to get trees that have a certain girth and height, for example, to carve a totem pole. River drive and Fish Four collaborators highlighted the tremendous impacts of the log drive on salmon runs in the Nass River. Interviewee 3 (2012) mentioned: ?They used our river for a log drive. Never, the salmon were never taken into consideration at that time, ?never mind the salmon, we are gonna use the river for a log drive?, and so, salmon runs began to diminish? (Interviewee 3 2012). Logging company practice was to harvest the trees and throw them into the river all year around (Interviewee 16 2012). The movement of these logs along the length of the river as well as logjams in different places hit the salmon (Interviewee 9 2012). In addition, Interviewee 10 (2012) recalled: ?I went fishing, of course there were all kind of woods going down the river coming from the top, I noticed something unusual, fish going with the belly up, so the first bunch of fish I took home, my wife asked me ?please throw away the fish, they are bruised so bad? and I said ?what?? I took several fish, sure enough, there were bruises all right on? (Interviewee 10 2012). Flooding Flooding is one of the major issues that the Nisga?a people experience in the Nass Valley. It was associated not only with changing weather conditions, but also with past logging standards, which is influencing the magnitude and frequency of these events. According to seven collaborators, past logging standards were so lenient that they led to deforestation, and thus, modifying the forest filtration capacity of rain and melted snow. There has been a consequent 136 increase in runoff and sediment, from soil erosion, that reach the river (Interviewee 7 2012; Interviewee 9 2012; Interviewee 10 2012; Interviewee 13 2012; Interviewee 14 2012; Interviewee 16 2012; Interviewee 17 2012). Interviewee 17 (2012) mentioned: ?You go 60 kilometers back into the mountain and, no trees, there are clearcuts for miles and miles, and that has to have an effect on the same thing, the same concept. Where is the water going if it's not being eaten, drunk by a tree? It goes back to the river, river goes up, and floods? (Interviewee 17 2012). Interviewee 7 (2012) and Interviewee 14 (2012) stated that early logging practices carried out in the Nass Valley led to a big flood in 1961, in which the Nisga?a Nation suffered. This flood is a living memory for the Nisga?a people because the Village of Gitlaxt'aamiks was completely washed away by the flood, which led to relocation of the village to its current placement on the other side of the Nass River. Interviewee 7 (2012) mentioned: ?The cutblocks were so huge, that there was nothing to hold the rain back, that was the reason they had the big flood here in the 1961, because of the forest practices up north, and that is where the majority of the water that flows into the Nass comes from? (Interviewee 7, 2012). Not only was the practice of clearcut logging responsible for flooding Nisga?a land, but the log drive also changed the course of the river and contributed to river flooding, especially in its lower parts (Interviewee 10 2012). In addition, Interviewee 7 (2012) mentioned that even though there were people in charge of keeping the logs from piling up and forming jams in the river, it was still possible to see big piles of logs in front of the islands. In addition, Interviewee 7 (2012) commented: ?And they can?t get them off, unless they blow them, and they couldn't use dynamite, because there might be salmon in the river. So, that was another effect that logging had on the flooding areas because it held the water back (Interviewee 7 2012). 137 Although Interviewee 7 (2012) mentioned that logging companies could not use dynamite to remove the logjams in the river, there were some occasions where they actually did. For instance, it is possible to watch in a 1975 CBC show25 how one company operated the logging drive, and used dynamite to blow a logjam formed after a high flow of the Nass River in 1974. Cultural shifts Another consequence of logging companies on the Nisga?a people, described by two of the collaborators, was the impact of employment. On the one hand, it was described as a positive impact from an economic point of view, since many people were able to get jobs and earn a stable wage. On the other hand, people engaged less frequently in traditional practices (Interviewee 16 2012). In addition, Interviewee 17 (2012) recalled: ?In the early 60's and 70's, you could walk into the new logging outfit and get a new job, and make all kind of money, and now, if you are a logger. I can?t even remember the last time I saw a logger, a Nisga'a logger, and that was one of the main occupations. That was a change when they started logging our territories. It might be a contradiction, you have individuals that are negotiating land claims and others cutting down the trees in the land? (Interviewee 17 2012). 5.1.3. Nisga?a Lisims Government approach to forest resources management ?We had a treaty that came into force in the year 2000, and states very clearly in the treaty that if the major corporations or the start-up industries to the north of us would affect whatever is happening on Nisga'a land, our land, our people, we have to be consulted first, they need our approval? (Interviewee 3 2012) Pre-treaty ? as described previously ? every wilp would have its own ang?o'oskw where they would pursue their traditional practices such as hunting, fishing, bark collection, wood 25 Visit online: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iEC54R5U2PM], and watch from minute 7:10 onwards. 138 harvesting, and other activities. Post-treaty26 the traditional notion of territory changed completely. As described by Interviewee 17 (2012), today there are no ang?o'oskw because they were consolidated into just one common territory belonging to the Nisga?a Nation; therefore, land stewardship is now in the hands of the Nation and its Fisheries and Wildlife, and Lands and Resources Directorates. According to Interviewee 17 (2012), the treaty changed the context of how values are transferred to younger generations. The right to hunt, fish or engage in other traditional activities on a family?s ang?o?oskw is no longer granted by one family to another, and families are not personally responsible for monitoring the different areas within their ang?o'oskw. Prior to the treaty, the entire family would have detailed knowledge about certain areas of the ang?o'oskw; this knowledge was orally transmitted to younger members of the family, in order to maintain stewardship of the land. Interviewee 17 (2012) recalled: ?That?s how the treaty's changed, changed even though it was recognized pre-treaty that there was still an inherent love of the land, like love for that area, for your territory. And now, it is like nobody talks about it, in the feasts they very seldom talk about it, what the territories are? Or what the souls, and the different names, and different places are? They are just not being passed on. Another generation and it'll be lost. I think it will be completely lost, it's direct reflection of the minimization of those cultural values? (Interviewee 17 2012). Nowadays, the NLG takes care of the ang?o'oskw and the forest: the NLG is in charge of resources management, rather than the sim?oogit and his family (Interviewee 17 2012). More specifically, it is the NLG Land and Resources Directorate that is responsible for management decision-making, and its Forest Resources Department that manages Nisga'a forests. This 26 The Nisga'a Treaty is a negotiated agreement between the Nisga'a Nation, the Government of British Columbia (B.C.) and the Government of Canada. It came into effect on May 11, 2000. The Nisga'a Treaty establishes decision-making authority for Nisga'a Government within a model that the Nisga'a have been accustomed to and have accepted for many years. Visit online: [http://www.nisgaanation.ca/understanding-treaty] 139 involves implementing a total, integrated, and quantifiable forest management program, and developing strategies to meet the requirements set out in the Nisga'a Forest Act (NFA)27. Interviewee 1 (2012) mentioned: ?We are now the guardians of the forest, as a sort of a transference from traditional treaty, what we call modified right under the constitution of the country, we are governed by certain regulations. Now, if anyone want to go and do logging, they have to make proposal and follow a practice code, of course? (Interviewee 1 2012). The NFA includes provisions to address cultural and economic needs (Interviewee 13, 2012). In terms of cultural needs, the forest act emphasizes reforestation using western redcedar, due to their decimation by foreign companies caused during pre-treaty logging. Economic needs are reflected in the protection of pine mushroom habitat for commercial harvest purposes (Interviewee 13 2012). Interviewee 13 (2012) and Interviewee 15 (2012) stated that one of the most important features of the NFA is consultation with the communities. Interviewee 13 (2012) commented: ?We consult with our people, we have a forest development plan that is being drafted and we take it out to all communities, work through it with them, indicating what the plan includes, and then they provide their input, and that is when they tell us in which areas, for example, they pick a certain kind of herb, a certain kind of plant? (Interviewee 13 2012). Even though logging, carried out by a Nisga?a company named Lisims Forest Resources LLP (LFR)28, remains one of the main forest practices in the Nisga?a Nation, nowadays logging takes place on a much smaller scale relative to what it was before the treaty was signed29 (Interviewee 13 2012). In addition, Interviewee 15 (2012) stated that in order to log in any given location on 27 Available online at: [http://www.nisgaanation.ca/legislation/nisgaa-forest-act] 28 Visit online: [http://www.nisgaalisims.ca/nisgaa-commercial-group-companies] 29 ~ 40 ? 50 ha post-treaty vs. over 100 ha pre-treaty 140 treaty lands, an LFR is required, as stated in the NFA Part 4 ? Planning for timber harvesting (NLG 2012f), to design a forest development plan. This must clearly identify for the area addressed under the plan: (1) the forest cover; (2) the location of sensitive areas such as streams, wetlands and lakes, and (3) the location of special areas, such as CMTs sites, and any requirements established for those areas. Once the plan is completed, it must be submitted to the NLG Land and Resources director for approval. It is the responsibility of the director to then verify the plans, ensuring that plant identification is accurate, and making sure all the provisions stated in the NFA are adhered to (Interviewee 15 2012). Although it seems like the NFA improved the way that forest practices are being carried out (reduced size of the clearcuts and increased community consultation30), there was still some skepticism amongst the Interviewees. Underlying concerns include a perceived lack of diversification in forest practices, which have been reduced to mainly clearcut logging (Interviewee 16 2012), lack of monitoring and transparency within the NLG (Interviewee 7 2012), and lack of freedom to pursue traditional activities (Interviewee 7 2012; Interviewee 9 2012; Interviewee 11 2012; Interviewee 14 2012). Interviewee 16 (2012) commented: ?When you think of forest management in a modern age, I think that under the treaty there's still a fact that we are hewers of wood and fishermen. There?s been no diversification to look at the wealth that our traditional knowledge and our culture and history on our land, have in terms of tourism and the other economic opportunities that our land hosts for us? (Interviewee 16 2012). About the second concern, Interviewee 7 (2012) stated that there is no department in the NLG in charge of monitoring that logging practices are being carried out according to the forest development plans. Instead, the NLG relies on the Fisheries and Forest Departments to fill these 30 As stated in the Nisga?a Forest Act (Section 19 2c), it includes Nisga?a citizens, persons who are ordinarily resident within Nisga?a Lands, and persons specified by the NLG executive (NLG 2012f). 141 gaps, and those same departments are in charge of assessing the management plans. Interviewee 7 (2012) mentioned: ?Right now we don't have a part of the Government that is policing the environment. That is one of the areas I brought up in the last, our last General Assembly, Special Assembly, that was about three months ago, I brought that up because there is nobody policing the environment. They're depending on fisheries and forestry to do it, and yet they are the people that are making money of that, of the trees and the fish, so there is nobody really policing those areas, and that has to be first, before they can go in? (Interviewee 7 2012). As result of the Nisga?a Treaty and the NFA, in order to continue with traditional forest practices the Nisga?a people need to get permission from the NLG. According to Interviewee 7 (2012), the only activity that has not been regulated through permits is traditional medicine collection. All other traditional forest practices, such as firewood gathering, wood harvesting to build smokehouses31, mushroom picking32 and others fall under associated regulations; someone willing to go to the forest for something like that would have to request a permit from the NLG. Interviewee 7 (2012) mentioned: ?With the traditional forest practices, now is under the forestry act of the Treaty and the Nisga'a People aren't free to do what they used to do, like getting wood. Now you have to get a wood permit, then have to get a permit to go out mushroom picking and only the areas of traditional medicines hasn't been regulated, so that people are still free to do what they want in that area? (Interviewee 7 2012). 31 Division 2 ? Forms of Rights to Harvest Timber Rights in PART 3 ? Harvesting of forest resource of the Nisga?a Forest Act (NLG 2012f). 32 Division 3 ? Botanical Forest Products Botanical in PART 3 ? Harvesting of forest resource of the Nisga?a Forest Act (NLG 2012f). 142 5.2. Managing the Nisga?a forests and adapting to climate change ?We try to learn new things because the weather changes, is what I keep saying in the meetings. We have to learn new thing that we didn't before, because as the weather changes, I think we have to change what we are doing? (Interviewee 2 2012). It is apparent that the Nisga?a Nation?s current management approach to natural resources is influenced greatly by western management paradigms. Even though there have been improvements to the way forests/resources are managed on the Nisga'a lands, such as community consultation, reduced cutblock size, and protection of cultural and traditional use sites (e.g. medicinal plant harvest sites), the main orientation of forest resources management remains toward logging for commercial wood products. Figure 16 shows different management styles employed on the Nisga?a land. It is possible to appreciate how the forest was converted from a non-degraded forest under the traditional management of the Nisga?a people, into a degraded forest by the management of non-Aboriginal logging companies that began logging the Nass valley during the late fifties. A degraded forest means a ?primary forest in which the initial cover has been adversely affected by the unsustainable harvesting of wood and/or non-wood forest products so that its structure, processes, functions and dynamics are altered beyond the short-term resilience of the ecosystem; that is, the capacity of these forests to fully recover from exploitation in the near to medium term has been compromised? (ITTO 2002; 2005 cited by Simula 2009). This category was used to define the condition of the Nisga?a forests after logging took place in the Nass Valley, based on the descriptions given by the Interviewees, which were presented above. 143 Figure 16. Forest management evolution occurred in the Nisga?a Land and the forests conditions that resulted from it 144 Today, the NLG is attempting to return these forests to their pre-commercial logging status (Interviewee 3 2012). It is at this intersection of paradigms that potential conflicts arise: the approach used by the NLG to manage the forests applies harvest methods similar to the ones used by logging companies in the past. Although this is at a smaller scale compared to past cut sizes, clearcutting remains the main practice for harvesting forest resources (Interviewee 16 2012). Even though the current entity in charge of forest management has established some tools to incorporate communities? ideas and needs into forest development plans, the approach is still orientated toward revenue creation. As stated by Berkes et al. (2000), the ?emphasis on steady states and the maintenance of predictable yields, such as maximum sustainable yield; focus on controlling the resource to increase the predictability of yields; and the use of primarily quantitative techniques, such as stock assesment. Such management appears to cause a gradual loss of resilience as well as reduction of variability and opportunity, thus moving the ecosystem toward thresholds and surprises?. Bearing this in mind, the current management of the Nisga?a forests is more likely to end up reducing the resilience of the ecosystem, instead of taking it to the non-degraded state it had in the past. In consideration of predicted and observed climate change impacts, it may be necessary to shift management toward enhancing socio-cultural services in ways that support ecosystem resilience. In doing so, I think this management should satisfy the needs of the Nisga?a people, especially the cultural and spiritual ones, and yet, generate economic revenue to sustain part of the government needs. A management style or paradigm that offers a choice to Nisga?a people to engage in traditional forests practices, not only as a way of satisfying their needs, but also offers a venue whereby Nisga?a can revitalize or re-define traditional knowledge regarding ang?o'oskw 145 and resource use within these, if they choose to. This may provide opportunities for transmission of traditional knowledge to younger generations, which according to Interviewee 17 (2012) is being lost among the Nisga?a youth. Both enhancement of ecosystem services and transmission of cultural values to younger generations, through community-based resource management, could be a solution to improve the Nisga?a forests, as well as the community?s, resilience to anticipated climate change impacts (Tompkins & Adger 2004). When considering a new approach to managing resources, it is important to bear in mind that climate change impacts coupled with current stresses on the environment from past human land use, development, and pollution threaten the survival and recovery of some ecosystems (Tompkins & Adger 2004), which are of great importance when talking about maintaining the traditional forest practices of the Nisga?a people. For instance, amongst all the disturbances associated with climate change described in the previous chapter, flooding, pests and pathogens pose the greatest risk to forests. Flooding can affect species regeneration and pests can inhibit plant growth, even killing species culturally important to the Nisga?a people, such as western redcedar and western hemlock. Climate change may also influence the timing of some traditional activities, especially wild food harvests (e.g. berry picking). Interviewees were very concerned about the consequences of climate change impacts on fish, not only because of the warmer temperatures, but also because of the flooding and the high level of the river. Therefore, impacts attributed to climate change can start a chain reaction, first affecting natural resources, and then the communities that depend on them. Figure 17 includes an approach developed by Karjala (2001): the Aboriginal Forest Planning Process (AFPP). The main objective in developing Karjala?s process was to address the needs of different stakeholders by developing a framework for integrating Aboriginal values and 146 management approaches with forest management in the Western/majority paradigm. According to Karjala et al. (2004), the AFPP approach was based on the idea that local land uses, priorities, issues and concerns provide a foundation for developing culturally appropriate sustainability indicators and for directing planning processes specifically regarding resource management. This makes sense considering that traditional ecological knowledge can be viewed as a ?library of information?, offering ideas about how to cope with dynamic change in complex systems. Moreover, it may help connect the present to the past and reestablish resilience (Berkes et al. 2000). 147 Figure 17. Aboriginal Forest Planning Process (AFPP) informing NLG forest management to manage for climate change 148 The AFPP method incorporates into valuation and the decision-making process Nisga?a traditional management knowledge, such as the five principles described at the beginning of this chapter, and cultural values (Ch. 3) associated with the different ang?o?oskw. Moreover, families are not only aware of the traditional resources management, but also control the distribution and abundance of those resources over their ang?o?oskw. Thus, their complete knowledge about the management of resources available in the ang?o?oskw becomes and asset that serves as the main input for the AFPP. This could allow the development of criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management from a resilience point of view. In turn, this could increase the forest?s capacity to cope with the impacts of climate change, and may help towards addressing some concerns expressed by the Interviewees about the current management of forest resources. Interviewee 16 (2012) mentioned: ?There?s been no diversification to look at the wealth that our traditional knowledge and our culture and history on our land, have in terms of tourism and the other economic opportunities that our land host for us? (Interviewee 16 2012). Flexibility of current management Under the climate context describe in Ch. 4, extractive economic activities such as logging would make the Nisga?a forest adaptation to climate change even harder. Reforestation in areas that were logged in the past has been hindered because of continuous flooding events. In addition, the NFA has a proviso that allows the NLG Lands and Resources Director to make decisions about whether to reforest remote areas, informed by the size of the cutblock and its accessibility33. This example shows how decisions are made top-down instead of being bottom-up. The Director of Lands and Resources has sole responsibility for decisions regarding forest 33 Reforestation, Section 55, subsection 2e. Part 8 ? Silviculture, Nisga?a Forest Act (NLG 2012f) 149 resource use, particularly when granting permits associated with traditional practices, such as firewood and botanical forest product collection, Sections 15 and 17 respectively of the Nisga?a Forest Act (NLG 2012f). Another example where the director has autonomous decision-making authority is in the requirement for a forest development plan for timber harvesting. Section 19 of the Nisga?a Forest Act, NLG (2012f) states that ?the director must prepare and give effect to a forest development plan that meets the requirements established in Part 4, Planning for timber harvesting, before timber harvesting is authorized under a timber-harvesting license or timber harvesting contract?. However, the director has the power to remove the timber immediately from an area, if it is necessary to ensure responsible forest resource stewardship in that area. This differs greatly from traditional Nisga'a management. Here, rather than the chiefs of the traditional territory scheduled to be logged making these decisions, it is the Land and Resources Director. Thus, it appears to perpetuate a top-down approach. According to Gilchrist et al. (2005), where scientific information and data are lacking or unavailable, generally more common at the local level, other knowledge systems offer insight for decision-making, allowing flexibility to the decision-making and management process. According to McGregor (2002), inclusion of Indigenous knowledge in sustainable forest management planning has been successful where the decision-making process had sufficient flexibility to allow community representatives to bring forth information that they view as important and appropriate, in a manner that maintains the context of the information being shared. Furthermore, building development on local priorities, traditional knowledge is important in offering a human outlook in environmental management and change (Gilligan et al. 2006). On the other hand, the loss of traditional knowledge reduces flexibility to change, being climate 150 associated or other factors, and hence, it needs to be encouraged and enhanced at the community level and stressed in the decision-making process (Downing & Cuerrier 2011). Adaptability of current management The NLG (2012f) states ?the long-term objective of the Nisga?a Nation is to promote the restoration of natural biodiversity across Nisga?a Lands?. In doing so, the NFA establishes that the Director must manage biodiversity at the landscape level, in order to promote a reflection of natural disturbance patterns. This involves manipulating seral stage34 distributions, temporal and spatial distribution of harvested areas and retention areas, connectivity across the landscape, stand structure, and species composition and, as well as at cutblock level via stand structure maintenance, tree and vegetation species composition and coarse woody debris. In theory, clearcuts are not allowed, since they have to maintain wildlife corridors, understory plants and plant communities within the cutblocks, and leave any residues and waste evenly distributed across the cutblock. It is important to mention that leaving residues and waste in the forest is against the traditional Nisga?a principle of management that refers to wastage. This is further evidence that the NFA is more representative of the western logging approach than it is of the Nisga?a traditional worldview. In addition, although the NFA sets some requirements to maintain the biological diversity within cutblocks, clearcuts are defined in the NFA as ?a silvicultural system that is designed to manage the area as an even-aged stand, and considers the complete removal of trees in a single harvesting operation from an area that is ?1 ha and at least two trees height in width?. According to Subsection 2, Section 35 of the NFA, unless authorized in writing 34 ?In ecological terms, a ?sere? is the series of biotic communities formed by the process of ecosystem development called succession. In forested landscapes, the various vegetation communities that occupy disturbed sites and make up a sere are called ?seral stages.? Seral-stage communities consist of vegetation types that are adapted to the site?s particular set of physical and biotic conditions.? (Yearsley & Parminter 1998) 151 by the director, a person must not clearcut timber on an unstable area, such as a steep slope (NLG 2012f). Even though the above seem like appropriate measures to maintain biodiversity at both landscape and cutblock levels, they do not account for the variability and uncertainty that climate change introduces into forest management. Thus, succeeding in the achievement of the desired outcomes of natural biodiversity restoration stated in the NFA becomes more difficult. For instance, reforestation is difficult in areas that were logged in the past as a result of the increase in the flooding incidents due to increasing precipitation. Nonetheless, NFA includes some regulations to address climate change impacts, but not directly associated with the impacts that these changes would have on the Nisga?a forests; instead, they are mitigation measures oriented to reduce GGE35 to the atmosphere. These regulations are included in the Ecosystem restoration and carbon rights under the Sections 56.1 to 56.6 of the Nisga?a Forest Act (NLG 2012f). These Sections establish that Ecosystem restoration and carbon rights agreement could last up to a term of 100 years, and is applicable to an area of up to 300 hectares. The NLG executive may enter into an agreement of this kind with a contractor, which could involve a Nisga?a Corporation, or Nisga?a partnership designated by regulation (NLG 2012f). This contractor would have to submit an ecosystem restoration plan36 to the Land and Resources director for approval. The contractors have the exclusive right to the carbon sequestered; however, the trees used in the restoration would remain property of the Nisga'a Nation (NLG 2012f). In addition, there would be no harvesting in a restoration area, except as may be required to implement the applicable 35 Greenhouse gas emissions (GGE), means ?human induced emissions to the atmosphere of gases known or suspected to contribute to climate change?, as defined in the Nisga?a Forest Act (NLG 2012f). 36 An ecosystem restoration plan refers to a mandated plan that describes how an ecosystem restoration project will be carried out. This includes, but is not limited to stocking standards, mapping standards, silviculture treatment and site preparation methods, replanting prescriptions, including planting stock species, age and provenance, post-planting assessment methods and stand tending (NLG 2012f). 152 ecosystem restoration plan approved by Land and Resources director (NLG 2012f). Finally, the contractor would have to pay to the Nisga'a Nation fees or other monies set out in the same agreement (NLG 2012f). Ecosystem restoration and carbon rights agreements offer an opportunity for the Nisga?a Nation to restore areas that have been severely logged since the late 1950s. Thus, the provision that states the Nisga?a ownership over the trees used in the restoration plan creates a longer-term solution to mitigate the impacts associated with climate change on Nisga?a land. Nevertheless, the decision of what kind of trees would be planted in the restoration areas are made by the contractors through the ecosystem restoration plan. Several authors state that traditional ecological knowledge offers important insight valuable in developing strategies to respond to current and projected climate changes, particularly in geographical areas home to indigenous populations (Berkes et al. 2000; Hotain 2006; Mackendrick 2009). However, there are no provisions in the NFA to include the traditional knowledge of Nisga?a families whose traditional territories are located within those areas to be restored, in the development of ecosystem restoration plans. This lack of provision gives a paramount opportunity for approaches such as AFPP to include traditional Nisga?a knowledge into ecosystem restoration and carbon rights agreements and plans. This approach would not only begin to address climate change impacts, but also cultural and spiritual needs of Nisga?a families, shaping agreements to integrate or more equitably represent Nisga?a traditional standards and cultural values, while at the same time, serving the broader society with the reduction of GGE. 153 Future integrated management Future climate changes have the potential to pose great risk to forest ecosystems, and consequently, no approach by itself would be enough to meet the challenges that these changes would bring to Indigenous peoples, and society in general. Several authors have discussed the importance of integrating different knowledge systems into natural resources management and, in the case of this research, forest resources. For instance, Berkes et al. (2000) propose that drawing on management practices grounded on traditional ecological knowledge, and understanding the social means after them, may facilitate the design of different resource management approaches. Nevertheless, the impacts of climate change may threaten biodiversity, land features, and the perpetuation of culturally important species, indicators on which Indigenous peoples' traditional ecological knowledge is grounded (Nilsson 2008; Voggesser et al. 2013). Consequently, the survival of traditional forest practices of the Nisga?a people is threatened by the changing climate. Traditional knowledge remains an important part of Indigenous cultures (Wesche & Armitage 2006; Mackendrick 2009; Downing & Cuerrier 2011). Being based on years of accumulated experience, traditional knowledge still offers insights useful in new situations, such as those presented by climate change (Riewe & Oakes 2006; Cochran et al. 2013). Moreover, it is place specific; therefore it allows resource users to have information at the local level, whereas scientific knowledge is generally unable to manage the information to that specific extent. Western knowledge can provide valuable information through modeling, which in collaboration with Traditional knowledge could be of great help when coping with the impacts of climate change (Cochran et al. 2013; Voggesser et al. 2013). 154 An inclusive resource management approach ?is one that links science and traditional knowledge, while embracing all the components of an ecosystem: land with its biophysical processes, plants, wildlife and humans? (Downing & Cuerrier 2011). The goal of an inclusive approach that draws from traditional knowledge should be, as described by Berkes et al. (2000), resource management from a resilience point of view. This implies that management only needs a qualitative capability to develop approaches that can absorb and accommodate forthcoming events, such as those resulting from climate changes, rather than an exact ability to forecast the future (Lugo 1995). According to Berkes et al. (2000), in order for management to be characterized as resilience-oriented, it should exhibit the following features: (1) carried out using rules that are locally crafted and socially enforced by the users themselves37; (2) use area rotations, species-switching and other practices described in section 5.1.1; (3) users have accumulated an ecological knowledge base that helps respond to environmental feedbacks, such as changes in the catch per unit of effort, to help collaboratively monitor the status of the resource; (4) use diverse resources for livelihood security, keeping options open and minimizing risk; and (5) use qualitative management, wherein feedbacks of resource and ecosystem change indicate the direction in which management should move (e.g. more exploitation/less exploitation), rather than quantitative target yields. By responding to and managing feedbacks from ecosystems, instead of devaluing them in the decision-making process, adaptive management or resilience-oriented management pursues the prevention of ecological thresholds at scales that menace the continuation of social-cultural and economic activities, such as some forest practices (Berkes et al. 2000). 37 This is also discussed by Downing & Cuerrier (2011). They state that community engagement is mandatory for adaptation to occur and for health to be maintained: health of the people, health of the community and health of the environment. 155 In this sense traditional Nisga?a resource management could be described as resilience-oriented, since it accomplished all features described by Berkes et al. (2000). Therefore, being aware that the current management carried out by the NLG, under changing climate conditions could lead to ecological thresholds, it is important to have in mind that inclusive approaches such as AFPP could allow the integration of traditional Nisga?a management practices and knowledge into forest management planning, and thus increase the resilience of Nisga?a forests to absorb expected and unexpected impacts derived from climate change. Experiences from the works of Mackendrick (2009) and Pittman (2009) in the States, as well as Karjala (2001), Karjala et al. (2004) and O?Flaherty et al. (2008) in Canada, validates this idea by showing how traditional knowledge and practices need to be incorporated into management. The first two cases from the States discuss the integration of traditional knowledge into responses to climate change at all levels of decision-making, from the global to local. Moreover, in the work of Mackendrick (2009), individuals described the importance of an adaptive approach to forest management. They also described co-management as an important strategy to address climate risks and planning for future climate changes. Even though the Canadian examples are not directly related to climate change adaptation, they argue about the integration of traditional knowledge and Indigenous values in planning for sustainable forest management. Consequently, a forest managed sustainably in a cultural context would increase its resilience, and thus be able to cope with the challenges imposed by the new environments resulting from the changing climate. 156 5.3 Chapter summary Throughout this chapter it has been possible to describe the different kind of management systems to which Nisga?a forests have been subjected. The first management approach, Nisga?a traditional management system, describes stewardship of the ang?o'oskw, or traditional territory, directed by the sim?oogit or chief, in collaboration with his wilp or house members, who kept track of resources. This traditional Nisga?a system was guided by five principles: take what is needed, cut for a purpose, cut carefully, use wisely, and pay respect. Finally, from this traditional management system two traditional management practices were featured: use of fire to manage blueberry bushes and control pathogen outbreaks, and land zoning in the form of territorial designations according to human need/use of the land. This management style was successful for maintaining non-degraded forests and the services they provided to each family; therefore, Nisga?a managed their forests under a resilience-oriented management system as per Berkes? definition (Berkes et al. 2000). The second management approach describes a system controlled by non-Aboriginal forest companies working in the Nass Valley during the late 1950s. In contrast to traditional Nisga?a management, this management was based on exploitation of forest resources, as fast as it was possible at that time. As a result, clearcuts and river drives were the main practices used by logging companies, which had significant consequences for the forests and Nass River ecosystem. Most merchantable trees were harvested to near extirpation, and vast areas were denuded. This resulted in river siltation, which can negatively impact fish, along with destabilizing riparian vegetation, and lowering the water table. The emergence of logging companies in the Nass Valley not only provoked environmental damage, but also contributed to a cultural shift in Nisga?a practices. Many people moved from being fishers and hunters to 157 become loggers. Those who chose to work for the logging companies did not have the time to engage in traditional forest practices. The third management system corresponds to the current one under the administration of the Nisga?a Lisims Government (NLG). This system inherited many characteristics from the previous style of management, such as forest exploitation for revenue; therefore, forest management remained focused on market needs, in detriment to the Nisga?a cultural and spiritual needs and values. The NLG manages Nisga'a forests through its Forest Resources Department. This is thought to implement a total, integrated, and quantifiable forest management program, and develop strategies to meet the requirements set out in the Nisga'a Forest Act (NFA). Despite seeming improvements in NFA, such as how forest management is practiced on the ground (e.g. reduced clearcut size), there was still skepticism among the Interviewees. The reasons for this are the lack of diversification in the forest practices, the lack of an environment-policing department within the NLG, and the permit regulation to pursue traditional activities. Nisga?a people need to seek permission to pursue any extractive activity in the Nisga?a forest, from pine mushroom picking and firewood collection to wood harvesting. This is a major shift from traditional Nisga'a management; indeed, it seems as though this system perpetuates the top-down approach used by western managers. Thus, instead of being the sim?oogit of the ang?o'oskw that is going to be logged who is taking the decisions, it is actually the Land and Resources Director, a non-elected government employee, who takes those decisions. With respect to the adaptability of the NLG management approach, the NFA establishes measures to maintain biodiversity at scales including both landscape and cutblock; however, they do not incorporate or consider the impacts of variability and uncertainty on how influences such 158 as climate change may affect desired outcomes. The NFA does include some regulations to address climate change impacts, such as the ecosystem restoration and carbon rights agreements. These agreements represent an opportunity for the Nisga?a Nation to restore the areas that were severely logged since the end of the fifties. There are no provisions in the NFA to include the traditional knowledge of Nisga?a families, whose ang?o'oskw are located within those areas to be restored, in the development of ecosystem restoration plans. Finally, I examined the need to implement a new integrated approach that would allow the inclusion of Nisga?a traditional management knowledge to manage the forests under a climate change scenario. The management should be undertaken from a resilience point of view, allowing the Nisga?a forests to get back to their past non-degraded status (i.e. before logging started), and thus, able to absorb the expected and unexpected impacts derived from climate change. The Aboriginal Forest Planning Process (AFPP) is an option to redesign the current management system, and built a new inclusive one, combining current Nisga?a management and traditional Nisga?a knowledge. 159 CHAPTER 6: Conclusions Implementing an Indigenous epistemological framework in order to include Nisga?a voices at every stage of the research, this research set out to identify the main concerns of Nisga?a People related to climate change effects on forest ecosystems in general, and traditional forest practices in particular. In considering current and anticipated climate impacts, the forests? adaptive capacity and resilience, and the barriers and external influences that limit applying and enhancing adaptive management, the research accomplishes this. In doing so, the primary objective of the research is to identify and describe Nisga?a traditional forest practices ? to understand the intimate relationship that the Nisga?a people have with the forests and the other types of lives they support. Understanding this relationship allows make sense of the potential impacts that climate change could have on Nisga?a traditional forest practices. The secondary objective of the research is to identify and describe Nisga?a experiences regarding climate change ? to understand how the climate and the weather have shaped the life of the Nisga?a people, and therefore understand how they have been adapting not only to changes in the climate, but also to changes in their environment, especially the forests and the river, the main sustainers of their culture and basis for their traditional knowledge. The final objective of the research is to identify and describe forest management approaches utilized on the Nisga?a forests and their implications to climate change and climate change adaptation. This could then serve as the starting point to develop an integrative management approach, looking forward to the improvement of the Nisga?a forests? resilience. The research accomplished the primary objective by identifying and describing Nisga?a traditional forest practices. Under the Nisga?a worldview, the economic resources, land and animals are far from inanimate tools, rather they are spiritual and corporeal beings in their own 160 right (Nisga?a Tribal Council 1995b). Thus, the conservation of forest resources has been the successful result of the relationship between the Nisga?a people and the spirit of the land. Moreover it is this same relationship that has enabled the Nisga?a people to maintain traditional forest practices associated with these forest resources. While there are a number of traditional practices, the ones that were described in more detail by the interviewees were those associated with the use of the simgan, western redcedar. They mentioned this species when talking about trees for carving or building longhouses (considering that in total 14 tree species were described by the collaborators). The use of wa?ums (devil?s club) was also frequently mentioned when talking about plants with medicinal and spiritual purposes (considering that 15 different plants were described by the collaborators). Both species play an important role in the Nisga?a people?s lives, and the conservation of these species for future generations is paramount to the Nisga?a culture survival. Another important traditional practice for the Nisga?a people is fishing. At the beginning of this study fishing was not considered within the breadth of this research as a traditional forest practice. However, after concluding the fieldwork, I decided to include fishing as a traditional forest practice, since fish and forest resources are so closely connected. First, forests provide necessary habitat conditions for fish, especially salmon species, to come back to the spawning grounds. For instance, forests provide fresh water to the river free from the silt that could affect the salmon. Second, several forest species are used not only when fishing (in the case of oolichan, western hemlock), but also in the preparation of the fish once it has been caught. For instance, amm?aal (black cottonwood) is used as firewood when smoking salmon, western redcedar is used to build the smoking house, and western hemlock is used as sticks to hang salmon in the smokehouse. Therefore, since fish are one of the main food sources of the Nisga?a 161 people, the availability of forest cover is of paramount importance for maintaining the vitality of the Nisga?a people?s culture and their traditional forest practices. As stated in the introduction, the success of the Nisga?a people is based on their ability to communicate with animal and land spirits, which taught them the proper way to behave and manage resources. Including fishing is also consistent with the need to adopt a holistic approach when considering the Nisga?a people and their relationship to the environment. The findings suggest that this research has also accomplished its secondary objective by revealing how past and current experiences provide context and insight for considering the adaptive capacity of the Nisga?a people. At the same time, the study has identified the climate changes that are currently occurring and those that are projected, as well as the impacts of these changes on the natural resources that sustain the Nisga?a people's wellbeing. Information on the impacts of observed climate changes on well-being will help to identify key climate concerns and community priorities for adaptation. For instance, the impacts of climate change have started a chain reaction, first affecting natural resources, and then the communities that depend on them. The Nisga?a People are very concerned about the consequences that climate change could have on fish, not only because of the warmer temperatures, especially during winter, but also because of the flooding and the high level of the river, during the spring and summer. On the other hand, flooding, as well as pests and pathogens, pose a significant risk to forests. Flooding affects the regeneration of the species that form the forests, and pests affect growth, even killing important cultural species for the Nisga?a people, such as western redcedar and western hemlock. Bearing in mind that the river and the forest are intimately connected, any impacts on forests would end up affecting the river and consequently the fish, as well as the Nisga?a people. It would also make sense that any improvement in the forests would impact positively the fish. Thus, 162 improving the resilience of forest ecosystems to climate change would improve the current conditions that fish are facing during the spawning seasons. Finally, the findings suggest that the research has accomplished its last objective by showing the different management approaches that have been applied to the Nisga?a forests, and thus highlighting their main differences. The differences between the three types of management suggest the need for an integrative approach that draws on the traditional Nisga?a approach to resources management. Mainly because this resilience-centered management approach maintained the Nisga?a forests and its services until the end of 1950s, and enabled it to absorb and adapt to the impacts of different disturbances generated by climate change. On the other hand, the current management approach lacks flexibility and adaptability, representing an important barrier to climate change adaptation, and even to the preservation of the traditional Nisga?a knowledge. This knowledge is the key to the revival of the traditional Nisga?a management approach, and could be of great value when developing adaptation strategies. However, adaptation strategies designed purely on Indigenous knowledge cannot alone be the solution. Instead, a combination of the different paradigms would offer a more robust approach to manage the Nisga?a forests in a climate that is creating an uncertain future context, and would be more consistent with the views expressed during the interviews. Indeed, adaptive approaches, including both Indigenous and scientific knowledge, exist to address climate changes and impacts. Yet, in order for these integrative approaches (e.g. AFPP) to be effective in building resilience and facilitating adaptation, existing barriers and external influences limiting the application of adaptive capacity need to be addressed. Addressing them will present an opportunity also to address existing inequities in access to, and processes and outcomes of, climate policymaking, planning, and action. 163 6.1. Recommendations To address existing barriers and inequities, I suggest the following policy and technical recommendations to aid the Nisga?a Lisims Government planning for climate change adaptation and building natural resource and cultural resilience. Regarding the NFA, based on the comments I heard from those interviewed, I suggest the modification of some of the requirements included in the Act, especially those related to the participation of the community. Instead of asking for public consultation over forest development plans once they have already being designed by a professional forester, I suggest that the public should be involved from the outset. Allowing Nisga?a citizens, and especially the chiefs, matriarchs and other elders, to contribute to the design of the plan would remove the top-down decision-making process that imposed the actual NFA, and would allow plans to be tailored to meet the needs of the people. Another suggested modification to the NFA is in relation to the permit system, since this constrains the traditional forest practices of the Nisga?a people. Such constraints should be decided with the participation of the Nisga?a citizens, so that there is more transparency and flexibility. Once the above modifications have taken place, it would make sense to consider the AFPP as a possible way to integrate traditional Nisga?a knowledge and scientific knowledge, as this kind of approach is grounded in the participation of Indigenous communities. The Nisga?a Nation would be a particular case, as the government itself is Indigenous. However, as described in Chapter 5, the NLG has taken the traditional role of the chiefs in the administration of the land. The NLG also has the role that the Province used to have in the past, i.e. controlling access to resources. As the AFPP is an approach that has been collaboratively developed within the worldview of 164 another First Nation, it should be viewed as an example of what is possible, rather than being taken as an exact template. Based on this example, the Nisga?a Nation could develop a similar approach grounded in the Nisga?a worldview and values. In developing a Nisga?a AFPP-like approach, i.e. Nisga?a Forest Planning Process (NFPP), it would be possible to create new guidelines for the management of the Nisga?a forests, which would incorporate the characteristics of the resilience-centered management that the Nisga?a people used to manage the forest before industrial companies came to the Nass Valley. In doing so, it would be possible to address the lack of adaptability of the current forest management. 6.2. Limitations of the study Funding and time were the main limitations for this study. The two are directly correlated and have further implications for the robustness of the study. Language was a further limitation for the study. Funding to cover the costs of the research was difficult to obtain, so the fieldwork was not undertaken for as long as was really necessary. Instead, it was restricted to a short stay in the Nass Valley, lasting about 4 weeks in June and July 2012. This limited the number of collaborators that I was able to interview, and I ended up with fewer than 32 interviews that I initially proposed. However, although the number was lower (I was able to interview 17 collaborators), the information they shared with me was very concise, and the information that they gave me was very similar. Conducting further interviews would probably not have added significant amounts of new information. Another major constraint associated with the fieldwork duration was that I was unable to experience different seasons. Had I done so, I believe that I 165 would have developed a better understanding of the climate, of the value and the way that it affects the Nisga?a people. Language was another limitation for this study. My mother language is Spanish, and English is my second language. Most of the interviewees were elders, and their mother language is Nisga?a, with English being their second language as well. Thus, language created problems for the transcription and subsequent interpretation. For the transcription, I had difficulties transforming the digital audio into text. This process took me about 6 months in total, and some of the transcribed interviews contained mistakes that needed extra work to be rectified. Although the mistakes were addressed, there may still be some that were not corrected, leading to potential errors of interpretation. 6.3. Further research Further research would produce information useful for decision-making with respect to climate change adaptation strategies. Future work should evaluate the feasibility of both modifying the NFA and developing a Nisga?a Forest Planning Process (NFPP). If there was a willingness to change the current paradigm of management, it would be interesting to develop a pilot NFPP, and evaluate its applicability in managing the Nisga?a forests for resilience to climate change. While evaluating the feasibility of modifying the NFA, an assessment would be needed of the trade-offs involved in making changes to the NFA, since it is a benchmark for the Nisga?a Nation regarding self-government and self-determination over their natural resources. Making changes to the NFA would involve careful negotiation, and therefore time. However, such an evaluation would help to determine whether or not the Nisga?a people would be willing to move forward in the adaptation to climate change, rather than simply reacting to its impacts. In 166 addition, it would be important to determine whether the hereditary chiefs, matriarchs and elders would be willing to participate and share their knowledge. Future work on the development of an NFPP would have to evaluate how Nisga?a resource managers perceived such an approach. Evaluating the acceptability of such an approach would help determine its future applicability. 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Themes defined according to the specific objectives Objectives Parent nodes Children nodes Sources References Identify and describe Nisga?a traditional forest practices Trees species Alder 8 28 Ash 1 4 Aspen tree 1 3 Balsam tree 6 16 Birch 5 11 Cottonwood 10 35 Hemlock 12 44 Maple 6 20 Pine 5 9 Red Cedar 14 110 Spruce Tree 11 57 Wild crabapple 3 8 Willow 1 1 Yellow Cedar 4 17 Yew wood 6 31 Culturally modified trees 5 20 Plants Berries 27 70 Bulrush - Cattail 2 11 Cannery leaves 1 1 Cow parsnip 1 3 Devil's club 12 65 False hellebore 3 20 False Solomon's Seal 1 3 Ferns 2 6 Fiddlehead 1 3 Labrador tea - Swamp tea 4 14 Moss 1 2 Mountain grapes 1 1 Purple lily 1 1 Red Osier 2 5 Stinging nettle 2 3 Wild rice 4 7 Fungi Pine mushroom 8 38 Amanita muscaria 1 5 Fish Oolichan 0 0 178 Objectives Parent nodes Children nodes Sources References Salmon 0 0 Wildlife Bear 0 0 Moose 0 0 Identify and describe Nisga?a experiences regarding climate change Climate change Effects on fishing and wildlife 15 176 Effects on Forest and Nisga'a traditional forest practices 12 74 Fire 11 32 Mountain Pine Beetle and other pests 7 37 Windstorms 7 24 Flooding 13 95 Changes in the species 4 6 Major concerns 12 65 Opportunities 10 26 Problems 5 25 Identify and describe forest management approaches utilized on the Nisga?a forests and their implications to climate change and climate change adaptation Management Nisga'a forest and resources management 16 213 Modern resource management 13 344 Logging 15 248 179 Appendix B: Other Trees B1. Luux - Red alder (Alnus rubra Bong.) ??.start late February from the oolichan,?.., then in preparation for that the Alder is use, the deciduous tree Alder. A green Alder is used for smoking the oolichan fish? (Interviewee 1 2012). Use of the wood When it comes to the use of alder, the first thing that came to four of the interviewees? minds was firewood for smoking fish. The fish in this case would be oolichans, which run from the end of winter to the early part of spring, so that during this period the temperature is still cold (Interviewee 15 2012). That would be the main reason why Nisga?a people use Alder to smoke oolichans. In fact, they use the green wood of red alder, which sounds a bit confusing; however, it has an interesting explanation. As stated by Interviewee 12 (2012), the green alder wood, or ksiluux in Nisga?a, is used in the smokehouse because it produces a great quantity of smoke and at the same time it produces enough heat to keep the oolichans warm and avoid getting them frozen. Hence, they use green red alder wood, to smoke the oolichans and keep them warm, so the oolichans do not freeze while they are being smoked. Following there is a quote to better understand de idea: ?The ksiluux is use for the smokehouse wood, ahhh, in the spring when we are doing oolichan when it gets quite cold we use green alder, because you want fire and you want a lot of smoke, because it is green it produce a lot of smoke, because it is Alder, it burns quite hot, so the green wood would burn pretty hot, and the reason you want a lot of heat, it is not like burning dried wood, but you want heat because it is freezing outside? (Interviewee 12 2012). 180 In some occasions the red alder was also used to smoke sea lions and seals, and the reason for using this kind of wood is mainly the amount of heat needed to smoke the meat of sea animals (Interviewee 15 2012). As reported by three of the Interviewees, another traditional Nisga?a use for alder wood is carving, however in contrast with the use of redcedar wood for carving, alder is used to carve utensils for kitchen uses, such as bowls and spoons (Interviewee 1 2012). This is because alder is a very hard wood, and when it is dried, it becomes very strong. Nevertheless, alder is not only used for carving kitchen utensils, but also it is used for carving artwork such as masks, as stated in the following quote: ??..also for some carving, you carve masks, or what ever, alder or cedar,.., depending on, on the artist perception, what he wants to produce, that he used alder or,.., or cedar? (Interviewee 13 2012). Use of the bark Regarding the use of the red alder bark, medicinal use was identified by one of the research collaborators. Indeed, it was the inner bark of the tree that was used by Nisga?a people to cure diseases such as canker sore. ?The Alder, the inner bark of Alder,..., we used to scrape that from the bark and it is good, ....., one of my buddies, he used to have canker sore, he used to make chew on that, after a while it dissipated, gone, and the doctor couldn't believe it, and the doctor asked him what he was taking, and my buddy said to him, it is our own medicine that cured me? (Interviewee 10 2012). Use of the roots The roots of the alder were used to make rope, and also to weave different waterproof hats and clothing, as it was reported in the following quote: 181 ?We also use to make rope out of alder, roots of plants, we use all those type things, hooks and everything, people still do that, my aunt still weaves and stuff like that, they weave with roots and make lot of proof stuff, like waterproof hats and they are better than any other hat you can buy in a store, and they last long too? (Interviewee 16 2012) B2. K?ookst - Douglas maple (Acer glabrum var. douglasii (Hook.) Dippel) ??. and you see them, there are different colors of the green, huge big maple leaves, ahhh, as it developed through the season, but they are harvested, and they are used for various things? (Interviewee 1 2012). Use of the wood The wood of maple has several uses because of its hardiness and texture. For instance, this wood is used for carving, building and some snow-oriented implements. ?What grandfather taught me to use Maple, you have to work on it while is still fresh from the cut, because if you did it later, very difficult wood to cut, because it is extremely hard, hey, extremely hard, but when it dries out would aged, and it is extremely light and tough? (Interviewee 10 2012). Regarding carving, maple wood was used for intricate carving, such as serving spoons of any size (Interviewee 13 2012). Even some carvers like to add their signature on the spoon; they like to put a design at the end of the handle of the spoons (Interviewee 1 2012). However, as mentioned by Interviewee 1, there is a bit of a shift for the use of the maple wood. Some people use it more for decoration now, have not been used traditionally. It is like a legacy that is left, it is just nostalgic things left around the house. Thus, they do not use it anymore for serving; instead, they use it for decoration. Another use given to the maple wood was related to the development of houses. As recalled by Interviewee 1, maple wood was utilized when building houses, and even this collaborator stated that Nisga?a people used maple wood for making boats. 182 Winters in the Nass Valley are characterized for being very hard and cold, and the snow is the main feature of winter. Therefore, snow makes it very difficult to Nisga?a people when trying to walk over it, that is why maple wood was so usable for Nisga?a people. According to Interviewee 13, this wood has the characteristic of bending and not braking during the process. On top of that, as mentioned above it is extremely hard and when it is dried it is very light. All these features make the maple wood a perfect wood for making the frame for snowshoes, which where used by Nisga?a people during the winter. This is ratified by the following quote: ?Maple, maple is used for, because it easy, ahhh, you can bend it without braking it, you steam it and then bend it, and make,?., they used to make snowshoes? (Interviewee 13 2012). Not only the snowshoes were made out of the maple wood, but also the sleds, which were an important mean of transportation during the winter. Even some times, these sleds were used on the frozen river, to travel from one village to another (Interviewee 10 2012). Finally, as well as the yew wood, because both species are very tough and hard woods, maple wood was used to make bow and arrows (Interviewee 11 2012; Interviewee 12 2012). This could be confirm by the following quote: ??..and of course we have maple, maple when I was a kid my great grandfather used to use maple to make bows. He sent us out to find a large piece of maple and it will go down, something this thick to a little skinny bow? (Interviewee 12 2012). B3. Sgwinee?e - Yellow cedar (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis (D. Don) Spach) ?One of the most valuable species of trees to our people is Cedar, the Red Cedar, as well as the Cypress, the Yellow Cedar too? (Interviewee 10 2012). 183 Yellow cedar in the Nass valley is only in the watershed directly adjacent to the coast, and then up river wherever it is wet it would be possible to find yellow cedar. Despite that Interviewee 10 mentioned that yellow cedar was one of the most valuable species to Nisga?a people, the other three collaborators that made reference to this tree did not described it as valuable as redcedar. Even though yellow cedar is used for a lot of the same thing as the redcedar, as stated by Interviewee 10, it does not get as big as the redcedar. This could be the reason why the wood of the yellow cedar was mainly used for building longhouses, more specifically to build the frame of the longhouses using poles made out of yellow cedar. ?Again the Yellow cedar, the poles, the poles were small poles, the poles would be 8, maybe 9, inches for the structure, the frame of the longhouses, that is what the cedar is used for, but that is traditionally? (Interviewee 1 2012). Another used for yellow cedar wood described by Interviewee 1 was carving. For instance, the wood of yellow cedar could be used for boats, canoes, totem poles and even utensils. Regarding medicinal use, Yellow cedar, as described by the only collaborator that mentioned it in the interview, is a very oily tree. For this reason, it has the quality of keeping the people out of getting a cold. This was explained in the following quote: ?The siblings from the cypress emits that aroma that keep your nose clear, it is quite strong, but it is a very pleasant smell too? (Interviewee 10 2012). B4. Ho'oks (alda) - Amabilis fir (Abies amabilis (Dougl. Ex Loud.) Dougl. Ex Forbes.) ?Balsam tree is another valuable tree for us, because it also cures any kind of disease you have, it cures it? (Interviewee 6 2012). Amabilis fir, or balsam, is another tree mentioned during the interviews by 6 of the collaborators. This naming has generated a bit of confusion regarding the identification of the tree the 184 collaborators were mentioning. The confusion starts with the Nisga?a name for balsam, which is ho?oks that means balsam fir (Abies balsamea (L.) Mill.). However, the distribution range for balsam fir is out of British Columbia (Natural Resources Canada, 2011). According to Burton (2012), the Nisga?a word alda was used in a Nisga?a dictionary in 1986 to refer to amabilis fir. However, the same word was used in another Nisga?a dictionary in 2001 to refer to Douglas fir. As discussed by Burton (2012), these discrepancies are understandable because, generally the terms ?fir? and ?balsam? are used interchangeably for Abies species in BC. Furthermore, despite Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii (Mirb.) Franco) is not a true fir (i.e., not an Abies species), the forest industry uses the word ?fir? to denote it. Nisga?a people used Balsam for building, food, and most importantly medicine. With respect to building, Interviewee 7 (2012) mentioned that they used balsam for their houses. Indeed, Parish (1995) mentioned that Nisga?a people used balsam for house planks. ?The Balsam they used for, we used to have a salmon lane behind here, and they used the Balsam for the houses, when they dry out, they can smell, but they last for ever? (Interviewee 7 2012). Regarding the use of balsam for food, Interviewee 13 (2012) mentioned that Nisga?a people used to eat the inner bark of balsam. They even compared it to hemlock inner bark, in difference, the balsam inner bark is not as pulpy, and juicier than hemlock inner bark. According to Burton (2012), they used to eat the inner bark of balsam, but in contrast to hemlock inner bark, they did not store it. When it comes to describe the medicinal properties of balsam, the parts that were most mentioned during the interviews were pitch and sap, which were compared to the medicinal quality of spruce tree by Interviewee 10 (2012). 185 According to Interviewee 10 (2012), the balsam pitches get pockets over hanging off, they could be peeled off and they would helps to purify the body, the blood streams and so on. It was mentioned that balsam even has the same quality as the spruce tree for taking poisonous substances out of the body system, as well as superficial wounds and any kind of infection. ?One of my grand uncles had blood poison from a hook that got lost in his thumb, my uncle cut it, there they didn't have real access to doctor at that day when that happened, my grandmother fixed with poultice on that, see that, see all the blue,..., and once grandmother worked on that, got all the toxins out the poultice that she made, the guy is normal, but they have to keep getting out the stuff, by the time Dr. McDonald came from Rupert to check out what was going, because he heard it and came on a boat, he laughed, you know?, mom was here to fix it, she did all the wonder by herself? (Interviewee 10 2012). Not only the Balsam pitches were used for medicine, but also the sap of Balsam was used. According to two of the collaborators it was used as poultice for wounds, even, one of them mentioned that it could cure cancer. ?The Balsam tree is another valuable tree for us, because it also cures any kind of disease you have it cures it, and I think it cures cancer too, and it is just like milk coming, you see this this big, ahhh, they just come out like this, you just take a sharp thing and then it starts ripping in, and you are going to take that, and that is another medicine that they used to give to a patient that is pretty ill,....., so that is another cure? (Interviewee 6 2012). B5. Haawak? - Paper birch (Betula papyrifera Marsh.) This tree, as recalled by three collaborators, was used mainly for firewood, because it burns very hot. Indeed, they compared it with coal. As mentioned by Interviewee 7 (2012): ?The Birch was mainly used for, for wood,..., because it burns so hot it is just like coal, when it burns, when it is dried out, there is still large Birch around? (Interviewee 7 2012). 186 The bark of the birch was used as a candle; people used to roll the bark and then light it up (Interviewee 11 2012). Another used that Nisga?a people used to give to this tree was the confection of sleds (Interviewee 10 2012). B6. Sginist -?? ?Lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta var. latifolia Engelm. Dougl. ex Loud.) As described by two of the collaborators, this kind of tree was used mainly for firewood, which burns very hot. ?Lots of pine here that we also use for firewood. I was thinking about that the other day. I thought there was much we use the pine for, probably the only tree we don't use pine much for, it was used for firewood, and it is also nowadays used for, mushrooms, pine mushrooms growing? (Interviewee 11 2012). It was also mentioned that pine pitches have medicinal properties, and Nisga?a people used to cure wounds with them (Interviewee 13 2012). B7. S?'an-milks - Pacific crab apple (Malus fusca (Raf.) C.K. Schneid.) This small tree was mentioned by three of the collaborators during the interviews. They discussed about its wood and its fruits. Regarding the wood, one of the collaborator mentioned that it was so strong that Nisga?a people used to make hammers out of it, which were used during the oolichans fishing process. As it was mentioned by Interviewee 11 (2012): ?They used to use Wild crabapple because it is really strong for making their hammers, same type of idea, except it has a bigger bottom,?, and then with the handle, and then they use that to pound the,..., when you set the net, you have to put poles in the river to hold it down, well, to pound that in, they have those crabapple hammers,?, hammers made out of wood? 187 With respect to the edible fruit, or milks in Nisga?a, it was mentioned by two of the interviews that they were very popular (Interviewee 12 2012) and that even people cooked them and stored them for future use in bentwood boxes such as the ones made out redcedar described before. Regarding milks preparation for storage Interviewee 6 (2012) stated: ? The way they did the milks, they cook them and then they put them on a flat surface to dry, and then they wipe up the oolichan grease with water, you get the darkest grease that you can find and that's what you used to light up with water, and it is the lightest, it is puuuure white when it is done, and then you put all these berries in there and then you put them in the bentwood boxes? B8. Ambokkw - Trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx.) Regarding aspen the only collaborator that mentioned it said that it was used to smoke salmon. ??.but alder is used for smokehouse wood, they burn green alder, it produces the smoke that we use for smoking oolichan mostly, oolichans, and we smoke salmon, we use cottonwood, cottonwood or aspen? (Interviewee 13 2012). B9. Xlaahl -?? ?Pacific willow (Salix lucida ssp. lasiandra (Benth.) E. Murr.) One of the collaborators recalled that being the only indigenous willow that is present in the Nass Valley, Pacific willow was used as a hardwood (Interviewee 13 2012). 188 Appendix C: ?Sisatkw: the cleansing ritual to extend the life? ?We have a ritual called ?sisatkw?, which literally translates to making days, almost, perhaps it is a meaning for extending your life, or, similar to doing your time, it was a month long ritual, where you would fast for four days period,?, drinking, bathing in, Devil's club, and nothing else, and over those four days you would isolate yourself from your family and community focusing only in yourself, so, in addition to generally being miserable, because you are vomiting, and diarrhea, and of course you are not eating, it doesn't have much to do with that anymore, you are sweating it out, making yourself smell devil's club, you are bathing in it as well , your are away from everybody and you are focusing in yourself, you are meditating and praying, cleaning yourself mentally as well, by not [dwelling] on things, nobody else to interrupt the ceremony, at the end of the month long ritual, they say you are clean in mind, body and spirit, and you smell like Devil's club, and you do the ceremony, say, before you went hunting, or before you went into a public ceremony where you would be round a lot of people, and there is a reason of both of those, if you are a hunter, we hunt with spears, we have bow and arrows, and eventually we have guns as well, but historically our biggest hunting weapon was the spear, and the biggest animal we hunted for was bear, black bears and grizzlies, and who can you imagine running after a bear through the forest, particularly in a forest with devil's club growing in it, with just a spear, it is not gonna happen, the bear is much better running through the bush, it doesn't care what it runs through, you never are going to be able to chase it down, with just a spear, you needed it to come to you, and so, they would do that, the thing, the bear would see you and recognize the hardship you put yourself through in order to make yourself presentable to it, and it would come to you and allow you to spear it, for the honor of being, let's say, a bear is honored to be eaten by a man, because by being eaten it becomes a man,........, OK, the more practical it was, if you think about it, black bears and grizzly bears, black bears specially, they are almost blind, they hardly can see, more than 30 yards away things are looking really, really blurry for black bears, they are short sighted, but their nose is very, very precise, a black bear can smell what I ate for breakfast, it just can read my breath, odors coming out of my body, the different things coming out from sweating pores, a bear can smell all those things and distinguish each of them, so it would be able to tell what I ate last nigh, it would tell what I ate this morning, it could tell whether I'm man or a woman, it can tell all those things by smelling me, except perhaps, if I have been bathing and drinking devil's club to eat, for month, because now I smell like devil's club tea, and it can tell I've been eating devil's club tea, it can tell that I've drinking devil's club tea, that is all it can tell, so if you can't see, and you are in the forest surrounded by devil's club, no I'm invisible, because, I look like a ghost, walking around, and it can tell anything else about, so is not that much surprising, it would sit down trying to figure what you are as you come closer with the spear, and,...., sit there, a well placed spear, would kill it on the first shoot, and you are done, and it was that power that devil's club tea can give on to you, the ability to be invisible in the bush? (Interviewee 12 2012). 189 Appendix D: Berries D1. Huksa?alt - Oval-leaf blueberry (Vaccinium ovalifolium Sm.) ???you get a lot of blueberries, further in land get lot more blueberries still? (Interviewee 1 2012). Blueberries were used mainly for food, but also in some cases were used as a medicine. Regarding the use of blueberries as a food, Interviewee 8 recalled: ?The ladies that preserve these berries know how many berries to put in a jar, so when they say there is a, they have a bucket about this size, about there they said that is one case blueberry right there, jejejeje, they know, I don't even know myself, they now how much to put in a jar, sugar and things like that, but I usually just go pick berries and just help out about? Blueberries are not only preserved in jars, as explained in the quote above, but also they are dried. According to Interviewee 8 (2012), blueberries could be dried under the sun. Being completely dried, the blueberries could be stored in plastic bags. Thus, when the wintertime comes, the blueberries could be taken out of the bags and put in water to be rehydrated. With respect to medicinal purposes, Interviewee 8 (2012) stated that blueberries were mixed with oolichan grease in order to treat a certain illness, which was not described during the interviews. D2. Is - Soapberries (Shepherdia canadensis (L.) Nutt.) ?Another common berry is Is, so the bush would be called s?'an-is, is is the soapberry, and again it is quite bitter the berry itself, and but if you squish the berry, you can pick either it is green or right, when it is right they are red? (Interviewee 12 2012). Nisga?a people used to squish the soapberries and then add a little bit of water and beat it, as a result it would turn into a foam. When using the green berry, the foam is white; otherwise, if using the red right berries, the foam would be pink, or reddish. People used to add other things 190 for flavor, for instance while beating it, people could add some bananas or fruit juice, or whatever they want, and sugar. This dessert is commonly known as Indian ice cream, it does not have any ice in it, but as explained by Interviewee 12 (2012), it has fluffy texture, which is similar to ice cream. Here is another description of the Indian ice cream: ?It is good to jar right the way, people jar soapberries for preserving for winter, and it is just as good as you have it in the winter, you see people making soapberries ice cream, and in fact they call it anyway soapberry ice cream, and it all like, it almost look like a cotton candy? (Interviewee 8 2012). Regarding medicinal use, one collaborator mentioned that soapberries have several uses. For instance, used as a drinking potion, it could help to treat arthritis. Additionally, this potion would have some energizing properties as recalled by Interviewee 8 (2012): ?When I used to get smudge, my wife says "have some of this", so she gives me cup and I drink it, I don't just down, I take my time drinking it, ohhh, maybe 2 hours later I'm full of energy? Continuing with the medicinal uses of soapberries, the berries themselves prepared as a dessert, would act as a laxative helping to clean the person?s body. Finally, Interviewee 8 (2012) mentioned that some people even use it for face cream. This might open their pore, helping them to preserve the skin. D3. Miik?ookst ? Salmonberries (Rubus spectabilis Pursh) ?Salmonberries usually starts on June, middle of June, but I haven't seen any, I haven't seen that much, that is one of the things we see? (Interviewee 8 2012). According to Interviewee 12 (2012), they are located at the edge of the distribution of salmonberries; therefore, they do not get a lot of the salmonberries near the Nisga?a village of Gitwinksihlkw. This collaborator states that even though there are some shrubs, they do not get 191 many berries out of them. For this reason, people from this village usually go right down the coast to pick them. Not only the berries are edible, but also, as mentioned by Interviewee 10 (2012), the sprouts of the plant could be eaten. In the collaborator words: ??..now you go in the bush today, you never go hungry here, because there are salmonberries bushes they are producing, there are salmonberries, but the early part of growth thing, the new stem coming up, the sprouts, see that is green, peel it, tttttt, snack right there? (Interviewee 10 2012). Concerning medicinal use of salmonberries, none of the collaborators that mentioned about this plant recalled any medicinal use. D4. Loots? ? ?Elderberries (Sambucus racemosa L.) ?Elderberries, aren't sour, aren't sweet, they are unique? (Interviewee 12 2012). As mentioned by Interviewee 12 (2012), there is a wide range of people, and even in some textbooks, saying that this plant is poisonous, but it is not. In fact, the collaborator continues saying that when Nisga?a people were introduced to alcohol, people made their own rum or wine out of the elderberries, elderberry wine. Nevertheless, before that and still now, they use the elderberries as one of the ingredients in a cocktail of berries. Consequently, it is mix together with other berries, such as blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries, salmonberries, all squished together. Indeed, despite that most of the people like elderberry in a cocktail of berries, not many of them enjoy elderberries by themselves. 192 With respect to the use of this plant for medicine, one of the collaborators compared the elderberry with the devil?s club. In doing so, Interviewee 15 (2012), mentioned that both plants would be used to clean the system of the person taking it. Finally for this plant, one of the collaborators mentioned a use related neither to food nor to medicine. Instead, Interviewee 11 (2012) stated that when they were kids, they used the elderberry to play. Thus, they made a spit shutter from the Cow parsnip (Heracleum maximum Bartram), and then used the berries as munitions, putting them in their mouths, to attach the other children. D5. T?ipyees - Stonecrop berries (Sedum divergens S. Watson) ?We have a berry that, in this area is only found in the lava beds, that is t?ipyees , we call it t?ipyees , that grows on the lava? (Interviewee 13 2012). This special berry was recalled by two of the collaborators, both mentioned that t?ipyees is eaten in the springtime (Interviewee 13 2012; Interviewee 17 2012). According to Interviewee 13 (2012), the way how Nisga?a people eat this berry is first cleaning and washing it, and then adding a little bit of oolichan grease, and some sugar, or whatever the person wants to add in it. On the other hand, Interviewee 17 added that it is a little berry and it has the after taste of a dry wine. D6. Naasik' ? Raspberries (Rubus idaeus L.) Two collaborators mentioned the use of raspberries by Nisga?a people. One of them mentioned that in the past, Nisga?a people used to make raspberry vinegar, something like syrup. Then, they used to mix it with water getting as a result something similar to a pop. This could be ratified in the following quote: 193 ?Like in the olden days when my kids were little I used to pick raspberries and make raspberry vinegar, which is like a syrup, and then you add it with water and it is like a pop? (Interviewee 11 2012). D7. Other berries Other berries mentioned during the interviews were huckleberries (Interviewee 6 2012; Interviewee 8 2012; Interviewee 11, 2012), strawberries, gooseberries, high bush cranberries (Interviewee 11 2012), loganberries (Interviewee 8 2012), and blackberries (Interviewee 6 2012). """@en ; edm:hasType "Thesis/Dissertation"@en ; vivo:dateIssued "2014-05"@en ; edm:isShownAt "10.14288/1.0166831"@en ; dcterms:language "eng"@en ; ns0:degreeDiscipline "Forestry"@en ; edm:provider "Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library"@en ; dcterms:publisher "University of British Columbia"@en ; dcterms:rights "Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International"@en ; ns0:rightsURI "http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/"@en ; ns0:scholarLevel "Graduate"@en ; dcterms:title "Indigenous knowledge, climate change and forest management : the Nisga'a Nation approach"@en ; dcterms:type "Text"@en ; ns0:identifierURI "http://hdl.handle.net/2429/45700"@en .