Plants in a “Sea of Relationships”: Networks of Plants and Fishing in Makkovik, Nunatsiavut (Labrador, Canada)

Abstract

Different plants have played an important role historically in the subsistence of the native Sami people of northern Fennoscandia. Generally, their use of plants have however been regarded as less vital in their overall subsistence and in comparison to the domesticated reindeer and the hunted game and fish. Also, the impacts of early human plant use on specific plant-populations and the overall ecosystems which they inhabited have often been overlooked in research.In this thesis the traditional Sami practices and extent of plant use from the 1550s until 1900 was studied from two main perspectives; First) the cultural significance of Scots pine inner bark and A. archangelica was evaluated, in the perspective as a discrete form of resource utilization within a larger set of activities which constitute overall Sami subsistence, Second) The human impact of land use from a perspective of plant use was quantified and evaluated. Special emphasis in this thesis was placed on the role of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and garden Angelica (A. archangelica ssp. archangelica L.).My results show that: 1) Scots pine and A. archangelica are two of the Sami cultural key-stone species, since they were qualitatively vital for survival in these northerly regions.2) It is possible to manage and maintain stable populations of A. archangelica by conducting harvest according to traditional Sami practices, indicating that it is likely that the Sami did not only gathered but also enhanced certain wild plants. Furthermore, the Sami harvest of different Scots pine resources on a regional scale, was shown to be sustainable throughout the study period. 3) Northern Fennoscandia can be considered a domesticated landscape, even long before the onset of agriculture. The Sami have moved over large areas, but they made well informed decisions on what resources to obtain at what times. 4) A combination of methods from different fields should be used to understand Sami plant use in a subsistence context. By combining methods it is possible to understand both the details of how and why Sami used different plants, but also to investigate historical Sami subsistence at different spatial scales. Keywords

Are we walking the talk of participatory Indigenous health research? A scoping review of the literature in Atlantic Canada

“…Researchers who described building relationships with communities did so in several ways. Some research was grounded in existing community relationships or longstanding partnerships, built over a number of years [50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57], and others were built on new relationships facilitated through community visits prior to initiating the research [58][59][60]. Relationship building was reported both as a formalized process, whereby a community oversight body (e.g., a community advisory committee, steering committee, working group) was created to direct the research [55,[61][62][63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80], and also through informal moments, such as researchers participating in community events and celebrations, including Powwows, community feasts, sea ice trips, strawberry socials, etc.…”

“…relationship-building activities were reportedly undertaken in recognition of the importance of trust between researchers and communities [52,57,67,85,86], for instance as stated by Jardine and Furgal, "considerable time was invested in building relationships between the researchers and team members in the community to develop trust through a shared understanding of intentions, motivations, and interests" [57 (p. 122)]. One study, however, cautioned that while relationship building is critical for establishing trust and accountability, communicating the scope of this process in an academic paper "does not necessarily measure accountability or reciprocity on the part of the researcher, or indicate success from a community's perspective" [52 (p. 464)].…”

Anthropogenic and climate impacts on subarctic forests in the Nain region, Nunatsiavut: Dendroecological and historical approaches

“…Multiple recent studies have demonstrated local human impacts on subarctic forests in Labrador (northeastern Canada) including through the direct harvesting of wood (Roy et al 2012(Roy et al , 2017Lemus-Lauzon et al 2016 and through cultural land and fire management (Lemus-Lauzon et al 2012;Oberndorfer et al 2017;Cuerrier et al 2019). As pointed out by these authors, studies of the ecological history of northern forests and of their management frequently underestimate or ignore the scale of anthropogenic forest impacts in regions with histories of minimal commercial or industrial forestry activity.…”

Mutable environments and permeable human bodies★

“…Erica Oberndorfer, an ethnobotanist who lives in Labrador and works among the Inuit, notes: ‘The Arctic is a peopled place and … the plants of the North … carry the legacy of human activity over generations’ (Semeniuk ; see also Oberndorfer et al . ). Oberndorfer has spent years recording Inuit knowledge transmitted orally from generation to generation about changes over time in Arctic ecology that have been brought about by human behaviour.…”

“…. carry the legacy of human activity over generations' (Semeniuk 2017; see also Oberndorfer et al 2017). Oberndorfer has spent years recording Inuit knowledge transmitted orally from generation to generation about changes over time in Arctic ecology that have been brought about by human behaviour.…”