Published In
Forest Ecology & Management
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-2019
Subjects
Indigenous peoples -- Fire use -- Oregon, Confederated Tribes of the Warm Springs Reservation of Oregon -- Fire use, Ethnoscience
Abstract
We examined traditional knowledge of fire use by the Ichishikin (Sahaptin), Kitsht Wasco (Wasco), and Numu (Northern Paiute) peoples (now Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs, CTWS) in the eastside Cascades of Oregon to generate insights for restoring conifer forest landscapes and enhancing culturally-valued resources. We examined qualitative and geospatial data derived from oral history interviews, participatory GIS focus groups, archival records, and historical forest surveys to characterize cultural fire regimes (CFRs) –an element of historical fire regimes– of moist mixed conifer (MMC), dry mixed conifer (DMC), and shrub-grassland (SG) zones. Our ethnohistorical evidence indicated a pronounced cultural fire regime in the MMC zone, but not in the two drier zones. The CFR of the MMC zone was characterized by frequent (few-year recurrence), low-severity burns distributed in a shifting pattern. This regime helped to maintain forest openings created by previous ignitions, resulting from lightning or possibly human-set, that had burned large areas. The CFR was influenced by the CTWS traditional knowledge system, which consisted of four elements: fire use and associated resource tending practices, tribal ecological principles, the seasonal round (the migratory pattern to fulfill resource needs), and culture. Thinleaf huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum), a cultural keystone species, occurs primarily in the MMC zone and was a principle focus of traditional fire use of the CTWS peoples. Fire was deployed to maintain shrub productivity and site access for harvesting. Cessation of fire use by ∼1940 has caused a decline in huckleberry productivity throughout much of the historical harvest zone. Our findings about CFR scale show how a nested, multi-level framework (patch- and landscape-levels) may be employed to reintroduce fire and thereby promote forest restoration and enhance culturally-valued resources. Our findings also highlight the utility of engaging the communities that hold traditional knowledge in the forest management and planning process.
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DOI
10.1016/j.foreco.2019.06.002
Persistent Identifier
https://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/29803
Citation Details
Steen-Adams, M. M., Charnley, S., McLain, R. J., Adams, M. D. O., & Wendel, K. L. (2019). Traditional knowledge of fire use by the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs in the eastside Cascades of Oregon. Forest Ecology & Management, 450.
Included in
Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment Commons, Environmental Monitoring Commons
Description
This work was authored as part of the Contributor's official duties as an Employee of the United States Government and is therefore a work of the United States Government. In accordance with 17 U.S.C. 105, no copyright protection is available for such works under U.S. Law.
© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.