PROJECT
TRADITIONAL PLANTS & MEDICINE
Learning with Language in Southwest Alaska
The primary goals of this partnership is to research, design, produce and distribute an ethnobotany education program that integrates elder stories, cultural objects, multilingual activities, and sensory art experiences for children and adults to represent, preserve and share the diversity of knowledge, traditions and culture of the indigenous people of Bristol Bay. It is also our intent to find practical and meaningful ways to distribute and share the materials we create throughout the region to acknowledge and support the wide range of indigenous cultures of Southwest Alaska. It is our hope that this combined effort will benefit all participating partners for years to come and provide the necessary foundation for future ethnobotany publications, museum exhibits, digital media experiences, and curriculum development.
REGIONAL ETHNOBOTANY PARTNERSHIP
Cultural Ties
The research, design and production of this ethnobotany education program began in the summer of 2020 in part due to synergies in several overlapping conversations about developing meaningful pathways to connecting youth and elders in culture-based learning. These conversations started as a response to a significant interest in learning about language, and edible or medicinal plants that has been expressed by regional residents in the wake of COVID health crisis. The evolving project has ultimately led to a dynamic and growing network of partners that includes tribal members, tradition bearers, scholars, and artists.
The multifaceted project that has evolved out of these talks is built on the foundation of objectives, resources, materials, and relationships that have been underway since 2016 by the individual project partners to meet the cultural education needs of the region. The resulting partnership has been formed to:
1) Connect youth with elders in knowledge exchanges;
2) Increase awareness and retention of regional cultural knowledge and practices;
3) Support relationships between organizations and federally recognized tribes;
4) Support connections with ancestral and historic ties to parklands.
ANN GARIBALDI
MEDICINAL FLORA OF THE ALASKA NATIVES
“A cultures ties to plants and healing are woven into its thoughts on philosophy, spirituality, and ecology. Healing with plants encompasses a person’s spirituality, language, and values. It is difficult, if not impossible, to separate medicinal plant knowledge as a self-contained knowledge base from a culture’s comprehensive view on healing. When discussing medicinal plant knowledge, it is important to have a broader context in which to place this information. Ideally, knowledge of plant healing would be shared by observation and stories, from an experienced herbal practitioner with the cultural setting.”