ojibway plant taxonomy at lac seul first nation, ontario, canada
abstract
the ojibway (anishinabe) of lac seul first n ation reside in the
transition zone of the great lakes-st. lawrence and southern boreal forest
regions of northwestern ontario, canada. hunting and gathering of certain
animal and plant species remain a significant part of their livelihood. although
lac seul ojibway are traditionally hunter-gatherers, there is a manipulation of
the plant community in the cultivation of wild rice zizartia aquatica l. beds and
certain w ild medicinal plants. during the winter and summers of 1996-1997, a
preliminary study was undertaken to collect plant taxonomic information in
the oji-cree dialect of the community. four elders, fluent in the oji-cree
dialect and who were knowledgeable of plant names, were interviewed. they
were presented with plant material for identification. five other elders also
contributed their knowledge about plants. analysis of the taxonomic system
follow ed brent berlin, with some exceptions. in lac seul folk plant taxonomy,
there is no 'unique beginner' to correspond with plantae. there are two super
life-forms which include all vascular plants. this is the first use of the rank
super life-form in ethnobotanical classification. there are eight named or
covert life-form taxa. three of the life-form taxa, characterized as 'medicinal
roof, 'berry' and 'bark utility', are 'cultural' or utilitarian and overlap with the
remaining life-forms; 'conifer' (covert), 'angiosperm tree' (covert), 'herbs, ferns
and fern allies', 'shrub' and 'moss'. as noted by turner, hunn and johnson-
gottesfeld in other studies of non-agrarian indigenous groups, plant
classification at lac seul reveals utilitarian identification which overlaps with
morphological identification. a significant aspect of the data is the percentage
of polytypic folk genera. polytypic folk genera are usually about 18% of the
total folk genera in horticultural groups and 2% of the total folk genera for
foragers. at lac seul, the polytypic folk genera are 9% which shows a higher
differentiation of folk genera than for most hunter-gathering people. certain
ubiquitous species have the same name at lac seul as in other algonkian
dialects ranging geographically from northern saskatchewan to western
quebec.
collections
- retrospective theses [1604]