Anthropogenic
By Richard Haard,
Propagator, Fourth Corner Nurseries
From Merriam-Webster….. (Anthropogenic
: of, relating to, or resulting from the influence
of human beings on nature)
Here in the lower 48 states it is difficult to
find a tract that has not been influenced by the hand or man or by livestock.
Plant communities containing natural vegetation are either obliterated or
contaminated with escaped ornamentals or by seeds of weeds and exotic grasses
borne by hay fed animals, farming activities or worse.
In some places though, as the high forest country
or the remote north of Alaska, where wilderness surrounds civilization, these
exotics are absent and we can see the countryside with it’s natural endowment. An
interesting angle on these thoughts is to come across modifications to the
natural landscape we inherited from our original peoples, who have lived here
for as long as 12,000 years.
My friend, Rupert Wilson, resides a native
village located about 350 miles north of Vancouver, B.C., Canada tells me about
historical evidence for continuous occupation of his village at Bear Cove for 9000
years, likely longer. For thousands of years, the Kwakwaka'wakw
(pronounced "kwa kwa ka wak") people have lived on northern part of
Vancouver Island, the adjacent mainland coast and the islands between. When the
Europeans brought iron tools, firearms and other European goods, they also
brought diseases, like the measles, influenza, tuberculosis, venereal disease
and small pox. To these First Nations people, with no immunity to European
diseases, the consequences were devastating. Two thirds of the population was
wiped out within a relatively short period of time. (http://www.firstnations.eu/fisheries/kwakwakawakw.htm)
During the epidemics of the late 1700’s, entire villages were
depopulated. At some places settlers came in to live on land that was already
cleared from the dense spruce and cedar forest. Now an occasional shoreline
kitchen middens tell their own story that every shell in a 10 foot or deeper shoreline
bank smacked the lips of a human. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midden)
My own adventure on this topic began with a field trip last year to a
grassy islete near my friend’s village. Here we found an abundant population of
a lily family species, Fritillaria camschatscensis, riceroot, a native of the southeastern
Russian coast. This species is similar to our own Fritillaria affinis and is
sometimes intermixed as we move south into Oregon. The bulbs produced by this
plant are rich in easily digested carbohydrates, keep well, and are easily
propagated by the tiny bulbils that form on the parent bulb. Early travelers
harvested these bulbs and distributed them as they moved south. Perhaps these
Fritillarias were moved to North America by way of Kamchatka as trade goods or
with migrants long after the Bering Straits post-glacial era migration.
Ref: Can Species of
Fritillaria and Allium Serve as Guideposts to Human Migration?
The common Camassia quamash, and C. leichtleinii occurring across
western North America are not found in this northern place but are dominant
only 300 miles south. Other useful plants with edible or medicinal value are
found in the same places such a Allium cernuum, Fragaria spp and Lomatium
species.
My adventure this year has been to travel by boat and survey the
islands of the Broughton Archipelago, a cluster of islands just south of the
entrance to Queen Charlotte Sound. Traveling in a small boat we intended to
camp on beaches but the terrain on these islets and islands is so extremely
rocky and densely forested is almost impossible to find a place to spread out a
tent and cook a meal. Even the tiny rocky islets that were poking out of the
water were thickly forested most often to the high tide line.
Prior to my visit to these remote, largely uninhabited islands I
envisioned finding the grassy islets that are common in the San Juan
Archipelago, near my home in Washington State. Here in Broughton however we
cruised for 2 days in the northern portion not to find a single islete without
dense forest. Finally, we took our search further south and near some village
sites. There they were, and just as kitchen middens are evidence for hand of
man in the distant past these islets and former grocery and medicine sources
cultivated by natives. First, we found an islete with Allium cernuum and
Fritillaria affinis. Then within easy distance of a historical native
settlement an islete so dense with F. camschatscensis one could not help to
walk over them.
Our visit this time was in mid-June and this gave us opportunity to
verify identity of seed pods we collected the year before at Rupert’s islete. Finding
only two islets indicated these are not common plants and preservation of the
species is important for future generations.
There is a movement among many native groups including the Kwakwaka'wakw
people to reintroduce natural foods such as this riceroot (Lhásem
in the Squamish Nation language) as a means to improve their diet and fight
adult onset diabetes. In this following story a University of Victoria, Leigh
Joseph, graduate student of ethnobotanist Dr.
Nancy Turner is cultivating riceroot in traditional locations then showing
native people how to reinvent or revive their former, healthier diets. (http://www.indigenousreporting.com/2012/story-1/ )
It was heartening to learn for myself
that this species of Fritillaria still resides in natural populations of the remote British Columbia coast.
Further south near Bellingham I’ve collected seed and propagated over many
years the common Camas. Some friends from our local coast Salish Tribe, Lummi,
would visit our farm to harvest Camas bulbs with traditional digging sticks. I
told these friends I collected seed for propagating for these bulbs from an islete
that their ancestors cultivated long ago. This was about 10 years ago and this
spring when visiting this site again to replenish my seed supply the islete is
back into cultivation. Vast sections or the islete were harvested then
replenished with young bulbs exhibiting very good wildcrafting technique. Even
though seed collecting is a bit more difficult I was happy to witness this
reinvention of their native sustainable agriculture.
“Fritillaria appears to have originated in eastern Asia, and migrated
through China, Japan, the Kuril Islands, and Kamchatka, to the Pacific
Northwest, thence inland to Nebraska and south to San Diego. One species, F.
camschatcensis, ranges from extreme southeastern Russia to Oregon. In Eurasia
Fritillaria localities are typically along the multiple routes of the ancient
“Silk Road.”
Gordon Gastil ( )
attempted to correlate the modern ranges of Fritillaria with travel of ancient
people. Fritillaria and Allium bulbs are prized to this day by the native
people of the Pacific Northwest as food, spice, and medicine. The dried bulbs were
useful energy food on long trips across ice or water. He suggests these bulbs
may have been carried by travelers on ancient routes of travel or migration.
Now with detained DNA analysis (
) we realize the early peopling of the new world also came by way of Asian
coasts and the islands including Kamchatka not solely the Bering Strait.
The image links can be live in the web article possibly also as a
slide show with notations in a link from the printed version
Can Species of Fritillaria
and Allium Serve as Guideposts to Human Migration? R. Gordon Gastil http://ssrn.com/abstract=1564426
Below….Images and notes for cross reference in the article. All can be
in web issue select from these for print issue:
A shell midden at Echo Bay, British Columbia
Echo Bay, British Columbia, a remote settlement showing signs of former original people settlement
Fritillaria camschatcensis, Riceroot, Bulbs, offsets and seed pods.
Collected in natural habitat at Northern end of Vancouver Island, British
Columbia
Broughton Archipelago, remote islets. Most islets in this area are
fully forested. Perennials and grasses are rare here
Broughton Archipelago, typical shoreline view at an
inlet on Henrietta Island
Broughton Archipelago, another anthropogenic habitat. Some islets
especially near former or current native villages show this 'prairie’
vegetation with many plants of medicinal or medical value
Broughton Archipelago, plants associated in anthropogenic sites, Allium
cernuum, Fritillaria affinis, Fragaria chiloensis
Broughton Archipelago, Fritillaria camschatscensis
growing on a rocky islete
Broughton Archipelago, Fritillaria camschatscensis
in bloom
Broughton Archipelago, A remote village/residence
along Gilford Island
Island near north Vancouver Island, BC Canada. East side Wonderful
wildflower habitat, Good example of anthropogenic influence on local vegetation
Greater Camas, Camassia leichtleinii ssp suksdorfii in natural
habitat. With evidence of recent harvest and careful cultivation.
Camassia leichtleinii ssp suksdorfii in cultivation at Fourth Corner
Nurseries
