#camas — Public Fediverse posts

Legacy of #Indigenous #stewardship of #camas dates back more than 3,500 years, #OSU study finds

May 20, 2024

Excerpt: CORVALLIS, Ore. — "An #Oregon State University study found evidence that Indigenous groups in the #PacificNorthwest were intentionally harvesting edible #CamasBulbs at optimal stages of the plant’s maturation as far back as 3,500 years ago.

"The findings contribute to the growing body of research around #TraditionalEcologicalKnowledge and practices, demonstrating the care and specificity with which Indigenous groups have been stewarding and cultivating natural resources for millennia.

"Camas is an #ecological and cultural keystone, meaning it is a species that many other organisms depend on and that features prominently within many cultural practices.

" 'If you think about #salmon as being a charismatic species that people are very familiar with, camas is kind of the plant equivalent,' said Molly Carney, an assistant professor of anthropology in OSU’s College of Liberal Arts and lead author on the study. 'It is one of those species that really holds up greater #ecosystems, a fundamental species which everything is related to.'

"An eye-catching blue flower that grows widely throughout the Pacific Northwest, camas is referred to in Indigenous calendars across the region, with the plant’s growth stages used as a sort of seasonal benchmark. It is often included in traditional #FirstFood ceremonies, in which tribal communities mark the coming of spring with the first #SalmonRun or the first #EdibleRoots after a long winter, Carney said.

"Camas bulbs must be baked for two to three days to render them edible. Once soft, the bulbs taste a bit like sweet potato, Carney said. Traditional baking was done in underground ovens using heated rocks."

Read more:
https://news.oregonstate.edu/news/legacy-indigenous-stewardship-camas-dates-back-more-3500-years-osu-study-finds

#SolarPunkSunday #LandUse
#IndigenousFoods #CulturalPreservation
#NativeAmericanHistory #IndigenousStewardship #IndigenousHistory #TraditionalFoods
#TraditionalFoodSources #KeystoneSpecies #PNW #TEK

I saw some pale lavender & almost all white camas flowers. Most camas I see here are the common deep purple colour. I love when I see colour variations of common #camas 😊

#Spring #perennials #Saanich #VictoriaBC #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #PNW #flowers #botanical #plants #garden #Bloomscrolling #florespondence #PollinatorGardens #EdiblePlants #FlowersIdentification #NativePlantsOfPNW #IndigenousFoodPlant #WildFood #WildFoodSecurity

#GarryOak & #camas #ecosystem 💚💜💚
Garry oaks are a #Keystone tree species on the islands here.

#Spring #perennials #Saanich #VictoriaBC #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #PNW #flowers #botanical #plants #GarryOak #Bloomscrolling #florespondence #PollinatorGardens #NativeFoodPlant #NativePlantsOfPNW #NativeWildflowers #NativePlants #PlantIdentification #botany #nature #ecology #biodiverse

Purple #camas aren't toxic & bulbs are edible.

#Spring #perennials #Saanich #VictoriaBC #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #PNW #flowers #botanical #plants #NativePlants #NativeWildflowers #Bloomscrolling #florespondence #wildflowers

Para quienes viven, o vivan, o conozcan personas que viven, o vivan..... En edificios
Escaleras chicas? Bases de camas grandes o muy grandes?
Paciencia, mucha...
La punta lleva el ritmo,, y la altura... Hay que lograr la punta que sube sea prácticamente copiando la altura del momento, siempre, arriba abajo rastrera... Y la parte trasera? Similar pero medio al revés, con respecto a la parte alta de atrás.... Hay que copiar, y siempre medio curvando las esquinas ion tranquilidad, la forma de la escalera, la inclinación
Y luego de 3, 4 o 5 pisos quizá de logra la armonía y, a pesar del cansancio que genera, es tremendo sentir como se logró el fluir... Y de pronto todo fluye.... Con un juego de centímetros se logra subir algo que parecía imposible
#muebles #edificios #camas

Saw an XXL California bumblebee in the great camas today (bee not pictured). It's a fairly rare urban visitor around here, and this is the third year I've seen it in the yard.

Nice to feel proud of something in my overgrown, neglected garden

#gardening #NativePlantsPNW #camas #NativeBees #GiveBeesAChance

From last #Spring.
I'm waiting for local #GarryOak #camas #meadows to showcase their annual full blooms. Another 2 weeks 💜

#ecosystem #KeystoneSpecies #nativeplants #nature #Saanich #Wsanec #IndigenousFoodPlant #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #PNW

Heads up! April 4th 👉 #VictoriaBC & area folks! Fun #Spring #MigratoryBirds #birding event!

Come out & enjoy a lovely outdoors community connecting with nature event!
I'm going to be there with my Indigenous friend, Jada.

Migratory Magnificence : #Camas Meadow Medley.

Join #SNEMITIYE Dominque James & #SpecialBirdService for a springtime Camas Meadow Medley at #CattlePoint and #UplandsPark.

Early April marks one of the most vibrant seasonal shifts on southern Vancouver Island. Camas meadows begin to wake, early wildflowers emerge, and the sharp metallic buzz of Rufous Hummingbirds returns to the landscape.

These small but fierce migrants travel thousands of kilometres each year, arriving along the coast just as nectar sources begin to bloom. Their presence signals the true beginning of spring.

Together we will explore the Garry oak ecosystem and coastal meadows of Uplands Park, learning how to notice hummingbird behaviour, listen for territorial calls, and observe feeding patterns among early blossoms.

This is not a fast-paced checklist focused walk. It’s an opportunity to slow down and tune into the rhythms of spring migration.

Open to all who agree to abide by the Cormorant's Creed. No birding experience required.

https://www.zeffy.com/en-CA/ticketing/migratory-magnificence

Friends of the Feather Ticket:
Free ticket to walk and waddle with us. You belong. Aimed at providing BIPOC &, or Queer folks, facing multiple barriers to outdoor education, recreation and stewardship, opportunities. You belong.

Contributing Cormorant
$15
To help us sustain the work and offerings for our communities, we ask our first time walk attendies, allies and supporters to contribute. Supports SBS’s year-round programming rooted in joy, access, and learning. Open to all who can contribute. Thank you.

#NatureWalk #Birdwatching #BirdLovers #OakBay #Saanich #VancouverIsland #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #Cascadia #PNW #CommunityEvent #NatureLovers #GarryOak #ecosystem #ecological #Meadows #Inclusive #BIPOCFriendly #Conservation #Stewardship #Wildlife #Avian #biodiversity

How #Indigenous #FoodSovereignty can improve #FoodSecurity

Sustainable Bites: Food and Our Future What can we do to help make our food systems more sustainable? UBC researchers share small steps that can make a big collective impact. 

March 24, 2025

"Indigenous households experience food insecurity at rates two to three times higher than non-Indigenous households in Canada. #Agroecologist Dr. #JenniferGrenz, an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Forestry and Faculty of Land and Food Systems, studies Indigenous food sovereignty and food systems, and how to revitalize them.

Did you know?

#Kwetlal, or #camas, a lily-like plant with a starchy bulb, was an important staple for #IndigenousPeoples along the #SalishSea.
Kwetlal was cultivated in Garry oak #ecosystems by #W̱SÁNEĆ and Quw’utsun Peoples, until #colonization nearly destroyed these unique food systems.

What does Indigenous food sovereignty mean?

" 'Indigenous food sovereignty is the reclamation and revitalization of our food systems,' says Dr. Grenz, who is Nlaka’pamux of mixed ancestry, whose family comes from the #Lytton First Nation. She grew up and lives on the coast of BC.

"The lands across #BritishColumbia, Dr. Grenz explains, were purposefully shaped since time immemorial for foods, medicines and technologies by the Indigenous Peoples who lived there until colonial settlers dispossessed them of their lands, culture and traditions.

" 'Indigenous food sovereignty is also about #CulturalResurgence: being able to access those foods and medicines again and find new ones as we face a changing climate,' said Dr. Grenz. 'Heal the people, heal the land. Heal the land, heal the people. I think that’s really what food sovereignty is about.'

"Revitalizing Indigenous food systems can help diversify and localize food systems in ways that could buffer against #FoodInsecurity in a changing climate.

"Dr. Grenz’s research team is working alongside Indigenous communities impacted by the 2021 heat dome and wildfires to understand the effects on culturally important plants.

" 'If you think of land as just vegetation and an aesthetic notion of what belongs, you’re going to have very different approaches and different outcomes to recovery than if you see that land as a food system, not just for humans, but for our animal, bird, fish and insect relations,' says Dr. Grenz. 'We’re working alongside communities to develop those Indigenized processes around wildfire recovery that honour Indigenous food systems, sustainability and resiliency.”'

How can #Settlers support the revitalization of Indigenous food systems?

"Learn about the histories of the lands you live on and what the traditional food systems were, what they are now and what they could be, says Dr. Grenz.

"Incorporating reciprocity into your relationship with the land is also important. 'Learn about the plants of those lands and find a way to invite them into your life. How can you take care of them, nurture them and steward them?' asks Dr. Grenz.

"One way might be to Indigenize your own back yard or community garden. Or learn about Indigenous food system protocols and the concept of '#HonourableHarvest.'

How can land-based learning support Indigenous food sovereignty?

"Land-based learning is an opportunity to get students and people out on the land—and start taking steps to give back while they are learning.

"At #UBCFarm, Dr. Grenz and students are starting two different Indigenous food systems to work as part of the agrarian food system that exists there — 'essentially bridging two food systems, #decolonizing and #Indigenizing our understandings of what foods are and how those two systems work together to benefit both.'

"In one, they are establishing a Garry oak ecosystem and growing camas, which is a traditional food system of the W̱SÁNEĆ  and Quw’utsun Peoples. Another type of #ForestGarden, similar to other Coast #Salish, #Tsimshian or #Haida food systems, will see the forest shaped by different plants like beaked #hazelnut, #elderberry, #salmonberry and #thimbleberry.

The students will be able to practice how to care for plants ordinarily thought of as forest plants, and 'learn how to reclaim traditional #LandStewardship practices to actually increase the production of those berries.' "

Source [includes video links]:
https://beyond.ubc.ca/how-indigenous-food-sovereignty-can-improve-food-security/

#SolarPunkSunday #FirstNations #Quwutsun #ClimateChange #Resilience #DecolonizeYourDiet #HonorIndigenousFoodSystems #LandBasedLearning #IndigenousFoodSovereignty #IndigenousFoods #BuildingCommunity #CommunityGardens #FoodForests

Digesting Food Studies—Episode 105: Indigenous Food Sovereignty

Although Indigenous food sovereignty has been attacked and eroded by multiple histories of colonial oppression, rebuilding it can happen—through intergenerational learning, land-based practices, and relationality.

https://rss.com/podcasts/digesting-food-studies/2185102/

Kaylee Michnik, talks about her article, “Moving Your Body, Soul, and Heart to Share and Harvest Food” from Vol. 8, No. 2 of Canadian Food Studies (https://doi.org/10.15353/cfs-rcea.v8i2.446), including the roles we all play in reconciliation & decolonization. Courtney Vaughan offers a response to the text and its challenges. Starting it off is Alexia Moyer’s account of the tasty and tenuous history of camas cultivation by Coast Salish peoples.

#DigestingFoodStudies
#Indigenous
#IndigenousFood
#IndigenousKnowledge
#CoastSalish
#LekwungenPeople
#FirstNations
#FoodSovereignty
#FoodSystems
#Decolonization
#HudsonsBayCompany
#Reconciliation
#Camas
#DeathCamas
#ZigadenousVenenosis
#FoodPodcast

Image: Jacques Gaimard on Pixabay

#Siletz Celebrate Historic #LandBack Deal

Tribe’s focus will be #restoration, #preservation and #cultural uses like #FirstFoods for the 2,000-acre site at the base of #TableRocks in Southern #Oregon.

by Nika Bartoo-Smith, Underscore + ICT January 17, 2025

"The property was purchased directly from the previous landowner. The #NatureConservancy preserves a #ConservationEasement on the land. The Siletz will continue to work closely with The Nature Conservancy and the BLM across the properties in the region to emphasize conservation and restoration.

Expanding access to first foods

"Moving forward, the tribe’s goal is to create opportunities for Siletz tribal members to access the historically significant land while safeguarding its character. The nation plans to work on preservation and restoration, focusing on protecting the natural area rather than developing it.

“'There will be big opportunities for restoration and enhancement of the food plants themselves,' [Robert] Kentta said. '[And] also enhancing tribal members’ access to use of and reconnection with those resources that we’ve been separated from.'

"Kentta mentioned some important first foods of the region that he hopes will become a focus at the property, including #camas, #tarweed and #yampah root. The land will also be used for other cultural purposes.

"Chairman Pigsley spoke of her hope that future generations of Siletz people will be able to go up to the rocks, hearing important stories and learning about the plant and animal relatives all around."

Read more:
https://www.underscore.news/land/siletz-celebrate-historic-land-back-deal/
#SolarPunkSunday #Rewilding #Restoring #Nature #NativeAmericanNews #RogueRiverTribe #ConferatedTribesOfSiletz

One of the new Indigenous friends that I made at the ribbon skirt workshop this weekend, Kecia, is a fellow weirdo Aquarian & from Namgis First Nation in Alert Bay. Although we just met, I've met some of her family from her birthplace prior - it was really cool to chat about those unexpected connections.

Kecia brought this bag that her niece, Brianna Dick, made. It's a gorgeous #PurpleCamas #CoastSalish design.
Brianna has an #OnlineStore where you can see/buy some of her #handmade #Indigenous #ArtsAndCrafts
https://briannabearart.bigcartel.com/

#BriannaBearArt is an Indigenous - owned and founded, #Canadian #artist store established in 2020 by Brianna Bear. Based in the traditional territory of the #Lekwungen, place to smoke herring lands of the #Songhees and #Esquimalt nations in #VictoriaBC.

​Brianna started first as an artist with more than fifteen plus years of experience. She began learning under her grandfather Skip Dicks younger brother, Butch Dick. Afterwards she branched out into discovering her roots and design through her #cultural connections to Songhees & #Namgis formline design.

Today, working as one of a few Indigenous female artist within her traditional territory of the Songhees people, she has worked on murals, logos, small business designs, small event designs and more!

Brianna believes in telling stories through her design as you will see through this site."

#NativeArtists #YYJ #IndigenousArt #SupportIndigenousWomen #BCFirstNations #IndigenousBC #VancouverIsland #Camas #VanIsle #Cascadia #Purse #CanvasBag #Stylish #FloralArt #NativeArt #PacificNorthwest #Botanical #PNW

Found a "wanted" poster in #Portland #PDX for a job in #Camas, #Washington if anyone is interested. I wouldn't qualify 😭

An excerpt from "Camas Lilies" by Lynn Ungar:

And you—what of your rushed
and useful life? Imagine setting it all down—
papers, plans, appointments, everything—
leaving only a note: “Gone
to the fields to be lovely. Be back
when I’m through with blooming.”

https://www.ayearofbeinghere.com/2014/08/lynn-ungar-camas-lilies.html

#poetry #poem #TodaysPoem #PoemADay #LynnUngar #camas #Indigenous #SettlerColonialism #beauty #flowers #lilies

#Lichen dripped, mossy tree.
#Cottonwood #arbor & dramatic skies
#SoapBush
#Purple #camas

#QuicksBottom #Wsanec #SaanichParks #WalkInThePark #GetOutside #Nature #VancouverIsland #YYJparks #VictoriaBC #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #PNW #NatureTrail

Walking through #GarryOak #meadows & wetland marshes are to the right. Small #footpath to stroll. Still some purple #camas out.

En route home & will be uploading more photos, shortly. We had the whole park to ourselves - only wildlife sharing spaces today 😊

#QuicksBottom #Wsanec #SaanichParks #WalkInThePark #GetOutside #Nature #VancouverIsland #YYJparks #VictoriaBC #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #PNW #NatureTrail

When in Camas, drop by Dev’s! Love this li’l Sasquatch-themed coffee bar ☕️ 👣
#camas #washington #pnw #coffee

My #purple boots & pants matched the purple #camas #wildflowers 🥰

Roberts #Geranium
Halberd #Willow
Dying off, #ShootingStars
Tall #OregonGrape with purple #camas flowers

#nature #victoriabc #estuary #NaturePreserve #VancouverIsland #Saanich #PNW #Environmental #ecosystem #ecological #Greenspace #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #wildflowers #NativePlants #Spring #bloomscrolling #florespondence #botanical #PlantIdentification #Wsanec

I was so in love with all the #NatureTrails this morning; with hundreds of purple #camas flowers blooming all around me 😍

#nature #victoriabc #estuary #wildflowers #wetlands #VancouverIsland #Saanich #PNW #Environmental #ecosystem #ecological #Greenspace #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #NativeFlowers #GarryOakMeadows #Springtime #NatureWalk #Wsanec #NatureLovers #AsianMastodon

#Purple #Camas
#Yellow #Rocketcress
#Balsamroot
#Hawthorn

#Spring #blooms at #SwanLakeNatureSanctuary.

#nature #victoriabc #estuary #marshes #wetlands #VancouverIsland #Saanich #PNW #Environmental #ecosystem #ecological #bloomscrolling #florespondence #flowers #NativePlants #VanIsle #PacificNorthwest #botanical #PlantIdentification

Grilling on an overcast day, posting pics of yard flowers and such on the interwebs. Another day, another celebration of mundanity. Enjoy y'all :)

#bloomscrolling #plants #flowers #camas #rhododendron #wildflowers #gardening