Evaluation of restoration techniques and management practices of tule pertaining to eco-cultural use
Graduation Date
Spring 2019
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Science degree with a major in Natural Resources: option Environmental Science and Management
Committee Chair Name
Dr. Steve Martin
Committee Chair Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Dr. Alison O’Dowd
Second Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Third Committee Member Name
Dr. Laurie Richmond
Third Committee Member Affiliation
HSU Faculty or Staff
Keywords
Tule, Traditional ecological knowledge, Eco-cultural, Restoration, Yosemite National Park, Mariposa, Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, California
Subject Categories
Environmental Science and Management
Abstract
Tule (Schoenoplectus sp.) is a native plant commonly used by California tribes and Indigenous people throughout the world (Macía & Balslev 2000). Ecological, social and regulatory threats to its use in contemporary Indigenous culture highlight major issues concerning natural resource management. My ancestral homeland, what is now Yosemite National Park, stands as a figurehead in the intersection of land management and Indigenous peoples. An important element of Traditional Ecological Management (TEM) for quality basketry materials is prescribed fire, an element western science is increasingly acknowledging for creating a more biodiverse and heterogeneous landscape. This research was conducted in Mariposa and Colusa counties and aimed to examine the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of prescribed burning and cutting to manage tule for eco-cultural purposes. An interdisciplinary approach used archival and legal research along with interviews of ten Native American cultural practitioners and four public land agency staff personnel between March 2017 and March 2018 to assess the quality of tule as sought by weavers/cultural practitioners and to understand perspectives of public land agency professionals’ assessment of TEK into resource management. The interviews provided knowledge on traditional gathering techniques as well as insight of qualities sought by weavers and Indigenous relationships with plants and their environment. A field study at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge (CNWR) examined the before and after data from a prescribed burn on March 28, 2018 with post-sample data collection occurring April 28-30th, 2018 to answer the question: Does prescribed fire increase tule abundance and/or quality for basketry purposes? In areas that were cut, gathered and later burned, the mean abundance of emergent tule, important for eco-cultural purposes was (10), greater than the mean abundance of tule in the burn (9.7), cut treatments (3.8) or the control (4.3). ANOVA results indicated the burn treatment to be the most significant factor (p-value = 1.061e-14) for live tule abundance. Archival and legal research unveiled remarkable documentation of the historic traditional perspectives of Indigenous land management as well as help illustrate the barriers Indigenous people continue to face.
Citation Style
APA
Recommended Citation
Vasquez, Irene A., "Evaluation of restoration techniques and management practices of tule pertaining to eco-cultural use" (2019). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 282.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/282
2018 06-12 ltr_approval_exempt.pdf (267 kB)
Vasquez_Irene_HSU_Thesis_Spring_2019_v6.pdf (4152 kB)
Included in
Environmental Policy Commons, Environmental Studies Commons, Fire Science and Firefighting Commons, Other Plant Sciences Commons, Place and Environment Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons
Comments
Original degree title: Master of Science degree with a major in Natural Resources, option Environmental & Natural Resource Sciences