LCPD seeks partnerships in camas restoration effort at ISU presentation
Images show camas lillies at left, and Garrison's creeping meadow foxtail weed overtaking it at right.
By LORI ANN EDMO
Sho-Ban News
POCATELLO — The importance of restoring camas - a Shoshone-Bannock traditional food source was addressed in a November 19 presentation regarding “Collaborative Relationships for Co-Stewardship of the Great Camas Prairie,” at Idaho State University.
Despite the Camas Prairie’s location more than 150 miles away from the Fort Hall Indian Reservation, it was included in the 1868 Fort Bridger Treaty, but the area was excluded because of a stenographer error spelling it Kansas Prairie. It still has great significance to the Tribes because tribal members still return there in late May and early June to dig the camas root – a traditional food staple known as pasigo and tsuga.
The Camas Prairie is at risk because it’s being overtaken by an invasive grass called Garrison creeping meadow foxtail that is currently present on up to 30% of the prairie but has the potential to double every five years according to researcher Terry Gregory, a former Wildlife Management Area manager. Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has included the seed in a mixture of grasses provided to farmers for grazing.
Garrison’s creeping meadow foxtail is a perennial grass introduced in the late 1800s as a pasture grass from Eurasia. It grows three to six feet tall and forms in groups through underground stems (rhizomes).
Representatives from the Tribes Language and Culture Preservation Department were on the panel including Louise Dixey, department manager, along with Nolan Brown and Bailey Dann from the Original Territories and Historic Research office. In addition, Dr. Georgia Hart-Fredeluces and Dr. Colden Baxter both from ISU participated.
The Idaho Department of Fish and Game manages the Camas Prairie but nowhere in its management plan does it address camas. Brown said the Tribes have since engaged with IF&G to be co-tenants on the land and came up with an agreement that was signed in April of this year. It involves providing assistance in the Tribes development of habitat work involving the camas lily. It also involves working on the noxious or invasive weeds.
Baxter encouraged a long term dimension (partnering) between ISU and the tribal community to foster and grow with tribal members interacting with the university.
Dann said there’s a need to collaborate regarding the invasive grass on the Camas Prairie – utilize traditional knowledge, “If we don’t do anything, there will no longer be a Camas Prairie.”
Dixey said regarding collaboration with the various entities, the Tribes will guide the management and next steps, along with protect the teachings of our ancestors. NRCS and IF&G need to understand the importance of the camas.
Baxter said it is a challenge for university communities concerning the Tribes wanting to protect their traditional knowledge but it raises awareness for university scientists – a new appreciation of data sovereignty and intellectual property surrounding Native communities.
Louise said data sovereignty protects the right of the Tribes on what data is collected. They are very careful involving collaborations on what is shared.
Russ Haskett asked what the plan is for removal of the invasive grass? Brown said LCPD hosted a workshop where tribal members could learn how to remove the grass. When out at the Camas Prairie people were encouraged to remove the grass.
Fredeluces is an assistant professor of Anthropology and Languages at ISU. She is currently a technical advisor for the LCPD camas restoration project and has been working with them since 2019. She started mentoring tribal member Sydney Fellows on her undergraduate research project on camas. She has also conducted ecological research at the Camas Prairie Centennial Marsh on things such as how fire, the invasive Garrison’s, water availability, herbivory and harvest influence camas plants. It involved setting up long term plots and observing what happens to camas under different conditions. She conducts research on both people and plants and refers to herself as an ethnoecologist. She said she submitted a small proposal to ask for funding to interview farmers around Centennial Marsh about their use of Garrison’s and their willingness to curtail its use.
In 2020, an experimental area was set up to see how fire affected the Garrison’s and did a prescribed burn in the spring but it increased the abundance of the invasive weed. However, she said it might be good to conduct a fall fire to see the impact. Camas needs light and the invasive weed covers it.
Louise said the NRCS is changing the mix of grass seed being planted around the area.
Lucy Racehorse Suppah, Warm Springs/Shoshone-Bannock, was listening on Zoom and said they are growing camas in their Native Youth and Family Services garden in Portland and is happy to assist with information on ridding invasive weeds.
Fredeluces said the invasive weed is devastating to the camas and the LCPD is the only entity taking on fighting it.
Dann said, “When we are elders our young people will still have that connection to their ancestors,” with the camas and it will take a lot of work but not going to give up.
