Thompson Ethnobotany

At least 350 species of native plants were recognized and named by the Thompson Indian people, based on ethnographic records and interviews with contemporary Thompson speakers. Most of these plants were used in traditional Thompson life as foods, medicine or materials. In addition, nearly 40 species of introduced plants and plant products have been named recently in Thompson. Plants were a significant traditional food source; edible fruits and roots, mushrooms, greens and other plant products were preserved in quantity for year-round utilization, and were widely traded both within and outside the Thompson area. Woods, barks, roots and fibres were vital in Thompson technology, providing materials for shelter, utensils, and clothing, and other essential features of Thompson life. Medicinal plants comprised the bulk of species used by the Thompson. Plant medicines varied greatly in their preparation and application. Few have been tested pharmacologically. Thompson territory lies within several different ecological zones; hence vegetation varied considerably within it, and this factor encouraged active distribution of resources through trade. During times of famine, certain plant foods, such as cactus, were particularly significant in preventing widespread starvation. Only a few native plant species are actively used by Thompson people today. Wild plant foods are largely restricted to several types of berries, a few mushroom species, and one or two species each of greens and 2roots.3 With few exceptions, only members of the oldest generation are still using traditional medicines.

This reader in ethnobotany includes fourteen chapters organized in four parts. Paul Minnis provides a general introduction; the authors of the section introductions are Catherine S. Foeler (ethnoecology), Cecil H. Brown (folk classification), Timothy Jones (foods and medicines), and Richard I. Ford (agriculture). Ethnobotany: A Reader is intended for use as a textbook in upper division undergraduate and graduate courses in economic botany, ethnobotany, and human ecology. The book brings together for the first time previously published journal articles that provide diverse perspectives on a wide variety of topics in ethnobotany. Contributors include: Janis B. Alcorn, M. Kat Anderson, Stephen B. Brush, Robert A. Bye, George F. Estabrook, David H. French, Eugene S. Hunn, Charles F. Hutchinson, Eric Mellink, Paul E. Minnis, Brian Morris, Gary P. Nabhan, Amadeo M. Rea, Karen L. Reichhardt, Jan Timbrook, Nancy J. Turner, and Robert A. Voeks.

This booklet is arranged accordingly to the uses made of them by the Thompson Indians. The plants were used for many things which includes: medicine, foods, dyes, ceremonies, scents etc.

Using postmodern and postcolonial conceptions of the body and the power relations of colonization, Kelm shows how a pluralistic medical system evolved among Canada's most populous Aboriginal population. She explores the effect which Canada's Indian policy has had on Aboriginal bodies and considers how humanitarianism and colonial medicine were used to pathologize Aboriginal bodies and institute a regime of doctors, hospitals, and field matrons, all working to encourage assimilation. In this detailed but highly readable ethnohistory, Kelm reveals how Aboriginal people were able to resist and alter these forces in order to preserve their own cultural understanding of their bodies, disease, and medicine.

The Uses and Abuses of Plant -Derived Smoke is a global compendium of the ethnobotanical uses for plant-derived smoke. It provides information on the medicinal, religious, recreational and other uses of smoke derived from over 1,400 species of plants.