Romy’s Environmental Science QR Code Doc

Land Acknowledgment

I give thanks to the land that has nourished and sustained humanity for thousands of years and will continue to as humans learn and grow to recognize that mankind cannot survive without the planet to guide

us through the circle of life.

Braiding Sweetgrass Journal Entry #5

I’m going to answer a question that I found really interesting in the Braiding Sweetgrass book: “what do you think is the duty of humans?”. I believe the gift given to humans is our adaptability, superior intellect and the ability to feel complex emotions, but only if the gift is used right we need to recognizing that we can’t just be driven by greed, anger and fear because that will only lead to wars, destruction, inequality and tyranny, we need to acknowledge that we are capable of feeling intense emotions that ultimately drive us to act upon what we believe is right. We have the adaptability to come up with solutions and accept change if we are willing to unify and understand something can only be accomplished if we all put in the effort needed. Our gifts are our curse at the same time if used incorrectly which of course is where society seems to be heading so we need to start respecting our gifts or it will come back to haunt us in the future.

Braiding SweetGrass Journal Prompt #4

(a story about a sad garry oak)

Once I was surrounded by acres of fellow garry oaks. We were happy in our slice of heaven with chocolate lilies, snowberry and oceanspray nestled around our roots. I miss communicating with my family through our root system, their whispers of comfort and rustle of their leaves gone in the wind. Now I’m alone in a family's backyard surrounded by a precisely cut lawn and a swing hanging from one of my wooden limbs. Being 300 years old and all, I've seen a lot like when the Wasaanich peoples made my bark into a tea that cures hemorrhaging or when they roasted my acorns for eating and when the garry oak meadow, my home, was decimated by the colonizers. I still clearly remember the shuddering roots of my kin and hear the swing of the ax and roar of the machinery. They thought they were doing the Earth a favor by leaving behind one single tree in a several kilometer radius, they thought it would make up for the irreversible mistake. They have no idea. They should have just taken me too. But of course I don’t have any control or say. Rooted to the ground, same story day after day. Exhausted by my own thoughts and worries. After all, what is a tree supposed to do? Time slinks on. Sometimes I feel the smooth hands of a child ascending up my branches or the sway of the swing. This provides me a longing for the days before my world became empty.

Braiding Sweetgrass Journal Entry #13

The connections between human society and self-sustaining communities are key things like food, water, shelter, good health and safety. But we also all need less obvious things like a good mental support system, growth, belonging and connections to maybe more so people in human society and more so the land with self sustaining communities. I think the overall takeaway is that everything, not just humans should have equal accessibility to all these important bricks that build life and that we as humans shouldn’t be the ones who keep these physical and mental values to ourselves.

 Garry Oaks:

Garry Oaks are native to the southern tip of Vancouver Island and found on only 0.3 percent of the province’s land. The garry oak meadows are decreasing rapidly due to the fact that they are being cleared for housing and agricultural development. Since we have been controlling the occurrence of forest fires because human settlements would be at risk this has allowed douglas fir to start to invade as well as other non native plants such as orchard grass, scotch broom and vernal grass. The indigenous peoples would regularly do a controlled burn of a garry oak forest in the past as a way of managing the other plants. Besides invasive plant species, garry oaks are threatened by two new introduced insect species known as the jumping gall wasp and oak leaf phylloxera that cause these trees to be scorched meaning they appear dead and are cut down when actually alive. Garry Oak acorns were crushed up and used as a flour in banick and the bark made into a tea treats hemorrhaging in the past by the indigenous peoples.

Western Red Cedar

The western red cedars are known as the tree of life by indigenous peoples because its wood was made into essential things that sustained them such as canoes, bentwood boxes, totem poles, masks, paddles, spears and longhouses. As the name suggests the cedar has reddish brown or gray bark that were pulled off in strips and used to make blankets, baskets, hats, clothing, rope, mats and nets. This tree standing at 70 feet tall at full height is found from Alaska all the way down to Northern California and as far inland as Washington. The western red cedar has a lifespan of over 1000 years and is known for thriving in our wooded areas of the coastal regions.

Ocean Spray

Ocean Spray which is in fact a part of the rose family can be called ironwood because of how resilient its branches are. They were used by aboriginal peoples to make arrows, spears, skewers and sewing needles because of this a lot of the indigenous names translate to the uses. The blooming of the flowers in the early summer is a sign to the Wasaanich peoples that it’s time to start fishing for sockeye salmon. The ocean spray is sometimes considered a pollinator nursery, the reason being that many butterfly specimens lay their eggs in it and rely on the flowers for nectar. The name is from the fact that the flowers look very much like “sprays” of white foamed water from the ocean. The flowering shrub mainly inhabits douglas fir forests.

Oregon, Washington an

The western red cedars are known as the tree of life by indigenous peoples because of its many uses such as canoes, bentwood boxes and houses and this tree can be found in Oregon, Washington and B.C

The western red cedars are known as the tree of life by indigenous peoples because of its many uses such as canoes, bentwood boxes and houses and this tree can be found in Oregon, Washington and B.C.

The western red cedars are known as the tree of life by indigenous peoples because of its many uses such as canoes, bentwood boxes and houses and this tree can be found in Oregon, Washington and