Etter Longenecker, Laurel, NA, RiverStewards Collaborative, 22 Limestone Court, Lititz, PA, 17543, laurel@riverstewards.info; Hannigan, Alyssa, LandStudies, 315 North Street, Lititz, 39, 17543, alyssa@landstudies.com;
As conservation professionals we tend to focus on restoring projects for their function, such as pollutant load reductions, wildlife habitat enhancement, flood control, groundwater recharge, etc. While this is important, focusing on the functional aspects alone fails to engage people and culture in the process. Ecological restoration paired with an understanding of Indigenous lifeways has the capacity to move beyond function towards reestablishing healthy relationships between nature and culture.
Community engagement in restoration can support ecological health and cultural meaning. So, we’re asking: What are the local cultural-ecological relationships prior European settlement? And what does it look like to restore this relationship today?
The local landscape carries the legacy of Indigenous cultural-ecological relationships where people lived with nature, though these legacies are sometimes buried, often hidden, and/or are largely inaccessible to the public. We will talk about Phase 1 of our project, which is to educate the general public about the interconnections between water quality, ecological restoration, and cultural heritage using the Little Conestoga Creek Watershed as a case study. Another goal of Phase 1 is to help identify and facilitate mutually beneficial opportunities that exist between the Indigenous community and conservation professionals. For example, we know now that landscapes have been managed and altered for thousands of years prior to European contact. What practices were used then that could be implemented in conservation today? What can traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) offer that is missing from Western science? Alternatively, what has science and technology allowed us to learn about the local natural history, and how can that information be shared with present-day Indigenous groups where that knowledge may have been lost over generations of being disconnected from the land?
We will also share our processes and methodologies for conducting this kind of research, including the current barriers that exist and how our project can help overcome them. We will share our findings of this project, including recommendations for conservation groups from an Indigenous perspective and ideas that we have for future phases of our project.
Disclaimer: Pennsylvania has a very complex and complicated Indigenous history, and it is important to recognize that Indigenous people are still here. There is no state or federal recognition of Indigenous tribes in Pennsylvania, making it difficult for people with Indigenous heritage to claim legitimacy and also for researchers like ourselves in identifying who holds authority to speak for the land. We do not see it as our role to determine whose stories or lived experiences are valid. Instead, we believe it is essential to engage with both historical and contemporary Indigenous voices connected to this land and water. Therefore, this project engages with many voices through community organizations, local leadership and experts, and Indigenous allies.
ecological restoration, cultural-ecological relationship, Indigenous, conservation