Restoration Forestry

A Qualitative Study with the Eastern Band of Cherokee and Southern Appalachian Community Members

Nicolette Cooley. 2004. Understanding Traditional Knowledge for Ecological Restoration: A Qualitative Study with the Eastern Band of Cherokee and Southern Appalachian Community Members. Masters Thesis, NAU School of Forestry.

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Abstract

The primary objective of the research project, Understanding Traditional Knowledge for Ecological Restoration: A Qualitative Interview Study with Cherokee and Southern Appalachian Community Members, in North Carolina was to gather data concerning historical land management practices exemplified by traditional ecological knowledge and practices of the Cherokee Nation, specifically burning. This particular research project was established due to a collaborative effort between the Ecological Restoration Institute (ERI) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) and Coweeta Hydrological Laboratory in Otto, North Carolina. The study was designed to collect information about the fire history of the Southeast focusing on the region historically and currently occupied by the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians (E.B.C.I) within a two year time frame.

Introduction

The use of traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of fire has been debated since the mid sixteenth century (Goodwin 1977) when non-Native American people viewed Indians as not being civilized enough to know the uses and effects of fire. This view brought about the belief that the Indians could not have had any significant influence on the environment (Kretch III 1999). The arrival of European explorers and settlers brought on a number of changes for the Indians and the land they occupied. Indians have brought on a number of changes for the Indians and the land they occupied. Indians have used fire to clear land for agriculture, improve visibility for hunting and traveling, and reduce the accumulation of fuels to prevent catastrophic wildfires (Noss 1983). Particularly in the Southern Appalachians Native Americans have been burning for agricultural and hunting purposes for 10,000 years (Keel 1976 in Van Lear and Waldrop 1989). Instead of acting as a destructive force, the Indians were acting as a functioning component of the ecosystem (Goodwin 1977). As a functioning component in the ecosystem, Native Americans were intentionally burning and cutting trees down because they knew burning and cutting created specific effects. For example, Goodwin describes how Indians burned forests to prevent uncontrolled fires, to clear heavy fuel loads, and undesirable weeds for cultivation. He goes on to discuss how Indians burned longleaf pine (Pinus palustrus) forests to eliminate brown-spot needle disease and competitive vegetation. Goodwin describes the importance of longleaf pine to build shelter, build canoes, and for firewood.

Before the arrival of European explorers, the Cherokee and other Native American tribes occupied present-day North Carolina, Tennessee, and Georgia (Hudson 1976). The Indians utilized local varieties of wood such as white oak, pine trees, and hickory to build their homes, weave baskets, for firewood, and to make weapons (Hamel and Chiltoskey 1975). The Cherokee knew resources gathered from the forest had to be sustained to ensure adequate materials for future use. People intentionally modified the environment to produce resources that they needed to survive. The ecosystem and landscape modifications greatly influenced present conditions of Southeastern forests. European contact brought new leadership and lifestyles, which in turn influenced how Cherokee managed their land (Ehle 1988).

There is also a lack of consensus among scientists and land managers about the extent of Native American burning because available evidence is “scattered 17th and 18th century descriptions of forests and Indian activities” (Russell 1983, p 78). One article implied that the Cherokee of the Southeast could not have had any significant use for fire except for cooking because of the lack of direct evidence. In the “Ecological Indian,” Shepard Kretch (1999) illustrated how people in the nineteenth century viewed Native Americans as “technologically incompetent” to even know the effects and outcomes of fire. Kretch also cited the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in the 1940s, stating that there is absolutely no proof that “Indians regularly set” fires because they “lacked matches.” Finally, Kretch cited forest ecologists that claimed fire to be destructive and “made every effort to halt them in national forests and parks” (p 102).

On the other hand there are several articles that describe how Native Americans used fire to improve subsistence and economy. Gordon Day (1953) cited numerous texts that imply Native Americans of North America used fire for significant reasons. Burning was used to improve visibility, facilitate travel, increase supply of plant species, and reduce fuel accumulation. Day refers to Maxwell (1910) and Swanton (1928) who stated that fire was a common practice in the southeast. In comparison, Stephen Pyne (1983) reiterated Day’s reasons for Native American use of fire in maintaining that Native Americans were dependent on fire for their economies. Gary Goodwin (1977) states fire was a “tremendous economic advantage (p 64)” to Cherokee lifestyle. Fire was used to communicate through smoke signals, fell trees, shape canoes, drive off mosquitoes/flies, and reduce the buildup of fuel (Pyne 1983). Native Americans continue to use different types of shrubs and trees to produce desired basket, weapon, and housing materials.

Methods