This workshop will examine ways in which the field of Ethnobotany can be used as a tool in language documentation, preservation, and revitalization efforts within tribal communities. Oftentimes people think of ethnobotany as only the plants tribal people use for food.  Ethnobotany however is much more encompassing. It includes plants used for food, medicine, tools, cooking implements, weapons, ceremonies, homes, oral stories, clothing, plants used in trade, and can even include tribal taxonomic ideologies far different from those of Western Linnean systems which are based more solely on flower morphology.  Through the lens of Ethnobotany, language documentation can reach far beyond merely a list of plant species and their respective tribal translations. The current concern for many tribal languages is that there are many words and concepts associated with traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) in danger of going extinct. The course instructors will utilize as the foundation for course content and examples their ethnobotanical and linguistic work among the Hualapai Tribe, and their experience working with Indigenous students at the University of Arizona, and for the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s Language Programs, in creating and managing descriptive and documentary language materials.  Ethnobotany provides a means to teach the culture and language in a hands on intergenerational setting. Workshop participants will gain a multidisciplinary perspective and approach to merging the fields of Ethnobotany and Linguistics to serve language revitalization efforts, and with a set of methods and practices they can use to conduct ethnobotanical work for language revitalization in those communities.

Facilitation Team

Amy Fountain, Carrie Cannon, & Jorigine Paya.