Biodiversity of the Shuswap-South Thompson region:
a cross-cultural overview

Our study of biodiversity in the Shuswap-South Thompson region of the British Columbia interior involves: gaining a general understanding of how the knowledge systems of the two principal cultures of the region, Western European and First Nations, have evolved; examining how these cultures have affected each other’s knowledge systems since contact; and, noting how this biodiversity knowledge has been applied. Toward these ends, we have built a historical profile of the region, focussing on the period since colonial contact (early 1800s). We have also detailed the ways in which biodiversity knowledge can be reduced or destroyed, such as in the case of aboriginal knowledge systems that were firstly decimated by disease epidemics, disrupted by land pre-emption in the 1860s, followed by the residential school system that suppressed native languages, and affected by the welfare state more recently.

Our case study area encompasses the South Thompson River watershed, including environs adjacent to Kamloops such as the Paul Creek watershed, Knutsford and the Lac du Bois grasslands. The study area thus lies mostly within the traditional territory of the Shuswap (Secwepemc) Nation of the Interior Salish linguistic group. Archaeological studies indicate that humans inhabited this region from 8600 BP. A map showing a comparison of ecoprovince/ecosection boundaries and Secwepemc tribal boundaries in the case study area is included in our final report. An annotated bibliography of key references, together with appendices of species lists for the region, is also provided. Our report refers to several recent reviews of biodiversity in the study area, including the Local Resource Management Plan for Kamloops (1995), Timber Supply Analyses for Kamloops and Okanagan-Shuswap forest regions, and sustainability concerns in the Fraser River Basin (Dorcey 1991, 1992; Fraser Basin Management Program - Strategic and Action Plans 1993, 1994). However, it appears that most information on biodiversity in a Western European framework has been compiled within the past 10 to 15 years, with knowledge from aboriginal peoples accessed in this timeframe as well by Western peoples.

Two European fur trading posts were established in Kamloops in 1812, utilizing aboriginal skills to harvest animal populations, such as beaver. By 1826 the effects of trapping on these populations were already noticeable. The first botanist to explore the region was David Douglas in 1833. Population increased in the Kamloops area from the late 1850s with gold miners, followed by ranchers in the 1860s and railway workers in the 1880s. After the establishment of a Department of Agriculture in 1892, annual reports on this area noted both agricultural potential and the identification of grassland species, including sharp-tailed grouse (whose population has since declined). In the 1930s the Dominion Agricultural Research Station was established in Kamloops to further entomological research on pests. Interest in fisheries, such as Kamloops trout and sockeye salmon, brought additional scientists to the region.

Early ethnohistorical accounts of the Secwepemc were recorded by Franz Boaz (1890), George Dawson (1892) and James Teit (1909). More recent studies on ethnobotany include that of Gary Palmer (1975) and Nancy Turner (1990), the latter on the adjacent Nicola Valley region. Early ornithological research in the region was conducted by Munro (1916), Brooks (1925 - Birds of B.C.), and Munro &Cowan (1947 - Birds of B.C.), followed by an annotated list by Jacobsen (1974 - Kamloops) and checklists for both Kamloops and Shuswap regions from the mid-1970s, including Christmas bird counts. There are species . checklists (flora and fauna) from Shuswap Provincial Park (early 1960s to late 1970s) and Paul Lake Provincial Park (mid-1970s).

Detailed species accounts for birds in the region include western grebe, great blue heron, peregrine and prairie falcon, chukar, sharp-tailed grouse, Eurasian wigeon, burrowing owl, flammulated owl, and starling. Mammal information for the region is less complete, with more general surveys of the Province by Cowan & Guiguet (1965) and for bats by Nagorsen & Brigham (1993), as well as detailed surveys for the (Provincial) history of moose (1990) and elk (1992) by Spalding. Other reports include woodland caribou in south-central B.C. by Stevenson and Hatler (1985), and provincial overviews of the badger (Rahme et al 1995) and wolverine (Banci 1982).

There is some information on fish, insect, reptiles and amphibians, and plant distribution in the region, but only the latter has involved regional accounts, with these published from the early 1980s (Angove 1981). The flora of southern B.C. was reviewed in 1915 and again in 1947, with Provincial surveys of vascular plants written by Lyons (1952), Taylor & MacBryde (1977) and Douglas et al (1989). Updated accounts are also available by Lyons & Merilees (1995), with a southern interior survey by Lloyd et al forthcoming. The Royal B. C. Museum also has several guides to families of plants published on a provincial basis (e.g. grasses, ferns, mosses, orchids and roses).

This region is very rich in biodiversity, containing half of the Province’s 14 biogeoclimatic zones (e.g. 70 % of B.C.’s breeding bird species occur in the Southern Interior ecoprovince); the zones vary by both altitude, through vertical zonation, and by a lessening of the rainshadow effect from west to east. As an indication of this biodiversity, a comparison of total bird species based on check lists shows that our study area, with 311 species, compares favourably with two other biodiverse regions, the Okanagan Valley (303 species) and Victoria/South Vancouver Island (331 species).

The application of biodiversity knowledge has been occurring for some time. This includes early applications by aboriginal peoples, continuing to some extent to the present. Western peoples have directed their interest toward important resource species, from the beaver and other fur-bearers of the 1800s to the Douglas fir for railway ties, and (lately) lodgepole pine and other conifers in the forest industry. Pest species have been of concern, such as those that affect agriculture and forestry activities, as has predator control.

Only recently have Western peoples in the region been trying to apply biodiversity knowledge across a broad spectrum, to consider entire ecosystems, with biodiversity guidelines for the new forest practices code available from autumn 1995 and ongoing research in the region, often funded through Forest Renewal B.C., to increase this biodiversity knowledge. There has been a parallel development among the First Nations in this region, with a revitalization of cultural and biodiversity knowledge over the past 10 to 15 years.

The Secwepemc Cultural Education Society and the Secwepemc Museum in Kamloops have been actively involved in this revitalization, with language programs, museum displays (including outdoor exhibits and archaeological digs), and community histories figuring prominently. Research into ethnobotany by Turner and Ignace (in progress) for the Secwepemc is augmented by environmental education programs at the Simon Fraser University campus on the Kamloops Band site. There are also natural resource management programs for both fisheries and forestry, with a number of initiatives ongoing.

The renewed interest in biodiversity therefore builds on the foundations of both early naturalists and First Nations peoples. There has been a cross-fertilization of ideas from both cultural viewpoints recently, with the Western scientific tradition learning from the indigenous tradition, and vice versa. There is a growing realization that, to conserve biodiversity in this region, efforts have to reach beyond cultural and physical boundaries: a system of protected areas is needed ( including buffer zones and stewardship programs for private property), as is an inventory of biodiversity to identify threatened and endangered species (and genetic races of species); local/aboriginal knowledge must be integrated with scientific knowledge; and, further environmental education is required toward the development of an environmental ethic.

Towards these ends, our report is an intial step, identifying the status and application of biodiversity knowledge. Much more needs to be done, and any comments that you may have would be appreciated. We plan to update and publish our entire report through the B.C. Provincial Government later in 1998, with a journal article currently in development.

Photographs