Episode XVII: Finding Connection to Place though Indigenous Knowledge with Judy BlueHorse Skelton

Read the transcript and special botanical supplement here.

When we look at the Willamette Valley, we recognize that we see these remnant giants of Oregon white oak in the landscape. Those Oregon white oaks and the oak savanna have been historically managed with cultural burns since time immemorial.  If we can look at the oak savanna—of which about 3 percent remains today, it’s an endangered ecosystem, just like the redwoods or old growth forests—we can see that a lot of our native plant relatives like nettles (Urtica) and the prairies of camas (Camassia) that we are in the process of replanting.

Judy BlueHorse Skelton is an Assistant Professor in Indigenous Nations Studies at Portland State University.

This episode was sponsored by:

GARDEN FUTURIST  

A show about innovative thinkers contributing to a climate resilient future through the power of gardens.

Produced and hosted by Sarah Beck, Adriana Lopez, and Adrienne St Claire 

Edited and directed by Kelsey Skonberg 

Sarah Beck is the executive director of Pacific Horticulture.

Adriana López-Villalobos currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia where she works as Curatorial Coordinator for the UBC Botanical Garden. She is originally from Mexico, where she completed her BSC and MSc, studying plant ecology and mating systems evolution, before migrating to Canada to pursue a PhD focusing on the genetics of species across their geographic ranges.

Adrienne St. Clair is a botanist working with Metro, a regional government in Portland, Oregon where her work spans conservation to restoration. Adrienne managed a native plant nursery for almost a decade before pursuing a graduate degree. She received her Master’s in Plant Biology and Conservation from Northwestern University and Chicago Botanic Garden where she studied the effect of horticulture techniques on native-plant genetics.

Kelsey Skonberg is a Community-Centered Video and Podcast Editor and Science Journalist in Everett, WA.