In Canada, the Forest Gardens of the Indigenous Kitselas Emerge From Oblivion
Floor monolith from the peripheral forest shown by Desi Bolton, indigenous to the Kitselas people © Jean-Thomas Cornélis
January 16th, 2024
Jean-Thomas Cornélis talks about his research with Jennifer Grenz, Chelsey Armstrong (SFU), and Kitselas, Sts’ailes and Hanamuwx Indigenous partners. Their research combines archeology and pedology, documenting Indigenous forest-garden agricultural methods. Cornélis works hand-in-hand with the indigenous Kitselas to document the forest-garden agricultural method used by their ancestors.
“These people were therefore not only hunter-gatherers, but also already farmers in the forests,” explains Professor Cornélis. Documenting the forest-garden method, and thereby proving the multi-millennial use – which is moreover innovative, intensive and multifunctional – of this piece of territory could constitute an important element in the fight led by the Kitselas people to recover the land of their ancestors.