Recent developments in land rights and land use in the Toledo district, Belize has generated anthropological and activist interest surrounding traditional ecological knowledge and practice, and the role of heritage in communities. This study explores the connection between ecological knowledge and practices, and the concurrent construction of heritage, and community health and wellness, broadly defined. Developing and using the concept of "embodied ecological heritage," this dissertation takes a phenomenological approach to understanding the convergence of ecological heritage and health in multiple realms of everyday life, arguing that lived experience of participating in "traditional" practices is fundamentally connected to wellness in the Mopan community of Santa Cruz. Using the results of ethnographic research using multiple methodologies across 76 households over a period of 11 months, this dissertation presents a detailed account of how Mopan Maya participants view ecological skill and knowledge as critical to being and living well, arguing that social factors, such as work and food choices, have an effect on wellness. The research contributes to a growing number of studies linking changes in the body and overall health status to everyday practices within communities. Outlining how certain knowledge and particular practices, such as exchanging labor and making baskets, become prioritized as heritage through both their conceptualization and deployment, the analysis centers on individual bodies as the foci of skill, sensory experience and change. The timely nature of making these connections explicit is discussed in light of ongoing "development" in Maya communities and beyond, with an illumination of how changing land use patterns have far-reaching effects on wellness from multiple perspectives; individual, social, ecological and political, and concluding that a consideration of wellness can benefit from looking at the processes involved in heritage construction as it relates to ecological practice.

This thesis is concerned with understanding how the distinct “knowledges” articulated by environmental activists address the places that activists relate to. Through an engagement with the theoretical work of Edward Casey and Doreen Massey, it is argued that humans engage with specific places through an embodied encounter that takes place on the basis of particular evolving cultural traditions. These cultural traditions are influenced by the relations that are encountered in specific places through the course of inhabitation, creating local ecological and social knowledges in the process. Based on this understanding, it is argued that framings of environmental politics by environmental activists in relation to culturally specific scientific understandings of nature are often unable to address the particularity of local social and ecological relations that are contested in specific places. The danger is that contesting environmental politics in terms of the language of nature will de-emphasize the importance of local political relations and the knowledges that are generated in relation to these scales of political engagement. This theoretical argument is developed in connection to a case study of the Perry Ridge blockade, an anti-logging demonstration that took place in the Slocan Valley during 1997. It will be argued that there are important aspects of the politics of environmental activists involved in the Perry Ridge blockade that are based on the knowledge generated through inhabitation of the Slocan Valley. The presence of local ecological knowledge in the Perry Ridge blockade indicates that elements of local activist traditions are subjugated when analyses of environmental politics are understood in terms of abstract cultural discourses such as nature. This conclusion indicates that rural environmental activists are not only engaged in a politics of nature but often also in the messier political processes encountered through inhabitation in places. Given that discourses of nature that are scientifically generated are able to jump scales and impact local political processes, the danger is that the use of such discourses will restrict attempts by local activists to engage in a more thorough way with the complex politics of specific rural places. / Graduate

Porphyra abbottiae Krishnamurthy (Rhodophyta) is an intertidal red alga harvested by a number of coastal First Nations in British Columbia. The Kwakwaka’wakw have a long history of harvesting P. abbottiae as food and medicine, reflected in the language, songs and stories of the Kwakwaka’wakw oral tradition. Harvesting and drying practices for this alga have undergone changes with the introduction of new technologies and a decrease in time available for seaweed harvesting. The adoption of timesaving equipment into the seaweed harvest has given harvesters the flexibility to work around constraints including work and school obligations, tides, long distances to harvesting sites, and unpredictable weather conditions. Harvesting and drying practices reflect a thorough understanding of the lifecycle, biology, and ecology of P. abbottiae. Timing of the harvest during the seasonal round optimizes the taste and texture of P. abbottiae fronds while avoiding the seaweed in its reproductive stage. Songs and taboos associated with the harvest promote safety and efficiency while harvesting the seaweed. Concerns about potential contamination of edible seaweed led to the second part of this research: testing for metal contamination. Inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry analysis for selected metals and trace elements revealed the presence of arsenic, cadmium, lead, and mercury in Porphyra abbottiae sampled from the southern Queen Charlotte and Broughton Straits. Mercury concentrations fell below the detection limit of 0.01 ng/mL in 28 of 112 samples. Calcium was the most abundant element measured, averaging 1445 mg/kg dry seaweed. The remaining metals, in decreasing order of concentration, are: Fe>As>Zn>Mn>Cu>Cd>Pb>Cr>Co>Se>Hg. Copper-zinc (r=0.835) and copper-lead (r=0.948) concentrations are significantly correlated (p<0.05), suggesting selective uptake of these elements. PCA analysis suggests that the location of harvesting sites within specific water channels is influencing metal concentrations. Hazard quotients calculated using guidelines set by Health Canada and the World Health Organization revealed that, among the suite of elements surveyed, arsenic followed by cadmium ranked the highest in relative risk for consumers of P. abbottiae. An average 60 kg adult consumer can safely consume approximately 9.4 g dried seaweed per day and not exceed tolerable upper intake limit guidelines. In conclusion, Porphyra abbottiae can be eaten in moderation with minimal risk of chronic metal contamination. Kwakwaka’wakw consumers can also benefit from cultural reconnection with this important traditional food. / Graduate

<p>The aim of this study was to investigate indigenous knowledge of vegetation resource utilisation, in particular the use of traditional medicinal plants in the provision of health care in the community of Khayelitsha and to determine traditional resource management approaches.</p>

The eulachon (Thaleichthys pacificus), a small anadromous smelt (Family Osmeridae) found only along the Northwest Pacific Coast, is poorly understood. Many spawning populations have suffered declines but as their historic status is relatively unknown and the fisheries poorly documented, it is difficult to study the contributing factors. This thesis provides a survey of eulachon fisheries throughout its geographical range and three analyses aimed at improving our understanding of past and present fisheries, coast-wide abundance status, and the factors which may be impacting these populations. An in-depth view of the Nuxalk Nation eulachon fishery on the Bella Coola River, Central Coast, BC, is provided. The majority of catches were used for making eulachon grease, a food item produced by First Nations by fermenting, then cooking the fish to release the grease. Catch statistics were kept yearly from 1945-1989 but have since, rarely been recorded. Using traditional and local ecological knowledge, catches were reconstructed based on estimated annual grease production. Run size trends were also created using local Fisheries Officers and Nuxalk interview comments. A fuzzy logic expert system was designed to estimate the relative abundance of fifteen eulachon systems. The expert system uses catch data to determine the exploitation status of a fishery and combines it with other data sources (e.g., CPUE) to estimate an abundance status index. The number of sources depended on the existing data and varied from one to eight. Using designed heuristic rules and by adjusting weighting parameters a final index was produced. Results suggest that there have been recent and extended declines in several eulachon rivers particularly the Klamath, California; Bella Coola, BC; Wannock, BC; and Kitimat, BC. Seven of the fifteen abundance time-series were used to evaluate the potential relationships between the declines and some of the factors that impact eulachon. Results suggest increases in shrimp and hake catches, seal and sea lion abundance, and sea surface temperatures were weakly associated with the declines. But contrary to expectations, adult hake biomass showed a positive association with four eulachon relative abundance time-series, suggesting that common environmental factors influenced both species.

Thesis (M. Ed.(Curriculum Studies))-University of Pretoria, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references. Available on the Internet via the World Wide Web.

Masters (M.Sc.)--University of Sydney, 2006. / Title from title screen (viewed 27 February 2007). Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science to the School of Geosciences. Includes bibliographical references. Also issued in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.). / Written for the Dept. of Geography. Title from title page of PDF (viewed 2007/08/29). Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Env.Dev.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2007. / Full text also available online. Scroll down for electronic link.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Science and Mathematics Education Centre, Curtin University of Technology, 2001. / Title from PDF title screen (viewed Oct. 7, 2004).