Chatham Islands are part of a small archipelago, Tl’chés, off the City of Victoria, southeastern Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada), in the Salish Sea, territory of the Songhees First Nation. Chatham and adjacent islands comprise nationally endangered Garry oak ecosystems, supporting a wide diversity of habitats for plant and wildlife communities. Chatham Islands are childhood home of Songhees elder Joan Morris [Sellemah], raised by grandparents and great-grandparents. Tl’chés has been uninhabited and untended for over 50 years now, entering in a process of rapid environmental change and degradation after Songhees residents left to live in the main Songhees Reserve in late 1950s. Sellemah longs to see the traditional gardens and orchards she remembers at Tl’chés restored, as well as her people’s relationship with their environment, for healthier and more sustainable ways of life. This thesis honours Sellemah’s vision by exploring best approaches for intervention in heavily degraded cultural landscapes in order to promote ecological and cultural integrity and long-term sustainability for people and ecosystems in Tl’chés, combining conventional ecological approaches with traditional ecological knowledge and wisdom (TEKW), cultural and participatory investigations, in the context of ethnoecological restoration. Ultimately, this research aims to provide assistance in the restoration of ecological and cultural features in Chatham Islands and within the Songhees First Nation, revitalizing traditional ecological knowledge on the landscape and reversing trends of biodiversity and cultural losses. / Graduate

A small yet growing body of literature recognizes the importance of a cultural perspective to mental health services for Canadian Indigenous clients. Although the role of culture has not been studied extensively in counselling psychology, a few investigators have attempted a systemic examination of the area. Using a narrative methodology, five Indigenous counsellors described their perceptions, beliefs and experiences regarding mental health and healing from an Indigenous perspective. A narrative analysis of the data employed story maps to yield within and across participant themes. Overall results included the metathemes of community, cultural identity, holistic approach, and interdependence as integral to mental health and healing for Native clients, with an illustration for counselling that contains specific elements for incorporating this conception into practice. The results are used to inform literature on an Indigenous paradigm of mental health, counsellor training programmes aimed at meeting Indigenous health needs, government policy, and to generate further direction for health research into the Indigenous paradigm in Canada and beyond.

Long-term human habitation introduces morphological and chemical changes to soil as a result of cultural, economic, and stewardship practices. These cultural soils, or Anthrosols, are recognized globally. On the Northwest Coast of North America, Indigenous marine and terrestrial land stewardship practices are recognized on present-day landscapes. Increased awareness of these stewardship practices is informed by Indigenous knowledge, ecological legacies, ethnographic studies, and archaeological evidence. This research was undertaken to better understand how lək̓ʷəŋən (Straits Salish) stewardship of a cultural landscape affected the development of soil across a village-garden gradient. On Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Indigenous cultivation of culturally important root foods was interrupted by colonization and its pervasive effects, so an additional research aim was to investigate how cultural soils remain after being disconnected from traditional stewardship. There is a growing global understanding that Indigenous management of ecosystems plays a key role in ecological health. At the regional scale, Songhees First Nation are interested in learning about their soils to inform future restoration efforts and connect youth with their land and culture. The lək̓ʷəŋən Ethnoecology and Archaeology Project (LEAP) is a collaborative research project with the Songhees First Nation to learn more about the physical remains of lək̓ʷəŋən stewardship: soils are a key part of the project. Community knowledge, ethnographic sources, and ecological legacies informed the archaeological excavation and soil sampling in this research. Archaeological excavation was utilized to understand the pedologic and archaeological setting of the site. Soil samples were analyzed for physical and chemical properties to see if a statistical difference between on and off-site samples could be detected. Data from the archaeological excavation were recorded and interpreted. A gradient of influence does exist across the village-garden; the village has a strong physical and chemical signature that can be seen through archaeological excavation, macroscopic remains in the soil, and elevated levels of phosphorous, calcium, and soil pH. Results from the garden are less clear, previous ecological studies and archaeological surveys show evidence of lək̓ʷəŋən stewardship—culturally important plant species and burial cairns are present. However, within the soil, the macroscopic remains and soil chemistry signatures are not as strong as the village which indicates that the health of lək̓ʷəŋən gardens facilitates their continued ecological functioning which ultimately may obscure earlier soil signatures of stewardship. Archaeological investigation alone does not always show the full scope of Indigenous terrestrial management practices. Incorporating present-day community knowledge, ecological legacies of plant cultivation, and utilizing soil chemical data are important to understanding the interconnections between people and their environments across cultural landscapes. Current work on the ecological legacies of plant cultivation can be assisted by investigating the soil as a site that also undergoes co-development with Indigenous stewardship. / Graduate