McMaster's Indigenous Studies Program is partnering with Ontario's Royal Botanical Gardens and Six Nations Polytechnic in an effort to preserve the botanical legacy of the Six Nations people.

The one-year Community Leader in Indigenous Ethnobotany project enables a Six Nations member to train, research and document information on the knowledge and uses of plants by indigenous peoples. The three partners, in collaboration with the Six Nations community, will provide assistance and expertise. The Museums Assistance Program of the Federal Department of Canadian Heritage has invested funds to support the work.

This project advances Six Nations' goals to address the imminent loss of current and historical knowledge about culturally significant plants, and to develop a leader who can keep this knowledge alive. It will also advance Royal Botanical Gardens' goals to document and conserve plant habitat and species at risk.

Leading the project is Pat Hess, a Cayuga from the Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve. She is enrolled in Honours Anthropology at McMaster University, where she also has a Minor in Indigenous Studies.

“It is my dream in some small way to be able to help my community; I believe that this is definitely going to be a community-inclusive effort to restore and archive our knowledge for the youth and future generations,” she said.

Dawn Martin-Hill, director of Indigenous Studies at McMaster University, said the program is a component of the Six Nations community's efforts to preserve indigenous knowledge.

“This relationship will benefit our community by identifying and documenting plant life that is vulnerable or extirpated at Six Nations,” she said.

Royal Botanical Gardens promotes public understanding of the relationship between humanity and nature. Gardens staff will assist with documenting the status of key plant species on the Six Nations reserve, and develop habitat conservation strategies. Cultural information about the plants, such as their various medicinal uses, will be curated by Ms. Hess and will be archived at Six Nations.

“All project content will be controlled through extensive community consultations, which will determine ways in which the indigenous knowledge will be stored and preserved,” explained Martin-Hill. “We are thankful for Royal Botanical Gardens' support and commitment and we're pleased that Pat Hess has agreed to take on this endeavour of conservation.”