Rewilding Piq kiʔláwnaʔ

mx̌iłp – Western Redcedar 

The Western Redcedar is the longest-lived species in most of the inland rainforest and individuals have been aged at as much as 700 years, some even growing to 1,000 years old.  These trees often have hollow cavities which are used by many living creatures of the forest, such as bears who use the hollows as dens for the winter. Sinixt peoples use the cedar tree in many ways, including bark peeling and lumber plank harvesting in a way that the tree continues living; these are called culturally modified trees. Sinixt would use twinned cedar for their basket weaving as well as the peeled bark for the sewing needs of the sturgeon-nose canoe. The Sinixt would also weave large cedar mats that had many uses, including to make their living spaces more comfortable and to act as an impediment to bugs and rodents. Western Redcedar has many antifungal, antibacterial and antimicrobial properties, and even before scientific verification, Sinixt knew to use cedar to line their food caches. With its great resistance to decay and insect damage, cedar was the choice material for weaving sacred burial baskets. 

The western redcedar forms arbuscular mycorrhizal  associations, which do not produce the large, showy terrestrial mushrooms that we are familiar with. The nature of arbuscular mycorrhizae means that the fungi grow within the plant tissues, they are thus not visible to the human eye but that does not make them any less important. 

čiq̓ʷlx – Western Hemlock 

Western Hemlock needs a very moist environment to live, and is found on the coast and in the interior wet belt of the inland rainforest. The fact they grow here in Piq kiʔláwnaʔ demonstrates the importance of this area. They can live up to 500 years old.  The Western Hemlock has a high tolerance to shade and will grow abundantly under mature trees like the Western Redcedar

Western Hemlock forms ectomycorrhizae connections, which explains the presence of large showy terrestrial and shelf fungi around and on the Hemlocks. As illustrated above, the terrestrial fungi becomes connected to the trees through the underground mycelium network.  Through these mycorrhizal connections, trees like the Western Hemlock are known to communicate and exchange ressources with their environment.

pl̓pl̓w̓íyc̓yaʔ- Butterfly

Butterflies are important pollinators that are critical for the entire ecosystem. Insects, and especially pollinators, are on the decline around the world, particularly  in urban settings. Their abundance in this area is an indicator of its health and reminds us of the urgency of protecting these wild areas.  

ćskʕáknaʔ [tsuh-ska-ke-na]  – Chickadee

Chickadees are very common in this area, and unlike many birds, they do not migrate but will over-winter here. They huddle up in large groups on cold days, using the natural cavities in old-growth trees as protection.

Stories are the ancestral bloodlines of the Autonomous Sinixt—what we share and pass down generationally are the memories that flow through our veins and carry culture and connection to our tmxʷulaʔxʷ, our homeland. These creation stories, captikʷłs , date before contact, and have been transmitted through oral history. They still guide us in modern days to listen and know how to behave in this land following traditional law. Chickadee, ćskʕáknaʔ, is the main character of two of these captikʷłs. 

You may listen to the stories of Chickadee makes a sumíx bow and Coyote and Chickadee, narrated by Autonomous Sinixt Matriarch Taress Alexis. You may also find the printed version of these stories through the Living E-Book Edition, or the printed publication of Not Extinct: Keeping The Sinixt Way, by Marilyn James and Taress Alexis available on the Maa Press Website or your favorite local bookstore or gift shop.

t́nt́anwíya  – Little brown Myotis

Bats are long-lived mammal species (more than 30 years for the Little Brown Myotis) that have low annual reproductive rates. Bat species support healthy ecosystems by providing important ecological services such as pest control and the redistribution of nutrients. In general, species of bats are aerial insectivores and consume large quantities of insects. For example, one Little Brown Myotis can consume more than 1200 mosquito-sized insects in an hour. Bats also contribute to nutrient cycling, the process by which soils regain nutrients that enable new plant growth. By flying over large areas every night, and through their guano droppings, they are also plant propagators. These bats use a wide range of habitats and often use human-made structures for resting and maternity sites; they also use caves and hollow trees. 

Half the bat species in BC are considered species at risk (vulnerable or threatened of becoming extirpated). Bats require summer roosting habitat (such as large trees, caves, or cliffs), winter hibernation sites, and a good source of insects (like wetlands), which are all impacted by human activities. Other factors such as human persecution, extermination and pesticides also impact their populations. Community Bat Programs in BC is a network of community bat projects across the province where you can learn how to protect bat roost sites such as old sheds and buildings, or use bat-friendly exclusion methods and install bat-houses. 

Bats are our friends and are very important creatures. They dwell in the old buildings, in the old mine-shafts and in the river banks. There is also a colony living in the old building where the educational panels are mounted. With their important role in controlling nocturnal insect populations and cycling nutrients from wetlands to forests, bats are a critical part of our ecosystems.

Bats eat mosquitos, large quantities of them. The Sinixt have a story about why mosquitoes bite that you can listen to. Why Mosquitoes, Slags(Slacks) bite is narrated by Autonomous Sinixt Matriarch Taress Alexis. 

q̓ʷeq̓ʷc̓wíyaʔ – [c̓w̓íyaʔ : tsoo-wee-ya] –  Chipmunk

These common little creatures are very important to the ecosystem as they store nuts and seeds in the ground as food caches and these sometimes germinate. Chipmunks are therefore plant and tree propagators.  As is often the case with life, just because you are small doesn’t mean that you are not important, 

Listen to the Sinixt story of Chipmunk and Owl Woman narrated by by Autonomous Sinixt Matriarch Taress Alexis 

kwl̓kwl̓ʕaqn – Pileated Woodpecker

Pileated Woodpeckers are important keystone species because their strong beaks and unique anatomy permits them to peck  holes in the trees. These holes are then used by other animals like chipmunks and bats. This demonstrates how interconnected the whole ecosystem is through symbiotic and cooperative relationships. Bats are nocturnal pest controllers and the woodpeckers, as is the case for many other birds,  are daytime pest controllers, eating among other things the different types of beetles that cause the death of many trees. 

Lung Lichen

Some lichens, like the leafy Lung Lichens , are natural fertilizers, aiding the growth of trees by capturing nitrogen from the air

Witch’s hair

Witch’s hair, or Alectoria sarmentosa, is typically found at lower elevations within the Interior Cedar/Hemlock biogeoclimatic zone, and often grows with the Horsehair Lichen, sq̓ʷlip.  Alectoria is typically a light green color and is one of Caribou’s staple year-round foods.

sq̓ʷlip – [skoo-leep] – Horse Hair or Black moss 

Black Moss or Horsehair Lichen, known as Bryoria fremontil in the scientific community, is called sq̓ʷlip by the Sinixt peoples. It is an edible lichen, generally dark brown in color. It is one of Caribou’s favorite year-round foods. Also known as tree hair lichen, sq̓ʷlip is used by Sinixt people for the preparation and cooking of certain traditional foods and medicines. For example, Sinixt use it as a traditional medicine mixed with grease and rubbed on the navels of newborn babies. Sinixt people know the time of the year to pick the plant for cooking; in conjunction with camas root picking, since layered into the cooking pit, sq̓ʷlip activates the camas root’s nutrients.

Listen to the Sinixt story of How Coyote Made Black Moss Food narrated by Autonomous Sinixt Matriarch Taress Alexis 

styíłćaʔ – [sty-eel-tsa] –  Woodland Male Caribou

Southern Mountain caribou depend on large, undisturbed areas and are behaviourally adapted to living in mountainous environments. Huge hooves keep woodland caribou “afloat” over deep snowpacks, allowing them to reach the tree lichen hanging from the lowest branches of old-growth trees. They depend upon these arboreal lichens as their main source of food. The caribou cows are pregnant through most of winter and give birth in late winter, early spring. They particularly need access to the lichens that grow on old-growth trees in calving season as this is the only plant that permits them to lactate.  Tree lichens thrive in the moist, internal air within the forest canopies of the Inland Temperate Rainforest. So the logging of old-growth forest in BC explains the dwindling numbers of the Caribou population. The Caribou have sadly been gone from Piq kiʔláwnaʔ corridor area for a long time, probably since the early mining days. The nearest ones surviving now are east of Nakusp and near Trout Lake. Traditionally hunted by the Sinixt, today the species is on the edge of extinction, together with the ancient trees and the modern day Sinixt people, considered extinct by the federal government. The caribou has been mismanaged to extinction. Like the salmon, Caribou used to be a natural aspect of this landscape and they are now, says Marilyn James “like the Sinixt, just a shadow of the landscape”.  

Listen to the story In The Shadow Of Extinction narrated by Autonomous Sinixt Matriarch Marilyn James.

smx̌ikń – Female grizz

kiʔláwnaʔ – Male grizzly

Depicted in our panels is a female Grizzly,  feasting on huckleberries. Grizzlies are a regional icon and are considered an umbrella or indicator species as habitat that supports grizzly bears also supports hundreds of other plants and animals and human needs, like clean water and healthy forests. The grizzly bear is one of North America’s slowest reproducing mammals (a mother grizzly might contribute 4 – 5 offspring to the population if she lives long enough) and in BC the grizzly bear is considered a species-at-risk and is already extirpated in some regions.

When the dams were built in the mid 20th century, it meant the end of the epic salmon runs within the Sinixt təmxʷúlaʔx. The salmon would come all the way up the Columbia River to these valleys, our homeland being the most easterly part of their run. They would enrich the rivers, lakes and forests with the nutrients of their eggs and of their bodies. Like the grizzlies, the Sinixt people depended upon these generous fishing seasons to nourish themselves. As the salmon stopped being able to return to their birthing grounds, the Sinixt, like the Grizzlies, demonstrated immense resiliency and adaptability of  their diets.

So, although Grizzly Bears are efficient predators and scavengers, they now rely more on a vegetative diet and will consume a wide variety of plant and insect food sources that are found in this region. At the beginning of spring, they feed mainly on the roots of spring beauty (sqʷqʷínm) and avalanche lilies (sxʷíxʷ). As the green vegetation emerges, the bears begin to graze on grasses, horsetails, rushes, and sedges. During this time, they also prey on ungulates on their calving grounds. In summer, bears follow the green-up to obtain nutritious young spring growth including locally important food sources such as cow-parsnip. They also obtain early ripening fruits beginning in mid-July and in late-summer and in the fall, high elevation berries become the major food source, mainly huckleberries. Throughout the active season, interior grizzlies will prey on small mammals, especially ground squirrels. 

Grizzly bears are very large relative to most other bear species, and they require broad  undisturbed areas. A female grizzly’s home range is between 100-200 km2 and this is more than doubled for the male grizzly. Grizzly bears also require an adequate food supply, proper denning sites and protection from human disturbances. They tend to avoid humans when possible and this avoidance may cause the bears to abandon large sections of their home range if it is undergoing exploration or development. Increased direct Grizzly Bear mortalities are often associated with increased road access and development. 

Although very territorial, Grizzly bears are known to share bath tub spaces. When wanting to use the bathtub, they will mark their territory by rubbing themselves on the surrounding trees. When they are done, the next bear comes and presents the same behavior. In this area, logging has led to the loss of such natural bath spaces due to logging, and when deferrals were asked for by the Sinixt, these requests were ignored by logging companies. 

Piq kiʔláwnaʔ – White Grizzly

“Since I was a child, I periodically have this dream. It is always at the full moon. A huge white grizzly walks along. My Elders said that these white grizzlies in our ancestral land around Arrow Lake Country are held sacred.”as narrated by Smum iem Matriarch, Eva Orr, who has now joined her ancestors.

Piq kiʔláwnaʔ is the Snslxcin (Interior Salish dialect of the Sinixt peoples) name for White Grizzly. It is not only a legend! This unique and rare colour-phase bear appears largely confined to the Central Selkirks and south into the Kokanee Range where it has thrived since time immemorial. 

The typical coloration is white, silvery, cream-coloured, mostly along its back and shoulders. They have a siamese cat coloring with darker leggings and face; this is probably the result of a recessive gene which means if White grizzlies are to continue to exist, we need to protect their habitat and travel corridors to maintain a healthy gene pool. 

st̓x̌ałq – Huckleberry

An important staple food for Grizzly bears, huckleberries are also very important culturally in Sinixt diets and practices. It’s a ceremonial food, just like many roots, and their harvesting is a practice surrounded by important plant protocols. Commercial harvesting and misinformed harvesting can be very detrimental to both the Sinixt and Grizzly bears. This area was known for its extensive berry patches, the Sinixt would travel in these mountains and establish berry camps. Nowadays, Sinixt elders have been noticing that the berries are less and less bountiful. Even in  a heavy producing year, always remember the traditional law of leaving at least half the bush untouched for the animals. Further, being grateful for what is being offered to you encourages people to respectfully only pick what you need to feed yourself and your family. In a poor year, don’t pick any berries: leave them all to the bears and other animals.

  sxʷíxʷ – Avalanche Lily

Another important staple of Grizzly bear food, avalanche lilies grow in early spring in the avalanche paths where Grizzly bears can be observed digging for their delicious bulbs.  Sometimes these areas – often avalanche chutes – look like they’ve been rototilled, the earth is so dug up by bear activity.

q̓ʷłtmin  – Wolverine

Wolverines sometimes seem like mythical beasts as they are so rarely seen. Wolverines need large areas of undisturbed wilderness, and like Grizzlies, they are a great indicator of a healthy well-connected ecosystem. Wolverines are predominantly scavengers of carrion or large mammals, including mountain goat, deer, elk, moose, and caribou. But they also prey on marmots, ground squirrels, snowshoe hares and other small mammals. These awesome predators have a keen sense of smell for finding food—they can detect mountain goats killed by avalanches, buried deep beneath the snow.  They will also eat insects and berries. Female wolverines rely on deep snow for their dens, digging eight or more feet into the snow to provide warmth and shelter for kits.  Human activities can disturb the wolverine and carve up its habitat. These threats include: logging, oil and gas exploration, busy roads, motorized recreation and trapping. As backcountry recreationists, we need to do our part to not disturb these sensitive and threatened fellow snow-lovers. You can help limit impact on sensitive species such as mountain caribou and wolverines by being wildlife wise.

• Leave no traces while out in the backcountry, practicing a pack it in pack it out philosophy.
• Stay alert and look out for signs of wildlife: If you see wildlife, please don’t approach them, stay still and respect their space. When they have continued on their way turn around and choose another route and go in another area.
• Minimize motorized activities, don’t rev your engine for fun, all these loud noises cause so much stress to wildlife.
• If you suspect a wolverine den, please avoid recreating in that basin during the denning season; February to May.

You can help build understanding of wildlife use of the areas you go to and promote better land-use and better conservation of wildlife and consequently of responsabile recreation users, by taking pictures and GPS coordinates of any animal tracks encountered, especially if they are rare at-risk mammals such as wolverine, caribou and grizzlies and sharing this info with the local wolverine watch project.

x̌ʷx̌ʷq̓ʷíłp  – Devil’s club 

Devil’s club was and is a very important Sinixt cultural traditional medicine. It thrives in old growth forests. Early settlers were disconcerted by Devil’s Club’s prodigious thorns and thus named the plant with negativity and destroyed it. But the First Peoples revered it for its medicinal and spiritual values. Today, it is still mismanaged by wildcrafters and herbalists and its commercialization raises important questions about the ethical use of Traditional Ecological Knowledge.

swíyaʔ – Ostrich Fern

Many types of ferns can be found on the old-growth forest floors, such as Oak fern, lady fern, and spiny wood fern. The Sinixt  also valued the edible ostrich fern, swíyaʔ. They thrive  in the rainy and wet climate, like wet places and need a good canopy covering. They contribute immensely to the nutrition provided by the forest floor. 

siwɬkʷ – Water

The Sinixt Peoples are protectors of water which is considered a life-giver and a friend. The educational panels are nestled in a high mountain valley bottom, which represents the headwaters of the Kaslo creek flowing east and feeding the Kootenay Lake. To the west, the waters flow into the Carpenter Creek Watershed. The quality of the water we enjoy in the valley bottom depends on the quality of these alpine headwaters. They are especially important to protect as they feed the entire hydrological system, from the tops of the mountains to the valley floors, through the many creeks and rivers and the important groundwater layer. The southern Interior Cedar-Hemlock zone is known to foster the highest density of overlapping carbon storage and freshwater provision hotspots in the province. A rich and diverse riparian complex, otherwise known as wetlands, exists from Three Forks to Retallack across the highway from the proposed Zincton All-Season Resort  where moose, beavers and a wide variety of water birds can be observed. These wetlands support a broad spectrum of wildlife and animals thus making it  especially important to protect these areas. 

smynáp  – Western Toad

Western Toads use three different types of habitat: breeding habitats, terrestrial summer range, and winter hibernation sites. Preferred breeding sites are permanent or temporary water bodies that have shallow sandy bottoms like the nearby Fish Lake. The Fish Lake Western Toad population, based on data collected so far, appears to be healthy and numbers may be increasing because of Conservation efforts by the Valhalla Wilderness Society. and the help of local volunteers. This finding supports the understanding that the wildlife corridor they inhabit is extremely valuable in terms of ecosystem functionality, considering current levels of disturbance. The Western Toad is listed as of “Special Concern” and one of the greatest impacts on Western Toad populations in BC is habitat destruction. Development in and around wetlands can destroy or isolate populations. The former boat launch at Fish lake has been decommissioned to protect the tadpoles in formation during June and July. We ask people stopping at the Fish Lake rest stop to keep their dogs on a leash and to leave the tadpoles and or toadlets alone. They are especially nocturnal, and when migrating are frequently killed by traffic on roads. The baby toads migrate in later summer-fall, during the day, to upland areas and have to cross the highway where many have been killed.

Slug

The slug is an invertebrate, and many local species of slugs, such as the pygmy slug, the pale jumping slug and the banded tigersnail are of conservation concern. Slugs are especially susceptible to climate change. They also come out at night, and can be observed crossing the highway as well. Like the toads, they would benefit from night time road closures to reduce the risk of mortality. 

ṕeƛ́qín̓ – Terrestrial Fungi

One of the essential components of a forest ecosystem is the presence of mushrooms. They decompose organic matter, provide food for animals and can even help plants grow. Mushrooms are the “fruit” of a fungus that lives unseen in the soil, the duff (the layer of plant material and leaf litter that often covers a forest floor) or on living or dead trees. This unseen, thread-like network is called a mycelium. In the case of many mushrooms, the mycelium is interconnected with the roots of a living tree. Harvesting the fungi for commercial reasons is going against the traditional laws of the land. People mistakenly think they are not hurting the mycelium by picking its fruit, but it all depends on the ways the mushroom is picked and at which scale. Mushroom pickers are encouraged to tread carefully in areas where mushrooms are growing, leave over-mature mushrooms behind, and not pick mushrooms in sensitive ecosystems or forest reserves. When harvesting mushrooms, it’s important to not harm the mycelium that produces

ktik̓ʷmn – Conk (shelf) fungi

Also known as polypores, conk or shelf fungi play an important role by contributing to nutrient recycling through the decay of woody debris in forests. The rotted debris promotes growth of tree seedlings and other plants and increases the biodiversity of the forests. Just like plants, fungi can be harvested in very detrimental ways and Autonomous Sinixt ask that people exercise caution and restraint when picking polyphores, especially the medicinal ones like chaga, that are used to treat cancer.

p̓áq̓ʷstem – Ghost pipe

The ghost pipe is a super cool type of myco-heterotrophic plant. Myco-heterotrophy is a symbiotic relationship between certain kinds of plants and fungi, in which the plant gets all or part of its food from parasitism upon fungi rather than from photosynthesis.