Increasing access and availability of the culturally-significant sweetgrass for Mi'kmaq communities

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Sweetgrass (welimaqewel in Mi'kmaw) is a sacred perennial plant that has cultural, social, and economic importance to the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples. Due to Mi'kmaq cultural practices and traditions being dependent on this plant, this grass is considered a cultural keystone species. According to popular discourse and survey evidence, wild sweetgrass habitat is being lost from successional replacement, habitat degradation, overharvesting, and climate change. As a result, to acquire a source of this sacred grass, Mi'kmaq groups can no longer obtain a sustainable source from wild populations. Thus, determining a sustainable way to increase access and availability of this culturally important grass is needed. The Confederacy of Mainland Mi'kmaq (CMM), Unama'ki Institute of Natural Resources (UINR), and Nova Scotia Community College (NSCC) are conducting a collaborative research project to improve sweetgrass access and availability to Mi'kmaq communities. The goal is to create better understanding, access, and availability of sweetgrass to Mi'kmaq communities, by extending Mi'kmaq knowledge to enable growth of this culturally important species within their communities through agricultural practices. As part of the project, NSCC in collaboration with CMM and UINR will facilitate educational workshops to ensure information about how to propagate, transplant, and grow sweetgrass inland is distributed broadly across communities. Through this process, community members will be given the ability to strengthen their cultural relationship with this sacred plant. This three-year project will offer environmental, economic, and social benefits to Mi'kmaq communities. Specifically, determining best practices for growing sweetgrass inland will lower overharvesting pressure of wild sweetgrass populations, as well as allow oil and basketing making practices to continue. Furthermore, many ceremonies and teachings require sweetgrass, and continued availability will allow for these practices to be passed on. This collaboration will examine the cultural and practical implications of inland sweetgrass production to sustain a cultural keystone species for the Mi'kmaq people.