Mish, Bogs, and Berries: The Significance of Boreal Heathlands as Indigenous Cultural Landscapes.
Ni YZ, Moola F, Jolly H, Jeddore G, Young R, Mitsui K, Johnston A, Wall J, Mallik AU.
Ethnobotany
Berry patches you stumble across in open, scrubby terrain aren't accidental — generations of Indigenous knowledge shaped which landscapes to tend, harvest, and return to, and that living wisdom is now a tool for protecting the wild blueberry and crowberry barrens disappearing across the boreal north.
Researchers worked with Mi'kmaq community members in Newfoundland to document how heathlands — those open, low-shrub landscapes often seen as barren or useless — are actually rich cultural and food landscapes. Community members shared detailed knowledge of berry plants, wildlife, and the ethics of caring for the land that have been passed down through generations. The study argues these places deserve serious conservation attention, not because of timber or development value, but because of the living cultural relationships Indigenous peoples maintain with them.
Key Findings
Heathlands in the Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland) boreal region support a documented diversity of culturally significant plants used by Miawpukek First Nation members for food, hunting, and preservation — despite being historically classified as low-value land.
Community members possess detailed traditional ecological knowledge spanning plant biodiversity, ecosystem dynamics, environmental change, and land ethics (reciprocity and responsibility) specific to heathland landscapes.
Heathland access is critical for sustaining intergenerational knowledge transmission, cultural identity, and customary food systems — making their loss a cultural and food-sovereignty issue, not merely an ecological one.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Indigenous Mi'kmaq communities in Newfoundland rely on boreal heathlands for berry picking, hunting, food preservation, and cultural knowledge transmission — landscapes long dismissed as wasteland by non-Indigenous land managers. This study reveals that these open, shrubby ecosystems hold deep biocultural value that should reshape how we approach boreal conservation.
Abstract Preview
Heathlands are a significant land cover type across the circumpolar boreal biome. A growing body of knowledge has developed around the ecology of heathland ecosystems, but little work has been done...
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