Introduction
This Open Educational Resource (OER) was created through a collaborative initiative between the Cayoose Creek Band of Sekw’el’was and myself, Natasha Ramroop Singh, Associate Teaching Professor in Biological Sciences at Thompson Rivers University. Rooted in mutual respect, this collaboration emerged from a shared desire to document and celebrate Indigenous plant knowledge that has sustained the people of Sekw’el’was for generations. The intention of this resource is not to extract or reinterpret this wisdom through a Western scientific lens, but to honor, preserve, and share it in a way that respects Indigenous protocols, voices, and ways of knowing.
This OER is part of an ongoing commitment to ethical knowledge, sharing and community partnership, guided by the principles of respect, reciprocity, responsibility, and relevance. The work aligns with the OCAP® (Ownership, Control, Access, and Possession) and CARE (Collective Benefit, Authority to Control, Responsibility, and Ethics) frameworks, ensuring that the community retains full intellectual rights over its knowledge. All indigenous plant uses have been included with the consent and guidance of community members and Elders of the Cayoose Creek Band, who have generously shared their insights into local plants, their cultural significance, and their medicinal and nutritional uses.
The purpose of this resource is twofold. First, it seeks to preserve and revitalize traditional ecological knowledge of plants found within the St’at’imc territory, that is inextricably tied to land, language, and identity. Second, it aims to provide an accessible educational tool for undergraduate students studying biology, biochemistry, ethnobotany, and Indigenous studies, as well as for lifelong learners and community members who wish to deepen their understanding of traditional medicines and food plants.
Each plant featured in this resource carries a story: how it grows, where it thrives, how it is gathered, and how it heals. These stories are interwoven with biochemical insights that connect traditional uses to the underlying molecular and physiological mechanisms of plant compounds. By bridging Indigenous knowledge systems with biochemical understanding, this OER encourages learners to appreciate the harmony between cultural practices and scientific inquiry. Phytochemicals such as flavonoids, saponins, and tannins are identified and discussed and their action and effects are aligned with traditional indigenous uses.
In preparing the scientific commentary within each chapter, information was drawn from reliable pre – existing sources, including academic journals, peer-reviewed articles, published books and reputable online databases. These sources were used to identify and describe the biochemical basis, molecular structures of bioactive compounds, and the chemical reactions underlying the activity of phytochemicals in the various plants documented here. All such references have been carefully cited at the end of each chapter, ensuring transparency, scholarly integrity, and alignment with academic standards for open educational publishing.
This work also reflects a commitment to environmental stewardship. Traditional harvesting protocols such as taking only what is needed, giving thanks, and ensuring plant regeneration are not only ecological ethics but sophisticated sustainability models. By understanding these principles, students and readers can begin to see science as more than data and discovery – it becomes a practice of respect for interconnected life systems.
The collaboration agreement between Thompson Rivers University and the Cayoose Creek Band affirms that the Band retains intellectual property rights over all traditional knowledge included herein, and that this OER is distributed under a CC BY-NC-ND license which is the most protective form of Creative Commons licensing for cultural content. This ensures that the resource may be shared freely for non-commercial educational use, with appropriate attribution, but may not be altered or commercialized.
Above all, this book stands as a living testament to the voices of the Cayoose Creek community. It acknowledges the Elders and knowledge keepers who continue to teach through stories, ceremony, and lived experience. It also recognizes the students and faculty who, through open pedagogy, contribute to the preservation and respectful dissemination of Indigenous knowledge.
Readers are encouraged to approach this work not simply as a scientific compendium, but as a relationship – a meeting place between Western and Indigenous worldviews, between the molecular and the spiritual, and between learning and gratitude. As you move through the chapters, I hope you do so with humility, curiosity, and respect for the land and its first teachers.
