Darcy Mathews

University of Victoria, Environmental Studies, Faculty Member

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I am an Associate Professor in the School of Environmental Studies at the University of Victoria and my current research engages in the fields of Northwest Coast Archaeology, Ethnoecology, Mortuary Archaeology, and Historical Ecology.

My principal research program is a long-term collaboration with the Songhees Nation, doing community-based archaeological and ethnoecological research at Tl'ches, an archipelago of islands with a rich and deep history of indigenous landscape use and ecological stewardship. This includes village excavations, and the ecological legacies of stewardship such as eatable blue camas and other root gardens, clam gardens, and culturally stewarded trees.
Contact: [email protected]

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38 Papers
1 Books

Papers by Darcy Mathews

1. Serving Nature: Completing the Ecosystem Services Circle

University of Regina Press eBooks, Dec 30, 2020

A lək̓ʷəŋən Estuarine Root Garden: the Case of Tl’chés

Economic Botany, Nov 30, 2023

Archaeologists and others have long overlooked ecosystems stewarded by Indigenous Peoples on the ... more Archaeologists and others have long overlooked ecosystems stewarded by Indigenous Peoples on the Northwest Coast of North America due to colonial perspectives on food-procurement strategies. As a result, these places remain largely overlooked and unprotected in present-day conservation and cultural resource management. Further, identifying, understanding, and revitalizing these systems are key to supporting the food security, cultural identity, and inter-generational knowledge transfer of Indigenous Peoples. This is the case with the lək̓ʷəŋən speaking Songhees First Nation (Coast Salish/southern Vancouver Island, British Columbia), where colonialism has severely impacted traditional knowledge about estuarine root gardens. To address this issue, and the desire of the lək̓ʷəŋən to revitalize these sites, this study employs a novel interdisciplinary methodology to evaluate a potential garden on the archipelago of Tl’chés. By combining archaeology, ecology, and pedology, and conducting ecological surveys, soil analysis, and archaeological excavations, we found that past cultivation practices have left measurable impacts at the site more than 100 years after management ceased. We conclude that evidence of estuarine root garden management is present in the Coast Salish, and that it is possible to identify sites in areas where they are no longer known by the community, re-integrating them within traditional food systems and re-defining archaeological approaches to their study.

Differences and similarities between Indigenous and conventional marine conservation planning: The case of the Songhees Nation, Canada

Marine Policy, Jul 1, 2021

Abstract The biodiversity crisis is paralleled by a decline in the ability of Indigenous peoples ... more Abstract The biodiversity crisis is paralleled by a decline in the ability of Indigenous peoples to practice traditional livelihoods, cultures and languages. The world’s oceans and coastal communities face such threats, prompting increasing interest in establishing conservation measures. Systematic conservation planning (SCP) is a structured approach to establish conservation measures with clearly defined objectives, such as protected areas. Many Indigenous peoples are resurging to reclaim and protect some of their traditional lands and revitalize their cultures as rights holders. SCP goals and Indigenous goals could thus align. This research documents the Indigenous-led marine conservation planning process of the Songhees Nation to reclaim and assert stewardship around the Tl’ches archipelago near Victoria, Canada. We compare the Songhees marine conservation planning approach to SCP approaches. The Songhees approach showed similarities to SCP in the initial scoping phase of the marine conservation planning, in the review and compiling of existing data prior to the collection of data as well as the focus on focal species. The Songhees approach to marine conservation planning also differed from SCP as it included one zone only, did not involve any other stakeholders, and tried to account for the whole social-ecological system in one process step. This research provides useful insights and a guidance to help interested Indigenous communities worldwide to conduct their own marine conservation planning.

Applying a Low Cost, Mini Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) to Assess an Ecological Baseline of an Indigenous Seascape in Canada

Frontiers in Marine Science, Aug 13, 2020

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Ocean Cultures

Elsevier eBooks, 2017

Increasingly, ethnoecologists, anthropologists, and conservation biologists are recognizing that ... more Increasingly, ethnoecologists, anthropologists, and conservation biologists are recognizing that Indigenous People of the Northwest Coast and neighboring regions have been astute stewards and managers—not just harvesters and consumers—of the resources and ecosystems on which they have relied. Over thousands of years, these people have developed diverse practices and protocols that have not only sustained, but enhanced the resource species both in quantity and in quality. These practices are based on long-term observation and experience, and are embedded in belief systems, ceremonies, dances, art, and narratives. Here we provide an overview of marine and coastal resource management systems that have been documented to date, and then cite three examples in more detail: clam gardens, salmon production, and estuarine root gardens. These different production systems do not function alone but are components of an entire complex of land and resource management extending across the marine and terrestrial landscapes, “from ocean bottom to mountaintop.” These traditional management systems have been seriously disrupted since the arrival of European newcomers and the resulting impacts on key habitats from colonial settlement, land encroachment, changes in land tenure, land-use conversion, and industrial scale exploitation. Today, collaborative efforts between Indigenous communities, ethnoecologists, and others are underway to recognize and restore some of these critically important Indigenous production systems and associated practices as a means of ethnoecological restoration, habitat enhancement, and food system revitalization.

Eco-cultural restoration of wetlands at Tl’chés (Chatham Islands), British Columbia, Canada

My research project examined the restoration possibilities for two culturally important wetland e... more My research project examined the restoration possibilities for two culturally important wetland ecosystems at Tl’ches (Chatham Islands, British Columbia, Canada). The first wetland is a sacred bathing pool and holds cultural significance, the second is a remnant silverweed and springbank clover (Potentilla anserine ssp. pacifica and Trifollium wormskjoldii) root garden. These wetlands are necessary ecosystems for the wildlife on Tl’ches as wetlands are rare, but also an integral part of Songhees’ cultural practices. My work was done at the invitation from elder Sulhlima (Joan Morris) who was one of the last resident of the islands and retains hereditary rights there, and Songhees Chief Ron Sam and band council. The goal of my project was to develop a restoration plan to restore the wetlands to pre-abandonment conditions, so cultural practices can continue, and to benefit the islands native plant and animal species. The project highlights the value of combining traditional ecological...

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Common camas (Camassia quamash) response across an urban–rural gradient in coastal oak meadows in Greater Victoria, Canada

Urban ecosystems, Apr 10, 2024

Relative Sea-Level Change in the Northern Strait of Georgia, British Columbia*

Geographie Physique Et Quaternaire, Apr 4, 2007

Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y ... more Ce document est protégé par la loi sur le droit d'auteur. L'utilisation des services d'Érudit (y compris la reproduction) est assujettie à sa politique d'utilisation que vous pouvez consulter en ligne.

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A lək̓ʷəŋən Estuarine Root Garden: the Case of Tl’chés

Economic Botany, 2023

Understanding the Past for the Future: Archaeology, Plants, and First Nations’ Land Use and Rights

Plants, People, and Places, 2020

Incorporating place-based values into ecological restoration

Ecology and Society

Biochar: Learning from the Wisdom of Indigenous Soils

Shifting Narratives, Recognizing Resilience: New Anti-Oppressive and Decolonial Approaches to Ethnobotanical Research with Indigenous Communities in Canada

Botany, 2021

Revitalizing Indigenous land-based practices are acts of resurgence and resistance. The presence ... more Revitalizing Indigenous land-based practices are acts of resurgence and resistance. The presence of Indigenous bodies occupying land to nourish and strengthen themselves through ancestral practices is a political act. These cultural systems of knowledge and practice are in opposition to historical and ongoing colonial attempts to dispossess Indigenous Peoples of their connections to land. Indigenous People have undergone changes in diet and land access, including cultivating and harvesting plants for health and wellbeing. Recognizing and understanding the impacts and implications of colonization on land-based knowledge is fundamental in carrying out meaningful work within Indigenous communities in the field of ethnobotany. Much of the literature and media on Indigenous issues continue to uphold trauma narratives. When working with Indigenous communities on projects, it is essential to understand the history, impacts and ongoing struggles related to colonization and genocide in Ameri...

format_quoteIndigenous management of ecosystems, including diverse cultivated plants, demonstrates profound ecological understanding and sustainability practices in British Columbia.format_quote

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Clam Terrace Rock Walls: The Ecology and Social Significance of Monumental Places

Ancient Cities of the Dead Revisited: Early burial cairn investigations in Victoria

Prior to European contact, the Straits Salish people, an ethnolinguistic group centred on present... more Prior to European contact, the Straits Salish people, an ethnolinguistic group centred on present day Victoria in southwestern British Columbia, built a distinctive form of grave. The burial cairn and mound was at one time an ubiquitous feature of the landscape around Victoria. These precontact burials, essentially consisting of rock and soil structures built on the ground surface over a single body, were often prominently placed along the coastline of southwestern Vancouver Island. As they were situated on ridges overlooking Cadboro Bay and crowning the top and sides of Beacon Hill and other local landmarks (Figure 2), these burials were well-known to the early residents of Fort Victoria and the subsequent arrivals from abroad. Although recent field research has been conducted on burial cairns and mounds in the Fraser Valley on the mainland of British Columbia (for example Lepofsky et a!. 2000), and in a general theoretical sense in the larger Strait of Georgia region (Thqm 1995), ...

format_quoteDeans excavated 200-300 cairns at Cadboro Bay, noting two burial types based on material composition.format_quote

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Monumental Stonework and the Making of Places and History on the Northwest Coast of British Columbia

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Relatives of the Deep: Situated Knowledge and Archaeological Remote Sensing to Assess Climate Change Vulnerability at Tl’ches

Relative Sea-Level Change in the Northern Strait of Georgia, British Columbia*

Géographie physique et Quaternaire, 2005

Twenty-four new radiocarbon dates from isolation basin cores, excavations and natural exposures, ... more Twenty-four new radiocarbon dates from isolation basin cores, excavations and natural exposures, and an archeological site, constrain relative sea-level change since the last glaciation in the northern Strait of Georgia, British Columbia. Relative sea level fell rapidly from about 150 m elevation to 45 m elevation from 11 750 to 11 000 BP (13 750 to 13 000 cal BP), then its rate of fall slowed. The initial rapid emergence began soon after the transition from proximal to distal glaciomarine sedimentation, when the glacial front retreated from the Strait of Georgia and the Earth’s surface was unloaded. A sea-level lowstand a few metres below present-day sea level may have occurred in the early Holocene, but sea level was near its present level by 2000 BP. Sea-level change in the northern Strait of Georgia lagged the mid Strait of Georgia, 80 km to the south, by a few hundred years during initial emergence. The lowstand in the northern strait was later and probably shallower than in th...

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Burial Cairn Taxonomy and the Mortuary Landscape of Rocky Point, British Columbia

Prior to European contact, the Straits Salish people. an ethnolinguistic group centred on present... more Prior to European contact, the Straits Salish people. an ethnolinguistic group centred on present day Victoria in southwestern British Columbia, built a distinctive form of grave. The burial cairn and mound. a phenomenon occurring 1500-1000 years before present, consist of an ...

Understanding the Past for the Future

Plants, People, and Places, 2020

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