Wato Wakan: using habitat prediction modeling to preserve a culturally significant plant on South Dakota reservations — 53a — Summer Dupree, Eva Weddell, Camille Griffith, and Dana Gehring, Oglala Lakota College

Tíŋpsiŋla, also known as Pediomelum esculentum (Pursh) Rydb., is an important food plant for many Native American Plains tribes including the Očéti Šakówiŋ (The Seven Council Fires). Tíŋpsiŋla provides a valuable source of starch and several trace minerals. Several factors including climate change and loss of traditional ecological knowledge produce concerns about the conservation status of tíŋpsiŋla. The objective of this project is to build a habitat suitability model to assess potential tíŋpsiŋla occupancy across areas of South Dakota. Alongside the model, the project aims to describe the cultural importance of tíŋpsiŋla as well as traditional, sustainable harvesting practices for the plant. During a preliminary study on the Yankton reservation, four environmental variables relevant to the habitat preferences of tíŋpsiŋla were used in Google Colab (Python) to create a model that generated several areas of interest for tíŋpsiŋla occupancy, including near water sources. The potential significance of this work will be to establish conservation guidelines and create a robust model to apply to other South Dakota reservations and plants that are culturally relevant to the Očéti Šakówiŋ.

Oglala Lakota College
Camille Griffith and Dana Gehring