Page 15 - Alderville First Nation

Alderville Black Oak Savanna WORDS TO KNOW
biodiversity: the variety of
Alderville Black Oak Savanna (ABOS) is a successful non-profit
plants and animals found in
organization that was founded in 1999 after Alderville Elder, an environment
biologist, and artist Rick Beaver spotted rare plants in the area. endangered: any species
of life that is in danger of
ABOS partners with other organizations that are interested
becoming extinct
in protecting this unique ecosystem. The savanna is home
to two types of endangered grasslands: tallgrass prairie and
oak savanna. Due to reasons that include people using the land
for buildings, farms, and recreation, less than 3 percent of these
habitats remain in Ontario today. ABOS works hard to restore
these habitats by promoting natural biodiversity, replanting,
and using traditional burning.

The ABOS website describes how the Anishinaabeg used fire to
benefit our people. “Fire was used in … [many] different ways,
the most common was to clear land for both agriculture and
hunting. Wildlife was attracted to the new green growth of the
grasses that came after a spring burn. It was this practice, which
continues today, that helped provide conditions necessary for
[keeping] the … ABOS grasslands.”

Rice Lake was called Pemedashkodeyang—Lake of
Burning Plains. When the fields on the south side of
the lake were burned, the fires were reflected on
the lake, making it look like a lake of burning plains.

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