By Preserving Rivercane, An Oklahoma Tribe Hopes To Protect The Culture Of Its People

Moments after the sun rises in the Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, three men arrive to begin clearing away invasive plants before the day gets too hot.

“Main thing we’re trying to do is free up the Rivercane,” said Buck Nofire. As a Cherokee citizen, Nofire grew up around Rivercane, a type of bamboo indigenous to the southeastern United States and used by many tribes in cultural practices.

Nofire would craft the cane into fishing poles and crawdad gigs, but he didn’t know about the plant’s struggle to thrive.

“People say it’s growing everywhere, and it does, but it’s not healthy,” said Roger Cain.

It’s only a coincidence that Cain’s name is a homophone for the plant that has become his life’s work.

Cain is the Tribal Historic Preservation Officer for the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians.

The math teacher turned artist found a new passion when he went back to school later in life to get a master’s degree in ethnobotany, the study of the relationship between humans and plants.

When he got out of his truck at the wildlife refuge, he grabbed several baskets, weaved by his wife from River Cane.

“It takes at least 50 years to be able to make the Cane that makes this basket,” he said.

But that’s 50 years of healthy growth, and as Cain walks around the refuge, he points out Rivercane is surviving, but barely thriving.

“Every other plant is competing with the sunlight and the water,” said Cain.

The goal is to get rid of that competition and allow the Rivercane to thrive. In September, Cain and his crew began work through a $1.9 million grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to restore and manage the Rivercane ecosystems in areas considered the UKB’s historic homelands.

Before European settlers came and used the land for crops and cattle, tribes would live near canebrakes and use the plant for things like weapons, baskets, food and medicine but now Cain says “Rivercane only accounts for about 2% of the space that it once populated.”

Refuge Manager Damon Taylor has been partnering with tribes on initiatives to restore the plant for the last decade, and he says indigenous people are needed to bring back an ecosystem that was dominant here 200 years ago.

“That’s where all the knowledge is passed down from generations,” said Taylor. “Like Roger’s knowledge, it came from generations down, and using that knowledge to help us make management decisions so definitely the partnerships are very important for us.”

The work itself is slow and steady, as Nofire pulls away green briar from individual Rivercane stalks and cuts off other vines. But Cain hopes within the next 5 years, the Rivercane will overtake the areas they are continuing to clear out.

“Hopefully we’re going to be able to start changing minds about managing Rivercane ecosystems everywhere,” said Cain.