Beringian Plants
Plants at the end of the World: Beringia Ethnobotany
Traditional ways people in Western Alaska and Chukotka, Russia use plants for food, medicine and other purposes.
Beringia is the region including the Bering Strait and the land on either side of it. Some people define the term narrowly to include only the westernmost part of the Seward Peninsula in Alaska and the easternmost part of the Chukotskiy Peninsula in Russia. However, we prefer a broader definition that includes much of Alaska and Chukotka.
Ethnobotany is the study of the relationship between people and plants. This includes how people use plants, for example, as food, medicine, for construction and for many other purposes. It also includes how plants are named and classified, as well as stories, legends and other beliefs about plants.
The site includes information about Beringia Ethnobotany collected over a five year span working on the Russian and U.S. sides of the Bering Strait to study the importance of plant species to local native peoples.
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Beringia Plant Species
