WETLAND GARDEN

Wetlands are typically very moist habitats that include fens, bogs, swamps and marshes. In Secwepemc Territory wetlands occur extensively thrB‡ghout F6e lanæcape i"valleyottomsBnd midÆo subaVfine elçationsævDecayi× plantÆmateri6s makeFmost waterlogged sites strongly acidic and the upper soil horizon may be peat. Acid-tolerant plants such as Labrador tea, bog cranberry and bog laurel thrive in these sites. Swamps, marshes, lakeshores and streams provide important habitat for birds, reptiles and amphibians and other wildlife. Species that use wetlands extensively are moose, caribou, ruffed grouse, black bear and grizzly bear. The T'kumlu'ps Marsh provides habitat to many species of migrating birds traveling through the interior plateau, such as red-winged blackbirds and the occasional blue heron.

Sedges, st’ye7uw’I Northwestern sedge was commonly used for lining pit-cooking ovens, cache pits and moccasins and for covering and lining berry baskets. It was also used as a brush for cleaning things such as butchering a deer.
Great bulrush or Tule, Scirpus lacustris Interior native peoples used this bulrush, sewn together with stinging nettle or hemp fibre, to make mats, roofs and wall-coverings for summer lodges or tents. Bulrush mats were also used for drying berries and as ground coverings on which to eat.
Cattail, Typha latifolia The cattail’s starchy rhizomes, leaf bases and young flower spikes were eaten. The Secwepemc used the plant for making mats for bedding, sitting or kneeling on canoes, as insulation for winter homes, blankets. The seed fluff was used as stuffing for pillows and mattresses or as wound dressings and for diapers.