Traditional phenological knowledge of aboriginal peoples in British Columbia

.~The seasonal timing of life cycle events (phenology) of organisms in temperate regions is relatively predict:lble, occurring primarily in response to accumulated heat and photoperiod. Aboriginal peoples have long recognized th€se phenological indicators and traditional phenological knowledge (TPKJ is evident throughout traditional ecological k:nowledge and wisdom [fEKW). We assess the nature and significaru:::e of TPK in British Columbia and neighboring areas with a survey of the ethnographic literature. Over 140 traditional phenolog ical indicators among more than 20 linguistic groups were identified. These peo ples use TPI< to predict the timing of plant and animal resource availability Bnd abundance, to assess and predict ,~hanges in weather and the seasons, and to mark points in their seasonal rouMs. Approximately half of these indicators rlirPNi!v involve using the phenology of one species, typically a flowering plimt, to the onset of a prominent stage in the life (~yde iphenophase) of a second species, typically an important resource, The remainder of the TPK described here is less direct, often embedded in language, and linked with traditional concep tion.'> of time and the seasonal round. Consequently TPK cannot be considered a discrete suhset of TEKW, but is interwoven in iii larger framework of cultural knO\vledge and a broad yet significant domain of TEKW.