SENĆOŦEN name: ĆEṈ¸IȽĆ
Native to southern California to southwestern British Columbia, including Victoria.
Victoria's most common tree: 5,200 on the map, about 1 in 7 trees.
Show Garry oak trees on the map
Garry oak is the only native oak species in British Columbia, Washington, and northern Oregon.
Indigenous peoples burned the plants under the oaks throughout their range to maintain open prairie, to make hunting easier, and to allow the land to produce more food. The edible bulbs of camas and other species were the focus of the plant harvest. Camas was so important in their diet that families had their own plots of woodland where they owned the harvest. So important were these plants that the Victoria area was originally known as Camosun, or "place to gather camas."
The WSANEĆ peoples used the bark and leaves medicinally to help treat colds, stomach aches, cramps and even as a post-childbirth contraceptive. The bark can be infused to treat cuts, wounds, sore throats, and help treat diabetes while the inner bark was used to make dresses. Tannin, also found in the bark of Arbutus trees, was used to tan and cure hides.
Garry oak woodlands depend on disturbance to avoid being overtaken by Douglas-fir. Deliberate burning was widely practiced by the indigenous people of these areas. Fire perpetuated the grasslands that produced food sources such as camas, chocolate lily, bracken fern, and oak; and that provided grazing and easy hunting for deer and elk.
The eponymous Nicholas Garry was deputy governor of the Hudson's Bay Company, 1822–35.