The North Cascades Ecosystem spans both sides of the Canada-U.S. border and was once home to healthy transboundary populations of grizzly bears. Although the species is relatively healthy in British Columbia, grizzly bears in the North Cascades Ecosystem are considered critically endangered and among the most imperiled grizzly populations in BC.
Grizzly Bears: Guardians of the Land
Cultural
To Indigenous Peoples in southern B.C., the grizzly bear is a teacher and is credited with showing the people the beneficial foods and medicines and how they may be harvested through cyclical foraging seasons or seasonal rounds.
Spiritual
The Syilx, Stó꞉lō, Nlaka’pamux, St’at’imc, and Secwépemc peoples today have close relationships with grizzly bears that is based on values of respect and reciprocity for the significant ecological, cultural, and spiritual roles that the grizzly bear hold.
Ecological
Grizzly bears are acknowledged as a keystone and umbrella species, in which other plants and animals depend on their existence and whose presence and well-being assures the well-being of many other species across ecosystems.
One Bear, Many Names
Grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis), a sub-species of brown bear, have many different names, in many different languages. Below are some of the different names in Indigenous languages from the North Cascades region.
Skémis, stkwik̓wéy
Secwépemctsin
kiɁlawnaɁ
N̓syilxčn̓
Te sexwsúxw
Nłeʔkepmxcin
Xeytl’áls
Halq’emeylem
St’alhálam
St’át’imcets
