Ethnobotanist Roy Julian is seen here explaining the heritage of plants to a group of Sedona Westerners’ Trackers hikers. He understands and conveys the cultural heritage of our region’s plants which were used for many different purposes by our ancestors.

Tracker hikes with the Sedona Westerners are designed to increase our understanding and knowledge of our local area and beyond.  Topics have ranged from a walking history of Clarkdale, the unique volcanism of Red Mountain north of Flagstaff, and the amazing pictographs found at places like the Rock Art Ranch near Winslow and the V Bar V Heritage Site just south of Sedona.  For our Tracker hike in February, we enjoyed an eye-opening introduction to “ethnobotany” from local enthusiast Roy Julian. 

What’s ethnobotany, you ask?  It’s the study of how people of a particular culture or region (ethno) made use of native and domesticated plants (botany).  For the past tens of thousands of years or more, humans and proto-humans have depended ...

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