Lethbridge or Sikoohkotoki meaning Black Rock in the Blackfoot language is a town built by white settlers in the late 1900s. The settlement meant a full transformation of the landscape from fertile grasslands to dusty roads and streets. I am not sure how conscious the decisions for the trees that had been planted back then were made, but I guess those decisions were based on what settlers knew from “back home”, where Elm and Ash used to be abundant. Ignorant as settlers were of traditional ecological knowledge held by Indigenous people here, they saw no limits in what they could do to their new environment or how their actions would harm it. Thus, extreme amounts of water were used to establish the trees, which was done through irrigation systems that drew water out of the local rivers. 

Today, very few settlers seem to know of their ancestors’ close connection to trees, when people revered the oldest species as sacred, enacted court decisions and marriages under them, sought advice and healing, and so much more. I wish more people would return to building such sacred relationships of care and community with trees at their core.