The rocky Gary Oak-forested slopes of Christmas hill would likely have been used by the Songhees for the cultivation of the Camas bulb, an important part of the First Nations people's diet. They practiced a wide variety of cultivation techniques, including prescribed burning, to preserve the open landscape favored by the Camas lily. It is thought that the predominance and persistence of Garry oak ecosystems across much of Greater Victoria prior to European settlement was a direct result of centuries of burning and harvesting Camas bulbs.