Rekindling the Old Ways of Traditional Burning as

Rekindling the Old Ways of Traditional Burning as a Land Management Practice Marlene’ Dusek¹ , Anthony Nystrom¹ , Dr. Laurie Richmond¹, Rroulou’sik Research Experience for Under Graduates Humboldt State University , Arcata CA Introduction It is recognized that Indigenous peoples throughout North America have used fire as an environmental management tool to shape the landscape in vital ways (Anderson 2005, Alexander 1950, Krober 1869 -1972) However, as a result of a colonial history that has included Indigenous loss of control over lands in ancestral territories and United States’ government policies of fire suppression, Indigenous practices of burning in Northern California have diminished (Lake 2013, Norgaard 2014). Western resource managers, foresters, and biologists developed the principles and theories of fire ecology and fire management largely independent of Native examples (Stewart, Lewis, Anderson 2002), however there is much they could learn from traditional fire management practices. After decades of forced fire suppression, many Indigenous communities are engaged in serious efforts to reinstate fire to their ancestral territories. However, there has been little research that examines Tribal initiatives to return fire to the landscape and to assess the challenges and successes these efforts have faced. This study focuses on the Yurok Tribe in Northern California. Through an interdisciplinary research approach, I hope to obtain a clearer picture of Yurok life and the role of traditional burning played in it, as well as the recent efforts of traditional burning revitalization. Photo: (Barela Nystrom 2016) Results Question 1: What role does fire/traditional-burning play in Yurok life? • Research indicates that traditional burning is an essential tool in Yurok culture and land management that accomplishes many benefits including: o Maintaining a healthy prairie which provided sustenance for elk and deer, maintaining overgrown understory areas, cultivating new forage for animals, promoting healthy regeneration of species for traditional foods, propagating strong basket materials, controlling mold and pests in different species, protecting communities or villages from out-of control wildfire, maintaining a ideal river habitat for salmon. • Traditional burning played a role across all genders and ages types in the Yurok community : o Women: Carried out/planned burns, basket weavers burned for materials, burned for traditional foods. o Men: Carried out burns with women elders as children to learn, burned after hunting in the Fall in high country, also carried out burning with and for women elders • Barriers that affected the role of traditional burning in Yurok life were: o Loss of ancestral lands due to colonization o Federal and State Policies of fire suppression that changed the landscape significantly o Imprisonment of tribal peoples after traditional burning becomes outlawed o Elders say that knowledge system of traditional burning skipped generations due to these barriers Research Questions Question 2: How has the Yurok tribe worked to reinstate traditional burning to the landscape and what challenges and successes have these initiatives faced? Question 1: What role does traditional-burning play in Yurok life? Question 2: How has the Yurok tribe worked to reinstate fire to the landscape and what challenges and successes have these initiatives faced? • Tribes continue to face barriers to restoring traditional burning to the landscape including: o Complex permitting systems (multiple agencies involved) o Different land ownership types require different permitting methods amongst Yurok ancestral territory o Ecological: Due to fire suppression efforts the forest has dangerous fuels loads of vegetation built up and 90% of original prairie has been lost. Methods • The Yurok tribe has worked to build creative institutional structures and collaboration to overcome these barriers and bring fire back to the landscape. Key aspects include: o Yurok Cultural Fire Management Council (CFMC) ØNon-profit made up of Yurok community members ØGroup works with Environmental NGOs and government agencies to achieve their goals. Ø 300 acres of burning has been carried out since 2014 by the (CFMC) This project utilized a mixed methods approach, grounded in the qualitative social sciences to answer these research questions. Methods included: 1. Semi-structured Interviews: Analyzed three previously conducted interviews (Barela Nystrom 2015) and conducted one original interview. Four interviews, three with Yurok elders and one Tribal fire expert focused on traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of fire and with one interview with the Tribal fire expert focused also on current Tribal burning initiatives. Gifts of traditional foods were given as appreciation for the interview. o Indigenous Burn Network (IPBN) ØRevitalize the implementation of cultural burns in native communities ØA collaborative group of three Northern California Tribes (Yurok Tribe, Hupa Tribe and Karuk Tribe) that work together to restore fire to the Northern California landscape ØGroup works with environmental and government agencies to achieve their goals. 1. Participant Observation: Received Permission from the Yurok Cultural Fire Management Council and Yurok Culture Committee. Observed Yurok Tribe CFMC meetings. Observed and visited forest/burn sites. Discussion “As we build capacity in the local community to put fire on the ground in a safe way we ensure the continuance of our culture”-) Yurok Elder (NC 2016) • Institutional Structures work as a Collaborative • Tribes are working together to achieve their goals with a variety of institutions to reinstate traditional burning to the landscape which include environmental NGOs, Tribal Government, Tribal people, Government Agencies, and Non-tribal people • This is a vital inter-tribal support system to share TEK between different working agencies and people it also creates a mutual learning situation • Rooted In Tradition / Culturally Specific • Tribal Elders and indigenous community play a key role in traditional burning, planning and management • The Yurok burn initiatives maintain a strong focus on integration and revitalization of traditional fire knowledge within community & youth programs • Barriers that still make regular burning of the landscape slow • A expensive process from permits, equipment, trainings • Many burns are cancelled for various reasons which trump a long process of permits, time, effort and money. Conclusion 1. Document Review/Analysis: Archival, Academic Literature, Journal, and Ethnographic Research was reviewed from the Cultural Resource Center House (ITEPP), Humboldt State University Library, and Humboldt Room. Tribal Document Analysis of Yurok Tribe Published Documents, Yurok Cultural Fire Management Council Meeting Documents (CFMC), Indigenous Peoples Burning Network (IPBN) and Nature Conservancy documents were all reviewed for study. 1. Visual Anthropology: Use of recent photographs of forest/burn sites to align with Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) of elder interviews, YTEP GIS Prairie’s maps showing a major reduction in prairies within in Yurok ancestral territory since fire suppression. Figure 1 : A Yurok elder states that “But the best fire is not a high-intensity fire, but one that moves across the landscape and takes out the fuel loads and doesn’t kill a high percentage of the growth and it allows plants to come back” (Nystrom 2015). Shown above is the landscape in the Ryerson area in Yurok Country that had a low intensity burn by the CFMC. A traditional burn was conducted in October 2015 and the image shows the understory brush cleared and regeneration of pepperwood tree a culturally important species to the Yurok people. References Cited “Our culture is completely dependent upon fire. Without Fire, our culture will not survive. It’s that simple. ” - (IPBN 2016) • Alexander, Margaret. "Traditions Maintain By Indians Living Along the Klamath River; Red Men Have Proud Heritage. " The Humboldt Times [Eureka , California] 8 Oct. 1950: n. pag. Print. • Kroeber, A. A. L. Kroeber Papers, 1869 -1972. [microform] [Berkeley, Calif. ]: [Bancroft Library, Duplication Services Unit, University of California, Berkeley], 1997 • Barela Nystrom, A. 2015. Revitalizing Yurok Ethnoforestry: Utilizing an Interdisciplinary Approach to Assess the Role of Fire on Pepperwood (Umbellularia californica) Productivity. Traditional Knowledge. National Science Foundation Arcata, CA. • Barela Nystrom, Anthony. Ryerson Site October Burn 2015. 2016. Weitchpec CA. • Lake, Frank K. 2013. Historical And Cultural Fires, Tribal Management And Research Issue In Northern California: Trails, Fires And Tribulations. • Norgaard, K. M. 2014. The Politics of Fire and the Social Impacts of Fire Exclusion on the Klamath. Humboldt Journal of Social Relations. Issue 36. • Robbins, Margo, Deb Mc. Connell, and Renee Stauffer. "Indigenous Peoples Burning Network. " (n. d. ): n. pag. Indigenous Peoples Burning Network (IPBN). Indigenous Peoples Burning Network, 21 Apr. 2016. Webhttps: //www. conservationgateway. org/Conservation. Practices/Fire. Landscapes Fire. Learning. Network/Regional. Networks/Documents/IPBN-Poster-Apr 2016. pdf • Robbins, Margo. "How We Use TREX. " Conservation Gateway. Nature Conservancy, 1 June 2016. Web. • Stewart, Omer Call, Henry Lewis, and Kat Anderson. Forgotten Fires : Native Americans and the Transient Wilderness. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2002. • "Yurok Elder Interviews. " Interview by Anthony Nystrom. Revitalizing Yurok Ethnoforestry: Utilizing an Interdisciplinary Approach to Assess the Role of Fire on Pepperwood (Umbellularia Californica) Productivity 2015: n. pag. Print. • Tribes still deal and strategize around the effects of a colonial legacy; to reinstate traditional burning, tribes must work through a complex western system • Tribes have shown resilience in the face of barriers to burning by developing creative initiatives and partnerships that allow them to protect indigenous peoples right to traditional burning on the landscape. • Tribal efforts to restore fire has a influence on fire policy on a broader level • Collaborative groups that cross boundaries are necessary to restore culturally important fire management because fire knows no boundaries. • These efforts are vital to sustain the culture and knowledge of traditional burning of the Yurok people and other Northern California Tribes whose culture is dependent upon fire