Giving Credit Where Credit is Due: Wildfire Knowledge and California Native Communities

While the practice of controlled burns was originally looked down upon and even banned, today it is heralded as a solution for wildfire prevention. It is crucial to give credit to the indigenous inventors of this practice. A short history lesson:

When settlers arrived in what we now call the United States, beginning with the Spanish, they considered indigenous groups’ practices of cultural burning to be a “barbaric” and “savage” practice. Cultural burning was banned by the Spanish and later US settlers, leading to over a century of fire suppression which, in turn, led to large and devastating wildfires. In Tending the Wild, author M. Kat Anderson, mentions how "aware of the danger uncontrolled fires would pose to villages and collecting sites, California Indians regularly fired the understory in forests and woodlands" and that once this was replicated many times, fires were not as severe or prevalent [1]. When forest fires do not occur for a very long time, the eventual fires are often more severe [2], suggesting that overzealous fire suppression that aims to prevent forest fires entirely may actually worsen the danger posed by forest fires. 

Scientists now understand how beneficial controlled burning practices can be. Case in point: the biodiversity of renowned areas such as Yosemite and Sequoia National Parks is due in large part to the rigorous land management practices of Native communities over hundreds of years. What was their most important land management practice? The strategic use of fire. Native communities were unjustly forced off these National Park lands in order to “protect” them, when it was they who had made them into the richly biodiverse and beautiful places the settlers saw. 

You know we work with robots and engineers. You may not know that we are looking to collaborate with local California Native communities, such as the Yokut and Miwok. Conversations around wildfires in California should always include California Native communities. They know the historical and cultural significance of fire here better than anyone, as they have held this knowledge  for thousands of years. We are particularly excited to be collaborating with Dina Gilio-Whitaker, who brings to our team years of expertise in environmental justice from an Indigenous perspective.

California Native peoples know fire can be a tool rather than a symbol of elemental destruction. Like any tool, we have to learn how to use it properly.  The benefits of strategic fire use include promoting ecological diversity and, perhaps ironically, lowering the risk of large destructive wildfires [3]. As discussed in our previous post, the traditional practice of cultural burning alleviates the potential of disastrous wildfires that stems from fire suppression [3]. Cultural burning refers back to the notion of fire as medicine as Native communities refer to it and with its correct use, it maintains healthy ecological systems [3].

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Figure 1

An example of collaboration between fire managers and Native communities: Southern Sierra Miwuk practice a ceremony of prescribed burning as Yosemite Fire members observe

Fire managers across the country are now learning from and working with Native communities to strengthen our defenses against extreme wildfires. For example, here in California, CAL FIRE’s Climate and Energy Program has implemented the Tribal Wildfire Resilience Grants [4]. These grants are used by California Indigenous groups for wildfire-related projects, which include prescribed burning practices among other methods [8]. So far, about 19 million dollars have been awarded to groups including Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians (for the EcoCultural Stewardship of Highland Springs), Berry Creek Rancheria of Maidu Indians of California (for the Berry Creek Restoration Program), and Round Valley Indian Tribes (for the Round Valley Indian Tribes Wildland Fire Project) [4].   

Low intensity cultural burning is a time-tested practice that has been prevalent among California Native communities for centuries. It is a scientifically rigorous technique that has endured generations of successful practice, and it is important to understand where this method originated. Cultural burning  benefits both land and people, creating healthy and resilient landscapes [3]. We must give credit where credit is due and remember what we now know about fire management comes from Indigenous peoples’ traditional ecological knowledge (TEK).

Sources

1. Anderson, K. (2005). Tending the wild : Native American knowledge and the management of California’s natural resources. University of California Press, p.151.

2. Steel, Z. L., Safford, H. D., & Viers, J. H. (2015). The fire frequency-severity relationship and the legacy of fire suppression in California forests. Ecosphere (Washington, D.C), 6(1), art8-23. https://doi.org/10.1890/ES14-00224.1 

3. National Park Service. (n.d.). Indigenous fire practices shape our land. U.S. National Park Service. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/fire/indigenous-fire-practices-shape-our-land.htm

4. Author. (n.d.-b). Tribal wildfire resilience grants. Cal FIRE. https://www.fire.ca.gov/what-we-do/grants/tribal-wildfire-resilience#:~:text=Tribal%20Wildfire%20Resilience%20grants%20is,wildfire%20safety%20for%20tribal%20communities.