When I was an elementary student, I remember learning about indigenous ways of growing food or managing the forests. Terms like slash-and-burn agriculture and “controlled burn” were disdained as “primitive” and misguided practices.
But those who disdained the practices also marveled at the extreme abundance of the land. Huh?
The article I share with you today discusses the indigenous practices of fire and land management of the Karuk people of the Klamath Basin region in California. The book is entitled Salmon and Acorns Feed Our People (Amazon.com affiliate link, FAQs) by Kari Marie Norgaard (2019), Rutgers University Press.
“We are closely related to fire. Fire takes care of us and we take care of fire.” — Leaf Hillman, Director, Karuk Department of Natural Resources.
My grandfather said something similar to me once. He said, “We take care of the land and the land takes care of us.”
The book is on my reading list. If you have read or will read the book, let us know in the comments below.
Read the article via Colonization, Fire Suppression, and Indigenous Resurgence in the Face of Climate Change — YES! Magazine Most Recent Articles
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