'Good Fire' exhibit in Oakland shows native land stewardship practices

"The impact of fire on land, the environment, health and communities, a topic often discussed in California, is often dominated by expressions of sensationalism. From news media reports magnifying catastrophic wildfires with shaky, first-person videos and panicky audio made on cell phones to partisan politicians and public persuaders whose voices on opposite sides of a dividing line strive to separate fire's ecology, history, culture and environmental causes into good or bad scenarios, it's easy to end up confused, distrustful, even dismissive."

"The Oakland Museum of California's new exhibit, "Good Fire: Tending Native Lands," is meant to expand understanding and extrapolate truth from all the noise surrounding fires. Opening Friday and continuing through May 31, visitors are introduced to the land management practices; materials; creative and artistic byproducts; and cultural principles and traditions of Northern California's Native American communities, among them controlled, or "good," fire."

""Good Fire, Interrupted," the second section, asserts that settler colonists warped and discarded native people's knowledge and their respectful land stewardship activities such as "cultural burning" ("good fire" controlled burns) and prairie preservation. Highlighting the synchronicity of indigenous Northern California communities' longstanding use of fire to support biodiversity and sustain essential sources of food and medicine, the exhibit section avoids conflating the diversity of the state's tribes and regions into a monolith."

Fire coverage often emphasizes sensational catastrophic events, creating confusion and distrust. The Oakland Museum of California's exhibit expands understanding by presenting Native American land management practices, materials, artistic byproducts, and cultural principles, including controlled "good" fire. The "Working with Fire" section presents tools and techniques used by native communities to sustain healthy ecosystems, using artwork, storytelling, plants and seeds to show fire's beneficial outgrowths. "Good Fire, Interrupted" documents how settler colonists discarded indigenous stewardship practices such as cultural burning and prairie preservation while highlighting longstanding indigenous fire use for biodiversity and food and medicine. The final section includes short films.

Read at The Mercury News