Maidu Tribes Reignite Ancestral Fire Stewardship in the Sierra Foothills | KQED

"The burn was formally a training, with the goal of enabling the Berry Creek Maidu to reestablish their traditional relationship with fire. But it was more than that. Jedediah Brown, the tribe's historic preservation officer, described it as "a homecoming, a return of fire to the land and the people. [...] Through the continuation of this work, the relationship between fire, people, and place is renewed in the way our ancestors intended.""

"Before burning the meadow, Herrera urged everyone to think about those who would gather materials in the coming months. "It's going to be a place where our people can gather food, fibers and medicines," she said. "We want to make sure all of that stuff stays really clean." Basket weavers often hold materials in their mouths, and it's long been a challenge to find plants free of fuel or herbicides. Here, the tribe can tend its garden as it chooses."

"Burners didn't use drip torches, which plop lit gasoline on the ground. Instead, in the months prior to the burn, Herrera trained a crew of Maidu women in traditional ecological knowledge - "my girls," she calls them. "My girls harvested a lot of sticks," she said, picking up one of the many bundles set aside for the burn. She held a lighter to the long twigs. "You light the stick, and the leaves start falling exactly like a drip torch.""

Fire is both a hazard and a management tool in forests between Interstate 5 and the Sierra Nevada. The Berry Creek Maidu conducted a controlled burn as training to reestablish traditional relationships with fire, calling the effort a homecoming that renews ties among fire, people, and place. The burn prepares meadow areas for seasonal gathering of food, fibers and medicines and ensures materials remain free of fuels and herbicides for basket weavers. Organizers trained Maidu women in traditional techniques, using hand-lit sticks instead of drip torches. Approximately 90 participants and more than a dozen conservation and fire-safety partners supported the event.

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