Supplemental Readings for Educators

(This is the supplemental readings for Crystal Boulton-Scott and Joseph Scott‘s curriculum, “Good Fire.”)

“Quiet Fire: Indigenous Tribes in California and Other Parts of the U.S. Have Been Rekindling the Ancient Art of Controlled Burning,” Page Buono, Nature.org, Winter 2020 (examines the Yurok, Karuk, and Hoopa tribal nations of Northern California, including the story about how hazel grows in improved, longer stems after fire, much better for basket weaving; and tells how foods such as acorns and huckleberries become more numerous)
https://www.nature.org/en-us/magazine/magazine-articles/indigenous-controlled-burns-california/

“’Fire is Medicine’: The Tribes Burning California Forests to Save Them,” Susie Cagle, The Guardian, November 2019 (looks at Yurok Cultural Fire Management Council’s practices)
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/nov/21/wildfire-prescribed-burns-california-native-americans

“Alarmed by Scope of Wildfires, Officials Turn to Native Americans for Help, Jill Cowan, Octoer 7, 2020, New York Times (examines the Lomakatsi Restoration Project involving prescribed fire in Oregon and Northern California) https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/07/us/native-american-burning-practices-california.html

“Indigenous Fire Practices Once Shaped the Northwest – And They Might Again,” Manola Secaira, Crosscut.com, September 2019 (examines deliberate burn practices in Washington state with the Yakama and Colville tribal nations)
https://crosscut.com/focus/2019/09/indigenous-fire-practices-once-shaped-northwest-and-they-might-again

“Native Americans Used Fire to Protect and Cultivate Land: Indigenous People Routinely Burned Land to Drive Prey, Clear Underbrush, and Provide Pastures,” Dave Roose, History.com, July 30, 2021 (includes a look at the impact of colonization and the suppression of fire; examples from the Plains to California) https://www.history.com/news/native-american-wildfires

“Indian Use of Fire in Early Oregon,” Robert Boyd, OregonEncyclopedia.org, October 22, 2018 (Describes the history of “a land and resource management system that was complex, sophisticated, internally consistent, and based on an underlying principal of coexistence with nature”)
https://www.oregonencyclopedia.org/articles/anthropogenic_fire/#.YYslvNbMIXo

“Traditional Uses of Fire,” Bureau of Indian Affairs elders of the National Interagency Fire Center share a video; Creek/Muskogee and Seminole speaking about fire in their languages, with subtitles, and in English; 3 ½ minutes, 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JgxWG2XknJc