Traditional Ecological Knowledge
Napa County and the Napa River Watershed exists upon the unceded ancestral land of indigenous Patwin and Onasatis people.
Napa Valley is one of the longest inhabited areas in California.
Archaeological surveys have shown that people have lived here for more than 10,000 years. ( Suscol Intertribal Council )
Indigenous people have lived on this land since time immemorial and still do today.
Use the map below to find out which native people have lived in this region.
native-land.ca
TEK - Traditional Ecological Knowledge
“A cumulative body of knowledge, practice, and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through generations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with one another and with their environment” (Berkes 1999)"
Traditional Ecological Knowledge differs from Western approaches to land management in that it encompasses all aspects of culture, health, and community life.
Indigenous cultural burning practices helped create and maintain a diverse, sustainable, and healthy ecosystem across California. Estimates claim that indigenous people burned 5-12% of California's landscape each year, or roughly 4,000,000 acres.
In 1793 Spanish colonist Don José Joaquín de Arrillaga moved to outlaw indigenous fire management "to uproot this very harmful practice of setting fire to pastureland"
In 1911 US Congress passed the "Weeks Act" outlawing the use of fire on federally occupied and owned lands.
In 2020, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection acknowledges the need to burn 500,000 acres of land per year to create healthy forest conditions again.
Indigenous cultural burning practices helped create and maintain a diverse, sustainable, and healthy ecosystem across California. Estimates claim that indigenous people burned 5-12% of California's landscape each year, or roughly 4,000,000 acres.
In 1793 Spanish colonist Don José Joaquín de Arrillaga moved to outlaw indigenous fire management "to uproot this very harmful practice of setting fire to pastureland"
In 1911 US Congress passed the "Weeks Act" outlawing the use of fire on federally occupied and owned lands.
In 2020, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection acknowledges the need to burn 500,000 acres of land per year to create healthy forest conditions again.
Elizabeth Azzuz, a member of the Cultural Fire Management Council, opens an indigenous cultural burn training by lightning a ceremonial fire with sage.
The mission of the council is to facilitate the practice of cultural burning on the Yurok Reservation and ancestral lands, which will lead to a healthier ecosystem for all plants and animals, long term fire protection for residents, and support the traditional hunting and gathering activities of the Yurok.
"The Sky is the Roof" is a video produced by the Suscol Intertribal Council. Watch this video to hear about cultural and environmental issues past and present from indigenous people of Napa and Lake County.
"The Sky is the Roof" - Suscol Intertribal Council 2020
Sčədadxʷ (salmon) is an animated short featuring Billy Frank Jr. that takes the viewer up the river through the eyes of the salmon showing its pristine environment; its connection to the Pacific Northwest People; the arrival of the settlers; habitat degradation; the unification of people throughout the world working together to save salmon and salmon habitat.
Sčədadxʷ (salmon) by Injunuity
(Left) Water-tight Miwok Pomo baskets made of willow and sedge by Lucy Parker. (Right) A grinding stone used to prepared food, located in Pope Valley, ancestral homeland of indigenous Patwin, Miwok, and Wappo people.
Two- Eyed Seeing
Two-Eyed Seeing is: “To see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous ways of knowing, and to see from the other eye with the strengths of Western ways of knowing, and to use both of these eyes together” ( Bartlett, Marshall, & Marshall, 2012 , p. 335)
Salmon To Sanctuary is made possible by the Protect Our Coast and Oceans Fund, Whale Tail Grants Program, and the California Coastal Commission.
This curriculum was prepared by Napa County RCD under award NA19NOS4290111 from the Bay Watershed Education & Training (B-WET) program of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of Commerce and California Coastal Commission's Whale Tail Grants Program. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NOAA or the U.S. Department of Commerce or California Coastal Commission.
