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Tending the Wild

Cultural Burning

For thousands of years, California Indians used fire as a tool for managing natural resources. Throughout the state, Native peoples conducted cultural burns on a wide range of plants and it was their fire regimes that created diverse habitat mosaics that sustained meadows, coastal prairies, and grasslands.

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Living Desert
Indigenous peoples have thrived in the desert for centuries. This video explores how they are confronting threats to their environment from large-scale industry.
Close up shot of a person's hand touching a plant's leaf between their index finger and thumb.
Native herbalism has a long history and continues to be practiced today. This video explores a holistic approach to health and how the environment can inform healthy living.
Weaving Community
Despite barriers to access, traditional gathering and basket weaving is still practiced across California as a new generation is rediscovering and preserving its cultural heritage.
Keeping the River
The Yurok, Karuk, and Hupa peoples have maintained a close relationship with the Klamath River. They have secured traditional fishing rights and mobilized against the threats of dams and agriculture, setting an example for Native environmental rights.
Barbara, Decolonizing The Diet, Tending The Wild.
59:40
his series examines how humans are necessary to live in balance with nature and how traditional practices can inspire a new generation of Californians to tend their environment
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