Sharon Y. Fuller

Cultural Burning is About Culture

Cultural burn practitioners work with volunteers to create fire breaks and set prescribed fires

Cultural burning is about culture. And it is not about restoring the landscape. It is not about enhancing or restoring the resources. It is about the sustainability of the culture and the practitioner, the traditionalist, and the traditional way of life of the tribal group, their culture. —Ron Goode, Chair North Fork Mono Tribe

The devastation from the August Complex, Dixie, Mendocino Complex, SCU and LNU Lightening Complex wildfires weigh heavily upon the hearts and minds of Northern Californians. The loss of lives, homes, and communities. The tireless efforts of fire fighters, first responders and volunteers. Fire, for many of us, only represents destruction. Tribal Chair, Ron Goode of the North Fork Mono Tribe, however is asking us to also recognize fire as an integral part of the ecosystem. “Fire can be good” he asserts.

To help broaden our understanding of fire, Chairman Goode, invited folks from universities and state agencies to join the North Fork Mono Tribe and other tribes in the area to participate in a cultural burn at the Jack Kirk Preserve in Mariposa. Due in part to the devastation wildfires have wreaked in California, state agencies are more amenable to exploring alternative fire management strategies such as cultural burns. Gathered in a circle, we were led in prayer to give thanks to the ancestors and the other-than-human relations for their guidance and gifts from the land. Respect for fire was emphasized in a brief history of cultural burns following the prayer. Chairman Goode also noted that cultural burns help manage resources vital to traditional practices as part of prescribed fire regimes. The intent of the tribe’s removal of underbrush, shrubs, and the dense canopy is to open up space and promote germination and the rebirth of culturally relevant flora and fauna. Wildfire suppression is merely one of the beneficial externalities.

Removing bark from sourberry bush stems harvested last season

On this occasion we worked in teams to clear the meadow of dry sourberry bush to enhance its regeneration next season. Sourberry is one of the tribe’s vital cultural resources. Basket weavers harvest the stems to make infant baskets. Clearing the meadow also increases water abundance through the reduction of flora competing for water resources. Creeks and streams not only provide vital drinking water but also serve as an important food source of fresh fish.

For three days we used cultural burns to manage the land. Not to mitigate wildfires, but rather we worked collaboratively to care for soil, brush, grass, canopy and creeks intricately linked to the cultural practices of the Mono tribes. Three days is a short time to change our perceptions of fire. Yet, the short time spent working with the tribes was long enough to allow us to imagine fire being more than a tool of destruction.

What if we thought about blackness differently?

Dr. Sharon Fuller, Black History Month Keynote, Sonoma State University

Indigenous Ontologies: Gullah Geechee Traditions and Cultural Practices of Abundance

ABSTRACT

Western epistemologies on race defined blackness and indigeneity through scales of poverty, or more precisely, in frameworks privileging economic deprivation. Indigenous fishing communities are typically constructed as subsistence fishers whose practices only served to exacerbate resource scarcity as a result. In this article I use the case study of the Gullah Geechee, self-defined as culturally indigenous and racially black, to explore how consciousness, indigenous knowledge and cultural practices open up resources that enable them to achieve a level of autonomy. I draw on the livelihoods of three fishers, ranging from familial to commercial, to examine how the power of giving, through the cultural practices of reciprocity, sharing and cooperation, yield abundances vital to building a sense of community. This article suggests that indigenous ontologies offer alternate ways to conceptualize indigeneity in the Americas.

Human Ecology Journal

Click here to read

The Servant Class City

Review: The Servant Class City: Urban Revitalization versus the Working Poor in San Diego

San Diego, similar to many cities throughout the country, invested in
redevelopment projects as part of revitalization initiatives within
the broader context of economic development. In The Servant Class
City, David J. Karjanen reveals that such revitalization efforts
typically only exacerbate matters for specific segments of the
population. As expected, new jobs were created and unemployment rates
decreased. But what do these facts really indicate? Karjanen posits
that, contrary to the success touted by conventional revitalization
strategists, greater disparity is created along racial and gender
lines that push the poor and working poor deeper into poverty while
only giving the illusion of prosperity.

See full review

https://www.h-net.org/reviews/showpdf.php?id=49589

Fishing for Food

California’s lake and streams. The place of countless bass derbies, catfish tournaments, and trout contests. Contestants come from around the country to participate in events that offer purses close to six figures in some cases. Eager fishers also bring their highly prized tourists dollars. An outcome not lost to state and county economic development strategists. It’s hard to recall that just six months ago Clear Lake reached flood levels that caused county officials to pass an ordinance banning motorized boats. The ban’s purpose was to protect shoreline properties. Clear Lake, a lake with 100-mile shoreline, was closed. Such an action hadn’t occurred in decades, if ever. The local fishing industry was not pleased. County officials convened public meetings. Economic arguments were interspersed with a few comments on public and environmental health. The public in this case translated to sport and recreational fishers. The ones who typically practiced catch and release rather than those that fished for food.

The rains resulted in a renewed abundance of fish in the lake. Although boaters were temporary restricted, shoreline fishers could now stock up on abundances of crappie, blue gill, catfish, bass and crawdads. I often passed groups of families fishing at the state park, also closed to campers due to the flood, with chests full of crappie and blue gills. Marveled at the rippling of the primrose as crawdads dove for cover with each step I took on the dock. Kids catching buckets full as their parents fished nearby. On streets closed due to flooding I watched a woman peacefully fishing at sunset atop the hood of a partially submerged car. In other areas I watched a group of fishers who appeared to be walking on water as they fished from a pubic dock awash nearly two inches. The flood brought an opportunity for folks who fish for food also referred to as subsistence fishers, to take advantages of abundances that collapsed during the drought. The public health effects of the bounty resulting for this particular extreme weather event is unclear, but I don’t believe that’s the main concern of the folks I observed. Fishing in this regard is not necessarily to put food on the table, but rather represents a way of life in which food is always available.

Environmentalism: Does Black Erase Green?

Environmental justice

Color of pollution

Pollution, poverty, and people

Environmental racism

These are just a few of Google’s suggestions in response to an “environment and people of color” search. But that wasn’t my first query. I initially searched for environmental magazines. The typical top ten high circulation publications filled my screen. Nature Conservancy, National Wildlife, Sierra, Missouri Conservationist and Mother Earth were the top five on the list. Although additional queries were made for key phrases such as outdoor, camping or recreation the results were pretty much the same. The magazines primarily focused on the role of particular folk as the guardians of wildlife and nature. Other folk, such as myself an African American, could only give voice to issues of injustice, inequality and degradation. Where is there space for me to talk about the hummingbirds that flutter less than two inches from my face while having morning tea and soaking up the sun’s rays? Or the deer that nestle under my fruit trees each evening? Or the catfish I catch in the Lake and Delta for food rather than sport? Regardless of my limited inclusion, I suspect nature is far more resilient that many folk acknowledge.

For instance, due to California’s drought, fires and floods my quality of life was directly affected as a result of the decimation of several of the state’s crops. Yesterday however, after a two-year hiatus, I happily resumed my summer tradition of gathering blackberries at the state park. Is human intervention necessary to address the effects of climate change, particularly in our current political climate? Most definitely! However to do so, a diversity of voices are also needed to reflect the diversity of relationships folks have with nature and the environment. Does Black erase green? Black, represented as poor and disconnected from nature, is a popular trope. Yet people of color are far most complex than depicted in thirty-second sound bites. The sooner we get more folks to acknowledge this reality, the sooner we can focus on collaboratively building bridges of inclusion rather than walls of exclusion.

Clear Lake California

Clear Lake is one of the oldest lakes in North America. Believed to be as old as 3 million years, the ancient lake holds a wealth of ecological and historical knowledge. Nestled in the state’s “best air quality” county, its 100 mile shoreline, abundant fish and majestic 68-square-foot glistening surface attracts countless visitors annually. A vital resource used by humans as far back as 11,000 years ago, the lake continues to feed San Joaquin San Francisco Delta rivers and creeks essential for agriculture. Vineyards, orchards and drinking water demands surrounding the lake also rely on its precious flows.

Global warming creates deserts in some regions and floods in others. California’s Mediterranean style microclimate has the privilege of experiencing both. Blue green algae blooms increased on the lake as a result of California’s extended drought. Crappies that thrive on algae also flourished as a deluge of rain from El Nino type weather significantly raised lake levels. Fishers welcome the onslaught, raking in buckets of crappie and a fair share of largemouth bass daily. Scant attention is paid however, to fish suffering from population declines such as catfish, in the midst of such excitement.

Unseasonably heavy rains this year gives the illusion that California’s drought is over and pre-drought draws on a seemingly infinite resource are warranted. Over extraction, nutrient and sediments loads and increased temperatures are just a few of the lake’s challenges. Yet in spite of stressors impairing its ecological well-being, it still brilliantly radiates each morning. Nature has a lot to say and will continue to wait patiently until folks are willing to listen.