4th Friday Lecture -January 22, 2010
Tending the Wild:
Native Americans and the Land
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John Muir was an early proponent of a view we still hold today—that much of California was pristine, untouched wilderness before the arrival of Europeans. But, what Muir was really seeing when he admired the grand vistas of Yosemite and the gold and purple flowers carpeting the Central Valley were the fertile gardens of the Sierra Miwok and Valley Yokuts Indians.
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Friday, Jan. 22, 2010 Held at Unity of Auburn's auditorium on 1212 High St., Auburn, CA 95603 Tickets & Directions |
The California wild had been modified and made productive by centuries of harvesting, tilling, sowing, pruning, and even burning. Dr. Hankins will examine Native American knowledge and uses of fire in California to not only shape our landscapes but how the traditional practices offer some practical applications to our modern situation of fire and landscape management.
The complex picture that emerges from this and other historical source material dispels the hunter-gatherer stereotype long perpetuated in anthropological and historical literature.
Learn how California's indigenous people were active agents of environmental change and stewardship through the use of fire. This traditional ecological knowledge is essential if we are to successfully meet the challenge of living sustainably.
About the Speaker:
Dr. Don Hankins is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Geography and Planning at California State University, Chico. His areas of expertise are conservation biogeography and pyrogeography.
Don is of Miwko (Plains Miwok) descent, and is a traditional cultural practitioner. Combining his academic and cultural interests he is particularly interested in the application of indigenous land management practices as a keystone process to aid in conservation and management of resources where appropriate.
His primary research focuses on the applicability and effects of prescribed fire (particularly those set by indigenous communities) as a conservation and management tool. He has conducted fire research among indigenous California and Aboriginal Australian communities. Dr. Hankins has been involved in various aspects of land management and conservation for a variety of organizations and agencies including federal and tribal governments.
Get tickets Now! Season Passes available!
Return to the General Information page or visit another lecture:
| Sep. 25, 2009 - | Salmon at the Heart of Nature |
| Oct. 23, 2009 - | Journey of Discovery: California |
| Jan. 22, 2010 - | Tending the Wild: Native Americans and the Land |
| Feb. 26, 2010 - | Mysteries and Magic of the Vernal Pool |
| Mar. 26, 2010 - | Marvelous, Mysterious Mars |
| Apr. 23, 2010 - | Restoring the Mesopotamian Marshes |
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