RENEWAL

CALIFORNIAN INDIANS ARE ROOTED IN A BELIEF THAT NATURE HAS THE ABILITY TO RENEW ITSELF. THE RETURN OF THE GEESE AND THE REGROWTH OF THE PLANTS WITH EDIBLE BULBS AND NEW TUBERS WERE PART OF THIS CYCLE OF RENEWAL. THEY HAD ANNUAL CEREMONIES TO FOSTER THE RETURN OF ANIMALS AND ACORNS AS WELL AS OTHER PLANTS. THE PREHISTORIC INDIANS FOUND IT A CHALLENGE TO LIVE IN THE NATURAL WORLD WITHOUT DESTROYING IT'S RENEWAL CAPACITY. THEY MANAGED THE LAND AROUND THEIR VILLAGES BY UNDERSTORY BURNING AND BY REPLANTING CERTAIN BULBS AND TUBERS AROUND THEIR VILLAGES.

MUCH OF THE LAND AROUND THEIR VILLAGES WAS RESHAPED BY BURNING, HARVESTING, PRUNING AND TENDING CERTAIN PLANTS IN ORDER TO INCREASE THE CAPACITY OF RENEWING THESE EDIBLE PLANTS. WILD LANDS WERE ALSO CO-MANAGED BY DIFFERENT TRIBES WITH A GOAL OF MAINTAINING THE IMPORTANT CROPS. THEY USED EXPERIMENTS AND THEIR INTELLIGENCE FOR MILLENIA TO UNDERSTAND HOW DIFFERENT PLANTS RENEWED THEMSELVES. THEY BECAME INCREDIBLE LAND MANAGERS AND THEIR CHILDREN LEARNED AT AN EARLY AGE TO NURTURE THE VILLAGE PLANTS AND TO RESPECT THEIR PARENTS.


KAT ANDERSON