Walking in the Footsteps of my Ancestors
This is a post from last year, when I was serving in the Sierra Nevada AmeriCorps
Partnership. The prompt was 'Why is serving the Sierra important to you?'
Ray Gutteriez, Conservation Assistant
My ancestors walked the foothills and mountains of the Sierra Nevada for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans and Euro-Americans in what is now called California. In time, they (the indigenous people of the Sierra, now referred to as Mono or Monache) learned how to tend their environment to create landscapes full of food, rich in game animals and plants that were beneficial to them as food and as material for baskets, bows, arrows, shelter and many other items that were essential for daily life. They became the first human stewards of the land. There is a story of a time when plants and animals, including humans, all spoke the same language. It was during this time that people learned how to care for the plants and animals, they learned how to live as part of the environment.
During my first week in Mariposa I was fortunate to meet Bill Leonard, he is Southern Sierra Miwuk, a descendent of the indigenous people of Yosemite Valley. Bill is an amazing person; he invited me to sweat at the Miwu Mati community center and has been a great friend in my new environment. We have talked many times about the state of Sierra habitats. He says,” if you manage your land for food, it would look very different then it does today.” This statement resonates in my heart and mind. There are many different goals when approaching land management and one aspect that cannot be overlooked is how the indigenous people of any area interacted with their environment and what their management goals were.
When John Muir and other colonist moved west and settled in California they were amazed at the abundance of plants and animals and the open, park-like state of the forests. This, contrary to beliefs at the time, was not the work of a god, it was the intelligent and purposeful result of the interaction of a people and their natural environment, as well as the effect of wild fires caused by lightning strikes.
I organized a class that Bill led on a Sierra Foothill Conservancy conservation easement in the Mariposa area. The class was entitled “Native Plants and Traditional Uses”, in which he shared his knowledge and wisdom of native plants and their traditional and contemporary uses. He, also, spoke about more broad scale ecosystem and landscape management (my words not his). One of his main points is focused around black oaks (Quercus kellogii). When closely surrounded by conifers, black oaks grow tall and skinny. When a snowstorm comes trunks are vulnerable to snapping, because they are not strong enough to support the added weight from the snow. If the area around an oak fairly is kept open, there is less competition for water and light, and trees can grow over 4 feet in diameter. Without other trees around causing black oaks to grow tall and skinny toward the sunlight, trunks can grow wide and can better withstand harsh weather. Large diameter oaks have more abundant acorn crops than their skinny counterparts. Black oak acorns are the preferred acorns of many indigenous groups of the Sierra Nevada; the ancestors of this land worked hard to keep their oaks healthy and strong.
In the not so long ago history of our species, groups of humans have learned how to live sustainably with their local environment. Now, with globalization connecting every continent on the planet we need to learn, and in some cases relearn, how to live sustainably in a world where our species and its exploitation of resources is no longer localized to a specific geographic region. The choices of every nation affect every other nation.
After 100 years of fire suppression the Sierra Nevada is a tinderbox waiting to be lit. Fire, along with climate change (which has direct effects on fire), development (habitat fragmentation), water usage and cultural isolation from the environment are a few of the challenges facing the Sierra Nevada and the world, that are being handed off to my generation and those that follow.
Since the founding of the United States of America there has been a tradition of passing on the most pressing issues of a generation (slavery, segregation, sustainability) down the line from generation to generation. It’s not until an issue reaches it’s boiling point (figuratively and literally this time) that the current generation is forced to act.
Now it is our turn, it is our turn to pick up the slack and make the hard decisions that the generations before us refused to. Now the question is, are we going to do what needs to be done to make our society sustainable, or are we going to keep on our current path and let our world boiling to obscurity? The choice is ours.
Being a part of the SNAP program is a step on the path in my journey to becoming a voice for the Earth. The skills I have learned in my term of service, so far, are indispensable. They will aid my in my journey as a steward of the Earth.
During my first week in Mariposa I was fortunate to meet Bill Leonard, he is Southern Sierra Miwuk, a descendent of the indigenous people of Yosemite Valley. Bill is an amazing person; he invited me to sweat at the Miwu Mati community center and has been a great friend in my new environment. We have talked many times about the state of Sierra habitats. He says,” if you manage your land for food, it would look very different then it does today.” This statement resonates in my heart and mind. There are many different goals when approaching land management and one aspect that cannot be overlooked is how the indigenous people of any area interacted with their environment and what their management goals were.
When John Muir and other colonist moved west and settled in California they were amazed at the abundance of plants and animals and the open, park-like state of the forests. This, contrary to beliefs at the time, was not the work of a god, it was the intelligent and purposeful result of the interaction of a people and their natural environment, as well as the effect of wild fires caused by lightning strikes.
I organized a class that Bill led on a Sierra Foothill Conservancy conservation easement in the Mariposa area. The class was entitled “Native Plants and Traditional Uses”, in which he shared his knowledge and wisdom of native plants and their traditional and contemporary uses. He, also, spoke about more broad scale ecosystem and landscape management (my words not his). One of his main points is focused around black oaks (Quercus kellogii). When closely surrounded by conifers, black oaks grow tall and skinny. When a snowstorm comes trunks are vulnerable to snapping, because they are not strong enough to support the added weight from the snow. If the area around an oak fairly is kept open, there is less competition for water and light, and trees can grow over 4 feet in diameter. Without other trees around causing black oaks to grow tall and skinny toward the sunlight, trunks can grow wide and can better withstand harsh weather. Large diameter oaks have more abundant acorn crops than their skinny counterparts. Black oak acorns are the preferred acorns of many indigenous groups of the Sierra Nevada; the ancestors of this land worked hard to keep their oaks healthy and strong.
In the not so long ago history of our species, groups of humans have learned how to live sustainably with their local environment. Now, with globalization connecting every continent on the planet we need to learn, and in some cases relearn, how to live sustainably in a world where our species and its exploitation of resources is no longer localized to a specific geographic region. The choices of every nation affect every other nation.
After 100 years of fire suppression the Sierra Nevada is a tinderbox waiting to be lit. Fire, along with climate change (which has direct effects on fire), development (habitat fragmentation), water usage and cultural isolation from the environment are a few of the challenges facing the Sierra Nevada and the world, that are being handed off to my generation and those that follow.
Since the founding of the United States of America there has been a tradition of passing on the most pressing issues of a generation (slavery, segregation, sustainability) down the line from generation to generation. It’s not until an issue reaches it’s boiling point (figuratively and literally this time) that the current generation is forced to act.
Now it is our turn, it is our turn to pick up the slack and make the hard decisions that the generations before us refused to. Now the question is, are we going to do what needs to be done to make our society sustainable, or are we going to keep on our current path and let our world boiling to obscurity? The choice is ours.
Being a part of the SNAP program is a step on the path in my journey to becoming a voice for the Earth. The skills I have learned in my term of service, so far, are indispensable. They will aid my in my journey as a steward of the Earth.
