Klamath TREX (Prescribed Fire Training Exchange), Karuk aboriginal territory, 2021
All photos by Bruno Seraphin
Courtesy of the Karuk Tribe

Thank you to all of the participants, interviewees, everyone who provided child care, event sponsors, and supporters! Film edited by- Bay laurel O'Connor With special support from - Stormy Staats, Bruno Seraphin, Xatimniim Drake Film Crew - Xatimniim Drake, Bruno Seraphin, Bay laurel O’Connor, Tiśina Parker, Stormy Staats, Rosie Williams, Annie Leverich, Michael Hentz, Alex Watts Tobin Additional footage by - Stormy Staats (Courtesy of the Karuk Tribe) Additional drone footage by - Mike Hentz (Courtesy of MKWC) Special Thanks to all the Interviewees - Adrian Gilkison, Aja Conrad, Amanda Lang, Chanel Keller, Cutcha Risling-Baldy, Frankie Tripp, Herman Albers, Isha Goodwin, Jesse Kidd, Kylee Clubb, Lulu Alexander, Lisa Morehead-Hillman, Marlene’ Dusek, Maymi Preston-Donahue, Naomi Huddleston, Neva Gibbens, Vikki Preston, Sammi Jerry Karuk language and translations provided by - Maymi Preston-Donahue Songs provided and sung by - Maymi Preston-Donahue No songs or any part of a song may be reproduced or sung without permission from its owner per cultural standards. ©The Karuk Tribe 2023

Copyright 2022 Hoopa Fire Department

Copyright 2021 Caltrans and Karuk Tribe Learn more: KarukTribeClimateChangeProjects.com

Organization for Cultural Resources in Yell County, Arkansas Like, subscribe, share on social media, and comment! Can you imagine a McElroy House where you are? https://mcelroyhouse.wordpress.com/ The McElroy House is located on the ancestral lands of the Osage, Quapaw, and Caddo peoples. In the late 1700s and early 1800s this area was also home to many Cherokee people, both before and during the Trail of Tears. Many Cherokee people came to this area after being forced out of parts of Tennessee and North Carolina. Many communities in the region have Cherokee names, including the nearby rural community of Chickalah, whose name inspired one of the original tunes featured in this film. Sequoyah, the creator of the Cherokee alphabet, spent a great deal of time in the neighboring town of Russellville, as did Chief Bowles, also known as "The Bowl.” We recognize that a land acknowledgement is a call to action. Our goal in sharing this story video is to be transparent about the complexities of this work. This includes our ongoing commitment to working with the people that lived in and stewarded these places for thousands of years and who still live here today. This includes supporting Indigenous communities; this includes teaching ourselves and our children things we should already know. And this includes digging into our own recent ancestors and, in many cases, making different decisions for our own lives and the children we are raising. If you are able to give financially, even in small amounts, please use your resources to donate to the Black liberation work of the SEEK (Struggles for Emancipation and Equality in Kentucky) Museum and the Osage Nation children’s immersion school: WahZhaZhe Early Learning Academy (WELA) and Daposka Ahnkodapi Elementary. We have a lot of work to do in terms of learning about the land upon which the McElroy House sits. May this film be part of that ongoing, and ever growing, commitment. Please join us as we learn together. DONATE and LEARN MORE about The SEEK Museum (Struggle for Emancipation and Equality in Kentucky): https://www.seekmuseum.org/ LEARN MORE about the WahZhaZhe Early Learning Academy (WELA) and Daposka Ahnkodapi Elementary. https://www.osagenation-nsn.gov/what-we-do/wahzhazhe-early-learning-academy To DONATE, send a check to: WahZhaZhe Early Learning Academy 100 West Main Suite Mezzanine Pawhuska, OK 74056 At the time of release, The McElroy House is currently closed to the public due to Covid. However, the Porter House is using the space for resources for foster families. A local carpenter built a Little Free Pantry and Seed Library outside which we keep stocked with food, garden seeds, toiletries, and clothing. We recently received a grant from No Child Hungry to help keep the pantry stocked. We also have a Little Free Library, which we keep stocked kids books, games, reference materials and resources. A Little Free Clothing Pantry is in the works. We are hosting outside bi-lingual garden nights in English and Spanish, which will pick back up in early spring. We will be purchasing seeds to share with the community. We are always in a process of growing and learning. If you live locally, please visit our facebook page to take the survey about what work you would like to see us engage in as we move forward.. And please join us as we continue to learn more about ethical land use, solidarity economies, decolonization, building across divisions, fighting racism and learning about our own communities as we build for the future. This work is made possible by everyone pitching in, bringing their skills and their questions, entering into “Brave Space,” and building for the long haul. Join us. You are welcome and you are needed. LEARN MORE about the Arkansas People’s History Project: https://www.facebook.com/ar.peopleshistory/ Video clips from “Persistent Story” Copyright 2008 Meredith Martin-Moats https://vimeo.com/40501370 Original fiddle tunes written and performed by Rachel Reynolds and accompanied by Mark Bilyeu. Recorded by Mark Bilyeu. Spanish translation by Yomaira Salgaldo Video produced by Bruno Seraphin and McElroy House Community Members McElroy House is a beginning and a journey. A brave space to unravel racism, xenophobia, and bigotry. To weave together a just and kind small town community. We accomplish this by coming together across differences and practicing our humanity, through gardening, crafting, and granny skills. We are women-led, lending a nurturing aura to our intergenerational rootwork. Join us in our humble quest to plant seeds of self-love, self-acceptance, and healing for all. DONATE with PayPal: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=JU9C73DD36E4J Support the McElroy House pantry: https://smile.amazon.com/hz/charitylist/ls/33C6UEUZODAR5/ref=smi_cl_wl_rd_cl?ref_=smi_se_cl_rd_cl&fbclid=IwAR160HG39-PIIMujJwZN8tufd79RyFoadt0teNjjIDm5o0nOMaVf53UvsIE Copyright 2021The McElroy House

"Prescribed Fire Training Exchanges (TREX) and cooperative burns provide experiential training that builds robust local capacity for fire management and offers professional fire practitioners a more holistic perspective—while implementing treatments that support community and landscape objectives." From the Nature Conservancy, https://www.conservationgateway.org/CONSERVATIONPRACTICES/FIRELANDSCAPES/HABITATPROTECTIONANDRESTORATION/TRAINING/TRAININGEXCHANGES/Pages/fire-training-exchanges.aspx Klamath River TREX, which began in 2013, is a multi-agency collaborative partnership with the Karuk Tribe playing a lead role. WATCH more: "Bringing Fire Home: Klamath River TREX 2020" https://vimeo.com/482162072 “Learn about Prescribe Fire” Youtube Playlist youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVmvuH0x-4aheLDQDLXu4uwWrVqIXMfgC "pananu’thívthaaneen xúus nu’êethtiheesh: We’re Caring For Our World" https://vimeo.com/367538820 LEARN more: Karuk Tribe Climate Change Projects https://karuktribeclimatechangeprojects.com/ Eco-Cultural Endowment Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/ecoculturalrevitalization/ Western Klamath Restoration Partnership Website https://www.wkrp.network/ PARTICIPATE: Karuk Department of Natural Resources (DNR): 530-627-3446 ext 3033 Mid-Klamath Watershed Council (MKWC): mail@mkwc.org DONATE: Eco-Cultural Revitalization Fund https://connect.clickandpledge.com/Organization/karuk/ Filmed by Bruno Seraphin and Stormy Staats Edited by Bruno Seraphin With editing support from Erica Terence, Jasmine Harvey, and Stormy Staats Additional thanks to Bill Tripp, Shawn Bourque, and Will Harling Drone photography by Mike Hentz and Chris Weinstein, Karuk Tribe Music by Stefan Dosch Featuring: Joe Jerry, Codie Donahue, Sue Terence, Jessica Conrad, and Wind Beaver Special thanks to the Karuk DNR, MKWC, the Endowment for Eco-Cultural Revitalization, Orleans Volunteer Fire and Rescue, and the Nature Conservancy's Fire Learning Network Property of the Karuk Tribe 2021

Bringing Fire Home: Klamath River Prescribed Fire Training Exchange (TREX) 2020 #1 Watch more: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVmvuH0x-4aheLDQDLXu4uwWrVqIXMfgC Learn more: https://www.wkrp.network/ https://karuktribeclimatechangeprojects.com/ Donate to support: Eco-Cultural Revitalization Fund connect.clickandpledge.com/Organization/karuk/

Watch more: “Learn about Prescribe Fire” Youtube Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVmvuH0x-4aheLDQDLXu4uwWrVqIXMfgC “Revitalizing our Relationship With Fire” https://youtu.be/SF3MNpuqzSg “Catching Fire: Prescribed Burning in Northern California” https://youtu.be/LWriDpfZnXQ “Every Fire Tells A Story” https://youtu.be/kpglLhmwPMc   Learn more: Karuk Tribe Climate Change Projects https://karuktribeclimatechangeprojects/fire-works Eco-Cultural Endowment Facebook Page Facebook.com/ecoculturalrevitalization/ Western Klamath Restoration Partnership Website WKRP.network Donate: Eco-Cultural Revitalization Fund https://connect.clickandpledge.com/Organization/karuk/ Karuk Tribe, Karuk Climate Adaptation Plan, Karuk Tribe, 2019 Excerpted, p. 42-45 The exceptional biological diversity of the mid-Klamath River region Northern California has emerged in conjunction with sophisticated Karuk land management practices, including the regulation of the forest and fisheries through ceremony and the use of fire. Karuk management practices have been interrupted by genocide and ongoing presence of non-Native land management practices. In particular the exclusion of fire has led to radical ecological changes including high fuel loads, decreased habitat for large game such as elk and deer, reduction in the quantity and quality of acorns, and alteration of growth patterns of basketry materials such as hazel and willow. Across California the increasing frequency of high severity fire points to the need to re-examine human relationships with fire. Karuk People have historically used fire for millennia. While fire can be incredibly dangerous, it is an inevitable part of natural ecosystems, especially in lightning-prone forested areas such as the mid-Klamath. Forested areas in northern California have become adapted to frequent occurrence of relatively low intensity fire from human and natural ignitions for more than the past 1,000 years (Perry et al. 2011, Taylor et al 2016). Karuk use of fire has been central to the evolution of the flora and fauna of the mid- Klamath (Anderson 2005, Lake 2007 and 2013, Lake et al. 2010, Skinner et al. 2006). These fire adapted forests burned in smaller overall areas in mosaic patterns with patches of high intensity fire (Mohr et al. 2000, Skinner et al. 2006, Perry et al. 2011). Fire has long been an important tool to manipulate landscape to patch-scale fire necessary for Karuk cultural sustenance and well-being (Lake 2013). Indeed, Karuk culture is directly dependent on mixed fire severity regimes (Lake 2007, Norgaard 2014). Karuk fire management practices include burning at a specific season, frequency, and intensity at a variety of severities. This frequent, low-intensity fire is linked with various fire-adapted vegetation communities and it necessary for the maintenance of cultural resources. Fire is especially critical for restoring grasslands for elk, managing for food sources including tanoak and black oak acorns, maintaining quality basketry materials, producing smoke that shades the river for fish, and more. The passage of the Weeks Act in 1911 following the Big Burn of 1910, made cultural uses of fire essentially illegal and for the many decades following, less and less burning occurred while more and more vegetation grew. Over a century of policies of fire suppression have created the conditions for the catastrophic, high-intensity wildfires we are seeing today. Warming temperatures and summer droughts further exacerbate these conditions. In the context of climate change, Karuk tribal knowledge and management principles regarding the use of fire are being utilized to reduce the likelihood of high severity fires. Fortunately, in the face of the changing climate, many ecologists, fire scientists and policy makers, Native and non-Native alike have turned to indigenous knowledge and management practices with renewed interest and optimism in the hope that they may provide a much-needed path towards both adaptation and reducing emissions (Williams and Hardison 2013, Martinez 2011, Raygorodetsky 2011, Vinyeta and Lynn 2013, Whyte 2013, Wildcat 2009). See Transcription at: https://karuktribeclimatechangeprojects/fire-works Video by: Jenny Staats, Bruno Seraphin, Kari Norgaard Additional video: Deer Creek GIS, ABC News, Klamath-Salmon Media Collaborative, The Press Democrat, Karuk Tribe Deparment of Natural Resources Wildlife Department, Mid Klamath Watershed Council Music: Brian Tripp Featuring: Leaf Hillman, Director of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy, Department of Natural Resources, Karuk Tribe Analisa Tripp, Cultural Technician III, Department of Natural Resources, Karuk Tribe Financial support provided by the U.S. Department of Energy. See Work Cited at: https://karuktribeclimatechangeprojects.com/fire-works/

2019 - Climate change and capacity building film