Fire Improves Traditional Plants
Scholar Melinda Adams is reclaiming fire. “When you look at migration patterns of Indigenous peoples, we led with fire. It’s related to our subsistence diets, it’s what kept us healthy,” says Adams, a UC Davis scholar who identifies as Apache and researchs “Indigenous Epist(e)cologies,” or the merge of ecological knowledge with Afro-Black Indigenous epistemologies. “What we’re now seeing is the effects of post gold rush fire regimes and fire management, which was to not burn,” she says, referring to the wildfires that continue to raze the West Coast, and are intensifying with climate change. Adams does field work to regenerate plants for basket weaving materials. When fire is applied to redbud, a plant that provides basketry materials, the redbud grows taller, doesn’t have as many breaks in its spindly branches, and gains brighter coloration compared with plants that do not experience fire.
KneeDeep‘s reporter Hoi Shan Cheung catches up with Adams on fire topics in an upcoming issue of the magazine.
First published in RARA Review, February 2021.
Story inspired by Mycelium Youth Network’s recent conference entitled: Apocalyptic Resilience: An Afro-Indigenous Adventure.
Other Recent Posts
Artist Christa Grenawalt Paints with Rain
Snippet of insight from the artist about her work.
High-Concept Plans for a High-Risk Shoreline
OneShoreline’s effort to shield the Millbrae-Burlingame shoreline from flooding has to balance cost, habitat, and airport safety.
In a Climate Disaster, Your Car Won’t Save You
Fleeing wildfires without a car might seem scary, but so is being trapped in evacuation gridlock — and the hellscape of car-dependency.
On Napa’s Milton Road, No Resident Is an Island
On Edgerly Island, homes sit behind a sinking, century-old levee. The community is at risk from sea level rise – unless they can agree to pay the cost of resilience.
What Exactly Is a “Supercharged Wind Event?”
In headlines about wildfire, a new supervillain emerges: wind. In January, it became the LA fire’s manic henchman. But what, exactly, is a “supercharged wind event”?
Converting Communities Into Watershed Champions
Everyday Climate Champions Podcast
UC Berkeley’s Brilliant Breakthrough in Carbon Capture
Researchers have developed COF-999, a new material that absorbs CO₂ directly from the air without rapidly degrading — a game-changer for carbon capture.
Coho Salmon Remain Afloat Four Years After CZU Fire
At the southern end of their range, coho salmon in Scott Creek are adapting to wildfire and warming.
