Traditional Ecological Knowledge
What is Traditional Ecological Knowledge?
From the Bureau of Indian Affairs, US Department of the Interior: Traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) is a body of observations, oral and written knowledge, practices, and beliefs that promote environmental sustainability and the responsible stewardship of natural resources through relationships between humans and environmental systems, applied across biological, physical, and cultural systems.
Books and journals at the CSUSM Library
Tending the Wild : Native American knowledge and the management of California's natural resources by ISBN: 0520238567Publication Date: 2005-06-14
Knowing Home: Braiding Indigenous Science with Western Science by Publication Date: 2016
Online resources
- Fire on the Land: Native People and Fire in the Northern RockiesEducational website provided by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes' Division of Fish, Wildlife, Recreation, and Conservation. The website contains historic images of landscapes shaped by fire as well as contemporary images that show how the landscape has changed as a result of fire suppression. There are also elder interviews, stories, information about the traditional use of fire by the tribes, and information about current efforts to restore landscapes by reintroducing fire.
- Indigenous Fire Practices Shape Our LandArticle from the National Park Service that describes the use of cultural burning practices that "promoted ecological diversity and reduced the risk of catastrophic wildfires."
- Department of the Interior - Bureau of Indian Affairs’ Division of Wildland Fire ManagementThe mission of the Division of Wildland Fire Management is to execute our fiduciary trust responsibility by protecting lives, property, and resources while restoring and maintaining healthy ecosystems through cost-effective and creative fire-management programs, collaboration, and promoting Indian self-determination.
Cultural Fire Management Council
The mission of the Cultural Fire Management Council (CFMC) is to facilitate the practice of cultural burning on the Yurok Reservation and Ancestral lands, which will lead to a healthier ecosystem for all plants and animals, long term fire protection for residents, and provide a platform that will in turn support the traditional hunting and gathering activities of Yurok.
