This story was originally published by Reasons to be Cheerful
Maidu fire practitioner Danny Manning twirls a traditional fire stick made from an elderberry plant between his hands, rubbing it against a fire board until the first ember forms. He kindles it with a cottonwood bundle and gently blows on it until it turns into a flame. “That’s how you start a fire,” tribal matriarch Diana Almendariz exclaims with a satisfied grin. “No lighter, no nothing.”
The Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation has recently revived its tradition of cultural burns. Every fall, the tribe holds Leok Po days, which means “good fire,” on Yocha Dehe tribal lands in the Cache Creek Nature Preserve in Northern California. “Good fire” is also emblazoned on the bright green shirt Almendariz wears.
Melinda Adams, San Carlos Apache Tribe member and geography and atmospheric science professor at the University of Kansas, has come to help. She ties tule stalks into forearm-length bundles, preparing them as fire-carrying torches: “It’s significant,” she says, “because it’s one of the plants tribes use historically.” She calls these practices “indigenuity — Indigenous genius.”
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