As wind blows auburn leaves free from the trees, snow blankets the uplands, and communities along valley bottoms settle in under the first weeks of frost, we take this time to reflect, and express our gratitude to the first stewards of the land, who lived and breathed in tune with the fabric of nature, and continue to practice place-based cultural traditions today.
We honor the 27 enrolled Tribal members among our staff, representing many aboriginal Nations, generations, and cultural lifeways intertwined with land and water. We celebrate the remarkable feats we accomplish together year after year in service to our ecosystems, communities, and cultures. Indigenous Traditional Ecological Knowledge is carrying us forward into a hopeful future based on a better relationship with fire – one that restores forests, revives First Foods, protects water, strengthens our communities, and heals us all from devastation. As we look ahead to the restorative time of controlled burn season, we thank Lomakatsi’s staff, Tribal partners, Tribal communities, and Tribal elders, who are the bearers of this powerful knowledge.
In addition to those of Latino and Euro-American heritage, Lomakatsi staff represent the present-day enrolled Tribal citizens and living descendants of the Kosealekte and Ajumawi Bands of the Ajumawi-Atsuge Nation (Pit River Tribe); Northern Paiute Gidutikad Band; The Klamath Tribes; Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation; Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs; Muckleshoot Indian Tribe; Quartz Valley Indian Reservation; The Crow Tribe of Indians (Apsaalooke Nation); and the Shasta people.
“We are all Indigenous to some place on this Earth. No matter what Earth suit you’re walking around in, every person can trace their heritage back to a singing, drumming, and dancing culture,” says Belinda Brown, Tribal Partnerships Director, enrolled Kosealekte Band member and descendant of the Northern Paiute Gidutikad Band and Isleta Pueblo. “Native Americans are aboriginal to this place. We are still here, and we never lost our sacred commission to care for this land, regardless of whose name is on it.”
