Clip: Season 8 Episode 7 | 1m 44s | Video has closed captioning.
In the U.S., fire is seen as destructive. But for Native tribes like the Yurok, it is essential to life. Margo Robbins explains how reclaiming fire and bringing it back to the land is a method of fire suppression known as controlled burning and also reignites the growth of plants that are used to create everyday items like baskets.
Aired: 04/22/24
Margo Robbins: The land has a memory of fire.
Even though it's been nearly 100 many places have not felt it.
(ethereal music) A lot of species benefit from fi but some require fire to reprodu and hazel is one of them.
It'll get bigger and bushier, but it requires fire to send up the new shoots, and we need those long, straight to use as the frame of our baske Baskets are an essential part of who we are as Yurok people.
We use baskets to fish with in t When our babies are born, they're held in basket.
I think that it reminds them of because they're all in there cozy and secure.
Also, we use baskets to lift up and so our community decided that bringing fire back to the land is a number one prio and that was how we started down this course of reclaiming our right to use f
