Print PageNative American Studies professor Stefano Varese writes in his essay "Global Sovereignty and Indigenous People's Environmentalism" (1996) that "There is no such thing as a natural, untouched landscape. Indigenous presence during the millennia has shaped and molded the environment and the biotic resources." This Indigenous ecological management is based in knowledges that value what Verese refers to as a "moral ecology" rooted in Indigenous epistemologies and world view. The systematic destruction of Indigenous peoples through colonization often caused fractures in this knowledge and in some cases the complete loss of these practices. For the indigenous people of California "contact" began as late as the Gold Rush in 1849 and many of the tribal peoples of California were able to resist and maintain this knowledge despite the systematic attempts to destroy them. This knowledge, based on an interrelationship with the land, carries with it scientific groundings for best practices in ecological and environmental research and projects. This presentation will provide an overview of the indigenous knowledge of biodiversity of the Hoopa Valley Tribe in Northern California. It will look at the ecological impacts and benefits of traditional materials gathering practices and the continued revitalization of this indigenous based moral ecology practices. The presentation answers the key questions: "How can the traditional practices of the Hupa people inform and expand ecology?" and "What does it mean to consider and respect Indigenous bio-cultural and socio-political sovereignty?"
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