Cultural Burn: Reintroduction of "Leok Po" or Good Fire
Brothers Everett and Wyatt Bean, Cherokee Nation citizens, recently took part in a youth traditional and ecological knowledge internship at Cache Creek Conservancy where they learned about indigenous land stewardship from local California tribal members.
There, Danny Manning taught them how to make fire traditionally using local resources. The program's cultural practitioner, Diana Almendariz, invited the brothers to help make fire at the conservancy's cultural burn "Leok Po", or good fire. The cultural burn is a controlled one that is done naturally, interrupting the life cycle of pests, removing invasive plants, helping native seeds germinate, and bringing new growth suitable for basket making.
Following the Cache Creek event, the brothers were invited to help the local tribe, the Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation, reintroduce cultural burning back to their land. Everett and Wyatt brought their fire making kits they made from materials they had gathered near their home. In the video shot by the tribe (at the 0:37 time stamp), Wyatt started making the fire, passing the board off to Danny, and then to the Yocha Dehe's cultural monitor and the fire came to life.
The Yocha Dehe has returned their fire back to their land, taking back a part of their culture that had been stolen from them for a hundred years, and ensuring they take care of the land properly and respectfully. The brothers were proud to have learned the traditional knowledge that allowed them to carry the fire back home. Everett and Wyatt helped spread the fire through the oak grove and the bushes.
On the recommendation of one of the Yocha Dehe tribal members, the brothers applied to their youth fire academy this summer and they were accepted. They enjoyed learning about firefighting, and they earned their CPR certification. They are grateful for the knowledge and opportunities the local tribes have given them.
Please enjoy this video of the Leok Po: https://youtu.be/z2je_ujL7Dg?si=R6SOzydOpD6pVqZI
Article on the Many Impacts of Leok Po: https://cachecreekconservancy.org/the-many-impacts-of-leok-po/?
— Tiffany Bean
