Growing the Scorched Ground Green: Confronting the Past and Looking Towards the Future of California’s Ecology

Summary

In the last several years the topic of Native American land use and land rights has gained renewed interest in academic, political, and public discourse. This paper explores how late Nineteenth and early Twentieth Century Euro-American discourse about the preservation and conservation of nature led to the creation of National Parks at the expense of the indigenous groups who inhabited it. Focusing primarily on California Indians, I examine historical, theoretical, and archaeological data surrounding discourse, myth, displacement, landscape management practices, and cultural capital, as well as what changing government policies and practices—including the use of traditional ecological knowledge—mean for the future of California’s ecology and its vibrant indigenous populations.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Archaeologies of Diaspora and Dispersal   •
• Society for Historical Archaeology 2018

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Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology

Record Identifiers

PaperId(s): 837