Cultural Fire Ceremony with Ron Goode

Good Fire

Good Fire Podcast by Amy Cardinal Christianson and Matthew Kristoff

Stories of Indigenous fire stewardship, cultural empowerment and environmental integrity

Episode highlight

In this episode, Ron W. Goode talks about his journey stewarding the land using fire and the importance of ceremony.

Resources

Ron Goode’s Profile

Tribal-Traditional Ecological Knowledge

Sponsors

The Canadian Partnership for Wildland Fire Science

Support from:

● California Indian Water Commission

● Firesticks Alliance Indigenous Corporation

Quotes

46.26 - 46.29: “Your voice is not carrying but you keep singing”.

Takeaways

Living on the land (4.37)

Ron is the Tribal Chairman of the North Fork Mono Tribe. He describes how his grandparents were born before the land was colonized, and his grandmother lived just off the land beyond the age of 100.

Understanding nature (7.24)

Ron points out that there are 10,000 meadows in the Sierra Nevada mountain ranges in California, where wild animals and humans coexist. They also have natural medicines they prepare and trade.

Tending the garden (16.12)

Ron laments that mega-fires have increased the canopy of the forest so much that rain does not reach the roots of trees, and what does hit the floor, runs off. Thinning the forest thus plays an important part in keeping the forest healthy.

The right way to do a cultural burn (23.34)

Ron is mindful to burn using the right techniques, in the right area and during the right season. A cultural burn will not burn the root system, but a wildfire does.

Cultural resources are the brush (31.37)

When Ron does a burn, he has a vision of what the landscape will look like a few years from now, and what harvest will be ready.

“We don’t do anything that is not spiritual first” (40.23)

Working on the landscape means making an offering to Mother Earth and all its inhabitants. Ron shares that when an offering is made from the spirit, all of nature responds well to it.

Fire is ceremonial (49.43)

Ron explains that cultural fire is called ceremonial fire because it begins with a prayer or song. They have been successfully burning on the land with no real accidents.

Consultation is the way forward (56.21)

The California government has been charged with creating a strategic plan for natural resources and is hiring a tribal liaison for each tribe. However, consultation becomes complicated with the hiring of non-tribal liaisons who do not have a connection to the tribe.

“I’m burning for the sustainability of our culture” (1.00.39)

Ron burns with the intention to sustain his culture first and then to contain wildfires and improve biodiversity.

Take care of your backyard (1.10.20)

Ron shares his experiences with Aboriginal leaders in Australia, exchanging knowledge and cultural guidance.

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