On Fire Talk: Keepers of the Flame: Learning to Be in Relation with Fire

Keepers of the Flame is an initiative rooted in relationships—between cultural fire practitioners and students/faculty, and between people, plants, and fire. In a context of settler colonial environmental policy and increasing risk of catastrophic fire, Keepers centers respect for Indigenous fire practitioners, recognition of fire as part of the landscape, and personal, place-based understandings with fire. With attention to the environmental injustices of land theft and fire suppression and the inequitable impacts of catastrophic fire, through Keepers, we begin to cultivate a respectful relation with fire.

Beth Rose Middleton is a Professor of Native American Studies at UC Davis and the author of Trust in the Land: New Directions in Tribal Conservation (2011, UA Press) and Upstream: Trust Lands and Power on the Feather River (2018, UA Press). A collaborative social scientist, Beth Rose strives to develop and sustain partnerships with Tribes and Native/Indigenous non-profit organizations on environmental health, sustainable rural economic development, the historical and political context of river restoration, the reintroduction of low-intensity fire for land/water/community health, and Indigenous-led stewardship and climate adaptation. Beth Rose received her B.A. in Nature and Culture from UC Davis and her Ph.D. in Environmental Science, Policy, and Management from UC Berkeley. Beth Rose mentors undergraduate and graduate students and postdocs in Native American Studies, Ecology, Public Health Sciences, Geography, and Community Development.

Cosponsored by the IHC’s On Fire series