Introduction
Pyrogenic Food Systems: Pyrogenic systems—or those created by fire—are part and parcel of pre-colonial Indigenous food traditions. The burning of meadows, grasslands, agricultural plots, brush, and burn piles helped to quickly reintroduce the nutrients locked up in dead plant tissues back into soil systems as bioavailable nourishment. The ample nutrients in ash such as potassium (K), calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), and magnesium (Mg) stimulate microbial activity in the soil. This influx of on-site fertilizer creates spongy soils and thereby increases the water infiltration rate of soils, quickening the recharge rates of local and regional aquifers. Fire can support old growth fruit and mast trees by eliminating competing vegetation and keeping soils healthy. Fire surpasses the encroachment of shrubs and saplings, thereby creating and maintaining meadows and grasslands that support herbivores such as bison, deer, and elk. It can maintain proper tree spacing to ensure new growth does not drain the limited water and nutrients of the soil system. Maintaining wide tree spacing can also keep the canopy open for plants so that selected trees and understory species have plenty of sunlight. In the absence of fire, natural systems often collapse into dense thickets of trees and shrubs that over-compete and eventually choke each other out. Sparse nutrients lead to weakened tree immune systems which can make forests susceptible to pests and blights. Burning new plots each year, while allowing previously burned plots to regenerate can create mosaics where each plot is in a different stage of regrowth and each plot therefore contains different sets of flora and fauna. Successional patch burning can thereby augment the biodiversity of a given region as seen in the Mardu context in Western Australia. Ash and charcoal are recognized for their powerful benefits for humans and the land. Some of these pyrogenic systems survive today even after colonial fire suppression policies worked to snuff the tradition.
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Influence of Prehistoric Human-set Fires on Oak-Chestnut Forests in the Southern Appalachians
Bioregion: East Kentucky: Appalachian Mountains
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, indigenous forestry, regenerative cultivation
Summary: This paper focuses on 3,000 year-old regional-scale orchards of chestnut, black walnut, hickory nut and oak cultivated and maintained by Indigenous populations in present-day Kentucky. The coincidence of fossilized pollen and charcoal indicate that Indigenous populations employed gentle and routine fire to manage this orchard and make the land around them fertile. Moreover, this paper focused on how both the oak forests and their use of fire were helping to increase biodiversity in the areas around them.
Implications: This article contributes to Kentucky historical ecology. Namely, that Indigenous nations intensively managed the land for thousands of years while concurrently maintaining biodiversity. It also shows that Kentucky forests at the point of contact were not “wild” but were actively cultivated by long standing Indigenous civilizations. Presumably, the ancestors of the present-day Shawnee Nation have an important and ancient connection to the land they have since been removed from during the forced relocation often known as the Trail of Tears. As an aside, authors of this bibliography suggest the use of pre-colonial vs. prehistoric, as Indigenous history is a also history.
Reference: Delcourt, P. A., & Delcourt, H. R. (1998). The influence of prehistoric human-set fires on oak-chestnut forests in the southern Appalachians. Castanea, 63(3), 337-345.
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Native Burning in Western North America: Implications for Hardwood Forest Management
Bioregion: Western U.S.
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship
Summary: Using a case study analysis, the author argues that long-standing fire regimes in the Western United States were generally caused by human management activities rather than lighting. The author posits that Indigenous nations frequently employed low-intensity forest fires. Specifically, the authors uses climatalogical studies to argue against past studies that claimed lightning caused such fires. There was no correlation between climatic changes and the frequency of fire when the two data sets were reviewed side by side. Additionally, the author uses vegetation to infer the frequency of fires.
Implications: There is an ongoing debate as to whether the great frequency of pre-colonial fires were caused by human beings or by lightning. This article provides a strong argument that the fire record is indeed a reflection of human heritage and human forest regenerative forest management. This article is intent on dispelling the longstanding notion that forest fires are always detrimental. The author illustrates the difference in the frequency of forest fires, who created them, and how they were created by nature or humans. By using a case study approach that analyzes multiple points across the United States, the author uses multiple references to strengthen their argument.
Reference: Kay, C.E. (2000). Native Burning in Western North America: Implications for Hardwood Forest Management. In: Yaussy, Daniel A., comp. 2000. Proceedings: workshop on fire, people, and the central hardwoods landscape; 2000 March 12-14; Richmond, KY. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-274. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station: 19-27.
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Native Americans as active and passive promoters of mast and fruit trees in the eastern USA
Bioregion: Turtle Island/North America | 12,500 BP - Present | Historical Ecology
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, land use
Summary: Researchers offer a multidisciplinary review of historical ecology studies, outlining the ways in which Indigenous Peoples shaped eastern forests into a breadbasket in pre-Columbian times. With special focus on oak, hickory, chestnut, walnut and various fruit trees, authors show how Indigenous peoples extensively managed eastern forests. They focus on how these Nations used fire and girdling as management tools to not only thin forests to promote healthy harvests, but also to create grassland understories, providing edible habitats for deer, elk, and other herbivores resulting in easy hunts. Authors also systematically refute arguments that the fire regime was caused by natural lightning ignitions and show that Indigenous Peoples were responsible for the fire pattern that occurred over millennia as a management strategy. It provides a wide variety of citations for further research as well.
Implications: This study clearly shows that Indigenous Peoples shaped Eastern forest composition with profound influence for at least ten thousand years. It debunks the myth that these lands were sparsely populated as well as the myth that Indigenous Peoples of this area did not intentionally cultivate the land. It reframes Indigenous Peoples as highly active and participatory managers of complex ecosystems. Popular culture often pigeon-holes Indigenous Peoples of the area as “hunter-gatherers”, passively harvesting what food they can find, rather than intentional agents of change that tended and transformed the world around them to augment life for their communities and that of other biota.
Reference: Abrams, M. D., & Nowacki, G. J. (2008). Native Americans as active and passive promoters of mast and fruit trees in the eastern USA. The Holocene, 18(7), 1123-1137.
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Prehistoric Upland Farming, Fuelwood, and Forest Composition on the Cumberland Plateau, Kentucky, USA
Bioregion: Cumberland Plateau, Kentucky
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, ecological farming
Summary: The author of the study examines the usage of prescribed burning within the Cumberland Plateau of eastern Kentucky during the time period of 3,500 B.P.. Through the examination of well-preserved archaeological deposits from rock shelters, the author describes the importance of prescribed fire on the production of fruits and seed cultivation after the time period of 3,000 B.P. specifically. The types of seeds, which were mentioned in the article, included goosefoot, sunflower, marsh elder, giant ragweed, and squash. In studying the role that Indigenous people played on seed cultivation within the region of eastern Kentucky, through the Holocene pollen record that was preserved, the author centralized the study upon one key feature: the location of garden plots and wood charcoal that had come about as a result of prescribed burning. According to the author, the presence of larger sized wood fragments in the region provided the researchers with the opportunity to understand the vegetation of the land during the time. Additionally, the authors note that these tribal groups would bring firewood into their places of shelter for warmth – a revelation that had not been studied before amongst tribal groups.
Implications: : In the article, the authors have extrapolated that the cultivation of fruits and seeds within the Cumberland Plateau region of eastern Kentucky during the Holocene period is a direct result of the ways in which tribal groups employed fire burning techniques.
Reference: Gremillion, K. J. (2015). Prehistoric upland farming, fuelwood, and forest composition on the Cumberland Plateau, Kentucky, USA. Journal of Ethnobiology, 35(1), 60-84.
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Fire, vegetation, and Ancestral Puebloans: A sediment record from Prater Canyon in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, USA
Bioregion: Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, soil stewardship, land use
Summary: Researchers in this article examine pollen recovered from Prater Canyon in Mesa Verde National Park to determine changes in vegetation during the Holocene period. Studying the land management techniques of the Ancestral Puebloans of the region, the authors note that fire burning was conducted with low intensity but high frequency during the time, with the authors stating that there was a consistent “relationship between humans, climate, and fire.” Authors also present evidence of a positive correlation between charcoal deposits and estimated population size – showing how the Ancestral Puebloans were able to sustain large population through the implementation of soil management through fire. While the authors do clarify that there are certain limitations to their data, including changes in population regardless of changes in vegetation, they conclude that fire played a role in the management of Holocene Mesa Verde land and life.
Implications: This article indicates that, contrary to popular belief, the Southwest was not exempt from the human implementation of fire as a management tool throughout Turtle Island (aka North America). Mesa Verde and the Southwest in general have been neglected in the research of anthropogenic fire as a land and food system management tool. The article also implies that Ancestral Puebloans were not solely agriculturalists, but implementers of regional land management and high desert agroforestry.
Reference: Herring, E. M., Anderson, R. S., & San Miguel, G. L. (2014). Fire, vegetation, and ancestral Puebloans: A sediment record from Prater Canyon in Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, USA. The Holocene, 24(7), 853-863.
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Prehistoric anthropogenic wildland burning by hunter-gatherer societies in the temperate regions: A net source, sink, or neutral to the global carbon budget?
Bioregion: Western U.S., Californian Indigenous Nations
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, land use, indigenous forestry
Summary: Examining a number of societies in the entirety of California, the author aims to dispel the notion that Native societies were primitive and instead interprets successful and advanced environmental management techniques to support their way of life. Specifically, the author describes the use of fire to stimulate plant growth used for clothing, cordage, musical instruments, snares, traps, games, structures, tools, and weapons. The researchers note that fire was both a powerful and effective tool for Sierra Miwok, Foothill Yokuts, and Western Mono Indigenous Nations that had an incredible influence in shaping the physical environment in the present day. The inquiry as to whether these burning practices are a net source or sink of greenhouse gas emissions was inconclusive.
Implications: This article asserts that California was never a “wilderness” as imagined by many early American conservationists, but was instead a highly manicured, regional garden of Indigenous California Nations. While their inquiry about the global carbon budget remained inconclusive, the question itself invites us to ascertain if Indigenous burning practices could perhaps sink more carbon (through the augmentation of carbon-sequestering, deep rooted grasslands, the upkeep of old growth trees, the proliferation of large ungulates, etc.) than they emit. This is not to mention how routine Indigenous patch burning prevents catastrophic fires by routinely reducing fuel loads and building ash-infused, spongy, heathy soils. As a side note, authors of this annotated bibliography dissuade the use of the term “hunter-gatherer” as it was used in this article. This term implicitly erases how these societies were cultivating and reciprocally “farming” entire landscapes.
Reference: Anderson, M. K. (1994). Prehistoric anthropogenic wildland burning by hunter-gatherer societies in the temperate regions: A net source, sink, or neutral to the global carbon budget?. Chemosphere, 29(5), 913-934.
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Revitalized Karuk and Yurok cultural burning to enhance California hazelnut for basketweaving in northwestern California, USA
Bioregion: Karuk, Yurok, Californian Indigenous Nations, Western U.S.
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, indigenous forestry
Summary: This paper looks into the anthropogenic fires of Karuk and Yurok Indigenous Nations in managing hazelnut shrub stands in Northern California. Frequent fire practices produced favorable conditions for the basketweavers. The article also explains the use of hazelnuts as a food source. The nuts are also pounded into cakes containing berries, meat, and fat, or boiled to extract the oil, which was used as flavoring. The nuts’ milk are used to cure coughs and colds, to heal cuts, and as an astringent. Roots are used to make a bluish dye. The wood is fashioned into arrows, fishing traps, hooks, and spoons, and the long, flexible shoots were twisted into rope or used for basketry. Plants were burned to the ground periodically (about every five years) to stimulate straight shoot growth. The paper also provides commentary on USDA fire exclusion policies and their effect on Indigenous land management systems.
Implications: This article indicates that hazelnut shrubs evolved within and through intensive human pyro-management and semi-domestication on regional scales in northern California and the Pacific Northwest. It shows us how we can create conditions on the land where useful materials become abundant. It also shows us that we can satisfy much of our medical, economic, and practical needs through the use of plant-based materials. The paper models potential research methodologies that are rooted in trust and collaboration with Indigenous Nations.
Reference: Marks-Block, T., Lake, F. K., Bird, R. B., & Curran, L. M. (2021). Revitalized Karuk and Yurok cultural burning to enhance California hazelnut for basketweaving in northwestern California, USA. Fire Ecology, 17(1), 1-20.
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Native American pyrogenic stewardship at an ancient wildland–urban interface in the Southwest United States
Bioregion: Southwest U.S., Jemez Pueblo Indigenous Nation
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, agroforestry
Summary: Authors integrate ethnography, archaeology, paleoecology, and ecological modeling to document intensive timber use by Indigenous ancestors of the Jemez Pueblo Indigenous Nation and the pro-colonial, pyrogenic, regenerative stewardship of the Jemez National Forest. They examined fire size, fire–climate correlation, and fire intensity. Initial settlement of northern New Mexico by Jemez farmers increased fire activity. Timber harvesting for domestic fuel and architectural uses and frequent, anthropogenic, patchy fires created a landscape that burned often but rarely burned catastrophically. Depopulation of the forested landscape due to Spanish colonial impacts resulted in a rebound of fuels accompanied by the return of catastrophic fires.
Implications: This article indicates that, contrary to popular belief, Pueblo Indigenous Nations in this area managed their surrounding landscapes with intentional, anthropogenic fire. This protected their settlements, farms, and social systems from catastrophic fires experienced in New Mexico today. As residential development continues into flammable landscapes, wildfires increasingly threaten homes, lives, and livelihoods in the “wildland–urban interface,” or WUI. Although this problem seems distinctly modern, Native American communities have lived in WUI contexts for centuries. When carefully considered, the past offers valuable lessons for coexisting with wildfire, climate change, and related challenges. Here we show that ancestors of Native Americans from Jemez Pueblo used systematic fuel-reduction through periodic patch burning and timber collection to make their ancient WUI resistant to climate variability and catastrophic fire. Learning from the past offers modern WUI communities more options for addressing contemporary fire challenges.
Reference: Roos, C. I., Swetnam, T. W., Ferguson, T. J., Liebmann, M. J., Loehman, R. A., Welch, J. R., & Kiahtipes, C. A. (2021). Native American pyrogenic stewardship at an ancient wildland–urban interface in the Southwest United States. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 118(4).
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Fire-reliant subsistence economies and anthropogenic coniferous ecosystems in the Pre-Columbian northern American Southwest.
Bioregion: Southwest U.S.
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship
Summary: This article challenges the notion that pre-colonial Southwest diets were maize-centric and instead suggests that many Southwest Indigenous Nations relied on successional-stage pyrogenic stewardship strategies intended to propagate “wild” plants in bulk quantities. This is dubbed by authors as “ruderal agriculture.” Analyses indicate that low-intensity burning was a key aspect of Southwest subsistence economies that generated anthropogenic ecosystems whose composition and productivity were markedly different from those of today.
Implications: This article challenges notions that desert ecosystems were more or less exempt from the pyrogenic stewardship of American ecosystems we see in pre-Columbian times. It also challenges that corn was the staple crop of Southwest Indigenous Nations and shows how bioregions were also managed to generate prolific amounts of edible plants including rice-grass, chenopodium (aka goosefoot, lamb’s quarters), and amaranth.
Reference: Sullivan, A. P., & Forste, K. M. (2014). Fire-reliant subsistence economies and anthropogenic coniferous ecosystems in the Pre-Columbian northern American Southwest. Vegetation history and archaeobotany, 23(1), 135-151.
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Paleoecological Evidence for Systematic Indigenous Burning in the Upland Southwest
Bioregion: Southwest U.S. Mogollon Rim, Grand Canyon, USA
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, land use
Summary: In the fire-prone coniferous ecosystems of the American Southwest where archaeological sites are abundant and the ecological legacies of ancient societies are incompletely understood, the “anthropogenic fire” hypothesis has been underappreciated. Authors examined sediment records and historical climate records to infer that precolonial residents of the Grand Canyon and the Mogollon Rim used fire in different ways as part of food production strategies. Authors conclude that aboriginal landscape management practices, which included systematic low-intensity burning, generated upland ecosystems markedly different from those encountered today.
ImplicationsThis study reveals a surprising finding: that the Grand Canyon and the Mogollon Rim were not "wilderness" in precolonial times, Rather, these ecosystems were highly manicured and managed through the application of systematic patch burning in part to stimulate the growth of edible species.
Reference: Roos, C. I., Sullivan III, A. P., & McNamee, C. (2010). Palaeoecological evidence for systematic indigenous burning in the upland Southwest. The archaeology of anthropogenic environments, 142-171.
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Wildfire in Southeastern Arizona Between 1859 and 1890
Bioregion: Southwest U.S., Nde, Apache
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship
Summary: The author lays out efforts made by Euro-American settlers to suppress the pyrogenic stewardship practices utilized by Indigenous Nations (Ndé aka Apache) in Southeastern Arizona. The article examines newspaper articles in the late 1800s to understand widespread anti-Native American and anti-fire attitudes held by European settlers towards Indigenous ways of life. The archives also imply that anthropogenic, regenerative patch burning of the forests in the area were indeed carried out by Ndé communities at the time.
Implications: This article implies that early settlers either 1) did not understand the purpose and regenerative nature of Indigenous fire techniques, 2) did understand their role but chose to demonize these practices, or 3) were scared of Indigenous burning, which deepened anti-Indigenous sentiment in the area at the time. These newspapers also accidentally archived and recorded an important part of traditional Ndé land management techniques. in this fire prone area.
Reference: Bahre, C. J. (1986). Wildfire in southeastern Arizona between 1859 and 1890. Desert Plants, 7(4), 190-194.
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The Use of Fire by Native Americans in California
Bioregion: Karuk, Maidu, Foothill Yokuts, Western Mono, and Miwok, Californian Indigenous Nations, Western U.S.
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, land use
Summary: M.Kat Anderson, who has produced a great deal of research on the land management practices utilized by Native nations of California, produces another study on the importance of fire in Native environmental stewardship. Fire was used to manage forests, create open lands, support wildlife, and produce essential materials for daily life. Additionally, the author makes note of food practices of the Karuk, Maidu, Foothill Yokuts, Western Mono, and Miwok Nations who burned shrubbery to increase the growth of plants such as strawberries, grapes, huckleberries, elderberries, and cherries. Moreover, the author makes note of fire burning practices to maintain mushroom and fungi plants within the Yurok and Western Mono tribes.
Implications: This article interprets pre-colonial and traditional Indigenous life as highly systematic, highly productive, and thriving. It also deepens our understanding of the profound link between fire and food production. It was through the use of fire that California Indigenous Peoples regenerated large Tule Elk and deer pastures for generations, and stimulated the growth of fire adapted edible plant species. It is a helpful read for those who want an introduction to Anderson's work.
Reference: Anderson, M. K. (2006). The use of fire by Native Americans in California. In Neil S. et al. (Eds.), Fire in California’s ecosystems (pp. 417-430). University of California Press.
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Multiscale perspectives of fire, climate and humans in Western North America and the Jemez Mountains
Bioregion: Western U.S.
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, resilience, soil stewardship
Summary: Tree fire-scar analysis in Jemez Pueblo homelands, New Mexico indicate the following: Prior to the 1680 Pueblo Revolt, human land uses reduced the occurrence of widespread fires while simultaneously adding more ignitions resulting in many small-extent fires. During the 18th and 19th centuries, wet/dry oscillations and their effects on fuels dynamics controlled widespread fire occurrence. In the late 19th century, intensive livestock grazing disrupted fuel continuity and fire spread and then active fire suppression maintained the absence of widespread surface fires during most of the 20th century.
Implications: This article is implying a very new narrative of Northern New Mexico: That Indigenous Peoples indeed practiced anthropogenic burning in pre-Columbian times in this region, which reduced the widespread, catastrophic fires currently plaguing northern New Mexico.
Reference: Swetnam, T. W., Farella, J., Roos, C. I., Liebmann, M. J., Falk, D. A., & Allen, C. D. (2016). Multiscale perspectives of fire, climate and humans in western North America and the Jemez Mountains, USA. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 371(1696),
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Niche construction and Dreaming logic: aboriginal patch mosaic burning and varanid lizards (Varanus gouldii) in Australia
Bioregion: Australia
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship
Summary: This study works with the Martu Indigenous Nation of Australia and reviews their land management strategies, which center prescribed burns in their desert homeland. Mosaic burning is recognized as an environmentally beneficial practice. Martu People burn small patches each year while allowing other patches to regrow, creating a mosaic across the land of burnt and unburnt patches. This approach increases the biodiversity of the desert ecosystem as each patch is in a different stage of regrowth with a different set of flora and fauna. Without burning, the desert collapses into homogeneity. Specifically, this practice supports lizard populations which are a major food source for local Nations. Their study is shaped around the Indigenous perspective that ecosystem engineering is important to ecological health and biodiversity. The authors posit that the forced removal of Martu People from lands has negatively impacted the ecosystem. The return of Martu People has resulted in the rebound of endemic species.
Implications: Considering how oftentimes conservation efforts advanced fortress practices that excluded Indigenous people from their land, it is essential to recognize humans and especially Indigenous communities as evolutionary and necessary ecosystem engineers. It is unfortunate that Western science requires these kinds of studies to validate increasing the involvement of Indigenous communities and integration of TEK in management solutions.This study employed novel and equitable practices as it integrated the local Indigenous knowledge to shape its focus and analyses. They collaborated with the Martu people to conduct the study as well. Considering how these kinds of studies often have a focus on supporting Indigenous practices and communities, it would be equitable if they also featured an analysis and interpretation from these groups.
Reference: Bird, R. B., Tayor, N., Codding, B. F., & Bird, D. W. (2013). Niche construction and dreaming logic: Aboriginal patch mosaic burning and Varanid lizards (Varanus gouldii ) in Australia. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 280(1772),
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Putting Country back together: a conversation about collaboration and Aboriginal pyrogenic stewardship
Bioregion: Australia
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, resilience
Summary: This was a summary of a panel discussion among two Aboriginal stewards and a researcher in Australia. Aboriginal fire practices that date back to tens of thousands years ago are being brought back to public land with the help of collaborations with the government. There is important commentary about 'trust' as well as what happens when the Indigenous fire practices don't take place: wildfires as well as unsuitable growth for the rest of nature. This paper mentions the cultural aspect of 'fire' as connecting to the ancestors, bringing color to the Country, and educating the youth about these ancestral practices. Aboriginal peoples mention that they have been on this land for at least 60,000 years.
Implications: Bringing back fire practices allows Native Nations people to care for their Country and bring balance to earth. The necessity to navigate public/private land (e.g. ownership of land and who has the rights to it) is challenging when traditionally land doesn't belong to individual parties. It highlights potential new ways of moving forward and how collaborations can help us care for the earth across cultures and backgrounds.
Reference: Bourke, M., Atkinson, A. & Neale, T. (2020). Putting Country back together: a conversation about collaboration and Aboriginal pyrogenic stewardship. Postcolonial Studies, 23(4), 546-551.
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Indigenous impacts on North American Great Plains fire regimes of the past millennium
Bioregion: Great Plains
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, resilience
Summary: Charcoal layers associated with bison harvest areas and drivelines indicate that fire was an important part of bison hunting practices. The study indicates that Native nations used fire to influence the migration and location of bison herds. Whether human activities and climate shifts shaped historic fire frequency is a controversial scientific question. This article does not "choose sides" in the human influence vs. climate influence debate, but rather states that they are mutually inclusive, and that Native Nations took advantage of wetter periods and the greater fuel this created for burns in the study area.
Implications: By using an empirical approach, authors demonstrate that at least some Native land stewards used fire to manipulate the location of herds for harvesting of bison. This is fascinating in that it shows how Native Nations did not simply follow the herds of bison, but that bison herds also followed humans and their strategic fires, which created nutrient dense grasslands in their wake.
Reference: Roos, C. I., Zedeño, M. N., Hollenback, K. L., & Erlick, M. M. (2018). Indigenous impacts on North American Great Plains fire regimes of the past millennium. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115(32),
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Bison, anthropogenic fire, and the origins of agriculture in eastern North America
Tags: land use, pyrogenic stewardship, soil stewardship
Summary: Scholars have argued that plant domestication in eastern North America involved human interactions with floodplain weeds in woodlands that had few other early successional environments. But this region is also known as the prairie peninsula: a prairie-woodland mosaic that was maintained by anthropogenic fire starting as early as 6000 BP. Contrary to conventional wisdom, recent research has shown that bison were also present in the prairie peninsula throughout the Holocene. Authors argue that ancient foragers encountered dense, easily harvestable stands of crop progenitors as they moved along bison trails, and that the ecosystems created by bison and anthropogenic fire served as a template for the later agroecosystem of this region.
Implications: The notion that Indigenous Peoples learned to domesticate crops by following bison trails is highly speculative. The hypothetical nature of this article notwithstanding, it presents interesting possibilities and food for thought. Perhaps most importantly, this article synthesizes literature that shows the vast and positive influence bison wield on prairie ecosystem biodiversity. The authors’ corresponding acknowledgement that Indigenous Peoples maintained bison populations through patch burning positions bison and Indigenous People as an effective, interspecies team that together co-create of biodiverse prairies ecosystems.
Reference: Mueller, N. G., Spengler III, R. N., Glenn, A., & Lama, K. (2021). Bison, anthropogenic fire, and the origins of agriculture in eastern North America. The Anthropocene Review, 8(2),
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Rise of the grassland biome, central North America
Bioregion: Midwest/Central U.S.
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, land use, soil management
Summary: This article explores the emergence of grasslands in Turtle Island (USA) over a geological timescale. Particularly on pages 189-193 the author discusses the importance of Indigenous fire in the upkeep of grasslands. These grasslands provided an important, biodiverse ecosystem that upheld Indigenous food systems for millennia. While not specifically mentioned, these grasslands fostered by routine Indigenous burning provided pasturage for bison, elk, deer and other large herbivores. Fire as a land management tool for herbivore populations that could be easily harvested within the pre-colonial food system is further supported by this article, among many others.
Implications: This article, particularly pages 189-193, discusses the importance of Indigenous fire in the upkeep of grasslands. These grasslands provided an important, biodiverse ecosystem that upheld Indigenous food systems for millennia.
Reference: Axelrod, D. I. (1985). Rise of the grassland biome, central North America. The Botanical Review, 51(2), 163-201.
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Forgotten fires: Native Americans and the transient wilderness
Bioregion: North America, various tribes
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, resilience, regenerative cultivation, soil stewardship, land use
Summary: This volume is a meticulous and thorough collection of hundreds of accounts of Indigenous pyrogenic stewardship throughout North America. Many of these accounts are from Euro-American explorers, soldiers, and colonists from as early as the 16th century. It highlights the ways in which these routine fires enhance soil quality by injecting them with nutrient dense ash, and the use of fire to create and maintain grassland ecosystems to feed large populations of herbivores. It was originally written in 1908 and republished by the University of Oklahoma in 2002, edited by M. Kat Anderson (author of Tending the Wild) and Henry T. Lewis.
Implications: This book showcases the ubiquity of prescribed fire in precolonial North America. It challenges the notion "pristine wilderness" at the point of European contact. It illustrates, with ample evidence and supporting citations, how the Americas were profoundly and intentionally sculpted by Indigenous fire managers. Particularly, Stewart focuses on how fire is used to create and maintain grassland ecosystems, which supported massive herbivore populations such as elk, deer, and bison. Native peoples also maintained fertile grasslands to open up canopy and facilitate travel for humans and non-humans. This article points to the correlation between precolonial meat/protein production and grasslands maintenance. This is a form of habitat expansion which in turn increases food availability. To re-implement these food systems strategies, we would need large, unfenced tracts of land to study the effects of seasonal burning on grasslands management, buffalo population rehabilitation, and landscape scale soil-management.
Reference: Stewart, O. C., Lewis, L.T., Anderson, M.K. (Eds.). (2002). Forgotten fires: Native Americans and the transient wilderness. University of Oklahoma Press.
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Humans, Fire, and Ecology in the Southern Missouri Ozarks, USA
Bioregion: Midwest U.S., Osage, Ozarks
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, land use, soil stewardship
Summary: The study examines the patterns of pyrogenic stewardship and land use techniques embodied by the Osage Indigenous Nation in the Sweeton Pond region of the Missouri Ozarks. The study takes place over three time periods. Synthesizing the paleo-ecological, historical, and archaeological records with independent climate data, the study examined whether human activity, climate shifts, or both caused historic fire frequency. The authors also examined the forced removal of the Osage tribe from the Ozarks and the settlements that preceded them. Authors found that fire-burning practices used by Osage Ancestors had significant influences on forest composition and health in the region. More specifically, with the arrival of European American settlers, burning became less frequent. Indigenous pyrogenic stewardship techniques were employed by the Osage, and these techniques in turn had a direct correlation with settlement sizes for tribal members – meaning that fire burning practices made the land more inhabitable. Moreover, when fire management of the forests disappeared following Osage exile, this created thicker forests and stunted the spread of pollen which led to a loss of biodiversity in the region.
Implications: The article showcases that the loss of the land-use practices used by the Osage had detrimental impacts of European settlements who did not use the same land management techniques as the Osage had native environmental effects. It supports the theory that the Ozarks beloved by Euro-Americans owe much of their beauty and abundance to historical Indigenous land stewardship. It indicates that this area was not "wilderness" but a highly managed and manicured ecosystem shaped to facilitate and support human and non-human populations.
Reference: Nanavati, W. P., & Grimm, E. C. (2020). Humans, fire, and ecology in the southern Missouri Ozarks, USA. The Holocene, 30(1), 125-135.
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Identification of anthropogenic burning in the palaeoecological record of the Northern Prairies: A New Approach
Bioregion: Canada, Sonata-Besant
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, land use, resilience
Summary: This article examines environmental management techniques utilized by the Sonata-Besant Nation in Southern Manitoba. Authors note that pyrogenic stewardship techniques utilized by First Nations had not previously adequately studied. Anthropogenic burning was used in the area to sustain livestock after colonization which helped livestock populations to thrive. Fire was historically used to encourage and shape bison-herd movements, which in turn, contributed to an environment that was rich in livestock. The authors were able to determine these bison-herd movements by using samples collected from chestnut and oak plants. Moreover, authors demonstrated the ways in which burning techniques stimulated fire-tolerant, edible plant populations.
Implications: This article shows the importance of land burning practices to maintain and sustain grasslands and herbivores (pyric herbivory). Deliberate burning in the area had not been previously studied. While this article was published more than 20 years ago, it describes how the researchers were able to piece together a fire record over the past 5,000 years.
Reference: Boyd, M. (2002). Identification of anthropogenic burning in the palaeoecological record of the northern prairies: a new approach. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 92(3), 471-487.
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Rangelands of the Great Plains Before European Settlement
Bioregion: Great Plains
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship
Summary: The article is focused on conveying the ecology of rangelands before settlement, and it is developed completely through the colonial lens. The authors describe how tallgrass was present in the east, and shortgrass and bareground dominated the rangelands in the Great Plains. It relies only on the accounts of colonials and soldiers that were exploring land to steal and refers to them as settlers ignoring the horrors they committed. It also negatively refers to Indigenous battles even though they were protecting their land and people. The authors note that soldiers did not have a good understanding of the land and refers to modern critiques of them. The accounts note that there were buffalo herds that would graze on the land. They also mention how Indigenous and naturally-driven fires were widespread and may have limited tree availability to the borders of bodies of water.
Implications: This article begins by mentioning the conflict in management in determining the reference and desired state. There is often much disagreement because Indigenous people are rarely included in conversations about how they managed the land and created the environment the colonials found. Some scientists are still referring to the supposed pristine state of ecosystems. The authors write through the lens of colonial Western science and also exclude Indigenous accounts of their historical land use, which is a strategy to advance land theft, erasure, and colonization.
Reference: Hart, R. H., & Hart, J. A. (1997). Rangelands of the Great Plains before European settlement. Rangelands Archives, 19(1), 4-11.
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The importance of traditional fire use and management practices for contemporary land managers in the American Southwest
Bioregion: Southwest US
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, resilience, land use
Summary: The article demonstrates how Indigenous and Hispanic cultures have employed fire for millennia hunting, trade, agriculture, warfare, travel, grass production, and stewardship. Research indicates that Indigenous nations leveraged gentle, routine, patch burning to create landscape-level regeneration and that disturbance was essential for healthy ecosystems. The article ends by providing information on how researchers and land managers can conduct equitable research for challenging historical erasure of Indigenous perspectives and for creating more effective research questions and methodologies.
Implications: This article challenges the omission of Indigenous burning as a land management strategy in Southwest studies. The article also demonstrates how Indigenous Nations understood the complex interactions and disturbances required for ecosystem resilience, which Western science is beginning to catch up with. The article further challenges how Western science has historically excluded and marginalized Indigenous forms of knowledge creation and transmission as the authors reference studies with firsthand and secondhand accounts. They also share Indigenous perspectives on the environment, sacred land relationships, and sacred sites.
Reference: Raish, C., González-Cabán, A., & Condie, C. J. (2005). The importance of traditional fire use and management practices for contemporary land managers in the American Southwest. Global Environmental Change Part B: Environmental Hazards, 6(2), 115-122.
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Defining the spatial patterns of historical land use associated with the Indigenous societies of eastern North America
Bioregion: Eastern Native American societies of North America
Tags: pyrogenic stewardship, land use, indigenous forestry
Summary: The study analyzed the spatial patterns of land use in the Eastern Native American societies of North America. The researchers employed archeological, ethnohistorical, land survey, and palaeoecological records to conduct their work. They found that Indigenous land use created a mosaic ecosystem with heterogeneous patches due to silviculture and agriculture. Silviculture improved foraging and hunting through burning and removal of understory growth. Indigenous communities planted crops in gardens and outfields of varying duration, placement, frequency, and extent. Anomalous forest composition has been attributed to Native American settlements, like the oak-hickory-chestnut communities. However, European technology disrupted and transformed the Indigenous subsistence practices. Land use patches for agriculture and silviculture ranged from under a kilometer to over tens of kilometers surrounding settlements and ranged from decades to centuries.
Implications: The study provides details in terms of how Indigenous people modified their land for their lifestyles and benefits from diverse methods. This information is important for showing that Indigenous people have been important ecosystem engineers with their food systems in Turtle Island over many generations. However, the researchers are studying the pristine myth/theory of nature in Turtle Island/The America, which has.historically contributed to displacement of Indigenous people from their land. Moreover, it is important that the authors recognize that bias exists in the accounts of European people of pre-settlement Turtle Island because other researchers have referenced these resources as fact and have used them to shape Western academic theories. The article does suffer because the authors generalize their findings although their research did not encompass the entire period in which Indigenous people lived in the Americas. They do not posit that they may not have found no influence of Indigenous people on certain areas because it could have occurred before the time period of the study and studies they cite.
Reference: Munoz, S. E., Mladenoff, D. J., Schroeder, S., & Williams, J. W. (2014). Defining the spatial patterns of historical land use associated with the indigenous societies of eastern North America. Journal of Biogeography, 41(12), 2195-2210.