SAMUEL GENSAW III on the Restorative Revolution /256
Photo of a Yurok traditional eel basket woven from locally-harvested hazel sticks; courtesy of @ancestral_guard.
The abundance of the Klamath River has been severely restricted since the late 1700s by way of mining, logging, and damming. Once home to the third-largest salmon run in the lower 48, now Northern California is risking the collapse of its entire salmon population. After two decades of activism, the Klamath River dams will finally be removed by 2023, restoring salmon access to more than 400 miles of habitat. However, this is merely one example of the ways in which land has been chronically mismanaged across the so-called United States. This week we speak to Yurok fisherman and activist, Samuel Gensaw III, on the ways in which Northern California has served as a continuous extraction site for colonial development. Thinking into the restoration of the Klamath River, Samuel guides us to explore the length of restoration and the work that follows in the aftermath, both in terms of ecological restoration, but also the remediation of ancestral territories and the heart and spirit that is intertwined with these lands.
This expansive conversation begins by looking at resource extraction, but moves into a larger dialogue on our collective responsibility to world renewal, bringing back balance to our relationships, how to instill new values without appropriating cultural traditions, and the Ancestral Guard’s Victorious Gardens program featured in the film Gather.
“All life stems from the Earth.”
Photo of Samuel Gensaw III by Jason Hartwick
Samuel Gensaw III is the founding director of the Award-winning Ancestral Guard program. Currently, he is the youngest person to serve as the vice-chairman of the Yurok tribe’s natural resources committee. He and fellow Ancestral Guard members are featured in the documentary, Gather, which focuses on the growing movement among Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political, and cultural identities through food sovereignty.
♫ The music featured in this episode is “Slow Wolf” by Lake Mary, “Raindance” by All The Queen’s Ravens, and “Sorceress” by Jess Williamson.
Episode References
Creating a University – Community – Tribe Research Collaboration to Build Capacity for Food Security
"Bi-Directional Learning: Identifying Contaminants on the Yurok Indian Reservation"
Reading Recommendations
Standing Ground: Yurok Indian Spirituality, 1850-1990 by Thomas Buckley
For Indigenous Eyes Only edited by Waziyatawin Angela Wilson and Michael Yellow Bird
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For The Wild is a slow media organization dedicated to land-based protection, co-liberation, and intersectional storytelling. We are rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth, and consumerism. As we dream towards a world of grounded justice and reciprocity, our work highlights impactful stories and deeply-felt meaning making as balms for these times.