Editor’s note: This year, the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network (IPBN) is celebrating its ten year anniversary. While this decade of existence only marks a small slice of time in comparison to the eons that Indigenous peoples have tended to land through fire stewardship, we are nevertheless excited to celebrate this occasion. To commemorate the last decade of work, Fire Networks staff gathered reflections from the past and visions for the future from director, Mary Huffman, and other partners of the IPBN. Blog cover photo credit to the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network.
Birth of a network – An interview with Mary Huffman, Director
What inspired the development of the IPBN?
Mary: The Fire Learning Network (FLN) had been building cross-boundary collaborations in fire for about 15 years. One day, Lynn Decker (our previous FLN Director) said to me, “You know, we’ve never asked people in our multi-partner collaborations if all of this networking makes any sense in a tribal context. I want you and Jeremy Bailey [who coordinates the Prescribed Fire Training Exchange, or TREX program] to go to Northern California and ask them.” She specified that area because some tribal people from the Karuk, Hoopa and Yurok Tribes had been working with us in the Western Klamath Restoration Partnership and some TREX events. They knew us and we knew they would give us straight up advice.
So, I rented a small cabin called the Ten Bear Cabin near Ti-Bar, a location near the Klamath River. Six Native American people sat in that cozy cabin with Jeremy and me for a day and a half together . . . with Serena Conkey the cook! The participants were members and descendants of the Karuk, Yurok, Hoopa and Plains Miwok Tribes. (Their names: Bill Tripp, Frank Lake, Margo Robbins, Rene’e Stauffer, Nolan Colegrove and Don Hankins.)
Jeremy and I came with two questions, and we were prepared to really listen. Would a fire network among tribes make any sense? And, if so, how would the network be different from the networks that were already in place? (At the time, those included the Fire Learning Network, TREX, and the Fire Adapted Communities Network.)
And how did the group respond to your questions?
Mary: Almost immediately, Bill Tripp said, “Well, it’s the cultural piece that’s missing. Tribes that are trying to revitalize their traditional fire cultures have no support, anywhere.”
In answer to how a tribal fire network might be different from others in existence, Don Hankins said, “It would be grounded in tribal law and relationships.” The discussion continued and a list of key characteristics emerged. Asking further, we inquired, “What kinds of things would the network do?” These became the network’s “likely strands of work, which are intertwined like the sticks of a basket.”
Eventually Jeremy and I asked something like, “So, do you think it’s worth giving this a try?”
Nolan Colegrove said, “Up here the three tribes are different, but we have similar fire cultures. Maybe we could try it here, if you want.”
With that invitation in a large, inter-tribal, eco-cultural landscape, how did the network begin to take shape?
Mary: As the discussion developed, still in Ten Bear Cabin, we asked how such an effort would be governed. Nolan said, “The women would have to lead it.” Jeremy and I didn’t understand the depth of that necessity, but without questioning we said okay.
Participants from each of those tribes recommended their co-lead: Rene’e Stauffer of the Karuk Tribe, Deborah McConnell of the Hoopa Tribe, and Margo Robbins of the Yurok Tribe.
When we were at the cabin, we tentatively called this new network the Cultural Burning Network. The group later decided to call it the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network.
Soon after Jeremy and I returned home and reported back to Lynn, she asked me if I would lead the effort. Of course, I said “Yes, please.” Jeremy was busy building the TREX program and I was eager to deepen my involvement in Indigenous fire systems which I had studied in Mexico.
I wrote up a summary of that cabin meeting, which is available to readers upon request. The document is neither a charter nor a set of bylaws or operating procedures. It is, however, the foundation upon which the network still operates. And that’s how the IPBN got started.
How has the network grown and how is it structured today?
Mary: Today, a group of Indigenous Co-leads and Advisors guides network growth and activities, while support staff from The Nature Conservancy help carry out network activities. Most of the original individuals from the cabin in Ti-Bar still participate in the network in some capacity; however, the network has grown to include tribes, pueblos, and participants from across North America. We were advised to “grow along the trade routes,” and while those connections are at work among participants, we have also responded to interest from geographically separate eco-cultures. There are usually one or two people who serve as primary contacts from each tribe, pueblo or Native American NGO. We are also seeing growth in state-wide and multi-state collaborations across ancestral territories.
We meet virtually throughout the year with working groups focused on building programs, exploring national efforts and network operations. Once a year the entire group is hosted in person by a network member or tribe. The annual convening is the highlight of the year! Participants find it inspiring to get together, explore cultural burning in different places and support each other through the challenges of cultural revitalization. Indigenous Peoples have the right of self-determination to shape their fire cultures now and in the future. In these gatherings, participants find inspiration to clarify that vision for themselves and their communities, and the courage to succeed against the odds.
The impact of today’s IPBN as told by the participants
The IPBN held its 2024 Annual Workshop with the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas. This workshop brought together 65 attendees representing 26 tribes, tribal organizations, and various government agencies across the United States. At this year’s gathering, we asked participants to share why they are a part of the IPBN.
“The IPBN fosters and supports the advancement of science, policy formation and Indigenous Fire Sovereignty. These efforts have increased the development and application of research and management that are informed by tribal fire stewardship strategies and practices.”
Frank Lake, Research Ecologist/PSW Tribal Liaison, US Forest Service
“I think that the best part about the IPBN is just to have space to come together with other tribal nations, groups, and individuals that are doing really important restorative work in their communities around cultural fire management. It’s really inspiring to be a part of this group. I really enjoy getting to connect and learn from others in this space.”
Aja Conrad, Pikyav Field Institute Program Manager, Karuk Department of Natural Resources
“The people. The family network. The sense of community. It means a lot- I feel included, I feel like my voice matters. But, to me, being included and being supported and encouraged to do more work [that] I am trying to do is really, really important and keeps me going. Everything I learned about cultural burning is from the IPBN and the wonderful group of people here who are willing to share everything they’ve learned; their knowledge, their expertise, the hurdles, how they’ve navigated the system to do cultural burning in their community and I’m trying to do the same.”
Rhiana Jones, Environmental Program Director, Washoe Environmental Protection Department
“I appreciate the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network for being just that, a network of other Indigenous people focused on burning. For myself, trying to navigate the world of cultural burning has been difficult and challenging trying to do it with just my team at the Accokeek Foundation. But now that we’ve been connected with the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network, it doesn’t feel so lonely, and I have other people that I can rely on for help and others who I can hopefully help in the future.”
Risharda Harley, Stewardship Director, Accokeek Foundation
What will happen in another ten years?
We also asked participants to share how they see the IPBN developing in the next ten years.
“… although we are people of different places, it’s quite clear that we are challenged by the same things, regardless of where you live. What I want to learn and what my offering is, how can we address these challenges together? How can we help and align resources, people, energy? We are people with the same goals and objectives together in Indian Country. We can work closer together, break down barriers, overcome policy restrictions. I think about the future of the IPBN. I believe in this group, I believe in the aspect of fire in our cultures, I’ve learned it. I’ve lived it. I’ve seen it. I’ve helped it.”
John Waconda, NM Indigenous Partnerships Program Director, The Nature Conservancy
“We can bring this amazing project out to other tribes. Talk to them about their burning rights, we can talk to them about how to do training exchanges. Discuss all of our needs, and wants, and concerns. I hope that we will have every tribe across the continent, the United States and around the world actively involving Indigenous people in cultural burning and prescribed fire for cultural resources and just be able to have access to all the things that Indigenous people should have.”
Elizabeth Azzuz, Director of the family / Traditional burning program, Cultural Fire Management Council
“I think that there are 12-26 tribes as a part of IPBN, so with 500+ tribes in the United States, I’d like to say that that number of tribes in IPBN will be doubled. Much more indigenous communities I think could benefit from being involved with IPBN and empowering their communities to be land stewards and take care of their own land in the way they see fit. I hope that in ten years we will have a network with cultural burners who can go around and help other tribes do cultural burning. Whether they need an engine, or a burn boss, or whether they just need boots on the ground, I hope to see a lot of fires burning in ten years.”
Rhiana Jones, Environmental Program Director, Washoe Environmental Protection Department
What can others do to support Indigenous cultural burning?
Many people in the fire world want to support Indigenous fire sovereignty. What advice do you have for someone who wants to be a fire ally?
Mary: One of the things we learned actually from Aboriginal people in Australia is a concept called “right way fire.” And “right way fire” is not just burning for the right reasons in the right places at the right time. It’s also burning in the right way by the right people. Not that non-Indigenous people shouldn’t be burning because, clearly, across the US we need more good people doing more good burning. But we allies have to accept that Indigenous fire cultures are far more sophisticated than we will ever know. Some Indigenous people train all of their lives to serve in very specific roles for very specific reasons. This might be hard for people who are not part of that culture to understand (and sometimes there is sacred information that Tribes don’t even want to share). So, if you are going to be an ally to Indigenous cultural burning, you have to become a respectful listener and then a follower.
I always say if a person from a tribe comes to you as an ally and says, “We need to burn this place in this way at this time with these people,” you don’t even ask why. You just say, “How can your allies be useful in supporting you to get that done?” And they may say, “well, we need you to get out of our way.” They may say, “oh, we need backup equipment.” Or they may say, “well, the Bureau of Indian Affairs requires a fire plan and if somebody could write the fire plan that would help.” They might invite you to be useful to meet their need.
So, “right way burning” is a little more complicated than just burning.
You can learn more about the IPBN at www.firenetworks.org/IPBN.
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