Understanding Indigenous Landscapes on the Columbia Plateau - Jon Shellenberger

[@lewdawson]

I salute CWU, Nike, Jon for this valuable knowledge. In Florida, cultural knowledge and history is being legislated out of existence. Minority culture, history and knowledge can only enhance a society’s people.

[@mrtony1985]

Lectures like these are so valuable in helping people learn other points of view and get out of their comfort zone. These topics can be difficult and yet need to be discussed with an open heart & mind. The best professors challenge the way we think and you continue to accomplish that through yours and your guests lectures. Thank you. ❤️👏

[@beckyd712]

Thank you for including this in the series and for posting these videos! Great information. I have become a Zentnerd over the last couple of years. It makes me sad when we get to the end of each quarter. I so enjoy learning new stuff with you all. I even appreciate "For those about to rock, we salute you"! *We salute you too Nick Zentner! Thank you! Never met a rock I didn't like.*

[@johnplong3644]

This was a outstanding Lecture You should definitely do more of these Nick Jon is a very intelligent and articulate Person. What he is saying ( teaching) in extremely important It has great value . You said you are going to more of this I certainly hope you do ..Critics be Damed ( sorry Patrick) I am looking forward to seeing Randy Lewis hopefully on the future . I am all about leaning about new things I have learned a few new things from Jon Thank you ,Jon and the rest at CWU for putting this lecture together ..Outstanding Job ..again …love Thank you.

[@rayschoch5882]

Watched on replay. I don't mind that much of Jon's talk was not strictly geology. It seems useful to me to get other perspectives, including perspectives that take us out of our comfort zones, just to gain a fuller understanding of what's being studied.

[@Siletzia]

Thank you, Jon and Nick, for putting this presentation together. As a student of both geology and history, it was inspiring and insightful. It's important for young geologists, and the not so young, not to mention many of the rest of us, to have a better understanding of the spiritual relationship Tribal/First Nations members have with Earth. I turned off the live chat because of ignorant comments, but that's an unfortunate reflection of our society. To those who couldn't handle what Jon was speaking to, try to open your heart and mind and listen. It might do you some good.

[@carriesue9643]

The idea to not look at the LIVE CHAT is very noble. I got to the point I wait to the end and say thanks. I also see the chat as a disrespect to the speakers. Mark you right.

[@lizosaurusrex]

This is wonderful. Thank you.

[@bethmccasland7165]

I thoroughly enjoyed the talk. Sometimes difficult to hear, and definitely not what I was taught in school. And as a retired Fed who has worked in the PNW for the last 12 years of my career, I wish I heard something along this line when I arrived. Thank you to Jon, Nick, and CWU for the presentation.

[@lcrain7840]

thank you thank you thank you! so much gratitude for this teaching and the opportunity to listen and learn

[@rachelwebber3605]

Thank you for this, Nick. I'm a behavioral ecologist in training, which has given me very broad interests in evolution, geology, ecology, ethology, and ethnography, as those all impact how animals interact with each other. My area is the Willamette Valley, and I've been trying to learn more about the histories of the peoples who lived and interacted in the area to get a clearer idea of the ecological landscape throughout time, and ways to conserve and manage landscapes in the future.

[@susanliebermann5721]

Thank you for opening my eyes to a native perspective.

[@petercooper4322]

I must add that I enjoy Prof Nick’s enthusiasm for the subjects and for teaching - Peter from Ossining, NY

[@janetfoltz9090]

Thank you so much for this! I absolutely loved it! Jon taught me so much! Nick, you're the best. What a great idea these KZbin lectures are! See you in April. 💚

[@donshriner6100]

Thanks for putting this on....thank you John and Nick!

[@GottaWannaDance]

Thank you Nick. I'm still in Madison and continue to enjoy everything you produce on KZbin. (Btw, I too get emotional when the native elders speak and share something that maybe the rest of us don't get to be privy to. I am humbled to be able to consider you my teacher, as you make these things happen for the rest of us.) Steve

[@victorrichenstein1646]

Haven’t stopped thinking about this lecture. I am seeing the geology in a completely different way- same place, but different meaning ….a different origin story. Thanks for this one.

[@donnacsuti4980]

I did shellfish fishing work and did a study with a tribe in northern California and Oregon coastal areas they collected product a different way ( better and less impact on nature way). Fortunately times improve some so they asked the tribe about their method so they could allow them to collect when others weren't allowed. On testing we found that even during toxic bloom season the mussels collected the Indian method were safe to eat. Why? Well the Indians walked along the shore a long way and as they went they would collect only one or 2 mussels each stop then walked on. So they did little to no harm to the population or environment. Because the collecting was so spread out the toxin is not equally distributed in the environment it became obvious. The toxin levels must be higher in the easy more protected( by rocky coves etc) sites. So the collecting a few in all different environmental settings made a big difference. This allowed them to use this food resource all seasons of the year. So they are now allowed to do that. More of these studies need to be done and published in science journals.

[@GottaWannaDance]

That is how I learned to forage plants, fungus, etc. I'm not native, but taking the easy does it / be gentle approach seems to insure what's there can continue to increase and prosper. I am not indigenous, but I believe their historical ways are correct for this planet and all here.

[@fibberscloset498]

I just love this program. Thanks, Jon!

[@paulliebenberg3410]

Interesting the parallel between the village in Morocco where Noraly was visiting and how the families living there had a method for sharing irrigation water, and of the Yakima People's method for sharing the salmon run.

[@timbyrne914]

I spend a lot of my free time in the mountains, and for me hard-core geology, ecology, and this sort of ethno-geography are all pieces of an evoliving puzzle in understanding who we are and where we live.

[@maxinee1267]

Wow oh Wow! Thank you so much for educating this white woman of 79 years about your culture and customs and the enormous unjustice the Indian People have been forced to endure. We owe you so much. things must change to honor you and your ansestors. This is what is needed more of. Thank you so much. I am open hearted toward all of you.

[@genebohannon8820]

I wish I could get Prof. Nick a million followers!!!!

[@gails-connor3289]

Thank you, this meant a lot.

[@johnjunge6989]

Thanks Jon and Nick for this. I'm a member of the Cahokia Mounds society, that is buying the property that was the largest NA tribal society. They lived in piece with the French for many years, but when the English moved in, they tried to eliminate their society. This area extended into what's now, the St Louis downtown area. So I totally understand Jon's clarifications on how people can not relate. I'm sure if the Indians had done what the settlers did, if roles were reversed, we'd be appalled. Great stuff!

[@wimm0926]

This was amazing! Thank you for inviting professor Nick. We have so much to learn

[@jeandorsey7991]

Love this Professor Nick. Excellent talk today, yes uneasy at best but very important. Northwoods Wisconsin is going through this exact emotion. Even as Fort natives we weren't prepared for all this additional Native American history. My Native American Studies Program was equally as dramatic for me here in Lac du Flambeau. However, to inherently feel this process of renewed identity for them and us, i too am saddened by what the Koshkonong Mounds Golf Course did. I try to quell my anger and sadness and focus on what Hugh and Doris Highsmith did, by saving those effigy mounds next to it, even its just an acre. Hugs!

[@tgmccoy1556]

Thank you Jon and Nick I didn't make it earlier, I have a fair amount of Cherokee and Choctaw from my Grandma. This is verified and documented. I have relatives that are Nez Pierce. Enjoyed this very much.

[@robertfarrimond3369]

Denialism runs deep in bureaucracies because the ruling members are often generational. The places I've visited were described hunter/gatherer sites. I always thought; "kind of sounds like Native American's?". Oh no, the hunter gatherers were the ones before the Native Americans, was always the message. Great presentation!

[@northwoods3d]

Thank you both, Nick and Jon, for an interesting presentation.

[@alicemiller3139]

Loved this! Hoping you have more sessions with the Native Americans! While we, white man tried to get rid of all those”troublesome” people, known as the Indian, we are now in 2023. Those troublesome natives mean no harm to us white folks, but want us to understand their understanding of how they managed things for a long time before we got here! We could learn better land management and better wildlife if we better understood how it used to be managed. As for families, it makes sense, but families are spread all over the world these days. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be kind to our neighbors even if they aren’t blood. Perhaps in time, those in charge will be more open to engaging the natives that were here before us and together, moving forward, we will have better environments for all of our children’s children.

[@iamnegan1515]

Killer entrance, loved the jokes 😂😂😂

[@ExoticTerrain]

OMG He just started talking and I already love him!💕

[@donnacsuti4980]

Thanks for your lecture , much appreciated Donna

[@ExoticTerrain]

This is definitely for me personally!

[@yukigatlin9358]

Wow, wow..., I'm just taking in... Gene and I appreciate you so much for educating us about your landscapes and the history!!😃💞💗 Who do you contact for the Information and the access of important places at Yakama Tribe??...

[@debbier6418]

I live just a few miles from the Indian School site in Phoenix AZ. It is just so unbelievable what happened to the people and culture of Tribal Nations in the past and so glad things are heading towards the good even if is at a slower than usual pace. Jon and Nick, please keep educating us!!! I appreciate you both. Peace.

[@Meyersci]

I moved to Phx and learned about that history a few decades ago. So heartbreaking. I had been teaching in a rural k-8 school where Tribal children from a rancheria that owned a casino were enrolled. The wealth of the casino went directly to families in huge payments for every month, year, wedding, birthday, birth and 8th grade graduation. The effect of unfathomable amounts of money combined with the cultural damage over the generations led my students to make a lot of poor, sometimes deadly choices.

[@willbradley7450]

Land use practices are extremely important to our human future especially in the light of climate change. Traditional people here have as Jon said, been using practices that are sustainable and supportive. Here in the Willamette valley, the practice of burning open range has ceased over concerns of field burning smoke invading city airsheds. And yet, not burning means the inversion in the atmosphere over the Pacific is not dispersed by the convective plumes of large fires on land, which has in turn lead to forest damaging temperature extremes in recent years along with greater desiccation of the forests making them fire prone and in fact burned. Einstein said the most powerful law in the universe was the law of unintended consequences, so it seems....

[@johncloo9093]

Good job Nick.

[@shlby69m]

Question for Jon--If Columbia Basin were made nationally protected, what is biggest change for us?

[@tomhall7633]

What in the hell is wrong with peace love and understanding. Thanks guys!

[@robtippin9111]

😎

[@complimentary_voucher]

The thing that has bored and alienated me from geology as a science and passion in the past, and stopped me from pursuing it academically, is its biggest failing- its lack of collaboration and cross pollination with other disciplines. You can't understand a geological area without knowing its biology (still gobsmacked at the geologists who don't get this), and you can't understand its biology without consulting the original inhabitants, where they are extant, for context and nuance. I am grateful to live in New Zealand where our treaty process, fraught and stupid as it often is, is fundamental to our shared political and ecological future, to the point where basically nothing gets done without including that framework. Is it always good faith or effectual? No, but it's a f of a lot better than nothing. The way indigenous Americans are treated to this day is a national shame. I wish you all the best sorting that out, because the rewards of the journey in itself are inestimable. Thanks Jon and kia ora.

[@wanderwithBarbee]

Its too bad this is not a requirement to watch by all.

[@davidpnewton]

This lecture had some interesting components. The setting of the history background was necessary because there have been massive historical injustices. However there was too much of that. There was a claim "nothing has got better" for example. Rubbish. Utter rubbish. Would we see a Trail of Tears today? No. That means things have got better. Would we see Wounded Knee today? No. That means things have got better. Do we see efforts to stick tribal children into boarding schools where their culture is deliberately suppressed? No. That means things have got better. Are things good? Likely not. Are they better than they were? Absolutely. How much on the actual landscapes of the area was there? Not much. The tribal fish weirs were mentioned and that was the sort of thing the title of the lecture implied it would be about. What impact did the culture and practices of the Yakama have on the local region's wildlife and landscape and biodiversity? I wish I knew. Besides the fish weirs and the mention of fire-resistant Ponderosa pine growing a lot due to frequent clearance fires very little was said on the subject. What were tribal hunting practices for deer? Why were those practices done? What local plants were foraged for by the women? Were any of them cultivated in any way? What materials were used for canoes and why? What places did the tribe move to at different times of the year and why? Were there any areas the tribe avoided for taboo reasons? What materials did the tribe make tools from? For example: did they use obsidian from the Big Obsidian Flow at Newberry? If they did what did they trade for it and how did the exploitation necessary to acquire the materials to be traded affect tribal life? Where are tribal ritual sites and why in those places? What were clothes made out of and why particular furs or skins or fabrics? These are all questions it would have been fascinating to learn the answers to. These are all the sort of questions that the title implied the lecture would be about. Instead it degenerated into whining about archaeologists only thinking about things like archaeologists and fishing rules being enforced against tribal members. Bet one village _really_ wouldn't have liked another coming down to its fishing weir and taking catch there. Wonder how many wars were fought between villages over issues like that? Overall a poorly-structured lecture with precious little on the advertised subject matter. A definite dud.

[@lorrainewaters6189]

We are in the minority, I am afraid, David, but I agree with you. Thanks for expressing this opinion so well.

[@lizosaurusrex]

Go read some books?

[@davidpnewton]

@@lizosaurusrex that is indeed an option. However it is an option independent of this lecture. I don't like things done under false pretences and this was heading well into that territory. As I said above he talked very little about the purported subject indeed. The purported subject is fascinating and it's a real shame he didn't explore it.

[@kingswayguitar]

i find mr. shellenberger explained it quite explicitly from the start and had valid and recent examples. good luck on your journey to learn more mr. newton

[@dickdewit8433]

Good morning Nick, heavy stuff, makes you almost sad about what ( former) Europeans caused. Here in The Netherlands big discussions are going on about slavery. This is also difficult, and causing lots of controversy if people living today are responsible for things happened generations ago. A question I am not able to create an answer for. There are a-lot of arguments pro and con. Have a nice weekend. Still in the hospital, so lots of time to think, for many weeks. Best regards, Dick