Verse 1:
The land near Yosemite National Park, tended by Irene Vasquez’s kin
Seven acres, cared for with fires, to thin and let plants in
But the slopes ‘round the property, untouched for 100 years
Barred from cultural burning, now it’s the stuff of fears
Wildfire raged in July, dense vegetation fuelled the blaze
Irene’s abode was destroyed, land scarred in a haunting daze
Indigenous residents, ancestral territory burning in the night
Knowing the outcome could have changed, if only cultural burning was in sight
Chorus:
Cultural burning, a practice of controlled fires to tend the land
Widespread with Indigenous groups, now gone with a heavy hand
Overgrowth of vegetation, a consequence of the past
Wildfires grow large and severe, leaves Indigenous people aghast
Verse 2:
Native Americans, most affected by the fires in the land
Over three times more concentrated, in the census tracks of burning brands
Members of the Karuk Tribe, lost homes in the 2020 Slater fire
The Dixie fire of 2021, destroyed the Mountain Maidu’s offices ‘n’ fuelled the pyre
The Southern Sierra Miwuk, displaced by the 2021 Oak fire’s heat
Over 100 homes in Mariposa gone, leaving Indigenous people incomplete
The fast-moving McKinney fire, a death knell, killing four souls
A building destroyed, Karuk tribal archives, and Klamath River, fish in shoals
Chorus:
Cultural burning, a practice of controlled fires to tend the land
Widespread with Indigenous groups, now gone with a heavy hand
Overgrowth of vegetation, a consequence of the past
Wildfires grow large and severe, leaves Indigenous people aghast
Verse 3:
For the Southern Sierra Miwuk, recovery is an uncertain path
40-year legal battle, for federal recognition, they do the math
As an unrecognized tribe, they’re ineligible for much federal aid
They’re left with volunteer work, donations, and many grants they’ve made
The American Indian Council, supporting them through the fire
Raised over $100,000 for the Oak fire, relief reached higher
Clay River, director of the Miwumati Healing Center, knew the score
“We have a lot of people left with nothing,” it left his tribe feeling sore
Chorus:
Cultural burning, a practice of controlled fires to tend the land
Widespread with Indigenous groups, now gone with a heavy hand
Overgrowth of vegetation, a consequence of the past
Wildfires grow large and severe, leaves Indigenous people aghast
Verse 4:
Cultural sites, the fire, left the land, with severe irreversible scars
Prehistoric roundhouses, bedrock mortars, and resources burnt to the stars
Waylon Coats, the tribe’s vice-chair and cultural resource manager
As an archaeologist, he made the fire, a cultural burning’s banger
The practice, central to the tribe’s belief, helped many a trade
Basket makers, hunters, and medicine people, it helped the people to aid
They’d burn the deer grass to ensure the native plants could thrive
They’d burn litter to improve, the oak groves, for years, they’d thrive
Chorus:
Cultural burning, a practice of controlled fires to tend the land
Widespread with Indigenous groups, now gone with a heavy hand
Overgrowth of vegetation, a consequence of the past
Wildfires grow large and severe, leaves Indigenous people aghast
Verse 5:
Burning would occur, in many a Southern Sierra Miwuk village
Dotted in the Yosemite’s Valley, and many areas, they’d pillage
But in 1850, the Legislature passed the law, slavery of the Indigenous
Facilitated their removal, their land, and the cultural burning, divisive
State-sponsored militias, in their bid, to exterminate the Indigenous
Once Yosemite National Park, was formed, they were excluded, with reasons impervious
Treated as if they had no historical knowledge, of their land, their culture
A law to prevent the cultural burning, the Legislature, they’d vulture
Chorus:
Cultural burning, a practice of controlled fires to tend the land
Widespread with Indigenous groups, now gone with a heavy hand
Overgrowth of vegetation, a consequence of the past
Wildfires grow large and severe, leaves Indigenous people aghast
Verse 6:
In 1969, the last of the Southern Sierra was gone, to the last oak and the last pine
In Yosemite’s valley, their cabins were burned, in the fires, they were consigned
A small number of cabins, the last of their tribe, burned to the ground
A small number survived, what’s left of the Southern Sierra, having found
The landscape, a different place, a web of different ownership and culling
The largest trees, logged, and the denser stands, of younger trees, they were tallying
Invasive plants, had formed, a fuel of a different kind, to carry flames up in the sky
What was once a cultural burning landscape, the land now, a wildfire’s high
Chorus:
Cultural burning, a practice of controlled fires to tend the land
Widespread with Indigenous groups, now gone with a heavy hand
Overgrowth of vegetation, a consequence of the past
Wildfires grow large and severe, leaves Indigenous people aghast
Verse 7:
The 19,000-acre Oak fire, wrecked what it left, for the Southern Sierra Miwuk Nation
They’re left without the right to practice burning, without proper land, it’s a vexation
They’re ineligible for the funds, for land stewardship, and community and economic development
Unlike other tribes, the Southern Sierra, left to flounder, without the right, it’s a predicament
They petitioned for recognition, for 40 years, and provided proof, they do exist
Their descent from the Miwuk people, from treaties they signed, it had persisted
The assistant secretary for Indian Affairs, issued a proposal, the recognition denied
The Southern Sierra Miwuk, a distinct community, it left the community, hurt, and their emotions, it applied
Chorus:
Cultural burning, a practice of controlled fires to tend the land
Widespread with Indigenous groups, now gone with a heavy hand
Overgrowth of vegetation, a consequence of the past
Wildfires grow large and severe, leaves Indigenous people aghast
Outro:
Cultural burning is a story, a part of Indigenous lore
Cultural burning is now gone, it’s left Indigenous people, forlorn
Cultural burning is a practice, to tend the land, with love
Cultural burning is what it’ll take, to give the land, the Indigenous people a love glove
The Art of Cultural Burning and Indigenous People’s Plight from California’s Wildfires
Verse 1
The land near Yosemite National Park, tended by Irene Vasquez’s kin
Seven acres, cared for with fires, to thin and let plants in
But the slopes ‘round the property, untouched for 100 years
Barred from cultural burning, now it’s the stuff of fears
Wildfire raged in July, dense vegetation fuelled the blaze
Irene’s abode was destroyed, land scarred in a haunting daze
Indigenous residents, ancestral territory burning in the night
Knowing the outcome could have changed, if only cultural burning was in sight
Chorus
Cultural burning, a practice of controlled fires to tend the land
Widespread with Indigenous groups, now gone with a heavy hand
Overgrowth of vegetation, a consequence of the past
Wildfires grow large and severe, leaves Indigenous people aghast
Verse 2
Native Americans, most affected by the fires in the land
Over three times more concentrated, in the census tracks of burning brands
Members of the Karuk Tribe, lost homes in the 2020 Slater fire
The Dixie fire of 2021, destroyed the Mountain Maidu’s offices ‘n’ fuelled the pyre
The Southern Sierra Miwuk, displaced by the 2021 Oak fire’s heat
Over 100 homes in Mariposa gone, leaving Indigenous people incomplete
The fast-moving McKinney fire, a death knell, killing four souls
A building destroyed, Karuk tribal archives, and Klamath River, fish in shoals
Chorus
Cultural burning, a practice of controlled fires to tend the land
Widespread with Indigenous groups, now gone with a heavy hand
Overgrowth of vegetation, a consequence of the past
Wildfires grow large and severe, leaves Indigenous people aghast
Verse 3
For the Southern Sierra Miwuk, recovery is an uncertain path
40-year legal battle, for federal recognition, they do the math
As an unrecognized tribe, they’re ineligible for much federal aid
They’re left with volunteer work, donations, and many grants they’ve made
The American Indian Council, supporting them through the fire
Raised over $100,000 for the Oak fire, relief reached higher
Cl
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