Flipping Tables in Fire Camp: The History of the Karuk Tribe's Wildfire MOU

Community members are encouraged to attend, ask questions, and contribute to preserving this important history. We hope to see you there.

You are invited to join this community conversation on the history of Karuk wildfire response. Since 1996, the Karuk Tribe has secured the right to assign field-going cultural resource monitors—and Tribal advisors who consult directly with incident commanders—on all wildfires in its aboriginal territory, through an innovative MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the National Forests.

The creation of the MOU was a win for Indigenous sovereignty after decades of militant land and water defense. Recently, we (a group of local researchers) have been making a video and building a timeline to tell the story of the direct-action struggles of the 1970s and 1980s and the evolution of the Karuk Tribe's fire program from the 1990s onward.

We are excited to share our work-in-progress, talk about this history with the community, and take suggestions about additional parts of the story to research.

Dinner will be served at 5:30 PM. The presentation begins at 6:00 PM, followed by community feedback, questions, and suggestions.

For more Information:

Vikki Preston, 707-834-1767, vpreston@karuk.us