PROJECT HIGHLIGHT:
This project is a collaboration between the San Francisco Estuary Institute, Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and Colfax Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe to document and integrate Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK; Tribal science) of tule wetlands into Delta management and restoration. Through interviews with Tribal elders, literature reviews, a Tribal workshop and interagency summit, the project aims to integrate TEK and western science, to the benefit of Tribes, agencies and others invested in wetland management in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
PROJECT SUMMARY:
The Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta has been profoundly shaped by both natural processes and human management over thousands of years. While Indigenous peoples historically stewarded these wetlands through TEK, Tribal science has been largely overlooked in modern management strategies. This disconnect has resulted in both ecological and cultural losses in the Delta region.
The San Francisco Estuary Institute is partnering with the Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians and the Colfax Todds Valley Consolidated Tribe on a three-year project to document and integrate TEK into Delta management. The project will focus on tule wetlands, which have significant ecological and cultural importance. Through interviews with Tribal elders, literature reviews, a Tribal workshop and interagency summit, the team will gather and synthesize oral and written knowledge about Tribal science and traditional management practices of tule landscapes.
The project will produce several key resources: an agency-directed report that connects Tribal science and management approaches to current Delta management goals, educational materials for Tribal communities to preserve and share Tribal science and an academic manuscript that integrates available western science with TEK and provides a citable reference for those who study and make decisions in the Delta. By bringing together these different perspectives and knowledge bases, the project aims to create more effective approaches to wetland restoration and management in the Delta.
This project is funded by the Delta Stewardship Council Delta Science Program under Agreement No. DSC23000, and is administered by California Sea Grant.
April Robinson