This is the ancestral land of the First People, the Kumeyaay.

As climate change continues to wreak more havoc both locally and abroad, how we manage land will become more of a significant factor in protecting the planet’s resources. However, here in California, we don’t have to look far to find ways to accomplish that. 

For thousands of years, the Kumeyaay have implemented land management practices to both protect and enhance resources and productivity of the land, whether it’s for food or medicine or other raw materials. To this day, some of those traditional practices are still in use. This ranges anywhere from building rock walls to utilizing controlled burns.

In this episode of Divided Together, we’ll hear from two members of the Kumeyaay Nation and how their ancestors have used the land’s resources to benefit both the land and the people, as well as why these practices are necessary in our increasingly changing climate.

This episode closes with a special twenty-seven-year-old recording of the late San Jose de la Zorra elder, Gloria Castaneda, describing the juncus collecting song. Audio courtesy her daughter, Ana Gloria Rodriguez.

Divided Together is a California State Parks podcast series for Border Field State Park, brought to you by California State Parks Foundation, Parks California, and the generosity of an anonymous donor.

Music Credits:

• Lobo Lobo by Blue Dot Sessions is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/, transformed for time)

Anne Marie Tipton: Executive Producer and Host

Adam Greenfield: Podcast Producer and Engineer