Yurok and California condor paper.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge and the California condor: Bringing the Condor Home to Yurok Tribal Homelands

Teresa Wicks

SSPC 507

June 16, 2011

In the time since European contact, Indigenous peoples of North America have witnessed the decline or extinction of many species of plants and animals that they depend on for both physical and spiritual sustenance. In the early 1900s, as destruction of “untamed” nature continued to expand west, unregulated some Euro-Americans began advocating for the preservation, conservation or restoration of species, resources and ecosystems. Despite positive efforts on behalf of the ecosystem, these early naturalists continued the dehumanization of First Nations peoples by leaving them out of the conservation conversation and by perpetuating the idea that areas uninfluenced by Euro-Americans are uninfluenced by humans in general.

In an effort alleviate environmental problems, resource managers turned to western science, once again ignoring the very peoples that originated from this land. In “Indian Givers” Jack Weatherford makes the astute observation that First Nations peoples were scientists before there were scientists. They have an intricate understanding of the land around them and how all things are connected and through this connection affected each other. There have been many reintroduction and restoration projects that have used western science, excluding traditional ecological knowledge held by the people that lived here since time immemorial. The Ecological Society of America, in the Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) section of their journal, defines TEK as “[a]daptive ecological knowledge developed through an intimate reciprocal relationship between a group of people and a particular place over time” (Ecological Society of America, 2010). The Alaska Native Science Commission lists these bullets in their definition of TEK:

• It is practical common sense based on teachings and experiences passed on from generation to generation.

• It is knowing the country. It covers knowledge of the environment - snow, ice, weather, resources - and the relationships between things.

• It is holistic. It cannot be compartmentalized and cannot be separated from the people who hold it. It is rooted in the spiritual health, culture and language of the people. It is a way of life.

• Traditional knowledge is an authority system. It sets out the rules governing the use of resources - respect, an obligation to share. It is dynamic, cumulative and stable. It is truth.

• Traditional knowledge is a way of life -wisdom is using traditional knowledge in good ways. It is using the heart and the head together. It comes from the spirit in order to survive.

• It gives credibility to the people.

There is a growing awareness of and interest in the value of TEK among western scientists. Unfortunately, this interest often only extends to cultural heritage, ignoring the inherent knowledge that TEK offers. Additionally, “the current regulations and practices in many regimes still do not provide effective formal mechanisms for the integration of TEK into active management” (Menzies and Butler, 2006). TEK is a highly detailed, specific set of knowledge about a specific place, meaning it is difficult to extrapolate the knowledge from on place to another. In the view of many western scientists this decreases the effectiveness or value of TEK. In reality, this specificity emphasizes the importance of gathering TEK from as many areas, about as many management practices and about as many species as possible.

In the case of the California condor TEK will play a vital role not only in understanding the traditional range of the condor but in creating a long lasting reintroduction plan that takes into account the condors historical range and habitat and the cultural importance of the condor.

California condors, Gymnogyps californianus, are the largest terrestrial birds in North America, with a wingspan of 9.5 feet, occasionally reaching 10-12 feet, and weigh between 18 and 23 pounds. Condors are scavengers using their keen eyesight to live off of carrion, which they will fly up to 140 miles to gorge themselves upon. Contrary to popular myth condors cannot pick up and carry off small children or livestock, in fact they “have never been known to kill a live animal” and are ill equipped to do so as they lack talons and the ripping/tearing predatorial beaks of other birds of prey (Foster, 2011).

California condors are found in open scrubland or wooded mountain ecosystems. They require cliff-side caves or crevices or hollow, broken top redwoods. Condors have low reproductive potential, laying only one egg every other year. Chicks generally remain with their parents into the second year after hatching. Similar to other large North American birds California condors do not reach sexual maturity until they reach six years of age, though they are often not successful until they reach eight years of age, and are monogamous, mating for life (Yurok Tribe 2010).

Geographically California condors once ranged across most of the North American continent. About 11,000 years ago, when the late Pleistocene megafaunal extinctions occurred the condor lost major sources of food and their range dwindled to the west coast, from British Columbia to Baja, California. By the mid-1900’s condors were found only in southern California (Yurok Tribe, 2010; Foster, 2011). In terms of numbers by 1977 there were only 45 wild birds, slipping to only nine wild birds by 1985. On April 19, 1987 the last wild California condors were captured and placed in captivity. At that point there were 27 living California condors left in the world, all of them in captivity (Foster, 2011). With such an extensive history on the North American continent, and with plenty of ideal condor habitat remaining the precipitous drop in condor numbers was puzzling, that is until human interactions were taken into account.

California condors are highly revered by many First Nations tribes in the Pacific Northwest and California. Condors are often considered world purifiers because of their natural role cleaning up death and decomposition. “Traditional ecological knowledge expressed through original languages, stories, place-names, material artifacts and dance all highlight the significance of condors in the ancient indigenous cultural context of the Northwest” (Oregon Zoo, 2005). An archeological dig at Five Mile Rapids, near The Dalles, OR unearthed 10,000 year-old remains of at least 22 adult condors. There is evidence that the feathers from these birds had been intentionally stripped, likely for ceremonial purposes (Wilbur, 2010). Condor feathers played an important part in the Jump Dance and White Deer Skin Dance world renewal ceremonies held at the end of summer by the Yuroks in northern California. The Wiyot, also of northern California, considered condor feathers an important part of their doctoring regalia. Tribes throughout the San Francisco Bay area of California made whistles out of condor wing bones, wore condor capes and ritually buried condors (Foster, 2011; Walter, 2009; Wilbur, 2010). While there is a plethora of evidence that many tribes killed condors for their plumage or raised young condors for eventual sacrifice condor populations appear to have been stable until the arrival of European settlers in the mid-1800’s (Wilbur, 2010).

There is evidence that as early as the mid-1700’s Euro-Americans killed condors for “science” or museum collections but it wasn’t until western tribes were virtually eradicated or removed from their traditional lands that condor numbers began to decline. Private collectors and museums from around the world wanted both adult and young California condor skins and eggs for their displays, encouraging unregulated hunting of condors. Ranchers and farmers mistakenly believed that condors would kill their livestock or carry off their children, leading to the further shooting of condors. Ranchers also laced livestock carcasses with strychnine in order to kill coyotes, wolves and condors. Possibly even more damaging than the direct human effects were the indirect Euro-American effects (Wilbur, 2010).

These effects include the thinning of condor eggshells, causing them to break under the weight of incubating parents, from DDT and DDE (a pervasive chemical derived from the breakdown of DDT) used in pesticides after World War II. Another indirect effect is lead poisoning caused by the consumption of lead shot left in carcasses or gut piles by hunters in condor territory (Walter, 2009; Grube, 2009). Thus, much like the First Nation tribes that revere them, the California condor is a victim of both intentional destruction and thoughtless actions on the part of Euro-Americans.

In 1987, several agencies, including U.S. Forest Service, San Diego Wild Animal Park, Los Angeles Zoo, Oregon Zoo, California Department of Fish and Game, the Peregrine Fund, Ventana Wildlife Society, the Center for Scientific Investigation and Graduate Studies in Ensenada, La Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAP), National Park Service at Pinnacles National Monument, Santa Barbara Zoo, the Chapultepec Zoo in Mexico City, gathered together to attempt to right the wrongs inflicted on the California condor, in the form of a condor recovery program. In 1992 the first 11 captive bred condors were released from their “training facility.” Since 1992, the number of captive and wild condors has increased to 322 birds, about 172 are living in the wild.

The interesting thing about the current condor recovery program is that it is only attempting to reintroduce California condors to Arizona, near the Grand Canyon, in a few locations in southern California and in Baja California, Mexico. None of these programs seem to include TEK or the interest of tribes that live in former condor habitat. This changed in 2008 when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service granted the Yurok $200,000 to determine the feasibility of reintroducing California condors in northern California.

The journey to bring the condor back to northern California began sometime around 2005 when the Yurok began discussing the creation of a wildlife preserve on tribal lands. In a 2009 interview, Tiana Williams, tribal member and staff member with the Yurok Tribe’s wildlife program, is quoted as saying “It’s written in the Yurok constitution, and it’s always been one of our goals, to have restoration of Yurok ancestral territory — the landscape, the animals — to what it was pre-contact with Europeans” (Walters, 2009). The California condor was chosen as one of the top three species tribal elders would like to see reintroduced, coming in third to salmon and sturgeon. Salmon and sturgeon already have programs in place, thus the California condor became the flagship species for the Yurok’s fledgling wildlife program. An interesting aspect of the condor being the first species reintroduce to Yurok homelands is that the Yurok view condors as purifiers, cleansing the world (Grube, 2009).

About 20 years before the tribe began this endeavor, as they began reviving traditional ceremonies, a Pecwan elder sang a condor song. This was the first time that tribal members had heard the song, leaving many members wondering what happened to the condor. Yurok tribal member Bob McConnell says “We as Yurok are looking to restore our culture, and to restore our culture we need to have a healthy ecosystem. And to have a healthy ecosystem you’ve got to have all the participants, and the condor certainly was one. He’s one of the big missing pieces” (Walters 2009).

Today, the Yurok use a combination of TEK and western science in planning for the return of the condor. TEK, and a deep cultural appreciation for condors, inspired the Yurok Tribe to dream of seeing condors flying over their homelands once more. Tribal wildlife managers use intimate, local knowledge of condor natural history to establish survey areas. In these areas they live trap turkey vultures, carrion eating cousins of the condor, using large mesh and PVC enclosures and carrion as bait. Once trapped the turkey vultures are given a thorough examination and their blood is drawn and tested for lead, DDE and DDT. Northern ravens are also being drawn into the research mix. They eat a diet more varied than the condors but similarly do not migrate, unlike turkey vultures, which winter south of the border (Grube, 2009).

As it stands today the Yurok have confirmed that DDT and DDE levels will not pose a barrier for California condors. Unfortunately lead, from lead shot, still poses a problem for condor reintroduction. Lead shot has been banned in many, if not all, areas where condors are found but hunters still use it and condors are still poisoned by it. Diligent condor recovery team members capture poisoned condors and take them into captivity for chelation (the removal of lead from their blood). The removal of lead shot from condor territory seems like a small hurdle but in reality it has been one of the greatest challenges for condor recovery (Peregrine Fund, 2008; Zoological Society of San Diego, 2011).

The ambitious efforts of the Yurok Tribe have inspired other tribes in California and the Pacific Northwest to dream of seeing California condors in their skies once again. The Confederated Tribes of the Yakama Nation have partnered with the Oregon Zoo to sponsor the zoo’s condor breeding program and The Confederated Tribes of Siletz Indians have spoken publicly about bringing condors back to Oregon (Oregon Zoo, 2005). The Yurok Tribe’s condor reintroduction program showcases the value of TEK to natural resources conservation, preservation, restoration and management. This condor program also pairs western science and TEK in a blend that could, and should, inspire leaders from tribes, non-profits, government agencies and other non-governmental organizations. In keeping with TEK, honoring their traditional connection to condors and maintaining and managing the place of humans in the natural world the Yurok Tribe are regaining some of the balance that the tribe and the natural world they live in lost with the coming of Euro-Americans. By combining western scientific methods and tools with TEK, the Yurok have created a complete reintroduction system for the California condor, giving hope to tribes throughout traditional condor range, that one day they will get to once again watch California condors drifting on thermals, searching for carrion and cleansing, purifying and restoring balance to the world.

References

Foster, John W. 2011. Wings of the Spirit: The Place of the California Condor Among Native Peoples of the Californias. California State Parks. Available at: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=23527. Accessed June 19, 2011.

Grube, Nicholas. 2009. Bringing Back Condors. The Daily Triplicate. May 9, 2009. Pp B1-B2. Available at: http://www.yuroktribe.org/government/selfgovern/documents/triplicate_condor.pdf. Accessed June 21, 2011.

Oregon Zoo. 2005. History. Oregon Zoo’s California Condors. Available at: http://www.oregonzoo.org/Condors/historyOral.htm. Accessed June 21, 2011.

Peregrine Fund. California Condor Restoration—Conservation Projects. Updated 2008 Available at: http://www.peregrinefund.org/conserve_category.asp?category=California%20Condor%20Restoration. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Walters, Heidi. 2009. Fixing the World. The North Coast Journal. July 16, 2009. Available at: http://www.northcoastjournal.com/news/2009/07/16/fixing-world/6/. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Weatherford, Jack. 1988. Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas transformed the World. New York: Crown Books. Paperback edition: New York: Ballantine, 1989.

Wilbur, Sanford R. “Sandy.” 2010. Chapter 1: Condors and Indians. Condor Tales: California condor Past, Present, Future. Available at: http://www.condortales.com/DCIndians.html. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Wilbur, Sanford R. “Sandy.” 2010. Chapter 2: Early Birds. Condor Tales: California condor Past, Present, Future. Available at: http://www.condortales.com/DCIndians.html. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Wilbur, Sanford R. “Sandy.” 2010. Introduction: Condor 101. Condor Tales: California condor Past, Present, Future. Available at: http://www.condortales.com/DCIndians.html. Accessed June 20, 2011.

Yurok Today. 2009. Flight of the Prey-go-Neesh. Yurok Today. Pp. 3-4. Available at: http://www.yuroktribe.org/news&issues/news/documents/march_newsletter_Yuroktribe.pdf. Accessed 20, 2011.

Yurok Tribe. 2010. The Yurok Tribe Condor Program. Updated 2010. Available at: http://www.yuroktribe.org/government/selfgovern/condorhistory.htm. Accessed June 21, 2011.

Zoological Society of San Diego. California Condor Recovery Program. Updated 2011. Available at: http://cacondorconservation.org/programs/. Accessed June 18, 2011.