Mountain Maidu: Traditional Ecology and Medicine in Contemporary Spaces

Christina L. Quigley
Anthropology Student, CSU, Chico

Christina Quigley pursues what she calls “de-colonized research” to learn about traditional ecology and indigenous land stewardship, and how those two things connect to a system of medicine. She believes in indigenous sovereignty and defines “de-colonized research” as learning about this subject from the Maidu people themselves. In doing so, she has found that ancestral ecological knowledge remains present in contemporary households and still influences how the Maidu people interact with the environment. Quigley’s research focuses on an area of the Sierra Nevada mountains that includes the town of Chester; most of the Maidu people who have shared their knowledge with her live in the Greenville and Susanville Rancherias.

Please Note: This is a public anthropology lecture for learning and outreach. Research is presented about Indigenous California Traditional Ecological Knowledges through Mountain Maidu land stewardship and reclamation. Ancestral practices and systems of medicine persist and emerge through creative ways in contemporary life.

Recorded: February 22, 2018