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Digital Exhibits

UCSC Bioneers 2016 ~ Chairman Valentin Lopez

Citation:

“UCSC Bioneers 2016 ~ Chairman Valentin Lopez,” Digital Exhibits, accessed August 26, 2025, https://exhibits.library.ucsc.edu/items/show/1589.

Description:

"TRADITIONAL ECOLOGICAL KNOWLEDGE & LAND STEWARDSHIP” with CHAIRMAN VALENTIN LOPEZ

The Amah Mutsun creation story tells us that Creator specifically gave
the Amah Mutsun the obligation to take care of the lands of their
traditional tribal territory. For thousands of years and perhaps 800
generations or more our ancestors actively managed the lands of our
traditional tribal territory so that they provided for all living things. After first contact our traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) was removed from land management, the result has been devastating for our environment. Today the Amah Mutsun are working with State and National Parks, land conservation organizations, foundations and
universities to restore lost knowledge and to reintroduce TEK to land stewardship. Chairman Lopez talks about the Tribe's efforts to restore their traditional ecological knowledge and how these efforts are helping their members recover from the historical trauma of their tragic history.

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