TERA's Indigenous-led Stewardship Strengthens Relationships Among Communities and with the Land

Earth Rising is a proud supporter of Tribal Ecorestoration Alliance (TERA), which is a community based intertribal nonprofit organization working to revitalize ecology, economy and culture through Indigenous-led stewardship. They are working together to heal their land and communities by connecting tribal members with meaningful and culturally relevant work in their traditional territories, building capacity to engage in ecological restoration work, supporting native voices and regenerating the ecosystems of the North Coast ranges. 

This past year Earth Rising was proud to support a multipronged project aimed at further developing the leadership and professional skills of TERA’s new and existing staff, deepening relationships with the land and implementing Good Fire on Tribal Trust Land. 

TERA Crew learns about Pomo baskets with Corine Pearce, local basketry expert

To start, TERA’s staff has fostered 8 new staff members through their Native Stewards Fellowship program. For their administrative team, they have provided events and workshops related to cultural awareness, stewardship practices, Tribal partnership, and TERA’s founding principles. For their crew members, TERA has provided weekly trainings designed to build technical skills, cultural knowledge, and professional development capacities. The Crew received training in equipment operations, including water pumps, engine hose 2 layouts, UTV safety, saw maintenance, radio communications, mapping, and tactical fire techniques as well as professional development workshops focused on soft skills. TERA also hosted a Cultural Awareness workshop for all staff designed to foster cultural understanding, promote respectful relationships, and provide tools to support healing in Native communities.

Local elder, Doug Duncan, speaking at our Land Celebration

TERA also spent this last year deepening their relationship with the land. Through intentional programming, TERA staff pauses to deeply consider how to care and manage landscapes. This can look quite different from other mainstream approaches to combatting climate change. Instead, TERA encourages staff to consider sitting with a space and reflecting on its history when considering how best to care for the land.  

Finally, TERA has made great progress on lowering the barriers for Tribes to practice fire sovereignty on Tribal Land. Currently, Good Fire on Tribal Trust Land is regulated by the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) and requires large amounts of staff time and resources. TERA is working to create a model that will advance the pace and scale of Tribes’ abilities to put Good Fire on the ground on federal Trust land. Their model will bring together the US Forest Service, The Nature Conservancy, TERA, and BIA to ensure Good Fire is accessible and impactful. 

Overall, Earth Rising is so happy to see the deep work TERA is doing and support the many facets that go into running a successful, responsive and connected organization dedicated to Indigenous-led stewardship