This appeared on the “iNature” FB page last night with a lot of aplomb. When I asked for the artist the little bot that runs their page told me “I create this”. Thanks for the chat. Amy and I both like it, but her hand chalked version would be so much better.
If you were awakened last night by a whirring noise it was the inevitable sound of R. Grace Morgan turning over and over in her grave at this report from the CBC. The headline alone has left me in a horrified state of shock from slapping my own forehead so many times and with such velocity,
Read that again out loud. And really appreciate the arrogance. Because we all know if there is ONE thing indigenous communities need more of it is government scientist teaching them about ecological balance.
You know in much the same way as Navy seals can teach orcas the value of limiting their oxygen intake to dive deeper, or French chefs cab teach Chinese peasants about the value of cooking meals quickly over with high heat to conserve fuel.
Thank goodness those beavers came along to teach the natives about balance. They were so UNbalanced before.
She says even though the relationship between the Anishinaabe and manoomin has changed since colonization, it still remains essential to understandings about themselves and their relationships to homelands.
“It makes sense that our ancestors obviously understood some of the work that beavers were doing, and saw that beavers create wetlands where then manoomin would grow,” said Garrity.
Displacement and relocation from colonization as well as major changes to the natural landscape from development has affected where manoomin is harvested.
Garrity sees the pre-colonial relationships as reciprocal.
“The beavers, the rice and the people were here existing in these changeable, dynamic ecological and cultural systems and relationships for a very long time.”
Hey, I know a funny story., Let’s imagine that there was this tribe that lived off the land and learned about it and tended it and served it for an eon in relative harmony and then this other group of rag tag ham-fisted greedy people sailed in and took over everything and gave them alcohol and guns to shoot beavers so they could sell their fur for hats.
Then the first peoples drank the alcohol and shot each other and totally messed up their culture by killing all the beavers which ruined the fish and the water and the hunting so that there wasn’t enough of anything to go around, Meanwhile the the ragtags got rich and their children all graduated from college and came back and told them that beavers were actually GOOD and they should learn ecological balance from them!
Wouldn’t that be HILARIOUS!!!
Our wildlife cameras at this Sonoma Valley park captured a few hardworking beavers dragging branches and twigs from land to water over the course of several nights — and even putting up with some very curious raccoons!
You might call them the ultimate preppers, storing plenty of food to last the whole winter long. A beaver family, called a colony, usually includes a mom and dad, this year’s kits and older siblings from last year. Together, they gather and stash piles of branches, twigs and leafy snacks to last through winter. While they don’t hibernate in the winter, they do like to get snuggly in their dens, snacking on their food stores and tapping into the fat reserves in their tails for energy.
All that tireless chewing and tree felling does more than feed a family. Beaver dams also help improve the habitat for many other species. Ones we’ve seen around this dam include otters, salmon, raccoons, kingfishers, western pond turtles, bobcats, deer, great blue herons, great egrets and monarch butterflies and more!
Now I’ve seen beavers building dams, and birds drinking from the dam, but what I never saw was an owl hunting on the dam! Or a fisher going over the dam. This is a fun video. It’s almost like beavers are essential players and the center of the whole ecosystem. Go figure.
Turn the volume up, it’s part of the fun.
