Abstract
The hundreds of Indigenous tribes in the United States harbor diverse perspectives about the natural world, yet they share many views that are important for ecosystem restoration efforts. This paper features examples of how such views have guided ecosystem restoration through partnerships between tribal communities and the U.S. Forest Service in the western United States. Traditional perspectives have influenced restoration by deepening the understanding of reference conditions, expanding consideration of system dynamics, and guiding treatment based upon ethical principles and beliefs. More holistic perspectives may enhance restoration success by encouraging positive psychological and social effects that help sustain community efforts. Guided by traditional perspectives, restoration activities can reveal evidence of past human engagement with the land, which further illustrates the need and opportunity for restoration. Traditional perspectives can encourage more integrative, ethical, and self-reinforcing restoration that will benefit present-day tribal and non-tribal communities.
Highlights
The hundreds of Indigenous tribes in the United States harbor diverse, accumulated knowledge about caring for the lands in which they have lived
To explain how traditional ecological wisdom can inform current science and efforts to care for the Earth, we drew upon our experience working among tribal communities and the US Forest Service in the western part of the United States, in Ndee (Western Apache) territory in Arizona, Nium (Western Mono) territory in the Sierra Nevada of California, and territories of the Karuk, Yurok, and Hoopa Tribes in northwestern California
Traditional perspectives regard the natural world beyond plants and animals as rich with life force that requires moral considerations
Summary
The hundreds of Indigenous tribes in the United States harbor diverse, accumulated knowledge about caring for the lands in which they have lived. We highlight examples from these experiences where insights from traditional practitioners influenced ecological restoration efforts in ways that depart from the tendencies of conventional Western management and science.
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