Good Fire: Tending Native Lands

Coming Soon | Great Hall

Friday November 7, 2025—Sunday, May 31, 2026

Good Fire: Tending Native Lands explores how Native communities in Northern California have used controlled fire—also called “good fire” or “cultural burning”—to care for the land and sustain traditions for millennia. Organized in collaboration with Native Northern California fire practitioners, artists, ecologists, and cultural leaders, the exhibition reframes fire as not solely a destructive force, but as an essential tool for supporting healthy ecosystems and vibrant communities.

In this immersive exhibition, explore fire-dependent plants, regalia, basketry, videos of cultural burns, and artworks that help us understand how “good fire” benefits all life—humans, animals, and plants alike. Historical photographs, fire-scarred tree samples, and works by artists like Saif Azzuz (Yurok/Libyan), Renée Leann Castro-Ring (Lisjan Ohlone), and Brian D. Tripp (Karuk) highlight connections between the exclusion of Native peoples from their homelands and environmental decline. These elements illuminate ongoing efforts such as prairie restoration, Land Back campaigns, and the work of Native groups like the Cultural Fire Management Council. 

Rooted in Native knowledge and stewardship, the exhibition challenges colonial narratives that have suppressed Native fire and land relationships in what is now known as Northern California. Good Fire: Tending Native Lands is ultimately a call to reimagine California’s relationship with fire, honoring Native sovereignty and building a future where fire once again sustains life.

gET TICKETS
MEMBER TICKETS

Want to see it free? Members get unlimited admission to special exhibitions and galleries. Learn more about membership.

Already a Member? RSVP for the opening celebration on November 6.

Highlights

Tule burn in Clear LakeCredit: Jesus Campanero (Pomo), 2022, Reproduction courtesy of Jesus Campanero, Tribal Council Member, Robinson Rancheria / Board of Directors, Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance
Tule burn led by the Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance with Robinson Rancheria on the shores of Clear Lake, 2022. Photo by Jesus Campanero (Pomo). Courtesy of Jesus Campanero, Tribal Council Member, Robinson Rancheria / Board of Directors, Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance.
Will Smith (Stewarts Point Rancheria), Xavier Jack (Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians), and Martin Duncan (Robinson Rancheria) start a fire with a friction kit, Michelle Cone, 2024, Courtesy of the Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance

Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance crew members Will Smith (Stewarts Point Rancheria), Xavier Jack (Big Valley Band of Pomo Indians), and Martin Duncan (Robinson Rancheria) start a cultural burn at Middletown Rancheria using traditional fire by friction, 2024. Photo by Michelle Cone. Courtesy of the Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance. 
Hoopa Valley Tribal member Steven Saiz watches flames snake through thick underbrush during a cultural burn managed by the Cultural Fire Management CouncilCredit: Maddy Rifka
Steven Saiz (Hupa) uses liquid fuel from a drip torch to spread fire. Photo by Maddy Rifka.
Margo Robbins, of the Cultural Fire Management Council leads firefighters as they light an indigenous prescribed burn with bundles of wormwood in ceremony, near Weitchpec, CA.
Margo Robbins (Yurok), of the Cultural Fire Management Council, leads a beneficial burn on Yurok homelands. The group starts the burn using me-chaa-nep (wormwood) torches. Photo by Kiliii Yuyan. 
Group of Elk on Yurok Tribal Land
Group of Elk on Yurok Tribal Land, 2023. Courtesy Michelle Stern, PhD, USGS California Water Science Center.
Frank K. Lake (Karuk), Axrúhih (Karuk language), Elk antler purseYEAR?Courtesy of Frank K. Lake (Karuk)
Frank K. Lake (Karuk), Axrúhih (Karuk language), Elk antler purse, Courtesy of Frank K. Lake (Karuk)
Íshyuux (Karuk language) antlerElk antlerCourtesy of Frank K. Lake (Karuk)
Íshyuux (Karuk language) antler
Elk antler, Courtesy of Frank K. Lake (Karuk)
Diana Almendariz (Wintun, Nisenan, Hupa) burns basketry plants at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve.Courtesy of Alysha Beck/UC Davis
Diana Almendariz (Wintun, Nisenan, Hupa) burns basketry plants at the Cache Creek Nature Preserve. Courtesy of Alysha Beck/UC Davis.
Saif Azzuz (Yurok, Libyan), that time will come, 2024Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Anthony Meier, Mill Valley.
Saif Azzuz (Yurok, Libyan), that time will come, 2024. Acrylic on canvas. Courtesy of the artist and Anthony Meier, Mill Valley. 

collaborators

Diana Almendariz, Cultural practitioner of Maidu/Wintun and Hupa/Yurok traditions
Weshoyot Alvitre, Tongva and Scottish, illustrator
Kimberly Avalos, photojournalist and producer
Elizabeth Azzuz, Cultural Fire Management Council, Director of Traditional Fire
Saif Azzuz, Yurok/Libyan, artist
California Indian Basketweavers’ Association Board of Directors
Roni Jo Draper, Yurok, filmmaker
Patricia Franklin, Scotts Valley Band of Pomo Indians, basketweaver
Chairman Ron Goode, North Fork Mono Tribe, fire practitioner
Don Hankins, Miwkoʔ (Plains Miwok), CSU Chico, professor
Inés Ixierda, Sogorea Te’ Land Trust
Frank Lake, Karuk, Fire Practitioner
Ayuthea LaPier, Fire Generation Collaborative
Leece LaRue, Karuk Tribe Memory Lab Project Manager
Marissa Lila Kongao, filmmaker
Alice Lincoln Cook, basketweaver, Karuk
Valentin Lopez, Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, Chairman
Timara Lotah Link, Chumash, mapmaker
Starla Madrigal, California Indian Basketweavers’ Association, Board Chairperson
Danny Manning, Asst. Fire Chief, Greenville Rancheria
Tony Marks-Block, Professor, CSU East Bay
Beth Rose Middleton Manning, UC Davis Department of Native American Studies, Professor
Victoria Montaño, Sogorea Te’ Land Trust
Peter Nelson, UC Berkeley, Assistant Professor
Tiśina Parker, Southern Sierra Miwuk/Kutzadika’a Mono Lake Paiute and Kashia Pomo/Coast Miwuk, Regalia maker
Corine Pearce, Pomo, basketweaver and educator
Vikki Preston, Karuk Tribe Department of Natural Resources, Cultural Resources Tech lll, artist
Fern Purdy, Cultural Fire Management Council
Jordan Reyes, Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance, Field Coordinator, Middletown Rancheria of Pomo Indians
Renee Ring Castro, Ohlone, artist
Margo Robbins, Cultural Fire Management Council, Co-Founder and Executive Director
Alyson Sagala, Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance, Operations Manager
Ashley Salaz, Sogorea Te’ Land Trust
Shingle Springs Band of Miwok Indians
Irene Vasquez, Southern Sierra Miwuk
Desiree Walker, Chukchansi, Animator and illustrator
Tracey Williams Hughey, North Fork Mono, basketweaver
Theresa Williams, North Fork Mono, basketweaver
Linda Yamane, Rumsen Ohlone, artist and historian

More

Sponsors

Major support for Good Fire: Tending Native Lands is provided by The Oakland Museum Women’s Board.

*Header image: Kiliii Yuyan