Good Fire: Tending Native Lands— Now Open at OMCA!
The Oakland Museum of California (OMCA) proudly presents Good Fire: Tending Native Lands, a groundbreaking new exhibition illuminating how Native communities across Northern California have long used controlled fire—known as “good fire” or “cultural burning”—to care for the land and sustain vital cultural traditions. Having opened November 7, 2025, this immersive experience invites visitors to explore the profound relationships between people, fire, and place—and to imagine a more regenerative ecological future for California.
At a time when wildfires dominate headlines, Good Fire reframes the story: fire is not only a force of destruction, but also a powerful tool for renewal, biodiversity, and community wellbeing. Created in close collaboration with Northern Californian Native fire practitioners, artists, ecologists, and cultural leaders, the exhibition weaves together art, science, history, and storytelling to reveal how cultural burning supports healthy landscapes and living traditions.
Visitors begin their journey inside an evocative sensory environment that simulates a cultural burn—where the sound of crackling fire and laughter mingle with imagery of regrowth and resilience. Here, baskets, regalia, and plants dependent on fire for renewal connect ecological knowledge with everyday life and ceremony. A large-scale map of California’s tribal territories grounds the exhibition in Native sovereignty and the enduring stewardship that has shaped these lands for millennia.
Three thematic sections guide the experience. Working with Fire showcases tools, stories, and artworks by Native makers, including pieces by Harry Fonseca (Nisenan/Hawaiian/Portuguese) and Tiśina Ta-till-ium Parker (Yosemite Southern Sierra Miwuk/Kucadikadi Mono Lake Paiute/Kashia Pomo), that celebrate fire as a life-giving practice. Good Fire, Interrupted traces the colonial suppression of cultural burning and its devastating ecological impacts, featuring fire-scarred tree samples, historical photographs, and works by Saif Azzuz (Yurok/Libyan) and Brian D. Tripp (Karuk). Finally, The Future of Fire looks ahead to the revitalization of these ancestral practices through short films, contemporary art, and community-led restoration efforts like those of Sogorea Te’ Land Trust and the Cultural Fire Management Council.
“Good Fire centers Native fire practitioners and culture bearers, whose knowledge is grounded in the specific ecologies of their homelands and thousands of years of experimentation,” says Ryder Diaz, OMCA Curator of Natural Sciences and co-curator of Good Fire. “Good Fire invites visitors to expand their view of fire in Northern California and to respect and support the sovereignty of Native peoples, who have never ceded their right to care for their lands with fire.” Co-curator Dr. Brittani R. Orona (Hupa) adds, “By looking to their leadership, the exhibition not only honors traditions of the past, but also points to the future of land stewardship—one rooted in sovereignty, respect, and the continuance of relationships between people, fire, and place.”
Good Fire: Tending Native Lands is on view starting November 7, 2025 through May 31, 2026. Step inside this extraordinary exhibition and experience how California’s future can be guided by the deep, place-based wisdom of its firekeepers.