Artemsia is a magazine published by the California Native Plant Society, which is one of the state's most impressive environmental organizations. CNPS (as it is affectionally called) is definitely a "statewide" organization, headquartered in Sacramento, where it is active on behalf of the environment in the California State Legislature. CNPS, however, also has thirty-six local chapters. There is, for instance, a Monterey Bay Chapter, and there is a Santa Cruz County Chapter. You are very cordially invited to use the links above to find out more, and (if you are a California resident) to hunt down the CNPS Chapter nearest you, so you can find out what's happening both in Sacramento and in your local area. I encourage you to join up!
The edition of Artemsia published in August last year is devoted to "Native Plants And Climate Change: Indigenous Perspectives, Part II."
Within the magazine, I was particularly struck by one article, which is focused on issues within Santa Cruz County: "Restoring Access And Stewardship To Culturally Significant Landscapes In An Era Of Climate Change: Lessons From The Amah Mutsun Tribal Band" [Pages 6-13]. Local folks in Santa Cruz County are familiar with the "Land Acknowledgment" commonly recited before the start of various public meetings, honoring the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and celebrating its stewardship work. Here is a map [from Page 8 in the article in Artemsia] showing the area in which the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band is exercising its stewardship and oversight:
Explining tribal perspectives, AMTB Chair Valentin Lopez says this:
Those who read my blog postings regularly know that I hope to persuade readers that we live in "Two Worlds," simultaneously. The "Human World," which I also call the "Political World," is the world in which we most immediately live; it is a "world" that we construct by our own actions. That "Human World" is a world in which, essentially, "anything is possible," meaning that we can achieve our dreams or end up creating our worst nightmares.
Ultimately, though, everything that we create, as we build our "Human World," is dependent on the "World of Nature," a world that preexists what humans have created within it. It can best be pictured as "Earth from Space." Click that link if you need to be reminded where we really are.
All of our human creations depend utterly, wholly, and completely on the "World of Nature."
We need to remember that!
Perhaps the statement from Valenin Lopez, quoted above, will help us remember!
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