Jared Dahl Aldern

As Guatemala begins high-stakes court elections, agents raid voting sites Guatemalan prosecutors have raided two voting locations as a process got underway to fill top justice jobs that could shape the rule of law and test its democracy.

In related news apnews.com/article/guat...

It’s also great to see Merv George Jr. quoted here with his excellent explanation of the differences between good fire and bad fire. Great stuff. Recommended for middle schoolers and everyone else. 4/4

In 2018, the Wisconsin state legislature finally honored the Menominee Tribe for its service to the community during that 1871 fire. 3/4

controlled burns, a firebreak, and wet blankets on the roof during the 1871 Peshtigo Fire, the deadliest fire in US history. After the fire, the house served as a field hospital for injured people from the town of Peshtigo, which was completely destroyed. 2/4

Cover image of the book, *The Deadliest Fires Then and Now* by Deborah Hopkinson

I’m learning a few things from this book for young readers by @deborahhopkinson.bsky.social, a book I found in my local Little Free Library. Things like, for example, the story of Abram and Elizabeth Place and how Elizabeth‘s Menominee relatives protected the Places’ farmhouse with 🧵 1/4

Apocalypse no: how almost everything we thought we knew about the Maya is wrong For many years the prevailing debate about the Maya centred upon why their civilisation collapsed. Now, many scholars are asking: how did the Maya survive?

Corrections to history, comparisons to Rome, Mayan land management sustained over millennia, a push toward plurinational governance, the risk of civil war, etc.: there’s a lot here. www.theguardian.com/news/2026/fe...

YouTube video by MULONG Cool Burning

Cool Burning song youtube.com/watch?v=6zn_...

Bipartisan ‘Good Fire Act’ aims to expand prescribed, cultural burns across California - Local News Matters A bipartisan bill aimed at expanding the use of prescribed and cultural burning was introduced Tuesday in the state Legislature. Assemblymember Chris

“… We’re empowering tribes, land managers and communities to use fire the way it has been used for millennia — as a tool for stewarding our lands and protecting our communities.”
localnewsmatters.org/2026/02/06/b...

Arellano: Petty Trump spikes football over nearly 200-year-old Mexican-American War Trump marked the 178-year anniversary of the Mexican-American War as testament to American power, breaking decades of presidential silence on the controversial conflict. The commemoration reveals his ...

“Trump has made expansionism a hallmark of his second presidential term… Critics accuse him of trying to usher in a new era of imperialism. But all he's doing is continuing the Mexican-American War, which never really ended.”

Billie Eilish, stolen land, and the climate cost of America’s dispossession Returning Indigenous land won't destroy civilization, it could save it.

“Ultimately, the controversy surrounding Eilish’s remark reveals less about celebrity or even property than the limits of America’s moral imagination, including at influential media outlets. Democracy may die in darkness, but America was built in daylight”

“…proactive, safely conducted controlled burning.” 🔥 👍 💨

I like their statement; “Smokewise Ashland is a local collaborative working group in southwest Oregon dedicated to protecting public health and creating community resiliency in the face of increasing summer wildfire smoke and the overwhelming need to reduce community wildfire risk through…

Digging around in the links on that webpage, there’s this: ashlandoregon.gov/261/Smokewis...

What’s needed to protect sage grouse? Less grazing. - High Country News Two tribes are showing how saving sage grouse, and other iconic species of the West’s vast sagebrush steppe, will require are assessment of the widespread cattle grazing that has become an emblem of t...

Here’s a good, deep dive on what’s needed in sage grouse country. The upshot: less grazing, more cultural burning.
www.hcn.org/issues/58-2/...

Wildfire Smoke Readiness and Response for Region 10 Tribes | US EPA Resources to help Tribes manage the effects from wildfire smoke in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington (EPA's Region 10).

Check this out from Tribal EPA Region 10. Unfortunately, I don't think there's anything comparable for Region 9 (which includes California). www.epa.gov/r10-tribal/w...

With habitat affected by wildfires, syilx-led program monitors rattlesnakes The Nk'Mip Desert Cultural Centre has received new federal funding to continue its research on how the snakes are adapting to a changing environment

As rattlesnakes’ movement patterns adapt to changes wrought by wildfire: “With the help of public education, guided walks and live presentations, staff have taught visitors how to identify local snake species, move safely through snake habitat and respond appropriately if bitten by a snake.”

How did palm oases get to the California desert? A behind-the-scenes look at these 'tropical islands' Ecological consultant James W. Cornett tracks the history of the palm oases in the Coachella Valley.

“Burning enhanced the survival of palms by killing some of the wood-boring insect larvae. More importantly, fire increased fruit production… Cahuilla and related groups may very well be responsible for planting palm seeds at many, even most, of the locations where palms occur today.”

Hydropower relicensing looms as tribes seek to protect fisheries, treaty rights Nearly 40% of federal hydropower projects will need relicensing in the next decade, presenting tribes with opportunities and challenges to protect treaty rights and natural resources.

“Hydropower development has imposed steep costs on tribal fisheries and homelands, flooding more than 1 million acres and blocking salmon runs on major rivers such as the Columbia, Snake and Klamath… tribes continue to navigate a complex federal licensing system to safeguard their interests.”

Trump orders removal or changing of Native American signage at national park The Trump administration has flagged two exhibits at Montana's Little Bighorn National Monument as non-compliant, targeting displays that honor tribal sacrifices

"It's disturbing, disgusting, and wrong. You should not erase other people's history because it makes you uncomfortable," Cachora said. www.ktvq.com/news/local-n...

looking like another busy fire year for Oregon

An EPA proposal would make it harder for tribes to protect their water - High Country News The agency’s plan would narrow water quality reviews and eliminate one of the few ways that tribes can their enforce treaty rights.

“What the Trump administration is proposing to modify here is a really important tool for states and tribes.” www.hcn.org/articles/an-...

Reconnecting Culture, Land, & Connection in Yosemite Little Fires project, a Tribally driven, multiyear initiative funded by Yosemite Conservancy donors, is reintroducing cultural burning practices to the park.

Fire is “needed to make food healthy again. To make us all — humans and our non-human relatives — healthy again. And to remind us that people are part of this landscape, too.” sierranewsonline.com/little-fires...

For 50 years, ITC has supported Tribal forestry, but these practices are far older. Cultural burning is an act of Indigenous sovereignty and stewardship. Bill Tripp(Karuk Tribe) champions these practices, blending ancestral knowledge with modern policy to care for forests and communities.#KarukTribe

“Why should a friend for so many years be treated like this? We need support from democratic-minded people in the United States.”
grist.org/global-indig...

(AFP) - A new brochure from Greenland’s government advises its people to stockpile food and water, hunting weapons and ammunition in the event of a ‘crisis.’

www.yahoo.com/news/article...

YouTube video by APT ‘Big Miscalculation’: Greenlandic Politician Warns Trump Over Bid to Take Arctic Island | APT

Greenlandic politician Tillie Martinussen on the sovereignty of Greenlanders, the greed in the US, and how they view their land. Also comments on how the US treated Natives, as a very good reason to not want to be a part of the US.
youtu.be/xs53IESxz80?...

one of the strangest things about this particular moment is watching colonizers complain about other colonizers colonizing while in other contexts making the same arguments that the colonizers they are complaining about are making, and having absolutely no self-awareness of this rampant hypocrisy

Lots of good people involved with this event coming up at UC Davis in Feb

The tortillas set this Central California Mexican restaurant apart "There's other places across town, but you can't beat this place."

Adrian’s! www.sfgate.com/centralcalif...