Welcome!
2022-2023
Welcome to the CSU East Bay Museum of Anthropology's exhibit, Fire Without Fear. We are often taught that forest and wildfires are bad, and that suppressing all fires keeps us safe. However, Indigenous peoples of California embrace fire, and intentionally burn to mitigate wildfire spread, and to enhance critical resources and habitats.
Archaeologists, historical ecologists, and geographers use multiple sources of evidence to learn about the characteristics of historical fire geography. One key source of evidence is found in trees. Lower intensity fires do not kill trees, but they may scar them, producing a chronology of fire occurrence and frequency. They study of this tree-based chronology is called Dendrochronology.
Through dendrochronology, scientists have found that fire was much more widespread and frequent before colonization, and that the fire suppression policies enacted by the State of California have drastically reduced fire occurrence, producing major ecological and social challenges.
Museum Information
25800 Carlos Bee Blvd Meiklejohn Hall 4047 (fourth floor) Hayward, CA 94542
Phone: (510) 885-7414 Fax: (510) 885-3353 Creators: Kimberly Contreras Leonardo & Kylie Diaz |