Indigenous leaders center land stewardship during San Diego Climate Week
At the Water Conservation Garden, tribal organizers and community partners shared teachings on regenerative land care and mutual respect.
Written by Lauren J. Mapp, Edited by Maya Srikrishnan
A steady beat from Red Warrior Drumming echoed from the Water Conservation Garden amphitheater Saturday, opening an Indigenous-led event during the inaugural San Diego Climate Week.
As one of the week’s four anchor events, Honoring Indigenous Knowledge for Land Conservation drew dozens of people to El Cajon for panels, live music and frybread tacos, all centered in sustainable actions to reduce climate impacts.
Climate change threatens many Indigenous cultural practices across the region and beyond, including gathering traditional food staples, Amanda Subish said. Subish, a regenerative farmer from the Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians, co-organized the event with Adam Uribe, Red Earth Movement founder and permaculture farmer.
Local tribal communities use kwila or shawii (acorns, in Luiseño and Kumeyaay, respectively) to make wiiwish or shawii (acorn porridge), a culinary tradition that dates back at least 9,000 years.
“Our oak trees not only fed my ancestors and our people today, they also are there for the animals, for the insects,” said Lenora Cline, Subish’s mother.
Subish and Cline said climate change already threatens oak trees and other crops on their tribal lands.
The Pauma Band of Luiseño Indians reservation usually sees its first frost in October, but last year, it didn’t arrive until January. Early rains put acorns at risk for mold, and wildfires kill oak trees, which take about 50 years to grow to maturity.
“We have to help preserve those trees,” said Cline, who actively teaches the traditional ways to her grandchildren.
Saturday’s event joined more than a 100 festivities throughout the county for San Diego Climate Week, which ran through Oct. 8.
Throughout the afternoon, guests heard live music by Red Bird, Raza Roots and Red Warrior Drumming. Fancy shawl dancer Melody Andraca (Apache) and traditional dancer Matwao Andraca (Apache) fluttered across the stage to powwow-style drum music.
Inspired by events like Climate Week NYC, which launched in 2009, the festivities focused on climate justice and communities most impacted, said Meg Ferrigno, San Diego Climate Week vice chair. That includes communities in the South Bay dealing with health issues from the Tijuana River pollution and Indigenous communities.
“[We’re] recognizing that we're on stolen land, that we're trying to protect this for future generations and taking lead from those frontline communities harmed first,” Ferrigno said.
After past challenges working with other groups in the past, Subish said she initially questioned leading an event for Climate Week. But she and Uribe ultimately decided to participate to build better relationships between Native and non-Native folks in local sustainability advocacy.
“We're often in spaces where our voices aren't heard,” Subish said. “We kind of just went with our intuition and just said, 'Let's just do it, and if it backfires on us, it backfires on us,’ but at least we did it in the hopes that this will bring more awareness to Indigenous peoples and uplift our voices more.”
One of Saturday’s panels focused on land management and cultural burning.
While many tribes in California have long set controlled fires to clear underbrush and prevent out of control wildfires by burning, state and federal policies largely suppressed or outlawed the traditional practice for more than a century. But Gov. Gavin Newsom overturned the long-standing rule when he signed the Cultural Burning bill in 2024, enabling tribes to oversee cultural burnings if they first reach an agreement with California Natural Resources Agency and local air quality officials.
The embracing of prescribed fires is just one example of how partnering with Indigenous communities requires a willingness to listen.
“Just come genuinely and authentically and be very transparent,” Subish said. “Don't push your own agenda onto us tribes, just listen to what our wants and needs are.”
