Reimagining Consultation in Native California: The Owens Valley Paiute Wildfire Project

How might small tribal nations in California's Owens Valley productively engage federal entities such as the National Forest Service when seeking to protect cultural resources and advance tribal interests? This question is at the heart of a new project focused on wildfire science, management, and mitigation in the Eastern Sierra region. Proposed by the authors of this paper to several small Owens Valley tribes, including the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Tribe, the Big Pine Paiute Tribe, and the Bishop Paiute Tribe, and now sponsored by the National Science Foundation, this project began in 2022 and will continue at least until 2025. Our paper will address two primary topics. First, we will reflect on the nature of religious and cultural claims made by our partners that have thus far escaped legibility in consultation settings. Second, we will discuss ideas for rethinking the asymmetries inherent in most consultative practices so this problem is diminished.