Melinda Adams: Cultural fire and the longings of the land
Green Dreamer: Seeding change towards collective healing, sustainability, regeneration
Kaméa Chayne
4.8 • 694 Ratings
🗓️ 11 September 2025
⏱️ 54 minutes
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Summary
How does historical processes of colonization relate to the increasing prevalence of more intense, destructive wildfires? How can Indigenous-led cultural burning support the regeneration of fire-dependent ecosystems — as well as the healing of communities experiencing "solastalgia"? And how are fire cycles and water cycles entangled?
In this episode, Green Dreamer’s Kaméa is joined by Dr. Melinda Adams, an Indigneous fire scientist who belongs to the N’dee, San Carlos Apache Tribe. A cultural fire practitioner and scholar, Dr. Adams’ research focuses on the revitalization of cultural fire with Tribes in California and more recently with Tribes in the Midwest.
Join us as we explore the longings of the land for cultural fire rooted in right relations, and what it means to move from ecological grief towards an empowerment to participate in biocultural revitalization.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | I have a quick but important ask. As you're probably aware, Green Dreamer is an independent |
| 0:07.9 | podcast and we don't take on corporate advertisers to fund our work because we don't want those |
| 0:13.7 | considerations to influence our curiosities or our abilities to question whatever it is that we want to question. |
| 0:22.3 | So if you value and believe in our work, this is our call out. |
| 0:26.8 | We need your direct support in order to continue this podcast. |
| 0:30.7 | And you can help us out so, so much through a paid substack subscription to my newsletter at |
| 0:37.3 | camaya.substack.com or through a one-time |
| 0:40.4 | donation at greendreamer.com slash support. It really means a lot to have you here and we're so |
| 0:47.6 | grateful for whatever form or level of support that you're able to share with us. |
| 0:54.1 | I don't know a cultural fire practitioner that I work with. or level of support that you're able to share with us? |
| 0:54.6 | I don't know a cultural fire practitioner that I work with that doesn't relate the positive |
| 1:00.4 | benefits of fire to the positive benefits of water. |
| 1:04.6 | It's always in conversation. |
| 1:06.5 | They're not separate, not ecologically, biologically, and certainly not culturally. |
| 1:17.7 | You're listening to Green Dreamer, and I'm your host, Kamehashane. |
| 1:23.1 | I'm so honored today to share my latest conversation with Dr. Melinda Adams, an indigenous fire |
| 1:30.3 | scientist who belongs to the Indy San Carlos Apache tribe. A cultural fire practitioner and |
| 1:36.6 | scholar, her research focuses on the revitalization of cultural fire with tribes in California, |
| 1:43.1 | and most recently with tribes in the Midwest. |
| 1:46.3 | As I'm recording this voiceover right now, there's actually a forest fire within a maybe 20-mile radius of where I am |
| 1:54.0 | that is mostly contained now, so we're okay. I think it was mostly in a forest reserve, so from my knowledge, it hasn't impacted anyone's |
| 2:03.5 | houses or structures. But still, I think it's just made this conversation feel so much closer |
... |
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