Raising the Alarm: Charlie Toledo on Aquifers and Riparian Corridors: The disconnect

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Charlie Toledo speaking at an open house for Harms Vineyards and Lavender Fields in 2014

Below is a reprint of excerpts from a 2014 interview with Charlie Toledo, Executive Director of the Suscol Intertribal Council. What continues to be alarming is how our governing bodies override scientific knowledge in the face of perceived industry needs. We have witnessed this process over and over in Planning Commission and Board of Supervisor… Read more »

The Art of Dish Washing with Charlie Toledo

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Charlie Toledo on the Lincoln Street bridge over the Napa River.

Have you ever washed dishes with Charlie Toledo? You learn what Water is Sacred means. She wipes the dish using as little water as possible with soap that will not contaminate the water and then carefully rinses. You do not wash: you witness. She does the work, making sure Water is properly treated. How would… Read more »

Drought: What We Need to Change

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Sigh of Relief!   Drought: What We Need to Change The courtyard pavement glistened in the early dawn this morning. I felt myself sigh with relief. The promised rain was beginning. It has steadily picked up. The weather predicts heavy rain today and tonight, even 6 inches before the current series of storms have passed… Read more »

Prairie Fires and Forest Fire: Flames for New Consciousness?

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Fire is an important part of many healthy ecosystems. Suppressed, it often becomes an uninvited guest!   Prairie Fires and Forest Fire: Flames for New Consciousness? The settlers coming into Illinois during the early part of the 19th century suffered many of the hardships of any people populating an unfamiliar territory. Drawn by location and the… Read more »

Awakening the Ancestors: Review of filmmaker Beth Nelson’s two documentaries Awakening Healing Voices of Our Ancestors: a Destiny Reclaimed and The Sky is the Roof.

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Filmmaker Beth Nelson and Suscol Council Executive Director Charlie Toledo on Opening Night.         Napa Valley Opera House was well populated Tuesday evening, February 19, 2013, for the premier showing of two locally produced films: Awakening Healing Voices of Our Ancestors: A Destiny Reclaimed and The Sky is the Roof. Filmmaker Beth… Read more »

Land Elders

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Land Elders

Land Elders

Charlie Toledo by newly built straw bale shed on Suskol House land. Land Elders On June 23, 2012, we will have two speakers at Harms Vineyards and Lavender Fields Open House: Charlie Toledo, Executive Director of the Suscol Intertribal Council, and Clare C. Marcus, Professor Emerita of Departments of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, University of… Read more »

Stewardship and the Western European Way

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Stewardship and the Western European Way

Stewardship and the Western European Way

Tree Person and grafted valley oaks. Stewardship and the Western European Way Vine Deloria, Jr., Sioux scholar, questions the concept of stewardship. It implies “taking care of” or “managing”, not being in dialogue with or balance, yet another version of western European “dominion over.” It is also a word I remember from my early childhood… Read more »