Posoh! This is the College of Menominee Nation's Sustainable Development Institute. We are very happy to see the enthusiastic response everyone is having to this video that our friends from PBS Twin Cities/Terra created. Waewaenen (Thank you!) to the Understory team for taking the time and care to showcase our cultural views in a respectful way via this fantastic video! Waewaenen as well to our tribal memebers that stepped up to share their knowledge and experiences from the forest; "Big John" Awonohopay, Ron Waukau, Paul Wilber Jr., Christopher Caldwell, and Jasmine Neosh. We know that as Menominee, sometimes it's a daunting task to take on the responsibility to speak on the behalf of our forest; but you all did an amazing job! We would like to also say waewaenen to viewers like you for taking the time to watch this. We hope that you learned something from our people and take this new knowledge back to your community. Waewaenwen to those who are still graciously sharing their thoughts in the comment section here. We've seen that a few people are looking for more information about how our tribe goes about our sustainable forestry practices. General themes we're seeing include "What other traditional philosophies are utilized in our management (like use of fire in the forest)?", "What specific cuts does MTE perform in the Forest?", "How do the Menominee view sustainability?", and probably the most asked question: "How do I work with Big John?” ( visit www.mtewood.com/Jobs ). If you are one such person looking to learn more, SDI would like to offer you this playlist of videos we've created from the past 10-15 years that explore these topics further: kzfaq.info/sun/PLPJ4NwzuyCGE0r-YbCB6LX-qKV4UgYIby This playlist features a tour of the Menominee Tribal Enterprises Departments (featuring Ron Waukau and Co.), an overview of the Menominee Theoretical Model of Sustainability (narrated by Jasmine Neosh), a series from the P.O.S.O.H. Project that introduces the concept of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in the forest (Featuring Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer and Jeff Grignon), plus more! Of course, this playlist is not a comprehensive resource as there is so much more out there than just these videos. We hope to offer those that are interested in this field just one of many potential starting points to the world of Menominee Sustainability. From this, we hope that you begin to see the multiple connections throughout our world, explore further the work and expertise of the people interviewed, find out what their contemporaries and collaborators have to say on this realm, and as always; learn, learn, learn! Once again, Maec Waewaenen (Thank you very much) to everyone involved on this project for their work on this video and sharing the beauty that is the Menominee Forest. Eneq (That is all).

PBS has been killing it lately with the different series. I know there's usually a vote at the end of the year on which channels are most watched, but I wish there was a "Double the funding of every show" option!

This made me cry. Its wonderful to see people so dedicated. Im a Native woman who was entirely disconnected from her heritage and it leaves a lot of pain in me. I love to see the Menominee nation having such a connected community

As a Native, it's really inspiring to me to see examples from my culture being used as models of sustainability, in this industrialized age. Another thing: controlled burns to prevent widespread wildfires. This is still carried out by many tribes. I would really like to see this practice implemented more widely, especially with the way climate change is going. More droughts, more fire, more Co2... etc. Personally I think it is a cultural issue, where un-sustainability and un-sustainable practices, are not generally seen as a problem... until they are. On the other hand, Big John said it best: the very heart of our culture, is sustainability. Perhaps there are broader lessons for the 'modern world' to learn. Our culture is a culture balance-of nature with self. In this increasingly (dis)connected world, the wisdom of balance is more important than ever.

Incredible work PBS. I’m a farmer, and I want to work for Big John.

This is wonderful and inspiring. Huge thanks to PBS Terra, Baratunde, and most importantly, the Menominee Nation!

Hearing the way they talking about loving it even though its tough makes you wonder that humans have a propensity to enjoy manual labor. I work a white collar job now but a lot of times I miss working with my hands. I know not everyone is that way but I think there has been an ideological shift to look down on blue collar work or workers as being less important but I think they are more important for the functioning of society and economy.

I'm a forester and a farmer and a conservationist. Sustainable forestry is the only path forward if we want our grandchildren to be able to enjoy forests and not deserts.

I don't know much about it but the White Mountain Apaches in Arizona get recognition for how they manage their forests as well.

Inspiring to see First Nations leading the way in the sustainable use of resources.

Hey PBS, exceptional work on this video.

Oh I love this. It’s great to see this wisdom returning to the mainstream

So much to learn I don't know where to begin

There's no one better than you, Big John.

Before 1960, all forestry was done using selective cutting. Clear-cutting was introduced in the 1960s because of the adoption of heavy machinery that made forestry more "productive" in the economic sense, but it turned out to be far less productive in an environmental sense and in terms of husbanding a sustainable resource.

First time I've ever heard something about someone cutting down a tree. And it didn't bother the dickens out and me❤

Thank you. That was really well done and inspiring.

Thank you for sharing your insight and beautiful spirit !

Love this episode!

Of course putting profit above all hurts everyone but the rich. Would that everyone began to see the land & trees as sacred again.

Great video. I am from Wisconsin and proud to know of this forest

I think artificially petrified wood should become a standard practice. The wood will be nearly waterproof, fireproof, rotproof, and pestproof and increase the service life of wood from decades to centuries, maybe even millennia or forever with little to no maintenance. It's also a good carbon sink. Silicone dioxide, the material used to petrify wood is also natural and environmentally friendly. It's essentially powdered/liquid glass.

This was a lovely watch, keep sharing cool stuff such as this. All lumber needs to take notes on how they do this sustainable way or logging. Incredible.

Native Americans have always been in touch with nature I think they are the key to a sustainable future 😍🥰🥰

up in the tree - it's a bird, it's a squirrel, it's Baratunde!

for anybody wondering, yes. ancient wisdom can do that

Ancient for the ancient god! Wisdom for the wisdom throne!

just remember = if u knock down one tree, u have to plant three trees plz

Such a beautiful video!

I wish you the best of luck, on climbing your maple tree. I used to love to climb and sit in the bough of one of the last American elm in my town.

Amazing, thank you and share! 💕

Awesome!!

Why not leaving some special torsed trees and dead wood? That’s important for fungi, specific kinds of insects, birds...

Don't forget the wildlife using holes and hollows in some of those "sick-looking" trees as habitats. A forest without wildlife is a plucking tree farm!

we practice the same method here in Switzerland. it's great, but on the other side, most forest here lose money.

I wish we had been listening to indigenous peoples long ago... They knew what they were doing. We've just wrecked the planet, but had we be doing these sustainable practices from the beginning, we'd be in a much better place. However... we can't change the past. We just need to learn and change our ways NOW before it gets any worse.

How do we make this go viral? ❤

“To the outside it’s profitability, then community, then the forest” Big John ain’t wrong. First things first-how do we convince corporations and governments to put communities before profits? If we can’t do that, the we certainly can’t get them to put our planet first.

Fishing should be managed with the same but generally, the best breeding fish are taken.

What a story! I live in California and never imagined I would see something this special in Wisconsin.

I miss your sense of humor on your newest videos. Yu iz funnie

It's called HEMP as a grass it grows much faster than trees and it produces 70 % more fibre than trees. Hemp has way more industrial and home products than wood. Flooring Paints Hemp Crete there are a thousand uses. Hemp needs the Sun and land to grow on fallow land is prefect. The left over plant products with hemp can be burned as fuel and heating

The other side of that coin, if you only leave the healthy trees and take dead and / or dieing trees, is that you have very little habitat for burrowing/ boring habitat making animals.

fallen trees is a part of forest ecology, it's bugs, birds and more

Well that's a smart idea

🌲🌳🌴🌲🌳🌴

Tom Bom Menombodil

Dead and dying trees hold a massive amount of ecological value for a forest. Removing them almost completely from a landscape would certainly have detrimental effects to the ecosystem as a whole. Vivid healthy trees are not the whole health of a forest, it’s a misdirected idea. Many, many species depend on those “old, dead, and dying trees”. Still better than total clear cutting, but not perfect, as nothing is.

More or less this is done in german forestry as well. You should not cut down an entire forest for lumber. Take some trees of the forest. It will increase the costs, but it is far more sustainable, hence the ecosystem wont be as damaged. We need wood as a climate „neutral“ material, time to manage the forests sustainable to get the product we absolutely need.

I hope they don't take down every old tree. Old trees keep forests healthy. Making the forest full of young trees only is fine for a plantation but not exactly a good forest.

People not touching shit will save the Forrest

6:44 Menominee mill #8 to you too Bud ;)

I don't trust any forestry practice with only one species all in neat rows. It takes more resources to do it sustainably this way, and you will have to use pesticides more often, that's just one problem.

community. forest. profit. in that order. not in the Wall St. order.

Not all native cultures have preserved forests.

and ofc greed ruins everything again ... this should seem obvious if people have the idea of actually preserving forests

Menominee DO DOO DO DO DO🎶

Paper from wood? Let the wood grow tall and use *_HEMP_* for paper! Stronger, lasts longer, growth and processing is *_much easier_* on the environment! Wood paper is one of those eco-killing processes we need to abandon! Plus...more paper per acre using hemp!

want to save the forests? make paper from HEMP! the paper towel biz alone, is multi-billion dollar business!

"Indian"? These people are from India? OH, you mean "First Nations People". Or "Indigenous People".

You shud not celebrate & propagate the "Lesser Evil". Instead make documentaries on - " How to Remove EVIL "

I don't know anything about that area/forest but it kinda looks unnatural -most of trees looks like the same species and it looks like there is almost no medium sized tree species or shrubs/bushes. IDK what's up with that place; if it's naturally that 'barren' of a forest or not but in my book a pedigree show dog bred to resemble a wolf; is still a dog -and not a wolf.

Great work BUT....we all know you ain't climbing that maple.

this is not a new thing . We do that in Turkiye for centuries

Find a host who is not from ghetto