Beaver Believers
This was our second year proudly co-hosting the Midwest Beaver Summit with the Illinois Beaver Alliance. This year, some Wonderlanders got to attend in person and we want to share our insights from the event with you.
The summit started with a powerful opening ceremony by Maryellen Baker, Niiyogiizhigookwe, an Ojibwe Elder who talked about the importance of healing water, because when you heal water you can heal people - and beavers are great teachers for this task!
We enjoyed learning from Mike Callahan - founder of the Beaver Institute - who taught a hands-on workshop about water control devices to promote beaver coexistence.
We especially loved the presentation Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Beavers: An Anishinaabe Perspective, by Michael Waasegiizhig-Price, Traditional Ecological Knowledge Specialist, Great Lakes Indian Fish and Wildlife Commission. He talked about Amik (beaver), the one who protects water, and he asked us: What can we do for Amik? How do we show respect? How are we in reciprocity? How are we in relationship? And how are we responsible to Amik?
Another favorite speaker was Dr Emily Fairfax. She talked about beavers as mentors and partners in climate resilience. One of the things that she stressed in her talk was how little data there is about beavers in the Midwest. Collecting data that can show the positive impact beavers have on any ecosystem they are native to, is a powerful way to make change. Since there is a big gap of data in the midwest, we will start collecting as much data as possible for Dr Fairfax’s research at Wonderland. We are happy to do our part repairing the damaged reputation of this wonderful rodent!
Seeing so many “Beaver Believers” together was exciting and promising to change the negative narrative of beavers. Shifting the culture will take time but events like the Midwest Beaver Summit and the data collection at Wonderland will help to make that change.
You can read more about the Beaver Summit on our Patreon page!
See you on Sunday - those who can come out to the volunteer day! 🦫💙🌱✨️
