Pepperwood hikes and classes offer Indigenous perspective
On a recent cool and cloudy fall afternoon at Pepperwood Preserve in Santa Rosa, a group of about 20 hikers, a mix of ages, gathered under the umbrella of a massive coast live oak. They had come to the preserve for a hike with an uncommon approach, one that would allow them to look at the landscape through the viewpoint of Native Americans.
“You can feel how special Pepperwood is while standing under the great oaks,” Clint McKay told the hikers, as acorn woodpeckers tap-tap-tapped on trees and crows cawed. “I think about the changes that have occurred since my aunties were alive. If we listen, these trees tell us stories,”
McKay is the Indigenous education coordinator at Pepperwood and chair of the preserve’s Native Advisory Council. His heritage includes Dry Creek Pomo, Wappo and Wintun tribes, and he is a gifted basket weaver. On the day of the hike, he had recently returned from delivering his artistic baskets to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.
McKay started the Exploring the Autumn Landscape through an Indigenous Perspective hike with a recitation in his native tongue to “set the tone of the walk,” before he led the hikers along the trails and interpreted this traditional homeland of the Wappo people.
