Harvest Windows

Together with the North Fork Mono tribe, Shelly-Davis King and Associates, and The California Academy of Sciences, the Harvest Windows project braids Traditional Phenological Knowledge (TPK) of plants with herbarium specimens to explore the direction, drivers, and consequences of phenological shifts associated with anthropogenic change. On this project we are working together to conduct innovative braided science research, celebrate the interconnectedness of species and eco-cultural systems, integrate TPK into botanical and archaeological surveys.

Specific members:

Chairman Ron Goode

Christina Oraftik

Shelly Davis-King

Timeline:

June 2026:

Shelly, Shannon, Becky, Sarah, Jude and Mindy attended the California Indian Basket Weevers Association's annual gathering.
Jude joined the Harvest Windows project studying beaked hazelnut (Corylus cornuta) and coyote tobacco (Nicotiana attenuata).

May 2026: Society for American Archaeology Meeting (talk). Illuminating Biocultural Legacies: A Braided Approach to Cultural Nice Construction in Contemporary California Archaeology.

April 2026: Native Gatherers and Climate Change Convening. In collaboration with the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone and the Exploratorium, Shannon, Shelly, Becky and Sarah hosted the 2nd Native Gatherers & Climate Change Convening at Cal Academy. Six gatherers attended and graciously shared their knowledge during a panel session and while on a tour of the Anthropology and Botany collections.

Native Gatherers from California visit the botany and anthropology collections at the Cal Academy.

March 2026: Society for California Archaeology Meeting (talk). Deep Roots, Changing Seasons: Indigenous Phenological Knowledge & Herbarium Insights in California Archaeology

February 2026: Shannon and Becky participate in a cultural burn hosted by Chairman Goode with assistance form Christina Oraftik in Mariposa.

Cultural fire of sourberry in Mariposa, California. Cultural fire helps to promote straight stems for basketry and abundant fruit crops.

February 2026: California Native Plant Society Meeting (poster). Phenology Windows: a Holistic Approach to Studying Phenological Change.

November 2025:

Sarah and Becky participate in a cultural burn hosted by Chairman Goode with assistance form Christina Oraftik in Mariposa.
Shelly and Becky attend the preview of the Good Fire: Tending Native Lands exhibit at the Oakland Museum of California. Chairman Goode is a collaborator on the exhibit.

Spring 2025: Becky led a Cal Academy Career's in Science project group studying plant phenological change. Students learned how to score herbarium records for phenology with Sarah and toured the anthropology department with Shannon to learn more about braided sciences, and how museum records can be used to study effects of climate change on plant communities and plant-human interactions.

Students tour the Anthropology collection (left) and examine herbarium records (right).

Fall 2024: project initiation.

Spring 2024: Shannon, Becky, Shelly, and Sarah attend the Native Gatherers Climate Change Convening, hosted by the Exploratorium, the Association of Ramaytush Ohlone and the California Academy of Sciences. The convening featured a group of Native Gatherers who shared their experiences and observations of how access, quality, and abundance of plant resources have changed over time.