The Kizh Way of Life: Sustenance from Flora & Fauna

About this Members-only talk

In this Zoom talk exclusively for Arboretum members, Matthew Teutimez, tribal biologist for the Kizh tribe, also known as the Gabrieleños, will share how the indigenous people of our area sustained life from natural resources and how these traditions continue today. Please register now here, space is limited.

Matthew Teutimez is the son of John Teutimez Jr., Elder of the Gabrieleño Band of Mission Indians– Kizh Nation . Matthew is an enrolled member of the Kizh-Gabrieleño and has served as Tribal Biologist since 2010. He has been designated by his Tribe to possess and share Kizh-Gabrieleño cultural knowledge and practices taught to him by Chief Ernie P. Teutimez-Salas along with multiple family Elders of the Kizh-Gabrieleño Tribe. Matthew received both his Bachelor of Science degree and his Master of Science degree in biology from California State University, Long Beach and is the Tribe’s specialist in ethnobotanical and cultural uses of native plants and animals including the pre-historic distributions of natural resources throughout the ancestral territory of the Kizh-Gabrieleño Tribe.

Mr. Teutimez is a Council Member on California’s Environmental Protection Agency’s Tribal Advisory Council where he works with the State’s Environmental Boards, Departments, and Offices to support tribal involvement and environmental concerns and provides traditional ecological knowledge for state agencies to enhance their environmental policies to work towards restoring, preserving and protecting the natural environment for our future generations. The Kizh-Gabrieleno Tribe is the only representative of a non-federally recognized Tribe on the CalEPA’s Tribal Advisory Council.

This presentation is part of the Autumn Lecture Series sponsored by MonteCedro.