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The Magazine of the CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES |
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Life on the Edge African and Other RootsKeith H. HowellThe sun belongs to Africa. It is over 30 years since I lived there, but the memories are still strong, and above them all burns the sun. It grabs the morning and dictates the activities of the day for the animals, the plants, and the humans, both their movement and their stillness. The sun makes living easy and it makes living hard, and it makes for cultures that are not overly rooted in stuff. Which makes this fall’s feature exhibit at the California Academy of Sciences so remarkable. "Africa: One Continent, Many Worlds" has brought together one of the finest collections of artifacts from West and East Africa. The Academy has long maintained a close association with the Earth’s second largest continent. After the museum was rebuilt in Golden Gate Park following the 1906 earthquake, African Hall, which opened in 1934, would become the signature display. Named after donor Leslie Simson, a hunter, guide, and later, after the British government removed the bounty on certain cats, a conservationist, for a time this hall symbolized the character of the museum: stately megafauna posed against precisely painted backdrops accurately depicting the animals’ habitats. The exhibit helped inspire a generation of explorer-biologists whose motivation was knowledge, not machismo. In “Here at the Academy,” associate editor Gordy Slack touches on their work. Perhaps the most notable journeys are those of Edward Ross, who, since 1957, has spent upwards of five years traversing the sub-Saharan continent searching for rare insects and opportunities for remarkable photographs. Columnist Jerold Lowenstein is another scientist who is continually drawn to Africa, which for him is, first and foremost, the ancestral home of our species. He recounts some of his experiences in “Images of Africa” and discusses whether these ancient cultures can resist the external forces that threaten to engulf them, or must adapt. Closer to home are other cultures that evolved without excessive physical clutter. The Quechan Indians of southeast California, who Susan Zwinger writes about in “Awakening Along the Trail of Dreams,” are such a people. Unlike their neighbors to the east, whose artistry includes the rugs, pots, and clothing that Westerners so admire, the Quechan’s culture is less discernible. It consists of stories, gatherings, and their relationship to the land. These are difficult concepts for the dominant, materialistic culture to grapple with. Zwinger’s account should go far to correct such attitudes. In contrast to the rooted Quechan are the West Coast’s itinerant mushroom harvesters. Wild mushrooms are mycorrhizal; they grow from the roots of trees and so are unlikely ever to be cultivated. In “The Way of the Wild Mushroom,” writer and mycologist Davia Arora describes the life of what may be the last of America’s nomads. Traveling alone or with their families they move with the seasons, following the fruiting of the various species. Wild mushroom picking is like gold panning. It requires an understanding of natural processes and a detailed knowledge of the countryside. This motley group of individuals, many of them immigrants who have come to know the woodlands intimately, belie the notion that to appreciate the land you need to be rooted in one place. When we started the “Science Track” series some two years ago, we had a particular type of story in mind, one where the study of science and delight in the natural world emerges from adversity and want. Lisa Owens-Viani’s description of how aquatic biology came to Richmond High exemplifies this circumstance exactly. How do you demonstrate the essence of creek habitat without a creek? You take a patch of wasteland, find a local corporation to spring for a goodly sized pump, and make one. And then you use the subject of creeks and water quality to teach science, engineering, and English. And you inspire your students so much that they go on to get elementary kids excited about real creeks and real wild places. Keith K. Howell is the editor of California Wild. |
Fall 1999
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