TEIP

This past weekend was the first gathering of the 2026 TEIP Intern Cohort. It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day out at Chaa-lamali. Welcome to our new and returning Interns & intern families!

We still have a few more spaces left in the cohort. If you or someone you know is interested in joining, please fill out the form in the link below.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfNTq0PaUxwpMtMTz7p1fsLiSIxKa1AVzJJDQBsUTGvnVgt0Q/viewform?usp=send_form

We are excited to announce that applications are now open for the 2026 TEIP Intern Cohort!

Please share.

Applicants can register using the link below.

We will begin reviewing applications in mid-March, but are accepting them on a rolling basis.

Program Overview
The Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program (TEIP) is a Native-led educational internship program. Designed for Indigenous youth ages 12 to 23, this place-based internship brings together small cohorts of 12 core interns, and their families, creating an intergenerational learning community.

As a TEIP Intern/intern family, you will participate in a college, career, and community readiness program grounded in Indigenous traditional ecological knowledge. Throughout the internship experience, Interns/intern families will be provided numerous professional development and cultural engagement opportunities with the goal of increasing Native representation in natural resources, education, conservation, and stewardship fields.

Program orientation will be on Sunday, March 29th, 2026. Please share this opportunity for Native youth with your friends, other families, and anyone in the Native community.

https://forms.gle/8K17CRFSqVgvFidX9

https://fusee.org/fusee/building-a-tender-box-a-renewal-of-cultural-burning

Building a Tender Box: A Renewal of Cultural Burning — Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology Cultural burns are central to the restoration and protection of our shared land and waterscapes. The Native-led Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program (TEIP) rebuilds our relationships with each other, the land, and fire by amplifying Indigenous voices and traditional ecological knowledge in environ

What's the difference between a cultural burn ♥️ and a prescribed fire 🔥?

👉 A prescribed fire is a low-intensity, planned fire used for ecological, economic, or cultural reasons.

Distinctly, cultural burns extend beyond the benefits of prescribed fire. Within Indigenous communities, cultural burns are ceremony. Cultural fire reconnects people with traditions suppressed by settler colonial structures for generations. 🌀

❤️‍🔥 With both of these practices, each carefully lit flame reconnects people to the land and to one another.

📸: TEIP/Long Tom Watershed Council

Check out this beautiful video produced by TEIP parent and Buffalo's Fire journalist Brian Bull! The 2025 camas bake was a great success, thanks to all the hard work and collaboration among attendees, supporters, and camas chefs!

Reviving Camas: A Native Tradition Reimagined in Oregon- Buffalo’s Fire Native communities in Oregon revive camas baking with youth-led innovation and ancestral methods—celebrating a First Food in a powerful cultural celebration.

Register for the 2025 Camas Bake!

WE'RE HIRING!
Our new TEIP Program Manager position is posted. If you or someone you know has experience working in the Tribal community - particularly with Tribal youth - share this link!

Job Announcement: TEIP Program Manager | Long Tom Watershed Council Job Announcement: Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program (TEIP) Program Manager Posted: May 9th, 2025 Position open until filled, applications will be reviewed starting June 6, 2025 Desired Start Date: Flexible, July – early August, 2025 Status: Exempt, Full-time (40 hours per week but will consid...

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSf8OFKRwBk7CW5QXCwtIwy1-tNBZqSvNBAPSYSOJpaSYAIKQg/viewform?usp=sf_link

Interested Tribal youth - please fill out the form for more information! Please share with Tribal programs in the Southern Willamette Valley!

TEIP Interest Form Chee-la, xwii-ti! Daa-nu'-yash, nuu-laa-sri, Hello and welcome friends, Welcome to the Traditional Ecological Inquiry Program's Interest Form. This form is meant to help us gather information about potential Interns, Intern mentors, and Tribal educators interested in TEIP. We look forward to knowing...

Ongoing thanks to our good friends and patrons at Thanks Give Sing!!! Amazing support for Tribal youth and healthy ecosystems and good fire in the Southern Willamette Valley.