KELSEYVILLE, Calif. – The Clear Lake State Park Interpretive Association will present Bob Keiffer as its second speaker of the "Summer Nature Talk Series."
The presentation will take place beginning at 2 p.m. Saturday, May 18, in the visitor center at Clear Lake State Park, 5300 Soda Bay Road, Kelseyville.
Entrance to the park is free for those attending the program.
Keiffer’s program will discuss wildlife importance to early Americans with emphasis on the native Pomo.
Keiffer has been at the University of California’s Hopland Research & Extension Center for more than 29 years as principal superintendent of agriculture and has recently worked as a wildlife consultant with the Hopland Band of Pomo Indians on wildlife issues.
Born and raised in Mendocino County, Keiffer has had a longtime interest in both wildlife and long-time admiration of the local Pomo.
Having been raised on a pear ranch in Hopland he recalls friends of his youth who used to shoot acorn woodpeckers and quail for the local Pomo basket weavers.
During his youth he also had many conversations with Angelo Knight, one of the few Pomo dancers during the 1960s and 1970s who knew the cultural Pomo songs and chants and dances.
Keiffer has combined his interest in wildlife – he earned a bachelor’s of science degree in wildlife management from Humboldt State University in 1979 – and his admiration and respect for Pomo culture in a program that investigates the use of wildlife by early Americans, both European and native Americans. A special emphasis will look at the specifics of wildlife use by the Pomo tribes.
Come to the program to find out what birds were important to the basket weavers, how important the California Condor was to our local region, and if rabbits were used for more than stew meat.
