VOA慢速英語：在美國東北部，志愿者致力于恢復原生土地

Asa Peters walked into a forest near Kingston, Massachusetts this summer and started cutting down a plant called Japanese knotweed.
今年夏天，阿薩·彼得斯走進馬薩諸塞州金斯敦附近的一片森林，開始砍伐一種叫做日本虎杖的植物。
 
"It's hard. You got to keep pulling and pulling...but it's cool," he said.
“這很難。你必須不斷地拉扯……但很酷。”他說。
 
It was difficult work in the hot August weather. Peters and other Native American volunteers were working to bring the land back to how it was before European settlers arrived in North America. That means taking away the kinds of trees and plants that were not believed to be there 500 years ago.
在八月炎熱的天氣里，這是一項艱巨的工作。彼得斯和其他美洲原住民志愿者正在努力使這片土地恢復到歐洲定居者抵達北美之前的狀態(tài)。這意味著要帶走 500 年前不存在的樹木和植物。
 
He said the idea is "to create a special place where we can do all kinds of great things."
他說這個想法是“創(chuàng)造一個特殊的地方，在那里我們可以做各種偉大的事情。”。
 
The Wampanoag Common Lands project aims to turn the land back to how it was long ago when members of the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe used it for ceremonies.
萬帕諾亞格公共土地項目項目旨在將這片土地恢復到很久以前馬什佩·萬帕諾亞格部落的成員舉行儀式的狀態(tài)。
 
The land is next to a body of water called Muddy Pond. It is less than 10 kilometers from where settlers known as Pilgrims started the English colony of Plymouth about 400 years ago.
這片土地緊挨著一片被稱為泥潭的水體。大約400年前，被稱為朝圣者的定居者開始了英國殖民地普利茅斯，離這里不到10公里。
 
Ramona Peters started a group called the Native Land Conservancy. She said the 13 hectare piece of land is "where the first impact of colonization of this country happened."
拉蒙娜·彼得斯創(chuàng)立了一個名為“本土土地保護協(xié)會”的組織。她說，這片 13 公頃的土地是“這個國家殖民化第一個影響的地方”。
 
Beth Rose-Middleton is a professor who studies Native American environmental policy and conservation at the University of California, Davis. She said the Wampanoag Common Lands project is part of a movement to preserve and restore native culture.
貝斯·羅斯·米德爾頓是加州大學戴維斯分校研究美洲原住民環(huán)境政策和保護的教授。她說，萬帕諾亞格公共土地項目是保護和恢復本土文化運動的一部分。
 
She said the projects help fight climate change because many areas where Native Americans live have been "depleted," or used up. She said taking care of the land in the way the Native American groups plan to might help it become "resilient."
她說這些項目有助于應對氣候變化，因為美洲原住民居住的許多地區(qū)已經(jīng)“枯竭”或耗盡。以美洲原住民團體計劃的方式照顧這片土地可能會幫助它變得“有彈性”。
 
Native American groups are having trouble living in the places where they have been for many years. Extremely dry weather in the American Southwest is causing problems for tribes there. In the wetlands of Louisiana, native groups are worried about flooding from powerful storms.
美洲原住民群體在他們居住多年的地方生活困難。美國西南部極度干燥的天氣給那里的部落帶來了問題。在路易斯安那州的濕地，當?shù)厝藫膹婏L暴會引發(fā)洪水。
 
The group in Massachusetts hopes to copy a similar project in Northern California. In October of 2019, the Associated Press reported that the Wiyot Tribe has worked for 20 years to restore an island in Humboldt Bay that was polluted.
馬薩諸塞州的組織希望在北加州復制一個類似的項目。2019 年 10 月，美聯(lián)社報道稱，威約特部落為修復洪堡灣的一個被污染的島嶼已經(jīng)工作了20 年。
 
Michelle Vassel is the administrator of the Wiyot Tribe. She called the work "healing." She said that is because the island is where an attack on the Native people by white settlers took place in 1860. The attack killed many people and the tribe almost died out.
米歇爾·瓦塞爾是是威約特部落的管理員。她把這項工作稱為“治愈”。她說那是因為該島是 1860 年白人定居者襲擊原住民的地方。這次襲擊殺死了很多人，部落幾乎滅絕了。
 
Vassel said the attack was "a scar on the community" and the work to bring the island back to health "was a way to change that history."
瓦塞爾說，這次襲擊是“社區(qū)的傷疤”，使該島恢復健康的工作“是改變歷史的一種方式”。
 
Like the Wiyot Tribe, the Wampanoag Common Lands project hopes to make the pond and forest a better home for animals.
與威約特部落一樣，萬帕諾亞格公共土地項目希望讓池塘和森林成為動物更好的家園。
 
Old buildings have been torn down. Sports areas have been cleared. Even large trees that are not native to Massachusetts have been taken out.
舊建筑已被拆除。運動場已清理完畢。甚至非馬薩諸塞州本土的大樹也被砍掉了。
 
New trees and plants were put in this summer. They include white oak trees, blueberry bushes and witch hazel plants.
今年夏天種植了新的樹木和植物，包括白橡樹、藍莓灌木和金縷梅植物。
 
Cameras have been set up to look for the return of animals like otters.
已經(jīng)設置了相機來尋找水獺等動物的回歸。
 
If new buildings are put on the land, they will be traditional Wampanoag shelters made for guests or other community events.
如果在這片土地上建造新建筑，它們將是傳統(tǒng)的萬帕諾亞格人庇護所，為客人或其他社區(qū)活動而建造。
 
Asa Peters said he hopes to return one day to see how the plants he put in are doing. He also wants to find out how the people are using the land.
阿薩·彼得斯說，他希望有一天能回來看看他種的植物怎么樣。他還想了解人們?nèi)绾问褂眠@片土地。
"My hope for it is to be a beautiful, comfortable space," Peters said. "A place where people can come and it helps fill them back up."
“我希望它是一個美麗、舒適的空間，”彼得斯說。“一個人們可以來的地方，它有助于填補他們的空缺。”
 
I'm Dan Friedell.
丹·弗里德爾報道。