VOA慢速英语：在美国东北部，志愿者致力于恢复原生土地

Asa Peters walked into a forest near Kingston, Massachusetts this summer and started cutting down a plant called Japanese knotweed.
今年夏天，阿萨·彼得斯走进马萨诸塞州金斯敦附近的一片森林，开始砍伐一种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.
“这很难。你必须不断地拉扯……但很酷。”他说。
 
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.
在八月炎热的天气里，这是一项艰巨的工作。彼得斯和其他美洲原住民志愿者正在努力使这片土地恢复到欧洲定居者抵达北美之前的状态。这意味着要带走 500 年前不存在的树木和植物。
 
He said the idea is "to create a special place where we can do all kinds of great things."
他说这个想法是“创造一个特殊的地方，在那里我们可以做各种伟大的事情。”。
 
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.
万帕诺亚格公共土地项目项目旨在将这片土地恢复到很久以前马什佩·万帕诺亚格部落的成员举行仪式的状态。
 
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.
这片土地紧挨着一片被称为泥潭的水体。大约400年前，被称为朝圣者的定居者开始了英国殖民地普利茅斯，离这里不到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·彼得斯创立了一个名为“本土土地保护协会”的组织。她说，这片 13 公顷的土地是“这个国家殖民化第一个影响的地方”。
 
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.
贝斯·罗斯·米德尔顿是加州大学戴维斯分校研究美洲原住民环境政策和保护的教授。她说，万帕诺亚格公共土地项目是保护和恢复本土文化运动的一部分。
 
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."
她说这些项目有助于应对气候变化，因为美洲原住民居住的许多地区已经“枯竭”或耗尽。以美洲原住民团体计划的方式照顾这片土地可能会帮助它变得“有弹性”。
 
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.
美洲原住民群体在他们居住多年的地方生活困难。美国西南部极度干燥的天气给那里的部落带来了问题。在路易斯安那州的湿地，当地人担心强风暴会引发洪水。
 
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.
马萨诸塞州的组织希望在北加州复制一个类似的项目。2019 年 10 月，美联社报道称，威约特部落为修复洪堡湾的一个被污染的岛屿已经工作了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.
米歇尔·瓦塞尔是是威约特部落的管理员。她把这项工作称为“治愈”。她说那是因为该岛是 1860 年白人定居者袭击原住民的地方。这次袭击杀死了很多人，部落几乎灭绝了。
 
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."
瓦塞尔说，这次袭击是“社区的伤疤”，使该岛恢复健康的工作“是改变历史的一种方式”。
 
Like the Wiyot Tribe, the Wampanoag Common Lands project hopes to make the pond and forest a better home for animals.
与威约特部落一样，万帕诺亚格公共土地项目希望让池塘和森林成为动物更好的家园。
 
Old buildings have been torn down. Sports areas have been cleared. Even large trees that are not native to Massachusetts have been taken out.
旧建筑已被拆除。运动场已清理完毕。甚至非马萨诸塞州本土的大树也被砍掉了。
 
New trees and plants were put in this summer. They include white oak trees, blueberry bushes and witch hazel plants.
今年夏天种植了新的树木和植物，包括白橡树、蓝莓灌木和金缕梅植物。
 
Cameras have been set up to look for the return of animals like otters.
已经设置了相机来寻找水獭等动物的回归。
 
If new buildings are put on the land, they will be traditional Wampanoag shelters made for guests or other community events.
如果在这片土地上建造新建筑，它们将是传统的万帕诺亚格人庇护所，为客人或其他社区活动而建造。
 
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.
阿萨·彼得斯说，他希望有一天能回来看看他种的植物怎么样。他还想了解人们如何使用这片土地。
"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."
“我希望它是一个美丽、舒适的空间，”彼得斯说。“一个人们可以来的地方，它有助于填补他们的空缺。”
 
I'm Dan Friedell.
丹·弗里德尔报道。