The last time we were together, I spoke as a land of grass and rocks, enslaved to inter-human relations west of the Rocky Mountains. There’s a story out this way, that people […]
27. Manipulating the French in the Northwest
26. Enslaving the Land
Now that this story has walked a ways into life in the grassland, as opposed to life in a Euroamerican context… Converted to Apartments for Seniors and a Thai Restaurant …and now […]
25. Pandosy: How the Horseman of the Apocalypse Decided History on His Stomach
So, let’s play the history of the Pacific Northwest again. When Pandosy rode into Waillatpu late in 1847, he had just crossed the plains from Saint Louis. It was a great adventure: […]
24. A Caution from The Two Cayuse Sisters
So, let’s take a step back and see what we missed by being fully “modern” people looking at the Columbia River. Here we are… …looking south through Wallula Gap, pretty much as […]
23. Pandosy and the People of the Grass
The last few days, I have been trying to demonstrate what colonial history might have looked like when Indigenous law still ruled the Pacific Northwest. People have been here for something like […]
22. Keeping the Catholics at Arms Length
Here’s a question we can ask: If Chief Peopeomoxmox of Waillatpu, “The Village of Wild Rye Grass,” had installed the new Catholic arrivals of November 6, 1847 on his side of the […]
21. Father Pandosy, Slave-in-the-Making and White Poster Boy
On November 5, 1847, a year after the end of the Mexican-American War, a young Oblate Catholic acolyte, Charles Pandosy, stepped into this story of water at Fort Nez Perce, at the […]
20. What is a River?
Wikipedia is basic about this: A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground […]
19. All This Land Was Water Once
There is no need to think in straight lines. Lines like that say “this stuff is land”… … and “this other stuff is water.” That is simply a false division. There’s an […]
18. Water, Slavery, War and Peace in the Similkameen
No matter what you’re using it for or who you are, British Columbian law states that any water licensed by the government must be put to “beneficial use.” What does that mean? […]
Okanagan Okanogan 