Isn’t naming great. Why don’t we call the homeland of the Wanapum, the “Wana” “Pu’um”, the water people, a river, and be done with it. But there’s a catch to this, because […]
Flowing in Place
Mourning Cloak Lays Her Eggs
Who said Chinese elms have no place here, eh. It wouldn’t be spring without the mourning cloaks! In the Similkameen they are deep purple, the colour of spring catkins. Here in the […]
Review of Wong and Wah’s Beholden: a poem as long as a river
Let’s talk about poetry … or, rather, let’s behold some creative writing … …in place: Cougar Point, Cascadia Creative writing is a cultural practice, engaged in by a group of practitioners […]
Human Cartography
Because the mountains recede in waves… … in the Similkameen… … when they don’t, they stand out, even when they are within this language of bodies. Note the cultural markings on this […]
Every Sentence is a Map of the World
The plum in blossom… … becomes music in the wind. The Síya? in blossom … … is the music of bushes cast across a scree slope. West of Olalla The break in […]
The Role of a Post Colonial Literature in Canada
It is possible to have a stream that is dry, that is nonetheless still a stream. The land teaches that. It teaches that “streaming” is not a function of water but that, […]
The Earth is Our Teacher, But What Does She Teach?
In school we were taught that a teacher was someone who showed us how things are in the world. Really, it was someone who gave us letters and a means of turning […]
Human and Inhuman Beings in the Grassland
Here is a sumac that has closed off the light to others and opened into the light it keeps to itself. Here is an applied Homo sapiens idea of how this might […]
The Power of Shadows
Butterflies are shadows. Simple to prove. Here’s a leaf shading rock. And a whole flock of shadow butterflies. They’re not the only shadows. The Síya? twigs below are shadows of the past. […]
The End of an Invasive Species, or Evolution in Action
Dalmation toadflax is a nasty weed (but pretty) and does nothing in the valley (except get eaten by cows who have eaten all the native plants and be a herbal cure and […]
Okanagan Okanogan 