Well, it’s dry, eh. And hot. Whew. This is 9:30 A.M. The afternoon was 38. (That’s 100 for you folks down south.) Forests are burning up. Smoke everywhere. All the upland water […]
Growing Food Without Water in the Hot Okanagan
Water Theft and Aboriginal Title in the Canadian West
This is a post about the proper technique for corralling (Indigenous) people by speaking sideways. But don’t take it from me. Have a look. That’s an orchard in Oliver, British Columbia. It was […]
Unsustainability in the American North West
It is the task of every culture to sustain itself, and it is the task of every culture to provide the tools to its people, that they can use to sustain themselves after the […]
O Canada
Today has been a day of flag-waving and celebrations of the country of Canada. This celebration is centred around this image: Canadian National Symbol A Tree That Doesn’t Grow in my Country, an […]
Matisse and the Nez Perce
Reading the sky, I’ve just realized, is not a matter of translating the dramatic movements of clouds and light into words or ideas, but reacting to them in the manner of responding […]
When Quail Leave the Grass, It’s Time to Party
Ah, the sweet berries of June! This is the best year in a decade for saskatoons. They are so sweet. And so juicy. Even the ground birds have left the cover of […]
History and (Dis)Respect on the Clearwater River
Here’s Curtis’s 1910 photo of a Nez Perce dugout canoe. This was the low point in Nez Perce life. Over the previous century, they had lost over 90% of the territory, much of […]
The Power of Two
This is a land that divides. Or is that upon this land people divide? Here we are on the Colville Indian Reservation, looking south across the Columbia River, as it begins to flow […]
This is How You Make Bread and French Fries
First, you take the shrub steppe of the lower Snake River. Then you add petroleum-based fertilizer (white tank) and water (six deep well pumps). This combination makes bread. It’ll be seeded again in […]
Reports of Father Pandosy Starving in 1846 Are Greatly Exaggerated
He’s the Boy from Marseilles, the French Oblate Priest who came on the Oregon Trail and started two of the first missions in Washington Territory, singing the whole time. His first was […]
Okanagan Okanogan 