If we call this wetland, runoff, mud, rot, ditch or swamp, we are talking about a social relationship to it, and not the thing itself. If we call the beautiful surface of […]
The Power of Words
The Power of Names and Stories
Take this (no name, please)… See that rock in back there? That’s this (below, centre of image, again no name, please.): Now, look at the name it is unofficially known by (Sorry. […]
This Land Must Burn
In the panorama of the hill, there are flashes of colour, very specific, which signify human food and the season in which they will be found. Indigenous humans spread seeds from those […]
Practical Ways to Re-Indigenize the Grasslands. Really.
Two days ago, I suggested that the former grassland hillsides of the Okanagan Valley (now large, private expanses of unproductive and water-wasting weeds), an area at least equal to the 100s of […]
Cultural Blindness and Agricultural Practice
Culture is a powerful thing. Here is some earth, laid bare by a plow, in preparation for seeding in the spring. In the past, it has been used to grow tomatoes. This […]
Watercourse to Nowhere
The top of this new watercourse is two metres higher than the stream it is meant to drain. And, yeah, the trees in the dumpster aren’t too happy about it all, either, […]
I Said Hello, and Then…
My companions thought I was a little silly, but Raven circled back to say hello too, after that. The language of this land is worth learning, even in the smoke!
The Redfish Come Home
Things are pretty great on Redfish Creek above the over-deepened trough of Kootenay Lake these days. The kokanee have come home. The work of mixing the sun with the earth and the […]
Racism and Noise in Canada
My neighbours above eat sour weeds because of racism in Canada, which created weedlands for them at the same time it created Indian reserves for their people. Right now, the country’s writing […]
Tragedy in the Spring Snow
Our little herd of nine does had two fawns last year. The coyotes got one last week. This doe is now being very protective. It’s hard, though. Forage is reduced by overgrazing, the […]
Okanagan Okanogan 