1
50
17
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/bd92e4fbc33066336189ab94cb2cebd3.pdf
faafa5c5af75e827adb96e85cb965890
PDF Text
Text
�������������������
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah Journal Index, 1983-1993</em>
Description
An account of the resource
This document is a topical index to all 38 issues of <em><a href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/items/browse?collection=79" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</a>. </em>
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, </em> later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal, </em>was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.</em></p>
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Periodicals--Indexes
Sustainable living--Periodicals--Indexes
North Carolina, Western
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Rob Messick
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1993
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
periodical indexes
PDF
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1990s
Acid Deposition
Agriculture
Alternative Energy
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Bioregional Definitions
Black Bears
Book Reviews
Cherokees
Children's Page
Community
Death and Dying
Earth Energies
Ecological Peril
Economic Alternatives
Education
Electric Power Companies
European Immigration
Fire
Folklore and Ceremony
Forest History
Forest Issues
Forest Practice
Geography
Glossaries
Good Medicine
Habitat
Hazardous Chemicals
Health
Hunting
Katúah
Katúah Organization
Permaculture
Pigeon River
Plants and Herbs
Poems
Politics
Radioactive Waste
Reading Resources
Recycling
Sacred Sites
Shelter
South PAW (Preserve Appalachian Wilderness)
Stories
Transportation Issues
Turtle Island
Villages
Water Quality
Western North Carolina Alliance
Wilderness
Women's Issues
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/de17f54be8d2e1fccacd51c09b08146c.pdf
e4018ca4e8f5df316bedfdd2f6ee2887
PDF Text
Text
ISSUE
AUTUMN
NO. 1
1983
�BIOREGIONS :
"The Trail To Home"
FROM ULSTER TO CAROLINA :
(The Scotch-Irish Migration To N. Carolina)
1
3
(""!
N
4
PERHACULTURE PRACTICES
A Story
MOSHKA & LAKIMA
N
By
Snow Bear
<
z
H
,.J
0
''Wind Rose" By George Ellison
MAP MEDITATIONS
6
8
OLD TIME APPLES
POETRY
......
co
The Katuah Bioregion
9
10
i:x:
<
u
::c
f-1
i:x:
MOUNTAIN GUIDES
A Resource Bibliography
i.2
BIOREGIONAL CONGRESSES
14
ALTERNATIVES TO ECONOMICS
17
FINDING KATUAH
0
z
19
A Bioregional Questionnaire
FALL CAL EN l}\R
21
CREATIVE DISTRIBUTION
22
..
(""!
......
co
�"A TRAIL TO HOME": continued from page l
By W1frI of definition of this word, Peter Berg writes :
The teim refers both to a gecgrapti.cal terrain and a terrain of consciousness - to a place and the ideas that haVe
developed about how to live in that place. Within a bi.ore9ioo the oonditicns that influence l ife are slllli.lar, and
these in turn have influenced lunan ooc:upancy.
EDITORIAL STAFF:
Bonrue .CamJ;:bel.l
'1b:mas Rain Crowe
IDretta Rattler
Arrly Feinstin
Oluck Marsh
a:1 McNeil!
Olip Smith
Ida Mc:Neill
Mamie Muller
David Reed
Sam Sutker
Martha Tree
David Wheeler
A bimegioo can be detemined initially by the use of climatology, physiognqily, animal and pl.ant geogra?lY, natural history, and other descriptive natural sciences. The final
boundaries o f a bioregioo are best described by the people who
live within it, th:cough hunan rec:cgnitioo of the realities of
livin:;J-in-place.
All life al the planet is ocmected in a f&1 obvious ways, and
in many nme that are barely explora:i. But there is a distinct
resonance lllDl19 living things and the factors which influence
them that occurs specifically within each separate place al the
planet. Di.soovering and describing that resonance is a way to
describe a bioregion."
EDITORIAL OFFICE FOR THIS ISSUE:
Long Branch Environmental
~ducation Center
Route 2, Box 132
Leicester, N.C . 28748
PRINTING:
Sylva Herald Publishing Co.
Sylva, N.C.
ADDRESS CORRESPONDENCE TO:
Kat.µab: Biorez1onal Joµrnal of the
Southern Appalachians
Box 873
Cullowhee, N.C. 28723
'lbe effects of seeing the world in this W1frI would be far-reaching.
WOUld our national policies be the sane if the land was seen as a
sacred being? WOUld our eoonanic:s be the sane if the <X>St to the
biosphere were reckoned into the price of production? WOUld our politics be the same if power over an area were in the hands of the
people who lived there? lllat if oak, bear, fox, and chickadee had a
voice in the decisial-lll!lking oouncils?
The key to this transitioo is in the spiritual realm, for
in disoovering the land as she is in the place \othere we
live, we di.soover ourselves in the izooess. 'DleJ:e is a necessary connecti.cn here, for the self we see axoum us is
not our own nature in metapx>r or reflection. I t is our
own aelf tJ:uly and actually. 'lbis is the mystical oonneotion that makes healing, knowl.edl;Je, and power all possible. If we make a gesture to the earth, the earth gestures
back - this is the source of the nagic.
'!!le geological fomations urx3erpinning the land, the sprinq
rains every year, the wims sweeping in f%an the west, the
tan;Jled uniergrowth of a rhoc!odermon slick, the juna>es
playing anong the forest trees - these are mcng the forces
that shape our bioregion and give it its unique character.
'lbese forces also shape the landscape of our own cxnscicus-
ness.
But our mind is a creative force as well, and the attuned
h1.1nan mind can be a power for encx:iuragi.ng the ecological
health of an area. 'lb:>se who see thEmlelves as sta.lards,
protectors, and healers will be uniting the power of their
minds to this task.
To these pe:>ple falls the responsibility of keeping the essential nature of the nountain area intact. 'lbe .A{pllac:bjans are the oldest irountains, and they are strong sources
o f power for the whole eastern half of TUrtle Island. This
is .iJttx>ssible to explain to those who do not already understand it fran their own experience. To them, this po-
....
-·.,,.-··
.
sition would seen reactionary and a::>unter-pr:oduc:tive, and
they cannot see why it is ultimately inportant to the
survival of us all.
we are here to make changes, but the biggest changes are
within ourselves. We are here to learn and grow and, like
the great trees of the forest, to develop roots and beo:rne part of this place.
In this way the process of transfomation begins. It is a
healing process, a voluntai:y marriage of ourselves to the
land. As we help the land to repair the damage done by a
careless humanity, so does she help us to repair the damage done within our hearts and minds by a bankrupt system.
By infomling our
vision and giving a a::>ntext to our work,
the idea of a bioregion can be a powerful tool in our
spiritual, ecxxanic, and political liberation. It can help
us to becane whole in our spirit, in our bodies , in the land,
and in our experience.
Prayer chant:
"Ancient M::>ther I Ancient M::>ther
You who have waited so l.alg,
You Wio have waited so lcn;J
For your children to return,
Your children are oow returned Here we are"
,
KATU1!.H - page 2
'lbe Blue Ridge M::>untains are under duress, but the area
still has a feeling of sacredness, an aura of power that
has protected it sanewhat fran the ravages of humankind.
we are lucky in the land that has been left to us. 'lbis
area is a prine location to hatch an ecologically sane
and healthy society - the no.mtains are equal to the task
if we are. We have an area that is relatively untraapled
and not overpopll.ated. Because of its inaccessibility, it
is econ::mically depressEd and therefore relatively \mindustrialized. Because of its isolation many of its p e o p l e ,
are unsqhlsticated and still feel close ties to the
mountains.
aubml 1983
�FROM ULSTER TO CAROLINA
The Migration Of The Scotch-Irish To Southwestern North Carolina
The study of migration is particularly valuable to Americans, for either in an
ancient past (for American Indians) or in more recent centuries, all Americans
are immigrants. To an amazing degree we have remained a migratory people,
profoundly mobile, moving from city to city, state to state. Alexis de Tocqueville
observed of early American society that the American "grows accustomed to
change." Once having moved, it was easier to move again and again.
Migration frequently leaves only a sketchy historical record. While the great
sweep of events might be clear, the details are often lost in the confusion of move·
ment. Many family histories remain incomplete and often even the names of those
who first came are lost. The problem of understanding and evaluating the ex·
perience of the Scotch-Irish is made more difficult by the eagerness with which
they threw over the culture of the Old World which might have identified them
as a group in America. Still, their presence surrounds us in the Southern Appalachians in the evidence o( family names, in the stamp they placed upon the
customs of the region and in lingering memories. A distinctive feature of the
Southern Appalachian region is that its relative isolation in the late 19th and
early 20th centuries has preserved a strong sense of a Scotch-Irish past.
At the close of the American Revolution, the territory west of the Blue Ridge
and Allegheny Mountains quickly opened to the first legal white immigra.nts.
Southwestern North Carolina was one of many regions across the new American
nation that received a flood of new people. For perhaps two decades before the
area was opened for settlement, it had been admired by the inhabitants of the
western Piedmont and Watauga who hunted there and fought with General
Rutherford against the Cherokee in 1776. In the last year~ of the Revolutionary
War, North Carolina passed legislation granting mountam lands to ve~erans of
the state's militia and the Continental Army - from 640 acres for pnvates to
12 ()()() for brigadier generals. For others, land was available throughout the period
fo; five and ten cents per acre plus fees. A series of treaties with the C~erokee
between 1785 and the 1830s progressively opened the land and kept tt cheap
and plentiful. Beginning in 1787, when the first grants were made on t~e Swan·
nanoa and French Broad Rivers, war veterans and settlers from the Piedmont
and Watauga, as well as a steady flow of people down the Great Wagon Road,
settled the mountain lands with surprising sp~. Although early census figures
are notorious for underestimating populations, the census of 1790 recorded 88
families some 559 souls already settled on Reems Creek, and a considerable settlement' to the south ~here Bee Tree Creek enters the Swannanoa River.
Between 1787 and 1840 the Old West Frontier passed through southwestern
North Carolina and a new society evolved. The census of 1840 recorded a population of approximately 34,000 people in that region west of the eastern boundary
of Buncombe County, divided at that time into Buncombe, Henderson, Hayw?°'1,
Macon and Cherokee counties. Like all frontiers, the region was never static or
isolated but constantly growing and changing. For many new settlers, western
North Carolina was only another temporary stop. There were people who grew
a few crops on land they never legally claimed and then pushed on either westward
into Tennessee and Kentucky, or southward to Georgia and Alabama. Some
raised children before seeking another home and still others stayed. ~os~ who
settled amongst and frequently displaced the Cherokee were of ~tverse
backgrounds: English, German, French, Black, Welsh as w_ell as Scotc~·lr1Sh: No
single ethnic group can claim an exclusive role in the creation of fr~~tte~ ~1ety,
but a careful examination of the family names in the new communmes md1cates
that the largest group among the early settlers was the Scotch-Irish.
aubm'l
1983
Mountain Agriculture
"I doubt not that those
(Scotch-Irish) pioneers who
came to the South and gave
all cheir strength and devotion
to the fabrication of such
civilization as we have were
grim and decermined and stiff.
necked and opinionated and
fearless people. le is probably
easier to admire chem than it
would have been pleasant to
live with chem. I spent my
earliest days amongst them
and I have no doubt that their
arrributes had been transmitted almost unmodified to them
by their ancestors for generation after generation. They
were and they are
undemonstrative, apparently
without affection and superficially cold. But they generally
have opinions, right or wrong,
and they are altogether willing,
if nor anxious, to stand by
their opinions to their last
breaths. I scarcely think our
government could have come
into being without them."}.
K. Hall on his Scotch-Irish
ancestors in North Carolina,
personal correspondence, 1941.
This large, mobile and adaptive group of immigrants brought to their new homes
a culture formed in Scotland and the north of Ireland and molded by migration.
Much of the Ulster legacy had been put aside for new ways with few signs of
regret. The Scotch-Irish brought a simple, practical and unadorned style of life,
but in at least two essential areas, religion and agriculture, thier mark upon mountain life still bears witness to their Ulster origins.
The other area besides religion where the Scotch-Irish left their mark upon
mountain life was their use of the land. The pattern of mixed farming which
they develop«P was one that they brought with them and which they found wellsuited to their new environment.
This mixed farming was appropriate for the mountains because it did not require enormous amounts of first-quality land and could in fact utilize unclaimed
"open range." Nor did it require the kind of capital that was needed to obtain
the best lands, so it was better suited to a people most of whom had left Ulster
with little material wealth. and it was appropriate to a heavily-forested and laborshort area.
This type of mixed farming is described in the wills and farm inventories of
the earliest settlers, such as those surviving for Haywood County. Grains were
the dominant crops with Indian corn far and away the leader, followed oy oats,
wheat and barley.- Plows are listed in most of the inventories, indicating that in
addition to hoe cultivation many fields were also being cleared and plowed as
agriculture moved out of the earliest pioneer phase. Other crops such as flax and
cotton were also grown, though in small amounts for local use.
This .t ype of agriculture, using slash and burn techniques to remove trees and
the hoe to cultivate around the stumps which were left, as well as the raising
of small numbers of animals, was a pattern which had been practiced in Ulster
in the infield-outfield system, and it was a pattern which the Scotch-Irish stamped
upon the mountains of western North Carolina.
James Patton, the weaver from County Derry, offers a valuable insight into
that.aspect of the frontier economy. In the Philadelphia area he had found various
employment as a casual laborer until he had accumulated enough money by 1789
to purchase a supply of·goods and set out for western North Carolina. His experiences in Pennsylvania indicate that in fact Patton knew little about farm work
and had no taste for it. This marked the beginning of his new career as a traveling merchant, taking trade goods south to the North Carolina mountains and
driving livestock north to the cities of Washington, Balti!Ilore, and Philadelphia.
His experiences give a good idea of what it took to prosper as.a merchant working
the Great Wagon Road and into western North Carolina. During his life, he
saw economic activity grow from the late 1780s, when there was little money
available in the mountains, to the 1830s when his inventories of trade goods reveal
a significant expansion of commerce. The primary "cash crop" that mountaineers
raised was livestock, whici1 according to Patton was driven out of the mountains
in large numbers, supplemented by furs, feathers, beeswax, and roots for medicine
such as gipseng and snake root. He observed:
... I settled in the upper part of North Carolina at that time the poorest part
of the country I ever saw to make property; but I do not entertain the same opi·
nion now. Changes and improvements have convinced me that there are few sections of country superior to the western part of North Carolina.
,
KAW.AH - page 3
�WHAT IS PERMACULTURE
" • • • Pe.Jtma.c.u.ltwr.e. -l6 ~ a c.oMdoU6ly duigne.d ag.Jtic.uli:WLe. .t>y.t>tem • ••
that c.ombinu land.6c.ape. duign wi;th pe11.e.nniai. pf.ant.6 a.nd a.nimai.6 to make a.
.t>a.6e. a.nd .6U6tainable. 11.uoWLc.e. 6011. town a.nd c.ou.ntluj• •a. :t.Jwly a.pp11.op.Jtia.te.
te.c.hnology giving h-i..gh yie.ld.6 6011. low e.ne.11.gy inpd.6, a.nd U.6.lng only hu.ma.n
.t>IUU and Welle.ct to a.c.hie.ve. a .t>table. ILe..l)oWLc.e 06 g11.e.a.t c.ompf.ex.lty and
.6tabil..ity•
• • • ( pe11.mac.u.ltwr.e.) -l6 a philo.t>ophy 06 woll.h.ing wi;th, 11.athell. than agaiMt
na.twr.e; 06 p11.otll.a.c.te.d a.nd thought6ul ob.6M.va.tion 11.athell. than p11.otll.a.cte.d and
thoughtlu.6 labo11.; and o~ looking a.t pf.a.nt.6 a.nd a.n.imal.6 in all the.ill.
6u.nc.tionli , Jta:the11. than tll.e.a.ting a.ny a.11.e.a. a..6 a. .t>ingle.-p11.odu.ct .t>y.t>tem."
---&ill. Molti..6on
a..6 quoted in AGAYULI , Pvuna.c.uli:WLe New6lette11.
THE CHICKENWIRE DAM
EVERY YEAR HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF TONS OF TOPSOIL
WASH OFF OF OUR AMERICAN LAND INTO THE OCEAN. SOIL IS
ONE OF OUR K>ST PRECIOUS RESOURCES . WITHOUT F!ln'I LE
SOIL. AGRICULTURE -THE FOUNDATION OF OUR CIVILI ZATI ONFAILS. THE LAND CAN NO LONGER SUPPO!n' BUMAN LIFE. THIS
HAS HAPPENED THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF OUR PLANET MANY
TIMES. IN FACT. MANY OF THE WORLD'S DESERTS ARE THE
DIRECT RESULT OF POOR AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AND DE FORESTATION THAT LED TO SOIL LOSS THROUGH WIND AND WATER
EROSION.
PEBMACULTURE IS AN ATTEMPT TO DEVELOP AGRICULTURAL
SYSTEMS THAT ARE ECOLOGICALLY SOUND,PERMANENT.SUSTAINABLE AND ENERGY AND RESOURCE CONSERVING. THE PRACTICE OF
PERMACULTURE DRAWS FROM THE BEST OF EXISTING AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES AND COMBINES THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW TECHNIQUES TO CREATE CONSCIOUSLY DESIGNED, H!GH QUALITY LIFE
SUPPORT SYSTEMS. THE CllICKENWIRE DAM. WHICH WAS DISCOVERED QUITE BY ACCIDENT. CAN PROVIDE A USEFUL TOOL FOR
SOIL AND WATER CONSERVATION FOR SMALL STREAMS IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF PERMACULTURAL SYSTEMS.
THE CHICKENWIRE DAM, WHICH IS ESSENTIALLY A RUMANMADE BEAVER DAM, IS QUITE EASY TO BUILD. SET LOCUST POSTS
AT 4- FOOT INTERVALS ACROSS A SHALL STREAM BED AND UP THE
SIDESOF THE STREAM BANK TO THE TOP EDGES. SECURE THE TWO
END POSTS WITH GUY WIRES OR SOME OTHER BRACING SYSTP.M.
ATTACH 36" OR 48" HI GH, l " OR 2" MESH CHICKENWIRE TO THE
POST IN THE SAHE MANNER AS IF YOU WERE FENCING A CHICKEN
YARD. IN FACT THIS DAM CAN BE INCORPORATED INTO A CHICKEN ENCLOSURE. SECURE THE BOTTOM EDGE OF THE CHICKENWIRE
TO THE STREAM BOTTOM AND BANKS WITH PEGS OR ROCK. FLOAT
HAY, LEAVES. OR SIMILAR DEBRIS DOWN THE STREAM ABOVE THE
FENCING AND ALLOW IT TO BUILD UP ON THE FENCING AND GRADUALLY SEAL ON THE MESH .
WATER WILL BEGIN TO DAM UP BEHIND THE DEBRIS-CLOGGED
FENCING, WHILE SOME WATER ~LL CONTINUE TO PASS THROUGH
AND OVER THE DAM.
THIS STEP WILL HAVE TO BE REPEATED SEVERAL TIMES TO
INCREASE THE HEIGHT OF THE DAM, AS DEBRIS PROGRESSIVELY
BUILDS UP HIGHER AND HIGHER ON THE FENCING. EVEN THOUGH
AT FIRST THE DAM WILL LEAK COPIOUSLY, OVER TIME THE DEBRIS
WILL SEAL MORE TIGHTLY AGAINST THE CHICKENWIRE.
THE CHICKENWIRE DAM HAS MANY POTENTIAL PERMACULTURAL
APPLICATIONS. THE FOLLOWING ARE SOME OF THE SYSTEM'S VIRTUES AND USES. IF YOU CAN COME UP WITH ANY MORE, PLEASE
LET ME KNOW.
1. THE DAM IS INEXPENSIVE AND QUICK AND EASY TO
CONSTRUCT. OTHER MATERIAL THAN CHICKENWIRE. SUCH AS
WOVEN CANE OR BRUSH SECURED IN THE CREEK BEAVERDAM
FASHION COULD BE USED.
2. THE DAM IS FLOOD PROOF. WATER JUST FLOWS THROUGH
THE DAM OR OVER THE CHICKENWIRE CLOGGED WITH DEBRIS.
IN FACT. FLOODS CAN ACTUALLY MAKE THE DAM POND DEEPER
BY ADDING DEBRIS HIGHER UP ON THE DAM FENCING.
J. THE DAM SLOWS WATER LFAVING THE PROPERTY AND
INCREASES THE WATER' S POTENTIAL USES.
4. THE DAM ACTS TO COLLECT SILT AND SOIL BEING
CARRIED DOWNSTREAM. THUS REDUCING A PROPERTY'S SOIL
LOSS AND PROVIDING A SOURCE OF RIGH QUALITY , EASILY
COLLECTED SOIL FOR RETURNING TO FIELDS AND GARDENS.
THESE DAMS CAN BE PLACED IN A SERIES ALONG A STREAM
FOR EVEN GREATER SOIL CONSERVATION AND COLLECTION.
THE SILT THAT EVENTUALLY WOULD FILL THE AREA BEHIND
THE DAM COULD BE USED FOR STREAMSIDE GROWING AREAS
FOR SUCH PLANTS AS WILD RICE. CATTAILS, SAGITTARIA,
CREEK MINT AND .OTHER AQUATIC PLANTS.
5. PONDS SO CREATED MAKE "
GREAT POULTRY WATERING
HOLES AND HABITAT FOR DOCKS . GEESE, FROGS , CRAYFISH,
AND OTHER WILDLIFE OR DOMESTIC ANIMALS.
6. THE DAMS. IF PLACED NEAR CULTIVATED AREAS.
CAN BE USED FOR IRRIGATION PONDS FOR FLOOD. GRAVITY
OR PUMP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS .
By: Chuck Marsh , Bountiful Gardens ,
P.O . Box 509 , Dillsboro, NC 28725
(70 4) 586- 5186
,
I<ATlWI - page
4
autum 1983
�SCOTCH-IRISH MIGRATION
a-/fer ]uia,
b°'J'
t:lt &atlt
continued from page 3
ij nf
aJ4 :J }J,..lt Ml 1'.W\li:
~ HtAo""J ,,., k tu tfD.," ;,,, ft""' JJAilu.re1.
'JI JA°'rt:f wilh ,,,_ i1j c/,eu,., wa.h1J1
"These mountains /of North
Caro/ma/ begin ro be
populated rapidly. The salubri·
ry of rhe air, rhe excellence of
rhc warcr, and more especially
rhe pasrurage of rhese wild
peas for the carrle, are so
many causes char induce new
inhabiranrs ro serrle rhere.
"Esrares of rhe first class are
sold at rhe rare of two dollars,
and rhe raxes are nor more
rhan a half.penny per acre. In·
dian corn, whear, rye, oats,
and peach rrees, are the sold
ob1ecr of culrure.
"The inhabitants of these
mountains are famed for being
excel/enc hunters. Towards the
middle of aurumn mosr of
chem go in pursuir of bears, of
which rhey sell rhe skins, and
rhe flesh, which is very good,
sttves chem in sr:.ear measure
for food during that season.
They prefer ir ro al/ ocher
kinds of meat, and look upon
it as the only thing rhey can
ear wirhour being indisposed
by it. They make also of their
hind legs the most delicious
hams ... They hunt chem
wirh great dogs, which,
wirhouc going near chem,
bar/c, cease, and oblige chem
to climb up a rree, when rhe
hunter kills chem wirh a car·
bine." F. A. Michaux, Travels
il nulu.r11 "'Y jDUl.
'); luJJ 1"I i.IO!Jf f/,I J4ih If rtpl ihidi"f
/w ilj oi.m JIM.
gtt~ 1~"f1' :J fA1Ut ~11WfA- ttltcYJ
A~ j/u.""'1j #f iWAUJJ f
:J f•r M tvf/, fo,. 11¥ &.rlJ, ij wilA. Mes
Llj ~hl.a.inj w ilj JIA)
ihtj fJ!mflJrl ~.
0, fta1 &ulJ,,, ym M je1 tl ""1«~vd
i,. ilcl ~ '1f Mj tMM-~) I
'-n filt1J, ""f 1'1i1Wi ,.,jlJi. n111t..l#ttj ~
""°'!
1-ttJ MY 14JO!HJI,.
jur1ly lit# iur 41'11 IJ,,e J'4j4,.j
;Mil
..n
lite
l4YJ If
fo/1""'
Ml
,,.r Zift
uJ :; 1c1>ZZ J.in
j,,,
The Drovers' Road through
North Carolina
connected rhe region ro
Charleston and Savannah. Ir
was a roure of serrlement in
che early 19th century as well
as rhe sire of rhe carrle and
swine drives char were so im·
porranc ro che regional
economy.
sourhwesr~
i
l!Je ha.vlf ef ih~
far1r1r-.
_,y,. 1if:
~J ~.u,. CJr41111
HOW THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS GOT THEIR NAME
- FROM A GUEST CONTRIBUTOR
It is worthv notice, that our mountaini; are not liOlitnn• and scattered
confusedlv o~er the face of the countrv; but that the~ c:ommcnce at
about 15~ miles from the sea-coast, are' disposed in ridges one behind
another, running nearly parallel with the sea-coast, though rather
approaching it as they advance north-eastwardly. To the south-west,
as the tract of countrv between the sea-coast and the ~l ississippi
becomes narrower, the ~1ountains converge into a single ridge, which.
as it appronches the Culph of :\lexico, subsides into plain countr~'· and
gives rise to some of the wilters of that ~ulph. and particularly to a
ri\'er called the Apillachicola, probably from tht- :\p;1l;1d1il'S, an Indian
nation formerh· n•sidin~ on it. Hence the mount.tins ~i\'in~ rise to that
river, and s~n from its various parts. ,,.l'rc e;1lll•d thl' :\p;1lachi;1n
mountains, being in fact the md or ll'rmination only uf tlw ~'feat rid~es
passing through the <.'Ontinl'llt. European gcograplwrs howc\'er l'Xtended the name northwardlv ns far as the mountoins extended; some
giving it, after their separation into different ridges, to the Blue ridge,
others to the North mountain, others to the Alleghaney, others to the
Laurel ridge, as may he seen in their different maps. But the fact I
believe is, that none of these ridges were e,·er lmo\\11 by that name
to the inh;1bitants, either nati\'e or emigrant, but a~ tht>y saw them liO
called in European maps. In the same dir<.'C'tion ~t·1wr;11l\' are the \'t>ins
of limcstmll'. coal. and other minerals hitherto 1lisl~l\'t•rt•tl : :incl so range
the foils of our ~rt·at ri\'ers.
-TllOM.\S jEFt'Ell.>;OS
Xotc1 0 11 tl1c State nf \ 'ir::,i11ia. 1781-82
West of the Alleghania,
1802.
Two fundamental features of the early Scotch-Irish do stand out. The first is
the cultural interaction they experienced with people around them throughout
their migrations. They never settled in isolation from others. The second is their
readiness to change and adopt new ideas and practices. Perhaps their most per·
sistent trait as settlers on the American frontier was their way of using the land,
evolved in the uplands of Scotland and Ireland and ideally suited to the frontier
that unfolded south and west of Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Their familiarity, even contentment, with this way of life drew them to the fron·
tier and invited them ever onward in search of plentiful land and game. And
here too their preference for the single family farm over the village community
sustained their strong spirit of individuality and the importance of family and
self-sufficiency. This is where their greatest influence lies - in the kind of land .
use and social organization they brought to much of the South. The open range
system in which crops were fenced and livestock roamed free prevailed across
much of the South into .t he 20th century and is an important element in the
shaping of Southern history.
Southwestern North Carolina had by the mid-19th century created a society
that was a synthesis of cultures and peoples reacting to their new environment.
This new Appalachian culture was shaped by forces distinct to the region. Ethnicity
was largely submerged by regional conflicts within the state; by new economic
activities such as logging, mining, and tourism; by the intervention of the federal
government in land policies and development projects; and by continuing in·
and out-migration as the Southern Appalachians became increasingly differentiated from surrounding regions. Those who would understand modern Appalachia would be right to pursue these themes; but a true understanding of the
traditions of the region and its sense of itself still calls us to back to the ethnic
heritages the first settlers brought.
~
Migration of rhe Scocch·lrish People
A Comprehensive Ex hibition Produced By
Mounrain Heritage Center of Western Carolina University
Sam Gray: Project Director
Curtis Wood and Tykr Blethen: Hntorical
autum 1983
R~arch
and Writing
'
I<ATUAH - page
s
�MOSHKA. t LAKlMA
The. moon .6m.U.e.d Jted .thJr.ough the. ne.u a:t the. edge
06 the meadow. TJr.Unk, bMnc.h a.nd lea6 .6ha.dOW.6 .6netc.hed a.c.Jr.0.6.6 a. JLlppUng .6ea 06 the. t:a.ll gMUU a.nd wil..d6loWelL6 belong.lng to Ealith Mathe.Jr.' .6 late .6wnmeJt. Ro.6e.
c.oloJted ha.Jr.vut moonU.ght .6lowly ga.ve. wa.y to .6h.,i.n,lng
.6il.ve.1r., a.nd a..6 the. nee .6ha.do1Al6 .6hMnk, the. .li..ght 6eU
upon the. two 6ox pup.6 pe.1r.c.he.d upon the. ta.ll.., .6mooth,
Jr.Ound gMnlle. boulde.Jr. ,ln the. VeJL':f c.e.n.te.Jr. 06 the.
meadow.
A STORY BY SNOW BEAR
Mo.6hka. a.nd La.IWna. 6eU the a.nc.ient powe.Jr. 06 .tha:t
Jr.Oc.k .6.lng.lng thJr.Ough them, c.oUIL6ing ~d.6 th/Lough
the pa.d6 06 the.iJr. plW6. But the.iJr. ga.ze tAn-6 6.bc.e.d upon
the meadow; .6lowly .the.iJr. .6.talr.e. c»r.c.J.e.d .it., taJUng bt
the. bowa:ty 06 ti6e tha..t .tlvt.ive.d on that JUc.h, bla.c.k
.60il. and the plant.6 a.nd wec.U tha..t gJte:w on a.nd w.lthbt. The.iJr. e.alt.6 c.a.u.ght .the. c.on.tented IWmbl.lng 6Jr.Om .the
bla.c.k beaJL '.6 thJr.Oa..t a..6 .6he. e.66oltt,lu.6lq lti.pped open
.the Jr.Otten hemlock tha..t ha.d 6a.Ueninto .the. me.a.drxu. She
.6a..t on he.Jr. hau.nc.hu, tic.k.lng 6Jr.Om he.Jr. pa.w the. wh.U:e.
g.ltl.Lb.6 tha:t ha.d lived w.i.tkin the. log. HeJt c.ub poked
a.nd .6c.Jr.a..tc.he.d a..t .the. .6o6t wood, 6incllng he.Jr. own 6ood .
Clo.6eJt .to .the. a.nc.ie.n.t Jr.Och .the. wh.ue. 6la..6h 06 the
.6kunk '.6 .6.tJU.pu dlr.w .the..ilt a.tte.n.tlon. A6 .they wa-tc.he.d
he. .6c.Jr.a..tc.he.d a. hole. ,ln the. .6oil., Jte.a.c.hing down wLth
one pa.w a.nd wlth.dJr..aw.in a. gJtea..t p.(.nk ri.igh.t CltaWleJr..
Then .tluwr. lz.e.e.n eyu caught the. UniJ Jtu.6.tting 06
gM.6.6 a..6 the. 6,le.ld mou.6e. Mn thJr.Ough hi.6 tunnel, c.otte.c.U.ng 6a.Ue.n .6e.e.d. They .6e.n.6e.d hi.6 6eaJL a..6 he. 6Jr.Oze.
when the. .6ha.dow pa.ue.d ave.Jr. hi.6 ba.c.lz.. Vown-!Wrlne.d
6ea..the.lr..6 mu.66te.d the. .6ound 06 the. gJtea..t ho1tned owl' .6
6.li..ght a..6 .it. .6WOOped bt a..t gM.6.6 top level. to ha.Jr.vut
IJU a.no.their. /,i..e.ld 110U6e. The. .6p.iJLlt6 06 the. boo young
6oxu .6oa.Jted upon the. .6ong.6 06 the. night: .the. c.hiltp
0 6 the. c.Jr.ic.lz.e.t.6, the. wlU.6 pelt 0 6 the. glta.6.6 e.6 tha..t
ntaltke.d .the. pa.u.i.ng 06 .the tung .6nake., the. .tJt.iLllng 06
the. nee. 6Jr.Og.6, the. yipp.i.ng a.nd how.U.ng o 6 the c.oyotu,
.the. de.e.p-.tlvr.oa..te.d hooting 06 .the owl.
But then, 6Jr.Om the. wut, ca.me. a. ha.Jr..6h Jr.Oa.!Llng .tha:t
dlr.owne.d out the .6ong.6 06 .the night. Mo.6hlz.a. a.nd LalWna.
tultned a.nd IAJ!Lin.k,l.e.d theAJr. nw.LZzlU a..t the. .6meU a.nd
.6ound 06 da.nge.1r. .tha..t wa..6he.d oveJt them. They c.Jr.Ouc.he.d
down tow, pltU.6.ing the.tn.6e.l.uu a.ga.in.6t the. gMnlle. be.neath, gJr.Owt..i.ng a..t the. btv.l6ible. .thltea..t ,ln .the. w. A.nd
.then, a..6 the. Jr.Oa.!Llng gJtw unbea.Mbly loud, .they .6a.w .it.
c.oming ! A. bU.teJt, ove.1r.powe.Jt.lng w.ind bUIL6.t upon .the.
va.Uey, .6na.pp.lng wea.lz. tJr.e.e..top.6, upending .6ha.Uow Jtoote.d
nee tltunk.6 and 6la.tte.ning .the deU.c.a..te. meadow gJta.uu.
It .6la.ppe.d the. two 6oxu, nybtg to tea.Jr. them aJAJa.':f 6Jr.Om
.the a.nc.ient .6.tone., but they hehl on w.it.h a.U the.iJr.
.6ne.ngth. Ic.y 6.ingell.6 cfug be.neath theAJr. .61z.bt; .the.Vt
ha.c.lz.lu we.1r.e. M.l6ed, .theAJr. ha.iJt .6t.ood on end. And then,
a..6 .6wi6tty a..6 .it. ha.d c.ome., .it. pa.ue.d on. They looked
up bt we to .6 ee. .tha..t teM.lble. w.ind Jtoa.!Llng down the.
vall.ey, .6 na.ppi.ng ne.u a.nd 6latte.n.i.ng gM.6.6 u a..6 .it.
went.
The. wind ha.d le.6.t; .it..6 biting c.hilt wU:hbt .them; the.
on the.iJr. ne.c.lz..6 .6til.t .6tood out, the.iJr. eyu we.Jte
wide. a.nd gla..6.6y with teJr.Jr.OJt. Looking a..t the. meadow they
.6a.w d.tvtk .6ha.dowy c.la.IAl6 a.nd teeth Jr.U6hing a:t them. The.
moonUgh.t 6-lU.e.d .the. .6pa.cu be.tween the .6ha.dow c.la.IAl6
with gho.6.tly .6il.ve1t .6ha.pu .tha..t CltaWle.d a.long .the. e.dgu
06 the 6ie.td. The. moon .it..6e.l.6 Wd.6 .tro.l6.te.d in.to a. .6c.owl.lng huma.n 6a.c.e.. PaiJr.6 06 a.ngJty Jte.d eyu .6t.alr.e.d a:t .them
ha,iJr.
KATOAR - page 6
autlm1 1983
�6Jtom wltkin .the g.11.a.uu thlr.eate.ning .to pou.nc.e and claw
and b.lte. F1tom a.U. cU/r.e.c;tion6 came kideou.6 AntL'Ll.6 g1towl6
and Al.U:he.Jt.ing noi6u .
'
Pa.n.i.c made. .them dlUJw down w.ltJWt .them6elvu 6rwthe.1t
and 6WLtheJL; .they e.a.c.h. weJLe. 4b.6otu.telq alone., 601tgo.tten
to ea.ch o.theJL. They coul.d onhj hu.nc.h oveJL and Ah..i.veJL.
r.t l.00.6 Lak..ima. who 6.irralt.lJ ga.the11.ed the. 1tenw.Uning 4.tl!.e.ngth
06 hi6 Ahltin#Ung .6p.iltU and .in an .i.Jvr.u..Uta.bte. bu;t .6.U.e.nt
vo.i.c.e. Aa..id, " Mo.6hka, took at me.I Look .into my e.yu l "
She. twr.ned he.It he.ad and looked .in.to he.It bJto.the.Jt '.6 e.yu.
A4 .the»r. eyu met, a Apalr.k l.00.6 tu..ndled. The tonge.Jt they
looked, the AtltongeJL .the 6lame 61tOm .that Apalr.k g1te.w,
until. .the 6.i.Jte 06 Ap.ilt.lt bl.a.zed .in .the.ilr. .6ou.l.6, rn.<.nd4 and
bod.i.u. That IAJtVUnth .6plle.a.d .thJtOu.ghou;t to dutltoy .the cold
6e.a.Jt .that had COn6u.med .th~.
When .the l.tu.t .tlutcu 06 6e.4Jt we.1te. gone, they bltOke
.the.ilr. gaze upon ea.ch o.the.1t. They looked to the E44.t .into
.the n,ight .that ha.d Awai.towed .that cold, powe.1t6u.l wlnd
and .they .6en6ed a Ao6t Jtu.4.t.Ung 6.tow.i.ng up .the. valley.
A '4Wlm, gentle bJte.eze moved .the .tl!.eu .into a Jthy.thmic.,
.614.tly.i.ng danc.e. It U6.ted up .the gll.444e6 .that had been
p1r.u.6ed 6la.t and ILi.ppt.ed them gently, 44 .i.6 .the meadow
l.00.6 the 4u.Jt6ace. 06 a AIWrrneJL.i.ng lake. The. &«1IUll iAJind
calte.6.6 ed the.iJr. 6aCe6, and played wUh .the.i.Jt 6u.Jt 44 .lt
had wUh .the. gJUZUe.6, JUppLi.llg .lt .in IAllVe.6 06 lted,
white and black. Then .they 6elt .lt pa.u .in.to .the Wut,
Jtutolt.i.ng eve11.rJ-th.i.ng .to .the calm .that had been be601te
.the. cold wlnd lt4vaged .the. va.U.e.y. Once. 494.i.n .the meadow
l.00.6 a pt.ace 06 be.a.u;ty .that frilled them IAllth Aong. The
Aong came 6oltth ucaping .in.to .the. cte.a.Jt n.ight aAJr. and
l.00.6 dJuuAwt .in.to .the he.a.Jtt 06 e.veJLy Uv.ing .th.i.ng .in .that
pt.ace.
Exha.u.6ted, .they padded Atowl.q and 40(,t.l.y u.p .the. Vlt.i.p
Spll.i.ng Hollow and cLimbed .the. hA..U to .the. ltOck owt:Cltopping .that hel.d .the.ilr. home.. S.i..tt.i.ng .in a c.i.Jtcte .in 61tont
06 .the. den we11.e. Tlt..i.4hka and Ka.lwn4, .the.ilr. mo.the.It and
6athe11., and w.i.4e. old W44hte., the IUlcoon. The1te we.Jte
.6.tlutnge du,i.gn6 .6CIUltched .into .the e.a.Jtth be601te. .them;
they Aat .touch.i.ng ea.ch o.the11. '.6 paW6 and A.i.ng.i.ng .i.n a
la.ngu.a.ge .the young 6oxu had neve.Jt he.a.ltd be60Jt.e.
When .they dlr.e.w clo4 e, fAl44hte looked u.p and 44.i.d,
" Thi6 n.i.ght you. have 6ou.ght tong and luvtd wUh an
enemy 6e.w Me able .to conqu.e.Jt. FoJt you. have conqu.e11.ed
the Sp.(Jt.lt 06 Fe.a.It and though .lt mtL1J 4444u.lt you. o6ten,
you. wlU a.l.wa.y.6 be .lt4 ma.6.tell.. The. powe.Jt 06 .the. love
.i.n you. that m44.te.Jted .lt wlU g1tow .6.tl!.onge.Jt .in .the
1Je.a.lt4 ahe.a.d. We .thJtee have 14Nltc.hed you. g1tow, r..m..tJUng
.the Path 06 TIW.th, and knew you Welte 1te.a.dy .to 6ac.e
.thi6 tJUal.. r.t l.00.6 we Jto Ae.nt .that Sp.(Jt.lt 06 Fe4Jt
upon you., .to .6.tl!.e.ng.then you. and 40 you. m,i.ght know .the
powe.Jt .that h44 601t Ao tong AptVr.k.t.ed wl.th.in you.Jt eyu.
F1t0m .tw day on, you. have. w.ltJWt you.Jt Ap.i.Jr..lt .the
c.hih.llten you. we.1te, bwt we wlU .tl!.U6t you. 44 ou.Jt .tJtu.ebJto.the.Jt and .t1we-.6i4.te.1t. But now, .into .the den
wUh you.. "
When .they CltaWled wl.th.i.n .the. 11.oc.k.6, be.6 011.e. .them a
6eJU.t l.00.6 la.id ou;t 06 a.U. .the.i.Jt 6avolt.lte. 6Jtu..lt4 06 the.
meadow: bla.c.kbeNtq, .6br.awbeM.y, ll.44pbeM.IJ, and pe!t4..innon,
all luvtvu.ted and dlr..i.ed .in .the. ti.me. 06 the.i.Jt Jt.i.pene.6.6.
They ate glt4.te6u.lty, .then la..i.d down .in ne.w, .606.t bed.6
06 pu!Li6y.ing c.e.dalr. bou.gh.4 and went glt4Ce.6u.lty .in.to
.the IA10lthJ. 06 dlr.e.am.6~
autmn 1983
Snow Bear is a teacher and herbalist of traditional
alternatives for children and adults. He and his
wife Khalisa are founders and directors of the
Pepper land Farm Camp in Farner, Tenn.
~ - page 7
�In the North Carolina mountains,
people have developed an appreciation
for a variety of apples because apples
were used in so many ways. In the old
days, apples were not an occasional
treat. They were a staple food. From
the planning of the home orchard to the
drying of the apple slices, every way
possible was used to extend the apple
season and preserve the fruit. In the
absence of modern refrigeration, various
kinds of apples came to be known not
only for their taste but also for their
rate of ripening and their capacity for
preservation. Each apple had its specific
season and purpose. Some apples are
early apples and some are better late
in the season. Some are for drying ,
some are best suited for sauce while
others are best for canning. There are
juicy ones for cider and hard ones for
storing and, of course, there are plain
And who knows how the Leatherman,
old eating apples.
the Milam, ~he Democrat and the
During the season, some of the best
Knotley Pea got their names. Many
by Dou;J Elliott
old-time eating apples are Crow's Eggs,
of the apple varieties I mention
Bellflowers, Black Hoovers, Virginia
here are found only in a particular
Beauties, and Spice apples. The small
area, perhaps as small as a portion
yellow Spice apples actually have a
Just about anyone who's been raised of the county. And some names might
distinctive wintergreen-mint flavor .
be a local name for a widespread
in·· the mountains or who's looked at
Some eating apples will keep for months,
variety. For example , Theron showed
apples in the western part of our
while others might be right for eating
me what he called a "No-rthern Spice
State has come cross Winter Johns or
during only a few weeks of the season.
Apple" that looked suspiciously
some of the other old and almost
Theron showed me a little apple called
like a common New England breed
forgotten varieties of apples. Until
a Stripey. Early in the season the apple
called "Northern Spy . "
recently, an apple was just an apple
has a crisp, tangy, white flesh; but if
One of the great proponents of prefor me. That was before I started
it gets too ripe or you let it sit around
serving the many varieties of apples
ranging the hills and hollows with
the house too long, sometimes even for a
was L.H . Bailey whose 1922 book, The
Jheron Edwards, a sharp-eyed mountain
few days, its crisp texture turns mealy.
Apple Tree, lamented that of the more
man from Yancey County raised in the
"It'll almost choke you," says Theron of
mountain tradition of self-sufficiency than 800 varieties listed in nurseryits sawdust-like texture. As good as this
men's catalogues in 1892, not more
and well in touch with much of the
delicious morsel is fresh from the tree,
than a hundred were available at the
old-time wisdom and ways . After a
you'll never find it in the suppermarket.
time of book's publication.
couple of seasons of seeing apples
Sauce apples and canning apples each
'
through Theron's eyes, I felt like
have different properties; they aren't
someone who had been shown a rainjust labeled as cooking apples . Good
bow in full color after seeing only
canning apples are firm-fruited and won't
black and white.
turn brown while a whole panful is peeled
The fact is, there's an incredible
andsliced. The slices hold their shape as
variety of apples in the mountains of
they are exposed to the rigors of home
North Carolina. And by biting into a
canning. Some good canning apples are
few of these old-time apples we can
Winter Johns, Pippins, Milams, Sweet
tap the richness of a rapidly distA~
Russets, Knotley Peas, and Spitzbergens.
appearing culture and life style.
Although it is possible to make sauce out
When I asked Theron how many types
a,
of almost any apple, the best have a soft
of apples he knew, he rattled off a
texture that will break down into sauce
list of more than 20 varieties . Just
with little cooking. Bellflowers and
the names of these almost forgotten
Stripeys are ideal for sauce-making. Juicy
breeds left my head reeling with deapples like Winesaps and Sheep's Nose lend
light. Some were named for what they
themselves well to cider-making. Pippins
resembled, like the elongated, lopand Crow's Eggs are favorite pie apples.
sided Sheep's Nose apple, the oval
The large Stripped Ben Davis is a favorite
Crow's Egg, and the yellow Bellflower.
"Why do we need so many kinds of
baking apple.
Others took people's names, presumapples?" Mr . Bailey asks. "Because
Good canning apples are usually good
ably the ones who developed the
there are so many folks," he says.
drying apples because of their firm flesh.
variety or who first brought it into
"A person has a right to gratify his
Apple-drying was an important home industry
the area. So there's Stark Apples,
legitimate taste. If he wants twenty or in many parts of North Carolina . Itinerant
Betsy Deatons, Black Hoovers, Stripforty kinds of apples for his personal
merchants traveled back country buying or
ed Ben Davis's and Ducketts. Still
use, running from Early Harvest to
trading dried apples. Theron tells of
Others, like the Winesap, Sweet
Roxbury Russett, he should be accorded
peeling and slicing basket after basket
Russet, Stripey and Spice apple are
the privilege. There is merit in
of apples which were dried on racks over
named for their distinctive tastes,
variety itself . It provides more
the cookstove . In some areas the apples wer
color patterns or both. The
contacts with life, and leads away
cored and sliced into rings which were drie
_ Spitzbergen and the Virginia Beauty
from uniformity and monotony."
by stringing the slices on a pole . Drying
refer tn their place of origin; the
Today, according to the North
is one of the simplest and, if you have a
Horse apple is so big and sour that
Carolina Agricultural Extension Service wood stove, one of the most efficient ways
it is considered fit only as feed
90% of the State's co11DDercial apple
to preserve apples. Just slice the apples
for horses; the Limbertwig was
crop is made up of only their varieties thinly and spread them on window screens
named for the distinctive shape and
Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, and
CONTINUED ON
flexible limbs of
arent tree.
Rome Beaut •
aubml 1983
KMUAH - paqe 8
,,
=1nd by bitin.y into
a few of tAese
old-time apples
we can ttLf
rtc/in,ess '?f
:ap tdl_y dts°i'feartTtj cutture and
lifestyle.''
�...- :·
. ~,.
. •>...,, .
--
· _ _
..,.....a
-
.-
-~---~
for B, a geopolitical song as emblem,
in this 22nd year of heavenly deadlock
"The bastard wilde Popple is called ••••• in English winde Rose •• ••• "
Gerarde, Herbal (II, lxx 301), 1597
"In those days, even though ancient astronomers had learned to divide the circle mathematically, directions were not
marked by degrees, but in terms of winds • Every experienced seaman, however untutored, knew his winds. They meant more
to him than any number 0 to 360. Since the ancients recognized 12 primary winds, at first the medieval compass cards
were circles divided into 12 directional points •• ••• And the way they were drawn, often with artistic flair, reminded
sailors of a 32-petaled flower. Hence the compass cards became known as wind roses. To this day the Portugese call the
compass card a rosa dos ventos, a wind rose, and any modern cartographer wishing to affect an old chart places in one
corner an elaborate and full- blown wind rose."
John Noble Wilford, The Mapmakers, 1981
Finally, of course, there are oo naps, oo c:arpasses, oo
destinations.
No plans . No yesterdays. No tarorrows. Just place.
The only lodestar is your heart.
Switchbacking
fran the cul-de-sac above the shade
we pass through air so still
it is a balm
but we can see that sure breeze
jagging treelight
on the crestline
& when we get there, love, I pranise you
it will swirl us into pattern
up the main ridge to CliJ'9'1BllS
(passi1'¥3 over the JUdge's eyrie at Sharp Top
we' 11 raven-croak in unison into his solanness)
& sail us Cbwn the high divde to Silers Bald & 'lhurderhead
& on & on & on
devouring the upgrades & laurel hells with the sheer ease
of flight
(the ridges west in Tennessee are negligible
but eyeing the other incline
we'll tick off
Forney Welch Jenkins Twenty Mile & IDI¥3 Hun;p:y
&you&I
will spy the threads in this tapestry glinting in the
norni1'¥3 sun
Peachtree Noland Forney Hazel
for this is our
&
Eagle
range)
till the downdraft shelves to Fontana
& ~ering back through the old river valley
finds us
wieldil'¥3 these walkID]sticks
tryi1'¥3 to get a little higher
on the slope
together •
.
..• .
... . ;,.,·
autl:lm 1983
KAnfAH - page 9
�......
"I WAS VRIVING BACK ON 1-40 FROM RALEIGH, AMV I
STARTEV TO GET THIS EXCITEV FEELING AS I VROVE INTO
THE FOOTHILLS. I BEGAN TO FEEL THAT CERTAIN FEELING
OF BEING IN THE MOUNTAINS AGAIN AS I STARTEV TO
CLIMB, ANV I KNEW I WAS COMING HOME.
THE MOUNTAINS WERE IN FRONT OF ME, LOOKING MAGNIFICENT. YOU KN(XJJ THE WAY THEY ARE SOMETIMES, WITH l
BIG CLOUDS GATHEREV ALL AROUMV THE TOPS ANV THE SUNLIGfT SLANTING THROUGI, LIKE GOV WAS SAYING, 'THESE ~
ARE MY MOUNTAINS, KEEP THEM HOLY'."
THE APPALACHIAN BIOREGION,
LIKE THE LAND ANYWHERE, IS AN
EXPERIENCE. IT IS THE BEING
THERE, THE WORKING , THE EXPLORING, THE COMING TO GRIPS
WITH ITS MYSTERIES THAT ULTIMATELY .PROVIDES OUR PHYSICAL
SUBSISTENCE AND OUR SPIRITUAL STRENGTH.
WRITINGS AND MAPS CAN NEVER
SUBSTITUTE FOR THIS EXPERIENCE. THERE IS A SPECIAL INTENSITY IN STANDING AT THE
TOP OF A STEEP MOUNTAIN
RIDGE LOOKING OUR OVER FORESTED VALLEYS OR IN ARISING
AT DAYBREAK ABOVE ROLLING
BANKS OF CLOUDS THAT ISOLATE
THE MOUNTAINTOPS LIKE ISLANDS
IN A GRAY OCEAN. THERE IS A
PERVADCNG SENSE OF ALIVENESS """
AND AWARENESS IN A FOREST OF
TALL TREES THAT AWAKENS THE
MIND TO THE NATURAL SURROUNDINGS AND REVEALS A SPECIAL
SENSE OF PRESENCE.
BUT WORDS AND PICTURES CAN BE
GUIDES TO POINT THE WAY. IT
IS PLAIN TO SEE ON THE LAND
SURFACE MAP OF THE EASTERN
RALF OF THE CONTINENT, TURTLE
ISLAND, THAT THERE IS AN APEX
OF INTENSE ENERGY: THE BLUE
RIDGE AND SURROUNDING MOUNTAINS, WITH THE GREAT SMOKY
MOUNTAINS AS THE ENERGY CENTER.
FROM THAT CENI'ER, THE ENERGY FLOWS OUT, RADIATING IN ALL
DIRECTIONS. JUST AS IRON FILINGS WILL DELINEATE THE INVISIBLE FLOWS OF MAGNETIC FORCE, THE LINES OF THE RIVERS ON THE
MAP SHOW THE ENERGY PATHS RADIATING OUTWARD.
THE RIVERS ARE BORN IN THE MOUNTAINS. TREY FLOW OUTWARD IN
ALL DIRECTIONS: EAST TO THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD; SOUTH INTO
THE PALMETTO COUNTRY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, AND FLORIDA; INTO THE GULF OF MEXICO THROUGH THE ALABAMA LOWLANDS OR
BY WAY OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER TO THE WEST; EVEN NORTH TO
THE GREAT LAKES. THE POWER OF THE EARTH SPIRIT FLOWS OUT
OVER ALL THE LANDS
THERE ARE BOUNDARIES TO THE MOUNTAIN REGION; BUT THEY ARE
"SOFT" BOUNDARIES. NATURE DOES NOT LEND HERSELF TO HARDAND-FAST LINES, BUT RATHER TO TENCENCIES. NIGHT MOVES INTO
DAY, WINTER MOVES INTO SPRING - THE DIFFERENCES ARE APPAI<A1lJAH - page 10
RENT, BUT THE PRECISE POINT WHERE THE TRANSITION TAKES
PLACE IS IMPOSSIBLE TO DEFINE. SO IT IS WITH THE LAND. AS
ONE TYPE OF CLIMATE, VEGETATION, OR TERRAIN MERGES INTO
ANOTHER, IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO MARK THE PRECISE CROSSOVER
POINT.
/
t<ATUAH: THE CENTER
"ON CEREMONIAL OCCASIONS, THEY FREQUENTLY SPEAK OF
THEMSELVES AS "ANI-KITUHWAGI" OR "PEOPLE OF KITUWHA", AN ANCIENT SITTLEMENT ON THE TUCKASEGEE RIVER
ANV APPARENTLY THE ORIGINAL NUCLEUS OF THE TRIBE."
- Jamu Mooney, My.th.6 06 .the. CheJr.Oke.e.
~
THIS NAME, KATUAH, APPEARING IN A VARIETY OF PHONETIC SPELLINGS, REFERRED TO THE CHEROKEE VILLAGE LOCATED JUST BELOW
THE JUNCTION OF THE TUCKASEGEE AND OCONOLUFTEE RIVERS IN
autmin 1983
�WHAT IS NOW CALLED SWAIN COUNTY, NORTH CAROLINA. THIS VILLAGE DOMINATED THE "MIDDLE TOWNS" OF THE CHEROKEE NATION,
THOSE VILLAGES LYING ALONG THE TUCKASEGEE AND THE UPPER
PART OF THE LITTLE TENNESSEE RIVER, AND THAT AREA WAS FREQUENTLY REFERRED TO AS KATfiAH.
..
THE MEANING OF THE WORD KATUAH HAS BEEN LOST, BUT IT IS ONE
OF THOSE WORDS THAT CARRIES A SIGNIFICANCE DEEPER THAN ITS
DEFINITION. THE WORD WAS USED WITH DEEP RESPECT, AND, ACCORDING TO MOONEY, WAS "FREQUENTLY EXTENDED TO INCLUDE THE
WHOLE TRIBE".
...
THESE RANGES PERHAPS RELATE MORE TO THEIR LOCAL ENVIRONS
THAN TO THE APPALACHIAN SYSTEM AS A WHOLE.
ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE APPALACHIAN CHAIN, THE PIEDMONT
PLATEAU FOLLOWS THW MOUNTAINS SERVING AS A TRANSITION AREA
BETWEEN THE HEIGHTS AND THE COASTAL PLAIN •
APPALACHIA IS BOUNDED ON THE WEST BY THE TERRITORY DEFINED
BY THE OHIO, CUNBERLAND, AND TENNESSEE RIVER DRAINAGES.
TO THE SOUTH, THE MOUNTAIN SYSTEM DIMINISHES IN NORTH
GEORGIA AND NORTHEAST ALABAMA UNTIL IT CEASES ALTOGETHER IN
,
THE VICINITY OF THE GREAT ETOWAH MOUND NEAR MARIETTA, GEORINDEED, IT CAN BE SEEN ON THE MAP THAT KATtl-·- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - . , GIA.
AH IS THE GEOGRAPHICAL CENTER OF THE CBER<r
KEE TERRITORY, AS TH.§ INDIANS APPARENTLY
ECONOMICALLY , THE CITY OF ATLANTA , ORIWERE WELL AWARE . KATUAH ALSO COINCIDES WITH
GINALLY THE OLD RAILROAD JUNCTION,
THE ENERGY CENTER FOR THE EASTERN HALF OF
FACES AWAY FROM THE HIGHLANDS TOWARDS
THE TURTLE ISLAND CONTINENT. IT IS FROM
THE PROFITABLE COMMERCE OF THE SOUTHTHIS CENTEJ WE BORROW THE NAME FOR OUR PR<r
EASTERN FLATLANDS. YET .THE MOUNVINCE, l<ATUAH. AND '!T IS THROUGH THE NAME
TAINS ARE ALWAYS THERE, SENDING
KATLJAH WE HOPE IN OUR MODERN CONTEXT TO REOUT THEIR INFLUENCE, AND STILL
AWAKEN THE SPIRITUAL IDENTITY THIS AREA HAS
HAVE A HOLD ON THE HEARTS OF MANY
HAD IN THE PAST.
OF THE CITY'S PEOPLE.
THIS PROVINCE, THE FOCUS OF OUR ENERGIES
THE APPALACHIANS ARE THE OLDEST
AND OUR OWN BIOGEOGRAPHICAL NICHE, ROUGHLY
MOUNTAINS ON THE CONTINENT. IN THE
COINCIDES WITH THE ORIGINAL AREA OF CHER<r
EONS OF THEIR YOUTH, IT IS HYPOTHEKEE SETTLEMENT IN PRE-COLUMBIAN TIMES.
SIZED THAT THEY STOOD AS TALL AS THE
THIS AREA IS ALSO LARGELY COINCIDENTAL WITH
HIMALAYAS. NOW, ROUNDED AND WORN WITH
"OLD APPALACHIA", THE GEOLOGICAL NAME FOR
AGE, THEY ARE A DEEP STORE OF WISDOM,
THE EARLIER FORMATIONS OF THE APPALACHIAN
STRENGTH, AND ENDURANCE. THEY ARE THE
CHAIN - THE BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAINS, THE UNAKA
ELDERS OF THE LAND, AND THEIR ENERRANGE, AND THE TRANSVERSE RANGES BETWEEN
GIES ARE MORE SUBTLE AND DEMAND MORE
THEM .
~""" d.e. "'-.P
ATTUNEMENT THAN THE RAW PRIDE OF THE
Tll f.: CllJ:;HOJ<EI·:
MOUNTAINS TO THE WEST GLORYING IN
THEIR PHYSICAL STRENGTH.
THE APPALACHIAN CHAIN WAS FORMED IN TWO
DISTINCT STAGES. "THE GREAT APPALACHIAN
.JAMl':S :-.100.N t-:\"
THE POWER OF THE APPALACHIANS IS A
11:)00
VALLEY" - THE TENNESSEE AND SHENANDOAH
STRONG FORCE IN THE LIVES OF ALL
RIVER VALLEYS SEEN AS ONE - DIVIDES
@dui-rft..J K~ ..t~ site.
THE PEOPLE UNDER THEIR INFLUENCE.
"OLD APPALACHIA" FROM "NEW APPALACHIA" ~
.__ __ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ __.THEY STAND STRONG ABOVE THE RUSH OF
THE ALLEGHENIES AND THE CUMBERLAND
THE COASTAL POPULATION CENTERS.
MOUNTAINS, YOUNGER RANGES THAT CONTAIN THE MASSIVE COAL DECALM, IMPASSIVE, ENDURING, THEY GROUND AND BALANCE THE
POSITS SO CHARACTERISTIC OF APPALACHIA JN MANY PEOPLE'S
l'KENETIC ENERGIES OF THE PROFIT-SEEKERS AND THOSE TOO
MINDS.
ABSORBED IN SIMPLY MEETING THE BILLS ON THEIR LIVES TO
NOTICE WHERE THEY ARE OR THE WORLD OF LIFE AROUND THEM.
THE MOUNTAINS ARE IN MANY WAYS SIMILAR THROUGHOUT, BUT THE
MINING OF COAL HAS PERMEATED THE HISTORY, CULTURE, ECONOLIKE THE MOUNTAINS' POSITIVE BENEFITS, THE CHANGES THAT
MICS, AND CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE PEOPLE OF "NEW APPALACHIA"
WOULD COME ABOUT IF THEIR INFLUENCE WERE DIMINISHED BY
TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT ENTIRELY DIFFERENT CONDITIONS HAVE
THE MISTAKES AND EXCESSES OF HUMANKIND WOULD ALSO BE
BEEN CREATED BETWEEN THE TWO HALVES OF THE APPALACHIAN
SUBTLE AND FAR-REACHING. IN WHAT MANNER THESE CHANGES
CHAIN. HOPEFULLY, THESE WILL BE RESOLVED IN THE COURSE OF
WOULD APPEAR IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY, BUT THEY WOULD
POST-INDUSTRIAL HISTORY, BUT IT WILL TAKE TIME.
SURELY aE DESTRUCTIVE AND WOULD LESSEN THE VITALITY OF
THE HUMAN SPECIES AND OUR POTENTIAL FOR SURVIVAL.
APPALACHIA: O SIORE&lON
UR
THE APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS FROM EASTERN PENNSYLVANIA TO THEIR
SOUTHERN LIMITS IN NORTHERN GEORGIA AND ALABAMA COMPRISE OUR
COMPLETE BIOREGION.
PROTECTING AND MAINTAINING THE LIFE OF THE MOUNTAINS
IS A VERY PRACTICAL SORT OF WISDOM, FOR OUR WELL-BEING
AND THE SPIRITUAL HEALTH OF THE LAND ARE INTIMATELY
LINKED.
CLWTINUED ON PAG£ tO
GEOLOGICALLY, THE APPALACHIAN CHAIN PICKS UP AGAIN TO THE
NORTH AS THE CATSKILL AND ADIRONDACK MOUNTAiNS IN NEW YORK
STATE AND THE GREEN AND WHITE MOUNTAINS IN NEW ENGLAND. BUT
aut\ml 1983
r
KATlWl - page 11
�A RESOURCE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR KATUAH AREA
THE BIOREGION IVEA
AKWESASNE NOTES. A BASIC CALL TO CONSCIOUSNESS: THE RAV DENO SAU NEE ADDRESS TO
THE WESTERN WORLD. AKWESASNE NOTES, PUBLISHER-cJo MOHAWK NATION, ROOSEVELTOWN, NY 1368~e bioregional ethic as lived by the Iroquois Nation from
Paleolithic era to the present and the attack upon it by European colonialism.
BERG, PETER, ed. REINHABITING ! SEPARATE COUNTRY. PLANET DRUM FOUNDATION, BOX 31251,
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94131. 1978. The bioregional experience, Northern California as example.
BERRY, WENDELL. THE UNSETTLING OF AMERICA. SIERRA CLUB,
LAND. NORTH POINT PRESS,
SNYDER, GARY . EARTH HOUSE.ti:OLD. NEW DIRECTIONS; THE OLD WAYS. CITY LIGHTS; THE
REAL WORK. NEW DIRECTIONS; TURTLE ISLAND. NEW DIRECTIONS. Bioregional
classics - poems and essays of respect to Gaia and the "real work", getting
in touch with ourselves and nature.
TUKEL, GEORGE. TOWARD! BIOREGIONAL MODEL ; BERG, PETER. t?IGURES OF REGULATION;
TODD, JOHN & TUKE~. GEORGE. REINHABITING CITIES AND TOWNS. PLANET DRUM
FOUNDATION, publisher. Some of the publications from Planet DrlDD which
give a good overall $ense of designing for sustainability.
periodicals:
AKWESASNE NOTES. c/o MOhAWK NATION, ROOSEVELTOWN, NY 13683. Official publication
of the Mohawk Nation; Best statemect of the traditional Native viewpoint
on modern problems .
CoEVOLUTION QUARTERLY (CEQ). "WATERSHE!'JS" ISSUE. WINTER, 1976-77. published t;y
the Whole Earth Catalog, Box 428, Sausalito, CA 94966.
CoEVOLUTION QUARTERLY. "BIOREGIONS" ISS!.iE . no . 32 WINTER 1981. published oy tile:
Whole Earth Catalog .
RAISE 7HE STAKES.PLANET DRUM FOUNDATION, Box 31251, Sa& Francisco, CA 94~31.
- - Tri-annual publication dedicated to "deve:!.oping, analyzing <i-:ld communicating the concept of a bioregion". Interested in developing an exchange
among individuals and groups "tnat are exploring cultural, environmental
anci economic forms appropriate to L:he places they live in".
GEOLOG'I
ROGERS, JOHN. THE TECTONICS OF THE APPALACHIANS. WILEY-INTERSCIENCE, 1970.
NATURAL HISTORY
Use any good field identification books ( The A~dubon Field Guides
good) plus the following of special regional interest:
BROOKS, MORRIS. THE APPALACHIANS.
~re
particularly
Natural History textbook.
CAMPBELL, HUTSON, SHARPE. GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAIN WILDFLOWERS . UNIVERSITY OF TN PRESS.
CHILTOSKEY, .'1ARY & HAMEL, PAUL . CHEROKEE PLANTS. HERALD PUBLISHING, 1975. Syl va, NC
ELLIOTT, DOUG. ROOTS. CHATHAM PRESS . Exceller.t 5uide to r:ne underground world of
medicinal and othe::vide useful plant rhizomes.
GRAY, SAM. HAZEL CREEK: PATTERNS OF LIFE ON AN APPALACHIAN WATERSHED. MOUNTAIN
HERITAGE CENTER, WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY, CULLOWHEE, NC.
HESLER, L. R•. ' MUSHROOMS OF THE GREAT SMOKIES.
KROCHMAL, ARNOLD AND CONNIE. GUIDE TO MEDICINAL PLANTS OF THE UNITED STATES . QUADRANGLE PRESS. Experts on Appalachian plant life.
KATUAH - page 12
autunn 1983
�LINZEY, ALICIA AND DONALD. MAMMALS OF THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK.
UNIVERSITY OF TN PRESS.
STUPKA, ARTHUR. NOTES ON THE BIRDS OF THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK;
TREES, SHRUBS AND VINES OF THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK.
One of the best-k. lwn naturalists specializing on this area.
STUPKA, ARTHUR AND HUHEEY, JAMES. AMPHIBIANS AND REPTILES OF THE GREAT SMOKY
MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK. The Smokies are known for the varieties of
amphibious creatures.
BARTRAM, WILLIAM. THE TRAVELS OF WILLIAM BARTRAM. BARNES & NOBLE. One of the
first whites into the area, Bartram wrote of the land and the Indians
in almost an untouched state.
TIME-LIFE. THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS . TIME-LIFE BOOKS AND JEROME DOOLITTLE, 1975.
NATIVE INHABITANTS
There are a lot of books on the Cherokees, but it is hard to find information
about their traditional ways. Mooney is the best source.
MOONEY, JAMES. MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE AND SACRED FORMULAS OF THE CHEROKEE.
CHARLES ELDER, BOOKSELLER.
GRAY, SAM. MYTHIC MAPS: CHEROKEE LEGENDS OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. MOUNTAIN
HERITAGE CENTER, WESTERN CAROLINA UNIVERSITY.
ULMER, MARY AND BECK, SAMUEL. CHEROKEE COOKLORE . PUBLISHED BY MARY AND GOINGBACK
CHILTOSKY, 1951. MUSEUM OF CHEROKEE INDIAN.
JOURNAL OF THE CHEROKEE HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION. CHEROKEE, NC 28719 . Periodical .
Sometimes interesting, sometimes boring accounts of Cherokee life and
history, almost always by white academics.
WHITE SETTLERS: HISTORY ANO CU L
TURE
CAMPBELL, JOHN C. THE SOUTHERN HIGHLANDER AND HIS HOMELAND. UNIVERSITY PRESS OF
KENTUCKY .
KEPHART, HORACE. OUR SOUTHERN HIGHLANDERS . UNIVERSITY OF TN PRESS
LOVINS, CLIFFORD R. OUR MOUNTAIN HERITAGE. MOUNTAIN HERITAGE CENTER, WESTERN
CAROLINA UNIVERSITY.
PARRIS, JOHN. ROAMING THE MOUNTAINS ; MY MOUNTAINEERS, MY PEOPLE; THESE STORIED
MOUNTAINS. A good storyteller and knowledgeable"""'ibout the mountains, if
you can get through his descriptive verbiage .
VAN NOPPEN, JOHN AND INA. WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA SINCE THE CIVIL WAR. APPALACHIAN
CONSORTIUM PRESS.
WIGGINTON, ELIOT, ed. THE FOXFIRE BOOK and FOXFIRE 2-6. ANCHOR PRESS/DOUBLEDAY.
The famous interview series on mountain culture.
SEEING
BERRY, WENDELL. THE WHEEL (poems) ; FARMING:~ HANDBOOK : THE COUNTRY OF
MARRIAGE
CARTER, FORREST. THE EDUCATION OF LITTLE TREE. DELACORTE PRESS.
A young boy learns from his Cherokee grandparents in East Tennessee.
DILLARD, ANNIE. PILGRIM AT TINKER CREEK. HARPER'S MAGAZINE PRESS.
PORTER, ELIOT (PHOTOS) AND ABBEY, EDWARD (TEXT). APPALACHIAN WILDERNESS .
BALLANTINE BOOKS. NEW YORK, 1973.
POLITICS
ASKINS, JOHNSON, LEWIS, editors . COLONIALISM IN MODERN AMERICA: THE APPALACHIAN
CASE.
EMERGING 810REGIONAL CONSCIOUSNESS
THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN RESOURCE CATALOG. PUBLISHED 1980-82 . AVAILABLE NOW
IN LIBRARIES OF WNC AREA.
autunn 1983
�FOLKS IN THE OZARKS HAVE BEEN MEETING AS
A BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS EACH YEAR FOR THE
LAST THREE YEARS. OTHER BIOREGIONAL CONGRESSES AROUND OUR CONTINENT ARE BEGINNING TO CONVENE AS WELL. IN FACT, THERE
IS EVEN GOING TO BE A NORTH AMERICAN BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS IN SPRING OF 1984 TO
BRING TOGETHER ALL OF THESE CONGRESSES.
WHY ARE THESE CONGRESSES HAPPENING AND
WHAT ARE THEY ABOUT? WELL, FIRST OF ALL,
BIOREGIONAL BOUNDARIES ARE CLEARLY DIFFERENT THAN POLITICAL BOUNDARIES.WHEN YOU
BEGIN TO THINK BIOREGIONALLY, YOU BEGIN
TO HONOR WHOLE PROCESSES THAT SURROUND
YOU. YOU CANNOT CUT OFF A MOUNTAIN RANGE
JUST BECAUSE IT HAPPENS TO EXTEND INTO
ANOTHER STATE; NOR CAN YOU SAY THAT YOU
CAN FORGET WHAT HAPPENS DOWN RIVER BECAUSE IT HAPPENS TO BE UNDER OTHER'POLITICAL JURISDICTION'. IN OTHER WORDS,
BIOREGIONAL BOUNDARIES INCLUDE "WHOLE
SYSTEMS" AND HONOR THE NATURAL, ECOLOGICAL "LEGAL" SYSTEM THAT IS ALREADY
FUNCTIONING.
BIOREGIONAL CONGRESSES A.lIB INFORMAL LEGISLATIVE BODIES WHICH HAVE 'CROPPED UP',
SO TO SPEAK, WITHIN THEIR RESPECTIVE BIOREGIONS. A MAIN PURPOSE OF A BIOREGIONAL
CONGRESS IS TO REFLECT WITHIN THE HUMAN
CONSCIOUSNESS/CULTURE THE WIDER "BIOLEGAL" STRUCTURE THAT EXISTS IN THAT BIOREGION; IN OTHER WORDS, TO TRANSLATE INTO HUMAN TERMS THE ECOLOGICAL LEGAL SYSTEM WHICH IS ALREADY FUNCTIONING IN THAT
BIOREGION.
ANOTHER PURPOSE OF A BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS
IS TO FACILITATE THE ADAPTATION--INTEGRATION--INTER-FACING OF THE HUMAN CULTURE
INTO THE WIDER BIO-SYSTEM. HERE THE EMPHASIS IS ON "SUSTAINABILITY". ARE HUMAN
PRACTICES THERE --ECONOMIC, SPIRITUAL,
SOCIAL,ETC.-- ALLOWING FOR OR CONTRIBUTING TO THE SUSTAINABILITY OF THE BIOREG- ION.
THE FOLKS IN THE OZARKS WHO CONVENE EACH
YEAR AS THE OZARK AREA COMMUNITY CONGRESS
(O.A.C.C.) HAVE BEGUN TO EVOLVE A VIABLE
PROCESS FOR "CONGRESSING". THEY HAVE FIRST
IDENTIFIED ALL THE VARIOUS ASPECTS IN THE
BIOREGION WHICH THEY CONSIDER TO BE SIGNIFICANT. HAVING IDENTIFIED THESE ASPECTS,
THEY , THEN, HAVE SET UP ELEVEN PERMANENT
STANDING COMMITTEES TO ADDRESS THESE INDIVIDUAL ASPECTS AND TO CAUCUS DURING
EACH CONGRESS. THE ELEVEN COMMITTEES ARE
AS FOLLOWS : APPROPRIATE TECHNOLOGY
ENVIRONMENTAL/ECOLOGICAL
COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS
COMMUNITIES/ALTERNATIVE LAND TENU
AGRICULTURE/DIRECT MARKETING
BIOREGIONAL/ECOLOGICAL POLITICS
ENERGY/RENEWABLE RESOURCES
HEALTH
EDUCATION/NETWORKING/COMMUNICATION
PEACE/HUMAN RIGHTS
SAFE ENERGY
KAT6AH -
page 14
autunn 1983
�EACH REPRESENTATIVE ATTENDING THE CONGRESS
IS ASKED TO JOIN ONE OF THE ELEVEN STANDING
COMMITTEES AND TO CAUCUS WITH THAT COMMITTEE DURING THE CONGRESSIONAL SESSION. THE
COMMITTEES MEET SEVERAL TIMES DURING THE
FOUR-DAY SESSION OF THE CONGRESS --DOING
INTENSIVE NETWORKING, INFORMATION-SHARING,
AND PLANNING WHAT THEY WILL DO AS A GROUP
FOR THE COMING YEAR.
A MAJOR FUNCTION FOR EACH STANDING COMMITTEE IS TO DRAFT A SET OF RESOLUTIONS -WHICH ACT AS A PERMANENT GUlDELINE FOR
THAT COMMITTEE'S DIRECTION. TOWARDS THE
END OF THE CONGRESSIONAL SESSION , THE RESOLUTIONS ARE THEN BROUGHT TO THE FULL CONGRESS IN PLENARY SESS ION AND ARE REVIEWED
AND RATIFIED . TAKEN AS A WHOLE THE BODY OF
RESOLUTIONS FROM THE ELEVEN MAJOR COMMITTEES THEN FORMS THE CONSTITUTION/MISSION
STATEMENT FOR THE CONGRESS.
THROUGH ITS CONSTITUTION , THE CONGRESS-BY IDENTIFYING THE MAJOR AREAS OF SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BIOREGION -- HOPES TO PROVIDE
A "ONE-TO-ONE CORRESPONDENCE" TO THE ACTUAL
BIOREGION, IN ORDER TO ACKNOWLEDGE ITS COMPLEXITY AND INTERWOVENESS AND, THEREFORE,
TO CONSCIOUSLY PLAN FOR ITS SUSTAINABILITY.
IN OTHER WORDS , THE CONGRESS HOPES TO
"MIRROR" THE BIOREGION.
THE REPRESENTATIVES WHO ATTEND THE CONGRESS
ARE MAINLY PEOPLE FROM THE BIOREGION WHO
ARE ALREADY INVOLVED IN THE "SUSTAINABILITY" OF THE BIOREGION IN SOME WAY --EITHER
THROUGH THE ARTS, THE ENVIRONMENT, THE
REGIONAL ECONOMY,ETC . THE CONGRESS IS NOT
"JUST ONE MORE THING TO DO" -- IT IS A WAY
OF LETTING PEOPLE WHO ARE ALREADY WORKING
ON PARTICULAR ISSUES OR IN SPECIFIC AREAS
SEE HOW THEY ' FIT IN' TO THE WIDER PICTURE
OF SUSTAINING THE BIOREGION AND TO RENEW
THEIR SENSE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THEIR PERSONAL ACTION .
IN THE YEAR BETWEEN CONGRESSES, THE STANDING COMMITTEES MAY MEET PHYSICALLY , OR JUST
MAINTAIN COMMUNICATION BETWEEN MEMBERS , OR
DO NOTHING AT ALL. THEIR DEGREE OF ORGANIZATION IS ENTIRELY SELF-DETERMINING AND DEVELOPS OVER A PERIOD OF YEARS. O.A.C.C.
FEELS THAT IT IS KEY THAT THE CONGRESS DEVELOP IN A NON-FORCED, ORGANIC WAY -- THAT
THERE NOT BE STRONG EXPECTATIONS LAID ON
THE CONGRESS OR ITS COMMITTEES IN ITS FIRST
YEARS. THE METAPHOR IS THAT OF Ni\TURAL
AND ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES: LET IT UNFOLD,
REMEMBERING THAT THE BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS
MODEL IS NOT BASED ON "HUMAN LAW" AND
HUMAN PRIORITIES BUT RATHER ON THE WIDER
RHYTHMS.
THE VARIOUS BIOREGIONAL CONGRESSES ON
THIS CONTINENT AND THOSE BEGINNING IN
EUROPE ARE EMERGING BECAUSE THE STANDARD
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES, BOTH REGIONALLY
AND NATIONALLY, ARE NOT TAKING INTO ACCOUNT THIS REALITY OF WHOLE, INTERDEPENDENT SYSTEMS NOR ARE THEY TAKING ON THE
TASK OF SUSTAINING OUR ECOLOGICAL, CULTURAL INFRASTRUCTURE. THESE EMERGING BIOREGIONAL CONGRESSES ARE PROVIDING A MEANS
FOR HEALING AND RE-NEWING THE BODY POLITIC,
IN ITS TRUE SENSE. THROUGH THESE CONGRESSES,
WE HUMANS CAN AGAIN ALIGN OURSELVES WITH
THE FORCES THAT ALLOW THIS PLANET TO
EXIST.
dltawn 61Wm c.onveJt6a..Uon6 wlth Vav.ld Hae.nke.
HERE IS A LIST OF BIOREGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS,
BOTH EXISTING ONES AND THOSE IN FORMATION:
OZARK AREA COMMUNITY CONGRESS , O.A.C.C. O.A. C. C., Box 129, Drury, Missouri 65638. Thia Congress meets in the fall of each year. Bioregionaliata from other areas are welcome to attend. O.A. C.C.
is also spearheading t he co-ordination of the upcOIDing North Amer ican Bioregional Congress .
THE GREAT LAKES BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS G.L.B.C. , Box 24 , Old Mission, Michigan 49673. Thia
Congress is now being formed and plans to hold its
first congress in October ('83).
OCOOH AREA COHMUNITY CONGRESS OCOOH, c/o Spark Burwiaater, Rt.l, Box 77A, Chaseburg
Wisconsin 54621. This Congress is now organizing and
may hold a Congress this fall ('83).
NEW YORK STATE BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS -
c/o Alan Casline/ROOTDRINKER, Box 864, Sarasota
Springs , New York 12866. Thia Congress is now
forming and is planning for a Congress to be held
July 4, 1984.
KANSAS AREA WATERSHED COUNCIL, KAW KAW, 816 Mississippi St, Lawrence, Kansas 66044.
Thia Congress formed in Kay, 1982. A Congress is
scheduled for tbJ.s fall ( '83).
O. S.INTERIOR PACIFIC NORTHWEST c/o Michael Pilarski, Friends of the Trees Society
Box 1064, Tonasket, Washington 98855 . A bioregional gathering is being planned for this winter ('83).
SOUTHERN APPALACHIA BIOREGION c/o KATUAH, Rt . 2 Box 132, Leicester, NC 28748.
A strong bioregional consciousness is coming out
of this area. A new bioregional journal KATUAH
will be published quarterly, beginning i~
fall ('83). There is also interest in forming a
Congress for the area .
U.S.SOOTHEAST c/o Southern Onity Network/Renewable Energy Projects (SUNREP) P.O.Box 10121, Knoxville,TN 37919 .
SUNR!P organized the Southeastern Connections Conference which was held in August '82 and was cosponsored by over 77 organizations in the Southeast. This conference included vorbhops on bioregional organizing. SUNREP offers to help facilitate people in the Southeast to s et up bioregional organizations in their area.
COLORADO PLATEAU Southwest Bioregional Congress, 227 Eas t Coronado,
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501 . A Southwest Bioregional Congress is in the process of being formed. A
Congress was scheduled for fall ' 83, but has been
postponed.
OHIO RIVER BASIN Ohio River Basin Information Service (ORBIS) c/o
Sunrock Farm, 103 Gibson Lane, Wilder, KY 41076.
The Ohio River Basin Information Service has been
formed to facilitate bioregional awareness in this
vast watershed .
TENNESSEE BIOREGIONS c/o Louise Gorenflo, editor , Tennessee Organic Growe r, Route 6 Box 526, Crossville, TN 38555. Bioregional consciousness is being developed in this area
and a bioregional gathering is being planned.
INTERNATIONAL
THAMES VALLEY BIOREGION c/o Mark ltinzley, 7 Gayshaa Avenue, Cants Hill ,
Ilford, Essex IG2 6TB England. A bioregional
organization is beginning to form in London.
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IM LEARNING
MORE ABOUT BIOREGIONAL CONGRESSES
OR IN HELPING TO FORM A CONGRESS
FOR OUR SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BIOREGION, PLEASE CONTACT:
Marnie Mulle r c/o KATUAH
Rt.2 Box 132, Leicester,NC 28748
RNIE MULLER
autum 1983
KATdtw -
page 15 '
�" TheJte. ne.e.d.6 to be. Continent Con91tu6
that the.
occ.upa~
6.inai.1.tj become
60
06 Nollth Ame.JU.ca can
.inhabUa~
LEARN TO BUILV A LCXll-COST, FUEL-EFFICIENT
FINNISH MA.SONRV WOOV-HEATER
and frind out
whVte the.IJ Me.•• Th-U ti.me Con91tu6 iA
a veJtb •.. Cong1tu6, come togetheJt. Come
togetheJt with the continent. "
- PeteJt Be.Ilg, 7976
THE NORTH AMERICAN BIOREGIONAL
CONGRESS ( NABC ) IS SCHEDULED TO
BE HELD IN MAY, 1984 IN THE NORTHERN OZARKS. IT WILL
BE THE FIRST MAJOR CONVENING OF THE CONTINENTAL BIOREGIONALIST MOVEMENT AND WILL INCLUDE THOSE WORJ<ING
IN 'GREEN POLITICS' AND FOR SUSTAINABILITY, IN GENERAL,AS WELL AS NATIVE TRIBES AND ORGANIZATIONS.
A HANDS-ON
CONSTRUCTION
WORKSHOP wU:h
an in-depth 1teview 06
it.6 contJt.a-ntow duign
pll.inciptu
SEPT.16-18, 1983
Workshop leader:
Tom Trout
FOR THE EXPERIENCED
AND INEXPERIENCED
SINCE 1981 WHEN A RESOLUTION WAS PASSED BY O.A.C.C.II
ALIKE
(OZARK AREA COMMUNITY CONGRESS) CALLING FOR A NORTH
AMERICAN BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS, INDIVIDUALS AND ORGAN- Thi6 week-end wo1tfuhop
IZATIONS HAVE BEEN WORJ<ING TOWARDS CO-ORDINATING THIS
6e.atWle both a
CONGRESS.
1tev.lew 06 the F.lnn.i.6h
Ma.6onlllj He.ateJt du.lgn
IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN YOUR ORGANIZATION BECOMING
A CO-SPONSOR FOR THIS CONGRESS OR IF YOU WANT TO PART- M well. M the hand.6on con.6.tlw.ct.ion 06 it
ICIPATE IN CO-ORDINATING THIS CONGRESS, CONTACT:
---at Long Bllanch EnTHE BIOREGIONAL PROJECT/N.A.B.C.
v.i.Jr.onmentai. Education
BOX 129
CenteJt.
DRURY, MO 65638
rwt
--~:::c;;:CCI
P.-.-n--.:::=~-
I.ONG BRANCH
t:N\?IRONMl:NTAl
t:OUCATJON
Cf:NTt:R
Rl'ul.z 2. Box 132
1..ek:es\er. N .C . 28748
INFORMATION
683-3662
PLANET DRUM BOOKS
Planet Drum Foundation is dedicated to the vision
of communities living within the natural cycles and
energy flows of their particular bioregion-in the city
or in the country-as conscious participants in the biosphere. Many people and a growingnumberofcommunities have adopted a bioregional stan~-they
retnhabit their regions, they choose to Uve-inplace and intend to restore and maintain that
place in the planetary web of life.
HOW ABOUT YOU?
We foster and report the bioregional
movement. and relate It to devolution,
Native American issues and dec:entralism
in Raile tlw Stoia, a trl-annual review.
We network amon1 emerpnt bioreg·
Iona I sroups to provide needed information. reference to expertise and contacts with potential memben and other groups.
Planet Drum Foundation memben
set Roi# tlw Stalra.
Planet/ Drum "Bundle1"
and publications from Planet Drum Books. We
respond to requests for information and
contacts. and consider memben as
bioresional correspondents. Membership
also helps support our efforts to achieve recognition for bioregions and create a reinhabitory society.
Yearly Membenldp/115
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
We invite you to join the Planet Drum circle.
D S15 regular membership (one year)
Help us help your bioregional ettorts
Name ··- _ _
-~
Addn·'~
(1!\
Zip
BOX 31251 SAN FRANCISCO. CALIFORNIA. 94131 USA
• Rrlnhabiling a Srparatr
Country: A Bloregional Anthol·
OJ.!!/ of Northern California.
editt'<i hy Peter Berg. 220 pages.
E~ay,, natural history, biographies, poem~ and stories re\·ealing Northern Co&lifomia as a di.~
tinct area of the planetary biosphere. SS postpaid.
• Devolutionary Note1 by
Michael Zwerln. 64 pages. A fir~t
hand account or European M>parati~t movements today. S3.50
postpaid.
• Eco-Derf'ntrali.st Dmgn: A 3.
,·olume set including Figura of
Regulation: Guides for Re-Bala ncing Society with Thr Biosphere by Peter Berg; Toward a
Bioregional Model: Clearing
Ground for Watershed Planning
by George Tukel; and Reinhabiting Cities and Towns: Delignlng
for Swtainability by John Todd
with Geori~e Tukel. 98 pages
complete. Critical preliminary
readings for intentional bioregional planning. $10 postpaid.
• Bloreglons: Winter l 981 / 2,
issue 132 or CoEvolution Quar·
terly. Guest edited by Peter Bertt
and Stephanie Mills. 144 pages.
Murra)' Bookchin on social ecology, Jan Morris, Gary Snyder,
and Peter Berg with essays on
de\'olution and the Fourth
World. Jerry Mandt>r. Winona
La Dukt•, \\'t"' Jac-kson and Paul
I la" kt•n art' amon2 othl'f'i "ho
l'ontrih11tt• tu thi' il'.,•1t·. R<·1l<1rt'
on tlw South"t"t. Gre:.11 Plain\.
'1:11rtl1 \\ 11e11k ,111d :\la,k.t in tht•
l ' ~.A. ~4 l''"tpaid
BUNDLES
• Rur l..lm111 Tiie Rm kir\. A \IX·
p.ut l\11ndl1· of l"-\a\·s. p0t•m,.
j1111rnak c·alt·ndar' and prnpmah
ahout tht• fral!ilt Rock' ~toun
tain,. $4 po\lllaid.
PLEASE CUT AND MAIL IN TODAYi .
.
~
- page 16
autam 1983
�ALTERNATJVES
TO ECONOMJCS
SUSTAINABILITY OF OUR BIOREGION IS INTIMATELY BOUNV TO
OUR ABILITY TO RE-CONCEPTUALIZE OUR ECONOMIC SYSTEM. WE
AS A CULTURE NEEV JO GET OURSELVES BACK ON AN EVEN KEEL
WITH OUR ENVIRONMENT BY FIGURING OUT HOW TO INTEGRATE
OUR HUMAN ECONOMIC SYSTEM INTO THE WIVER 'PRIMARY ECONOMIC SYSTEM' OF THE BIOSPHERE. RIGHT NOW OUR HUMAN
ECONOMIC SYSTEM IS OPERATING OFF-BALANCE BECAUSE IT
VOES NOT REFLECT THE ACTUAL ENERGY INPUT-OUTPUT THAT
IS OCCURING ANV BECAUSE IT EXTERNALIZES A PORTION OF
ITS BASIC COSTS OUTSIVE OF ITS BUVGETING SYSTEM.
A GOOV TEXT TO REAV ON THIS SUBJECT IS HAZEL HENVERSON'S
THE POLITICS OF THE SOLAR AGE: ALTERNATIVES TO ECONOMICS
(Ancho~ Book'6~, 1981). THIS VERY REAVABLE BOOi<°IS ACTUALLY A TREATISE ON REFORMULATING ECONOMICS --HlXAJ TO SHIFT
"FROM ECONOMIES THAT MAXIMIZE PROVUCTION ANV ARE BASEV
ON NONRENEWABLE RESOURCES, TO ECONOMIES THAT MINIMIZE
WASTE, RECYCLE EVERYTHING, MAXIMIZE RENEWABLE RESOURCES,
ANV ARE MANAGE'O FOR SUSTAINEV-YIELV PROVUCTIVITY".(p. 81
HENVERSON APPROACHES THE QUESTION OF RE-CONCEPTUALIZING
ECONOMICS FROM A PLANETARY PERSPECTIVE, BUT HER "MEASURING STICKS" CAN WORK ON A BIOREGIONAL LEVEL, AS WELL.
FOR OUR BIOREGION, WE CAN BEGIN TO ASK THESE KEY QUESTIONS:
If the economic system in the bioregion is considered to be efficient/beneficial/productive, FOR
WHOM is it efficient/beneficial/productive and OVER
WHAT PERIOD OF TIME is this being judged?
-Since no system is value-free, what are the
VALUES inherent in our EXISTING economic system?
In terms of scale, what is the best scale to
use when the variables of RENEWABLE ENERGY, FULL EMPLOYMENT and ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY are being
considered?
RE-CONCEPTUALIZING ECONOMICS FOR OUR BIOREGION MEANS
THAT WE BEGIN TO KEENLY EXAMINE THE PRACTICES OF OUR
CULTURE TO SEE IF THEY REFLECT OUR TRUE VALUES ANV TO
SEE IF THEY ARE IN SYNCHRONICITY WITH THE WIVER ECOSYSTEM. WE NEEV TO STUVY A WIVE VARIETY OF PRACTICES
INCLUVING: BANKING PRACTICES; BUILVING COVES; FOOVPROVUCTION; TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS; SOIL ANV WATER
CONSERVATION; HEALTH CARE SYSTEMS; RESEARCH SECTOR;
MARKffiNG SYSTEMS; GOVERNMENTAL BUVGET PRIORITIES;
ANV SO ON.
,,
KATUAH WOULO LIKE TO PROVIVE A FORUM FOR THOSE OF
US IN THIS AREA WHO ARE PARTICULARLY INTERESTEV IN
RE-CONCEPTUALIZING ECONOMICS FOR OUR AREA. IF YOU
ARE INTERESTEV IN RESEARCHING A SPECIFIC AREA OF
THIS ISSUE OR IN WRITING AN ARTICLE OR IN SHARING
IVEAS, PLEASE LET US KNOOJ.~
- MARNIE MULLER, A..lteJtna;t,lve Econom.i.C.6
,,
EditoJr.
KATUAH, Rt. 2 Box. 132, LeicuteJL, NC
FROM POLITICS OF THE SOLAR AGE:
ALTERNATIVES TO ECONOMICS
Hazel Henderson • • ••••. • • • ••
'
v ..
'
. .
'~ -. ··
'
•.
l!n··
. ff il
~.
"The task for all of us committed to these
social-change movements (human rights, corporate accountability, economic justice, ~onsumer
and environmental protection, holistic health,
appropriate technologies and those promoting
stmple living, personal growth, and greater
awareness of the interdependence of the human
family on this blue planet) is to see that
we a.te. 011e. coa.Lltlort in the larger politics of
reconceptualization . Together we must demystify today's counterfeit priesthood of •puppet•
leaders, and map and align our own energies
with these larger-field forces and the energies
that, in reality, drive our planet: the daily
solar flux, which in turn drives our planetary
weather system; the cycles of oxygen, of nitrogen, and of hydrogen, and the plant photosyntbeais that is our ~ e.collOm.i.c 4114tem•••••••••
• • • we can see ourselves and our diverse socialchange activities as part of a living orchestration, generating larger patterns, out of which
grow new paradigms of knowledge, policy, and
personal behavior.•
• •• For many of us, activities in various movements for social change have helped us understand our own and each other's inner space and
to tap the deeply coded knowledge of the creation. This inner/outer search provides a base
for healing the body politic. Some of us, in
the environmental movement for example, began
with the objective manifestations of human
pathology or, as in my case, with diagnosing
the pathology of economics . Now we are coming
together in a growing coalition with the potential for 'wholing' ourselves 111td recycling our
culture.•
"Farmers have always understood what
sustained-yield productivity means -now we have to teach it to economists."
"When asked for advice by the U.S.State
Department concerning the formulas that
economics might develop, my response was
that the economic method was entirely
inappropriate, since economic models do
not take account of bio-productivity,
the requirement for diversity in ecosystems. the widely differing approaches
to production and consumption in each
culture and value system as lte.60WtCe.6 ••• "
28748
autmJn
1983
f
KA'lUNI - page 17
\
�CONTIMIED FROM PAc.£ 8
(preferably nylon screens) suspended a few
The apple tree, like most of us who call
ourselves American, is not native to the
feet above your wopd stove or oth~r heat
source. The drying usually takes three days
Americas. Some crab apples are an exception,
to a week. During warm, dry weather
but the apple tree actually originated in
(a rarity in the Appalachains) apples can
Persia although it had been cultivated in
Europe for at least 2000 years before it
be sun-dried, but they must be taken inside
every night to protect them from the dew.
was brought to the New World. Despite its
Traditionally, people who were preparing
foreign origins, no tree has contributed
more to America than the apple tree . Besides
apples for the market peeled them to make
the vinegars and tonics , it's given us apple
a more refinerl product. However. this is not
necessar y, especially if the apples have not
jack, apple brandy, apple wine and apple
been sprayed.
cider ; there's apple jelly, apple sauce,
The art of preserving fresh-eating apples
apple butter, apple cake and pie; and
l\'\Cr't-,
nowadays has been relegated to the relm of
don't forget apple leather (broiled and
horticultural science and refrigeration
dried apples), candy apples, baked apples,
engineering. Modern storage houses are vaporscalloped apples, apple grunter and apple crisp
sealed and have massive refrigeration systems
that maintain a constant temperature of 31 F.
and a relative humidity of at least 85% .
However, the-old-time methods of storing
apples are still worth knowing, not only
because they may be of use to those who
might like to store a few bushels of apples
for home use but also because they demonstrate
a creative relationship with the enviornment
app~.
and a sensitivity to nature that is disappearing from our modern world.
Eor· th~ person versed in the art of applestoring, the first thing to consider is the
hase of the moon. As Theron tells it ,"keeping"
apples are best picked on the "down side"
of the moon (yhen it is waning). During this
phase, any bruises that occur will most likely
dry up and not ruin the apple. However, if
you make hard cider or home brew, you'd best
make it during the "comin' up" of the moon,
since things "work" or ferment better as the
on is waxing.
Next you must choose a good keepingapple variety. Winter Johns and HardThere are apple toys like apple-faced
enings are the favorites in our area .
dolls and apple games like bobbing for
The apples are picked carefully, each
apples. Appl e wood is prized wherever
apple lifted upward to snap off the
a hard, fine- gr a ined wood i s called for.
stem. If it is pulled so that the stem
In colonial days, it was used for marips out of the apple , decay can soon
chinery, particularly cogs, wheels and
ruin it. In colonial days two men, a
shuttles. Even the apple tree bark can
picker and a packer, harvested each tree
be used as a vegetable dye to give vivid
with gloved hands . The picker handed
golds and yellows.
two apples at a time down to the packer
Jonathan Chapman, better known as
who carefully laid the apples in straw
Johnny Appleseed, said, " Nothing gives
on a sled. (A sled juggled and bumped
more yet asks less in r eturn than a tree,
less than a wagon or a wheelbarrow.)
particularly the appl e."
When loaded, the sled was skidded over
Whenever you roam the hills and the
hay to the packing cellar.
hollows of the Appalachians and come upon
The apples were then stored in cellars .
an apple tree, stop and look around . You
In Vermont and Connecticut where there
will probably see others as well and
was ready access to quarries, some apple
perhaps some ancient rose bushes, lilacs
cellars actually had marble shelves to
or other cultivated plants. Nearby, you
keep the fruit cold and dry. Sometimes
may see the ruins of an old cabin, perhaps
they even had windmills that operated
no more than the fallen chimney and a
fans inside them to keep the air moving.
depression i n the ground that marks the
Noah Webster recommended packing apples
cellar where many an apple was stored.
in heat-dried sand . Others used grain
Living in the space age, it is difficult
pr dry straw. Sometimes really special
_
for most of us to understand the richness
apples were hung "by their tails" (stems) ~-~ ~- 7 -~
as well as the hardships of that kind of
from the cellar 's rafters. One favorite ~ -:::;../
l lfe. Other than reading a little history,
down-home Appalachian apple sot rehouse
~'=:--:::;-~ - "
listening to the music and the s tories of
is a hollow chestnut stump. It is cleaned
the old-timers, there aren't many ways for
out, lined with dry leaves, filled with
us to get a flavor of the old times-unless
apples, covered with more dry leaves and
it's through the flavor of old-time apples.
some slabs of bark to shed the rain .
Theron has also piled apples on the ground
and then covered them with a thick layer
Voug Elliott iA c.uJrJr.enti.y Uvi.ng i.n
of "loose blade fodder"-dried corn leaves8UIUt6 ville, N. C. • He iA well.-known
tied in bundles. This insulates the apples
i.n :the mounta..LM a.6 an heJLbai.iA:t a.nd
from severe cold, yet allows plenty of
a. hil.alti..olLA i,tolltj:telle.JL. He -l6 :the
air circulation. "They'll keep all winter,"
au:tholl 06 a. book, Root.6: An UndeJr.Theron says.
gJr.Ound Follag eJL' .s GUlde.
'Not~i" ~i'ffll,S
fet
lt7j
a7K7
m rtlur111
pdtrtt.<,tki~ r.!f
,,
tfw;
~
KA1UAH - page 18
autmn 1983
�WHAT IS THE ELEVATION OF THE PLACE WHERE YOU LIVE
WHAT IS THE GEOLOGICAL UNVERPINNINGS OF YOUR PLACE
?
?
HOW WAS IT FORMEV
?
TRACE THE ROUTE OF WATER FLOW FROM YOUR HOUSE TO THE OCEAN - -TRACE THE PATH OF THE ENERGY THAT POWERS YOUR HOME FROM ITS SOURCE TO YOU --FROM WHICH VIRECTIONS ARE THE SEASONAL PREVAILING WINVS IN YOUR AREA
?
NAME SEVEN COMMON TREES IN YOUR AREA --NAME SEVEN COMMON WILV ANIMALS IN YOUR AREA --NAME SEVEN VARIETIES OF BIRVS COMMON TO YOUR AREA - ARE THEY WINTER OR SUMMER
RESIVENTS ?
VO YOU TALK TO TREES
?
PLANTS
?
LIST FIVE CRITICAL ECOLOGICAL ISSUES IN YOUR AREA ---
· ·~ ~;;%;:.
.
~~~I!~~~
WHAT ANV WHERE IS THE CLOSEST NUCLEAR FACILITY TO YOU
?
WHAT ANV WHERE ARE THE LARGE INVUSTRIES NEAR YOU ?
A.) WHAT ARE THEIR WASTE PROVUCTS ? HOW ARE THEY TREATEV ?
8.) VO THEY SELL WITHIN OR OUTSIVE OUR BIOREGION, OR BOTH ?
WHAT IS THE POLICY OF YOUR LOCAL VUMP ON SALVAGE ANV RECYCLING
?
WHAT IS THE STORY BEHINV THE NAME OF YOUR LIVING PLACE ( cove, CJteek, town, etc. ) ?
We woui.d Uk.e yowr. JLupon.6 e and po.6.6-i.ble .6k.e.tchu t.o the tJAJO qu.ution.6
below. Plea.6 e mail. to: Katuah, P.O.Box 873, Cu.Uotdtee, N.C. 28723.
WHAT IS THE TOTEM CREATURE FOR OUR REGION ? ( That -U, the CJtea.twr.e that
by at; wU.qu.enu.6, at; ,impo!Lta.nce to the na:tu.lta.l ecology, oil at; pJLevalence
but expJLU.6U the. .6p.i.Jr1;t 06 owr. aJLea - example.: Pac-i..6-i.c. Nold.hwut - .6a.lmon I
WHAT IS THE TOTEM PLANT FOR OUR REGION
? (
example.: Ozallk. Mou.nta-i..n6 - oak )
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _l_ _ _I
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ __
......... ,,,.•
A..
.....
I
-=-
I
~ ~
........
11.....
•
lll&P..."llli
....1p•11•u-1. , :"°'.
--
I
I
I
111111.'llll
...........
~-Wmrpml belt representin3 the fonnation of the Il:oquoian League with design meaning "one heart for all the nations. n
--------------------------------------------
autumn 1983
IOOU'AH _ page 19
/
�_Q:O:oo~®.oQ....oc.Qo_~_.o-~.oo-or~
REmIABITATIOO
••• IT IS TI ME TO RETURN HOME . .. TO LI VE AS ~
NATIVE PEOPLES OF THIS AREA, MAKING OUR LIVING BY SKI LL ANV ~
ATTUNEMENT TO THIS PLACE, AJJIARE ANV SENSITIVE TO ITS
CHANGES, LIVING SO ITS CHANGES REALLY MATTER ..• RATHER THAN
LIVING IN ONE PLACE ANV SUPPORTING OURSELVES BY EXPLOITING
J:l
THE RESOURCES OF SOMEWHERE ELSE, IT IS TIME TO ROOT OUR
~
LIVES HERE ••• TO SHARE THI~ PLACE WITH TffE LIVING BEINGS
1--J
WHO SHARE IT WITH US...
~
SUSTAINABILITY
... THE LEVEL AT WHICH A BIOREGION CAN
CONTINUE TO PROVUCE WITH INTEGRITY ... MEETING OUR FOOV, WATER ANV ENERGY VEMANVS FROM WITHIN OUR OWN AREA BY TECHNIQUES APPROPRIATE TO THAT AREA ... SHAPING OUR VE
MANVS TO THE
ABILITY OF OUR REGION TO PROVIVE .•. "LIVING FOR THE SEVENTH
GENERATION OF OUR CHILVREN'S CHILVREN"...
g
JJ:
tl
Li
D
~
P.
••• "A VOMICILE ••• LJALLS OF HILLS OR MOUNTAINS, A
FLOOR OF A RIVER OR A LAKE, A ROOF OF RAINCLOUVS . .. CLOUVS ~ ·
PART WITH RAIN WHICH FALLS ANV EROVES THE WALLS INTO THE
AQUEOUS FLOOR WHICH EVAPORATES BACK INTO THE CLOUV R OF ...
O
THE WATER CIRCLE/CYCLE FORMS A BIO-SPHERE"...
N
(Pe.tell Wa11..6ha.U.)
l'1
WATEBSHED
0
ECOLOGICAL LA/JI OF THE BIOSPHERE AS
~
EXPRESSEV IN THE FORCE OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS - EARTH, WATER, ~
FIRE, ANV AIR - IN MOTION ••• THE RELATIONSHIPS AMONG THESE
ELEMENTS VEFINEV AS LIFE-FORMS , OF WHICH THE HUMAN SPECIES IS ONLY ONE AMONG MANY .•. GREEN LA/JI: BEAUTIFUL, VISPASSIONATE, INEXORABLE, RUTHLESS, ANV TOTALLY JUST...
~
"GREEN IM"
••• THE
~
••• A COUNCIL MEETING OF THE BIOTIC
~
A GOVERNMENT, BUT ITS NATURAL ALTERNATIVE •••
HERE ALL ARE REPRESENTEV, BE THEY CLOUVS, ROCK, SOIL,
PLANTS , ANIMALS, TREES, OR PEOPLE ... WHERE CONSENSUS IS
SOUGHT ON THE ECOLOGICAL LAJJIS OF THE LANV AS WE REAV THEM
IN THE BIOREGION ANV THE LIFE THAT SURROUNVS US . .. WHERE
THE STEWARVS ANV CARETAVERS OF THE LANV VEVELOP STRATEGIES TO VEFENV AN1J PROTECT THE NATURAL ECOLOGY ANV TO
STRENGTHEN THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH THE NATURAL WORLV ...
BIOREX;IOOAL
COMMUNITY ... NOT
~
•• •"ALL THE THINGS OF THE WORLV ARE REAL, MATERIAL THINGS. THE CREATION IS A TRUE, MATERIAL PHENOMENON,
ANV THE CREATION MANIFESTS ITSELF THROUGH REALITY •.. THE
SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE, THEN, IS MANIFEST TO HUMANS AS THE
CREATION .. . (64om the Invoca.tion)
Appalachian Physiographic Provinces
MA? ME.D\TAT\ONS -- c.oNT!NUEO FROM PA•E II
LAND/LIFE/FORMS
WE CAN NEVER COMPREHENV HER, BUT WE CAN KN()il HER. VEEP
IN OUR EVERY CELL, VEEP IN THE SOUL O~ OUR BEING, THERE
CAN AJJIAKEN AN AFFINITY FOR THE LANV SO THAT ONE MOVES
INSTINCTIVELY TO HER RHYTHMS, KNOWS WHERE TO FINV VEER
OR GINSENG, KNOWS WHEN IT WILL RAIN, KNOWS HOW TO
SPEAK TO MOUNTAINS.
••• OUR MOTHER GAIA, THE EARTH, SINGS TO US ••.
IN EVERY PLACE THE SONG IS VIFFERENT: BE IT STEEP, FORESTEV
MOUNTAINS: WIVE, FLAT PLAINS; OR PALM TREE BEACHES ... EACH
EXPRESSION IS UNIQUE ANV REQUIRES A UNIQUE RESPONSE IN THE
THIS IS NATIVENESS. THIS CAN COME FROM GENERATIONS OF
ECONOMIC, CULTURAL, ANV SPIRITUAL LIFE OF THOSE HUMANS
LIVING IN THE SAME AREA, OR IT CAN BE CULTIVATEV BY
WHO ARE LISTENING ... THE PLACE, THE SONG, THE RESPONSE:
~ CONSCIOUSNESS ANV AWARENESS OF OUR RELATIONSHIP TO THE
THE BIOREGION...
~ LAN1J ANV HER WAYS ANV HOW WE LIFE OUR VAILY LIVES IN
HER PRESENCE .
BIOREGION
..n... cs-cro.QtrcJLL>®..o~_o:o_p_g_ :o:o::.o..~
a
''THE IDEA OF A BIOREGIONAL IS CULTURAL. IT DEFINES
BOTH A PLACE AND ADAPTIVE IDEAS ABOUT LIVING IN THAT
PLACE," SAYS PETER BERG OF THE PLANET DRUM FOUNDATION.
THE BIOREGION, AS WELL AS BEIN D
G EFINED B THE LAY OF
Y
THE LAND AND THE FORCE-FLOWS OF THE ELEMENTS, IS ALSO
IN THE HEARTS AND MINDS OF ITS PEOPLE.
IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, THOSE WHO LOOK TO THE MOUNTAINS TO SEE BEAUTY, THOSE WHO LOOK TO THE MOUNTAINS
FOR STRENGTH AND INSPIRATION, THOSE WHO DEFINE THEMSELVES IN THE MOUNTAINS' TERMS ARE ALL RIGHT THERE IN
THE MOUNTAIN BIOREGION.
THE BIOREGION DOES NOT HAVE TO BE ORGANIZED OR PROCLAIMED. IT IS ALREADY THERE, WAITING FOR US TO DISCOVER IT. IT IS A PROCESS BEGUN LONG AGO, WAITING
ONLY FOR US TO PLUNGE INTO ITS STREAM.
,P'
autum 1983
�l :oo llY\
e..\vtc..
~1101aue1 NC....
autmn 1983
£..8J1'B'Z-
CM&Mc &I. "'L&. 'UT'&~AL.
cMEttAc£E c.tt...w=r.s ~ c.uauu, .rnc.acew,
lN1)"'fll P601>
•lllC..W..., f'U>WA'f, EKtUllT.S
OM Tt\• us-.11rtr10...i, CAt•lt.Otce'l! 1 N. c..
0tT. lf-·9 -
Mt,
,
I<ATUAH - paqe
21
�,1-·
.. .. . ,.... .. . . .......
"·"';!<.•-'' ,••
······~--- ., .• 1?". •• ••••• ,.
·'·'t·:t=::'IO-• ••.•••••.;,..,:r.
•
n·:="'=':=·~ ,;=~•:.;;!1==7=',>~··•"''·'*·n--.:;;;."~''·",:= •-1..._.~,=rn!:;:!:
...
;.:..:t~tc.:t.• ····:1·1·•:i;:1:f••••:...; ...._.. . . ..... ·••l•"':"'•·· ····r. •t!i:t ·it". ,·:,;)!:,..........;·····-- 1 •• J'i'\"'~····•-•.\:..,.1 ...... l' •.:•;·1~-m· •i ,.: ;1: •••:., '' /l •"""".. -;·· ....··,...... 1'::;!i?:..-.......... ,._,u. ~1: • .• ·•,4 •. S'·-··
................._. •••
·t··...··-·-- a·1...._. • ..,
•
;~:.~r.:1:· !.t'i,,....~~ ........... ·••::...!•1 . .:::"": :!: .: ..:i:.•,:.:;."!:?· ..., •.•.•,,..,.~,.·µ,•r· ••
···'--' :•-:.:c • 1:t:~ -~· .... ·• · · ~t:i-•;•·'~';~:::1.:1.1: i.'··-· •..:.;:;.:.: .1!1t 11"~•
1 =<···..···~;Jtr~r.:;:J~ni'd•?;·"·•.:.·~~s·· ...,.,. ';Jl·!iJ-;t'r._J\a 1 ·~ · 'i 1· : !:?:!t!;.!t.-:••• i'i~ ... , ·• ·~.:: ;~-: .~Je.: ........... ·• ... :11\:!:'f; ..._._.......,:!:, ~a.....-tl!
l~Mi;i
••\ .,., ~;',•
.:..
1 ,~.,.,
~···~ ~~::.;,'!-,:•.,,,=::••""""~"'"~'""'-•!•'-';:;<;;,;•.:::;~· - ~ -·-r.
"~ -'""~·r.i'"'"" ;>;t•~I"""·~"
\~g;:;~f.i;5fil~i,ifPJ;:r::n!!XE:t~:=ti;?.~~::!f~r.:qf:r;;~
1/i~·e~ ~
_J ... - - - ~ -~
S~···· ~!f.!**1
· ;...~·--••
:il~t.!U~;.~~·; J't!'•!J.!• •tJ.t:-1•·•L.9.fl·•·..-..•••J;ll•t..::.:.
~::.~!
t!;l-:t;:i;j;:ie1;'>!rfu:T¥,' ;b_•) ••I I I •!":\!t•t.;,.,_""t 'f•
'Jfill• '' 1~t •\ ...~m~·:';l~-:m-!~~: l·::;,:-,1;:f.
jl,l~r.~
•f•••t
~t'"•1••...,.,a '
•1·"• •!:
Joo.. ......
t" tie
'
£)
..
...........r.:·1·' : ....~· ·'·ft•;.s:,1.;..,, ..
At
1
...-·-···:.-·''.,,, ''·
"'
-"
1/t'$t'01t
.. ...
"····
, ....,-... -cc;
. ..
--· ..,.
.-. ....,.1··-··~ ..
C''i:
.......... ~.- ..,,,,
.... .~~·,s·•t.'lff.h•~··r:r-.!i··1,· · - ··~~
~
··-·
·-~!t·•
• .::.,·1:-t~:! ~.i-.., .............~.. •• ·= :.1~c;.:•"'~'~...... ....,... \' ;.,.,,,. ·•• tfHWl•• ·1.r • •• •,.,...._._-;::~--t~~~~.-1~..•.•·,.......l .., .~, :~ ~·i·•·Jr': •1:~1 :;..-r..;:-~-..-:i~::;.;i.,·,!;..!!t 1! lt!:~~ ;:.,}:t;.,t l'tC ·•-· .,.. ~~~.1fi1
.:-ffil!
....
::;.;.:.;i~::;.:i,r ...!,![!j\1~1
;or~
,..., \ ~~~ . ..... °"'·•·•·1·•····~-.,... 1•.......... '!,,,;..i., .... '"" • .......:.~~ 1 .:·~1~·~!~·t'-. .. ..
'1 ':i.:: r.. ;:;:.r.;:.;:.,;:..:..."'t ..
••
. ,,,.,
::.
r.:·1
:" ..._ . . . ....,~ ..£
·:~~.c;.~.~1!.1'!!'r~W~~fo;:' 1 ..!· <J•• i::.-..., •..,.. ••,:.:·,· _. ......."..... 1 . .. ~.; tJ:.•;-Et~.
t..-r= ~:~;t'!':c;, •... mr.1~1!:!: ::, • - ........
.~
! ~Pr.1~ 1!rf:~ ;HH;.tr!;{l; ...~:r:
r.·-~r ..
..,~,. ···r:·:.
....
!.,. . ~··· . 1 1
.
. .. . . • .. ..
. . .
.:, ..kl:l. (1.J1Ii!l
····•:•:J,Ji04F~~·~i~~~.~t~F~
.
.
.
.
AL.
L
11! 1~~i·•· 0 !:i; ..."l;~i
1
1 '-'·•
•f , .... .,, ••
t
u t, 0"99
I
!i;m:.:::i..-~·?1J.:
Ma.gaz.uie d-UiVLibu.ti.on doun t ha.ve to mean IAWLt:.nOU.6U Ou
D
• . . . ,., II g
_,,.
t... •
~
,
newti plUnt wi;t.h -t.OadeJl.6 ha.u.U.ng ,.,....,...,...w onto ··- :-1-- • "-IW."-r"° •
~.uig
.;r-;.~;;~ ~!11·:·•·
'I
J• ._.,•. -•••:...
.,
:{~J.f;i:~~!i~~
v
,.,,, HS{it~~i:;~: How about a d.i..66eJr.ent v.U,lon? Kata.ah 11.oad people :tlla.veLi.ng
~~flr.~~~£:?,F,;t
.
~J~il:ii!.!i?r the length and b}[.ead.:th o 6 the mountcU.n c.ount:Jr.y wl:t.h a .~tac.k
..,1·•··..·......i.~•• ~.,,
..... c·· ~ ..,..!'1 .......,.,_. ·"'••••:'Jr•r.•1•·•9"!.·•fJ,,• ·~ 1 - "' '&,.::.
h
d
b
. ""h
::.1*9':":.·~~:1~',.\.~:'.-!ir:t=W:t\>l'e:.\t~~.t~~.i.•-:{".!r;?T~j···!1~;. j \iWi!'&<Tiflil~c1· o' mnnaz.inu among the dot u an "go}[.p" ag~ .ui ""- U.11.
~!;'fP!~';:1;~~.:.;rrl~~fr.! r,f;!:~fit:-:~7:-::·!::·!·~:.'!t!'l!!.:.i; .,.-:;:.~i!:!'--U"·li :.:..;.t. r!.~1••;~1.-.:..~! bu i. -::J i... .
.. ,,, .• H• u• :-·.. 1... ~ ....r
"!'U· J,,1• ....
!.!. r.J,.t, H'ltl:! • •__ , ... ,,,,...••, ... i~~r'tt;~11~=:~.,~;.-:.:::
4Cr<.paC.rGO
i;;;:.:,tt·~;~~
:::m;: :~-:- r.t~J:;!:,_
~L~:::
.......... ~···!'> ......r;......
m::Ei;
1
·::sffir,.:~ii-;~~
;m:.:;;•.~1
..e~~n;:~·
t..:J•~t·•'fo••
fg1Eii.>~~t
;:-;:!!!*Wir
f_=nfJsm~·,.
~W~i:Ef:l!
·····-·~ ·i\i55fJ!:i.::
1:t-:t::~·~
:'t':t-:;.:!r!!:..
· ·:n·..-•,...
:~:~·
::?;~~ ..,,....-·
p:s~::.:;o.;:J
~~i:llf~.
~~ft!:!'i'"!
~i!r. ... r..
.
:;;~~Jf~!iF.f'
':!~j~]!~t~.
_
• - ..... :u
~.l~1.. ,...... t
::J;:r:-.1''!!'J
ri
"
1 • :,,_:.
r;."'"'!~.,.,._; \.:J:J;
;1!'!~z;!!1~::.
:;z;......
.,.,, .,....
:FH~f! ~E:::-!E;:_r-~:
FOR TH E I DEAS AND INFoRMATioN !.!il.:!;!: 1!¥.!!m;::~:~~
ABOUT BIOREGIONAL CONSCIENCE
ll{17:~;;tt;.1~~u~~tl~!~~:1
•t1•·-r1 Jt--ffll.,... -~.
THAT WE ARE TRYING TO BRING
~·!!ll~·1r~:rr~:.:.:!r:l:.~
FORTH IN KATt1AH TO BE SPREAD
~tfu~~j~;~:filf.4il~!fJ
FAR AND WIDE WITHIN THE REG:Ujtilf~JHl~~riE~:~}).!.j~
ION, WE NEED THE JOURNAL TO
~iif,lt;1m=.-1~~~-ni';tr.~1J
..... (1:•·l- ·-··l~:·.hl ...~
REACH AS WIDE A GROUP OF PEO- ~:.m!u;~~)jmi!;h.!.:::.i.:.;:
~ ... .!~~m1 1 !L!;!a:!:Cct:\r1
PLE AS POSSIBLE.
:!r.:;!;:t!,~:i~1!~!J·~~~rn~!•
: •r···~t"·J··~1~· , ... ,r
SEEKING THE ,;,~-ur.-·:li:ta :7!,Ji;~.!r~~
TO THIS END WE ARE
·
1 ~:~:;n...:....!-:;,·1:1t':;i.;;
SUPPORT OF OUR READERS IN DE- :~..t-~~:ti!:\!~j!~~!llj~?5i
VELOPING A REGIONAL DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM. IF YOU ARE INTER-mi.=ifoil~Bi:"..;~~~::
··· ··:t··-:::?l!~!f~:S.~t·
1
h;!§nil~filH;~ilii'!lli-
ESTED IN HELPING TO DISTRIBUTE
THIS JOURNAL IN YOUR AREA
,
BY
ILLING
PLEASE CONTACT us
F
... ,,..,·,,.,f, ..oi
r..:.F.f!i':!a-r• OUT T HE FORM BELOr.T
'".
· · ....... ·
:w.~~:~m;r.i.lli:!..~tn~:=
~m!;as;.·?~..!<~~:i !;-~hi
:l • ..••~ho"l~
i• ••~y:•·-~-1c· ~:; •. ·f1filF
1 ~r?!:-!1,~~~ :.r;::m::ffl1:
...::,n,-.:--
[r.··f·'·ft~··· 1 c .......n . 1lt
':i;.~.{!i .• 1.~:.::~r~-:!~~
DISTRIBUTORS CONTRACT TO BUY THE JOURN~L AT THE
WHOLESALE PRICE. ALSO FOR EVERY 20 COPIES OF THE
JOURNAL THAT THEY SELL, DISTRIBUTORS GET ONE COPY
FREE TO SELL OR KEEP.
;t;j;
~.
~m·
1.?J
.. ,.
~ii
~-
THIS INCENTIVE IS TO ENCOURAGE DIRECT DISTRIBUTION :irt~
BECAUSE, AS WELL AS BEING A MEDIA COMMUNICATION,
THE JOURNAL IS A "TALKING TOOL" TO HELP INITIATE
DIALOGUE. IN FACT, IT WORKS BEST THAT WAY. THE
~~
STRONGEST CONNECTIONS ARE FACE-TO-FACE AND HEART- :J.::~j
fiiEl
;rn
···TO-HEART. PLAIN WORDS CARRY A STRONG MEANING THEN· ~ll!
PERHAPS YOU FEEL THAT YOU WOULD LIKE TO KNOW MORE
ABOUT KATUAH AND THE BIOREGIONAL IDEA IN GENERAL
so AS TO FEEL MORE COMFORTABLE DIALOGUING AND
FIELDING QUESTIONS FROM YOUR NEIGHBORS OR PEOPLE
ON THE STREET.
THIS IS WHY WE PROPOSE LOCAL MEETING GROUPS. THESE
ARE GROUPS OF PEOPLE IN EACH COUNTY OR CITY WHO
MEET TO TALK ABOUT BIOREGIONAL ISSUES IN GENERAL,
AND TO STUDY THEIR LOCAL HABITAT, IN PARTICULAR.
THEY GATHER STORIES OF UNIQUE PEOPLE AND PLACES IN
THEIR AREA AND SEND THEM TO THE JOURNAL. THEY
COALESCE INTO AN AFFINITY/ACTION GROUP IN CASE OF
AN ENVIRONMENTAL EMERGENCY.
THIS IS WHY THERE ARE ONLY I MEMBERS' AND NO I SUBSCRIBERS. TO KATUAH. THE DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM FOR
THIS JOURNAL WILLHOPEFULLY GROW INTO A PROCESS A DYNAMIC PROCESS OF INTERACTION, OPENING, AND
CHANGING ON ALL SIDES THAT WILL FOSTER A GROWING
AWARENESS OF WHAT Is AT STAKE FOR OUR LIVES AND THE
LAND IN THE DAYS TO COME INTERESTED? WRITE US, AND WE'LL EXPLAIN THE DISTRIBUTION PROCEDURE AND HOOK YOU UP WITH OTHERS
NEAR YOU WHO WANT TO GET INVOLVED. THESE ARE THE
TIMES!
U1.{
#
•
#
~-' about KA""·~Ah and a u.<..uueJtulA. uny
-': ', A~.,.
~
0,
0
loofU.liln a:t and Uv,lng wl:t.h theliind, they might al.-60 C1VVr..IJ
·~
h
nO
a c.ameJul and maybe a. .6maU ta.pe /[.eC'.oltdeJt. At:, t: ey .tlr.a.v~,
they .talk wlth people about Ka..tU.a.h, note thw JtUpon.6U,
and pellha.p-6 take thU!t p.i.c.tu.11.e. Fii.om t/W, ,lnteJr.c.hange
c.omu mateJLial.. 60/[. the next .U.6ue 06 the j 0wr.na.l. -- the
c.a.nclld though.t.6 and 6ee.li.ng.6 06 oUJr. ne-i.ghboJUi .
... ""he -v'LU. ~-v ..... "OV"" """"~-vAo,,,.~ ~ -v.. ""he ,...,"""- '\A.In ""'d agni"', .o\.l'i
.. ,... +e "":-e ~·
""L.elj
tW ""........,,
leaJLn the te.Jr.JIJU.n. They Lind .6topning "'""c.u: .the homu
06 new 61Llend6 wheJte they ft.ind a :;;;i.C'.c:;- whetheJr. 6Ji.om
old mountai.n 6olk.6, new age homuteade.JU,, 0/[. .60cia.l.
o.ct.lv.Uu Uv.ing ,ln a ~ a""'""'"... ent.
,,;-1-..
~...,..,,,
The ,,;,.A .. : .,. ,,.;d,, .. /··~01..,,,.~ IM.Q\...
..J:.,.,OV"" n""' mou~""ni .....:0.1_
~...., ..~ .....
'""-1',-v ....
,IA._... ~
0 An-'· nnd 6 ;.,.d "Ov"• "nd .. idgn• .,.L.A.,. •oon be"ome 0°-'
u.o """
"""'' '- ~ ""'
~ ""-nuA... ""
'-'.
Ao
• : .,. ""h
·
LJLle.nu.o. The Vta.v~M.6 J[.e.tuJul to V;(..6-v\.. ""- em '\.,. :- and aga..ut.
A,111e
o
Pe!Lha.fl6 they w.ill be 91Llded onto l.lttte-U.6ed tJw.il..6 that
they Vi.ample down and wlden by thw c.ontinued pa.6.611gU
.60 that t:hey }[.ema.in M r.ooi.fUng }[.OutU 60/[. othell.6 to 60.U.Ow
on thw own joUJr.netj.6 ,ln lateJr. ti.mu when people w.iU
enjoy r.ooi.ki..ng to the,Vr. du.ti.na.ti.on-6.
V.UVUbu:ti.ng KatUo.h c.ould be a new uny to .6ee OWl land
and heJL. people ClMe up.
AnotheJr. .6C'.ene: A 6am-U.y ta.ku Ka:t&.a.h to the c.ornrnunay
At:,
t hey CJVVr..y t he.
WO'W
0
'V ..
.(..U.
'V..
""""
.(..U..
'V\..
potlllc.k and .6eU up a ta.bte to hell. the joWtniJ..l to the.ilt
61Llend6 and ne,ighboJUi. "HeJte, ta.ke a. look. 16 you like U,
you c.a.n. butj .lt. )U.6t don, t .6p.i.U a.ny o6 tha:t g1U1vy on a,
now. Tell. me what you th..i.nk."
::µ:
~~
Olt p.i.dWte th,U,: The .60und 06 dlr.wn6 WU OVVl the bU.6tte
and din 06 the mountain 6a.ilt OJ[. CJLa6t .6how. People W.6t
ii~.~-_: OVeJt to a b!Li.gh:tty C'.Olo}[.ed booth ba.c.ked by a l<Vtge map 06
-··
the Ka,tilah mountai.n Me.a. TheJte they jo,ln people al.Jr.eady
i~~ da.nc..ing to the ciJw.m6 and c.hanting vo,lc.u, "Ka-tu-ah.
*~ Ka-tu-ah. II The .6ound6 JtLLn up and down thw .6p.i.nu,
~ij~; M.ng,lng deeply, open-ing .6e.cJLet pla.c.u c.lo.6ed by c.en.tWLiu
~ht: o6 c..i.v.illza:t..Um.
Hii±~ Then the mU-6,l('. -6.top.6 and .6omeone .6pe.a.k.6 b1Lle6ly .06 a bio~nm 11.eg,lonal 6u.tUJr.e ,ln KatJ.a.h. Thvr.e Me quu.tion-6 and an.6we!L6,
~·f\'{f. and .6ome n_innau'..nu Me .6old. The mU-6.lc. c.ontinuu. A .6eed
:..~!·-·!,n.
-:i
d -·--' b ·
.,.
_ • 06 ®Wi.enU.6 and c.omrrun.lttJ .U pla.nte u.na eg-<..n-6 "-o g}[.ow.
t~·~
~ij~ AnotheJr. ..<.de.a: Young people U.6ed to peddle nW6papeJL6 on
~&T ,,;-1-,, .6:t.1Leet.6 to make a Li.;t;Ue ex.tlul money. Tho.6e da.tj.6 may
f.!t~ b;bac.k, but now U' .6 .in the wl.de c.oMA..doJUi 06 hhopping
i:E~ rnali.li, a:t the c..i.v,lc. c.enteJt on c.onc.eJtt rr-ight, 0/[. maybe a:t
H~ a c.oun:tluj da.nc.e. 16 you know .60me !fOung 60.t.k.6 tha-t would
j~!?. .Uke to make ~ome money 6oJt them6e1.vu, Ka:tUa.h wil.t .6upply
~~~g the mga.z.i.nu.
!"(•--·
!:e--·~;·•.&.,.:r• ... H1'~1·~····l• .... ~;:.,.i•J1 ···1i.:t i'f!'"-'•1•·-··•·• .,•.•.• ,......,..,~ ~;.;,.;.;.._ ·-:.4:;.i:r:t
:.~;j". · . • ,....... •·r·r ~ --·--· - ·f··~,,~.-· .. ·,.- ··1
..
••i'•· ... h.•·... a,,. ,., ..,..,. i'~·i.i!•..,., ..,J:~•~..,..,.fi··40
t•J li:t~
1
.• t::".r:~-ai,.q.11'.Ct!l;;:i:.::;;.· :.J ....··- :.:~: •. 1:.1, ., ,.. .
"
..::illr·•• .. a.·,·r.:• .....····a.·..,. ;\,9f.;.,,,,..,....,...... ......... ., 1 .w..,,....... ::.. ;t • •tR.I'(. . .¥.'.:-t:: ;t:..::.:~..~·-,•••.•,•. ~ ~··
~
. . .. ............... ,,1
;l ·ffi:1~ ffi~j';l,:-f:!~i;r·~~!~~~~'.'~.... . ;;li~~'1·
:.-:~;
...:
... .;.:;!:!(:;'&;'!:.:;:'!:-.,•:.;:.!-,:ffi:Jg:;e ~:;_..r:;:,.,J;iS
., T-•11H· •· ..\,,. ....,................. ';1:
rl~,:i....
-·•·.. ~·•-•· .....
·~~ ... ~ ·•·•-•r:' t:·
t-:..::-:=.:-.t-•rr:!?~1:::~1J:~·~!~:!~1!r~~-=•!""'. :,:~:,:,:i!~i~:~r.#Jf!jJ:. ,.~~.:,;n-=:-.s:1r ~~'!."!~L;::
..
~·!.:-"'· ~\.,,~;,:-:-•,-· ......., -,.-' ,..=. ,.: ....:1••·r:.' n···!r:, ..... ~1....-· ·!-:i·!:.l J:r!·-~ .... ~ ••:........., .... ··•:!:-r... ..
t1~.•~!>.1.,,~., ,.,,~!~r!E!i:·~ ,· ···;J"····,~l.fl·,,,, .:.:!..!J. ····,···.' ·.!~:;! ......:.,.. !H.~ •• ,.......J ......, ',,· •!ll~•• ·;tr.. , , ......
....
Hii~
1.....
-~···
........
,11.--... ............
, ........ , ........
_..f''
""'•r• • ..........•• , ~.-..• • ·•• •t•~·· ·~ :c-................
t-.
,.,..,_ r11 ,, ...... -
!'':lt-t.'i~: !'2~!~'!! ::.~.......
~
.,....., .•••,
......... -. ••• ·,
,..,...,.,....,~-.r·• :·'~-; :.'\ • w , .. I!\.,'":~ ~
f"1'1~. ~
!(\ ( ~:;
":!.
YES, I AM INTERESTED IN FINqING OUT
.:-cm.~~:
MORE ABOUT DISTRIBUTING KATUAH. I
·•·r··~~,1
UNDERSTAND THAT I CAN RECEIVE COPIES
•:,:-~:~.o.:
OF KATUAH AT THE WHOLESALE PRICE OF
r-Jfu-t~'.
$1.10 AND CAN SELL THEM AT THE RETAIL {~¥~ki~
PRICE OF $1. 50. I ALSO UNDERSTAND THAT .;!:m;i~
NO PAYMENT IS DUE UNTIL THE COPIES ARE r:.u··:t:~
i~~h!~
SOLD •
''-''·~~~:::.
:.r;,m::iii
PHONE--------
~
RETURN TO:
KATUAH
P.O.BOX 873
CULLOWHEE,NC 2 8 7 2 3
KMUAl:I - page 22
autmn 1983
�WMATTO 8JUN<t t
SCHEPULE:
10 - 12:30 - Discussion of bi oregional
concerns, issues, and directions for
future gr owth
12 : 30 - 2:00 - POT-LUCK LUNCH
2:00 - 5:00 - Tradin', pl ayin ', socializin ' , and interest group meetings
-Covered dish and utensils for the
whole family
-Items for trade , barter, sale (plant s,
craft s , produce, canned goods)
-Information to share : issues, topics ,
interesting folks , organization
bioregional happenings
-Hope , good humor, and ideal ism
OCTOBER 29
at DEEP CREEK CAMPGROUND
GREAT SMOKY MTN . NATIONAL PARK
Driving : Go to Bryson City, N.C. and follow signs
to " ~ ep Creek Campgrounds"
EVERYONE WELCOME!
For more information , contact:
paqe 23
�ISSUE
NO . l
AUTUMN
g
I
o
~
~
o
~
~
g
§
~
o
~
~
Og
oommmooo
Dnr«atimv
1983
mmmooomnunoog
I
1n the beginning, we we/le told that t he human
being.6 that IAXli.h.. abou..t on :the Ecvvth have been
g
pMvided with all the thing.6 nec.Ul>aJl.y f,011.. li6e ..E!
We we/le ..i.n.6.tJw.eted to C'.aJl.ll..y a love. f,011.. one.
~
arto.thell, and to l>how a 11..upeet f,011. all the be- g
ing.6 of, thl.6 EaM:h. We aJi.e L>hown that ouJL li6e ~
exi-6.t.6 with the .tll.ee Uf,e, -that oWt we.U-being ~
depe.nd.6 on the wei...t-being of, :the. vegetable.
g
Uf,e, that we. a11.e. the. c1.o.6e. 11.e.f.ativu of, the.
~
6oWt-legged being.6. In OW!. VXJ.lj.6, .6p,i.Jt,(;twi£
~
c.on.6eioU.6nU.6 i.6 the. highut f,oJun of, poUt-i.c6 .
g
OW!..6 i.6 a v.xi.y of, Uf,e. . We. believe. that all
Uving thing.6 aJl.e. .6 pi!U:tua..f. be.ing.6 . S pVU;t-6
~ c.an be exp11.u.6ed M e.nellgy f,Oll.1116 manif,uted
i= ,(.n mat.tell. A biade ofi gJt.aM i.6 an ene11.gy f,011..m
manif,ute.d in rna:ltell - gJt.aM m
atte.11... The
~ .6 pilU:t 0 6 the gll..a.6.6 ,(A that U.n.6 een f,011.c.e whic.h
f3 p11.odl.1.c.u the. .6 peciu ofi gll.M .6 , and it i.6
g
O
~o
a
g
g
i
0
a
o
i :;::9~ o:~: ::dg:•~eal, ~<Mal i
g
0
g thing.6 . The C11..eation i.6 a .tJw.e, mateJLi..a..f. phe.n~ ome.non, and the Cltea.ti.on manif,ut.6 -ihe.l.6 to
~ U.6 :thMu.gh 11..e.af.it.y. Th e. .6 p,i.Jt,(;tual u.nivelll> e.,
o then, i.6 man-i.Lu t t o man M the. Cll..eation, the
~ Cll..eation wh..i..c.h i,u.ppoJtt.6 Li6e. . We believe that
e man i.6 11..ea.l, a paJtt o6 C11..e.at.lo n, and that
g hi.6 du..ty i.6 to .t>u.ppoll.:t Uf,e. in c.onju.netion
with o.t:heJr. be.inQ' •
Oo
n
I
o The 011..igina.f. 1n.6.tJw.etion <Li.Jr.eet that
~
O
e
o
~
~
I
o
g
I
we.
who
v.xi..f.k abou..t on the Ea.11.:th a.11.e to e.xp11.u.6 a
g11.e.at 11.upe.et, and a6f,e.etion, and a g.Jta.t..ltu.de
toVXJ.Jt.d all the .t>p.i.Jr.i,t.6 wh.i..c.h c.11.e.ate. and .6u.ppoll.:t Uf,e. . We give. a g11..eeting and a tha.nkl>giving to the many .6u.ppoll.:tell.6 of, ou.11.. own Uvu the c.011..n, the. bean.6, :the .t>qu.a..6h, :the wind.6,
.the i,u.n. When people c.eMe :to 11.upe.et and explle.6.6 glLD.t:-i;tude f, 011. :thue many :thing.6, then
all Uf,e. wlU be dutll.oyed, and human Uf,e
on thi.6 pl.a.net will. c.ome to an end.
g
~
Ou.11.. 11.00.t.6 a11.e deep in the .t.o.nd.6 whelle we. Uve.
we have a g.11.e.at love 6011. ou.11. c.ou.n:tll.y, f,011. ou.11.
e fWtthpl.a.c.e i.6 the/le . The. .6oil i.6 11..ic.h f,11.0m :the.
g bonu of, thou.L>and.6 of, ou.11. g.e.nellation.6. Eac.h 06
~ U.6 VXJ..6 c.11.e.ate.d in :tho.6 e .f.a.nd.6, and i:t AA Ou.IL
~ dl.1.ty to take. c.a11.e. of, them, bec.a.u.L>e 611.om thue.
g
dl.1.ty to take. g.11.e.at c.a.11.e. o6 them, be.c.a.u.L> e. 611.om
I ~~~~e.~~~~~ri11!e.t~~~~~~f~~~~
o abou..t w.Uh a g.11.e.a:t 11.upe.c.:t, f,011. the. Ea.Jr.th i.6
I
a
Vell.IJ
0
0
:
e
0
o
~
~
0
-
.6ac.11.ed pl.ac.e...
~
p---
address of the Hau De No Sau Nee
to the western world (presented
to the United Nations, Conference
of Non-governmental Organizations;
Geneva, Switzerland, 1977)
9
0
0
ol
0
°
I
1
1
1
0
0
o
0
0
0
g
I
(
"The land is sacred," the Indians told the European ool onists.
It is only in this generation, un:ier the threat of nmaway uraniml,
runaway in:iustrialization, and the ravages of EX>isol'OlS sprays am
waste-EX>llutants that we are CDning to realize the true depth and
meaning of these words. Now we have rediscovered the web of life,
called "the ecology" am the spirit of the lam, "the envirorment."
cnly now, alm::lst 500 years after Colurbls, refugees fran the invading irdustrial society are anbarking on amther voyage of exploration into the New World. We are looking at the lam with new eyes to
fin:i space, subsistence, am meaning for our lives. Ia:>king arourXi,
we see a different world, alive and p.tlsating, a spiritual being.
OUr planet seen in this way, we call GAI A. a living organism with a
will and an intelligence of her own. She dances to her own time,
and it is to our own peril i f we do oot follow her lead.
'lhe ancient name of this continent we inhabit is TURTLE 1SLANV.
0
"Turtle Island - the old/ new name for the continent based
on many creation myths of the people who have been living
here for rnillenia, and rea.pplied by sane of than to "North
.America" in recent years. Also, ari idea fourxi world-wide,
o f the earth, or the cosnos even, sustained by a great
turtle or serpent-of-eternity.
g
0
g
a
·
I
0
~
name: that we may see ourse lves 11Dre accurately on this
continent of watersheds and life-camnmities - plant zones,
piysiograpri.c provinces, culture areas; following nat\Jral
boundaries. 'lhe "U.S.A"and its states and oounties are arbitrary and inaccurate inp::>sitions on what is really here."
- Gary Snyder
A
g
111
0
1
0
g
I
o
)
speak of the world 11Dre accurately, to speak of the world that is
really here instead of the arbitrary ploitical boun3aries, we speak
of BIOREG!ONS.
TO
0
Qmmmooommmooommmooommmooommmooo1DDDD0oommmooomnunooo~
autum 1983
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians,</em> Issue 1, Autumn 1983
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Apples--Varieties--North Carolina, Western
Apples--Storage
Traditional Farming--United States--Appalachian Region, Southern
Alternative agriculture--Appalachian Region, Southern
Permaculture--Appalachian Region, Southern
Animals--Folklore
Appalachians (People)--History
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Description
An account of the resource
The first issue of <em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, published in the fall of 1983, sets the platform of the publication which expresses and overall tone of respect and stewardship of the land and all life in it. Topics in this issue include Katúah and its meaning, the world as bioregions, the migration of Ulster Scots to North Carolina, and sustainable practices. Authors and artists in this issue include: Chuck Marsh, Thomas Rain Crowe, Sam Gray, Curtis Wood, Tyler Blethen, Snow Bear, Doug Elliott, George Ellison, and Marnie Muller.<br /><br />Beginning with Issue 19, Spring 1988, the journal title was shortened to <em>Katúah Journal</em>. The journal was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. <br /><br />
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
Bioregions: "The Trail to Home".......1<br /><br />From Ulster to Carolina : <br />(The Scotch-Irish Migration to N. Carolina).......3<br /><br />Permaculture Practices.......4 <br /><br />Moshka & Lakima : A Story By Snow Bear.......6 <br /><br />Old Time Apples.......8 <br /><br />Poetry : "Wind Rose" by George Ellison.......9 <br /><br />Map Meditations : The Katuah Bioregion.......10 <br /><br />Mountain Guides : A Resource Bibliography.......12<br /><br />Bioregional Congresses.......14<br /><br />Alternatives to Economics.......17 <br /><br />Finding Katuah : A Bioregional Questionnaire.......22 <br /><br />Fall Calendar........21 <br /><br />Creative Distribution.......22<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1980s
Agriculture
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Bioregional Definitions
Economic Alternatives
European Immigration
Geography
Glossaries
Katúah
Permaculture
Poems
Reading Resources
Stories
Turtle Island
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/5f3f8b62bd6a3f9c717ec7bce721dab8.pdf
8dbe5987ca218068d745dd7a80a3c280
PDF Text
Text
PUBLISHED QUARTERLY
ISSUE THREE
SPRING 1984
ONE DOLLAR
�����������������������������
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, Issue 3, Spring 1984
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1984
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Corn--History
Seeds--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable agriculture--Appalachian Region, Southern
Organic farming--Appalachian Region, Southern
Forest management--Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Description
An account of the resource
The third issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on topics such as corn and its importance in through the centuries, heirloom seeds and organic farming, and human impact on forests. This issue also includes an interview with then Jackson County (North Carolina) Commissioner, Veronica Nicholas, on power companies and women in politics. Authors and artists in this issue include: R. Otto Wylie, Martha Tree, Thomas Rain Crowe, George Ellison, Judith Hallock, Jody Segal-Friedman, Clyde Hollifield, Robert Zahner, and Snow Bear.
<br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
<p>Selu, The Corn Mother.......1<br /><br /> A Sustainable Agriculture.......2<br /><br /> Rebirth of the Sun Sister.......6<br /><br /> The Spirit of Corn.......7<br /><br /> Human Impact on the Forests of the Southern Appalachians...8<br /><br /> Good Medicine: Allies.......10<br /><br /> Kingfisher's Return (poem).......11<br /><br /> Power and Light: Veronica Nicholas.......12<br /><br /> The Little People.......18<br /><br /> Children's Education.......21<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em></p>
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1980s
Agriculture
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Education
Forest History
Forest Issues
Forest Practice
Good Medicine
Katúah
Poems
Politics
Reading Resources
Stories
Turtle Island
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/2548901c8e81db0f1dc689fd56cb5e8b.pdf
491885735eda5ab93680a5efa814bbe1
PDF Text
Text
���������������������������������
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, Issue 4, Summer 1984
Description
An account of the resource
The fourth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on topics such as water quality, hydropower, forest management, the 1984 Cherokee reunion in Tennessee, and the 1984 solar eclipse. Authors and artists in this issue include: Sam Gray, Robin Williamson, Michael Heron, Thomas J. Harshbarger, Jerry West, Margaret Kerr, Thomas Rain Crowe, Bennie Lee Sinclair, Clyde Hollifield, Paul Gallimore, Richard Hotaling, Avram Friedman, Jody Segal-Friedman, Jim Wayne Miller, Marnie Muller, J. Mackey, Chuck Marsh, and Robert Zahner. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1984
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
The Waterdrum by Sam Gray.......1 <br /><br />Living Trout: Living Water.......3 <br /><br />Trout An Article by Jerry West.......4 <br /><br />Streamwatch.......6 <br /><br />The Annular Eclipse of the Sun.......8 <br /><br />"Lord of Springs" poetry by Bennie L. Sinclair.......9 <br /><br />Waterpower.......10 <br /><br />Homemade Electricity.......11 <br /><br />Clearcutting Part II by Robert Zahner.......12 <br /><br />Living with Kudzu.......14 <br /><br />"Shapes" by Jim Wayne Miller.......16 <br /><br />Good Medicine: Going to Water.......18 <br /><br />Voice of the Turtle: N.A.B.C. Report.......20<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Water quality--Appalachian Region, Southern
Forest management--Appalachian Region, Southern
Small scale hydropower
Kudzu
Cherokee Indians--History--20th century
Solar eclipses--1984
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1980s
Agriculture
Alternative Energy
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Bioregional Definitions
Cherokees
Folklore and Ceremony
Forest History
Forest Issues
Forest Practice
Geography
Good Medicine
Katúah
Katúah Organization
Poems
Reading Resources
Stories
Water Quality
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/3e9189ae1600329a1984e9503b662c4a.pdf
c04c06016795d378da7269be5fab0d52
PDF Text
Text
���������������������������������
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, Issue 5, Autumn 1984
Description
An account of the resource
The fifth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on topics such as Cherokee sculptor John Wilnoty, Celtic heritage, issues surrounding protecting wilderness areas, and ginseng's role in the mountains. Authors and artists in this issue include: Barbara Reimensnyder, Barbara Singer, John Wilnoty (Wilnota), Phillip Daughtry, Thomas Rain Crowe, Robert Zahner, Marnie Muller, Robbie Gordon, and Chuck Marsh. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1984
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
<p>Harvest.......1</p>
<p>Cherokee: The Old Days, The Old Ways.......3</p>
<p>The Work of John Wilnoty.......4<br /><br />Our Celtic Heritage.......6</p>
<p>The New Celt by Philip Daughtry.......7</p>
<p>"You Must Go Home Again" by Thomas Rain Crowe.......8</p>
<p>Wilderness, Appalachian Style Part III by Robert Zahner.......10<br /><br />Nuclear Waste in Our Mountains?.......13<br /><br />The Politics of Participation by Marnie Muller.......14<br /><br />Good Medicine "The Healing Darkness".......18<br /><br />Ginseng.......19<br /><br />Mountain Agriculture: a series by Chuck Marsh.......20<br /><br />Bioregionalism: Past, Present, Future by J. Linn Mackey.......22<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em></p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Cherokee art
Cherokee Indians--History
Forest management--Appalachian Region, Southern
Appalachians (People)--History
Radioactive waste disposal--Appalachian Region, Southern
American ginseng--Appalachian Region
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1980s
Agriculture
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Definitions
Cherokees
European Immigration
Forest History
Forest Issues
Good Medicine
Katúah
Permaculture
Plants and Herbs
Poems
Politics
Radioactive Waste
Stories
Turtle Island
Wilderness
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/c82c3f935775ed3110b8fcfeafafa78d.pdf
1202447159c8ecfad77b920b89467f66
PDF Text
Text
�������������������������
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, Issue 6, Winter 1984-1985
Description
An account of the resource
The sixth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on topics such as Cherokee mythology and art, Winter Solstice ceremonies, log cabin history, mountain farming, and the Horsepasture River. Authors and artists in this issue include: Steve Nelson, Barbara Reimensnyder, Martha Tree, Drew Langsner, Thomas Rain Crowe, William Taylor, Gogisgi/Carroll Arnett, J.Ed Sharpe, B. Oldham, Chuck Marsh, Marilou Awiakta, Chip Smith, and David Liden. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1984-1985
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
<p>Wintertide by Steve Nelson.......1</p>
<p>Closer to the Fire by Barbara Reimensnyder.......3</p>
<p>Creation of the Moon and Sun: A Story by David Wheeler.......4</p>
<p>Winter Solstice Earth Ceremony by Amy Hannon.......5 </p>
<p>European Roots of the Appalachian Log Cabin by Drew Langsner.......7</p>
<p>The Mind and Work of William Taylor.......8</p>
<p>The Old Man Said: A Poem by Carroll Arnett.......10</p>
<p>Soaring Bird, Eagle Killer: A Story by J. Ed Sharpe.......11</p>
<p>Mountain Agriculture by Chuck Marsh.......12</p>
<p>The Coming of the Light.......15</p>
<p>Prayer of the Poet Hunter: A Poem by Marilou Awiskta.......15</p>
<p>Turning Our Differences into Strength.......18</p>
<p>Children's Page.......19</p>
<p>Environmentally Speaking (Horsepasture River) by Chip Smith.......20</p>
<p>The Future of the Forests by David Liden.......21<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em></p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Cherokee mythology
Winter festivals--Appalachian Region
Cherokee art
Hill farming--Appalachian Region
Water quality--North Carolina--Horsepasture River
Log cabins--Appalachian Region--History
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1980s
Agriculture
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Definitions
Cherokees
Children's Page
European Immigration
Fire
Folklore and Ceremony
Forest Issues
Good Medicine
Katúah
Permaculture
Poems
Stories
Turtle Island
Water Quality
Western North Carolina Alliance
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/b43bdfc4e48d9084d720074c3f532000.pdf
f6e1b33862bc826e4229a0a73d43e38b
PDF Text
Text
~JOO
PubU6he.d Qu.o.JLt.eJtl.Jj
l.6.6ue. IX
Fall, 1985
�'--
CONTENTS
THE WALDEE FOREST .......................... I
THE TREES SPEAK. ... .......................... . 3
MIGRATING FOR~TS .. ......................... 4
"HOG KILLING SATURDAY" - A POEM ......... 6
HORSE LOGGING ................................ 7
THE NUCLEAR SUPPOSITORY:
WE'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT! .... .. ....... 8
GOOD 'MEDICINE .............................. . 10
STARTING A TREE CROP ............ . ......... II
NATUBAL WORLD NEWS ....................... 12
URB.AN TREES .................................. 15
ACORN BREAD ................................ . 19
MYTHnID .................................... 20
THE CHILDREN'S PAGE ...................... .. 27
M
N
.....
00
N
<
oz:
1-4
...:i
0
~
(,,)
:a
~
0
~
f'4
Cll
i5
;::)
0
0
°'
:oz:
..
§
Cl:!
~
~ ~
M
.....
cc
Iii<
0
IQ
~
~
z
0
H
f'4
u
~
a:
0
u
(/)
(/)
~
0
0
f:(
�!Jf;,, laid- his hand 'f"lt tk tr~: ~ ~ Jzad, Ju
'7un so s~ and ~ ~;f & _fut mu:l -/Jzxmreya;vqU
.1~ and tiz£ ~!fit;
n4iilzv a:s
_fa~ nor a:J" ~; it wa:s ik
~lrb_f &
liP1::f -kw ii-45-
A WALK IN THE
WALDEE FOREST
Near the top of Cowee Mountbir. in
Macon coun ty ju&t below the national
forest boundary, hes an 150 acre
tract of forested mountain slopes that
is a living testament to the life ~d
work of a pair of reJ11arkablc people .
oee Leather111c1n Smith ii' the fourth
generation of her family lo Jive on
the family homcsite. Her husbantl,
Walton, is a forester of 35 years '
rxrerience ~ith thP U. S . Forest
Ser~ice, anc !6 010re year6 a6 Q
private consultant . In tl.ejr 47 years
n1ana9in9 the property, they have
realized a vi&ion of what a fJroduclive, habitable, ecologically
l·t!althy section of the Appalachian
forest could look like.
There is " small SaW!!'i 11 on the
plo<"f ar.c ~od- ..orlting shops that can
turn tr<:cs ir.to saleable, finiEhec
wood products nght there on the land.
There are ale;o bec•hives, a trout 1>0nd,
< Email garden plot, and o greenhouse,
r.u t c.n l»<cursioro irto the Walcee
Forest is fitl:'t clllC !Otl'r•CSL d jovrney
1rot<• a livir.•J n.<eodel o: tlie prir.t·i ples
of all-aye, all-species forest manage~' nt: a n1.ir111qer1ent plan <ippropriate lo
tlat. l'articul<1r c·onditions oC the
;.ppalachum hatdwood (orPSl. The key
a• tt.i~ tt>chnique, accor<.inc; to Walton
~:r.ith , is an (!t(·hasis oi• st>lecti"e
I ir•l".rr hcorVN•t inc;:.
We waHea tllf" lano ~·itl> OPl• and
Wallor. one cl<1y , .ind he Sl•OkE' first
a~out the histor) of tlw place .
"['e<0 • c l;re,.t-src.ndratt>nts <"co~IC
I•.-:• ~ot•I. .. 1 CJ ! (•• <,ol<" . Tiwy \<<ci to«pp<dr.tE-cJ "l ll 1o t , SC.> lhC) tlirneo
:o sol'letl lr.y tl1<:y kr....,., olld tlidt ...~
f,1rni119 .
"\;l1H I lol1)' Ci.lit•(: t<:ll, thif. l.lnd
, .... s t.l'Vt it<l J..y v1r<,ir forest. Thf're
·n•tt poi, 1111 t t!'<'s ar.<.! otli111 ~.recies,
0
K.n{AH - page l
but largely it was a mature
chestnut trees, 3-6 feet in
gro.. ing closely and forming
so dense that nothing could
btand of
diameter,
a canopy
grow under
try one thing, and if it doesn't work,
I try something else. I've concluded
that what I want is a mixed, all-age
stand, meaning a diverse variety of
lt .
tree species o! all ages froa1
"Chestnut w4s not then considered
desirable as a timber tree, and these
people were farmers, so they had to
clear the land, and grub out the
stumps , because chestnut sprouts
profusely . To them, the forest of
great trees was seen only as a
detriment to their way of life.
"As they began to till the land,
they built stone terraces to make
snall areas of level land to raise
crops . They raised small patches of
corn, sorghum, and buckwheat; apples
on the slopes; and free-ranged cattle,
geese , h09s, and sheep for wool. It
wos a l1ard way of life.
seedlings to large, mature trees
growing t09ether .
"It will take tin.a to achieve
this, because l started out with an
even-aged stand, but now there is a
variety of trees here--poplar, maple,
hickory, oak, white pine, ash, walnut,
an uoderstory of doqwood--and I will
pick my select trees and thin around
them, sOllle from below and some from
above.
"What I hope to get 80 years from
now is trees of all ages, all species,
and all size classes and ll>OVe strictly
into selective, uneven-aged forest
management. This is the start of it.•
Walton led us up the road. It was
a hot day, but the woods were cool and
green--a pleasant place to be. We
stopped in a grove composed primarily
of tall, straight poplar trees.
"The poplars on this five acre
tract are 50-60 years old now. They
have been thinned fro111 below," Walton
explained. "We picked out our best
trees and took 5 cords per acre of the
rest. This freed up those high quality
trees so they could get ample soil
n.oisture and a certain a!':ount of sunli9ht to keep putting on n1aximur::
9rowth.
"We dicn't take out anythir.g we
didn 't need to. We leave theGt.> understory trees--these d09woods, thi~ red
ciaple--for 'nurse trees.' They "1<t~t.'
the poplars gro~. shed their lower
limbs, and ihoot straight for the sky.
Those bi c, t l"t:'l.'S have de-1 in•bc-c. them-
:..:--~
•1•0 like to show you this place
arod some of the things we're doing
t:f'rf' ." Wal ton set out up a srr.al 1
IO<Jgins ioocl ~i th a stride that denied
hi5 7~ yo~tt of age .
"MC..t>t ,,r my forest iG expriP1er·tal, • he raid ovet hi1> s!.ouloer . "I
(continued on p. 22)
Fsll
198~
�.( 2!2·,1.·.
·!1·
1
·,·
. ...
Il il#ll(lll 1\QP1114tmnt10....,_
.
EDITORIAL STAFF THIS ISSUE:
David Reed
Scott Bird
Ba r bara Rein•ensnydE r
Richard Ciccarelli
Chip Smith
Thomas Rain Crowe
Sarah Jane Thomas
J . Linn Mackey
Martha Tree
Michael Red Fox
David Wheeler
Marnie Muller
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Korey Goldsmith
Cindy Kiger
Joe Roberts
Weogo
Mark Yancey
EDITORIAL OFFICE THIS ISSUE:
Long Branch Environmental
Education Center
Leicester, NC
PRINTED BY:
CORRESPONDENCE TO:
Sylva Herald
Katiiah
Publishing Co.
llox 873
Cullowhee, NC
Sylva, NC
28783
TELEPHONE: (704) 252-9167
Special thanks to Tom Schulz, Larry Tucker,
and Sparrel Wood
~: Great poplar and chestnut trees photographed at
the turn of the century by the Whiting Lumber Co. to
impress their stockholders with the wealth of timber
available in the Appalachian forestlands. Fortunately,
the trees pictured here escaped the saws, and the two
poplars in the center may still be viewed in the Joyce
Kilmer Memorial Forest area in the Snowbird Mountains
of Graham County, NC .
,, ~
()
He.ite. .&t .the. 6ordhe.itn-mo6.t he..a..ir..U.and 06 .the.
Appa.la.clUan moun.ta.ln.6, .the. oldu.t mowi.tiLln Mnge.
on oWt con.t.&te.n.t, T!J.4.tle. l6lo.n.d, a 6ma.U but gMw~ .9-:-0"P ha6 be.g~n ~ ~e. on a 6en.t.e. 06 .llUpon6-<.b.U.Uy 60.ll .the. .(.1"pU.c.a..ti.on6 06 .tha..t 9e.09M.ph.i..c.a.t
and c.u.Uwutl. heJl.Uage.. Thi..6 6en.t.e. 06 .lle.6pon.6i.bil..lt.y
ce.n.te.lt6 on .the. concept 06 Uv..<.ng wlth.&t the. na.tu..llal.
11.c.a.l.e. a.nd balance. 06 un.lvvwa.l 6yi..te.m6 and l.a.w6.
We. be.g.&i by .&ivolWtg ~he. Che.itoke.e. name. "Ka.tii..o.h" 46
.the. old/ne.w name. 60.ll .thiA a.Ile.a 06 the. mo~ and
6O.ll .(,u j OU.llnttl 46 we..ll.
The. e.d-U.o!WJ.1. plt,(.oll.U:A.u 60.ll 146 a.11.e. .to coUe.et and
d.i66e.m.i.na.te. in6oltllla.tWn and e.ne.itgy whlc.h pe.Jt.ta.in6
"pecl6.<.ca.lty .to .thiA a11.e.a, and .to 604.teJt the. ai.ooJt.e.ne.66 .tha..t .the. l.a.nd .iA a Uv..<.ng be..&tg du e.itv.lng o 6 oWt
l.Dve. and .lle.6pe.et. U.ving bt .thiA manne.it .U. .the. onl.4j
Ull.Y .to e.Jtl>Wte .the 6146.ta..i.nabili..tll o ~ OU.ll b.io6phe.ite and
a l.a.6.t.&tg p(.!tce. 6011. oWt4e.lvu .<.n .<,u c.o~ e.vo!.Li.U.orwty plt.OCe.64.
We. "e.em .to have. JU>Ache.d .the. 61.t!Cll.Wft point o 6 a "dD
d..i..e." 6.i...ti.uz.t.i.n .<.n .ttW!l6 08 a coniln.u.e.d qu.o..Uty
6.tand41td. 06 U.6e. on .th.l6 plo.ne.t . It .U. .the. ai.Jn 06
.thiA joWtnttl to do .<.a. pcut.t .<.n .the. .lle.-.&ihabita.tion
and M.-cu.Uwt.iz..t<.an 06 the. Ka.tU.a.h plt.Ovince. 06 .the. Sou.the.itn Appa.la.clUan6. Th.l6 plt.OV.&tce. .u. .<.nd.i..c.a.te.d by U4
natWta.l bowtdaJt.i.e.6 : .the. Ne.w IU.ve.it vi..c.i..n.lty .to .the.
no.ll.th; .the. ~oothil.l.6 of, .the. piedmont a11.e.a .to .the.
eiu.t; Yol'lll Mowi.t.<Wt and .the. Ge.o11.g.itt hil.l6 to .the..
i.ou.th; and .the. Te.rute.t.He. IU.veJt ~·aUe.y .to the. we..&t .
O.ll
JRV0Clll':I0R
We are not a people who demand, or ask anything of the
Creators of Life, but instead, we give greetings and
thanksgiving that all the forces of Life are still at
work. We deeply understand our relationship to all living
things •• ••• Our roots are deep in the lands where we live.
We have a great love for our country, for our birthplace
is here . The soil is rich from the bones of thousands of
our generations . Each of us was created in these lands ,
and it is our duty to take great care of them, because
from these lands will spring the future generations of
the Ongwhehonwhe, We walk about with a great respect,
for the Earth is a very sacred place.
from: A Basic Call to consciousness:
'nle Hau de no sau nee Address
to the Western World
i<ArtAH - page 2.
Humbly , 46 i.a6-appo.<.nte.d 6.t~ with 6acJte.d .i.A6.tll.tlctlon6 46 "new na..tlvu •· .to p1t.O.te.et a.nd ~uMVe
.U6 64Clte.dne.66, we. advocate. a ce.n.teJte.d applt.Oal!h to
.the. conc.e.pt 06 de.ce.rWu:LU.za.t.ion a.hd hope. .to be.cog Cl
6uppo.ll.t 61J6tem 6011. .thoH acce.pt.ing the. c.h.a.Ue.nge 06
6cu..ta.Utab.u.lt1J and .the. C.lle.a.t.i.ort 06 luvurtort.q and bell.cu1ce. .&t a J:./Jt.a.1. 6 en.t. e., he.ite. .<.n .thiA plo.ce..
�I.t l4XU> 0nl.y a. ,()ho/Lt :ti.me. a.g 0' iu. .:the.
new .6 p!Llng le.a.vu we11.e. be.g,lnn.lng .:to
ma.Ile. .:theNe.lvu e.v.<.de.n.t iu. .:they cove11.ed .:the. h.tvt.dwood.6 a.nd .:the. .60 6.:teJL de.c.lduoUI> tlt.e.u down a.long .:the. bo.:t.:toml>
a.nd neM wa.teJL, .tha..:t my wl6e. a.nd I ma.de.
oWt wa.y up .:the. U.llpe.n.:t-Uke. .6pine. 06
.:the. 8.tueJl..i.dge. Pllllb.way .:toWMd OWL dutlna;t(.011 06 M.t.Mltche.U ( '8la.ck Mowr..:ta.ht '
iu. known .to .:the. tlt.a.cli.tlom:ii. CheJtoke.e.
people. 06 .:the. .1te.g.i.onl. We. we.Jte. on a
pi.tgJL.i.ma.ge. o6 ' .:tha.niu. g.i.v.i.ng ' - - - g o.i.ng
.:to .:th.i..6 .6a.CJte.d moun.ta..i.11 popula..:te.d by
.:the. .6 p.iJLULu:t.t. a.ncu.:toM o 6 .:the. Che.Jtoke.e.
.:the. ' Nunne.hu', .:to e.xcha.nge. 'tha.niu. '
and pJta.yeJL 6Oii. .:the. g.i.6t o 6 mo n.i.u .tha..:t
ha.d g.1ta.c.loU1>l.y be.en p11.ov.i.de.d .:to U4 .:to
do me.a.n.i.ng6ul. a.nd .i.mpolLta.nt wo.ltk .:toWMd
.:the. p11.o.:te.ctlon 06 I .6a.CJ!.e.d .6.i..:tU I he11.e.
.i.n .:thue. old mounta..i.n.6. To o66eJL the
mon.i.u up .:to thue. a.ncu.:tolt.6 iu. a. pledge. 06 OWL .6e.Jtv.i.ce. .:to .:th.i..6 'ca.U.6e. ' , .tha..:t
U be. done. .i.n .the. Jt.i.gh.:t wa.y a.nd .ln .the.
6p.(/vU 06 Wl4e.l6.l4hne.6.6 and he.a.Ung . To
o66e.Jt .the. gJte.en g.i.6.:t up .:to .the..6e., 'the.
wll.e. onu', .:tha.:t .:they be oWL 'gu.<.du'
a.long the. pa..th.6 06 .:the. woJtk wl.:th .:th.i..6
p!l.O j ec.:t wh.i.ch la.tj ahe.a.d • ..
A..6 we. dJtove. .:tfvtough the. ' ga.:te.wa.y' .:to
the. p.i.nna.cle. 06 the. mounta..i.n: "CJulggy
Galtde.M", a.:t a he..lgh.:t 06 oveJt 6,000 6.:t.
we began .:to not.lee. how the. we.a.:the.Jt--.:the.
tll.lnd.6, .the. 6.:totr.m1;, .:the. e.x.tlt.e.mu 06 he.a..:t
and cold, and .:the. .:th.i.nne.Jt a.Ui.-- wa..6
'we.a11.b1p away' (a.lmo.6.:t iu. .i..6 .:the. wlnd
we.Jte wa.te.Jt wa..6hb1g a.wa.y Mck, only .i.n
.:th.i..6 caoe.: /tock. .:that had .:ta.fle.n .:the 6oJtm
06 tlt.e.u) a.:t the ve.ge,t.a.:t.lon .:tha.:t cove.Jte.d .:the. .:topo o 6 thue. old hUl..6, Ufle
.:th.lnn.i.ng old ha.a. 8u-t along wl.:th .:the
e.v.i.de.nce 06 na.:tuJtal .1te.ge.ne.Jta.:t.i.on, the.Jte
we.1te .lnCJte.ao.i..ngl.y , iu. we. ma.de. oWt wa.y
.:towa.Jtd .:the. top 06 .the mounta..i.n, .6ma.l.l
a.Jte.iu. o 6 dea.d a.nd dy.i.ng tlt.eu .:tha.:t
4:tJt.ucfl U.6 a..6 be..lng unna..tuJta.l.ly 'bUgh.:te.d'. Smail 6.ta.nd.6 06 6-Ut. and pine-gJtOupe.d toge..:the.Jt and 4.ta.nd.lng out 1>.ta.Ji.k~
l.tj 611.orn .the 11.e.o.t-.i..n-fl.i..nd o 6 hea.l.:thy
g11.ee.n and .:twl.6.:te.d '6a.m.i.ly' --iu. .i..6 do.i.ng
1>ome gho1>.:tl.1J gne.y dance. 06 6ubm.l.66.i.on
.to .:the. e.te.me.n.U. The. whole. a.Ji.ea. l.oofl.i..ng
iu. .i..(.. U ha.d come down wl.:th a ma.l..i..c.loUI>
o 66-whUe ca.oe. o 6 .:the. 'me.Miu' --a d.i...6eiu.e. U.6ua.lf..iJ only acqu.i.11.e.d by the. tJOung
... "Sbtange.", 1 .thought .:to mtj6e.l6, ".:tha.:t
.:theoe mountai.n.6 • .60 old, would have
.ta.ke.n 0tl .:th.i..6 we.iu.e. 06 1Ch.ll.dJten If"
we. moved 6l.cwly up .:the. moun.ta..i.11 . . .
The clo1> <>A. .to .the .6Ull!l'llU we. 90.:t, .:the.
l.aJi.g <>A. and g11.e.ve..1t .thu e a.11.e.ao o6 dy-i.ng
eve.JtgJt.een.6 became. On bo.:th 6.<.du 06 .:the.
11.oa.d and -i.n eve.Jty d-Ut.e.c.t.i..on---So bl.e.a.fl
On Mount Mitchell, a few miles
north of Asheville, NC, Robert Bruck,
associate professor of plant pathology and forestry at NC State University, is investigating the devastation
of trees on high mountains in Katuah.
According to Dr. Bruck, the red
spruce and fir above 6,350 feet are
in a severe state of decline with most
trees 45-85 years old losing 90% of
their foliage. The trees are shedding
t~ir older needles and leav1ng only
a small clump of chlorotic new growth
on branch ends .
Bruck' s findings indicate that
the trees are being killed by pollutants. To confirm this suspicion,
core samples have been taken from the
dying trees with a bit and auger. The
borings have reveaied a 50% reduction
in tree ring growth since the early
1960's, yet rainfail data shows no
evidence of drought.
Aware that tree dieback has been
occurring for two decades in the nort h-
eastern U.S. and western Germany,
au ala:tllldd Dr. Bruc k and other s c ientis t s have visited aud studLtd these
f orests hopiug to find c lues as to
the c!Xaet c ause of tree diaba ck in
K
atUah.
M
ost data reveals that symp toms
of diebac k vary from region to r egion
depending on tree s pecies, soil t ype,
and climate. Rowaver Dr. Bruck has
f ound c orraspouding s ymptoms exiat
betweeu "lilaldsterb n " (trae death ) in
West Germany and spruce-fir dieback
in Kat~ah. Evidence bas been mounting
in West Germany that ozone, a pollutant produced by a reaction of sunlight and auto exhaust, bas combined
with acidic fog. These pollutants are·
leaching magnesium, an essential element, from living trees .
It is becoming increasingly clear
(continued on page 27)
continued on page 26
Fall 1985
..
~ll.hll
- '.}f;. ·C'.o.
�,
J;
From within its borders , the forest
looks old, permanent. Yet the timelapse views of the eastern forests provided in these maps compiled by Paul
and Hazel Delcotirt's team of paleoelologists give a different story.
Plants do indeed migrate, and in
geological time the climatic changes
that resulted in the formation and
dispersal of the Laurentide ice sheet
brought on drastic changes , causing
whole forests to move from one area
of the continent to another.
The mops given here are from the
Delcourt's article " Vegetation Mops
for Eastern North America " in
Geobotony ll{Plenum Publications,
1981 ); R. Romans, Editor.
MAP KEY
0
Laurentide Ice Sheet
•
Tundra
Boreal Forests
Q
Spruce
@
The t.aurentide (ce Sheet covered the continent north of
vhat la prHontly known n the Crdt Lllke1 Rqion. Tundra condition• prevailed ln the viclnity of the glacier •nd at hi&h
elevatioftl tor soo ailu .south or th• lee front.
Spruce .and jack pii>e fou1t1 held the territory ..,uth and ust
of the alacl•rl .JdV&DCO- The cl1-t• vamed quickly .and dr•aat ic;oll:•
b.lov thb belt. eo that an oalr.-hlclr.ory-eouthern pine auociat!on
doainat•d the Atl&ntic and Gulf Coaot plains.
The aixed .. Hopbyc1~ hard...,od forut that today inhabits the
covH of Appalachia vas rutrlcted u this ciae to "refuaul •rus·· the blufflanda dong the IUuiHippi Rlvor Valley •nd ujor rlver corridor•
U\ the southeast. A eypre••-auai. assoe:iacton lived in the ..,et
~ululppl boctoaa. ;and the ~lorf.de hninsub vaa covered ~Y .. nd
dune scrub - including wild ro111a.1ry .and iaolaced 1tande >f .crub o.ait.
Spruce-Ja ck pine
Q
@
Jac k pine - Spruce
Mixed con ifer-norther n hardwood s
Deciduous Forests
Q
@
G)
Oak-Hickory
Mixed mesopbyt ic
Oak-Chest:n ut
Southeastern Evergreen Forests
<2'.)
@
@
Cypress- Gum
0
Subt r opical Hard woods
Oak- Hickory- Southern pine
Southern pine
Open Vegetat ion Types
Q
Q
<:::>
,
~:\ n;.ur
'l
Oak savaruiah
Prair ie
or
'fhu .,,h1cJcr • lwd Ct:lt+.:.til'-!d LO l ht.: lat J.Lud\$
thu Ch:Ul Wk~¥ I
raJ.elna th• tiUa luvcl soou.!what . und Liu: bc1lnning» of l ...akt.! •. rh Wt:h:
vt11tble. thu Saint Lawrence fltv~c w.11 u•\d~r J~<!. Jnd lh"' \;.ould ail .. ctul
w.itcre 1ttl1 draln-.d down thu Hi•111l-.111lppt 1 "'be.re the \lll1lc a.Jtruc.l: cuv-.:r
peulatL.J.
Th-. •pruce-Jac.k pin~ fote•t
cr~cpln¥ \!.il•tw.atJ fro. th..: plalos.
The w r • ..v\:ollth41er cMk-hfckory-.outh-.:.ro •v~rgl"-:t...-n ••~ l;,1t Ion w..a• •t J l t
rc.atrlctcd to th~ •outhurn c.;,.a;t.al vL1dn•. Tb-.: 11lxt-od •.:»0phy1 h.
8pf..'Cie*I Mlntaha.-d tlwic fuoll1vlJ ln the 8lu{fl.,nd21i ,uuJ WJC.\:f t1Vt:t
W••
corridor•.
Sand Dune Sc r ub
'- page 4
Tundro •tlll i;rlµp"J
th~
AppJl .. <ltlJn h.:Jghl•.
Pall 1985
-.
I'
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . wt ..... rOMSTDWILLllll. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
Mt~Rt-\TING
Thia V"r1uJ w••
~h«ncl~rlz1:J
by a D11ld waralng tr.,nd.
Th.:
1l•clera retr~•Led .oa..,W'hat. and ll.ic1al a\tll raletd Lho levt:l ot thtt
ocun•. pushing th~ cont lncnL.al coast I lne:1 cloatt to Lhtotir prt::t:d'tl
po1lt1oos.
J•ck pint:-11f'rUC~ ••»OC:J•tlc;.n.> still do.lnatvd (r-oa th.c: •1Jvt;:,t.t to
thu ccntr•l coa~L. A thin IMnJ of tran-.tclun..1 con1ft:r-oortltt.:-ro
l1Jrd,,,..,.,,d fott.:..lit dtvtd"J th-.: ptnu-1pru~e bdt fro•• \l.&t11-cllailtt1 o•lhh:kury .-....oc:J .. t lvn wt1h: h c· uvi.:r ...J App.al.achh1 wnd lhl.t ur-.w th..at I • ''''"
r-.-1uh:•¥t.:.11.:
kfv,c v ••dli.:y
s~~IJy.
fOREST
The 4.cu 1huct reached ita aouthernmoait li•it during thi• time .
extending the coa11tltne out appr oxlaeL"ly 50 •iles beyond it_.: pr.ute.nt
bouodar1ea. Spruce-jack pine cov~r ud thu are.at pl•in• we1t of tht
H.Jasi11;stppt. Jack ptne-spro.ctt covt:r dc>t1lnat.:d the ea.atcrn half o( the
continent eouth to the preaent-day borJtrr• of AlabaaJ and Cwraf•.
Claci"r aultw•tec cool"'1 the Hl11luippl River Valhy, which prob.ably accounted for the anOllll&Joue eppura.nce of \tbite spruct1 tn.~••, a
boreal opocl .. noca•lly not found
rar 1outh. The enllre AppalachU.n
b.oge wi1s creetcd by tundra, vhU.: colJ-wuthe.r spruce and fJr dOlll-
"°
naced lh" foreau on the 90uncnln ulopca.
Thu WJ.Ulfni; li.:dlfh:tMluru• or j 1,000 - 12 ,000 yt:1.1r• 3¥,0 1.,rouaiht
dvlu&"-tf of naln In Lhu w411c.u or tht: gtu~i1:re. Clacfol 111~1t was drulnJni rapidly thruuyh thu SL. l.awc.n ..
-ncu RJvur h.•Mvln" the pruy,~nhor
unwl Iona of the t;r~Jl l..Jk'-'•·
Th~ apruct: .1nd J•c .. pint.: ••ao..:IJLJon1 covtar'--.J c-.:ntr.. t c.,twJM ttntJ
tl-.1 Nev EnK,l»nd St•lu•. Th .... coo lC '-'r-ntr.>rthtir n tt.rJwood for ....$t 114>\l' ....J
nurth and vest Into .J 1rwlly -=•paGdcJ tcrrltot'y. An Odk-hlckory
{ot'~vt arose ~•l i>f th-.: 'll11owl••lppt i.1nJ wa111 .avln& -=-•tv.arJ, fo1low'".J
by the d~v'1loptn, pr... Ir 1.... v"""-'l"'l fon.
The aht:J •"llOphyt le for\.!t.l Jdvdnc'--.J fro. th~ r lvt.::r corr tdor., l->
tak• ov~r a tors'-' part of th~ central are:a. Ook-hlclt.ory ... southern
..:versr\!cn cov-:r ¥Lill P'-'ndwtcJ ln thi.: cudvtul ploSna Jr'-'as, but u
CYJ•rl.•1:11• gum usatocl11tlun lc>uk uvvr th~ 11oouthufn <nJ ot Lhc ~lf~11da1adµltl
1
klvur t.::1Hridor. olt\J "'" uuk .. uvw.nndh LYt•u w.ft. uv~t In¥ un the ._.lur1JJ
l''"·nnJn.111...l.
Thb wu tho puk of tile "heplithano&J. • var1111ng period, and t ... parat u r u ware h1&her th<ln in the prHe.ot d•1· The land and fora1t
conf1guration• bqao to tllte"" tho th&pu va ... r..ui.ar vith today.
The: conUer-oortbaru ba.Tdvoode foreat covered a vast area fro.
the Creat I.eke• rasioo to tbe coa1t. Tha oak-blclcory and aixed aHophyt lc hardwood !orut• occupied euentWly the • .,.. aru1 they do at
prueat, wtu.la conditioas c.au.sed an oak-chutaut forest to ti•• to doeln&nce on the u1tuo 1lopes of the Appelacbi.ans, vbil1 spru:a •nd !lr
still clung to the colder, biaher elevatioo1.
Southern pine arose to doain.anc• over auch of the aru lt occupies
todly.
�Hog Killing Saturday
BY H. M. SPOTISWOOD
The red sun was waiting for me, round
as the washpot that would be the center
of my day. There I would chop the kindling,
feed oak to the fire, stir the black water
while they worked silently under the cedar.
Grady was always there by seven, in his hard
overalls, paid dollars for his sweet brutality.
I knew the one they picked, had fed him rinds
and the saved ends of Tuesday's cornbread.
His grounds were avuncular in the sweet stench
of Friday's dusk, his hide hard as a gritty
July watermelon to my finger poking through
the pen. Once I'd run the mile to Clara
for a Nehi and some vanilla extract with screams
following me through the pines as they cornered
him to clamp the rings in his nose. Painless
gristle, they called his snout, when I fingered
the steel points like barbed wire spikes.
For sure he'd rooted up three fences, ripped
the small south pasture to a knobby moonscape.
He knew me for peach seeds and rusty coffee cans
full of Pa's rich, hard-bought cottonseed me.al.
I still feel the guilt for the erotic rush
of glee that lasted a second. And Grandma,
the painful endless picture of her scraping
his boiled nose with a paring knife. Grady
I hoped, would hit his mark the first time
with the scarred steel butt of the old axe.
I listened too hard over the frantic steam,
heard only board sounds and birds in the oaks.
The afternoon was easier, foul and logistical.
The mail ran at one, and Mr. Hardee waved.
Bayree, the cats, and the thoughtless chickens
were underfoot for items they could find. I
created a parable for the high-stepping rooster
mincing his spurs among the leafy entrails.
The coarse salt did not hurt my bitten nails
when we rubbed the bacon and hams to hang.
I knew the bowl and Limp grey mountain
of entrails would be waiting on the table.
Pa brutalized my city taste with family
ridicule for not tasting. He hadn't shaved.
The hairs were coarse yellow in the light
of kerosene. In the window curtained with gay
feedsack the sun was an oblate orange yolk
--·~-·s,epuating into the black <~eek~
'
f
�HORSE LOGGING
Fall 6.11.0m be.Utg a qua.Utt ruuicJvum.i.6m, togg.<.ng wlth hOJt6U
.l6 6t.iU pMv.<.ng .it6 u»ILtlt a6 .the. method mo6t o.pp!tOplLi.a;te. 6011.
«»JtlUng moun.ta.in 6l.ope.6 ldte.11.e. .the. togge.11. .l6 de.a.li..ng wlth a
11.0ugh Olt 611.agile. .teNUU.n 011. a 1U.9hl.y 6e.l.e.c:Uve. .ti.mbe.11. Cl.Lt.
It .l6 al.60 6.Qrd.<.ng 6a.vOll. wUh l.a.ndowne.11.6 ldto hold coMe.11.-
vat.i.on me.a6Wl.e.6 a.nd a.u.the..UC6 a6 h.i.gh p!l)..oM.t.lu .
Holl.6e. togging a.l.60 luu. economic a.dva.n.ta.gu 6011. togge/1.6
ldto do n.o.t have. a. tot o 6 capUai. tc 6.talt..t a. bU6.<.ne.66 Oii. c.dio
w.i.l.h tc ke.e.p the.ill. oveJtlie.a.d tow. With holl.6u , to~~e/1.6 ca.n
ma.k.e. up .ui Mull c.diat they ta.ck. .ui 6-Uia.ncla.l.. ba.c/U.ng.
John Va.v.U,, Ve.nn.i.6 Hotde.11., a.nd holl.6U Tony a.nd Flt.e.d «»11.k
.Qr a.nd cur.ou.nd .the. Nan.taha.l.a Na.t.i.ona.t FOll.u.t. The.y a11.e. a. .tlgh.t
.team, a.n.d tlte..i.11. e.xpe.11..le.nce. 6hoWA . The.y make. .the. ha.11.d woll.k 06
w.tt&tg a.nd ha.u.Ung .ti.mbe.11. took a.l.mo6.t e.a.61J.
John: ' I started in on horses when I was four . My daddy
started me. I worked some other jobs, but I ' ve al.ways kept
my truck, regardless of what I've done . I like being in the
woods. You don ' t make a lot of money , but if you ' re satisfied,
that ' s what counts :·
Dennis: You ain't gonna make nothing but a living, whatever you do. Anything you go after, a living ' s all you 're
going to make out of it:
John: •r•ve got a garden, my horse and my truck- I 'm
never going to starve ."
photos by Martha Tree
Dennis : "Horse don't got to be a big one, i f he'll pull.
I can take Fred, and he'll pull horses weighing 1800 lbs .
When I call on him, he'll go out there, and he ' ll hang. He
won ' t back back up . A lot of horses pull against it too hard,
and they'll back back up. But I could hook Fred to that truck
right tncre and call on ' im, and he'll stand on and pull 'til
he dies .
"!wouldn't cake n thousand dollar bill for ' im just like
he stands there I ain ' t got that in ' im, but I wouldn't take
it . He ' s paid for himself ten times over I could give him
away today and still wouldn't go in the hole .~
K.\Tt:AH -
page
7
Fall 1985
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MAlllFOIUTDWIWM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
By Michael Red Fox
The U.S. Department of Energy
(DOE) has just announced plans
to site and construct a Monitored
Retrievable Storage facility
(MRS) in Eastern Tennessee.
Three possible sites have been
chosen. The Clinch River Breeder
Reactor site at Oak Ridge is the
preferred site. TVA's H:lrtsville
nuclear plant site and the Oak
Ridge Reservation have also been
included for further study.
In January 1986 the DOE will
announce which one of the three
"semi-finalists" will host the
MRS. DOE documents describe
the MRS as a processing facility
for spent nuclear fuel. The
processing will include consolidation and packaging of high
level wastes for delivery to
permanent suppositories. The
MRS will also serve as a backup
facility for storage of spent
fuel and high-level wastes
from all commercial nuclear
power plants, all foreign
subscribers to the "Atoms For
Peace" program, and U.S. nuclear
weapons production.
All three East Tennessee sites
are upwind of Kat~ah. Several
of the main transportation
routes to the MRS site pass
through our region including
interstate 81 and interstates
26 and 40 , which conjoin at
Asheville. If you thought
Asheville was a "hot town" before
this, just wait ... . •..
According to the DOE, the MRS
candidates were chosen on the
basis of cost efficiency, risk
of accident, and the geographic
relationship to the potential
underg~ound suppository.
It
must be noted that the Nuclear
Waste Policy Act of 1982 declared
that no one state may get both
sn MRS and a permanent waste
dump . The relative prox1.mity
of Kat~ah to the proposed MRS
can lead to no other conclusion:
Katuah is under siege! Not only
does Katuah become a transportation corridor for nuclear waste
from all over the world but, she
also becomes a leading candidate
for the sweepstakes nobody wants
to win: permanent waste dump!
The MRS is considered to be
the "front end" of the permanent
suppository. According to the
"Mission Plan" being peddled by
:<.n{.ui - page 8
the DOE, wastes processed at the
MRS will travel across the
country to the first geologic
suppository. Currently stiff
opposition, environmental problems , and legal fights are
stifling DOE's plan to select A
site in the western states,
The agency cannot fail to
notice that it might be sinpler
to l) speed up selection for
the ~astern suppository or 2)
change the Waste Policy Act so
that both suppositories wil l
be built in the F
ast. In fact
Paul Kerns, a DOE front msn,
bas recently said that if all
of the candidate sites under
consideration in the first
round turn out to be losers
the DOE may turn to the crystalline states for both suppositories.
I
I
..
·.
I
.\
"
• I
:i
I
\
I
~.
Crvstalline (granite) rock
formations are being considered
for nuclear waste disposal
because they are uniform
throughout and have qualities
allowing them to dissipate heat
from nuclear materials. However in a blistering analysis
of their own three year pilot
study (1981-1984) called the
"Climax Project" in Jack Ass
Flats,Nevada, DOE noted serious
problems. Not only did the
expensive stainless steel cannisters leak, hut the te9tin~
caused cracks in the granite
and the testing mechanisms
failed so they could not
determine how much leakage
occurred!
Among the crystalline
suppository states, the Southeastern Region (includin~ Katuah)
is perhaps the most vulnerable.
Ginger King, of DOE's Civilian
Radioactive Waste Management,
conf inned this suspic ion when
she said, "the most likely 9lace
is the Southeast since 85i o f
the nation ' s nuclear plants are
east of the Mississippi." Much
of the Northeast will be eliminated because of population
density and distribution. Although the North Central Region
has crystalline rock formations
whic h are among the n~ tions
most stable, Wisconsin, ~ichigan
and Minnesota have erected legal
and political barriers that may
outweigh potential geologic
suitability.
Politics is the name of the
suppository game according to
Dave Berich of the Environmental
Policy Institute in Washington.
Unlike the North Central States,
North Carolina, which contains
most of the prime sites in
Katuah, has no siting laws.
There are no nuclear waste
education programs, no citizen
advisory boards, and no public
surveys. North Carolina has not
even one employee working fullt ime on our response to the
suppository site project.
What North Carolina does have
is a governor who bas said he
would not veto a site selected
here. Every other governor in
every state under consideration
has promised a veto. A governor
veto of a site mean~ that a
full congressional review and
approval is necessary before
wastes can be implanted. A
veto would force DOE to do the
proper scientific studies to
find the best site - not just
follow the path of least
resistance. Incredible as it
may seem, at a public "infor111ation seminar in Boone, NC,
DOE publicity man Kerns warned,
''What 1 can do is encourage
you guys not to trust us; take
us to taok." Dave Berich of
EPI ar,roes. He has said.
Fall 1985
" Si"~q - t-.J..J . /J;
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WEAMFOM:~OWEWlll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
"There needs to be s whole new
science developed for each
repository site, nnd the DOE
is unwilling to spend the
necessary money and time to
adequately study all the potential reek bodies for the best
possible site."
The rext step in the selection process is for the nuclear
energy junkies at DOE to reduce
their list of 236 crystalline
rock sites down to 20 possible
sites this November.
TRANSPORTATION OP NUCl.EAR WASTES
The llOE goes to gceat lengths
to assure the public that the
shipment of spent fuel is safe .
It distributes films showing
dramatic full-scale crash tests
of spent fuel casks propelled
by rocket sleds into a massive
concrete wall at speeds up to
80 mph. The DOE fails to point
out, however, that the casks
were eaptY. though they implied
otherwise, by calling them
spent fuel casks. Upon testing
the survivability of casks after
a railroad accident with fire,
the DOE failed to say that on
the avera~e most railroad fires
Nuclear
Shipment Routes
N\ TfaH - page 9
THI l/11ct1.t1 11111P1J11101r,
WE'il i/OT t;O/NfJ 11 TANE 11/
last twice as long as the test
fire. The Nuclear Regulatory
Commission reported that the
tests on Transport Cask<1 "wPre
interesting but not particularly
useful."
The most definitive work to
date on the possible results
from a real transportation accident spilling real plutonuim
has been done by Sandia
Laboratories in New Mexico.
Their analysis indicates that
a "large quantity" shipment of
commercial plutonium released
in an urban area could result
in nearly 4,000 latent cancer
fatalities, 952 early morbidities (non-fatal health disorders) and scores of early
fatalities. The cost of
cleaning up such an accident
could range as high as two
billion dollars. The Sierra
Club has estimated that there
will be 9,000 shipments per
year of high-level wastes
from constipated reactors co
t~ N~, i~l~i.
W
~i~
ments per day to the
suppository .
The continued push towards
a nuclear technocracy offers
us no guarantees except the
production of more nuclear
waste.
The time has come for the
people of Katuah to form a
solid core of diasent and
stop this technological
train wreck. We must demand
that the governor veto any and
all sites within his political
realm. We must convince our
congresspeople to invite DOE
officials to come and experience our opposition.
We must form affinity groups,
like Ben Drake of the Highlander Center in :-:ew ~larket,
Tennessee, who is organizing
folks along tranooortotion
routes.
The nuclear waste suppository
means degra~ation of the land,
de~radation of the water, degradation of human health,
radioactive particles in the
air , and probable ~enetic
damage and mutations among all
living things in the area. We
do not want to be known as the
generation that let it happen
here. The situation requires
nothing less than our best efforts to shut this menace ,,,, #
down!
,P"'
Write to your political representatives expressing your
opposition to the MRS, transportation of nuclear waste
through Katuah, and the planned
suppository.
The Honorable James Martin
State Capitol
Raleigh, NC 27611
House of Representatives
Washington
2463 Rayburn House Office
Building
Washington, DC 20515
Write to these folks for
current information and join
them in the battle to save
Katuah!
Blue Ridge Enviromental
Defense League
P.O. Box 1308
West Jefferson , NC 28694
Western North Carolina
Alliance
P.O. Box 1591
Franklin NC 28734
(704) 524-3389
Mr. Steve Conrad
Director of Division of
Land Resources
Department of Natural
Resource and Community
Development
P.O . Box 27687
Raleigh, NC 27611
Highlander Center
Rt. 3 Box 370
New Market, Tn . 37820
Fall 1985
c;
~2.&q
- H, ••
J
�The message the plant people give to us: from the sourwood's early
red leaves, the beautiful multicolor of the saw briar, the
yellow of the poplar, the rust of the oaks, the pinks and
reds of the red maple·· all these differences create beauty
that moves the inner part of ourselves and prepares us
for the great rest.
We are told it is the i:iiver of breath's plan that we may have differences.
All of the giver of breath's creation lives in harmony and
peace with one another with the expection of man.
We are told that we have completed a circle of life by this time of year.
Let's look at ~he lessons that have been given to us in this
circle. It is alright what you are. It is alright what I am.
Let's take and move evenly together with our differences and give our
unborn and their unborn yet to be a chance to go
through this same circle.
Communities
We are told these are the oldest mountains upon the earth. Life has
been here longer than any place else on the great
mother.
We are told this is one of the few places upon the earth where spirit
still dwells, in the deep rich coves where the seng grows
and the voices of water are talking to someone. All the
life forces talk to the spiritual aspect of ourselves, the
real part of us.
We are told that all through our mountains··from northern Georgia all
the way up the Appalachian trail, from the moon eyed
people to the native people to the European people's
spirits have been attracted to the power that these
mountains place upon us.
We are told that people come here with their spiritual and relisious
ideas because they seem to fit with what is here. ·1 hey
start their own communities-- healing communities.
spiritual communities, communities based on a_pamcular philosophy or political point of view. But a mistake
that our brothers and sisters make causes them to miss
the power and the gift that the mountains give to us all.
Their communities develop an ego just as an individual
would develop an ego.
We are told that now the time of great rest comes upon the mountains
again, as it has for thqusands of years, the time when
trees lose their leaves and evergreens get greener. Let's
listen to the message that the mountains and the streams
say to us.
We are told that the differences aren't enough reason for us to be
separate. We should strive to pull our communities
together, to work together to preserve this spiritual
oasis for us all. We can work with people who are
different without having expectations for them to follow
our path.
i<Ai~Af! - .eW!e 10
Fall 1985
11
Io
�The publications listed below are
available from Appalachian Regional
Office, I.T.C.I.U.S.A,. lnc., Route
I, Gravel Switch, KY 40328. Prices
listed include postage and handling
within the U.S.
PROPAGATION METHODS AND SOURCES FOR
UNCOMMON PERENNIAL FOOD PLANTS: A
LITERATURE REVIEW IN TABULAR FORM
Gregory Williams, 1983 (slightly ;.:vised 1984), 49 pp ., $6.00 .
by Brian Caldwell
We are trying an lntercropping
system that might be of utility on
other fal"lls. On an 80 ft. by 90 ft.
test plot, we have planted raspberries in rows 15 feet apart (about
Lwice the usual spacing). In the rows
with the berry canes, we set young
Chinese chestnut trees every 15 feet.
The chestnut trees are mulched, weeded and fertilized along with the berries, which are allowed to grow close
beside the trees. Beds of vegetables
about 5 feet wide run between the
raspberry-chestnut rows.
This system is an attempt to
care for a succession of crops with
the least effort, while making good
use of space . We suspect that the
raspberries. grown without the use of
pesticides, have fewer problems with
fungal diseases due to the improved
air circulation of wide rows. It
seems reasonable to use the extra
space for vegetables. Because rasp-·
berry plantings typically last only
about 5-7 years because of virus problems, the chestnuts provide a crop
to "take over" after the berries.The
young trees require special care
(particularly weed control) for about
3 years after planting, yet bearing
begins only after about 5 years or
more.le does not make much sense to
invest the special care and space exclusively for the non-bearing trees
so we put them right in the berry
rows! They will not seriously compete
with the berries until the berries
are on the way out. The berry mulching and fertilizing are ideal for the
Lrees, and competition from the berries doe~ not appear significant.
Note that. with the use of mulch, it
is important to protect the tree
trunks from rodents with some sort of
guards.
Eventually . we will have a grovt·
of chestnut trees on a 15 feet by 15
feet spacing. This is too close for
mature t recs. However, these a re•
~eedllng trees, not ~rafts . and iL is
11ko.!ly thoc some will be poorer beorl'rs thun OLhers.After about 15 venrs,
Lhey will be Lhinned out, leaving
onlv the best. The area formerly occ-
upied by raspberries and vegetables
will be sheep pasture . And the chestnut yield in the early years will
have been much improved over the
yield for trees originally planted on
a recommended spacing of 30 feet by
30 feet.
This system is appropriate for
many kinds of trees . Strawberries
could substitute for the vegetables,
but blueberries, gooseberries, asparagus, and rhubarb all last so long
that their total production as "raspberry substitutes" would be seriously
reduced by the trees.
Areas used for this system
should be free from perennial weeds.
to our plot, we have had problems
only with the tarnished plant bug
and, at first, coo low fertility for
high raspberry yields. An organic
fertilizer (about 20 pounds of N per
acre) placed beneath the mulch the
last two springs resulted in much
better growth of the fruiting canes.
The berries also benefit from vege• table fertilization.
Reprinted from ~&~~estry Review.
Back issues available from:
Inte rnational Tree Crops Institute,
Appalachian Regional Office
USA
Route 1,
Gravel Switch, Ky. 40328
--
~-(;& i.ist : tyu <N'O~
AGRISILVICULTURE FOR APPALACHTA: A
BIBLIOGRAPHY, Gregory Williams, 1979,
9 pp .• $2.00.
ACRISfLVICULTURE : A NECESSARY RENAISSANCE, Gregory Williams, 1979, 4 pp.,
$1.00.
TREE CROPS FOR SMALL FARMS IN APPALACHIA: PRELIMINARY PROPOSAL FOR RESEARCH, Flip Bell. John Pohlman,
Gregory Williams, 1977, 24 pp., $4.00.
ENERGY-CONSERVING PERENNIAL AGRICULTURE FOR MARGINAL LAND IN SOUTHERN
APPALACHIA: FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT
Gregory Williams, 1982, 52 pp. , $8'.oo
HORTIDEAS, Published monthly, Subscriptions $10.00/yr. (U.S.)
SOME SOURCES OF HARD-TO-OBTAIN SEEDS
AND. PLANTS FOR TREE CROPPING
CHESTNUT HILL NURSERY,Rt. 3, Box 477,
Alachua, Fl. 32615. Hybrid AmericanOriental chestnuts. Price list free.
DOUGLAS, Earl, Red Creek, NY 13143.
Hybrid American-Oriental chestnuts.
Send SASE for price list.
HIDDEN SPRINGS NURSERY, Route 14, BOX
159, Cookeville, TN. 38501. Seedling
and grafted fruit and nut trees, including honeylocust. Price list free.
---
l!<?Q_KS ABQ.l!l'_!REE CROPS:
TREE CROPS: A PERMANENT AGRICULTURE,
J. Russell Smith. Devin-Adair, New
York, 1953. Founding work for the
tree crops "movement"; somewhat dated, but worth reading to get excited
about the idea of a tree-based agriculture .
TREES FOR THE YARD, ORCHARD, AND
WOODLOT, Roger Yepsen, Jr., editor,
Rodale Press. Emmaus, Pennsylvania,
1976. Introductory chapters on landscaping. orcharding, nut trees. propagation, pest control. useful wild
~pecies, maple sugaring, and woodlot
rianagement.
NUT TREE CULTURE IN NORTH AMERICA,
Richard Jaynes, editor, NNGA, Hamden,
Connecticut, 1979. Very thorough and
authoritativt• reference--" the bible"!
ITCIUSA APPALACHIAN REGIONAL OFFICE,
Route l, Gravel Swi.tch, KY 40328.
Seeds and graf twood of select honeylocust, black locust, and American
persimmon. Price list free.
JOHNSON ORCHARD & NURSERY.Route 5,
Hox 325, El1jay, GA 30540. Manx peach
and nectarine cultivars, also graftc-d apples. Catalog, $1.
LAWSON'S NURSERY, Route 1, Box 294,
Ball Ground, GA 30107. Many apple and
pear cultivars. Catalog free. ~
Special thanks to Greg Williams of
t.T.C.l.U.S.A.
Fall 1985 . ~
�·-----------------------·Wl-R>MSTDWILUM_____________________......
o~
NATURAL
WORLD
-(
NEWS
.,,/
~':;:{<'!._ :
bCac~ buws :
a ~uestion
of
survivat /
Black bears have well developed
instincts for self-preservation and
a reputation for taking care of themselves. tncreaslng human pressure,
though, has seriously reduced their
numbers to the point that they may
not surTive!
Recent research trom N. c. State
University and the University ot
Tennessee shows that over 12! ot the
breeding tema.l.e black bears in the
Pisgah Bear Sanctuary, and over~
ot the total. population under study
there are being killed! This devastating kill rate casts serious doubt on
the ability ot the Pisgah Bear Sanctuary to 1D&inta1n an effective breeding nucleus.
In the Harmon Den Bear Sanctuary, on the edge of the Great Smoky
National Park, over 80% of the bears
under study were killed. With the
present black bear habitat a scant
5-10% of the species original range,
serious questions arise as to whether
or not the black bear may be completely extirpated from Katuah.
Poaching is the major ceason
the bears are disappearing. But
dwindling range, periodic food short-
Six endangered peregrine falcons
took fl i ght from atop Grandfather Mount·
ain, N.C. this summer. The restoration
program, now in its second year is part
of the ?lorth Carolina Wildlife Resource
Commission's Nongame and Endangered
Species Program. Most of the funding
came via checkoff contributions on the
~
ages and an inadequate management
plan al.so contribute to a dwindling
bear population.
Black bears reflect a medicine
tradition long valued by our earth
based cultures. The Cherokee believe
black bear is a descendent of the
human tribe and he left the villages
to seek his own way in the forests.
A Healing Management Program
would include a moratorium on bear
hunting until stable reproducing populations could be establisheP .
North Carolina which has the
longest bear hunting season in the
southeast would do well to shorten
the season by scheduling opening day
later in the year. This would protect
females since they go into dens sooner and would thus discourage their
extinction.
Other suggestions include, discontinuing use of radioactive iso·
topes for scat monitoring, ban hunting with dogs, ban 2-way radio hunting, protecting old age timber stands
for their den trees and hard mast
(oak & hickory) and expansion of
habitat areas and sanctuaries.
state income tax form. A similar program is underway in Virginia with releases scheduled lo begin next year in
the high mountains of Tennessee.
Peregrine falcons are native to the
high mounts ins of Katuah and will be
sharing the air streams with 6 golden
eagles released this summer from th e
Shining Rock Wilderness. The restoration project is administered and
staffed by the TVA and the N.C. Wildlife Commission.
SG
_, ,
"
...,.. _,;Jt
Because of the urgency of black
bear survival, it seems important
for all of ua to begin to pool information on bear sightings and to document incidents of use of dogs, 2way radios , poaching, and other
kills. This documentation will be
decisive in influencing the Wildlife
Resources Commission to shift its
policies from species eradication to
species conservation.
To participate in the Bear Action Network, please call or write
Paul Gallimore, Long Branch Environmental Education Center. Big Sandy
M.lsh Creek, Leicester, NC 28748.
704/683-3662.
To voice your conservation concerns, write NC Wildife Resources
Commission, 512 N. Salisbury St.
Raleigh, NC 27611. Please send a
copy of your letter to each of the
Commissioners: M. WoodroWli'rice,
Dr. Richard Adams, David Allsbrook,
Jack Bailey, Cy Brame. F.ddie Bridges,
Joe Carpenter, Dr. John Hamrick,
Henry Kitchin, Stuart Paine, Donald
Thompson. Jerry Wright. and Vernon
n ~vill, Executive Director. ~
'\.
�The Western North Carolina Alliance, the Cowee Community Development Organization of Macon County,
Alark.a Laurel Limited, and Walton
Smith, a professional forester,
have officially filed an administrative appeal with the U.S. Forest
Service opposing clear- cutting,
poisoning and burning on public
lands in the Nantabala National Forest. The jolnt appeal argues that
selective cuttin~ and all-age management are far superior to the proposed clear-cutting in the Little
Laurel timber sale. It is argued
further that the sale violates the
National Forest Management Act
(NFMA), the Multiple Use and Sustained Yield Act, and the National
Environment Policy Act (NEPA).
Clear-cutting requires very
little professional skill to implement and SU?ervise a timber sale.
In the shore run, it produces the
greatest mo~etary return and is
thus attractive to administrators
working on a limited budget. However, the method imposes adverse
environmental conditions on an
otherwise diverse and self mainttaining syst em, precluding the
multiple use and long- term productivity of the southern Appalachian hardwood forests.
A summation of these violations are as follows: The appeal
maintains that in its Environmental
Assessment (EA), the Forest Service
fa Ued to consider selective cutting as an alternative. The appeal
states that the EA "sets a precedent and represents a general policy
~·
..,-·
~-
choice in silviculture techniques,
a choice that should not be made
in the absence of a 'systematic,
interdisciplinary' analysis of
long-term environmental impacts.·•
The NFMA of 1976 was designed
to restrict the extent to which the
USFS incorporates clear-cutting in
its overall management plans. The
foundation for the enactment of
NFMA was the Church guidelines
which state that clear-cutting may
only be used where "silviculturally
essential" and after "multidisciplinary review" has been completed.
The appeal states that the "EA
contains no finding that clearcutting is 'ailviculturally essential'. The USFS's primary justification for clear-cutting is the
allegedly high cost of selective
cutting, a justification which violates Congress' Jirective that the
'greatest dollar return' is not
sufficient reason to clear-cut.
Section 4(a) of the ~ultiple
Use Sustained Yield Act specifies
that "some land will be used for
less than all of the resources,.,
and that the best use is " not
necessarily the combination of
uses that will give the greatest
dollar return or the greatest
unit output."
The appeal supports the position that "each national forest
must be managed with the goal
of enhancing its unique inherent contribution to the entire
system." Th:fq ... should not be
(cont'd on p.14)
~
Champion International recently
celebrated "75 Years of Excellence"
but to the Pigeon River Action Group
(PRAC) of Haywood County, NC, it represents 75 years of effluents. Recently, Champion's permit to dump
wastes into the Pigeon R\ver came up
for renewal. The North Carolina Environmental Management Commission (EMC)
( a state commission in charge of issuing permit renewals) issued a new
pemit, called "toothless and vague"
by many citizens, and submitted it to
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for comments, according
to federal guidelines. Earlier, the
EMC had rejected suggestions by the
the director of the NC Division of
Environmental Management (who ultimately has to approve the permit , on
the state level) to str engthen the
(cont 'd on p.14)
'(AttAl! - page 13
---~=:..:...:,,,,:::....::===-=-....;~
----ae-
r
..
In a time of misguided "Superfunds"
and continuing "Studies" it is encourging to know that grass root efforts are
still effective.•The snow balling movement to save the Horsepasture River is
such a story. (See l<.atuah issues 16 &
18) .
Since the spring of '84 the
"Friends of the Horsepasture" have
fought a proposal by Carrasan Co. (an
out - of state investors tax write-off)
to dam and develop the river and her
five waterfalls. Hore than eleven hundred dues-paying members have contacted
their elected officals in Raleigh and
encouraged them to support N.C. Senator
Hipps and Rep. Crawford's legislation
that would include the river in the
N. C. Natural and Scenic Rivers System. The bill wuld also direct the
N.C. Dept. of Natural Resources to develop a management plan to qualify the
Borsepasture for inclusion into the
National Wild and Scenic River System.
On June 7 the N.C. House and Senate
voted unanimously in favor of this legislation. It is now up to Govenor
Martin to request the U.S. Secretary of
Interior to admit the river into the
national system. Appropriation of
funds to the U.S. Forest Service from
the Land & Water Conservation Fund by
Congress will be needed to purchase
land to accomplish complete protection of the tract which includes 3 of
the 5 major falls. U.S. Congressperson Rendon is exploring this possibility.
. Hore info:
FRIENDS OF THE BORSEPASTURE
P.O.Box 272
~~
Cedar Mountain,NC 28718 ~
�~
' ?,
no! ..• clear-c utting
(cont'd from p.13)
compromised in order to harvest
a fixed quota of timber on an
annual basis.'' Cutting for pulpwood and replanting in white
pine while neglecting the diversity of native species shows
that the USFS is pursuing the
"greatest unit output" and is
in direct violation of this Act.
The appeal is now being considered by Regional Forester,
Joe Alcock. The Alliance has
won a "stay'' on this sale and is
advocating a moratorium on clearcutting in the Nantahala National Forests, until the contents
of the revised 50-year forest
management plan are revealed.
CORPORATE
FORESTRY
PRACTICES
Hello,
A friend haa suggested that I write
a letter to Kat6ah about my experiences with the forestry practices in
the southeast of our country. I ' ve
worked the trees (treeplanting) in
the southeast for five seasons now,
the last two as a foreman for a large
treeplanting outfit.
Most of my experience has been on
land owned privately by large paper
companies. If you study maps of the
southern states , you'll see many
large areas with minimum development.
These are often paper company lands.
Corn and cotton farming devastated
much of this land, rendering it useless for farming and enabling the
big companies to acquire it quite
cheaply.
Forestry, as practiced by the paper companies, means pines, generally genetically improved stock of the
loblolly species. This inhibits local varieties and leaves little or
no room for hardwood varieties.
Once, while riding to a site with
a young forester , I remarked about
the nice big oaks in someone's yard.
The forester smiled and said, "That• s
two words that you don ' t hear in the
same sentence in forestry school:
' n ice' and 'oak'. If it ' s not pine,
it's weeds."
Practices vary from company to
company, and even from forester to
forester within the same company,
but generally the only areas left to
hardwoods sre wetlands and drains ,
KA TG.\H
-
page 14
.....::
permit guidelines. One commission
member stated," I would hate to see
a threat put on a company that has
really broken their back (to improve
water quality on the Pigeon River)."
EPA, within the 90-day comment period, responded to the EMC by insisting that the permit contain tougher
language and specific action. Ignoring EPA ' s review comments, EMC
went ahead and issued the original
weak permit, anyways.
Historically, the EPA has never voided a permit that a state has
issued. However, in an unprecedented move, EPA voided this North Carolina permit in August. As indicated
by EPA's comments to EMC, the permit did not comply with the required
federal Clean Water Act guidelines.
Now, the EMC has 90 days to draft a
new permit or the EPA will take over and issue its own. James O. Sheppard, Jr., a spokesperson for the
NC Division of Environmental Management has stated that the EMC might
not have the statutory authority to
implement the recommendations.
Meanwhile, Tennessee is suing
North Carolina and Champion stating
and that often reluctantly. Even
steep hillsides get replanted in
pine. A few companies seem unwilling
even to leave the drains i f they own
land on both sides of a creek or river.
Champion International - "largest
paper company in the world" - also
probably the largest landowner in
the eastern US, is still doing clearcuts of a phenomal size: up to 2,000
acres in a single tract. Of course,
clearcut ting doesn't eliminate hardwoods, as we ' re well aware. This
means that the land must be further
prepared for treeplanting by either
rootraking and piling, chopping, and
burning the brush; or even disking
and double-disking the soil. These
techniques eliminate hardwoods, as
well as rootmats, groundcover, and
most of the topsoil that's managed
to reform onto what was often mediocre land at best.
A technique rising in popular~ty
that effectively eliminates the hardwoods and saves the topsoil is the
use of massive quantities of herbicides. This can effectively wipe out
the hardwoods, but it tends to hove
very detrialental effects on wildlife, as well as on the foresters
and technicians doing the applications. Aerial spray and burn is being
utilized on a large scale. I've been
on sites that were over 600 acres
and devastated by application of
herbicide and thorough burning.
Some major problems arising from
this approach are: overspray onto
str eams and rivers and onto "innocent" land (including crop fields)
and residential wells and springs.
People directing the spray are often soaked by the stuff.
Once the land is prepped, tree-
; .•
~
...._:
~11111.·.-::~...'t. - _.,,.;r - '"'~ •
e5cont 'd from p.13)
that the mill should be required to
clean up the river and thus meet
Tennessee clean water standards. A 1980
N.C. state analysis showed that the
water was so dark that sunlight could
not penetrate and nurture the aquatic
life required by most fish to live.
Champion has recently installed a
small scale ultrafiltration test syst
to explore the feasibility of removing
the color from the effluent. But, Dick
Mullinix, chairperson of PRAG, points
out that since 1973 Champion has held
patent on a sy:;t:em that could clean up
to 90% of the colored effluent but it
was ignored, and only recently has
public pressure forced the company to
begin testing.
PRAG and its legal backers, the
Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation (LEAF, Knoxville,TN) and the Con
servation Council of North Carolina,
rallied support and urged EPA to take
up this issue. Further legal action is
expected.
Hore info:
,_ °'
""'
Pigeon River Action Croi '
p
P.O.Box 105
h
Waynesville, NC 28786
/.
planters come in and set out the
pines in a grid designed to close
off a canopy in 5 to 7 years. This
keeps out new growth and eliminates
the diversity of plant life and
habitat so necessary for wild things
to prosper.
"How about some solutions?" you
say. The best solution is, of course,
the people getting the land again,
rebuilding homesites and gardens, and
developing wells , springs, villages ,
and communities. But these are quite
complex and difficult issues, especially as forestry in the private
sector is first and foremost an economic undertaking. Perhaps some
grassroots "forest watch" operations
will develop, which might provide
some means of regulating the use of
the land and eliminating its destruction. lllaybe by restricting the size
of some of these logging operations
and giving local people some recourse to deal with abuses by their
corporate neighbors. ln the meantime, l will suggest that, while
travelling, you get on some "blue
line" highways and see for yourself
how the land is being cared for.
Tom Franko
Rt. 1, Box 243-8
Floyd, VA 24091
~
P'
Fall 1985
C.
fl
cc - AA
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111!11!!11. . . .!lll..... WIAMJORUTDWO.l.IN~. . . .~. . . . . .11111. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
After three months of discussion and
R-5 the only trees that will requir~
Ur' Gr¥ftc£s
by Gus Radom
"Thtn• arc tides in the affairs of
humankind and we are at a low ebb."
Preclsely at the moment requiring the
Krcalcst leadership we have the least.
This region, Asheville in particular,
ls going through dramatic change:
change that will touch our lives dircct ly and daily, whether or not we
choose to be involved.
Thg city of Ashevi11P fAcPs ~er
ious problems. "Asheville," according
to former city manager, Ken Michalovc,
"is literally rotting away . " The infrastructure that supports our urban
way of life is rapidly falling apart.
But the deterioration that I
wish to address is on the surface of
the land. As our natural environmenl
L•rodes, so does the quality of our
lives .
Cotn111ercial development is rapidly transforming the landscape and
lhus the character of our city. The
standard approach has been :o cut
down all the trees, level the site,
and pave everything . Once the process
begins it snowballs . The development
tragedies on Merriman Avenue have
diminished the value of every home in
North Asheville. Trees buffer our
neighborhoods from the harshness of
the street and the collllllercial districts. When they are gone we lose a
part of our heritage. Our sense of
place, our peace, and our solitude
are diminished.
Our homes constitute the largest
investment most of us will ever make.
We spend our entire adult lives paying for that investment. That purchase provides us shelter and offers
us community . Collectively, our homes
create our neighborhoods,our major
place in the world . Our neighborhoods,
under normal circumstances, pass from
one generation to the next providing
the same healthy environment year
after year. Asheville has long provided all the South with a wonderful retreat. But how long, at the present
rate, will there be a cool, green Asheville? We have oo coaprehensive plan of
development. We have no blueprint to
guide us. We are stumbling expensively
into the future.
A few private citizens, including myself. observing the damage snd
seeing no established leadership addressing the issue of tree destruclion,
have been trying to turn this around.
KATCAH - page 15
research (gathering tree ordinances
and advice from all over the South)
we produced a tree ordinance unique
to our situation. We consulted two
members of the city council, seeking
their support and advice. They suggested that we first gain the endorsement of the Tree Conunission and allow
the commission to present the ordinance to council. We did this . For months
we pressed the Tree Commission for
their support of an ordinance t~at
they should have initiated years ago.
Thanks to the self-serving leadership
of several members of the commission
this ordinance was weakened by numerous amendments and delayed for more
than nine months. The ordinance finally passed the Tree Commission , but
the leadership of the commission has
done nothing to promote this o rdinance before city council.
The proposed tree ordinance is
by no means assured to pass City
Council. It is controversial and will
cost the City some money to enforce .
It will pass only if the members of
the Council believe it has strong
support from a majority of the people in the city.
The proposed Asheville Tree
Ordinance is designed to prevent the
indiscriminate pruning and removal
of trees in the City , but without
denying the reasonable use and economic benefit of real property.Although the emphasis in this Ordinance
is on protection, the authors intend
this to be only a first step in a
comprehensive program to preserve ,
maintain and replenish Asheville's
green environment.
The Ordinance has five essential
components:
~~ ARBORIST
First, it calls for the hiring
of a CITY ARBORIST: a tree specialist who will help the city make informed decisions when tree removal
is requested, and to help formulate
policies to properly care for the
City ' s own trees. Most importantly,
the CITY ARBORIST will design an educational program to make the general public aware of the value of our
own trees and to give technical information on how to care for them.
PERMIT FOR REMOVAL
-- -Seconcf,--c-heOrdinance requires
any person who intends to remove any
tree over 12 inches in diameter to
obtain a permit from the City. The
only exception to this requirement
is trees within the setback lines of
property zoned residential. ln other
words, for property zoned R-1 thru
a permit to be removed will be thost·
within a certain margin around the
perimeter of each lot .
If a developer or landowner lntends to remove a t ree during the
development of any land in the City.
a lree removal permit will be required along with other building
permits, and the City will have the
power to rescind all the permits if
the provisions of the Tree Protection Ordinance are not followed. The
Ordinance also includes guidelines
for the protection of existing trees
during construction.
A lree removal permit will be
granted in any case where the applicant can demonstrate a good reason
for removing the tree. Specifically ,
a permit will be granted if the tree
is dead, diseased, or otherwise dangerous or obstructive, or if removal
of the tree is necessary for the
proper development of the property,
or for the benefit and health of
other trees.In some cases permits
will be granted on the condition
that new trees are planted on the
property.
Special provisions have been
made ~n the Ordinance to regulate,
but not impede, the pruning and cutting done by the public utility companies in the course of maintaining
utility lines. Other special provisions have been made for emergencies
such as severe storms,and for the
appeal of permit denials.
PRUNING AND TOPPING
A third section of the ordinance requires that any pruning of
trees be done according to standards
set by the Tree Commission. Although
no permit will be required for pruning, excessive pruning that cause
the death of any tree will be treated as if the trees were cut down
without a permit. The purpose of
these provisions is to stop the unsightly mutilation of mature hardwoods in the name of •topping~
PENALTIES
~-Tht?°penalties section of the
Ordinance makes both the lsndowner
and the person who actually does the
cutting subject to the penalties.
The criminal penalties that may be
imposed are $50. per tree, or 30
days in jail. Civil penalties can be
up to $10,000 .
PLANTING ON CITY PROPERTY
-- Finally , the Ordinance encourages any citizens of Asheville to
plant trees on City property in accurdanc .. with the City Tree Plan adopted by the Tree Commission.
cont'd on p.21
·•
~~~ ~
-
" Fsll~l985
�t .•
A
Fall 1985
•
t~
�Fall 1985
.... ~.
-
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .WEAM,OIOUTDWD.UM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
DRUMMING
LETIERS TO KATUAH
Hello Ka tuah !
Just got done reading Gary Snyder's interview
in The Mother Earth News and will use that reinspiration to write. Bioregionalism does nothing but make sense to me and I have discussed
it with lots of folks since my introduction to
it through ex-Co-Evolution Quarterly. I am
drawn to the idea for ecological(moral) and
political(decentralization) reasons. I do not
consider myself a pessimist, yet I cannot see
the institution of such "radical" politics in
my lifetime. Still, given my personal reality
and witnessing a growth of spiritual awakening
in .. this country, it is time to promote sanity
and cOllDDunity . The establishment of bioregionalism would be, to me, nothing short of mass
enlightenment, the birth of human beings • .. ••
We are capable as a species. May we rise to
our potential through creative insight and
courage.
Please send me any and all necessary info to
better educate me so I may pass the truth along
to others. I'll thank you in advance for your
kindness and help and your loving work for the
earth and its creatures.
·
One woman, trying to walk in balance- Cotton
Willis, Va.
"one does not give over to alternative realities
without summon ing up forces of nature and mind
which urban-industrialism was designed to exclude,
never to contain"
Theodore Roszak
Where The Wasteland Ends
Dear Katuah,
I ' m writing to request that you publish a correction to an article published in the Spring 1985
loouc of KotWih. The article was on Socially Responsible '"ii\veBting (page 15).
The problem is simply that you screwed up our
address in the "Resources" sect.ion. The address
given is "28 Montpelier, VT.05602" . The correct
address is: 28 Main St . ; Montpelier, VT 05602.
While I have your attention, I just want to let
you know that I think your publication is absolutely first-rate; it' s the strongest, most coherent publication I've seen yet from the bioregional
oovement.
Thanks for your help and support.
Sincerely,
Larry Lewack
Marketing Director
GOOD MONEY
:<ATf. - page 18
.\H
Dear Friends,
I'm writing to express my feelings of how meaningful I think your paper is for the times we
face today. I think Kat6ah represents an emerging awareness and networking of peoplP with many
basic concerns. beliefs and philosophies.I
think that i• is part of the global consciousness that is striving for peace, equality between peoples and nations, and an expression of
feelings of love for the Mother Earth.
~et me tell you briefly of our goals and current
function here at Northwoods Center for Natural
Health. One is to network out info=mation to
people in every way that we can . We do this
through newsletters, talks, newspaper articles,
etc. A second ts to begin a Center for networking with individuals that can help teach a selfsustaining way of life and a respect for the
earth. With that we want to instill a greater
degree of planetary consciousness in people by
bringing them in contact with guest lecturers.
Thirdly , we will have health retreat weeks for
those interested in regaining health in a European rejuvenation setting. And fourth, we provide personalized health programs and back and
neck pain therapy for any individual coming to
our Center in Brevard.
With Warmth and Light,
Or. Frank Trombetta, O.Sc.
Ro list ic Health
304 Water Oak Suites
Brevard NC 28712
Hi Good People,
The SU11DDer issue is great but the second part
of Lowell Hayes' painting is upside down. The
reservoir flooded up the valley covering the
homestead as It rose.
Touching gently our Mother Earth,
Karl Yost
Willis, Va.
KatU'ah,
On my 10th birthday, spent here in these mountains, I announced to my family that one day
this would be my home. I knew even then that
these maternal nurturing hills would cradle me
and I would live a life close to the earth. Nowfinally-1 am home! No other place ever felt like
home-only these mountains. So if this is my home,
where are my roots, my past knowledge of gener.
ations. my life cord?
Katuah is just that ... connecting me with relatives living and those who have gone on before
me. It is my anchoring roots-so that I may concentrate on producing nurturing fruits.
Suaan Claese
~
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WlAlllfOllUTOW'IU.EMI. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
AS 1 sit beneath the towering
white oak, I feel the coolness of
it's breath on this hot SU11111er day.
I lay my palms upon the base of it's
trunk and feel it's life blood courslng beneath the bark. Earth-breath
stirs the leaves gently and I am reminded that where there is breath,
there is spirit I remember the
breathing of the oak and try to make
my breath juat as silent. Leaning
against the oak, I place my hands
'and bare feet against the bare soil;
illlagining them to be roots, 1 push
them into the soil and draw the
Earth Hother's healing and growing
power into myself The oak's abundant fruit has fed me, and now it's
strong spirit nourishes me. I feel
it's plentiful power flooding me
with strength, vigor, and endurance
I open my eyes, give my thanks to
the white oak and realize that when
I need these things, the oak will be
there for me. 1 will protect and
preserve it as long as I shall live,
and I will pass the task on to my
children, who inherit the stewardship of this land. With my newfound strength, I run up to the
ridge and down to my valley home.
FRIEND TO HUMANS
The oaks have been known as
sustainers and healers for centuries . A variety of species of oak
(spp. quercus ) are indigenous to
Turtle Island (N. America) and their
gifts have been well known to many
native tribes. I have been told that
the old-time Cherokee runners earring messages between the different
clans travelled only with extra mocassins and a pouch of acorn and corn
Meal on their belts. The runners
would keep a pinch in their mouth as
they ran for an hour or so, then
swallow and take another. This sustained the runners as they covered
up to 100 miles in a loping, 20 hour
trot through the rich woodlands of
Katuah.
All acorns are edible and all
contain bitter tannin in varying amounts 'Ille oaks are divided into
two groups by botanists: the white
oaks, whose leaves have rounded
lobes, with sweeter acorns and more
tannin in the bark; and the red oaks,
whose leaves have pointed lobes, with
bitter acorns and less tannin in the
bark. ~~st desirable for food are the
chestnut oak (quercus prinus) acorns.
The nut meats are the largest I know,
so less time is spent shelling and
they are very owcct
The whicc ook
(quercus alba) is so sweet that a
light roasting will render them edible, with a bitterness comparable to
that of coffee. Gather the acorns
as soon as possible after they fall,
as most become infested with weevils
within a week. Green acorns are fine.
The bitterness is removed by a leaching process. First, grind the shelled acorns in a flour mill into course
acorn grits. The moist acorns will
not pass through if the mill is set
too fine. Put the grits in a cotton
On Tall Trees
O mighty oak
Long in silence I look on you
And draw power and renewal
from your aura.
Often I wonder
of your making,
Gnarled in places,
How slowly,
slowly
do you grow,
How long
how many years
in the making!
Controller of climate and
rainfall
Protector of top soil,
protector of the earth,
Inspiring of strength
Favorite of ancients
of Druids,
of religious groups.
How mighty in sinew,
Inspiring in strength!
0 to stop the crime
Of wasting you!
What mystery radiances
breathe you in
and breathe you out?
You are of the tall trees,
The friend of owls,
You are old .•. so old!
You are the acorn,
You are the oak!
©
W. Walters
oock, tic it closed and place in cold
running water; a creek or in the sick
under a slow, steady stream. White
oak acorns will leach in 4-8 hours;
some red oaks take as long as 14-16
hours. Just taste the grits to see if
all the astringency has been removed.
Then spread the grits in a thin layer
on a flat surface (a stone heated by
the sun or fire, or on a cookie sheet
in a 200 degree oven) and dry thoroughly. Grind the brown grits into a
fine flour. You now have a food that
is approximately 6.5% protein, 68%
carbohydrate , .1% fat and for each
100 grams, you get 12 mg calci11111, 314
mg phosphorous, 2 mg iron, .02 mg
thiamine, .40 mg riboflavin and .5 mg
niacin - not to mention all your body
will tell you about its food value.
ASH CAKES
Traditionally, acorn flour and
corn meal are mixed with water and a
small amount of sifted oak wood ash
(which makes the protein more accessible to our bodies) to make a stiff
batter After your oak and hickory
wood fire has burned for 1 hour, remove wood and coals, dig a large,
bread loaf sized pit in the hearth
and line it with red hot coals and
ashes. Pour the batter onto the coals
then place more ash on top, then more
coals, then build the fire back up on
top. After one half to one hour (depending on the size of your ash cake) I
take out the bread. The blackened
outer crust has formed an "oven" for
the sweet, moist bread inside. Thia
is a very sustaining food with a
complete, balanced protein content.
When you're in the kitchen, try
this recipe for the most delicious
corn bread you've ever had:
I
I
cornmeal
le
l/2c acorn flour
I/Jc soy flour
l/4c w/wheat flour
2tsp salt
l
egg
l}i;c milk
3tbsp honey
Jtbsp oil
optional:
le chopped
black walnuts
le toasted
sunflower seed
mix all dry ingredients , add liquids
and beat until smooth. Pour into
muffin tins or cake pan and bake for
20-30 minutes until a toothpick comes
out clean .
Medicinally oak bark is a powerful astringent - antiseptic with several applications A decoction made
(cont'd. p. 24)
198S
�ed together to form a starry patchwork quilt of colldctive being . Feminine power is once more on the ascendant; the summer lion of personal
will d:lssolves in the glory o f transcendent love ••• "
" Feminine power is activated in
the fall as vital energy descends to
the roots of our beings . It is through the feminine aspect in human nature that the purifying fire of M
ichael can rightfully be wielded. Justice, a feminine fi gure, watches over
and weighs the spiritual harvest ••• "
"In the first half of autwun, we
gather in the harvest and clear away
the 'chaff ' . In the second half, we
integrate the spiritual fruits of the
past year cycle. The 'sword of trut h'
and the scale are symbolic of the first
psychic process, which is inspired and
facilitated by the observance of Michaelmas, the Great New Moon C
ere1110ny,
Yom Kippur, and Hallowmas. The mysticas
al union of spiritual fruits is symbolized by the Jewish suka (four-sided
hut), the Native American medicine
wheel and World Tree with four roots,
the Chr istian Ad ven t wreath , and the
Chanukah dr e i dl .. . "
Fil.Om the I n-tltodu.c,Uo n
to .the Calendalt :
"This calendar j ournal
is intended to demonstra te
t hat the celebrations of all
racial and r eligious cultures
represent complementary aspects of one gr eat world cult ure and are r eflected in the
diverse psychic elements that
m
ake up each individual . Holy
days and all notable historic
events can be viewed in the
context of the annual cycle
as phases of individual and
collective development. According to an old Dakota song
' t he year is a circle around
the world '. The myths of all
cultures can be meaningfully
pr ojected on the mandala of
the annual rhythm. "
"Fall is the time to reap the
psvchic as well aa physical fruits of
th.a groving season. Each of us is a
ray which goes forth 1o spring t o embr ace a particular aspact of crdation
and r•turns i n fall with a ~rsonal
harves t to share wit h our COlmllWlity.
Individual •xpcriancea are now joinK.\TCAH - page 20
"Fall is the season of complet ion,
of 1110ving toward mystic wholeness when
diverse states of consciousness may be
brought into h8rlll0ny. In the Gnostic
view, Christ is the soul of the Earth
(the incarnate solar principle). The
soul of the world, the center of the
circle cross of the Earth symbol, can
be approached only by man.Heating within ourselves the essential nature of
every religion and cult ure. The most
important message of the fall is that
all faiths are essentially bas.sd on one
great body of truth of which each world
religion and culture is an integral
part.
The medicine wheel is a primary
Native American symbol which defines the
four parts of the human psyche, provtd.ss
a path to the integration of these psychic elemenes and indicates how the individual may best be integrated into the
tribal community. A person first experiences each of the four directions
before balancing i n the center o f the
circle cross. Then all four states of
being come alive at the same time and
the medicine wheel begins to turn.
The medicine wheel of Native Amer-
ica and the Great Pyramid both symbolize the procciss of psychic transformation through which the formative elements of human nature are aligned
and integrated by the fifth principle
(the quJ.ntessence}, spiritual awareness. This transformative process is
also the purpose of the Cherokee
"s quard ground" which is used for ceremonial dance in this season. It is
the basis for celebrating the four
we4*. Advent period which culminates
in the ligh ting of a f ifth candle in
a "medicine wheel" circle of greenery .
Fall is the season to create a
new state of being, a more inclusive
form of consciousness, aud it is the
time to consciously let go of the old
form, to ring in the new year. Creative meditation and rational fasting
have a place in this process and so
do singing, chanting , and dancing .
Let's recall the words of Lame D
e1:1r:
'Dancing and praying-it's the same
thing', when w1:1 celebrate Advent and
include a little enlightened Saturnalia, for its purpose is to break up
psychic patterns from the old year, to
help us open our hearts to the ligh t
of a new star ••• "
(f
'1e~v ts~ c1vc- le~v-oV1noL the wov\d~
the
"The New Moon of Libra , the
first following the Fall Equinox ,
marks the spiritual New Year in the
New World Cycle of Celebrations ... .
This is the time of the Great New
M
oon Ceremony, the New Year celebration commemorating the world ' s
creation in Cherokee and Iroquois
tradition . Immersion in a pure body
of w
ater at sunrise followed by
crystal ga zing co perceive the future year is a traditional aspect
of the ceremony."
Advance o r ders for The 1986 " New
W l d Cycle of Celebrations Calenor
dar Journal" a r e now being ta ken .
Send $8. 00 to :
New Wo r l d Celebra tions
P . O. Box 6054
Charlot te, N 2820 7 ~
C
!!". • --FaH l91f5
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WEAMFOFIUTOWlii.ERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11111!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
.
Review
M)UNTAINEERS AND RANGERS: A HISTORY
OF FEDERAL FOREST MANAGEMENT IN THE
SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS 1900-81
Shelley Smith Mastran and Nan
Lowerre (U. S. Government Printing
Office, Washington, D. C. 20402)
$7.00
The federal government, particularly in the form of the U. S. Forest
Service, has been a strong force in
the development of the current
were mounted knights carrying the
conservation message into the wilds.
Now, since the political tide has
turned, a new chapter in the history
of federal involvement in Kat6ah is
being wcitten. The DOE is threatening to dump nuclear waste on the
mountains. The Forest Service is
meeting considerable popular opposition for undertaking large-scale
clear-cutting operations, and has
been implicated in offering the
lumber interests large hand-outs
in the form of below-cost timber
sales. But that is to be read in
the future. At present, MOUNTAINEERS AND RANGERS offers an illuminating look at one of the powers
that helped to shape today .
VRDAN Tl\EES
(continued from p.15)
Recently at a conference on
Buncombe County ln the 21st Century,
Ian McHarg, noted author and landscape architect , emphasized the importance of incorporating the natural environment into the design of our
cities. Approximately 76% of Americans live in or near urban areas.
This figure will rise. As we purchase smaller homes on less or no land,
we instinctively turn to our urban
forests for that occasional respite,
for the reflection and solace we
sometimes desperately need in our
often crowded and hectic lives . Imagine New York City without Central
Park. Urban forests offer city folks
a wide variety of delights and benefits. In spite of unrelenting pressures for urbanization, 30% of the
surface area of an average U.S. city
is covered with trees. This is a
larger portion of forest cover than
is found in the typical countryside.
The proposed city arborist in the
Ordinance would facilitate the crucially importa:it integration of
sound urban forest planning and management with commercial and residential development.
In conclusion, as private citizens we have a responsibility to act
when there is no action. If we fail
to do so, we become the victims.
Your help in the passage of the tree
ordinance is critical. We need your
influence, your letters, your phone
calls . This is but a first step. We
can turn this thing around. ~
economic and cultural realities of
the Katclah province. Under contract
to the U.S . Forest Service, researchers Shelley Smith Mastran and Nan
Lowerre have docu~ented the federal
***
presence and the changes it has
"In the early days, only the largest
brought to Southern Appalachian
forestry and forest lands in the
and highest quality trees were cut:
course of the 20th century .
cherry, ash, walnut, oak, and yellowUnlike many goverument public(tulip) poplar, often as large as 25
ations, MOUNTAINEERS AND RANGERS
feet in circumference. Although it
is not a monotonous litany of
is difficult to imagine today, trees
alphabet agencies or a selfwere felled that were larger in diajustifying array of statistics
meter than an average man stands. Some
designed to def end an agency
portable sawmills were brought into
budget. Rather, the authors have
the mountains in the earlier years,
produced a book that is interesting
but logs from these enormous trees
and readable because they have
were usually transported to a'mill,
given attention to the existing
some miles distant, by horse, oxen,
forestry practices and cultural
or water . Typically, log splash dams
patterns in the area and, for better
were built on the shallow mountain
or wors~, the profound effect the
streams so that many logs could be
federal agencies have had on land
moved at one time. Logs were rolled
use and the mountain way of life.
into the lakes formed behind the dams,
UndLCStandably, they linger in
and with a buildup from rain or
the golden days of forestry in the·
melting snow, the.dams were opened to
Appalachians: the days of Teddy
let the logs cascade down the mountains.
Roosevelt, Carl Schenck, and
Prom wider places on the river,
Gifford Pinchot, when the Forest
Gi.1.6 Hado11.n, a ~i.den;t; 06 At.hetrees - as many as 40 to 120 at a
Service was young and "the district
ville, NC, htU> be.e.n a p!Llnci.pal. i.ntime - were lashed together to form
-ltla;to11. ht de.ve.i.op.ing a comp11.ehe.nranger • •• was the backbone of forest
rafts, which were piloted downriv~;~~
administration . " Forest rangers
1>i.ve Vi.ee. oJr.di.nanc.e. 601t hi.6 ~.
to the mills."
,P"'
at that time were crusaders - messengers bearing tidings of the young
science of forestry, of conservation and enlightened land use
to the mountain people. The days
of the CCC, when thousands of people
were gainfully employed at useful
conservation work during the
depression years is also emphasized,
but the book does not neglect discussions of the social impact of the
Forest Service's land acquisition
policies, the economic effects of the
federal government as landowner, and
the controversy surrounding the
RARE II proposals of the early
1980's .
The federal government has figured
so prominently in the history of
Katuah since the turn of the century,
that MOUNTAINEERS AND RANGERS offers
a good overview of the history of the
province and its forests during this
period . The book is extensively
annotated, and the bibliography alone
is an excellent guide to readings on
Southern Appalachia during this period.
There is a certain admiration and
nostalgia for the days when issues
were simpler, before Forest Service
"Aw, sheee-iit"
ethics became entangled in the
economics of the international
timber market , and when the rangers
Fall 1985
OS sgaq - Hf.~1/J.
�The publications listed below are
available from Appalachian Regional
Office, l.T.C.I.U.S.A,, lnc., Route
I, Gravel Switch, KY 40328. Prices
l isted include postage and handling
within the U.S.
PROPAGATION METHODS AND SOURCES FOR
UNCOMMON PERENNIAL FOOD PLANTS: A
LITERATURE REVIEW IN TABULAR FORM
Cregory Williams, 1983 (slightly
vised 1984), 49 pp., $6.00.
;e-
by Brian Caldwell
We are trying an intercropping
system that might be of utility on
other farns. On an 80 ft. by 90 ft.
test plot, we have planted raspberries in rows 15 feet apart (about
twice the usual spacing). In the rows
with the berry canes, we set young
Chinese chestnut trees every 15 feet.
The chestnut trees are mulched, weeded and fertilized along with the berries, which are allowed to grow close
beside the trees. Beds of vegetables
about 5 feet wide run between the
raspberry-chestnut rows.
This system is an attempt to
care for a succession of crops with
the least effort, while making good
use of space. We suspect that the
raspberries. grown without the use of
pesticides, have fewer problems with
fungal diseases due to the improved
air circulation of wide rows. It
seems reasonable to use the extra
space for vegetables. Because rasp-·
berry plantings typically last only
about 5-7 years because of virus problems, the chestnuts provide a crop
co "take over" after the berries.The
young trees require special care
(particularly weed control) for about
3 years after planting, yet bearing
begins on l y after about 5 years or
more.It does not make much sense to
invest the special care and space exclusively for the non-bearing trees
so we put them right in the berry
rows! They will not seriously compete
with the berries until the berries
are on the way out. The berry mulching and fertilizing are ideal fo r the
trees, and competition from the berries does not appear siRnificant.
Note that, with the use of mulch, it
is important to protect the tree
trunks from rodents with some sort of
guards.
Eventually. we will have a ~rove
of chestnut trees on a 15 feet by 15
feet spacing. This is too close for
mature t rel'!1. llowever. t hcse a re
seedlin~ trees, not ~rafts. and it is
likely that somt• will be poorer bearPrs than others.After about JS vears,
they will b~ thinned out, leaving
onlv the best. The aTea formerlv occ~
:'-\;'~'AH -
?ag~
ll
upied by raspberries and vegetables
will be sheep pasture. And the chestnut yield in the early years will
have been much improved over the
yield for trees originally planted on
a recommended spacing of 30 feet by
30 feet.
This system is appropriate for
many kinds of trees . Strawberries
could substitute for the vegetables,
but blueberries, gooseberries, asparagus, and rhubarb all last so long
that their total production as "raspberry substitutes" would be seriously
reduced by the trees.
Areas used for this system
should be free from perennial weeds.
fn our plot, we have had problems
only with the tarnished plant bug
and, at first, too low fertility for
high raspberry yields. An organic
fertilizer (about 20 pounds of N per
acre) placed beneath the mulch the
last two springs resulted in much
better growth of the fruiting canes.
The berries also benefit from vegetable fertilization .
Reprinted from Agroforestry Review.
Back issues available from: - - International Tree Crops Institute,
Appalachian Regional Office
USA
Route 1,
Gravel Switch, Ky. 40328
------ r-e.so-~ i.is~ : tyu U"op~ - - ~KS
ABOUT TREE CROPS:
TREE CROPS: A PERMANENT AGRICULTURE,
J. Russell Smith, Devin-Adair, New
York, 1953. Founding work for the
tree crops "movement"; somewhat dated, but worth reading to get excited
about the idea of a tree-based agriculture.
TREES FOR THE YARD, ORCHARD, AND
'"'OODLOT. Roger Yepsen, Jr. , editor,
Rodale Press, Emmaus, Pennsylvania.
1976. Introductory chapters on landscaping. orcharding, nut trees. propagation, pest control, useful wild
species. maple sugaring. and woodlot
management.
NlIT TREE CULTURE IN NORTH AMERTCA,
Richard Jaynes, editor, NNGA, Hamden,
Connecticut, 1979. Very thorough and
authoritativt• reference--" the bib le"!
ACRISILVICULTURE FOR APPALACHIA: A
BIBLIOGRAPHY, Gregory Williams, 1979,
9 pp .• $2.00.
AGRlSILVICULTURE: A NECESSARY RENAISSANCE, Gregory Williams, 1979, 4 pp.,
$1.00.
TREE CROPS FOR SMALL FARMS IN APPALACHIA: PRELIMINARY PROPOSAL FOR RESEARCH, Flip Bell. John Pohlman,
Gregory Williams, 1977, 24 pp . , $4.00.
ENERGY-CONSERVING PERENNIAL AGRICULTURE FOR MARGINAL LAND IN SOUTHERN
APPALACHIA: FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT
Gregory Williams, 1982, 52 pp. , $8~00
HORTIDEAS, Published monthly, Subscriptions $10.00/yr. (U.S.)
SOME SOURCES OF HARD-TO-OBTAIN SEEDS
AND PLANTS FOR TREE CROPPING
CHESTNUT HILL NURSERY,Rt. 3, Box 477,
Alachua, Fl. 32615. Hybrid AmericanOriental chestnuts. Price list free.
DOUGLAS, Earl, Red Creek, NY 13143.
Hybrid American-O r iental chestnuts.
Send SASE for price list .
HIDDEN SPRINGS NURSERY, Route 14, BOX
159, Cookeville, TN . 38501 . Seedling
and grafted fruit and nut trees, including honeylocust. Price list free.
ITCIUSA APPALACHIAN REGIONAL OFFICE,
Route I, Gravel Switch, KY 40328.
Seeds and graf t wood of select honeylocust, black locust, and American
persimmon. Price list free.
JOHNSON ORCHARD & NURSERY , Route 5,
60x 325, E1ijay, GA 30540 . Mltoy peach
and nectarine cultivars, also graft~d apples. Catalog, $1.
LAWSON ' S NURSERY, Route I, Box 294,
Ball Ground, GA 30107. Many apple and
pear cultivars. Catalog free. ~
Special thanks to Greg Williams of
LT .c.r.u.s.A.
Ea-11 19a5
�....................................llllllll........... Wl4MIOOIOTOWILWIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
"T<•c '""'Y of our forebt .. rs and
lut'.U<·•ncri ti uk u tern•s of o fl'"
Cf'le,·t<!d "l*C'1es--whot tl.cy eel l
' iorf!ft trt'd Sl>t-ClE:s '--so that IJy
el in in<>t ion ol l other tr<-es oecor ••e
1
'A t!(•d V.pt!tie!i ..
The
1
'Afl'l•O Sf>eClt-C'
ron•<-~t ~act•lct th•t • •orcsttr
sl.ou le CJl'l r io of any t t ee Veil i eties
bul thl' few thc>t are currently ld.<Jh on
th<> 11... ikPl. Tl.is rnov.-s low.;1d ,, 110110C\.ll ur ,. prnct ice . l·•onocul tu re y1·owiny
ovi:rtaxe& the soil, exposes tlie crop
lrees Lo dun9er fron insec ts, disease,
er fire, •rad pUtb the landow11cr at the
n·l'rcy of • consta ntly fluctuat inc;
lll<O ):et..
"Tl 1t: t. t t::..~ Ven
i ~Lieb kuowu
lW~y db
'wef'd s 1>C'cies ' .. re ~.ir>l'lY trcei. thdt
we do not know how to use. Ev1:r~
Sl'(•ci<•s of tr<>e has j ts own pot..,11tial.
As an exd~plE: the dogwood tree i s not
tighly desira~le today, but 20 ye&rs
ago do9woud wat• one of the mo11t
valuabl~ wood~ in the forest.
It was
used to no~k.e textile shuttles, because
the wooo would wear slllO(>th and would
not pick the threads. Ever~· small town
had a dogwood mill wh~-~ voltt'r &a,.s
cul d09wood blocks irto squdre lo be
roade :uoto i.huttles. Because textile
blin ttlei; are now nade of COlll[>rt-sbed
wood or ~yr•tl1E:llc l'ldterials, do<;wood
h ..1< no n.iket today . But tl1a1 doc-s not
~"' tht: ..OO<; is cseless.
rt su I l lb
on( cf t hi! l:'est woods growir.<J. we
s1rnr•lr llO:t'cl :o fir•c where it C"11n Ii<·
l: Pt t used.
"1'h<•H .:n~ othe r woods in birrdlar
C' l r t·1Jn1! t nnc<'s.
M
1..ll.t1r ry j s " .. pl vr•t J d
woc1d ll•r i11lryi; . Sassafra .. wooo bot
bf'iJUI If l: I l ones tJ11d ... ) J I yi V<· C1f j i Is
1 l• a1.i1 <J odor for 50 Yl"<•I>. Silv~·th<•ll
ii; io 1•lai11 wood, but 1 t firii::l.1·~ "ell
"r1u car1 l l• la.&ec.! 1 r
t\Jt ri1 r
y wood
; r oductt!. l'lM'I, t.Jl..n l l i " white wood .
•r Uti(d 10 te ~01.11>0 .r 11,,. lntcl11•r
t Joor <•f o;v«r~ nt>u1:tdit1 r.•! lt , t..< rul•s•
INhl·n 1 t h•s sc.-nhbec "ith ""' <·r, ll
t1.rni'c1 ,, lt11lli<11~t wJ·ite, c.lr•<bt J.ke
. .. 111•• ~ lN> le1.111· !"locu . Fae-ti k a.c! c·~
\ Ood !w. l l ' (•WI ' C"hi•tdL t t-d!ol iCS . I
Jtt.l J~Vl
<i~'\'•
ti
•
jCioc;! sr:ioll
~Ut'ilP!·t
('C'l\.d\.O lll·
lUJ<'<> growing Sl't·c·icl wo,•dt- fM
(to next page)
KATUAP. - page 23
l8ll 1 ill.
SIVILCULTURE SIMPLIFIED
There are two major silviculture
practices, even-aged and uneven-aged.
Ir even-aged silviculturt a for~st is
cut complet.ely to the bt1re ground and
a r.ew forest is started with seedlings
or sprouts from cul trees . An unevenaged forest contains trees of all age
and size classes a11d n• be of one or
ay
111any sJ,Jecit-s, as ir. the case with
hardwoods . It is harvested perioeically by cutting a portion of the
trees, usually the n~ture trees or
trees of poorer quality.
Even-aged s1l1;iculture is more
coll1Itl0n with tie pinet-, firs, spruce,
and other coniferous tr<·es, although
it has been practiced i r. recent years
on harc!woods.
Even-aged silviculture can be
accornplished by clearcut.Ling the
forest in blocks or in strips , the
latter bEing known ab the shelterwood
system . The size of the cuttings
varies from entire mountainsides to
sruall blocks of 20 to 40 acres, or
strips a few hundred feet wide that
run ir. parallel bands or wind with the
contour on steeper land. After clearcutlin9, a ne .. for1:st must be established. Nature will generally do this
by seedlings or seeds left on the
forest floor or from sprouts growing
Croni cut stems. Humans can change this
by planting sceolings of the tree
species thal lhey desire.
After a few yl'ars, the clearcut
area grows up thickly with thousands
of seeolings and sprouts and usually
needs a cleanir.g to release the
desired trees. This is usually done
mechanically with tools, but can be
done .. ith hArbicides th<at poi&on the
unwanted sten.s. Fire can only be used
after the trees gro..· larger, and some
speci E.'s can wHhstand heat that will
kill others. After 20 to 40 years a
thinning cut lb made to harvest some
pulpwood-sized trees while leaving the
Detter trees for the final crop. The
final crop of trees is harvested when
rnat ure, usu.;lly 60 LO 80 years, and
tt,en the cycle is repedted.
Unever.-ac;ec! silviculturE: maintains
a gra..ing forest o f all ages and size
classes at all tines . Jt is much CJOre
~ifficl.ilt to practice and necessitates
p1cfessic.nal i;k1lls t hat require a
ful. 1rno.. Jedg<' of trc•t species , soils,
,,nd tt>eir intt-rrf\lationbhl.f•S. It also
i-«qvire!- t he kno.. ledge to grade tree
•1u.,) lly .>ml o htl J undcrstondi ny o!
tla•
fut tlCI' lire.ducts .
al'l'l ic:.ltion o~ thu Silvi-
noarkE·t~·
Tl e
cultural r.iethod is by ha rvesting ,
preferably for sale, bu~ sornt.ti1u~s as
a non-commercial operatior. to improve
a forest 1otand.
Harvesting can be by the single
tree selection method or by 9roup
selection. The latter is more practical and often rl turns the highest
product dividends .
Jn sin9le tree selection, the
!ore1oter marks individual trees that
are mature, or trees of lower quolity
thot ahould be removec for the im
vr~ved growth of better quality trees.
Removing these trees must be done very
carefully to avoid damaging the trees
to be left for future harvests .
In group selection, an attempt is
111ade to harvest several trees fairly
close together to open up a sizeable
area , letting sunlight enter to give
young trees a start . The area size
depends on the nature of the timber ,
topography , and other facton,, and
usually is not over an acre in size.
Group selection makes harvestin9
easier.
Thinning is a form of selective
cutting and is applied when forest~
become too thick and tree growth slows
down. "Thinning from above" means
taking out the more mature trees and
releasing the smaller ones . "Thinning
from below" is taking out trees that
have been suppressed or are of poor
form and giving the larger and better
quality trees less competition so they
can maintain a high growth rate while
adding on high quality wood .
Selective cutting can be a
coinbina tion of several of the above
methods, the main purpose being to
maintain a growing , viable forest of
many species (especially in bardwoods), many age classes, and several
size classes. Cutting cycles are
usually 10 to lS years apart .
In selective cutting , there is an
opportunity to favor wildlife by
leaving a certain number of den trees,
dnd trees producing hard mast, like
hickory and oak, even though their
product value may be questionable.
There is also an opportunity to
favor aesthetics and recreational
pursuits when selective cutting by
JUciciously leaving unusual trees
L~cause of size , species, or rarity .
--Walton P. Smith
�WALOEE FOREST
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ~ AMFOllESTDWBURS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..
cont . from page 23
Walton looked up at the young
poplars as if to check their yrowth
and then turned awa~.
"We recently had a little tornado
in here," he said as we wound our way
along the trail again, "and it blew
down six white pine . l wasn't aol~ to
get to them before, but we recently
built a road in here, and now J can
recover them.
"A road is the first thing that a
landowner needs to think about if he
or she is considering forest management . There has to be access , no
matter what kind of management practice one is going to undertake.
Roadbuilding has got to be done right .
Building the roads is wha t causes most
of the erosion damage and tree damage
associated with logging operations .
"I can now get to over 80\ of this
150 acres for thinning and harvesting
operations . This has cost me $4,000
over a period of 16 years . These are
not gr aveled roads; they are woods
roads with grassy banks . They have
culverts and are not eroding . AlJ J
have to do is go over them twice a
year with a bush- hog mower . J don ' t
think that represents unreasonable
expense or maintenance .
"Clearcutting on a larye scale
requires a road built on 6 inches of
rock and gravel to get in a cable rig
and a tractor-t r ailer to haul the
timber . That's why it cost the Forest
Service one-half million dollars to
put in a six mile road on the mountain
above us . I couldn't get a tractorACORN •••
cont'd
61tOm p . 19
by steeping l oz. of the inner bark
powder in l pint of water (dosage l
~sp. four times a day) is effective
for diarrhea and dysentery . It can
be used as a gargle for sore throat,
or as an external wash for cuts and
wounds and poison ivy, Jethro Kloss
(Back To Eden) reports that the unleachc'd""acorn powder resist the venom of poisonous snakes and spiders.
The decoction is also a good ingredient in ene.mas for colonic cleansing .
In using t he food and medicine of
the oak, let us always remember our
trees with gifts - gifts of thanks
trailer ng ir. on this roac!, but lhe
<lifference is thcrt 1 log ,.jt h a ch., in
saw and a wir.ch on I lie front. E111<l o!' /1
jeep. A Sl!lal l ldnclowner is workiny on
an entirely different scale."
As we continued our walk, Walto11
said, "We ' re goir.g by another s.Lc1nu of
young fraser fir 1 'rr 9ro1dn9 for
Christmas trees . I try lo h<tv., lt•..,Sf'
areas clean·cl by h<1nd rather tl1<rn
spraying then. witl• poisonous sprays .
Jf I went simply by economics, it
would pay to buy the chemicals ancl
spray poison to keep the sptct.>ts d(,wn,
but there ' s too niuch gooci Wdter up
here to do 1.hcrt . I'd rathE:r spf:nd a
tittle extra time ond effort a11a avoic
the poisons .
"l know of farms that have been
passed down in the same family for
generations . I ' d li~e to see forests
treated like that as well. It takes SO
and prayer for the spirit, the Creator behind the spirit and the knowlege to use these things wisely,
gifts of cedar, sage or tobacco to
nourish the body and spirit of the
tree that nourishes us . In doing so,
we may become like the oaks , the
standing people, with our feet firmly planted in the Ear tr. Mother, our
trunks strong and flexible in the
fiercest of winds, our branches
reaching for the heavens, accepting
the light and warmth of the sun,
turning it into food and medicin~
that our people may live .
y~ars to g~I. ever) t loir g "'orlur y t l<;hl.
We ' re jusl now <J"'ttin~ tlin<J& lO "'<a·k
.r.Hjht
bete . "
Thundttt rut l• l fd i r. ti<· wi;st.
Wal tor. qi.i cker1E'd tis E ...c< .. s 11E'
,. tc1 rl Eid up tie f i na J grc.ue towards the
hOUSE'.
"} f<ttt} thf-t(''li CJnt tlt~J ,y Wl' t'nVe
to offer," le SblO tloughtfully.
"\\e've wotkea 011 ll1J.!O vlace for 47
yc•s1·s now, anC: l ti ink we h .. ve
dev ... lopi=C: a n•ociel tv show sornt
principles lhat coUd be cc1rried out
on a
lary~t sc~le.
"Quite .. (e-. ~ tudents <:<Jr.•e h•·re . l
91"e th .. r. tl1i~ sa~1e tour, and tl1ey ,;e•
ti. is pl ii CE', ul\C: N1ny Of then Jl?dVC'
with the &onoe c;,ut fecd1n9 that ""
l.cive; that there ' s a .b~tttr way to
1.-.rnage lhis App.. lachian tinberland. "
Lat.er , as we &ot i" the l.ouse
Wdtchir.y the rain 1.>C•Und tl•e wirdows
out~ide, Walton said, "Jf son•l'Ollt- ii.
driviny by oro tt.e h\!,hwdy , Jookir9 al
the forest, it odght look dense , dark
und scart-y--full o~ bears and :maker; .
Th~ edqe of tht forest is like a
walled barrier that turns away mur•y
people who aren ' t fc101Jli1>r -.i1.h thtforest.
"But once one bn•oks throuyh tl:f:
edge anC: 9ets in .. mong the trr•es, one·
can see the forest. Jt can't be &een
from the out.Eide . Jt becomt>s "n
entirely different place con•pated to
loow it appenred from the ldyhw.,y . lt's
a place of beauty . A good 1.>lace to
be--a qood place to live. ~
Necorded by D. W.
...~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~•
~a~0
~\IIL~I
'Na~r~
T-SHIRTS
Each origina l design
hand screened in 5 colors
on the finest 100%
pre- shrunk cotton
rl
short and long sleeve t· shirts.
Short Sleeve '10 PP · (.S&P CiVF<)c', l'f, o., ~(I
s14 ,..pc1.
CNAlf9£ ,.,.
J Ong slPeve indudes howlc feothers /beorpow~)
long Sleeve
Nome
Address
Blocli 8eor 0 Silver 0 Ton 0 Wh'te
u::::=;;:;;::;~::::::::::::::::::::::::::
1
Phone
Mostercord Viso tt
Red-foiled Howle 0 Ecru Q Silver CJ Ton ""'" ' •: AqeA...,., N101nl•
Ex-p--d ,,,e -- - .,- . :-- 1
Shor1 Q
long Q
S·M· l ·Xl
1 ~?,~,!!~d W•r•.,.ill•. llC28lRS or write for brochure
·~ ·-~·
,,
KATUAfl - page 24
MALAPROP'S
BOOKSTORE/CAFE
BOOKS -
CARDS -
RECORDS
6 1 HAYwooO ST. ASHElllU.E. N C. 28801
704-2!14-S734
Fall 1985 .
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . WlAMOOESTDWrUIN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .
.
I
'
'
A CHILDREN'S PAGE
Compiled by Karen Paquette
KATUAH KIDS TALK ABOUT THEIR FAVORITE TREES
l
Erin, age 7:
The Black Walnuts in my yard are mine
I like to climb them. Once I climbed
one and wouldn' t come down - I
ate my dinner up there until the bugs
bit me too badly. I felt safe up there it was like my mother.
Shane, age 11:
,
I like the big poplars on Standing
Indian and I would like to visit the
Redwoods . They both have a lot of
history behind them. Today some
varieties of trees are dying out
because of acid rain and bugs like
weevils.
Some people in the world are not
fortunate to have trees , like in the
African deserts and the Sudan region.
We need to share our knowledge of
tree culture as well as appreciate
our own trees mor e and take care
of them
Drawing by Savannah
Shinnah, age 7:
I like the Weeping Willow tree
because I like the way it leans over
with its branches and I like the name it tells what this tree is like . It
makes me feel good to look at it.
It likes to grow near water so its
roots can grow down into the ground
and get water from the creek . It
only cries in winter because it doesn ' t
get much sun and it smiles in the
summer time .
In Haiti they ruined all the trees and
it became a desert. Everyone in
the world must learn to conserve
trees and plant more like on t ree
farms . Clearcutting is not right if we don ' t have trees we will have
problems . Trees provide shelter
for birds and animals and prevent
erosion .
Emily, age 3:
I
like trees because they are pretty .
1 also like apple trees because they
have food on them. Apples have lots
of vitamin C in thero, they make me
happy.
Jason, age 8:
There used to be a lot of American
Chestnuts but they got the Chestnut
blight. I see them lying down in
the woods and I miss them . We still
have the Chinese Chestnuts though, only
they are different
Trees are good for people. They
give us firewood , boards , paper and
food . We ' ve got to save trees
~chuh
;
KATCAH -
Fall 1985
page :?5
~-
~aaq
-
llhJ IAA
�..
----111!1--------~----.--- Wl-fOllQTDWW.OIS
____________________..
11
'~~~~~~11rr~1~t 1.~;~~i111~11:1l\~1·~~~~~~:!~:;~~~:i:~1~ ~,~~~~~~~~~~;~~~
1
I
j·\\h•I
lj I'l I
which i..tJt.uck me a.& be-Uig the. co.Ue.ct.i..ve
vo.lc.e 06 all. thohe. de.ad and dy.lng 6-iM
j~
and pi.nu , i.1Wt-g11.e.y wUh an anc.ie.nt
I mObb g11.owing 611.0m thW. bkel.e.ta.l 11.ema..i.n.6
I
like. a be.a1t.d would g.11.0W 611.0m the. clun 06
a 111C1n only Hcond.6 dead ... And w.Uh .the.
V1
aLUUte.nub 06 the. ' p11.uence' alt.o came a
'voice'-- a 6e.e..t.lng- which bpoke. .to me
w.Uh i.u.ch an au.11.a 06 c.a.lm and w<.bdom
continued from page 3
that goobebu.mpA (wha.t .the old moun.ta..i.n
6olli .LJt .thue moun.ta..i.n4 had call.e.d
and li.6 e.lub lln4 .the. land.6 c.a.pe. be.com.i.ng
"glolt!J bu.mP6" a.& 1 lln4 gllOIAl(.ng u.p, a
.tha.t OUll. CJJJVi..ob.(,ty bee.a.me., Ve.Juj quickly, boy . .. I JU1lt all. u.p o.n.d down my CZIU!l4, a.&
mo11. 06 a 6e.el.i.ng 06 oveJr.Whe.lm.lng btlll.1 walke.d 611.om .the. p:WWtg lot up .the.
pll.iA e. and conce.11.n a.& .the. •ha.iJILi.ne.' o 6
h.lU and .<.n.to what had once. be.en '.the.
.the. 6Olte.6.t !00.6 not only '.th.lnn.lng ' , but,
wood6 '. . •
.LJt 6ac.t, 'bal.d.lng' a.& we. 11.eache.d .the.
What .th.iA 'voice o 6 M.che..typa.t knoiulng '
.topl
UXl.6 .te.U.lng me UXl.6: .that .the ex.tent 06
Reaching .the. bu.nmlt 06 .the moun.ta.i.lt, a.&
.the deva.&.t.a..t.lon I UXl.6 He.i.ltg and 6eet.i.ltg
we. .twtne.d .thoi.e la4.t couple. 06 be.nd.6 .LJt
i.o deeply lln4, in 6ac.t, a v.iA.lble 'b.lgn'
.the. 11.0ad, what !CXt6 tu«tU.lng tL.6 «n4 - and i..t.a..te.me.nt made by .the i.p(.JL(..t 06 .thue
Jtathe.11. .than a .tlvume. -like. v.iA .to. IJ.lttLi,t.tll.eu 1 ~ be.e.lng a.& 'de.ad'. That .th.iA
.lng .the. ll.e..ttLll.n 06 ' .the. god.6' -- a .6Ce.ne.
baCJte.d and ve.11.y publi..c. place had be.en
06 de.va.6.t.a..t.lon only compaJt.D.ble. .LJt my
choben by .the. bpi.JL(..t6 06 human, bea6t,
m.i.11d .to .<.magu 06 NagMak.l and H.lll.oi.h.ll!ICl and vege..ta.t.lon, to lllClke. a bold bta.teme.n.t
1 had been in 6.llm6 and p(.c.twte booki. .
to .thobe. human be..lngi. i..t.Ul ~ng
He.11.e. on .th.U powe11.6ul and baClte.d mouna.11.Dund .LJt .thobe. holUlU .the.y ca.Ue.d
.to..i.n we. we.11.e. being g11.e.e..te.d by an a11.my
'bod.lei.'. That .t.lte dev.uta.t.lon 06 .th.iA
06 g11.e.y-ghob.te.d boul4 06 a d.iAembod.le.d
9e.og11aph.i.c landmo.11.k v.lb.Ued by .tholUland.6
'11ace.' ... TholUland.6 06 de.ad .tll.e.u! "The.
06 toUll..iA.t.6 and na.t.lvu each yeJVr., lln4
Cltown 06 CJtea.t.lon", I .thought bMCa.&.tall.owed a.& a b.i.gnboall.d, a.& a tlWUl.i.ng, o 6
.i.call.y .to mYJ>el.6. "So .thiA .iA .the. gi6.t
.the. be.ve.11..ittj 06 .the. .imbalancu .that ex06 'WJ.jutJ.1' bu.towed upon .the. g11.e.a.t
.l6.te.d .LJt .the. na..twi.a.t woltld a..t .the. ltandi.
'k.lngb' 06 .the na.twt.a..t kingdom! How .the
06, a.& a 11.uuU 06, .the. bhoJLt-i..lgh.te.d
EaJLth be.kn.i.g h.t6 heA 'IUVIJl.ioll.6', .thob e
.th.i.ltk.lng and VXJ.Yb o 6 .thob c now living
.that Stave 4tlltv.i.ve.d and Jt..i.6e.11, .i.n pl!..lde. o6
accompU&hme.nt, .to buch g11.e.a.t 'he..lgh.t.6' ! " on .the. eall..th. So cle.M !00.6 th.iA mu Mg e. 1 !CXt6 11.e.ce..lv.i.ltg .tha.t U al.mob.t
A6 my .11.ational m.i.nd .took ove.11. 611.om my
We.11.all.y began .to .to.Ile. on both vo.i.ce.
emo.t.lo ~ , .tll.y.i.ltg to .<.n.te.Ue.c.tuaU.z e. .the
and language. a6 1 11.eache.d .the. .top 06
pou.lble. c.a..u.6e.(b I, .tlte. 1tea6on6 'why' ,
.the. mountain and a be.cl.u.de.d .lUtt.e
6011. ~ 'gho4.tltj clea11.Cut', .th.iA 'unclea.IL(.ng whe.11.e. T .&t.te.nde.cl to do a
na..twi.al' d.iAa.&.te.11., me.mo.IL(.u 06 bto.IL(.u
i..<.mple. Uttle. ce.11.e.mony 06 .thankJ>g.i.vand newh-11.epoll.U I'd heall.d, about how
.i.ltg:
.the. 'acid IUlht' UXl.6 beg.i.lt~ .to .to.ke.
"The. i..lgn6 he.11.e. been by a.U
U4 .to.fl. on .the. .tlt.e.u .i.n .the. h.lghe.11.
wU.l i.how .thobe. cuJL(.olJJl people 06
el.e.va.ti.on.6, c.a.me. .to m.i.nd. And iulthout
bc.ie.nce. .the. widup11.e.ad e.v.ldence. 06
any o.thvr. known pobb.lb.lUt.lu a6 1te.Mon6 ,
.the. e.x.te.nt o 6 .thw own du .tJt.uc.ta6 c.a..u.6e, 6011. all. .th.iA 6011.u.t laid to
.lon. 06 .the. compounded nc. lui.e 06
l\n4.te., the. I Jta..in I e.a4il.lj and qui.ckty 1
1
~ ~
1
I
'
I
I
liQJIC
,,
KA n'AB - page 26
I
I
S
I
1 1
JIUl.t a.& poW.y .u, the he.al.Utg
a.&pec.t 06 language, i.o .iA .U .<.mpoJLtan.t people. took to .the.ut bod.lei. and
m.i.nd.6 wUh 11.egall.d .to he.alih and 1
be..ing. To 6oCIUl .thW. pe.11.6onal and
co.Ue~ve goal.6 on the. qu.a..Uty and
longe.v.Uy 06 eu'.4.te.nce, and the.ut
o.IL(.ginal an~ na..tWl.al b.lll..th.IL(.gh.t, be.yond death. It .iA he.11.e., .ln .thue
WOJJ4, .that .the heaUng a.&pec.t6 06
'.the Cltea.t.lve' i.e.11.ve .to .ln6u.11.e. you.11.
H11.6e. 06 pe.11.6e.ct.i..on, .thll.Ough tonge.v.Uy, o.11d .the con.t.i.ltua.Uon o 6 an
a66.i.ltm.Utg and v.ltal 6u.twt.e.! The.
jou.11.ne.y 06 hwnank.lnd a11.ound .the
baCJte.d c.iltcle. 06 U.6e. w<.U b.IL(.ng
a.U, 6.lnall.y, .ln.to .the. 6M.u.t o 6
.the. 11.eg.lon 06 un.lve.11.6al. con6c.io1Ul· nub and awa11.enu.6. A place whe.11.e.
.the b.lg .tll.e.u gll.Ow. The hiding
placu 06 .the unknown, and .the
'be.yond'. What one. dou he.11.e. among.6.t '.the. o.11c.ient onu' depend6
upon what one. ha.& done t\IUh idte.11.e
one. ha.6 been be.60.lte.. How one ha.6
bu..i.U and completed tlte 'g11.oundwo11.k', .the. wo11.k iulth 'boil' , in
.the. pllev-i.olUl expe.JL(.encu 06 one' .6
'joU11.ne.y'. He.11.e. among the old
.tll.eu , one bll..lngb one.' b IUIWl.e.nub o 6 who one. .l6 .i.ltto JL(.gh.t .'leta.t.lon6h.lp 1
\IUh the. un.i.ve.11.6al
bcale. 06 .the bp.lll.(.,tua.l-ph116.<.cal
rnall./L(.age bha1te.d .lnhe.11.e.ii.tf.tJ -<.n .the.
concept 06 .the. God-11.e.al.lze.d One.nub among all .th.lngi.! lri bO do.i.ng one. comu 6u.U-c.lll.c1e. .to one' b
.tJt.ue beg.ltuU.ngi., and .iA 'Home.' .
GODack now, and .te.U th.iA to all.
IJOU know... "
Th.iA th e.n, .iA what 1 have. be.en . Th.iA
1 ha~e. been -told. To i.hall.e. w.Uh IJOU.,
a.U, whom 1 know. Th-IA mui.age. 611.0m
.the. vo.lce. 06 .the 'acid Jta.i.n' ••.
- - -Thoma6 Rain CMwe.
Fall 1985
�................................................Wl""'"*"DWILLllll................................................
Milw~ukee
• C,leveltm::l
continued from page J
thac thc1 causes of tree dicback h.src
in K
atuah as wc1ll as in thc northc1rn
Appalachians and the Black Forest of
Wast C.sn:iany (where JO of all tr•n
ra ~ardlc1Ss of elevation are dying)can
be attributed to two general claa$i
ficatioos of anthropogenic(human-madc)
pollution: acid rain and at1D03phcric
dc1position.
Acid rain is arbitrarily defin.sd
as any precipitation having a Ph lass
than S.6 (7 i s n.sutral), since this
is thc1 Ph wh.sra atmoshperic C02 combines with water in the air to form a
dilute solution of carbonic a cid .
Human mad.s sources o f acid substances
are a r~ult o f t he living standard
of highly industrialized countries.
'Ibey include auto exhaust, industrial
c<mmissions from s~lters and fossil
fuc1l c1adssions from c1lcctrica l gc1narating plants. Some of the acidic compounds arc sulfur dioxide (S02) , nitrous oxides (HN03) , hydrogc1n chloridc1,
and hydrogen fluoride.
1besc1 compounds arc rc1laased into the atmosphc1ra and are widely disP•rsed by continental air fl<M. According to Or. Bruck and others, the
mountai •. foraats of Katliah , acting
like giant "scrubbers " , c harly racc1ivc very high ratci.s of acidic deposit ion. 'Ibis is largely due to t he
geographic c1ffect of increasing ratll!I
of p rc1cipitatioo as air masses are
forcc1d to go up aud over high mountains. fin additional source of acidic
deposition is simply cloud water interception by trees, as the tops of
the mountains are often bathed in
clouds passing by . Studies of these
clouds and precipitation rates in the
northern Appalachians show chat mow1tain tops receive four times more
acidic deposition than lower elevations.
11l•r• a r e many effc1cts of acid
rain on treclS and the soil in which
they livc1. 8v overwhclminr th• natural soil Ph balance and causing a
more acid soil, aluminum, a metal
which is toxic to trees, is released
and mad¥ available for uptake by
trc1e roots.
Atmospheric deposition can be
defined as the combined anthropogenic (human-caused) pollutants falling back on Mother Earth. It is composed of assorted noxious effluvia
includin~ ozone, heavy metals such
as lead (from gasoline combustion
and lead arsenate pesticides) , coppcr
from smcllters and nitrogen compounds.
According to those study in~ the
dlehacks , there i s not enough data
to c learly point fingers and say that
a particular pollutant coming from a
1'..a rti cular source l s caus in~ apec l K.Arl:AH - page :'.!7
fie damage to tra•a in Katiiah.
It is Or. 8ruck's contention
that there may be a "stress syndrome" whereby various combinatioos
of these toxic substances may be
causing t he diaback . Experlmentall~
in the lab Or . Bruck has studied the
affects of acid run from nitrogen
and sulfur sources. He has discovered severe suppression of the symbiotic fungi known as mycorrhizae
which help the trees' roots derive
nutrition from tha soil . Bruck believes that the suppression of mycorrhizae (up to 50%) has led to severe supprassioo of tree root growth
which may be causi.n g th• retarded
growth obs erved in the trae ring borings. Alandog as these reductions
appear to be, the question still remains: Is it reducad ring growth that
is causing the trees to die?
Exploring f urthar under the
soil mantle where the treas' roots
are bound inseparably with the lifegi ving mycorrhizae Bruck has found
an extre~ly high accumulation of
lead, particularly on slopes which
face into the predoadnaot winds. Levels of lead ara three to seven times
higher on top of Ht. Mitchell than in
urban Asheville soil. Studies revd&l
that there is alraady as much as two
grams or 1DOre of lead per square met-
Sources of Sulfur Dioxide (SOJ ~nd Nitrogen
Oxides (NO,) In North Caroli~
so,
620,000 Ions/yr.
-
Ublot•
WIND ROSE for Asheville, NC
er in the forest soils at high elevatiooa ! Most studics on the toxicity
of lead have focused an human beings,
h<Mevar some studies have bean performed on microorganisms and planta.
These studies clearly indicate direct
metabolic effects in all life fora111.
These studies also shOW-a marked reduction in species diversity of adcroorganisma in the soil and on leaf surfaces . When lead and acidity (under
Ph 5) vars combined in ooa study, a
profound effect oo the mobilization
and utilization of lead was noticed.
Certain species of mycorrhizae ware
inhibited in soils that ware acid and
contained lead while those same sp•cias of lll)'corrhizae ware present in a
lass acidic soil with lead.
Like the canaries used by miners
to warn of impending danger our treas
are a kind of environmental litmus.
lbat litmus is giving an acidic reading threatening life as we know it.
The. e.nv.ili.onme.n.ta.l co114e.que.nct.6 oG
tong .teMI col!4wnption and ~.te. aJLt
combtg home.. Whil.e. the. 1>~.t4
plod c.au,Uo1J.1;.t.y .in mowita.01 cemeteJt.tu 1>t11J1.Ch.ing 60.11. 1>pec..i.6.ic knowledge
o& .the. IUU.t11. m.i.l>.t, we. 46 ch.i.J.dlte.n
o 6 Motht11. Ellll.th mlJ.4.t l>eaAch de.tpllJ
wltkin 60.11. a "p.Ur,Uua..t. d.U:tg no1>.l6 46
we.U. T.11.e.u M.e. OU.It gucw.Li.all4 and
OWi. .te.acheJt.6, .theq g~ve com6oll-t and
wl.6e. cou111>ei and .the.y aJLe. ca.lUng
out .to each 06 IJ.4 NOW 6.11.0m de.adt.IJ
1>IV1.Du.d4 06 m.i.l>.t. We. can no tongtll.
ign0.11.e .tlte. de.g1U1.d.Utg e.66e.ct 06 oWt
14UIJI> o 6 Uv.ing.
OU.It Uvu 111tt bound i..n.6e.pa11.abty
.to .the. .tli.e.u. 1n .th.U. c1.c1> e.d. e.cotog.ic.al. 1>y1>.tem we. Uve. .in, the..<A du.tJW.ct.i.on .inl>Wtu oWt du.tJwcwn. Tl1e.
1>e.aJtch 6011. knowt.e.dge. and a ".te.cltnotog.ic.al. 6.i.x" w.Ul ne.vt11. .11.e.place. 1te." pe.ct a.t. we. .intt11.t1ct w.i..th Moth eJt
Ellll.th.
by Michael Red ~
Fall 198)
~ >:)J.·F. -
~ 1,~
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . MA~fOIOUTDWEUEllS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
26
BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
Patrick Ball (Celtic harp)
McDibbs
12 Cherry St.
12
ASHEVILLE, NC
Asheville Ethnic Festival
Montford Park
Call (704) 253-3714
28
I
CULLOWHEE, NC
Mountain Heritage Day
(traditional music, country dancing, crafts, exhibits, tobacco spitting)
Western Carolina University
12
UUFF MOUNTAIN
SEPTEMBER
A REGIONAL EXHIBIT
PRODUCED BY THE MEMBERS OF
111E APPALACHIAN CONSORTIUM
MUSEUM COOPEBATIVE
Opening night: September 12
Talk by Wilma Dykeman
Founders ' Auditorium, 7:00 pm
Public showing:
September 13 - Januar y 23
Western Carolina University
13
13-15 TOCCOA, GA
Earth Stewardship Seminar
Christian perspectives on
ecology. $95
Elevent h Colllllandment Fellowship
540 Oakland Ave. SE
Atlanta , GA 30312
14
October - November
CHEROKEE, NC
" Cherokee Sculptor" - Carl
Lloyd Owle
Center of Cherokee Heritage
20-22 BLACK l()UNTAIN, NC
Black Mountain Pall Festival (traditional music)
Grey Eagle and Friends
Call (704) 669-2456
21
Fall Equinox
~- ·"-'TUAll
-
page 28
CHEROKEE, 1~C
Cherokee Indian Fall
Festival (Indian dancing,
stickball, chestnut bread,
crafts , exhibits)
Ceremonial Grounds
2
WILLIS, VA
" Native American Teachings" AmyLee, Iroquois teacher and
apprentice medicine woman
Indian Valley Holistic Center
Rt. 2, Box 58; Willis, VA
Willis, VA 24380
4-8
ASHEVILLE, NC
" Rel ping Women Win : A Candidate Training School for
Women" - League of Women
Voters
Call (704) 258- 8223
5
BONAS DEFEAT GORGE
(Jackson County)
Day hike with NC Nature
Conservancy. $5. 00
Ann Mciver
130 Carr St.
Chapel Rill, NC 27514
MOSHEIM, TN
First Annual Organic Harvesters ' Festival
Call (615) 422-7769
20-22 CLAYTON, GA
NATURE'S DOLLAR WORKSHOP:
A look at the real price of . .
.• forest, soil, watershed &
wildlife management, land
use, pollution, etc . •• translating these key mountain
issues into the language of
nature's dollar.
"Comparing human accounting
with nature's accounting, the
monetary dol lar is an incomplete and unrealistic measur e of the value of things."
Friends of the Mountains
Rt.2, Box 2306-A
Clayton, GA 30525
(404) 782-2657
Asheville, NC
CropWalk against hunger
Call Sally Bridenstine,
(704) 254- 5072
13
DEEP CREEK Swain Co. , NC
Katuah Fall Gathering See notice next page
14
BEAR HUNTING SEASON OPEijS
Beat the bushes ! warn Yona
of the danger
OCTOBER
1-5
"In exam.ln.<.ng .the meanlng~ 06 .the
6oJl£4t, we JLeaUze .tha.t. .the Appa.ta.c.h.la.n 601Lut .iA not jUJ.t a. na.twta.l
.to.ndl>ca.pe, ,U .iA a. cuUwu:il ta.nd.6c.a.pe. • • • • In .6.tli.dy.Uig .the 6oJLUt,
we .f.ea.ltn a.bou.t oWtcS e.lvu . . . • . "
(Avery County)
Day Rike $5. 00
NC Nature Conservancy
See 10/5
5-6
BRASSTOWN, NC
12th Annual Fall Festival
(Craft s fair, performances)
John C. Campbell Folk School
Rt. l
Brasstown , NC 28902
Call (704) 837-2775
. ..
a:
·~·
18-20 Willis, VA
" Our Stories - Ourselves Louise Kessler, storyteller
Indian Valley Holistic C'tr.
Pre-register. See 10/2
19
ROAN MOUNTAIN
(Mi:tchell County)
Fall color hike. $5 . 00
NC Nature Conservancy
See 10/5
19
BANNER ELK, NC
Banner Elk Wooly Worm
Festival
21
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
" Forests and Trees of the
Smokies" - field school
Non-Credit Prograns
2016 Lake Ave.
Knoxville, TN 37996
11-13 BRASSTOWN, NC.
Fall Craft Weekend
(workshops)
also
Chamber Music Houseparty
John C. Campbell Folk School
See 10/5-6
12
SPRUCE PINE , NC
8th Annual Art Auction
(includes tour of craftspeoples ' studios in Celo area)
Toe River Ar ts Council
Call (704) 682-7215
12
ASHEVILLE , NC
Visit of delegation of
Soviet women - sponsored by
Peace Links
Call (704) 258-8223
•••
~·
17-20 Highlands, NC
. •
Fall Landscape Workshop
(photographic exploration of
Highlands area) Tuition $100
Highlands Biological Station
P.O. Drawer 580
Highlands , NC 28741
25-27 BRASSTOWN, NC
Fall Dance Weekend (workshops
in English country dance including Garland and Northwest Morris, also contra and
square dancing)
John C. Campbell Folk School
See 10/5-6
26-27 GRF.AT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
Mt . Leconte overnight hike
See 9/21
31
Samhain Celebration
�. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .WlAMrollESTDWBUM. . . . . . . . . .1111111. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . .
NOVEMBER
BRASSTOWN, NC
60th Anniversary Party of
the Campbell Folk School
See l0/5-6
2
"SWORN TO FUN"
9-lO WILUS, VA
Massage Workshop Libby Outlaw
Indian Valley Holistic Center . Pr e-register.
See 10/2
16-17 GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
Winter Highcountry Camping
See 9/21
s,~..alJll {j De~ .J>luxk .J>(a.<. 1111·
~·1.(i 6 P<1fartr_11 Bal<v1<"1•· •
C...rfi..·d
'M:«j Dr'VujJl
Sol.·~
255-TQ~
t/.2~15.li
Special thanks to Judith Hallock
Nov . 2-3
ASHEVILLE, NC
"Learning to Focus on Life" - seminar
Dr. Scout Lee , part Seminole Indian,
author, therapis t, professor, lecturer, comedian, mystic visionary, and
master game player
Offering experiences to develop creativity, courage, power, love, and fun
Pre-register: Cat Gilliam
16 Lookout Dr .
Asheville, NC 28804
(704) 254-8140
3-16
9
BRASSTOWN, NC
Fall Craft and Rome Week
(Blacksmithing, tool sharpening, weaving, quilting,
ax handles, wind energy
turbine construction)
John C Campbell Polk School
See 10/5-6
Georgia Organic Growers '
Association Fall Conference
For information, contact:
Deborah Pelham
1185 Bend Cr eek Trail
Suwanee, GA 30174
l \\. BURLESO
N
November
I 3
October
4 6
Meditation in Action -
K.'""''
A
YO!!<' Weekend, With the
Southern Dh,,rm., St~rr
II
14
18 23
2S 27
A lfiking Meditation Wnkend foll Color l>oscm.oery. With JOHN ORR
An Intens ive Meditation Re trea t With JACQUELINE S. MANDELL
Yoga in the Iyengar Tntdillon W11h ULLAH SCHWARTZ
@
8 . 10
15 17
22 24
Joy and laughter · Finding Your
Inner Child - With HARRIET ELDER
A Weekend of Tibetan Buddhist
Meditation - With JON BARBIERI
A New View of Ancient Astro logy With HARRIET M1LLER
Neuro·Lin.guistic Programming -
With MIKE BUCKNER
Dec. 28 · A New Year's Meditation Intensive Jan. 4 With JOHN ORR
Southern Dharrna Retreat Center is located in a remote area of the Smoky
Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina. For further information about
Southern Dharrnaorabout any of the programsabove,call(704)622 7112,or
254·1351. or wnte;
SOUTHERN DHARMA RETREAT CENTER
Rt . I, Box 34-H
Hot Sprmgs, NC 28743
~ &Co. ~
~~ . . . --<-._
~
he rbs, native plants, perennials,
flowers, fruit trees, bulbs,
bedding plants.
80 lake&ide Drive
8/ IOths of a mile from Hardee'•
in Franklin, N.C.
for informatio n call 524-3321
SOLAR HOUSE WITH
C~USE
area near Franklin. Passive
solar w
ith cedar siding and tria, win·
dow quilts, tromb wall. $68,500, negotiable financing. Call 524-3321
during business hours.
Fall 1985
!i - ~
�NICARAGUAN COFFEE. Delicious,roasted
coffee beans or ground coffee available for $6.00 a pound. Contact:
Steve Livingston (704) 257-3019
LEGAL ENVIRONMENTAL ASSISTANCE FOUNDATION (LEAF) is a public interest law
firm which works with the public,private and governmental sectors to promote a quality environment. More info: LEAF, 602 Gay St. Suite 507,Knoxville, TN 37902
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED at the Laurentine
Shelter for the homeless to stay for
either the evening or overnight. Ic
Asheville,NC. Call Carol Lathuras:
(704) 252-2752
APPALACHIAN PEACE EDUCATION CENTER
(APEC) publishes APEC News, an informative peace newsletter for the
southern VA area. More info: APEC,
114 Court St., Abingdon, VA 24210
GREENPEACE has established the
Rainbow Warrior Emergency Fund to
provide funds for the care of the
children of the crewman who got
killed when their flagship was
bombed in July and to get the ship,
the Rainbow Warrior, seaworthy again. GREENPEACE, 1611 Connecticut
Ave NW, Washington, DC 20009
MADISON COUNTY PLOWSHARES PEACE
GROUP has postcards of their "Windows on the World" Friendship Quilt
available for $3.00 a dozen, ppd.
Contact: Karol Kavaya, 25 Back
Branch, Marshall, NC 28753
SELF-HELP CREDIT UNION has now opened a branch office in Western North
Carolina through the State Employees
Credit Union system. For more info:
Write: S.B.C.U., P.O.Box 3259 , Durham, NC 27705. Or go by: State Employees Credit Onion, 200 All Souls
Crescent, Asheville, NC/telephone:
(704) 274-4200.
SEAT WEAVING. Caning, rush, split
seats. Also classes available. Call:
(704) 253-6241
ONGOING SESSIONS in Raja Yoga for
beginning and continuing students.
Pre-registration required. Raja Yoga
Ashram, 272 Patton Cove Rd, Swannan
oa, NC 28778. (704) 686-3037
S.T.A.R., Space Technology And Research Foundation, is a non-profit,
tax-exempt organization which uses
monies to advance all aspects of
parasensory phenomena and psi research. For contributions or subscription to bi-monthly newsletter:
S.T.A.R. Fdtn, 448 Rabbit Skin Rd ,
Waynesville, NC 28786
RURAL SOUTHERN VOICE for PEACE
(R.S.V.P.) is a network of people in
rural/small city communities in the
Southeast who are working to build
the nonviolent alternative systems
and lifestyles that can bri ng peac e
to our world. Publishes RSVP Newsletter. More info: RSVP, Rt 5 Box
335, Burnsville, NC 28714
SO~H
A VARIETY OF
WHOLESOME BAKED COODS
704 293·5912
tiWV. 107
RT. 68 BOX 125
CULLOWHEE, NC 28723
~Sl 1 - '...-"°"Bl RD
: cttd.. , £ rcd""ood
·""'
rR
gn~"~!~
WHOLISTIC HEALING SEMINARS in Barbados. For more info: Rita Li vingston,
% Loving, 1424 South Palm Way, Lake
Worth, FL 33460. (305) 582-7902
PRE '68 DELUXE SUNROOF VW MICRO
BUS Wanted. With good body; Not
running, O.K. Contact: We8go,
216 Botany Rd, Greenville, SC
29615. (803) 244-4786.
WRITERS WORKSHOP. Classes in
poetry, science fiction, technical writing,etc. At "ls Wall St.
Room 18, Asheville, NC 28801.
(704) 669-5471
WEBWORK1NG is free.
Send submissions to:
Katua h
P .O.Box 873
Cullowhee, NC
28723
PROOUCTS WATER ANAlYSIS
RANDALL C LANIER
c"';lom ""ood
I N 17th YEAR OF PUBLICATION, Akwesasne Notes is a Journal for Native
and Natural Peoples, covering world
events which effect indigenous peoples. For subscriptions or tax-deductibl e contributions: AKWESASNE
NOTES, P.O.Box 196, Mohawk Nation,
Rooseveltown, NY 13683-0196.
1
I
We. now
---+-I
BU ll::DING
&
NATURAL FOOD STORE
& DELI
r-
REM OD ELIN G
~liH:::E:~r- -- ·
residentia l
commercia l
h4ve. e.ue.n.s.ive. montht.lj
~pec.ia.l.6,
c.ui.th
4
cU6 6e1tent:
SUPER SPECIAL EACH WEEK
160 Broadway
Asheville, N.C. 28801
(704) 253-7656
Where Broadway
Meets Merrimon
.\nd 1·240
Open 7 Days A Week
Monday · Friday
9:00 a.m. · 8:00 p.m.
Saturday
9:00 a .m. · 6:30 p.m.
Sunday
1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m .
�GET BACK! ISSUES OF KATUAH
ISSUE ONE -AUTUMN 1983
ISSUE FIVE - FALL 1984
Scotch-Irish Migratiof-lfit::? Meditations: Kat-·<-· 1(5"\~\J
~
Al+-~- ~ n
~tnl.CS • Old
Ti
\.?,. .tfioregioris • Chicken
Wi.c: uam • Poetry: George Ellison
Harvest • Old Ways In Cherokee •
Ginseng • Nuclear Waste • Our
Celtic Heritage • Bioregionalism
Past, Present, And Future • John
Wilnoty • Healing Darkness •
Politics Of Participation
®\Q.I
@
ISSUE TWO - WINTER 1983-84
ISSUE SIX - WINTER 1984-85
Yona • Bear Hunters • Pigeon River
• Another Way With Animals • Alma:
Poems • Becoming Politically Effective • Mountain Woodlands •
Katuah Under The Drill • Spiritual Warriors
Winter Solstice Earth ceremony •
Horsepasture River • Coming of
Light • Log Cabin Roots • Mountain Agriculture-The Right Crop•
William Taylor • Forest's Future
ISSUE THREE - SPRING 1984
ISSUE SEVEN - SPRING 1985
Sl.lstainable Agriculture • sunflower_, • Human Impact On The
Forest • Childrens' Education •
Veronica Nicholas: Woman In
Politics • Little People •
M d icine Allies
e
Springs • Worker ownership • The
Great Economy • Self Help
Credit Union • Wild Turkey • Responsible Investing• Working
In The Web Of Life
ISSUE FOUR - SUMMER 1984
ISS UE E I GHT - SUMMER 1985
Water Orum • Water Quality • Kudzu
• Solar Eclipse • Clearcutting •
Trout • Going To Water•Ram Pumps
• Micro hydro • Poems : Bennie Lee
Sinclair, Jim Wayne Miller
Ce lebration: A Way of Life •
Katuah 18,000 Years Ago• Sacred
Sites• Folk Arts in the Schools
Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle • Hilda
Downer • Cherokee Heritage Cen ter • Who Owns Appalachia?
KATUAH: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians
B0x 873i Cullowhee, North Carolina 28723
For more info: call Marnie Muller (704) 252-9167
Name
Regu l ar M
embership •.. • • $10/yr.
Spon sor .•..•.•.••• • • • •• $20/yr.
Cont r i b u tor ••••• • • • •.•. $50/yr .
Address
Enclo4ed
~~i4
C1 ty
State
Area Code
KATUAli -
Phone Number
page
31
i
r
sustainable Economics • Hot
Zi p
i4 ,
t66o ~~
$
to give
4n e~t~a boo4t
I can be a l ocal con t a ct
person for my area
f
I
I
I
i
ORDER FORM
Back Issues
Issue 2
Issue 3
Issue 4
Issue 5
Issue 6
Issue 7
ISSUE 8
@ $2.06
@ $2.00
@ $2 . 00
@ $2.00
@ $2.00
@ $2.00
@ $2.00
TOTAL PRICE
postage paid
$
$
$-$
$
$
$=
$
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, Issue 9, Fall 1985
Description
An account of the resource
The ninth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on topics such as nuclear energy, pollution and the forests, and other challenges with trees. Authors and artists in this issue include: H. M. Spottswood, Michael Red Fox, Brian Caldwell, Gus Hadorn, Walton B. Smith, David Wheeler, and Thomas Rain Crowe. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1985
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
The Waldee Forest.......1<br /><br />The Trees Speak.......3<br /><br />Migrating Forests.......4<br /><br />"Hog Killing Saturday" - A Poem.......6<br /><br />Horse Logging.......7<br /><br />The Nuclear Suppository: We're Not Going to Take It!.......8<br /><br />Good Medicine.......10<br /><br />Starting a Tree Crop.......11<br /><br />Natural World News.......12<br /><br />Urban Trees.......15<br /><br />Acorn Bread.......19<br /><br />Myth/Time.......20<br /><br />The Children's Page.......27<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Forest management--Appalachian Region, Southern
Acid rain
Paleoecology--Appalachian Region
Trees in cities--North Carolina--Asheville
Cooking (Acorns)
Animals in logging--Appalachian Region
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1980s
Acid Deposition
Agriculture
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Black Bears
Children's Page
Folklore and Ceremony
Forest History
Forest Issues
Forest Practice
Good Medicine
Habitat
Katúah
Permaculture
Pigeon River
Poems
Radioactive Waste
Reading Resources
Turtle Island
Water Quality
Western North Carolina Alliance
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/cb0662a1107e02a736e92f90cdc2f90f.pdf
ef8b9a0b28d5d27d2222512b00b4eb12
PDF Text
Text
�������������������������������������
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, Issue 11, Spring 1986
Description
An account of the resource
The eleventh issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on community planning for a sustainable future: what, why, and how. Floyd County in Virginia is highlighted as an example of a progressive community. Authors and artists in this issue include: Judith Hallock, Marnie Muller, J. Linn Mackey, Tom Hendricks, Rob Messick, Will Ashe Bason, Jane Avery-Grubel, Katherine Chantal, Judy Cox, Rob Yard, Cotton, Colleen Redman-Copus, Michael Red Fox, and David Wheeler. <br /><br /><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1986
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
Why Community Planning.......1<br /><br />Digging In: A Model.......2<br /><br />Cities and the Bioregional Vision.......6<br /><br />Recycling: Garbage in Transition.......7<br /><br />Community Gardening.......9<br /><br />The World Village: A Poem.......10<br /><br />Seeing the Future Village.......10<br /><br />Floyd County, VA.......12<br /><br />Gasohol.......14<br /><br />Two Bioregional Views.......15<br /><br />Earthquake: The Nuclear Supplement<br /><br />Natural World News.......18<br /><br />Good Medicine: Visions.......20<br /><br />The Children's Page.......21<br /><br />Review: Foxfire Games.......23<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Community life--Appalachian Region, Southern
Community development, Urban--North Carolina, Western
Radioactive waste disposal--Appalachian Region, Southern
Community garden--North Carolina--Asheville
Floyd County (Va.)
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Spatial Coverage
Spatial characteristics of the resource.
https://www.geonames.org/4759449/floyd-county.html
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
||||osm
Floyd County (Va.)
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1980s
Agriculture
Alternative Energy
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Definitions
Book Reviews
Cherokees
Children's Page
Community
Education
Good Medicine
Habitat
Hazardous Chemicals
Katúah
Poems
Radioactive Waste
Reading Resources
Recycling
Turtle Island
Villages
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/a1feba40871ce614a08133c6846cda92.pdf
9ea20a95b097d62eeecabfc775e81415
PDF Text
Text
---~
ATUAB
$JOO
~
ISSUE XII
) " SUMMER 1986
�LIVI~ IN 'THE GARC>EN..............................................•...•...............1
r.c
Tl-E
Nl.n.EAR FEFERENDl.M..---···..····----·······-··········-···.3
SHIIT'Ali<E•••.••.•..•.•..•.......•......••••..•........................................................4
"Tl-E WATER CYCLE": A PC:EM...................................................•..6
'THE SACRE.D SCA,RAB.•...•...•...........................................................7
CIRCl.ES
~UNICATIC:>l'il-................................................•...8
a=
fEVIEW: JHEWISE VOMN HERBAL
FOO Tl-IE Cl-tll.DBEARI~ YEAR...........................................9
REVBV: 1HE SMALL-scAl..E AQ.JACULTI.JAE BOOK..........10
C3C:XD MEDONE: TOOA,COO.........................................................12
SUN ROOT.....•...................................................................................14
POEM: "THE HCMESTEAD ~ HORN MCX.JNTAIN"....-.............14
"HD..AHl'VlJ_.": THE FORMATIQ\J OF 1HE
APPAl..ACl-tlAN ~NTAINS.............................................15
NATIJRAL ~ NEWS..............................................................19
'1l£ WIUDNTIEE": ACHILDREN'S STORY......-.................25
•. ,·,· i.~
'"
NABC II...............................................................................................:;.,
M
N
,....
Q)
N
~
H
...l
0
~
u
i5
~
~
tj
~
g
u
M•
,....
co
t<
:i
Q
co
=
g
11111
ti
~
...
fj
a
8
fll
co
a
a
~
�......
ATUAH
~
Tf£ ffiSSlBLE ffiMOlst:
LtUING 1 THE: GAPlOc(\)
N
"The garden", as it is known in the community below,
occupies a small clearing among the folded ridges of the
Black Mountains. In the summer the Rarden blooms
profusely. Flowers, shrubs, vegetables, and trees crowd
toget~r in what first appears to be a wild disarray of diverse
colors and textures falling over the stone terraces stacked up
the hillside. A tiny log cabin and gnomish yurt stand at the
edge of the trees to one side, while "the pavilion", a large
buildmg that is both work space and community danc~ hall
looms above.
In the midst ofthe riot of Rrowth, partners Joe Hollis
and Rhea Rose Orm1Jnd work, looking like the small
human figures in the middle of a Chinese paiflling. Joe has
been on this site for 15 years now, intuitively creating an
enviroMMnt to meet his particular needs of habitation, and
consciously attuning and adapting himself to his chosen
niche.
KATUAH - page 1
ISSUE XII
SUMMm 1986
by Joe Hollis
illustrations by Rhea Rose Ormond
"I came here with an idea to start a garden. It took: me
a couple of years to clear trees and to build this cabin where I
live now. But then I started to garden. I started right in front
of the cabin, and I've been working out since then. The soil
is good here; there's a lot of leaf mold in it. But it took: a lot
of clearing to get out the roots, the stumps, the black:benies and the rocks. It is extremely rocky in this hollow. Some
kind of landslide ended up here. The rocks are all jumbled;
you can see how they ended up on top of each other. As I
began to dig them out. I made rock piles. Then. to get rid of
the rock piles, I made walls. Now this whole hillside is a
tcrraccd garden, and the terraces are still growing. There arc
rock piles down there right now waiting to get laid up.
"I started with the standard flowering percnniaJ plants poppy, Sweet William, bulbs. All good, sturdy local
varieties that I'd get by trading with old ladies down in the
neighborhood. Then when I bad some walls laid up, I got
the idea to put strawberries among the stones. Once I had the
notion that plants could help tie the walls together, I stumbled
into the world of rock gardening. For many people, rock
- continued on p. 13
Summer 1986
�'
2!2·,·!l·.·#jW:·,·H:l U¢iijiJ@ld!#lt·UO,.
· il!ll.
EDITORIAL STAFF THIS ISSUE:
Rob Messick
Martha Tree
Martha Overlock
J. Linn Mackey
David Wheeler
Will Ashe Bason
Chip Smith
Mamie Muller
Michael Red Fox
Scott Bird
Brad Stanback
Judith Hallock
EDITORIAL ASSISIANCE:
Joe Roberts
Brooks Michael
Jeff Fobes
EDITORIAL OFFICE
THIS ISSUE:
Asheville, NC
PRINTEPBY:
Sylva lk.rsls1
Publishing Co.
Sylva, NC
WEITEUSAI:
TELEPHONE:
(704) 252-9167
Kmih
Box 873
Cullowbee, NC 28723
COVER· Rob Messick
JR\10CllTJ0R
'fthf!""--.
~
Wt:. c.o.J£
~ Cl..~E
'f~f'lhs: . . wf. CD.fl Live
'f~t::.f:h.Ef" . . . 'ti£
f ~r -.-
CJ).N
or
Uu5t
'WE COil
W E eDN
'f~lher .. . wrz
'f~
will
OlrsdW:S.
\w;al. ~ E"ARt\\ ·
T~ ... '11€ ~ bir-th
f~ .. .
paicE.
our bo.bes.
~ ~ ~'4ES
~K as
ONE".
.. _ 'ti£ wi\\ uvf. oor clIEoJftS .
Statement ofPurpose
Here in the southern-most heanland of the Appalachian
mountains, the oldest mountain range on our continent,
Turtle Island, a small but growing group has begun to take
on a sense of responsibiliry for the implications of that
geographical and cultural heritage. This sense of
responsibiliry centers on the concept of living within the
natural scale and balance of universal systems and laws. We
begin by invoking the Cherokee name "Kariiah" as the
old/new name for this area of the mountains and for its
journal as well.
The editorial priorities for us are to collect and
disseminate information and energy which pertains
specifically to this area, and to foster the awareness that the
land is a living being deserving of our love and respect.
Living in this manner is the only way to ensure the
sustainability of our biosphere and a lasting place for~
ourselves in its contifll4ing evolutionary process.
) ,
We seem to have reached the fulcrum point of a "db or
die" situation in terms of a contilll4ed quality standard of life
on this planet. It is the aim ofthis journal tO db its part in the
re-inhabitation and re-culturation of the Kamah province of
the Southern Appalachians. This province is indicated by its
natural boundaries: the New River vicinity to the north; the
foothills ofthe piedmont area to the east; Yona Mountain and
the Georgia hill.s to the south; and the Tennessee River Valley
to the west.
Humbly, as self-appointed stewards with sacred
instructions as "new natives" to protect and preserve its
sacredness, we advocate a centered approach to the concept
of decentralization and hope to become a support system for
those accepting the challenge of sustainabiliry and the
creation of harmony and balance in a total sense, here in this
plaa.
We welcome all correspondence, criticism, pertinent
informa1ion, articles, artwork, etc. with hopes that K1l1fJ.gh
will grow to serve the best interests of this region and all its
living, breathing family members.
• The Editors
The Internal Revenue Service has declared K.aWAh a
non-profit organization under section 50J(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Code.
All contributions to KilWlb. are deductible from
personal income tax.
Summer 19 6
�I
THE IMPORTANCE OF SAYING "NO"
'
THE NORTH CAROLINA NUCLEAR WASTE REFERENDUM
by Avram Friedman
On May 6, 1986, 93% of the
electorate in North Carolina rejected the
location of a high level nuclear waste and
spent fuel repository in that state.
At first glance' this event may not
seem astounding, but its political
significance is potentially far-reaching and
could mean a watershed of good news for
environmentalists on the local, state,
regional, and national levels.
The news of this referendum is still
so fresh that as of yet many organiz.ations,
active individuals, and politicians have not
grasped the meaning of what has happened.
A Powerful New Tool For Local
Organizations
A powerful tool has just been handed
to anti-nuclear waste, anti-nuclear energy,
and environmental organiz.ations in North
Carolina State officials and politicians who
have their fingers lifted to the winds to
sense the public mood, just ran into a
hurricane. 1t is now a matter of public
record that Nonh Carolinians almost
unanimously reject participation in one part
of the nuclear fuel cycle. Politicians can
now be effectively pressured into taking
further environmentally responsible actions.
For example, since the referendum,
the Citizens for a Choice on Nuclear Waste
(CCNW), of Jackson County, has informed
every state legislator that North Carolina
should not enter into a "compact" with other
southeastern states that would result in this
state receiving all th~low-level radioactive
waste produced by the entire region.
CCNW told the politicians that the public
would be informed how each legislator
votes on the issue when the decision is
made this July in Raleigh. Will politicians
dare to stand against 93% of the public in an
election year?
Although the entire 93% cannot
necessarily be transferred from one related
issue to the next, a politician can only use
the information available to him/her to draw
assumptions about the public mood. The
only concrete indication available at this
time, concerning nuclear issues, is the waste
referendum. Combined with the Chernobyl
nuclear power plant accident in April, the
THERE WILL BE NO "SUSPENSION"OF
To those who have worked on the related
issues of the nuclear waste dump, the
Monitored Retrievable Storage Facility
(MRS), and the transportation of nuclear
waste through the mountains of KatUah, it is
blatantly obvious that the recent
announcemer.t l.>y Energy Secretary John
Herrington that the search for an eastern
waste suppository has been "suspended" is
a political move designed to take the heat off
the incumbent administration until after the
next presidential elections, at which time the
hunt for the second nuclear waste
suppository will be continued at full force.
It is hard to believe the degree of
callousness of those who would toy in this
way with the hopes, the dreams, and the
expectations of the people who live in the
affected areas. Ultimately, their scheme will
backfire, because eventually the people will
know that they have been disenfranchised
by the machinations of the technocrats who
seem to wield so much power in
government While it may put people to
sleep for a time, in the end it will serve only
to drive home the realization that doing
away with nuclear involvement altogether is
the only permanent solution to the problem
of nuclear waste.
Besides the obvious goal of
manipulating the electoral vote, the strategic
purposes of this move, the "suspension
announcement", are twofold:
First, the nuclear consortium hopes to
divide the anti-waste movement They hope
KA
AH-page 3
that by offering a false security to the
residents of the eastern states, they can
increase the pressure on the western states
to force a nuclear waste dump on them.
Onoe this is accomplished, they will then
tum their full attention to the goal of
establishing a second dump site in the east
The bureaucrats' second purpose is to
create a lull in which they might establish an
MRS facility in eastern Tennessee. The
MRS always has been and still is the !'mt
step in the strategy to bring a nuclear waste
dump into the Appalachians. Allowing the
MRS to be emplaced would constitute an
engraved invitation to emplant a nuclear
waste suppository in Katfiah sometime in
the future.
In one way the "suspension"
announcement is helpful. It makes clear the
difference between the politicians who are
working in the interests of the people of this
area and in the interests of the land itself and
those politicians who are working strictly in
their own interest or on behalf of large
corporations in other parts of the country.
Those who do not care about this land and
its people are parading about crowing, "It's
over! We've won! It's all finished now!"
They are trying to disarm us and put us to
sleep in the face of an impending nuclear
catastrophe.
But the leaders who have the interests
of the people at heart are cautioning that the
mountain interstates are stiJJ prime routes for
the transportation of nuclear wastes and still
referendum bas dramatically shifted the
burden of popular support to the nuclear
industry. Anti-nuclear groups will find it
much easier to convince politicians that the
safe political ground lies in opposing nukes.
In addition to the political leverage
gained in dealing with legislative action,
anti-dump groups and individuals will now
find it much easier and safer to carry out
further actions against the U.S. Department
· continued on . 26
DISBELIEF
opposing the MRS. A truly conscientious
leader would exhibit the courage to call for a
moratorium on the construction and
operation of all new nuclear facilities, but a
leader of such caliber has not yet stepped
forward.
The "suspension" of the nuclear
waste dump plan in the east does not mean a
suspension of interest on the part of the
DOE, but rather the suspension of a
panicular strategic approach that has proved
a failure. The DOE is simply going to
approach its self-chosen task more
carefully, trying to diYide and then conquer
the anti-suppository movement and to
disarm the people of Katuab in hopes they
would awaken one day in the future to be
faced with afait accompli in the form of an
MRS facility installed in Tennessee just
waiting to package high-level radioactive
wastes for a second waste suppository in
Appalachia.
If this country is to have a nuclear
future, and there is no doubt that this is
what the DOE, the present political
administration, and the giant energy
corporations desire, there will necessarily
have to be a second nuclear waste dump.
The recent "suspension" of activity makes
clear our task: to expose the actual
environmental and economic costs of
nuclear power and to promote the
development of a more viable fuel to power
our future.
,
ummer 1986
�by Michael Red Fox
The generic name is Lentinus e®des,
but say "shc-i-ta'-kee" if you want people to
know that you arc talking about an oriental
mushroom that has become a popular item
in western urban gourmet cuisine. Long
known in both China and Japan as "The
Emperor's Food" and jealously guarded by
Samurai warriors, shiitake today offers the
more democratic promise of being a
low-cost way to diversify small farm
income and to improve the health of regular
users.
Demand for the dark brown,
wide-gilled shiitakc mushrooms far exceeds
the present supply. Why the demand?
Because as well as being renowned for its
flavor, the easily grown mush.room resists
bruising and spoiling and can be quickly
pickled, canned, or dried (remaining
nutritious for 13 months). Using beat to
dry shiitakc enhances certain popular navor
characteristics. Shiitakc rehydrates well and
when cooked maintains its color and impartS
a smokey. full-bodied, aromatic navor
while maintaining a delightfully delicate,
fleshy texture. It can be added to any dish
which uses the familiar white mushroom,
though much Jess shiitakc is needed.
Shiitakc has twice the protein value of
the common mushroom and contains all
eight essential amino acids in proportions
similar to that or milk and animal nesh. It is
low in calorics and contains large amounts
of B vitamins and minerals.
For centuries, the Japanese have
priud the health· giving benefits of shiitake.
Now modern research shows that shiitake
reduces scrum cholesterol, strengthens the
immune system against viral diseases, and
bas prevented or caused remission of certain
typeS of tumors in mice.
Sbiitake already generates more than
$1 billion annually in export sales for Japan.
There arc nearly 200,000 shiitake growers
in Japan raising 161,000 metric tons of
shlitake every year.
Toby Farris, head of the USDA
Mushroom Project in Asheville, NC,
estimates that small farms in KatUah can
increase their incomes 30% by growing
shiitakc. But he suggests that small farmers
gradually develop shiitakc cultivation as a
stabilizing second income rather than trying
to turn it into a get-rich.quick scheme.
Market price of fresh shiitake is
anywhere from $4.00 - 20.00 per pound.
This price varies according to the quality of
GROWING SHIITAKE - HERE'S HOW
There arc six key cultivation phases in
growing shiitakc, each of which requires
careful attention. These arc: 1) obtaining
viable inoculum (spawn) in pure culture and
storing it until use, 2) preparing logs for
cultivation, 3) inoculation, 4) laying the logs
to favor fungal growth, 5) raising the spawn
to favor fruiting, and 6) harvesting and
storing the crop.
Spawn: Shiitakc spawn is usually
grown on small dowel or peg-like pieces of
wood 3/8 to 3/4 inches in length that are
supplied in sealed autoclaved plastic
containers. Occasionally it is grown on
sawdust.
The spawn should be moist, generally
white, and appear rather fuzzy. Spawn may
be kept as long as one year under
refrigeration. The retail cost of spawn
varies widely, so it would pay to carefully
check different prices and quality.
the product and the location of the market
A com of oak firewood can sell for as
little as $30.00. That same cord of wood
could produce between $1,000 - 2,000 of
shiitake during the average five-year life
cycle.
Preparing the logs: The most
important ingredient of a good shHtakc farm
is a sustainable source of hardwoods,
prefcrabTy oak,. 6CCCii, or hornbeam. Softer
hardwoods, such as poplar and maple arc
being used experimentally to nurture
shiitakc mushrooms, but whether they have
a commercial future is still uncertain.
White, black, northern red, and chestnut
oak wilJ hold onto their bark and maintain
the proper moisture content for shiitake.
Thick-barked trees, such as locust, hamper
the inoculations and spread of the shiitakc
spawn.
A growing area is necessary that
provides protection from direct sunlight
(70-85% shade is best) and from strong
winds. Nearby there must be a good source
of clean water.
Shiitake is a non-pathogenic fungus
and will not grow on living tissues. It
survives on dead wood only and must
establish itself before competitive fungi
colonize the wood. For these reasons, only
live trees arc cut for shiitakc cultivation.
Cutting the live tree is best done in the
fall or winter to capture the supply of sugar
stored in the dormant wood. Also the bark
tends to stay on the logs longer if the trees
arc cut when the leaves arc gone. Keeping
the bark on the logs and keeping it intact is
�critical for proper moisture control and to
block competitive "weed" fungi
Logs are cut to 3-5 foot lengths and
may be 2-8 inches in diameter. Branches
may also be used. Seal the ends of the logs
with a latex paint or soft wax to provide a
moisture barrier and to keep out the "weed
fungi". It is important to keep the exposed
log ends from coming in contact with the
soil. Therefore, never skid the logs from
the forest. Soil contact greatly increases
contamination of the logs. Stack the logs
off the ground for six weeks to allow the
natural defense mechanism against fungi to
die off and allow the moisture level to adjust
to 50-70%.
How will you know when the logs
have reached the proper moisture level? It
can be measured by slicing off the end of a
log and weighing it This figure is the net
weight Weigh the cut end again after it has
been dried overnight in a warm oven. This
figure is the dry weight. Subtracting the dry
weight from net weight gives the weight of
the water in the slice. Dividing that figure
by the net weight of the piece gives the
percent of moisture in the log.
Before inoculation, scrape lichen,
mosses and debris off the logs without
damaging the barlc.
Inoculation: Inoculation is best
done when daytime temperatures are 50-60
degrees F and the coldest weather is past.
March and April are the best times to
inoculate. Inoculation should be done in a
shaded area to avoid direct exposure of the
spawn to sunlight
To inoculate the logs, drill holes 6-8
inches apart in a row along the length of the
log.
Insert a dowel in each hole
immediately after drilling. Space the rows
so that the holes are staggered and 2-3
inches apart around the citcumfercnce of the
log. Tap the dowels in gently with a
hammer and immediately brush over the
plug with a thin layer of wax. Growth
begins almost immediately under favorable
conditions. If sawdust-grown spawn is
used, the holes should be completely filled
with the sawdust-and-spawn mixture.
Laying: In practice, most failures in
shiitake cultivation have been traced to
incorrect stacking of the logs in the "laying
yard" that creates conditions that favor
"weed fungi" instead of the shiitake.
Logs should be laid at a 45 degree
angle to encourage growth of the shiitake
mycelia. They should be reversed every 2-4
months to encourage even mycelial growth.
In addition, the logs may be soaked in water
for 18-24 hours if necessary during
exceptionally dry periods. The optimum
conditions in the laying yard are
temperatures between 59-82 degrees F and a
relative humidity of 80-85%.
Raising: The following winter the
logs can be moved to the "raising yard".
There they arc laid nearly upright or stacked
log cabin style and kept shaded and moist
until fruiting.
A relatively dry log surface will help
discourage the growth of surface molds.
Therefore, if logs are watered artificially,
they should be watered thoroughly for a
relatively short period of time. Studies
show that if motsture is maintained near
70%, a 50% increase in production will
result, but light, frequent waterings should
be avoided.
In commercial production,
dehydration of the logs followed by soaking
in cool water 55-70 degrees F is often done
to stimulate fruiting. Logs that have been
dehydrated usually produce bumper crops
within a week of being soaked! Soaking
also tends to eliminate cerUin kinds of
pests.
Any logs that lose their bark should
be discarded. Old logs should be disposed
of in a separate location a good distance
from the cultivation site.
logs ca.n provide 3-5 years of consistent
cropping of shiitake mushrooms.
Cultivated in the Orient for more than
400 years and praised as the "ginseng of
mushrooms" and "elixir of life'', shiitake
offers special promise for small farmers in
Katuah.
Happy 'shrooming!
SOURCES OF SHIITAKE MUSHROOM
SPAWN AND CULTIVATION AIDS:
Fruiting: Shiitake is capable of
fruiting only after the mycelia have
completely colonized the log. First fruiting
usually occurs early in spring or in late fall
of the year following inoculation. At this
time, a fuzzy white fungal growth can be
seen at the cut ends of the Jog in the
sapwood area, especially just under the
bark. From this time on, conditions should
be altered w favor fruiting.
To fruit, the fungus requires abundant
moisture, sufficient air movement, and little
exposure to light Fruiting is favored by
cool nights of 46-72 degrees F followed by
warm days and a constantly high relative
humidity of 85-90%.
When the mushrooms appear, the
caps begin as round buttons and flatten out
as the mushroom matures. They will
eventually reach a size of 2-6 inches in
diameter. A flush of shiitake may last a
week.
Harvesting:
Mushrooms are
harvested as the cap begins to open to
expose the gills. Fresh shiitake can be
stored under refrigeration in ventilated
containers for 2 weeks.
Continuing Harvests: After
ceasing to produce mushrooms, the logs
must be rested for 3-6 months in an
environment similar to the raising
conditions. Winter conditions in KatUah
ordinarily would not damage the mycelia as
they lay dormant, ready to flush again
during the next spring and again the
following fall. Properly treated and cured,
American Forest Mushroom Association
P.O. Box 1362
Asheville, NC 28802
Ellie Corporation
Route 1
Arvonia, VA 23004
Mushroompeople
P.O. Box 158
Inverness, CA 94937
Dr. Yoo Farm
P.O. Box 290
College Park, MD 20740
REFERENCES:
Shiitake News ($25 I year)
from Forest Resource Center
Route 2, Box 156-A
Lanesboro, MN 55949
Shiitake Oardcnine and Fannin&
by Bob Harris ($3.00)
CUltiyation of Shiitake The Japanese forest
Mushroom. on Loes
by Gary Leatham ($1.50)
How to erow Forest Mushrooms CShiitakel
by Daniel D. Kuo and Maw H. Kuo
($10.45)
(Books listed above are available from
Mushroompeople)
"
�KATUAH - page 6
Sum.mer 1986
�I have been _successfully
experimenting with scandt1'cctles and their
larvae as an answer to the problem of
disposing of human waste. After eight
years of 'field research', I feel I can now
pass on what I have uncovered to .Ka.1Wih
readers.
Scarab beetle larvae eat fecal matter
with a vengeance, turning it into a flaky,
dry, odorless substance, which can later be
used as a fertilizer. It is an extremely
sanitary process, and no flies venture near
the scarab beetle's domain, as they'll eat fly
eggs too. The waste becomes so broken
down or compacted that an individual could
not fill a two foot square bole for many
years no matter how much food be
consumed.
A change of location will not confuse
the beetles, provided it is not too far away.
All you need do is dig a new hole and bait
it, and when spring has been around for a
while, the beetles will be in the base of the
hole awaiting your return. They will roll the
fecal matter into little balls and lay their
eggs.
You may cover the hole with the
luxury of an outhouse, or simply cover it
with plywood so the scarabs won't drown
when it rains. And as a matter of courtesy I
avoid urinating on them. An empty jar will
suffice for thaL Also avoid using lime.
In peak summer months, one visit to
the outhouse will be disposed of in a matter
of minutes, provided you have built up a
good population. They slow down activity
when the nights get below freezing, and
when the days no longer hold wannth they
become dormant, not noticeably becoming
efficient again until late spring or early
summer. I know one fellow who kept his
larvae warm enough to keep them active
throughout the year so that there was no
gap. I have an alternative outhouse that I
use a few months out of the year. This past
year my larvae did not close up shop until
early January, but I kept a number of the
larvae alive on into the winter by placing a
large frying pan over them. On cold ni~hts
this was warmed by a candle I placed m a
jar covered by a metal lid punched with
holes. I would pull it all off in the mornings
and all the little things would be huddled
under the operation. But I began to worry
that I might be interfering with their normal
life cycle or that when the new adults came,
they might cat the balls with the eggs. In
any case, on the coldest night of the year
they perished. Either the candle went out,
or after setting up my little rig, trembling,
with a flashlight in my mouth, I forgot to
light the candle. They must have cocooned
or died thinking I was crazy.
I think they can be kept alive in the
KA
AH-page 7
winter, but at this time I would recommend
keeping a batch to survive the winter and a
batch to keep their natural cycle for this
region.
Facts on scarab beetles arc mentioned
in some texts, but utilizing their
undertakings has never been considered,
nor their effectiveness realized. At least not
since the Egyptians, who regarded both
beetles and their larvae as sacred.
My variety of beetle is indigenous to
the piedmont of South Carolina. They arc
black and arc about the size of a quarter. A
smaller, colorful variety has infiltrated their
ranks in lesser numbers.
I do not have any good pictures of
them. I have a very overexposed slide of
one beetle. The slide was taken under far
too powerful a flash. The photographer
should have gone with a bright light (but be
was stressfully lazy). Usually they arc very
gentle and docile, but this poor beetle must
have bu.med its retinas out, for it went
berserk - I never knew they could move that
fast I put it back in the gallon jar to take it
back home, but somehow it escaped,
probably into the environs of the car, and I
have felt quite sick about it ever since.
When you get to know them, you will know
that this is no joke.
I have never considered turning this
operation into a business, though the right
person with the right setup could easily do
so. If the dung ball gets rolling I could bask
in the knowledge that I had done
humankind, Mother Earth, and life itself a
great service. I do not really eat enough to
punch them out in vast quantities, though I
do have more than enough, and usually feel
obligated to make sure they get enough to
eat during their active cycles. If I bad a
larger setup a.n d more active, shitting
humans, populations would soar. And I
could go to Europe!
I personally started with about 60
larvae. I expect 7- 10,000 by late summer,
but it could be in the millions with more
food. Sending larvae is a way to start a
herd. They arc clean and easy to ship. I am
willing to give away starter colonies maybe for a $10.00 mailing and handling
fee. And if someone is enterprising enough
to get a business going, a bumble royalty
would not insult my virtues.
Neither the larvae nor the beetles arc
offensive to the sight or in any other
manner. They are man (sic) and beast at
their finest hour.
For more information, contact
Corry
P.O. Box 5242
Columbia, SC 29250
The ancien1 Egyptians Wt!refascinated
by the small scarab beetle. The scarab
beetle, Scarabeus sggr, "lays its eggs in a
ball of dung some two inches across,· this it
subsequen1ly pushes around with its rear
legs with great determination, loohng for a
suitable crevice in which to deposit it.
Inside the ball, the larvaefud on the dung until they eventually break through the ball
to freedom. This was regarded by the
ancienr Egyptians as a most mysterious
process of self-generation: the young butlu
appearing from a ball qfdung aµr they had
been helped only by a single scarab butle.
Jn a grand analogy, ii was a beetle thal was
seen to be rolling the sun itself over the
eastern horizon, as the climax to the
self generative processes thal had taken
place during the night. The beetle itself
became a symbol for the change of state
from deaJh to rebirth, which was ofprimary
interest to the ancienl theologians, who
described it in sorru: ofthe long tats ofthe
royal tombs in considerable detail. The
beetle also became one ofthe most popular
symbols of ancien1 Egypt and small scarab
seals were made in mi/JWns, a tradition thal
continues to this day. It seems too, that
parts of the mysterious functions of this
beetle have never been lost since ancien1
times; early in the presen1 cenJUry the village
women of Thebes ate these harny black
insects which were supposed to aid their
fertility, and many properties similar to the
ancient symbolisms are attributed to
Scarabeus sacer in the writings of the
mediaeval alchemists."
from valley Qf tbc Kines.
byJohnRorru:r, 1981.
~
Summer 1986
�"-"X.1.NB NEW FR.1.ENDI
HAV\NCl J'UNI
J'1.JU:I "11.'JlU>UT '1.o\'J'Cf(£1
J'ORAB1.NB "11.LD FOODI
CONCf:N'Jll..tTI.ON •.. .• CR.ljlTALI ... . . tC&U.1.NB
11.NCl'lNCl
D.ANC1.NCl
DR.WU
1.N TH£ 11"1£.U LOME . ••••
KAWAH - page 8
J'1.ND'lNCl "1KO "1£
~
Summer I 986
�Review
Wise Woman Herb al
Childbearing Year
for
the
by Susun S. Weed
published by Ashtree Publishing, POB 64,
Woodstock, NY 12498
($ 6.95 plus $ 2.00 for shipping & handling)
reviewed by Ise Williams
For more than a million years Wise Women have used
herbs - ga1hered, eaten, tended, loved herbs - and taughl their
daughters the wisdom of herbs in the cllildbean·ng year.
In Europe, five hundred years ago, men tortured and
burned the Wise Women who healed with herbs, the
midwives, the ones who celebrated the cyclical ways.
Calling them witches, they burned them in millions and
broke the flow of mother-to-daughter transmission.
In the Americas, their sons in later years killed the
medicine women and c11randeras. the Wise Women of the
New World. Then they denied the existence of Wise Wome"
in history.
Without our connections ro each other and the Earth,
withollt our mothers' wisdom, we forgot our power. When
we were told that we had no souls, and no minds, and no
sisters, we believed it was true. When they cold us that
childbearing was too difficult for women, midwives, and
herbs, we believed it was true.
Bm the Wise Women live in our dreams, our visions,
our deepest munories. We hear their whispers, and we
listen..
Wise Women herbalists see the whole herb, the
physical forces and the subtle forces, and respect the
wholeness. Wise Women make use of rite color, form,
spirit, and substance of a plant, using it as a whole, not
dividing it into parts and seeing power only in the HactiveH
principle. Wise Women lcnbw thaJ we are each whole and
unique, in an individu.a l, everchanging, symbiotic
relationship with herbs.
Wise Woman healing is grounded, earthed, rooted.
The Wise Woman accepts herself and her changes, her
moods, and her bleedings. She tends to birthing and dying
withaur alienaiion from herself or rite ones site helps. Site is
open to the life song surrounding her, she ~ the secrets
of the herbs. Fairies appear to her; devas bless her. All that
she needs for health and well-being grows within the fall of
her foot.
This book speaks to the Wise Woman in you - the
pregnant woman - aT1d to the Wise Woman in your mare,
lover, midwife, doctor, childbinh educator, and friends. It is
based on the belief that you are capable of observing yo1u
own body, heart, and mind, responding to the messages you
receive during the childbearing year, and caring/or yourself
in a context of loving s11ppon and assistance.
·from the introduction
Thie; is a wonderful herbal. one that I'm sure will
become the companion of many a pregnant woman, and also
a resource that goes far beyond lhe childbearing year. Since
pregnancy is a period of growth which couches on all aspeccs
of our lives, I find many of the issues covered are also
applicable to the situations of my non-pregnant friends,
women and men alike.
The dedication makes clear the spirit m which lhe book
is written:
May the six directzons empower tlus medicine work. May it
be pleasing to my grandmothers, the a11ciem ones. And may
it be of benefic to all beings.
One of lhe chapters, titled "Herbal Pharmacy", covers
very concisely how co respectfully encounter planes in our
environment and how to safely tum them into water-.
alcohol and oil-based herbal medicines. le is an excellent
and comprehensive guide for everyone desiring to take
responsibility for their own health care.
KATUAH - page 9
The book is written in the Wise Woman tradition,
which views everything as cyclical and deeply
interconnected. In these ancient traditions, once owned by
each tribe and each people, women were the gacherers and
growers of herbs, the nunurers, and the healers. Today
more and more men are beginning to work out of the same
stream of consciousness. However, in our society the oral
tradition has been brutally interrupted by the medieval witch
burnings. A large body of knowledge was destroyed and
losL We are only now beginning to reclaim it. Healing
ways evencually were narrowed down co male-dominated
allopathic medicine, which is linear in Lhink.ing and promotes
a world view of black and white, of sickness versus health.
Wise Woman healing begins with nourishing and nurturing
and reseIVes dramatic interventions as the last reson.
"Wise Women understand the attunement built into our
cells after thousands of generations nourished on wild foods,
the special kinship our bodies have with the vital elements
condensed in herbs", says Susun Weed. Consequently
you'll find in this Wjse Woman Herbal references to other
pertinent publications, addresses of conscientious herb
businesses, appendices that list herbal soun:es of vitamins
and minerals, and recipes for herbal preparations. There are
lovingly handwritten notes in the margins that give the names
of herbs in different languages - including Russian and
Chinese! A comprehensive index makes it easy to locate
specific information.
Susun's knowledge cenainly could fill many a
volume. I hope that Susun will find the time to be a prolific
writer, besides being an avid gardener, homesteader,
naturalist, feminist artist, and travelling lecturer/workshop
facilitator. Presently, her busy schedule takes ber from coast
to coast, attending herbalists' conferences and sharing the
knowledge extracted from 20 years of studying and working
with medicinal herbs.
The Wjse Woman Herbal is written with compassion
and from direct experience. It is not just another compilation /;:;41"
of facts retrieved from other books. What a blessing!
p
'* Elder
The fragile, cream-colored flowers of Sambucus
species, when tinctured., provide a superb remedy for treating
infants' fevers. Elder blossom tincture seems to encourage
balance in the mechanism which regulates temperature. It
reduces frighteningly high fevers without fail. Put one drop
per pound of body weight directly under your baby's tongue,
or slide the dropper alongside your nipple and administer the
drops while the baby is nursing. (Measure the drops into a
spoon, then take the correct dose into the empty dropper.)
The dose may be repeated as often as needed; it is completely
harmless. The fever usually begins to decrease within a few
hours of the first dose.
Stories abound about the dangerous Elder. And there
is a story told all over the world, in different cultures and
various versions, of the woman who lives in the Elder.
Sometimes she is called the Elder Lady, sometimes Elder
Woman, but my favorite name for her is Elda Mor.
The stories say that Elda Mor is a Wise Woman who
has taken the shape of a tree in order to heal her children.
She is powerful and she demands respect. If you wish to
have her help, you must honor her. If you abuse her, or fail
to ask her permission to take part of her, Elda Mor will
poison you.
Elder grows somewhere near you; look and ask for
her. When you find an Elder bush, develop a relationship
with Elda Mor. Visit with her from time to time. Then,
when the Elder blooms, go out in the moonlight and tell her
of your desire to heal with her magic and her knowledge.
She wilJ respond, granting permission for you to take her
sweet flowers. Thank her and put up your tincture
immediately, capturing moon beams, Elder dreams, and the
ancient wisdom of women in your bottle.
From The Wjse Woman Herbal for the Chjldbearine Year
�Review:
THE FRESHWATER AQUACU LT URE BOOK
A handbook for small scale fish culture in North America
The Freshwater Aguaculture Book· A Handbook for Small
Scale Fish Culture jn Noah America; William McLamey
(Point Roberts, WA 98281; Box 147; Hartley and Marks,
1984) 600 pp. 150 illustrations; appendices, index.
available from the publisher for $40.00 plus $1.00 handling.
The need/or aquaculture arises from the same root as
thaJ for agriculture. It is commonly accepted thaJ it would be
impossible to supply human demands for meat solely on the
basis of hunring wild game, or to provide all our fruits and
vegetables by foraging in the naJUral environment. Yet most
of the world still obtains fish in this manner, through
traditional "capture" fisheries based on natural stocks .....
The current world harvest of about seventy million
metric tons per year is not nearly enough to go around, much
less to keep pace with the demands imposed by a
still-increasing human population. The obvious solution is
oquacubure.
- The Freshwater Aquaculture Boole
Bill McLarney was trained as a fisheries biologist at
John Carroll University and the University of Michigan. He
was a co-founder and director of aquaculture studies at the
New Alchemy Institute in Massachusetts, which for 20 years
has done pioneer experiments in ecological living. He
presently divides his time between Fran.k lin, NC in Katiiab
and Costa Rica, where he is director of New Alchemy's
Central America project
In the l 970's McLarney and his co-workers at New
Alchemy developed innovative techniques for small-scale,
low-budget fish culture. Because of their careful study,
observation, and creativity, many of the methods developed
then still stand as the simplest and most efficient available
today.
McLamey has distilled his years of experience and
research into The Freshwater Aguaculturc Book. He has
taken on an ambitious project, and has succeeded in giving
us a highly useful tool: a comprehensive manual for raising
all known varieties of food fish (as well as some types of
aquatic animals) in all the areas of Turtle Island where
fish-raising is feasible. There are also sections on
greenhouse and closed system culture.
McLamey's work is by far the most complete
collection of factual material on the topic to date, but it is also
of importance that he writes from a perspective that respects
the needs and conditions of local ecologies and the "hidden"
economic value and practicality of the efforts of small
producers. This makes The freshwater Aquacul!ure Book
eminently appropriate and a very valuable resource for people
who choose to worJc in the context of their own particular
locale.
WORLD AQUACULTURE
The introduction to the book is a brief survey of the
history and practice of aquaculture around the world. But in
the course of the world overview, McLarney breaks down
these two primary values, ecological awareness and
decentralization, into a set of principles which underpin the
information he presents throughout the book. Illustrative
examples are drawn mainly from the Chinese aquaculture
system, which McLamey regards as the most highly
develo~ in terms of simplicity, productivity, efficiency,
and minimal environmental disruption. But although the
language is "fish culture", the principles expressed could
serve as well to ensure the sound operation and long-term
survival of any type of bioregional enterprise.
Keep in mind thaJ part ofthe secret ofChinese fish culture is
in making the best use of a given local ecology and materials.
However, consider this: The currem average production of
traditional pond polyculture in China is said to be over 4 ,000
lb/acre/year (4,412 kg/ha/yr). (Much higher yields are
achieved in southern China and in southeast Asia, where the
growing season is year-round.) This is accomplished
primarily through the use of fertilizers, with no processed
feeds whatsoever, with virtually no technology, and using
ancient methods developed without benefit of scientific
research . The products of Chinese pond polyculture have
traditionally been available widely and cheaply; they are an
important factor in the nutrition of the Chinese people, as
well as in Chinese high cuisine. Chinese aquaculture may
also be regarded as ecologically beneficial, as it provides a
facility f or recycling organic "wastes".
The effect of s.kik must be considered for any
enterprise in terms of economics, necessary labor, and
relation to the surrounding environment to determine what is
truly the most effective and appropriate system. l l i
Freshwater Aquaculture Book emphasizes the simplest
possible systems that require the least capital investment and
are easiest to construcL
INTEGRATED FARMSTEAD
_
_
, _..,.,.....
a. ,.....,. ... ,.. .......
..
-------.!_
----___
-_ __
_
--.--......----_
__
- --...............................
.........
.__ ...._.
.. ..........
, ,.....
..
··- ~
._
11. T... _ _ _ ,.... _ _
· --- _
- _____
,....
----·--...... ,_,~
12.
~
... - . . - - , _ ......
ta.- ..... - - - - . -
14. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
-~-----
,.._...--.
,..
"·-
------"-Cont---.
-19. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
21.21.IU_...._
24........W--._,.....
KAWAH - page JO
Surnrnerl986
�From the many aquatic habitars available, rite Chinese chose
the small pond as providing the best combination of
prod11ctiviry and manageability. Though aquaculrure has
subseque111ly been pracriced in virmally every orher type of
aquaric environmen.t, the truth of this rarely acknowledged
insighr remains. Ponds are nawrally present in many
localities and may be constructed, by hand labor if necessary,
in nwst other places. As compared to larger laJces and the
oceans, a higher percentage of pond warer is relatively
shallow, hence more productive and easier to harvesr.
Srreams represent a rheorerically more productive
environment, but use of flowing waler often raises
comperirive situations with regard to water righ1s,j1Shing,
pollution, ere
culrure or eaJ comnu:m carp, and aquaculrurisrs had to seek
other fishJo raise. It was found rhar if one stocked several
kinds offish - say one which fed on the botrom, one which
fed in
mid-water, and one which could eat green leaves
provided by the farmer - grearer yields would be achieved
rhan if one stocked the same number of common carp only.
This was the beginning ofpolyculture. Through trial
and error and observation, Chinese fish culrurists eventually
developed much more complex polyculrures, in some cases
including as many as a dozen species. These culrure systems
are ofren unique to a particular locality, having taken
advantage of local conditions, availability of stocks ofj1Sh,
feed, or ferrilizer marerials.
WASTE UTILIZATION
What we wish to create are living systems, but it must
be remembered that these living systems are always parts of
greater ecosystems or natural communities and can only be
considered as parts of the larger whole. This concept
Mclarney calls jntemrion.
It is nor customary in Norrh America 10 rlunk of bodies
of water used for intensive aquaculture as parrs of a total
farm ecosystem. A commercial fish/arm is afHh.farm period. Yet inregrarion of terrestrial and aquaric crops and
byproducrs is part and parcel of many rraditional Oriental
food-producing systems. The Oriental approach, which is
more ecologically sensirive and less dependent on
technology, may be difficult to adapt to a large-scale
commercial situation in North America, but the small,
diversified/armer, parricularly the/armer for whom fish is a
subsistence crop, would do well to study it.
The related principlcS' of diversity and~ are basic
m considering any living community. Application of these
two ideas can work to stabilize and maximize the productivity
of a fish farm, as they do in nature.
It happened that the family name of the Tang emperors was
Lee, which has the same sound as the Chinese word/or the
common carp. For a time it was considered sacrilegious to
trout, e totem spirit of the Appalachian
The cul tu
waters, is well covered in The Freshwater AQuaculturc
.RQQk, and author Bill McLamey emphasizes methods that
are suitable and affordable for the small farmer and
homesteader. Bass-bluegill combinations do well in ponds
in all but the highest elevations of Katuah, but trout will
always be most in demand as the pre-eminent Appalachian
food fish and as representative of the cold, pristine waters
beneath forested slopes that so many people come here to
find.
Trout have special requirements for their culture and
require strict adherence to certain conditions to do well.
They thrive only in cold water (50-60 degrees F) and require
a high dissolved oxygen content (7 ppm) to simulate the
freshness of a running stream - moving water is the best
habitat.
Trout are almost exclusively carnivorous and therefore
require high-protein feeds. Because they favor cold water,
they grow more slowly than do other fish species, and they
are very sensitive to excessive handling and pollution.
Cold water environments have a low nutrient-carrying
capacity, so cold water food chains are shortened. Few
intermediate-size or vegetarian fish share natural trout
habitats. Therefore, trout ponds are essentially monoculture
situations, which seems to violate the principle of
diversifying the fishpond, but trout are virtually the only
accepted food fish that can be grown in cold water, and their
popularity makes their culture worthwhile.
Because The Freshwater Aguaculture Book is a
compendium of information covering fish-raising throughout
Turtle Island, no one fish farmer will be able to use all the
information the book contains. The best way to use the book
KA AH - page 11
It is said in the study of ecology that a climax system,
the most stable community possible at a given location,
develops many layers of use for available materials, so that
very little energy leaks out of the system.
In human terms, this is stated as "Recycle!", and an
important negative cntcrion of a system's effectiveness is the
amount of waste it generates. A system truly integrated
within itself and in the natural surroundings produces a
rninimum of waste.
The Chinese seem to have recognized rhe value of
pond fertility early on, and to have understood thatfish could
be grown more cheaply through fenilizarion with "wastes"
than by direct feeding with marerials which could be eaten by
other livesrock or by people.
These basic principles, which are also basic to the
ideas we choose to call "bioregional", are underlying
assumptions to the text of The Freshwater AQuaculture Book
and are inherent even in the structure of the book itself. For
in presenting fish culture, McLamey does not set out pat
formulas or a dogmatic school of practice. Rather, he 1)
introduces the fish and their habitat requirements, 2) gives
- continued on p. 24
is to read it through one time to get an overview of
aquaculture, the conditions that need to be considered, and
the options available, then to go back, aided by the
comprehensive index, and look up the special requirements
of the fish to be raised and find the most appropriate
methods.
Whether one wants to raise trout commercially for sale
to restaurants, operate a catch-your-own trout pond, or just
have a convenient source for a quick supper in the back yard,
trout raising has a place on almost any small farm in Katilah
where flowing water is available.
Among trout species, the rainbow trout (Sa/mo
gafrdneri ) responds best to culture. The native brook trout
(Sa/mo fontinalis) are smaller, prefer colder water, and grow
more slowly. They are therefore raised only when the farmer
has a specific market or a specific personal preference for
them. Brown trout (Salnw trutta ) are the preferred fish in
commercial hatcheries for stream stocking. Of the three
species, brown crout are the hardest to catch, most tolerant of
pollution, and attain the greatest size where food is plentiful.
But the browns are sensitive to overcrowding and the least
favored for eating, and so a.re not widely cultured as a food
source.
DESIGNING A TROUT FARM
The type of enclosure in which the fish are contained is
determined by the amount of moving water available and the
size of the operation desired. Ponds are easiest and most
economical to construct for the amount of water contained,
but raceways (defined by McLamey as any enclosure where
there is a constantly moving CWTCnt perceptible throughout)
as used in commercial hatcheries, can produce more fish in a
given area of available space. McLamcy discusses the
advantages of each and gives siting and design
considerations.
Trout feeding is another important variable that is
- continued on . 21
Summer 1986
�TOBACCO
We have been told that no non-food plant has had so
great an impact on humans as tobacco. It has affected the
whole world. It is a plant native to this continent, Turtle
Island, but now there is not a country in the world that does
not use tobacco in some fonn or other.
The elders say that tobacco is an ancient planL The
native Cherokee people call it the Old One or
Tsal Agayun1i. They believe that after the lichen, moss
and fem that the fU'St plant was ginseng and the second plant
was tobacco.
Native people consider plants to have a gender and a
personality like people. Medicine plants are plants used for
direct healing by treating a disease of the body or by altering
a person spiritually. European science would say that it is
the "active principle" in the drug that makes one well Native
people call the healing power of plants the "spiritual
personality" of the planL Healing with plants was based on
the principle of using something positive to get rid of the
negative or bad thing causing sickness. The spiritual
personality of tobacco used in the traditional way was female
and positive.
We have been told that there were two original types of
tobacco used by native people. The old tobacco, Nicotiana
rustica, has yellow blossoms, the other, Nicoriana tabacwn,
has pink blossoms. The old tobacco has about ten times the
nicotine content of the tobacco raised commercially today.
The old tobacco was jealously protected by the Cherokee. It
was not usually traded with other tribes, but the
pink-flowered tobacco was a common trade item.
We have been told that the old tobacco was used for
ritual and medicine purposes. It was raised in a special way.
A medicine person would go into the woods and plant the
tobacco seed in a spot he would clear by burning. They
might plant eight or ten of these patches so that no one would
see the tobacco. The tobacco would lose its power if
someone else saw it growing.
We have been told that tobacco was smoked in a ritual
at the beginning of any important councils. The hopes and
prayers of the people were sent up to all of the creation as the
smoke rose to the heavens. It was also the custom to smoke
tobacco when someone visited another person's lodge. The
pipe was brought out and liL It would be passed around and
everyone would take one or two puffs of the sacred smoke
before the conversation would begin.
We have been told that tobacco was used also in
fasting and on vision quests. It helped a person fast because
it cwbed the appetite and suppressed the need to sleep. The
old tobacco of the Cherokees also helped to bring dreams and
visions.
We have been told that the pipes in which tobacco is
smoked arc important Native people have medicine pipes
and social pipes. Social pipes are made from clay or stone.
- page 12
Medicine pipes are carved from soapstone. The Cherokee
carved pipes are made from red or black soapstone. The red
stone is preferred, but it is hard to come by so that most
medfoine pipes are black. Images, say of a totem spirit or
animal teacher are carved on Cherokee pipes. A medicine
pipe never "belongs" to an individual. It is given to a person
by someone who thinks they are ready for the pipe.
Sometimes the pipe is a new one carved by the giver.
Sometimes the pipe bas been passed through several hands.
An individual is considered the caretaker, not the owner, of
the pipe. It is their responsibility to see that the pipe is
passed on in a good way. "A good way" means that the
pipe's new caretaker will take care of the pipe, use it
responsibly, and in tum pass it on.
We have been told that tobacco was an integral part of
a special ceremony to protect a sick person from "liver
eaters". These were people that bad the power to create an
illusion. They did not actually have the power to tum
themselves into an owl or raven, but they could create this
illusion. That is bow they moved abouL They would come
into a lodge and kiss a sick person or a person nea.r death to
taste the sweetness of their breath. The liver eater would
then draw the power from the liver of the suffering person.
This would immediately kill the person and the liver eater
would receive however much time that person had been fated
to live to extend its own evil life.
We arc told that in the ceremony to protect the sick
person, the medicine people would drive four sourwood
stakes around the lodge. They would then go into the sick
person's lodge and make a fire with sourwood or wood from
a tree that had been struck by lightning and had lived. They
would heap up the hot coals into a pile. Then they would
take a pinch of fine-ground "old" tobacco and hold it over the
coals. When the tobacco was dropped. it would fall in the
direction from which the liver eater was coming. If it hit
directly on center, then the liver eater was in the room or
above the roof. Theo another pinch of tobacco was dropped.
If it sparked or made an explosion, a person in the
community would die in four or five days, and that person
was the liver eater. That was how they killed the liver eaters.
We have been told that native people used the old
tobacco as an insect repellant on plants. It works well on
everything except tomatoes. Tobacco extract was spread on
beans and on the silks of the com. If insects eat the sprayed
parts they die, but usually the scent confuses the insects so
that they are not attracted. The only thing that eats tobacco is
the tobacco worm. Native people used the extract of the
nightshade plant to kill the tobacco worm. The extract was
made by boiling the nightshade plant in water and spraying
the water on the tobacco plants.
We have been told that tobacco was also used as a
poison. Pure nicotine is deadly in a dose as small as 100
milligrams. The nicotine was used on blow darts for revenge
killing. The darts would be soaked in nicotine for a long
time before they were used. The blow gun and poisoned dart
were used only in this way. They were never used in war.
It is true that native people never used tobacco as a
personal drug as it is frequently used today. It was taken
into the body only sparingly as part of a ceremony or ritual.
Used in this way, it promoted healing. The way it is used
today causes addiction and illness.
We have been told that among the Cherokee there are
tribal secrets about tobacco that cannot be revealed. When
these secrets are taught within the tribe, the one who receives
the knowledge promises not to reveal iL Keeping this lore
hidden is done not for the sake of the knowledge itself, but
as an obligation to the person who passed on the secret
teachings.
~
Summer 1986
�THE GARDEN - continued from p.l
gardening is a lesson in applied ecology. It deals mainly
with alpine plants, and rock gardeners go to extreme lengths
to duplicate exactly the conditions we have here: lots of
tumbled-down rocks and perfect drainage, yet deep moisture.
"In the terraces I was planting shrubs and vegetables,
and a few trees as l could obtain them, so it was all
progressing at the same time. All these beds are mixed
flowers and vegetables now. They say flowers help the
vegetables, but that is a meaningless distinction. They all
flower. They all should be here in as much diversity as
possible.
"A lot of my training has been learning by mistakes.
My gardening plan is simply to set out plants that I like, of all
different varieties and types and see what naturalizes and
multiplies. The plants you see here are the plants that have
survived a natural selection process at this site. I've used a
lot of self-seeding annuals. They pop up each year, and I
leave them where they're appropriate and pull them up where
they're in the way. They fill in all the holes.
"Berries are a good crop for around here. This is good
nut and berry country. It's easy to see, they grow so well in
the wild. Did you know that blueberries only became a
domesticated crop during the l 940's? Before that, people
found all they needed on the hilltops. The plant was brought
under cultivation under the auspices of the TVA right in this
area. They gave kids a piece of cardboard with a hole
punched in it If the kids could find a bush with berries that
wouldn't fit through the hole and could lead the growers to
it, they would earn $1.00. That's how they developed the
first cultivated varieties of blueberries.
"We're going to grow a lot more strawberries. We
became acquainted with an everbearing variety that produced
right up to Thanksgiving last year. Really good fruit! We
also have bush cherries, lots of currants, rosehips, barberries
- lots of food for wildlife. That helps to blur the line between
cultivated and uncultivated aspects of the garden.
"I've found that the easiest way to work is to use the
natural energy flows. For instance, we get some colloidal
phosphate, some lime, and some cottonseed meal for
fertilizers, but we try to bring as few materials up the hill as
possible. We plant rye in some of the beds in the fall and in
the springtime we turn it in with handforks. We pile the
weeds we pull out of the garden - it seems to generate a big
heap every three weeks.
"The creek that flows through the garden brings down
leaves during the spring floods. The stream is normally
buried by the landslide, but if it rains hard enough the stream
rises to the surface. [f it rains mal1:t hard, the stream will
flow right through the garden and on down the hill. But if I
wait until it's raining enough so that the stream recedes back
among the rocks inside the garden, I can go uphill and rake
leaves into the water and they'll be dropped off right where I
need them. They are deposited as wads of leaves mixed with
silt. I have to collect them quickly because the mixture rots
fairly fast. If I come back too late, it's already part of the
soil. It's a wonderful system: during one short season in
spring I can skim off a little of the surplus fertility."
~-.,, '{·~
. r,.
.
-..-
..:<::" - ~
- ~~~
' k.
"
. " /-
~~
~
•
Joe is a quiet individual. He can be goaded to
excitemmt when talking abour the plant.s or the people thaJ he
Loves, bur he is generally content to let the obvious evitknce
of the garden speak for him. He has spent marry moonlit
nights and many winter months thinking about his
relationship to the garden and the natural mountain
landscape, however, and this shows up when he can be
coaxed to speak ofthe deeper levels of his garden experience:
"The garden is a mandala (a circular design) that
expresses our understanding of the place we live. This
garden is my conscious attempt to live in the context of
nature. 'Paradise' means 'to be perfectly integrated in
nature'. The prevalent vision in western culture of a life in
accord with nature is the Garden of Eden, where human.kind,
Adam and Eve, were given the garden and charged to 'dress
and keep it' in the beautiful words of the King James version
of the Bible <Genesis 2: 15).
"But 'paradise' does not have to be an idealized place.
It is a way of living here, wherever we're at right now. It is
a co-evolutionary process - we change together. Living and
learning, 1 transform myself to live as this place demands,
and as part of the process I also transform this place into my
personal paradise.
"Eugene Odom had a more technical vision of the ideal
human niche, which he called 'the ecosystem manager'
whose function is to maximize the productivity and
perpetuate the survival of the system. The ecosystem
manager rearranges the growth of the natural environment a
little - snipping something here, starting something over there
- and s/he gets paid a little bit by all the diversity of other
creatures in the system
"It's a similar position to that of a bear or a wolf. If
there's too much of something, that's what the bear or the
wolf gets to eat that year. The service they perfonn for that
plant or animal is selection and population control, which is
to the benefit of that species. By keeping ecological balance,
the manager gets enough off the top to keep him or her alive
and functioning. By caring for the ecological principal, one
gets to live off the ecological interest An unlimited number
of people could devote themselves to that task, and it would
provide for all of them.
"Odom's somewhat mechanistic definition hinges on
food supply as the determining factor. This is basic, but the
idea of creating a niche also has to do with being surrounded
by beautiful things when one walks out the door. Our
aesthetic sense is a natural organizing system. It is a fine
form of positive feedback that is much underrated in our
culture. In this society the basic standard is the economic
one which is expressed in terms of profit and loss. But what
I'm saying is: 'Enjoy it!' Be spontaneous in gardening.
Trust that intuitive sense of rightness that we all have in us.
It is at least as true an indicator as the profit sheet of the
health and productivity of a natural community.
"Historically, some anthropologists believe that the
'Paradise' myth refers to the transition from a hunter/gatherer
economy to an agricultural economy. Rindos, in his book
7J;=---:;:::::=~~~~ar·(iSth'-~:BF:::::_.--,r - continued on next page
�- continued from p.13 THE GARDEN
The Orieins of Amcu!ture. puts the changeover into the
context of co-evolution, saying that there were changes on
both sides. The hunter/gatherers were working with plants maybe by weeding preferred crops or by planting some
selected seeds - and while the plants were changed to be
more what the people wanted, the people were also changed
as they developed certain behaviors to encourage these plants
- disturbing the ground, staying in one place,
experimentation, selection, and observation. These two
processes together produced the gradual development of the
agroecosystem.
"I think to some extent the people were seduced into it
Perhaps it was the plants who domesticated the people. I like
to think that certain plants tricked us into devoting our lives
to changing the world for their benefit One could look at it
either way.
"The food surplus produced by agricultural techniques
had the effect of increasing human population. This resulted
in a new context for human life as specialization developed
and people became more involved within the framework of
human society and less involved in the wider circle of nature.
The human sphere continues to expand. It is replacing the
diversity of nature with human diversity, and we are the
worse off for it
"A 'niche' is a way of describing an organism from the
ecosystem's point of view: it is the relationship of the
organism to its environment and the flows of energy and
matter. Because there have been no effective natural checks
on the human population, we have created an unhealthy niche
for ourselves, called 'civilization'.
"'Paradise' is a genetic memory of a time when
humanity was integrated into the natural environment. It
could be summed up as a continuing, spontaneous, intuitive
response to the world. But that spontaneous response to the
real conditions of life is buried under millenia of accretion of
cultural elaborations on the distinction 'good/evil'.
"The garden as you see it here is a conscious attempt to
invent and occupy an appropriate niche. Using the
knowledge of modern civilization, I am attempting to work a
way back through centuries of physical and behavioral
programming (our 'needs') to a real relationship with the
Earth, a transition to a natural support system.
"More and more," Joe reflected, "I'm beginning to feel
I should specialize in the flora of the Black Mountains. It's
such a beautiful habitat, and no one else has taken it on. I
need to get out there, spend more time in the woods, find the
specimens with the biggest fruits find the particular clones,
the things that should be propagated, and work with them,
get really involved....."
- recorded by DW
SUN ROOTS
The Sun Root is a native American vegetable which
was under cultivation by many tribes, including the
Cherokee, when white people arrived here. These white
people, for mysterious reasons, ignored this Indian name and
called it Jerusalem Artichoke. The Latin name is /leliaruhus
tuberousus, which means "sunflower full of swellings".
This is an accurate label because Sun Roots are a sunflower
with large, edible roots.
By whatever name, this is one of the world's most
practical and easiest to cultivate vegetables. They are started
from a piece of tuber in the spring, much like potatoes, and
are perennial in practice since even a very careful harvest
leaves enough tubers for the next year's crop. The stalks are
6 to 12 feet high and are topped by beautiful brown and
yellow flowers which smell a little like chocolate. Most
varieties produce mature tubers in 120 days, but the
Columbia and Stampede varieties are about 30 days earlier.
Tubers can be harvested any time during the fall, winter, or
early spring when the ground is not frozen.
Nutritionally, Sun Roots are interesting because they
have very little starch. Their carbohydrates are stored in the
form of inulin, which is composed of fructose molecules.
Humans lack the enzyme inulase which is necessary to break
down this inulin, so most of the calories of Sun Roots pass
through our systems unused. What is used is the protein,
which is of very high quality and high in lysine, and the iron
which is present in large quantity. These qualities, along
with their good taste, high quality fiber, and satisfying
crunch make Sun Roots a very good, low calorie snack food.
There are people at work developing the "artichip".
Sun Roots are an excellent feedstock for fuel alcohol
stills because of their large yields and the fact that inulin,
unlike starch, does not need to be broken down before
fermentation. They are also a very good potential source of
commercial fructose. A flour made from dried sun roots is
good tasting and high in protein. A protein extract can be
taken from sun roots which is 60- 70% high quality protein
and could be used to feed the world's hungry people. The
tops of this versatile vegetable are already finding commercial
use as an animal feed
(This information is taken from The ArticboJce
Connection; Rt 2, Box 157; Spartansburg, PA 16434.
Subscriptions are $10 a year and it comes out on a quarterly
basis.)
THE HOMESTEAD
ON HORN MOUNTAIN
Long ago
someone climbed to the top of this mountain
and dug a well.
This is the place, marked
by an elderly pine.
I part a way through the overgrowth
with my stick
to the black brackish water in its circle of stones.
This is mystery:
the circle,
older than the pine,
stone more ancient than the mountain: water
as eternal as all circles.
Someone lived here and drank that water
and disappeared under moss and bramble.
The ground is littered with rocks
of a fallen homestead.
The well is a shaft of memory sunk in the ground.
Turning to scribble a note to myself
I start to the sound
ofa motor.
since I last climbed Hom Mountain somebody
has cut a road just above the old homestead,
I can see the cigarette
in the driver's hand as a yellow truck comes
trundling past -
r duck below the bramble like the spirit of ruin
that haunts this place,
diving back down the black shaft
of undrinkable remembrance
past the names of mountains and roots of pines
down to the fertile aquifer of earth's
forgetfulness.
Stephen Wingeier
;e:t'
~
KAfUAH - page 14
))t
Summer 1986
�by 4 cords
hanging down ·
the island earth
from the sky vault
suspended
of solid rock
east
west
floating
north
south
in a sea of water
�0
750 MILLION
ON1CF.
-
650 MILU ON
I
'"\I'\ r.,
LG v..
n
·'""'......., .. .
A(~
The southern Appalachians have evolved in a series of
collisions of fragments of continental or island-an: material at
the eastern edge of North America.
About 750 million years ago magma rising deep from the
interior of the earth split a megacontinental expanse into at
least two large continents
Laurentia or proto-North America
Gondwana or proto-Africa
and at least
two continental fragments that included the Inner
Piedmont-Blue Ridge fragment and the Carolina slate belt
fragment ...
Volcanism started in the island an: of the Carolina slate belt
fragment some 650 million years ago.
...500 million years ago
the basin between proto-North America and the
Inner-Piedmont-Blue Ridge fragments began to close...
beyond the arch
in Galunlati above
when all was water
the animals were very crowded
and wanting more room
they wondered what was below the water
Dayunisi, the little Water-beetle
offered to go down and see if he could learn
It darted over the surface in every direction
but could find no firm place to rest
Then it dived to the bottom
and came up with some soft mud
which began to grow and spread
on every side until it became
the island Earth
500 MILLION
Most of the rocks at the swface of the southern Appalachians
are highly defonned metamorphic ones ... older than or
contemporaneous with the horizontal sedimentary strata
under them ... suggesting that roughly 415 million years ago
the swface rocks began to be transported as a thin sheet for at
least 260 kilometers over the eastern continental margin of
the land mass that was to become North America.
...from 300 million to 250 million years ago, the last major
compressional event was the Alleghenian orogeny. This
mountain-building episode can be attributed to the collision
of proto-North America and proto-Africa (or perhaps South
America) to form the supen:ontinent of Pangaea.
...a segment of the African
(or South American) continental shelf underthrust the eastern
margin of the Carolina slate belt fragment resulting in a
fold-and-thrust belt that went in the opposite direction...the
southern Appalachians...
...western Africa and northern South America
all have belts of folding and thrusting...
The Mauritanide
mountain chain of western Africa is characterized east to west
by a series of belts that are similar in some ways to the
Appalachian belts.
... the Mauritanids are a mirror image of the Appalachians...
�~75
MILLION
200 MILLION
300 .. 250MILLION
··....
'····· .......
at first the earth was flat
and very soft and wet
...
-~{_,:.:,+~. -
.·
the animals were anxious to get down
and sent out different birds to see if it was dry
but they found no place to alight
and returned to Galunlati
.....•
,,·
t
••
at last it seemed to be time
and they sent out the Buzzard
and told him to go and make ready for them
.
·············· ·········
:
..·········.
'7..
\
~
....··
...
··············
the Great Buzzard flew over the earth
low down near the ground
when he reached Cherokee Country
he was very tired and his wings
began to flap and strike the ground
...
.·
..···
and wherever they struck
the earth was a valley
and where they turned up
there was a mountain
...
...
...the continents that now border the Atlantic were joined 200
million years ago like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle to fonn
one huge expanse of land ... a megacontinent Pangaea...
At that time North America began to separate from Europe,
Africa, and South America.
·
As the continents drifted apart the Atlantic
Ocean was left in their wake.
As the Atlantic grew the current
continental shelf was built up off the eastern coast of North
America (and off the western coast of Africa and the northern
coast of Sou~ America).
when the animals above saw this
they were afraid the whole world
would be mountains
so they called him back
but the Cherokee Country remains
full of mountains until this day
...·
.·
.....
.·
••
.
�--
..
(
J
.
:•
...······ .
...
.··
.,...•
when the world grows old
and the earth will sink
the people will die
down into the ocean
and the cord will break
and all will be water again
written by Jeny Trivette
drawings by Rob Messick
�0 --"
NATURAL
WORLD
NEWS
NANTAHALACO.BROUGHTTO
U.S. SUPREME COURT
Natunl World News Service
Since 1976, when Henry Truett of
Bryson City, NC filed suit against the
Nantahala Power Company to protest the
high costs resulting from hydroelectricity
being drained from the mountains of KatUah
to fuel the Alcoa aluminum plant in
Marysville, TN, the question "Who owns
the mountain water power?" has been a
botJy-contested issue in this region (see
Ki1V.ah #3).
.
The dispute came to a head April 21
as arguments were heard in the US Supreme
Court from attorneys for Alcoa and for the
Committee for Low-Cost Power, a citizens'
group from five counties in Ka!Uah.
The case was an appeal by Alcoa of a
North Carolina State Suptcme Court ruling
handed down last July that awarded $29
million in refunds to Nantahala customers
because of practices by the company ~t .led
to excessive rate costs. Two other surular
decisions by the court awarded the
ratepayers another $16 million in refunds.
The conflict goes back to the very
beginnings of the ~ant~hala Power
Company and Tapoco, its sister company
which operates two hydroelectric dams on
the Santeetlah and Cheoah Rivers. Both
companies arc registered as public utilities,
but both arc also wholly-owned subsidiaries
of the Alcoa Corporation. All the power
from the Tapoco Company has gone to
operate Alcoa smelters in Tennessee,
although since its inception th7 coml?any ~
been receiving the benefits of us des1gnanon
as a utility. Tapoco has never be~n
responsible to regional customers, and 1n
1960 even tried to sell its high-power
transmission lines to the Duke Power
Company. But while "fapoco power .has
been flowing down the nver to Marysville,
the Nantahala Power Company has been
supplementing its hydroelectric power with
expensive, imported, nuclear power
generated in Tennessee .by the.-rv:A. The
North Carolina court recnfied this difference
by declaring that North Carolina ratepayers
should retroactively be charged as though
the cheaper Tapoco power were available to
them, which would result in a total of $45
million in refunds.
Alcoa attorneys maintained in the
Supreme Court hearings that the Nort!1
Carolina courts had overstepped the1t
boundaries and were trying to set rates for
power generation between states, citing a
KATUAH - page 19
1971 Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC) ruling that Tapoco had
no obligation to make its power available to
the Nantahala Company. Alcoa attorney
Rex Lee stated before the court, "What
North Carolina has done ... is to take from
Tennessee a share of power which properly
belongs to Tennessee."
But William Crisp, a Raleigh lawyer
who has worked with Nantahala ratepayers
for 25 years, explained meticulously and
eloquentJy that this was not a case of one
state's interest against another's, but "a
flagrant example of a corporate giant, a
multinational. taking over public assets for
its own benefit" Pointing out that the
ruling of the NC Supreme Court did not
actually divert any power, but instead
created a "roll-in" where both companies
were considered as one for ratemalcing
purposes, Crisp made it clear that the issue
was whether the hydroelectric resources of
the mountains shouJd be used for public
service or private profit. Alcoa has
attempted to develop its subsidiary company
Tapoco solely to divert water resources
from Kanfah strictly for its own benefit,
Crisp maintained, which in effect has forced
the ratepayers in the mountains to pay the
difference for Alcoa's cheap hydroelectric
power.
Alcoa has threatened that if they do
not win continued access to the mountain
water power, they would close their
Marysville plant, terminating o~er l,~
jobs in East Tennessee. Responding to this
threat, the US Steelworkers Union, Local
309, which represents the Alcoa plant
workers, joined the corporate appeal as a
"friend of the court".
"If they had known the true facts of
the case," said Veronica Nicholas, Jackson
County commissioner and witness to the
Supreme Court hearing, "I don 't believe
they wouJd have taken that position. If we
could talk with them people-to-people, I
thinlc they would see that the corporation is
trying to victimize us all in pursuit of its
interests."
,
BIG MOUNTAIN UPDATE
Na!W'al World News Service
The Big Mountain issue - the
proposed removal of 10,000 to 15 ,~
Navajo (Dineh) and Hopi Indians from their
ancient homeland • remains critical. In 1974
Congtcss passed legislation (P.L. 93-531)
to settJe a so-called "land dispute" between
the two tribes calling for the removal by
July 7, 1986 (see Kutfah #11).
CoincidentJy, this area known as the Four
Corners is extremely rich with high-quality
coal and uranium deposits. Peabody Coal
Co., among other energy giants, is
extremely interested in the resources o~ the
area. It appears, however, that a rrunor
victory has been won.
In early May, 1986, Ross Swimmer
of the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) and
Ivan Sidney, Hopi Tribal Chairperson, said
that they wouJd not forcibly remove Najajos
(Dineh) from what they and the U.S.
Government call "disputed land". The Hopi
Tribal Council is a creation of the Bureau of
Indian Affairs and the traditional people feel
that the Tribal Council is a sham and docs
not represent their interests. Swimmer
sought an opinion from the U.S. Solicitor
General who s.Ud that July, 1986 was
merely a target date and was not cited within
the actual law. Sidney commented, "We do
want those Navajo off our land."
This delay in the forced .remo~al ~s
just that - a delay. Perhaps the intention 1s
to allow the media and public attention on
the issue to subside. The Big Mountain
Legal Defense is still urging citiz.cns to ~te
letters to U.S. Senators and Represent.aUves
demanding the repeal of P.L. 93-531. If
you write a letter and receive a form
response, BMLD is asking that you wr!te
and write again to establish dialogue with
those in power. Send copies of your letters
as well as copies of responses to:
Big Mountain (JUA) Legal D/O Committee
2501 N. 4th St Suite 18
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Write them also for updates and local
contactinformation,orcall(602)7~
LOWER WEST SLOPE OF
GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN UP
FOR SALE
N11unl World News Sctvice
AIRPORT PLANNED FOR
JULIAN PRICE PARK
Nllunl Wor1d News Service
The Watauga County Commission is
trying to build a county airport in Julian
Price Park, part of the Blue Ridge Parkway
near Blowing Rock, NC. The National
Park Service is strongly opposed to an
airport on Park Service land, but much of
the lobbying for the airport is going on over
their heads at the Department of Interior in
Washington. The secret agenda ~or the
airport is a new highway connec~g the
high country ski and resort are~ directly
with the Charlotte metropolitan area.
National Parle land couJd not be obtained for
the construction of a highway, but ~ere is
apparently some precedent for putnng an
airport in a National Park. Once the airport
was OK'd, the highway could be put in to
provide access to it and the developers
would have their way.
The lower west side of Grandfather
Mountain in Avery County is up for sale
and threatened with development as a ski
resort Hugh Morton, one of Grandfather
Mountain's owners, is adamant about
protecting the upper elevations of the
mountain, which is designated as a North
Carolina Natural Heritage Area. A new
hiking trail is being construe~ t~ ~la?C
the classic Shanty Spring trail which 1s in
the area to be sold.
,
~
_
. ' J
...~~,fii;·}...... ~.
'~"'-~
. -
,/.,
'<..
:.
'
, ..\IV'
---~
- continued on next page
Summer 1 86
�.·
USFS 50-YEAR PLAN
IN THE MAKING
OUR "CHAMPION" IN COURT
Nalllnl World News Service
The dispute over the discharge
standards of the Champion Paper Company
plant in Canton, NC is heating up. In recent
months charges and countercllargcs have
been flying, there llas been a furious
shllffiing of papers, and two solemn collrt
decrees have been ordered. Yet the Pigeon
River is still smelly, mllfky, and rolling
with foam as it flows into Tennessee.
On March 31 Judge David Scntclle of
U.S. District Court in Asheville declared
that the Champion Paper Company would
have to apply for a federal wastewater
discllarge pennit from the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) while litigation
continues in the controversy over the quality
of the Pigeon River waters.
The decision arose from an
unprecedented move by the EPA, which in
November of 1985 stepped in and
superseded the right of the North Carolina
Environmental Management Commission
(EMC) to issue Champion a wastewater
discllarge permit (as reported in KaW1h.
#10). Under the national Clean Water Act,
the issuance of discharge permits was
placed under the jurisdiction of the EPA, but
the agency has traditionally delegated that
power to state environmental regulatory
agencies and acted only in a supervisory
capacity.
In January of this year Champion
responded to the EPA's action by filing suit
in the District Court to void the agency's
authority in the Pigeon River dispute. The
company simultaneously filed a motion for a
tctnporary restraining order to release
Champion from obtaining a federal permit
while the primary lawsuit was in the courts.
It was this motion that was struck down,
compelling Champion to apply to the EPA
for a permit to operate until a ve.r dict on the
request for a permanent injunction is
reaclled.
The EPA move to strip the state EMC
of its power to dispense a permit to
Champion implied that the federal
government saw extraordinary neglect in
enforcement of basic environmental
standards by the state agency.
In a prepared statement read last
January, Champion manager Oliver
Blackwell disagreed with that assessment,
praising the state for a "professional job" of
determining operating standards for the
factory. This may have to do with the fact
that in recent years the EMC has issued
"variances" and "special consent orders"
which have allowed Champion to operate
below existing norms in the most
controversial areas of regulation, water
temperature and color, instead of
comprehensive and enforceable discllarge
directives.
Apparent neglect on the part of the
state environmental agency turned into
apparent collusion as state attorneys sat at
the same table with Champion lawyers in
the district courtroom to argue that the
corporate giant should be allowed to have its
way with the Pigeon River without federal
interference. "They shouldn't have taken
the power away from the state," said
assistant state attorney general Don Oakley.
Although Champion did reluctantly
comply with the judge's order to submit an
application to the EPA, the company's
pending suit will definitely delay a stringent
The US Forest Service (USFS) is
soliciting active citizen input on its revised
version of the 50-ycar management plan for
the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests.
According to Bob Cunningham, US
Forest Service planner in the Asheville
office, Forest Service staff have reorganized
their data and are now compiling the
preliminary results for their new plan.
During the latter part of June and July,
Cunningham will meet with individuals or
representatives of any interest groups who
wish to discuss the data at the Forest
Service office in Asheville.
"We're going to be building the new
plan as we interact with the public on it,"
said Cunningham.
Maps and brochures interpreting the
environmental effects of each of the Forest
Service plans will be available to the public
at the USFS District Offices free upon
request
The Forest Service is inviting
comment on the new plan. Take them up on
it! Although they would like people to come
to their Asheville office, cards and letters
from those who cannot go to the city Yi.ill
make a difference. Let the Forest Service
serve us. Tell them how you feel about
their policies, either in person or in writing:
George Olson, Forest Supervisor
US Forest Service
Box 2750
Asheville, NC 28802
~
(704) 257-4200
P'
KA
AH - page 20
Natutal Wodd News SeMcc
permiL "It reveals the company's true
stripes," said Pigeon River Action Group
activist Jim Harrison. "They won't spend a
nickel on the environment unless they're
absolutely forced to. The money (and
paper) they arc squandering on legal
entanglement would be far better spent for
real action to restore the river."
In another collrtroOm in Nashville,
the Tennessee State Supreme Court on April
21 threw out a lawsuit brought in 1983 by
the government of that state against
Champion that wollld have required the
paper company to pay civil damages of
$10,000 per day since 1977 to compensate
for the degradation of the river in heu of a
total river cleanup. The suit, as argued by
Tennessee deputy attorney general Frank
Scanlon, was based on Tennessee
environmental protection laws, particularly
clauses regulating water color standards,
which are much stricter than the North
Carolina laws tlnder which the Champion
plant is operating.
But the collrt ruled that one state has
no jurisdiction or control over another
state's environmental laws, even if laxness
or environmental neglect causes damage tllat
extends over state lines.
After receiving the disappointing
ruling of the Tennessee high court, deputy
attorney general Scanlon vowed to carry the
case on to the U.S. Supreme Collrt. There
would seem to be some basis for this, for,
short of discarding the whole patchwork
system of state governments, there needs to
be some remedy found to accommodate the
blatant disregard by the natural clements of
the illegitimate state boundaries.
It would be unfortunate if this ruling
were allowed to remain as a precedent, for
the whole issue of atmospheric deposition
("acid rain") hinges on the ability of one
region to convince the hllman inhabitants of
a different region of their accountability for
destruction of a distant habitaL In this
ever-shrinking world, it is imperative that
we recognize the evidences of Ollf close
interdependence. Much is at stake.
WRITE!
There is sometlling we can do to help
the Pigeon. The conditions of Champion's
operating permit are being decided right
now by the EPA. Write to:
Jack Ravan, Regional Administrator
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
345 Courtland SL NE
Atlanta, GA 30365
Ask that the new permit determine the
maximum limits for color and water
temperature, and that minimum levels of
dissolved oxygen be maintained.
Please send a copy of your letter to:
Dick Mullinix
c/o Pigeon River Action Group
P.O. Box 105
WaynesviUc, NC 28786
Summer 1986
�COMMUNITY ALERT:
BUNCOMBECO.THREATENED
BY WASTE INCINERATOR
Natun.I World News Service
The
Buncombe
County
Commissioners are being pressured to
pursue a co-incinerator (for burning both
municipal sewage sludge and solid waste)
as a means to relieve the growing problems
of sewage sludge and over 600 tons per day
of solid waste going into the landfill on the
French Broad River.
In order to qualify for a $5 million
EPA grant to help with new sewage
treatment facilities, the Commissioners must
decide prior to June 31, 1986 whether to
pursue the technology of incineration.
URGENT NEED FOR PUBLIC
HEARINGS!
Please write the commissioners,
Curtis Ratcliff, Jesse Ledbetter, Wayne
Montgomery, Tom Sobol, and Doris
Giezentanner to request that a series of
public hearings be held on the question of
mcineration to examine the potential health
risks from:
•
Hazardous air emissions (dioxin,
dibenzo-furans, acid gasses, ethylene
dichloride, toxic metals, etc.)
•
The disposal of toxic ash residue
(heavy metals and other contaminants)
•
The inability to adequately screen out
hazardous wastes from entering the
incinerator
Buncombe County Commissioners
POB 7435
Asheville, NC 28807
252-5536
CLEARCUTTING
BATTLE
MOVES TO JACKSON COUNfY
from a repon by Pcny Eul)'
Proposed clcarcuts in the Nantahala
National Forest in Jackson County have led
residents to organize a county chapter of the
Western North Carolina Alliance to preserve
the natural diversity of the forest
Sites on Greens Creek are scheduled
to be clearcut this fall if citizen action cannot
change the Forest Service's plans. Other
clearcuts adding up to an estimated 300
acres of land are planned during the coming
decade in the Sheeps Knob, Dicks Creek,
Terrapin Mountain, Buckeye Gap, Fall
Cliff, and Pinhook areas.
Petitions bearing the names of over
300 Jackson County residents demanding
that the Forest Service change its cutting
methods have been sent to the USFS
Regional Office in Atlanta. The next move
in the campaign to save the Jackson County
forest areas depends on the response of the
Forest Service to the petitions.
Clarence Hall, head of the Jackson
County group, said, "I walked the area they
plan to cut on Greens Creek with Marcus
Moore and some of the Forest Service
people. They acted real nice and were much
easier to talk with than they have been in the
past. They made some changes for us smaller areas to be clearcut, leaving some
spots of timber, things like that
"They seemed like they were very
willing to compromise, but I think that the
Gramm-Rudman Act has hit them hard, and
they're not going to compromise any further
than what they've been cut back to already."
WNC Alliance
SOURCE SEPARATION, RECYCLING,
AND COMPOSTING ARE PROVEN
- ~ALTERNATIVF.S!
, ..p repared by Long Branch Environmen~
Education Center (704) 683-3662
/:"'
HERE WE GLOW AGAIN!
Natural World News Service
Five western North Carolina counties
are being seriously considered in the search
for a suitable site to receive the low-level
radioactive waste (LLW's) from eight
southeastern states. The eight states
(Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi,
Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, and
Nonh Carolina) have joined a Southeastern
Compact to deal jointly with the waste
problem, but many North Carolina citizens
are demanding that North Carolina
withdraw from the compact if the burden of
waste disposal is to be shouldered by that
state alone. The compact will choose one of
its member states as the host for the
low-level waste dump site by July 14, 1986
and locations in Burke, Cleveland,
McDowell, Polk, and Rutherford counties
are being closely examined for a potential
low-level nuclear waste dump site.
The term "low-level" is actually a
mis-nomer as the category is defined as all
radioactive wastes that are not specifically
classified as "high-level".
This
encompasses a wide range of materials,
many of which arc as deadly as high-level
KATUAH- page 21
P.O. Box 117
Murphy, NC 28906
Call Clarence Hall at (704) 586-2056 for
/
more infonnation.
wastes. LLW s can in fact be potentially
more dangerous in many cases because
there are no stringent safety standards for
the handling of low-level radioactive
materials.
The most massive and most
dangerous of the low-level wastes produced
in North Carolina come mainly from the
nuclear power plants which account for
approximately 87% of the volume and 97%
of the radioactivity. Citizen groups are
suggesting that power plants manage their
own waste in safe, on-site, storage facilities
at their own expense.
The remaining wastes - mostly
medical, industrial and research wastes - a
lot of which are short-lived - could be
managed by the state in a small storage
facility. It is important, the groups advise,
that there be fi2 landfills and that various
low-level wastes be separated according to
radioactive life-span and managed in
above-ground, monitored, retrievable
storage facilities.
For more info, contact
- continued from p. 11
TROUT FARMING
dependent on the size of the operation and
the intensity of culture employed. Most
trout farmers now use dry commercial feeds
because of the high protein requirement of
trout, but live foods are often less
expensive, can sometimes be produced on
the site, and have the advantage of
producing trout flesh that is pink in color
and tastier than that of commercially-fed
fish, which is white in color.
McLamey discusses several
possibilities, including feeding trout meat
wastes or slaughterhouse offal, starting a
worm-raising operation to complement the
home fish farm, using "bug lights" to
capture insects, and even the trick of putting
a rotting log upstream to be a free, natural
culture medium for live trout food. Feeding
times, feeding amount, and many other
specifics are also covered.
Methods of harvesting and handling
fish are outlined in detail in the book. Trout
can be harvested by seining, various kinds
of trapping nets, or by draining the pond to
capture all the fish. An "umbrella net"
dangled under the feeding place is an easy
alternative for a partial harvest, but the
fishing rod will never be totally replaced for
the home pond.
McLarncy gives
suggestions and complete instructions for
the use of various nets and traps. Pests,
predators, diseases, and contamination by
silt and pollution are also discussed.
Appendices to the book give
additional infonnation on cooking the fish, a
summary of their characteristics, and
resource information on standard reference
works and sources for supplies and further
advice.
"Experience is the best teacher", but
The Freshwater Agyacutwre Book is an
excellent place to start a fish-raising
operation.
Bill McLarney is offering an
aquaculture consulting service for fish
farmers in KatUah. Inquire by letter to:
1176 Bryson City Rd.
Franklin, NC 28734
~
j:Y
h erbs, nct t ive plcsnl!;, f1erennidl:.,
flow~rs,
fruit lrees, bulbs,
bedding planl:..
80 lakeside Drive
8/I01hs of a mile from turdee'li
in Franklin, N.C.
for infurmdlion c:all 524·3321
Millie Buch;man, Clca.n Water Fund ~
(704) 253-4423
/:"'
Summer 1986
�RUMMING
..
LETTERS TO KATUAH
In Dwellers jn the L,and. Kirkpatrick Sale states: "What
makes the bioregional vision different -- in any foreseeable
future, anyway -- is that it asks nothing of the Federal
government and needs no national legislation, no
governmental regulation, no Presidential dispensation" (p.
169).
But it seems to me that the bioregional movement
cannot simply wait for the exhaustion of the world's supplies
of fossil fuels to make long-distance transportation
uneconomical and thus force the world to adopt bioregional
economies. The carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere
by the combustion of fossil and biomass fuels will so
drastically change the climate of all pans of the earth as to
fundamentally alter the biotic potential of every bioregion. In
order to prevent that, it would be necessary for all industrial
nations to begin ~ to phase out the petroleum, coal,
automobile, railroad, and merchant marine industries. That
would require political action, since those industries will not
voluntary go out of business. How else could a liveable
bioregional world be brought into being?
Ed Price
Sylva, NC
Dear Friends,
I have r;ad and enjoyed the K.aWah. I am broadcasting
on WUM radio on Sundays at 1:45 P.M. I sing sacred
songs, read poems, Bible, and etc. I am sending some home
remedies from an old New York doctor book published
1919.
Kate Rogers
Franklin, NC
LEMONS
Heartburn - Slowly suck the juice from one to two lemons,
which is generally sufficient to give relief.
Colds - Add the juice of two lemons to the same quantity of
strained honey, and mix thoroughly. Take a teaspoonful of
this mixture every ten or fifteen minutes.
Rheumatism - Take the juice of several lemons every day and
in a short time all signs of rheumatism will disappear.
Corns - Bind a piece of lemon over the com every night for
four or five nights.
Asthma - Persons suffering from asthma should drink the
juice of two or three lemons every day.
Headache - The juice from half a lemon added to a cup of hot
water sweetened with honey will generally relieve the most
severe headache.
(For more on Kare Rogers, see Kmfil.lb.1110 - Eds.)
KA
1 offer you a quote that has been a source of great
power for me:
Remember thaJ you live always wuler the protection of
some mysterious force. T.hi.s...ffU« i~ ~.Therefore, true
self-defense does not stop with defending oneself against
others, but strives to make oneself worthy of defense by
nature herself ... When your mind and your acts become OIU!
with narure, then narure will protect you.
Fear no enemy; fear only to be separated from the
mind of nature. If you are on the right path, nature will
protect you and you need not fear anything. Trust nanlre and
do not worry. Leave both your mind and body to narure.
Do not recognize friend or foe in your mind. In your
heart, let tlwre be generosiry as large as the sea, which
accepts both clean and unclean water. Let your mind be as
merciful as namre, which loves the smallest tree or blade of
grass. Let your mind be strong with sincerity thaJ can pierce
iron or srone. Repay the favors of nature, work/or the good
of all, and make yourself a person whom nature is pleased to
let live.
Koichi Tohei
(in Ajkjdo, The Art of Self-Defense I
The spirit and practice of the martial art of Aikido can
give us some idea of principles that can successfully be used
in political resistance. My knowledge and understandfog of
Aikido are limited, so I speak as no expert, but to my
understanding Aik.ido works with the "flow" of energy and
does not confront force with force. Instead, it allows the
opposing force its expression and then moves to turn the
opposing force to its own disadvantage. The Aikido
practitioner will allow an attacker to lunge and with a simple
movement will use the attackers own energy to send him
reeling. Aikido works with centering and directing the
body's energy or ,Ki. That's an oversimplistic explanation,
but it might give you an idea.
Translating the principles into action is what presents
the challenge. Obviously we can't match force with the
nuclear power industry, the chemical industry, or the
technological forces which are killing our Mother Earth. The
Indians tried to stop it with force years ago, and look what
happened So how do we keep it from happening and stay
sane at the same time?
First, maybe we have to give up the notion that ~
have to keep it from happening. If this crazy absurdity of the
modem world were not a part of the Great Spirit's plan, it
would not be happening. And maybe it's going to have to
get even crazier before the majority of humans arc going to
pay attention. Once during a discourse with a "psychic
being", l expressed a great deal of concern about the rampant
commercial development that was placing all our best food
growing land under concrete and asphalt I was advised that
the disease must run its course and not to base my life on
fighting the disease, for if I did, when the disease vanished
so would my life.
So do we just give it up as hopeless? Absolutely not.
F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, "The test of a first rate
intelligence is to hold cwo opposed ideas in your mind at the
same time and still retain your capacity to function. You
should, for example, be able to sec that things are hopeless
and yet be determined to make them otherwise."
It sounds a lot easier than it really is. Once we begin
the work in earnest in our own hearts, then the Great Spirit
may guide us to other action. If we try to tackle the "evil"
without purifying our own hearts, then we simply give it
more energy and make it stronger.
We are not alone. Many people all over this planet are
facing similar situations. We live in a world that is extremely
unbalanced and full of great suffering. For this reason we
must develop and hold a clear vision of the world as we wish
it to be - happy, healthy, and filled with life. Affirm that
vision every day. Don't let negatives get in the way. Our
vision is our prayer. Keep the vision foremost and clear.
And we must not wish ill on our perceived "enemies" -- this
is not Good Medicine. Pray for happiness, health and peace
for all beings on the Earth Mother.
Dan Vega
Fayetteville, Arkansas
Summer 1986
�Dear Folks,
l am writing you concerning your promotional material
for your Spring Gathering. I think .K..iUia.h is a great
publication and I think your having a gathering is a good
idea. Snow Bear came to our Fall Gathering last year and
was on the teaching staff with Grandfather Wallace Black
Elk, Grandmother Grace Spotted Eagle, Buck Ghost Horse,
Ron Evans, and others. We really like Snow Bear and
promote his camp through our newsletter.
The way you have stated "SACRED SWEAT
LODGE" on your promotional material can be easily
interpreted to mean that you are selling the sweat lodge. I
hope you are clear about what you are doing. I don't believe
that Snow Bear would in fact charge money for a sweat.
SeUing ceremonies of this type is as offensjve as having
Christian sacraments offered on a sale basis. Advertising
sweats as a prominent clement of a for-sale program is also
offensive to many people.
I wish you no harm. Several of your staff know me
personally. I would appreciate some cla. ification on these
r
matters. We all make errors and it seems that errors of
advertising and pubHcation are very easy to make and once
made propagate rapidly.
Sincerely,
Art Horn
Marietta, GA
An,
As the person who drew up the flyer for the ~
Spring Ga1hering, I am the person to respond to your letter.
Thonks very much/or raising the issue. We appreciate your
lerrer and the spirit in which it was offered.
We did nor consider the Gathering as something that
was for sale when we put together the flyer. The money
mentioned represented our guess as to the minimum amount
we would require from each participant ro cover our basic
expenses for renting the camp and providing our food. All
work on the Gathering was volunteer, as is all work on the
Kiufimljournal. Nobody took any money home, unlike a lot
of spiritual seminars put on by some white people (and a few
native people, too, who have been mentioned/or Hselling"
sacred gatherings and sacred objects). If we had been fasting
in a wilderness area, the Ka1Uilh Gathering would have been
free.
I did not show the flyer to Snow Bear before sending
it out. If I had, he said he would have advised me 10 take the
sweat lodge off the page. He had some good words about
that. He said that regardless of our circumstances, it is an
historical fact that white people have consistently taken the
tra&tions ofthe native people and abused them. We cenainly
do not want to do that. On rlie contrary, I mentioned the
proposed sweat lodge so people would know that we were
seeking the highest possible spiritual level for our meeting,
not to produce the opposite effect. So with that in mind, we
thank you for poillling our attention to this mistake, and I
rrust we won't re,,ea1 it.
David Wheeler
~Friends,
It seems desirable to consider some positive
alternatives to the wasteful and dangerous burial of high level
nuclear waste in "solid" rock. So, here is an alternative
pattern that seems worth consideration:
( 1) Instead of transporting dangerous nuclear waste to
an individual repository, why not keep the waste at the site
where it is produced, thus avoiding the danger of
transporting these dangerous materials. If persons in a given
location produce such waste, and probably benefit financially
from the operation, it seems only fair that those same people
should deal with the waste; not persons in some distant
location.
(2) High level nuclear waste contains a great deal of
energy. Instead of heating rock with that energy, it is
suggested that the energy be converted directly to some
useful form. (e.g., it is estimated that the 70,000 tons of
waste proposed for burial in a permanent repository would
yield, in a 256 year period, over 60 billion dollars worth of
energy at $.035 per kwh.)
(3) The present method of using thermal fission
processes, with the demonstrated danger of catastrophic
meltdown, is a relatively inefficient means of obtaining
electrical energy. It is possible to ~izc direct coo version to
electrical energy by slowing the beta and alpha particles in an
electric field. The direct conversion could be used with
suitably processed waste as weU as with nuclear fuel now
being used in wasteful and dangerous thermal fission
reactors. (Note: Some of the nuclear physicists who
demonstrated the conversion of matter to energy in the early
experiments with Fermi wanted to develop safer, more
efficient conversion schemes for commercial use. The
politics of that situation led to the present dangerous and
wasteful methods, rather than the safer and more efficient
processes proposed by those early pioneers in nuclear
physics. It may be time to pay attention to the suggestions of
those expert and creative persons.)
(4) Placing large amounts of collected waste in a
localized region is contrary to the teaching of the old ones.
The forests, meadows, waters, winds, and earth processes
tend to scatter and diffuse matter. Large concentrations may
be an expression of humankind that is destructive and
hannful when out-of-tune with nature.
(5) Instead of spending over 9 billion dollars to place
dangerous waste in the ground, why not spend that money
on research and development that would use the waste for
useful purposes and help to preserve the natural ways given
to us?
(6) Those of us in Katuah (Katuahins?) can come
together to encourage alternative, more constructive patterns.
The epic of nuclear processes on earth demonstrates
again the power of the mind to rcaHze signillcant new
patterns. That power of the mind can be used to help form
these new patterns into beautiful and useful configurations.
Fear, greed, and ignorance can be replaced by peace,
fairness, and understanding.
Harmony is a possible alternative.
Ho,
Peregrine Falcon
KATIJAH - page 23
John Artley
Hot Springs, NC
- continued on p. 24
�- continued from p. 23
Dear Folks at~
Dear~.
I wrote to the President of the United States and
enclosed the pullout section on the nuclear dump plan from
the spring K.ci.ah.
Yesterday, I recieved a two page typed letter written
"on behalf of President Reagan" in response to my letter
"regarding the Nation's second repository program." The
letter and a folder of materials came from the Department of
Energy.
According to the letter, "the DOE evaluated, with State
assi.stance, existing publicly available geologic and
envuonmental data ... to identify preliminary candidate
areas.''
In my opinion, North Carolinians should be asking,
"Where was Gevemor Martin during the time that South
Carolina's Governor was in Washington, D.C. fighting to
protect that state from being dumped on more than they
already have beenr' Arc the people aware that Governor
Martin is from South Carolina?
Also, the people should be made aware that
Congressman Bill Hendon accepted campaign funds from 18
out-of-state nuclear power companies of $250.00 each plus
donations from in-state companies. Isn't it reasonable to
assume that he would feel obligated to them rather than the
people of this state? Isn't it possible that he may not be
well-informed on the potential threat to the lives of the people
in thC: vicinity of a hazardous nuclear waste dump as we arc?
Consider the fact that he recently made a "mistake" in voting
[Qr the MRS budget and that he has not been successful in
getting one bill through Congress in over three years.
If we are to be successful in protecting ourselves and
future generations from a nuclear holocaust, we must get
involved in the political process and elect public officials who
w~ be responsive to our urgent requests to protect our
envuonment
DOE anticipates "recommending to the President three
sites for characterization for a second repository in the early
1990's." Let's be sure that the people of wesrcrn North
Carolina have someone in Washington, D.C. to care for YJnotjust big industry.
Sincerely,
Esther c. Cunningham
Franklin, NC
- continued from p. 11
'I
.
. . I am mtei:ested in_ proi:notin~ home music-making -smgmg & playing music with friends and writing songs.
Those of us who were not born where we have put down
roo~ become part of local culture, and can bring our insights
& light co a place ... music is my way of doing it. I love
spontaneous music-making & sharing. rt turns us away
from mass culture (TV & MTV, etc.) and gives us a beauty
and richness we can share.
Als~>, in a mystic~! sense, our singing and playing
adds music of a human kind 10 a place long after the music
has stopped. M~st of my son~s sing about nature anyway.
Human bemgs neeg to sing. Nature loves the singing.
Thank you for .Katlulh's song.
Love,
Cindy Crossen
Pittsboro, NC
Dear friends at Kill!.ah.
We appreciate your kind words for our publication and
the Backroads column. We have seen young people,
families, older people, and combinations of all of the above
taking those tours. They occasionally stop by to say hello
and all of them have been very nice people who appreciate
the very things we would like to preserve about the Blue
Ridge. We know that, like everywhere else, growth is
inevitablC:, _but we hope to ~ abl~ to guide that growth along
more posittve, non-destrucuve hnes. We feel one way is to
create an awareness of what is here and has been here. In the
past two years, The Mountain I.aurel has attracted national
attention, so we must be on the right track. We have no
degrees in journalism, but follow only our instincts. We try
to present mountain people and their ways and mountain
places in their true light and give people a "taste" of what
mountain life is really like.
Susan Thigpen, Editor
The Mountain I.aurel:
Monthly Journal of Mountain Life
Route I
MeadowsofDan, VA 24120
,,#
,P'
AQUACULTURE
basic background information for each stage of the
fish-raising process, and 3) offers a variety of techniques to
handle the different fish species in different fish farm
situations. The result is that fish farmers are able to design
their own individual aquaculture operations that arc tailored
to the particular conditions of their environment and the scale
at which they want to work.
The freshwater Aguaculture Book is a multi-leveled
statement In its form and in its content it speaks to the
question of what arc the true and enduring values that will
make fish culture or any other enterprise a truly satisfying
and life-enhancing occupation. Many people will benefit
from the practical infonnation and advice McLamey offers on
fish-raising. It can only be hoped that some will respond as
well to the deeper discourse that seeks to define what is truly
appropriate and lasting. Ultimately, these values can only be
realized through experimentation and practice as part of a
continuing process of maintaining our "place", the point
where we arc in balance with the natural world, but il is most
helpful to have a guidebook to help point the way.
If we are to speak of an aquaculture for small groups
and individuals, it will ultimately be up to us, as small
groups and individuals, to create it. Fortuna1ely, despite the
gaps in our knowledge, there is much that we can do right
now. Some of what we can do is contained in this book.
The implementaJion of this information and the testing of
these ideas will be an important step toward a more diverse
and imponant future for aquaculture in North America.
reviewed by David Wheeler,
KA
AH-page 4
1
,, .
~•
l:11mmer 1986
�A CHILDREN'S PAGE
W.l ow
+he_.,;
W,//ow~
r
~
f'P)
~
f ~
-"Jf'
~ 8/1.1,ru ze
B
, \ (l;;Y
P/
/( ~
111t1e
/he
AH - page 25
a11J
Once fhere w,.~if.
Su~
Sec.A
a
IN' S e>ri
"
COCA/J not /;,,..,
5o 11,c PltN.f a!iked
WinJ.
KA
f
to blow
if
0'1
If.
+k :fe°'r
+o earlh.
"'@
c::>
~
�..
- continued from p. 3
SA YING "NO!"
of Energy. With the knowledge that the
citizenry of this state is solidly behind them,
activists can organize without fear of local
h~tility from state officials. More people
will be likely to participate in civil
disobedience, for example, if it comes down
to ~at It's nice to know you're in friendly
temtory.
Rererendums on Other Issues?
When the Nonh Carolina legislature
decided to place the high-level nuclear waste
issue on the ballot, it broke a longstanding
rule against holding referendums. Indeed, it
was the first referendum in the history of the
state on anything but a Constitutional
Amendment or a bond issue, both of which
are required by state law.
Many other groups, representing a
multitude of causes, have been clamoring
for state-wide referendums on their issues,
only to be rejected by the state legislature on
the grounds that North Carolina traditionally
has a "representative form of government".
This means that the people elect officials
who in turn are supposed to make all the
important decisions for them. This is an
archaic interpretation of democratic
government which amounts to tight fisted,
autocratic control and discourages a
participatory role by the citizenry. This
philosophy of government has ruled North
Carolina and the entire Southeast since the
Revolutionary War, and kept this state in the
political dark ages. Many states, by
contrast, have instated an "Initiative
Process" whereby any group or individual
can circulate a petition for a referendum and.
once the required number of signatures has
been achieved, it is placed on the st.ate-wide
ballot In some states, such as Oregon and
Maine, initiatives become binding laws if
voted on and passed by a majority of the
people.
Now that the North Carolina State
Legislature has broken with tradition by
placing one referendum on the ballot, it will
be hard to rationalize the denial of others.
The pressure from lobbying groups will be
enormous. Perhaps the stranglehold of
authoritarian rule is finally beginning to lose
its grip and a new political age is dawning.
National Significance
On a national level, the results of this
referendum have great meaning.
. As much as the ~t of Energy
denies that politics enters its
decision-making process, politics will be the
~iding factor in where, if anywhere, a
high-level nuclear waste repository will go.
There is no safe method to bury
nuclear waste and there is no safe place for
nuclear waste. No geological location is
suitable. Everywhere is on top of some
water table. The DOE is merely in the
process of finding out where they can put
the repository so that it will be economically
suitable for the nuclear industry and where
people will let them put it without major
political upheaval.
They have now
discovered, to their disappointment, that
Nonh Carolina is not that place.
In addition to putting the DOE on
notice, the waste referendum has sent out a
signal. to the rest of the country which is of
great importance. North Carolina and the
southeast is not known for its leadership in
en.~ental issues. Quite to the contrary,
this region has been the most politically
conservative and industry-oriented. The
fact that this state has taken such an
overwhelming stand in opposition to nuclear
waste bas particular significance. The
referendum has given North Carolina
leadership potential on a national basis in
regard to the nuclear waste issue. The less
conservative st.ates, threatened with the
dump, will in all probability, hold similar
referendums of their own in the near future.
(Wisconsin held a referendum prior to
No~ .Carolina and rejc:cted the dump with a
maJOnty of 89%.) This turn of events will
create a block of st.ates from different
regions of the ceuntry in alliance with each
other. and ~pposcd to the misguided process
that 1s being used to deal with nuclear
waste. Io essence these states will
spearhead a national movement which could
lead to the demise of the Nuclear Waste
Policy Act of 1982.
•.»o0 • A variety 1J{
~f,..i""'"" wholesome baked goods
OC4 Chesterfte!d tttU
next IO French Broad Trading Co.op
Potential is the Key Word
The referendum in North Carolina has
come and gone. Those of us who worked
bard to make it a reality have tasted a small
measure of success. But the real fruits of
our labor are yet to come, and it will involve
a committment to years of hard work to
bring this saga to a happy conclusion.
The referendum has generated a great
potential to bring about all the benefits
outlined here, but the potential will not be
realized unless people make a concerted
effort to take advantage of the momentum
we presently have, to direct that momentum,
and to create the future scenario we desire.
Let's use this referendum for what
it's worth.
If you live in a state other than North
Carolina and wish to help instigate a
referendum in your state, CCNW might be a
good source of infonnation for you. Write:
NATIJRAL FOOD STORE
&DELI
CCNW
P.O. Box 653
Dillsboro, NC 28725
Avram FriMman and the CCNW group first
initiated the idea of a NC nuclear waste
referendwn this past winter (see ~
#ll).
,
Open 7 Days A Week
160 Broadway
Asheville, NC 28801
Monday - Friday
9:00 a.rn. - 8:00 p.m.
Saturday
9:00 a.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Sunday
1:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.rn.
(704) 253-7656
Where Broadway
Meets Merrimoo
And 1-240
ACUPUNCTURE ASSOCIATES
of
ASHEVILLE
Mary C. Majebc
258-9016
KurtKochek
258-0837
Naoki Kubota
254-9236
Acupuncture, Nutritional Counselling, Chinese Herbology, Shiatsu
Summer 1986
�N'flBe. tJ.
- --ea-t L alces r- g-on-. C a- ca - Sh-asta, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _.:..,__
Gr
- - - e i
- s -dia,
_
'The larger functi.oning of bjoregions
leads to a consideration that the Earth be
view~d pr~marily as an inlt!r-related system
of b1oreg1ons and only secondarily as a
community of nations.
'The more massive bureaucratic
nations of the world have lost their inner
vitality because they can no longer respond
to the particular functioning of the various
bioregions within their borders. A second
difficulty within the massive nations is the
exploitation of some bioregions for the
advantage of others. A third difficulty is the
threate~ devastalWn of the entire planel by
the conflict ofmassive bureaucratic nations
with their weaponry capable of continental
and even planetary devastation . To break
these nations down into their appropriate
bioregiona/ communities could be a possible
way to peace.
'This bioregional mode of thinking
and acting is presently one of the most
vigorous movements taking place anywhere
on the North American continent. Its
comprehensive concern is leading toward a
rt!()rdering ofall our existing establishmenrs:
the political-legal, the commercial-industrial
communications, educational and religio~
establishmenrs.
N
Upper Sonoran, Ohio River basin Hudson
River Estuary, and Katuah as ' well as
others. The regions themselves were
reercsented - the land, the plants, the
animals, as well as the humans. The focus
of the Congress was on the whole
ecological community of North America Turtle Island.
At the final plenary session ofNABC
I it was unanimously agreed that a second
North American Bioregional Congress
should convene in 1986.
Now plans are underway for NABC
1I! It will be hosted by the Great Lakes
Bioregional Congress (GLBC) from August
25-29, 1986. There will be a conference
style format at the beginning of the week
followed by the convening of the formal
Congress later in the week. Some major
areas of ecologically-based work which will
be represented at NABC D are:
~xhibit ~air.
The format of the Congress
itself will .be at the discretion of the
representallves.
The NABC I was
structured to include NABC Standing
Committees (Agriculture/Permaculture
Econ?mics, Forests, Culture & Arts, etc.}
~ectln~ on a regular basis plus small
d!scus~1on .groups meeting to discuss
b1orcg1onal 1ssues and practical strategies
as well as plenary sessions.
'
Throughout the week there will be
amp!~ . time for informal networking,
socializing, and celebrating.
I_'. contingency from Kat6ah will be
a~tendi.ng NABC II and is developing a
b1orc;g1onal .presentation and exhibit for
sharing with the other bioregions.
~ponsors of NABC II from Appalachia
include: Katiiab: Bjorc~onal Journal of the
Southern Appalachjans. Indian Valley
Ce~~r for Holistic Living and Learning
(Wilhs, VA), Lon~ Branch Environmental
Educatio~ Cen~ (S~dy Mush, NC), and
A~p~ach1a-Sc1ence 10 the Public Interest
~LIVlng~ton, KY).
For additional
mfonnaoon, contact
Mamie Muller
~
(704) 252-9167
P"'
All Species Rights
Appropriate Technology, An:hirecture, and Design
Bioregionalisrn...Cooperatives/Communities
Cul1we/Ans •• .Ecological Politics/Green
Ec~Feminism'Posl patriarchlal values
Politics
Educalioo...Environmental DefensdConservatioo
Forestry/Agrofaesuy
Holistic Health Care/Healing
Land Stewardship...Native People's Rights
Organic Agricu ltute/Pennaculture
- Thomas Berry in
Bjoregjons.· The Context for Rejnhabjtjng
the Eqrth. 1984
Peace/Equality/Justice...Regional Planning
In May of 1984, over 200 participants
from all over the continent attended the first
North American Bi~egional Congress ...
representatives from bloregional, ecological
an~ sustain~bility-oriented groups, and
nauve and tnbal organizations. Bioregional
areas represented included the Prairie
Ozarks, Cumberland-Green watershed'
'
Renewable Resource Development
Responsible lnves1rnent
Spiriruallty/Sacredne.WCeremony
Sustainable F.conomics/BU$iness
Water Quality
....• as weU as others.
The Conference time will include
papers,. panels and special
b1oregional presentauons,and a bioregional
"".orks~ops,
~a~e,
~~
T-SHI RTS
Each ori2inal desi 2n
hand screened in 5 colors
on the finest 100%
pre-shrunk cotton
Short SIMVe
Long SIHVe
short and lon2 sleeve t-shirts.
110
ppd. rSEJIP CJrFOC
s14 pd l
P
CNA1t9E'
• Na
me
Black Bear D Silver 0 Tan 0 While
Red-failed Hawk D Ecru
long
Short
0
0
a
l'f, a
,r ,
J long sleeve Includes hawk feat'-s /L__ _
)
,.....,po~
Address
'"&::::;:=~;:;;;~;::::::::::::=
Mastercard v·
"
_T_,,......_........
flt.one
Silver 0 Tan
S·M-L-Xl
.., r,,,..ti.. •
~(
1-·
O(M,~:;1~.,.
ISO -------Exp. date
w.,....ui.,11en7M olltu dalgns_o - .-lob-1.e__
#Nlfar o lxocJuuc
ULTRAVIOLET PURIFICATION ANO FILTERING SYSTE"IS
SOLAR PRODUCTS WATER ANAlYSIS
RANDALL C. LAN IER
704 29359 12
H W Y 107
RT. 68 BOX 125
CUL LOW HEE, N C 28 723
KAT AH - page 27
Joe Roberts
258-1038
734 Town Mountain Rd ,
01vrd Reed
253 2846
Ashtville. NC 28805
. nmml'r IQRI'\
�20-22
e
v
€
n
t'
5
13-18
Slippery Rock, PA
A People's Conference on the
Fate of Our Forests. Slippery
Rock University, Slippery Rock, PA;
sponsored by The Earth Regeneration and
Reforestation Association (fERRA); More
info: TERRA c/o Elfin Permacu!ture; P.O.
Box 202; Orange, MA 01364; (617)
544-7810.
28
20-25
28-July 5 Burnsville, NC
Southern Appalachian Wilderness
Encounter led by Doug Elliott; hiking
camping, foraging in the mountains - for
info, write or call: Doug Elliott; Rt 4, Box
137; Burnsville, NC
28714 (704)
682-9263.
Nantahala River
Nantaha!a River Festiya! - River
cleanup, environmental awareness
programs, biking, Bartram Trail walks,
swimming. Free camping; meals available.
Reply to: Brett Poirier; US 19W, Box 41;
Bryson City, NC 28713.
21
Summer Solstice-Full Moon
Celo Community, NC
Full Moon Party - Drumming,
dancing; bring instruments, snacks, high
spirits; "Mountain Gardens," 3020
Whiteoak Creek Rd. (704) 675-5664.
Pre-register: Southern Dharma Retreat
Center; Rt. 1, Box 34H; Hot Springs, NC
28743.
28
Great Smokies Park
Greeory Bald Azalea Hike
Smoky Mountain Field School, see 6121-22
28
Banner Elk, NC
R2an Mountain Hike North
Carolina Nature Conservancy; P.O. Box
805; Chapel Hill, NC 27514.
21
21
Swannanoa, NC
O_penine Concert of Swannanoa
Oamber Festival at Warxcn Wi1son Co!!cze
William Nelson and Werner John. 8:00
P.M., Kittredge Theater, WWC.
Hot Sprlngs, NC
Goddesses Arnone Us: An
Empowr;rment Retreat for Meo and Women
Black Mountain, NC
Timmy Abell Irish & Traditional.
McDibbs, see 6121.
28-29
Great Smokies Park
Mt. LeConte Lodee Hjke &
Oyernieht Research Qn Wild Mammals Qf
the Sm2kies: A Hands-On Course Qn
Animal Life jn SmQky Mountain Streams
Smoley Mountain Field School, see 6121-22
Il1LY
~
July
Genius Qf fubn Juliys WilnQty Cherokee Heritage Center.
21
Black Mountain, NC
John Pabey Conte.mporary of
Leo Kottke. McDibbs; 119 Cherry St;
B!aclc Mountain, NC 28711.
21-22
13-15
Farner, TN
Herbal Retreat at PeJ>perland
Fann Camp; herb walks, foraging for wild
foods, identifying medicinal plants, etc.
$65.00 meals & lodging/adults; children
6-16, $15; under 6, free. (704) 494-2353.
Leicester, NC
"Positively StQppine tbe Dump"
Celebration - Fuodraiser. Music, food,
volleyball and information. Sandy Mush
Community Center 12:00 Noon - 8:00 PM.
14
Great Smokies Park
Identification of Fems Smoky
Mountain Field School.
Non-credit
programs. 2016 Lake Ave.; University of
Tennessee; Knoxville, 1N 37996.
22-28
Brasstown, NC
June Dance Week English,
American & Scottish country dance and
song. Tuition $130 plus lodging and meals.
John C. Campbell Folk School, see 6/15.
14-22
Sam's Knob
Mountain Reeional Rainbow
Summer Solstice Celebration Contact:
David Recd, (704) 253-2846 (before 9:30
P.M.).
Brasstown, NC
June Festival Choice of classes
in mountain singing, recorder, and
dulcimer; or crafts. Tuition $130 plus meals
and lodging. John C. Campbell Fol.le
School; Rt. l; Brasstown, NC 28902.
(704) 837-2775.
5
Alum Ridge, VA
Psycho Chiroloey Seminar on
psychological hand interpretation with
Muzawir. $25 or barter, free camping.
Pre-register: Penny Royal Educational
Center; Rt. H C 67, Box 171 ; Alum Ridge,
VA 24051 (703)763-3728.
6-7
Turtle Island
"Circle Qf Lieht" - Prayers for
protection of the Hopis and Dineb
threatened with forced removal from their
sacred land by the U.S. Government. From
midnight July 6 throughout the removal
deadline date of July 7.
15-21
23-27
Horsepasture River
Pretty Pictures & Politics: visual
Environmentalism
Appalachian
Environmental Arts Center; P.O. Drawer
580; Highlands, NC 28741.
6-7
Celo Community, NC
"Mountain Gardens" tour and
perennial plant sale; 3020 Whiteoak Creek
Rd., (704) 675-5664.
18-21
Bakersville, NC
RhQdQdendrnn Festival
TRAC; Spruce Pine, NC 28777.
Raleigh, NC
l.ow-Jeyel Radiation Waste Rally
to urge the NC General Assembly to get out
of SE Compact (see ~ p.21) Maio
speaker: Brost Schori, biosafety radiation
officer at Dartmouth Medical Center. At
State Capitol, starts 9:00 am. more info:
(919) 832-7491.
17
25-26
Raleigh, NC
NC Al!ematiye Faonine Fjeld
Jlu. Promising new approaches for a
sustainable agriculture. More info: Dr. R.
H. Miller; Dept of Soil Science; P.O. Box
7619, NC State University; Raleigh, NC
27695-7619.
26-29
Swannanoa, NC
SwQCds intQ Plowshares
Peace Studies programs in higher
education. Warren Wilson College.
Swannanoa, NC 298-3325 (x231).
10-Aug 3 Blue Ridge Parkway
MQuntain Sweet Talk Two-act
play by The Folkte!Jers. Folk Art Center
Theater. More info: Mountain Sweet Talk;
c/o The Fol.lctellers; P.O. Box 2898;
Asheville, NC 28802 (704) 258-1113.
�11- 19
Alum Ridge, VA
Psychic Allunement Seminar with
Tom Williams and Muzawir. Explore the
self-healing abilities we all possess. S200
or barter; bring food, pre-register. sec 115.
'?
,·..~ ..~
..
·
{u-~~
~
•
~)
...
~~
:~
. ). :t ' '. ~-- . - .
-
r.:-
_,. - ~~
-
~
9-10
Willis, VA
The Herbal Medjcjne Chest with
Susun S. Weed. Contact: Indian Valley
Holistic Center. Rt. 2, Box 58; Willis, VA
24380.
11-17
Willis, VA
Women's Wellness Week
Bodywork, herbal medicine and medical
self-help, see 8/9.
12
West Jefferson, NC
Bluff Mountain Hike North
Carolina Nature Conservancy, see 6128.
14-25
Elkins, WV
Augusta Heritage Arts fair food, crafts, and !otsa music! (3
workshops by Doug Elliott as well: herbs,
woodslore, basketmaking) call : (304)
636-1903 for info.
As heville, NC
39th Annya! Soythem Hiehlands
Handicraft Guild Fair. Asheville Civic
Center, (704) 298-7928.
16
Alum Ridge, VA
Environmental
Harmony
Workshop with Edward J. Kesgen of
Sunshine Weavers. Cost $35 per person,
$55 per couple; bring food. Pre-register by
8/8. see 11
5.
19
13-20
Asheville, NC
French Broad River Weck,
Featuring:
Sept. 13 RIVERFEST - AU-day event on
the Asheville waterfront celebrating the
French Broad River - raft rides, games,
crafts, displays. Music by Mike Cross and
local musicians.
Celo Community, NC
full Moon Paay - sec 612 ! .
17-20
19
Celo Community, NC
full Moon Paey - see 612 l.
Great Lakes Bioregion
North American Bjoregional
Coneress 11 NABC 11 Office; Bioregional
Project; New Life Farm, Inc. Box 3;
Brixey, MO 65618. Regionally: (704)
252-9167.
25-31
Banner Elk, NC
Bie Yellow Mountain Hike NC
Nature Conservancy, sec 6128.
Also raft and canoe trips, hikes, displays,
contests, river clean-up throughout French
Broad River Weck. Dates not set at
publication time. Call or write:
Bill Eaker
Land of Sky Regional Council
19
25 Heritage Drive
Asheville, NC 28806
(704) 254-8131
for dates and details.
SEPTEMBER
7-8
20-26
Brasstown, NC
Multi-Media Week I Basketry,
Pottery, Blacksmithing & more. John C.
Campbell Folk School, sec 6/15.
Celo Community, NC
"Mountain Gardens" tour and
perennial plant sale; see July 6-7.
18
21-25
Swannanoa, NC
The Many faces of PeacemaJcjng,
Elderhostel class on global understanding.
Warren Wilson College; More info:
298-3325 (x231).
,.st3~
.~CJ,_ .
-.
Swannanoa, NC
Facine the Nuclear Winter Njght:
Options and Actjons. World Affairs
Institute. Warren Wilson College,
Swannanoa, NC (919) 786-5233.
25-27
Modica! Sell-Help
30-Aug 3 Swannanoa, NC
fellowship of Reconcjliation
National Conference Key speakers include
Wendell Berry, Dorothy Cotton and Miles
Honon. Contact: Rural Southern Voice for
Peace; 190 I Hannah Branch Road;
Burnsville, NC 28714.
Celo Community, NC
"Moyntajn Gardens" tour and
perennial plant sale; sec July 6-7.
3-16
Brasstown, NC
Mountain Traditions Stone
Carving, Dulcimer & more. John C.
Campbell Folk School, see 6/15.
8
Brasstown, NC
Mountain Music Concert with
Homer Ledford. John C. Campbell Folk
School, see 6/15.
-
J:J11da J"!J G>tik
S1'1'C.//Jfi (} fXtp ~(11.1<tf ~f.1.wqr
:R!t~ ti 'R.;faritJ 'f3.1f..111rn~q -
A llA!rlng Ind '-"'II mou,_, _
Cm!f""
August 11·17
Wldl H-S-WMd, c.,..,_ M_.t, MD.
Hd 8od1 w...... udMlllklM Mtndldl Mclno..a
"!ltffJ D:<'\1u_y.u .W•11
255-19M
IHDIAH VALU!Y RETREAT
- 2ao.sa.w... vA2-110317-
, ff
13- 18
Ib'
20 -22
27-29
July
4-6
11- 13
6211-15J7
SOUTHE:RN DHARMJ\ RE:TRE:J\T CE:NTE:R
SUMMER SCHEDULE
Q11ddcuu
Eamgy,~DJKn&
AUGUST
3-4
/
~
HMology
P•- . l l S -
WOQIXD1'8 w.a&Jll!a W%llX
Asheville, NC
Bele Cher Festival; Downtown
Asheville.
f(1
~
S""'"'9
w.....,_
25-27
Celo Community, NC
Full Moon Paey - sec 6121.
ama111
Lii
Ao
B'-lttll Cm M= 1Dd Wgmm
with Roger Woolger. Ao iouoductloo to
the universal feminine archeiypcs aod ao
exploration or their meaoiog to us.
:Cai Cb! Cb11m - Ihc E11cmlm E11cm with
Harold Miller. A wec.ltend CllploratioD ioto
the way of oot-doiog, or dancing the
Mystic Spiral, or creating your own
Formless Form.
A ~iRllllDI MGdllllhlD Yl';ks=Dd with
Rodney Smith. RodDCy will provide useM
guidlll(:e aod instruction in medication aod
will be available as teacber-io-re11dence
June 30 through July 3 for those who wish
to do private retreats.
2S-27
SRWL with Harruoo HobU~lle, Ph.D. A
weekend or mediUtiOD aod discuuioo
~latlog Buddhitm and ChriJtlaoil:y.
Miad[11lan1 Mcdi111l11a with S11110
Augenstein. Medlutlon aod momnt to
momen1 awareness are the focUJ or this
week.cod.
Aqust
Xllll !Qt Xlllll Wb11lc l.iCI< with BODDe
Kelly. Adaptiog yoga to daily 1etivitia aod
individual needs.
22- 24 A Bjau! z,o Wi:ckmd with S&ody Stewar1.
The way or the selllesa self.
29 .
~ Hs:1lia1 I•:r Imi11 Mt:dilltiSZD IDd Cal
Sept I K.11.u. with Anna Joy Oaybeart. A
comp~hens lve ioll'Oductlon to Ille ll)(:le111
Taoist pr1ellces.
12-14 I2iss<cD1laa lb' Cbd11 Seed l1!'.ilbia with
A ~ilHlllDI Mcdllaliaa W"l"ad with
John YungbluL Exploring Christlaoi1y and
Rodney Smith.
relatiag the mystical upcrieoce of Christ to
lcsi1b1 Mcdi111i11n IDd lb' Li!c ac 1bc
meditatioo and. cootempla11ve prayer.
Southern Obarma Retreat Center is localed in a ~moie area of the Smoley M
ountains near Asheville, North
Carolina. For further information about Southern Ohanna or about aoy or the programs above, call or write:
SOtrrH.ERN DRARMA RETREAT CENTER
8-10
RLI, Boll 34-H; Roi Sprio&J, NC
28743 (704) 622-7112
�Hoaldeas GARDENING NEWSLETTER - A
monthly review gleaning the mos1 practical and
innovative ideas from hundreds of teehnical
iniemational horticuhural publications - S 10 per
year; sample copy: SI. Route I; Gravel Swhch,
KY 40328.
ACCESS is a free lelephone infonnation service on
peace issues including mili1ary spending,
environ.menial impacts of miliiary activity, conflicl
resolution, elC. Your only charge is your
long-distance phone call. ACCESS I is (202)
328-2323.
ln!m!arianal pmnacuhgrc Seeti Yearbook - The
annual bulletin, direciory, and resource guide for
pen:nacultvre practitionen; $10.00; Box 202;
Onnge,MA 01364.
DRUM WORKSHOPS - for children of all ages.
lherapeutic massage - Relaxes lhe body &
mind...Call Martha for more info 11 (704)
252-2420.
MOON DANCE FARM HERBALS - herbal salves,
tincnues, & oils for birthing & family heallh. For
brochu~ please write: Moon Dance Farm; RL I,
Box 726; Hampton. TN 37658
HOLOGRAPHIC ASTROLOGY - Every part of a
hologram con1J1ins all !he info abou1 the en1ire
hologram, and each ctll in your body contains all
!he genetic data about your whole body. Similarly,
every body conlains all Ille infounation about lhe
entire solar sysiern - you are !he solar sysiem and
each of your planeu is ooe of your potentials. Olan
& Consul11tion, SS0.00 Harrie1 Witt Miller (704)
689-4617.
FAIRGLEN FARMS offen organic, biological
feniliz.ers for fmn md garden. Send SASE for price
lisL Biologically-grown produce IO sell? We SC
interested in acting IS cooperalive nwketing agenlS
with other growers. Wriie: Rouie 1, Box 319;
Clyde, NC 28721.
HOW - TO - BOOKS: "Gemstones, Crysials &
Healing" by The.Ima Isaacs - 30 mineral families cl
oompleie descriptions ($8.00); "NllUJ'e's Pantty" by
David Wilson - 100 wild edible foods ($3.00); "The
Soler Energy N0tebook" by Rankins cl Wilson use lhe sun for home heating ($6.00}. Please add $I
~:Jpping per order. Lorien House, POB 1112,
Black Mounlain, NC 28711.
1HE RAINBOW LODGE, a conference ctnier and
reirea1 facility, is available for workshops, reueais,
ete. - Write: RL 4, Boll 4636; BWrsville, GA
30512.
CRAFTS FROM SALVADORAN AND
GUATEMALAN REFUGEES IN NICARAGUA:
Cards, plaques, boxes, puzzles, patt:bes; This irade
benefits refugees directly. Brochure from:
Dry Creek Cooperative Trading
918 Jennings CL
Woodbu.ry, TN 37190
a oon-profil oraaniz.ation.
UGHTWORKS - luminous fabric window pieces
by Cathy Scou; 734 Town Mountain Rd.;
Asheville, NC 28804.
FRIENDS OF 1lfE MOUNTAINS is a grassrOOlS
organization involved in !he conservation and
proiection of !he soulhem Appalachian highlands.
RL 2, Box 2279; ClaylOll, GA 30525.
CHEROKEE CLEANSING lEA - over a doz.en
herbs (makes app. one gallon) - $1 .SO from
Medicine Canoe Products; RL2, Box 90-E; Old
Fon. NC 28762.
ELACHEE NATURE SCIENCE CENTER dedicaled IO !he undemanding and apjX1!Cialion of lhe
nawral world. For membership or visiting info,
write P.O. Boll 2771 ; Gainesville, GA 30503.
AMRITA HERBAL PRODUCTS - Comfrey,
Eucalypws, or Golden Seal Salve, Lemon or
Lavender Pace Cream. Made wilh nawral and
essential oils and love. Send for brochure: RL 1,
Box 737; Floyd, VA 24091.
AMERICAN MINOR BREEDS CONSERVANCY
is saving endangered breeds of farm liveslOCk. If
you keep any minor breeds or know of olhen who
do, please lei AMBC know. $10 10 join. AMBC;
P.O. Box 477; PillSboro, NC 27312.
CUSTOM CELTIC HARPS - A'Coun Bason;
Travianna F1rn1; RL 1; Check. VA 24072.
Shares for sale in FLOYD AORICULTURAL
ENERGY CO-OP; par valued at $100 each. Will
Bason; Travianna Farm; Rt I ; Check, VA 24002.
•AS WE ARE" - Women's music by Pomegrana1e
Rose, a four-woman group playing lively original
music. Casse11e llpe avail.able for $9.00 ppd. from
RL 2, Box 435; Piusboro, NC 27312.
INDIAN VALLEY RETREATS - We offer
individual or group reireats on our 140 acteS of
rolling meadows, wooded r:raiJs, fresh waier streams
and clean air in the majestic Blue Ridge Mountains
of Soulhwes1 Virginia, IS miles norlh of !he Blue
Ridge Parkway. Reireats can be lailorcd 10 your
needs, wilh as much or as little guidanct and social
imerx1ion as you wish. We have rustic cabins,
privaie or semi-private rooms or camping. $10 per
nigh1 per person, bed and breakfasL Indian Valley
Holistic Center; RL 2, Box 58; Willis, VA 24380
(703) 789-4295.
THE LONE RECYQ ER -- Comic book advenwres
of humankind's early suuggle to combat
was1efulness. $4.00 pp. from Long Branch
Environmenlal Education Cenicr; RL 2, Boll 132;
~._~.•::~~o
""
Send submissions io:
K.o.DWi
P.O. Boll 873
Cniiownee, NC 28723
BIG MOUNTAIN - 10,000 traditional Navajo
people lhreaiened with removal by US govemmenl
IO make way for coal and uranium mines. Support
and donations needed. Write: Big Mountain Legal
Defense/Offense Committ.ee; 2501 N. 41h SI.,
Suile 18; Flags1aff, AZ 86001 (602) 774-5233.
At ARTIIUR MORGAN SCHOOL 24 swdents and
14 staff learn iogelher by living in community.
Curriculum includes creative academics. group
decision-making, a work program, servict projects,
extensive field trips, challenging ou1door
ellperiencts. Write: 1901 Hannah Branch Rd.;
Burnsville, NC 28714.
GREEN RIVER RESEARCH JOURNAL exploring lhe connections beiween body. cools, and
land. Send $1.00 for sample copy io: Boit 1919;
Brattleboro, VT 05301.
APPALACHIAN GINSENG CO. - Cuhivaied
American ginseng, siratlfied seeds, seedling roots T-Shins wilh ginseng logo, $9.00 ppd from P.O.
Box 547; Dillsboro, NC 28725.
KA
AH - page 30
MALAPROP'S
BOOKSTORE/CAFE
BOOKS - CARDS - RECORDS
FOUR WINDS VlLLAGE - health and spiri1ua1
reireat; home for children in need. For visiting info,
write: Boll 112; Tiger, GA 30576.
61 HAYWOOD ST., ASHEVILLE, NC 28801
(704) 254-6734
Summerl986
�K1Hfiah. wants to communicate your thoughts and
f eelings 10 the other people in the bioregiona/ provirlce. Send
them to us as letters, poems, stories, drawings, or
pho tographs. Please send your contributions to us at:
Kmflgh; Box 873; Cullowhee, NC 28723.
The fall Kitiiah, Issue XIll, will collect our thoughts
and experiences of "Death and Dying". The deadline for all
submissions for that issue is August I.
Please send your ideas for a theme for the winter issue
of .Kat:Y.im.
Medicine-- .Allies
GET BACK!
issues of Katuah
full color
T-sfiirts
In the traditional Cherokee Indian
belief, the creatures in the world today are
only diminutive fonns of the mythic beings
who once inhabited the world, but who now
reside in Galuna'ti, the spirit world, the
highest heaven. But a few of the original
powers broke through the spiritual barrier
and exist yet in the world as we know it.
These beings are called with reverence
"grandfathers". And of them, the strongest
are KfilWi, the lightning, the power of the
sky; Utsa'nati. the rattlesnake, who
personifies the power of the earth plane; and
Yunwi Usdj, "the little man", as ginseng is
called in the sacred ceremonies, who draws
up power from th.e underworld.
Each is the strongest power in its own
domain. Together they are allies: their
energies complement each other to form an
even greater power. As medicine allies,
they represent the healing power of the
Appalachian Mountains.
The medicine powers of Katiiah have
been depicted in a striking T-shirt design by
Ibby Kenna. Printed in 5-color silkscreen
by Ridgerunner Naturals on top-quality,
all-cotton shirts, they are available now in
all adult sii.es from the Km.ah journal.
"To show r espect for this
supernatural trinity of the natural world is to
in turn become an ally in the continuing
process of maintaining harmony and balance
here in the mountains ofKatUah."
To order, use the form below.
ISSUE TWO - WTNTER 1983-84
Yona - But Huniers - Pigeon River Another Way With Animals - Alma Becoming Polilically Erreclive •
Mountain Woodlands - Katii.ab Under lhc
Drill - Spiritual Warriors
ISSUE THREE - SPRING 1984
SUstainable Agriculture - SuoOowers Human lm.pect oo the Forest • Childrens'
Education - Veronica Nicbolas:Woman
in Politics - Little People - Medicine
Allies
ISSUE NINE - FAll 198S
The Waldec Forest - The Trees Speak Migrating Foresu - Horse Logging Starting a Tree Crop - Urban Trees Acom Bread · Myth Tune
ISSUE FOUR - SUMMER 1984
Waier Oram - Water Quality - Kudzu Solar Eclipse - Clcarcuttin8 - Trout ·
Going to Water • Ram Pumps Microhydro - Poems: Bennie Lee
Sinclair, Jim Wayne Miller
ISSUE TEN - WINTER 198S-86 Kale
Rogers - Circles of Stone • Internal
Mylhmakiog - Holistic Hcalln8 on Trial
- Poems: Sieve Koauth - Mythic Places The Uktena's Tale - Crystal Magic "Dreamspeaking"
ISSUE FIVE- FAll 1984
Harvest • Old Ways in Cherokee Ginseng - Nuclear Wasie - Our Celtic
Heritage - Biore8ionaliJm: Past, Present,
and Future - John Wllnoty - Healio8
Oarlcness • Politics of Participation
ISSUE EL£VSN - SPRING 1986
Community Planning · Cities and the
Bioregional Vision - Recycling •
Community Gardening· Floyd County,
VA • Gasohol • Two Bioregiooal Views Nuclear Supplement - Foxfire Gamca
-Good Medicine: Visions
ISSUE SIX - WINTER 1984-85
Winter Solstice Barth Ceremony
Horsepastu.re River • Com.log of lhe
Light - Log Cabin Roou - Mountain
Agriculture: The Right Crop - William
Taylor - The Future of the Forest
ISSUE SEVEN · SPRING 19&S
Sustainable Economics - Hot Springs Worker Ownership - The Great Economy
• Self Help Credit Union - Wild Turkey Responsible Investing • Working in the
Web of Life
KATUAH: Bjoreeional Journal of the Southern Ap_palacbjans
Box 873; Cullowhee, North Carolina 28723
For more info: call Marnie Muller (704) 252-9167
Regular Membership........$10/yr.
Sponsor.......................$20/yr.
Contributor...................$50/yr.
Name
ISSUE EIGHT· SUMMER 1985
Celebration: A Way of Life - Ka!Uab
18,000 Years Ago • Sacred Siles - Folk
Ans in the Schools - Sun Cycle/Moon
Cycle Poems: Hilda Downer - Cherokee
Heritage Center · Who Owns
Appalachia?
Address
Back Issues
Issue#
@ $2.00 = $
Issue# - -@ $2.00 = $ - Issue#--@ $2.00 = $ - Issue#--@ $2.00 = $- Issue#--@ $2.00 = $ - Complete Set (2-11)
-@ $15.00 = $_ _
T-Shirts: specify quantity
color: tan
M
Enclosed is$
to give
this effort an extra boost
I can be a local contact
person for my area
State
City
Area Code
Phone Number
KATUAH - page 31
S
L
@ $9.50 each ............$_ _
XL
Zip
TOTAL PRICE =
postage paid
$_ _
Summer 1986
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, Issue 12, Summer 1986
Description
An account of the resource
The twelfth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> covers a variety of topics, including, nuclear energy issues, shiitake mushrooms, trout farms, and the Cherokee people's historic use of tobacco. Authors and artists in this issue include: Joe Hollis, Rhea Rose Ormond, Avram Friedman, Michael Red Fox, D. Newton Smith, Rob Messick, Corry, Ise Williams, David Wheeler, Stephen Wingeier, Jerry Trivette, Perry Eury, and Marnie Muller. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1986
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
Living in the Garden.......1<br /><br />The NC Nuclear Referendum.......3<br /><br />Shiitake.......4<br /><br />"The Water Cycle": A Poem.......6<br /><br />The Sacred Scarab.......7<br /><br />Circles of Communication.......8<br /><br />Review: The Wise Woman Herbal For the Childbearing Year.......9<br /><br />Review: The Small-Scale Aquaculture Book.......10<br /><br />Good Medicine: Tobacco.......12<br /><br />Sun Root.......14<br /><br />Poem: "The Homestead on Horn Mountain".......14<br /><br />"Hilahi'Yu...": The Formation of the Appalachian Mountains.......15<br /><br />Natural World News.......19<br /><br />"The Willow Tree": A Children's Story.......25<br /><br />NABC II.......27<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Beginning
Human ecology
Radioactive waste disposal--Appalachian Region, Southern
Shiitake--Appalachian Region, Southern
Dung beetles
Cherokee Indians--Tobacco use--History
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1980s
Agriculture
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Book Reviews
Cherokees
Children's Page
Community
Electric Power Companies
Folklore and Ceremony
Forest Issues
Good Medicine
Habitat
Hazardous Chemicals
Health
Katúah
Pigeon River
Poems
Radioactive Waste
Stories
Turtle Island
Water Quality
Western North Carolina Alliance
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/7e7d24eb4270ddd2fe219a5da68fd1f1.pdf
f88274a18bcfefc1226b5e712085a2fb
PDF Text
Text
laueXVD
Fall 1987
$1.00
BIOREGIONAL JOURNAL OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS
THE MOUNTAIN BLACK BEAR
�(uTiJAR,
P.O. Box 873 Cullowhee, NC Katuah Province 28723
Note new address, inside!
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
Postage Paid .
Non-profit Org.
Permitt12
Cullowhee, NC
28723
�The Life and Death of Bear #87.... 3
Glady and Tire Pisgah Bear Project
Bear Story...... ......... ................. 6
bySam Gray
Issues (and a Few Answers)
for che Black Bear:..................... 8
An lmerview
with Dr. Michael Pelton
The Challenger: ......................... 11
The Wild Boar in the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park
cougar...................................... 12
a poem
Good Medicine: .......................... 13
"Finding Allies in the World"
"Me and My Walker Hounds"...... 14
by Robert McMahan
"Smells Like Money to Me:" ........ 16
a report on Champwn l lllUnlJJional
by Jay S. Geru
Bear ................. ........................ 18
THE BLACK BEAR IN KATUAH
Exactly four years ago this autu!IUl,
Katua/1 began publishing. Our first issue
spoke to the sacredness of these mountains
and to the journal's intent to explore how
we humans could better understand our
relationship to this region and how to more
sensitively inhabit this place we call home.
Because the totem spirit is the living
soul of a region's natural life community, in
the second issue of the journal, we
searchingly asked "Who is the totem spirit
of the Karuah region'? Which is the species
most closely connected to the spirit of these
IDOWltains?"
The black bear,
called Yonah by the Cherokee,
answered:
"/am a mountain in my body.
Dark like the hills at midnight.
Fur covers my back
As the darkjirs clothe rhe ridges.
l am massive.
Rock is in my bones.
My growl is the thunder,
voice of the mils...
a poem /Jy Scott Bird
Green Politics in Katuah .............. 19
by Richard Harrison
Natural World News ................... 20
Modem Science Restores
Ancient Indian Maize
Prt>tecting Our Mountain Werlands
DOE Hot Meals Program
No Problem with Tobacco
Showdown ar Flat Creek
NC Legislators Want Dump
Peregrine Nesr Discovered
Turtle Island Talking.............. .... 23
Al.ookatPeaceNer
Old Galaxies:............... ............. 23
a poem by Michael Hockaday
Drumming: ............................... 24
Letten to KatllQh
Littering: The Same Old Story ..... 27
/Jy Michael Hockaday
Fa11 Calendar of Events ............... 28
Webworking....................... .... .. . 30
So in that issue we began our quest co
meet one of the most ancient inhabitants of
these moumains--the black bear. The cover
of the issue displayed Martha Tree's
powerful drawing of the black bear spirit
gazing up at the vision of the golden eagle.
Within the pages of that second issue was a
story-myth of the role that bears played in
creating the human race and there were tales
of encounters with the animal world by
Snow Bear. Also there was a story about
the exploits of two old bearhunters, Charlie
and Russell, now both passed on .... and
other black: bear lore.
Now four years later, we find
ourselves coming full circle. Again, we are
asking "Who is the Black Bear?" and "What
is our relationship to Yonah?" In this issue
we are investigating in particular the future
of the black bear here in southern
Appalachia and the chances of its survival
Concern for the survival of the black
bear is not just an isolated case of kindness
to a single animal species. The health of the
entire Katuah bioregion is reflected io the
health of the black bear. What is at stake is
the present aod future existence of the
bear's forest habitat -- the old, spreading
trees capable of providing nuts and space to
den; the herbaceous plants that grow up in
their shade; the fertile soils rich in leaf-mold
and teeming with micro-organisms that
suppon their growth; the clear running
streams that spring up among their roots;
and all the other creatures that depend on
and at the same time create the conditions of
the climax growth stage of the Appalachian
forest This is the balance that the mountains
have been growing toward for millenia.
The bears were not put here to be our
teachers; the welfare of the human race is
immaterial to them. But if the humans
would humbly respect and learn from
Yonah, the black bear would show us that
the conditions of the climax forest are in the
long run the best living conditions for us all.
The life of the black bear is not only
closely linked to the spirit of the land, but,
as the Cherokee legend in this issue's
"Good Medicine" column indicates, it is
also joined in some deep and mysterious
way to the spirit of the human inhabitants as
well. Feelings about Yonah run deep, andlike any deep feelings-they are complex and
inextricably mixed with emotion. TI1e bl:ick
bear takes many forms in the minds and
emotions of humans....
..... Yonah as rhe mother bear, the
Great She-Bear of the night sky, a cult
figure in ancient times, the spirit of the great
Mother Earth, massive in stature and a
bountiful provider, warm and comforting,
yet quick UJ anger and ferocious in her rage.
.....Yonah as a funny, playful clown
wlw entertains the tourists as they motor
through the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, drawing them out of their
cars to cadge snacks and goodies.
.....Yonah at the heart of the chase,
the hunt, the annual tracking of wildness by
the domestic llllmans.
..... Yonall as the shadowy figure,
dark and savage, that takes shape in our
fears just outside the safe boundaries of the
setrlement clearing. waiting to maim tile
unaware and steal tire fruits of civilized
living ...... Yonah, the medicine animal,
who, like the land, sleeps away the winter
in a cave or a hole, dreaming powerful
dreams and returning with knowledge from
the underworld within the heart of the
mountains.
.....Yonall as the wise one who can
show how to live close to rhe true spirit of
these mountains.
The black bear may take any or all of
these forms within the human mind io our
quest to know this ancient creature. Like
any proper spirit, Yonah is elusive and
impossible to pin down.
But if we are to continue for long here
in these mountains, we need to look inward
and touch outward to learn the wisdom that
the black: bear holds.
.
-·~
- The Editors
pr
�fi,ATUAH,
EDITQRIAL STAFF nus ISSUE:
Scott Bird
Mamie Muller
Rob Messick
Michael Red Fox
Martha Tree
David Wheeler
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Judith Hallock
Sylvia Fox
Jeff Fobes
Anne Muller
Arjuna
Cover: Blue Mountain Printmakers
New Sharon, ME 04955
Back cover drawing: Laurie Pierce
EPITQRlAL OFFICE rms ISSUE:
Worley Cove, Sandymusb Creek
The Southern Appalachian Bloregion and Major Eastern river systems
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
PRINTED BY: Sylva Herald Publishing Co., Sylva, NC
TELEPHONE:
(704) 683-1414
WRITE US AI:
K1JJW1h
Box 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748
Here in the southern-most heartland of the
Appalachian mountains, the oldest mountain range on our
continent, Turtle Island, a small bw growing group has
begun to taU on a sense of responsibility for the implications
of that geographical and cultural heritage. This sense of
responsibility centers on the concept of living within the
natural scale and balance of universal systems and principles.
Within this circle we begin by invoking the Cherokee
name Kattiah" as the old/new name for this area of the
mountains and for its journal as well. The province is
indicated by its nanual boundaries: the Roanoke River Valley
to the north; the foothills of the piedmont area to the east;
Yona Mountain and the Georgia hills ro rhe south; and rhe
Tennessee River Valley to ti~ west.
The editorial prioriries I or us are to co/leer and
disseminate information and energy which pertains
specifically to this region, and to foster the aware11ess rlwt rhe
land is a living being deserving of our love and respect.
living in rliis manner is a way to insure the sustainability of
the biosphere and a lasting place for ourselves in its
co11tinuing evolutionary process.
We seem to lwve reached the fulcrum point ofa" do or
die " sitttation ifl tenns of a qua/iry standard of life for all
/i11i11g beings 011 this planet. As a voice for rhe caretakers of
this sacred land, Katiiall, we advocate a cemered approach to
the concept of decentralization. It is oiu hope to become a
support system for those accepti11g the challe11ge of
sustainability a11d the creation of harmony and bala11ce in a
total sense, here in this place.
We welcome all correspondence, criticism, perti11ent
information, articles, artwork, etc. with hopes that Kauiah
will grow to serve the best interests of this region and all its
living, breathing members.
H
Diversi1y is an imponant elcmen1 of bioregional ecology. bolh
n:uural and social. Jn line wilh I.his principle. ~h tries IO serve as a
forum for I.he discussion of regional issues. Signed articles express only
I.he opinion of I.he aulhors and are not necessarily I.he opinions of I.he
KatUa/J edil°" « slalT.
- The Editors
the other galaxies...
You open the way.
In the last issue of Kattlah, we mentioned that with this
current issue, we would be changing from our traditional
newspaper formal to a new magazine format
As you can see, we are in the process of reconsidering
the wisdom of that change. We would appreciate your inpu1
as well in this decision. Would you rather have a more
durable, but more expensive maga1ine format or a less
durable, but less expensive newspaper format for Kari/ah?
Please share your ideas, suggestions and preferences
with us. We appreciate your feedback.
The lnicmal Revenue Service has declared KJJtilnh a non·proli1
organilnlion under section SOl(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All
coniribuuons IO KillHPli are deductible from personal income l!lX.
�THE LIFE AND DEATH OF BEAR
#87
by David Wheeler
"Poachers Tune In On Sleeping
Bears" declared lhe page one headline in lhe
Asheville Citizen on the morning of January
17, 1987. Poachers had shot and killed an
older female bear in her winter den site in a
hollow cree within the confines of the
Pisgah Bear Sanctuary below the Blue
Ridge Parkway.
The bear was number 87 of lhe bears
who had been radio-collared for radio
telemetry tracking by members of The
Pisgah Bear Project, a research program
being carried out by Nonh Carolina State
University (NCSU) scientists and students.
The radio collars emit a sustained signal that
is tracked by directional antennas to plot a
precise location of the animal to give a
picture of its range area and its daily
movements.
People all through the mountains
were shocked and angered that the poachers
had located the helpless bear by monitoring
the signals from her collar. When the
poachers found her location, they had
climbed her tree and shot her between the
eyes while she was asleep, and then had cut
down the tree to rettieve her carcass. People
were particularly outraged because Bear 87
was about to give birth when she was
killed.
"Glady" was the name The Pisgah
Bear Project researchers had given Bear 87.
At the time of her death she had just turned
11 years old - a remarkable age for a bear in
a region where few bears roam the woods
for more than six years before they are shot
Glady had been trapped and collared
in June of 1984 and was well-known to the
staff of The Pisgah Bear Project, who had
"Glady" was the name The Pisgah
Bear Project researchers had
given Bear 87. At the time of her
death she had just turned J1 years
old - a remarkable age for a bear
in a region where few bears roam
the woods for more than six years
before they are shot.
monitored her movements almost daily since
that date. In the subsequent two and
one-half years of contact, she had been
recaptured five times and had provided a
wealth of data on her habits and
movements. In the June previous to her
shooting she had been caught, measured,
and released. She was 125 pounds in
weight, 148 centimeters (58.25 inches) in
length, and 79 centimeters (31 inches) in
chest circumference at that time.
Glady had lived the life of any wild
sow-bear for the first eight years of her
life. ..She was one of the two cubs born that
winier of 1976 in the warm darkness of her
nwrher's den, and rhat small space was all
she knew for the first four nwnrhs of her
life. Jn the <kn she nursed and grew from
one pound to four or five pounds by rhe
rime her nwrher climbed our of her den
bringing her cubs with her.
Even beneath rhe rrees, the lighl of
rhai April sun mu.st have been intensely
bright to Glady's young eyes. Her mother
continued ro stay near the den site for
another monrh, nwving little and gradually
beginning to eat rhe tender young grasses,
branch lertuce, and squawroot (Conophilis
americano) C()ming up through rhe leaves.
As rhe spring progressed, Glady and
her sibling followed their mother down to
her spring range area, and, as food became
more abundant, their mother put on weight,
and rhe cubs continued to grow and gain in
StTengrh.
That first summer was a tklighr for
rile young cubs. They stayed close to rheir
- continued on llCll page
Phoio: NC Wildlife RC50un:es Commission
KATUAH- page 3
FALL 1987
�._....___....,._...,. ·=-- .. ........... - • --.-... - ... -·· _._....
mother and are buckberries under the tall
trees, blackberries from the choked jungles
along the open streambanks, and then
browsed the open hillsides and forests for
the succulent moL1ntain blueberries. They
also raided yellowjacket nests for their
larvae, and ate ants and grubs from rotten
logs their mother tore open with her long
claws.
Once they watched from the groL1nd
as their mother robbed a bee tree, slopping
ow globs of the sticJ..y honey and delicious
larvae, oblivious to the stings of the enraged
bees And, if they \Vere lucky, they would
occasionally find carrion th.Ill was not too
spoiled lying in the woods.
Mother ta11gh1 them to climb trees, to
hide, and to wait motimilessfor her return.
Tirey developed short. powerful legs 10
climb the mountain slopes and, although
their eyes were never very useful, their
noses became keen and sensitive as they
became accustomed to the seems of the
forest.
Then in the fall, they joined their
mother in gorging themselves on ripe acorns
and hickory mus to build up fat to insulate
and feed them during their winter den time.
The cubs contented themselves with
scooping acorns up from the ground with
their front paws and dextrous lips, but their
mother often went high into the oak trees,
bending and cracking branches to bring the
acorns, rich in protein and oils, within
reach.
Dllring this time the cubs and their
mother were moving almost constantly,
While male bears sleep lightly.
often lying on the grou11d with
011/y a laurel thicket or broken
brush for cover.female bears put
more energy into finding a warm,
secure den and sleep deeply,
stirring little duri11g rheir whole
rime of dorma11cy.
using every possible minme to fortify their
bodies to endure the winter's fast. The
young bears were tired and, when at tire
beginning of November the food supply
declined and their mother started for tire
high country to find an isolated den site,
they were glad.
They did not enter the den
immediately, but for one month they
lingered in the vicinity ofthe den site, eating
what they could find, b111 not going far to
forage for food. Finally, however, their
mother showed them how to ingest a fecal
plug of old leaves and twigs to stop
elimination, and they followed her into the
den. Their first year was over,
While male bears sleep lightly, often
lying on the Rro1md with only a laurel
thicket or broken brush for cover, female
bears p11111wre energy into finding a wann.
secure den and sleep deeply, stirring little
during their \\ihole time of donnaney.
Tiie small family of bears did not
leave their den to defecattJ or urinate during
their four-momh denning period. By a
miracle ofphysiology not duplicated in the
animal world, bears recycle their 1-.aste
water through their kidneys a1ul mrn the
nitrogen from urea waste compounds back
into protein.
So, although Glady was gaunt and
disheveled 1\'lren size emerged from the den
in the sprinR. the remarkable metabolism
and amazing endurance of her species had
brought her through the wimer with no
unus11al stress. Yet she was h11ngry,
grumpy, disoriented, and in no mood to
appreciate tire beauties of spring in the
mountains. 8111 as food magically appeared
in the forest, she grew in strength and
confidence. She became eager for another
year of roaming the slopes with her mother
GLADY'S RANGE
(South and cast or Mt. Pisgah. straddling lhe Blue Ridge Parkway, Pisgah N:irional Forest)
KATUAH - page 4
FALL 1987
�and hu sibling.
Glady thoughl the summer to come
would be a repetition of the last, and so she
was dismayed when in late June their
mother drove the two cubs away with fierce
growls and threats, when an amorous male
bear began to move close to her feeding
area.
The two yearling bears stayed close
together for companionship during that
summer and fall, but they separared into
individual dens ar the onset of winter.
Glady was on her own then, but she
stayed close to the familiar areas of her
mother's home range. She saw her mother
several times. but as long as it was not
mating season, her mother did not seem to
mind her presen~. It was two or three more
years before Glady went into estrus, but as
soon as it became evident that she was
sexually ma11ue, another large male began w
stay close to her and eventually mated with
the young sow-bear.
Glady continued to roam her range
and feed during the summer and the fall,
while, unknown to her, another unique
adaptation was taking place within her
body. The two fertilized blastocysts that
were to be her first cubs did not implant to
the uierine wall, but instead floated free in
the uterus while blueberry season moved
into acorn season, and Glady began intense
feeding to gain weight for her winter
dormancy period.
The acorns were plentiful that year,
and as Glady moved uphill to la11guish in
the vici11ity of her den site, the blastocysts
implanted themselves to her uterus and her
cubs began to grow inside her, perfectly
timed to emerge within her den in the dead
of winter.
I/Glady had notfoundfood enough
to bring her up to a weight that would
support reproduction and /actarion, through
the "delayed implantation" process, as it is
called, she would have passed the fertilized
blastocysrs and terminated her pregnancy
with little trouble and at a very slight
physiological cost.
Although she did not know she was
pregnant, Glady took unusual care in
picking a den site that year, and finally
found a tree of wide girth with a decayed
core and an opening, small and safe, high
up the trunk.
Glady bore two cubs in the den thaJ
winter, although she was hardly aware of
the fact. Even their insistent nursing did
little to disturb her winter sloth. But when
she awoke again that spring, she found she
was the mother with two cubs looking to
her to introduce them to the world.
So life continued for Glady lhrough
good yC3l"S and bad until June of 1984 when
Dr. Roger Powell of the Zoology
Dcpanmcnt of NCSU and other members of
The Pisgah Bear Project research group
caught her in a leg snare trap baited with
odiferous sardines.
The project was three years old al the
time, and Powell and his crew were
trapping, collaring, and releasing bears in
the Pisgah Sanctuary with several specific
KATUAH-page5
objectives in mind. Telemetry studies were
providing data on the bears' movements and
range areas. Trapping operations and the
co!Jars were also aiding in collection of
information on monality and reproduction
statistics, to be used in evaluating the bear
sanctuary and in drawing up guidelines to
help determine state management policies
and set hunting regulations. Simultaneously, bait station surveys (sec p. 9)
were providing population indexes, and
work had begun to determine exactly how
much food for bears the forest does
provide, which will shed additional light on
the findings about the females' home range
areas.
The study has also shown that
almost half of the human-caused
mortality among the study
animals has been a result of
poaching.
Now, although the study is not yet
completed, some results are beginning to
come clear. The bait station surveys show a
population decline in the sanctuary from
levels in the late 1970's. The decline seems
to have halted, "and," cautions Powell, "that
technique gives only a rough index, so I
would hesitate to say how significant that
decline is."
The study has also shown that almost
half of the human-caused monality among
the study animals has been a result of
poaching.
"1be Project has been in the press a
lot lately because Glady was shot in her
den," says Powell, "and our findings on
poaching have been what the press bas
emphasized. There is no question that we
have documented poaching in the Pisgah
Bear Sanctuary, but there's a lot more to the
Project than evidence of illegal hunting.
"From the habitat work that graduate
student John Zimmerman is doing, for
instance, we're getting to the point where
we should be able to predict bear use habitat
and develop models for what is good bear
habitat here and what isn't. That could be
very valuable to the Forest Service and the
Wildlife Resources Commission.
"We arc also developing a probability
curve that will tell us for a bear of any given
age what the probability is that it will live
longer. I feel good about our reproduction
data - it appears that the standard litter size
here is between two and three cubs - but
we're still missing some critical
survivorship data on cubs and yearling
bears, so we can't say for cenain whether
survivorship is greater than or less than
reproduction."
The Pisgah Bear Project's best work
has been in what it has found out about bear
spacing patterns and social organization.
The study has determined that although
female bears elsewhere often guard an area
to protect food sources, there is apparently
no territoriality in the Pisgah Bear
Sanctuary. By following the interactions of
neighboring females, masters candidate
Peggy Horner demonstrated this by
showing that they used the same areas at the
same time without conflicts. Project
members are now considering the
hypolhesis that male bears define their
territory, not by food avaiJability, but by Lhe
availability of females.
"What the bears appear to be doing is
predicted by most behaviorial and ecological
theories," says Powe!J. "But these theories
were mostly developed for smaller creatures
with shon life·spans, like hummingbirds
and anolis lizards, which give a lot of data
in a shon time. Bears have different time
spans, but they appear to be working on
basically the same rules. Thar's exciting to
me. That means we don't have to rethink a
lot of our behavioral and ecological theory."
S incc food availability is a basic
factor in the female bears' social
organization, The Pisgah Bear Project is
also measuring food production levels to see
how they compare with levels in other study
areas and what behavioral effects derive
from this. This is done by loeating marked
study sites in different areas of the
sanctuary, which a.re then visited regularly
by Project workers and every bit of food
material of three major indicator food
species (squawroot, berries, and acorns) arc
gleaned and weighed.
"The habitat here is tremendous" says
Roger Powell. "When I get out there and
actually sit down and pick berries at one of
these sites, I'm impressed by how
productive they are, and I can sec how, if
you found a good berry site and ate berries
all day, you could get faL"
'That's why I was enraged when I
found out about Glady's killing.
Had she been killed legally, I
would have been sorry, but I
would have accepted it. But to
have tracked her down by radio,
inside the sanctuary, inside her
den absolutely enraged me.
There's no sense to it."
Until the time of her death, Glady
played an imponant pan in the NCSU
reasearch. Erran Seaman, a graduate student
working with the project team, said, "Bears
can live on toward 20 years if they're not
disturbed. However, Glady was the oldest
female we knew of in the sanctuary. They
simply don't survive to live out their full life
span. We don't have many that ate over five
and one-half now.
"That's why I was enraged when J
found out about Glady's lcilling. Had she
been killed legally, I would have been
. continued on page 25
FALL 1987
�Bear Story
by Sam Gray
She was nuzzling and pawing at a spikenard
root as big as her face when she first heard the
hounds. Hunger was not the motive for grubbing in the dirt. She'd
eaten well for the past month. The aroma was the thing. A
discreet peace and a clear mind were hidden there in the array of
smells released from the bruised starch of the rhizome.
Reluctantly, she raised herself up into the October dusk to
KATUAH - page 6
FALL 1987
�listen to the baying orison coming to her from
another world. She could make out two separate
packs of dogs and an indeterminate number of
hunters. They were way down the mountain,
working back and forth across cold traces, getting
their bearings. Some of the voices were familiar;
old hounds that knew her ways, ancient choruses
that cried, "We've come." There were young,
strong voices too. It would be a long race.
She left the aromatic peace of the spikenard,
made her way into the violence of the night. She
moved upslope and to the northeast, leading them
away from the tree where her cubs were perched.
Her body and mind were quick and clear - water
moving among stones. By the time she sprang from
the upper timber into the wet grass of the Old Field
Bald at the summit, her strategy was shaped. She
paused in the shadow of a laurel clump to pant and
listen.
111e bald was lambent and still, except for an
owl cruising among the ash trees hunting rodents.
From the clangor in the distance, she beard an old
hound announce fresh scent. The other pack had
diverged and was moving to the west. She snorted,
sighed, and plunged down the north slope, gaining a
deeper darkness and in moments a tiny rivulet that
offered a quick drink and possibly some effacement
of her trace.
Further down, the creek was joined by a
tributary and between the two streams was a
quarter acre of doghobble bushes. She leaped into
them, using her body to plane down the entangling
mass, gain a foothold, and leap again, until she had
crossed it and stood panting and listening. The
dogs would be an hour getting through it.
On previous chases, she bad, from this point,
worked her way around the massive side of Cold
Mountain, weaving back and forth from stream to
doghobble patch to boulder field until the dogs
were beaten flesh. It was her mountain.
Tonight, however, something or everything
was different. Something beckoned downslope and
to the west. She had gone but a little way in that
direction when she pitched forward, tumbling
among rocks and moss and mud, moaning
uncontrollably. The bear had been struck down by
an insistent, sharply certain knowledge that reached
her across the great heart of connectedness: her
cubs were gone. By what wings or winds !his
message had come to her cannot be told, but it was
the truth. For at that moment, under a tall tree a
mile away, a man, exulting in the certainty that she
was elsewhere, was triumphantly holding aloft in
each hand a squirming, mewling bear cub, grasped
by the nape of the neck, bathed in torchlight and
terror.
With a single thrash and roll of her body the
bear massaged her anguish into the moist earth
beside the watercourse - and quickly left it there.
The game was changed. Before the capture of
the cubs, her strategy was determined by the need to
protect them, even sacrificing herself if necessary.
Now she must survive to breed again. And in
another place. For nothing held her to Cold
KATUAH-page7
Mountain now.
For the remainder of the night the bear moved
with unobstructed intention and speed down the
great slope of the mountain. At first light she was
lumbering along a gentler slope miles from the
dogs. the hunters, and the pain. Ahead of her were a
few apple trees, a meadow, an ancient fence, and
beyond these, indistinct in the morning mist, the
outlines of a cabin.
It was his habit to rise early and in good
weather to sit on the porch to watch the light gather.
For half a century, be had done this in all seasons,
liking best to sit in autumnal silence, reading the
sun's progress among the hickories, red oaks, and
maples of Lickstone Ridge - the leaves taking the
light inside themselves and then giving it back,
changed and revalued. He was an old man sitting
alone, lost in early light and dreams, when he saw
something moving out among the apple trees.
His first thought was, "It's Trudy." Trudy had
gotten up early, before him even, and was out there
in her old black coat picking up the last of the
apples.
He slowly and unwillingly Jet go of this notion
along with the brief joy it had borne him and forced
himself to acknowledge that it wasn't Trudy. She
had been dead now for over a year. The form
emerging from the mist was not his wife, but a
bear, and it was coming closer.
The bear covered the ground between them
quickly and darted under the cabin at a point where
the sills were raised on rock pillars two feet from
the ground. The unnailed puncheon floor inside the
cabin began to rumble and raise as the bear moved
around underneath. The old man stood in the
doorway and watched the tremors until they ceased
and everything was still. The thrum of cicadas,
jarflies, and gnats pulsed in his ears. He felt strange
- alive, but unsteady. Ile turned, groped for his
chair, sank into it. The dreams in his head began to
swirl together, and the images superimposed
themselves on each other and over the mountain
landscape before his porch.
He opened his eyes. Two men were standing at
the bottom of the porch steps. One of them was
calling out his name:
"Quill, Quill! Wake up, Uncle Quill!"
A haze suffused everything and through it, as
if from a great distance, he recognized bis
neighbor. Vance Callahan, along with bis son, June.
The old man struggled to his feet, and, leaning on a
post for support, stared blankly down at the
apparitions below.
"We been huntin' bear all night. We're
roundin' up the dogs now. You seen any, Uncle
Quill?"
The old man continued to stare, then cleared
his throat as if to deliver some oratory. But all he
said was. "No. No, I ain't."
Vance Callahan said something the old fellow
couldn't quite make out, and then the two figures
were gone.
The old man continued to lean against the post
and stare out into the warm October afternoon. ,
FALL 1987
�ISSUES (AND A FEW ANSWERS) FOR THE
SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BLACK BEAR:
An Interview with Dr. Michael Pelton
by Paul Gallimore and David Wheeler
indicate that just prior 10 that time few bears
were seen anywhere. They had been killed
up to the most remote areas. The historic
sites were Bone Valley up Hazel Creek and
under Thunderhead Mountain on the west
side. But it wasn't too many years after
1934 that the black bear population began to
climb. The black bear population in the Park
has been in the range of 400-600 bears for
many years, and this breeding nucleus
supplies the surrounding national forest
areas.
Dr. Michael Pelton has been studying
the blac/c bears of the Guat Smoky
Mowttains National Park. and the Cherokee
National Forest/or 17 years as part of his
job as professor in rhe Department of
Forestry, Wildlife, and Fisheries at the
University of Tennessee. In the course of
his research he has trapped, tagged, and
released more than 1,000 bears. He has
helped to develop research methods that are
now standard techniques in s111dyi11g bears
and other mammals worldwide. He is an
iruernationally-k.nown authority 011 bears,
and travels to o ther countries to advise
research efforts.
In talking with him, he is relaxed and
friendly, a person appreciative of wildlife,
who just happens to have an extraordinary
knowledge of the creatures of the forest
around us.
Katuah: We've heard an estimate of
2,000 bears in the Southern App:ilachian
Mountains. Did that come from you?
Pelton: That is a rough estimate that
we came up with when we were puuing
together the Tri-State Black Bear Study back
in 1978. It's based on a combination of
things: what we know about actual
population density in the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, bait-station
surveys, and kill data.
Historically, state game and fish
commissions have taken the number of
bears reponed killed during hunting season
and assumed that number is 20 percent of
the population, and as long as the sex and
age ratios stay about the same, they assume
everything is in a steady state.
When the Park was set aside in 1934,
the repons I get from those early records
KATUAH - page 8
I say 400-600 bears, because they
have dramatic population fluctuations
depending on the hard mast (acorn and nut)
situation. A crop failure sends the
population way down, but then all the
females are ready to breed the next year, so
that with a good harvest, it soars right back
up. It's a boom and bust cycle.
Last summer during the drought
everyone was concerned about the mast
crop. We all thought it was going to be
serious, especially following the poor mast
crop of 1984, which set the stage for a
tremendous number of cubs to be born in
1985. That whole generation was in
jeopardy, but the shonage never developed.
The harvest was spotty, but it wasn't
disasttous, and a lot of young bears should
have left their mothers and dispersed this
summer.
Kat fiah: It seems that if the times
were hard for the bears, the percentage
taken during the hunting season would go
l!J2 instead of remaining steady. That would
make kill data an unreliable estimate. It
would seem that they would need to have
some hard figures to actually know what is
happening to the population in the region.
Pelton: Estimating population is
complicated. There are a lot of variables.
The sex and age ratios have been holding
steady, but it would be good to know more
than the age srructure and the kill data to be
able to tell what's actually going on. People
who work with populations can take age
structure statistics, and they can prove to
you that a population is heading toward
extinction; then the next minute they can
prove that the same population is expanding
fantastically.
Censuses arc tough. That's what we
tried to do for so many years in the
Smokies: capture/recapture using various
techniques, anything we could think of to
count bears. It was a very intense research
project on a small area. It's totally
unrealistic to talk about doing something
like that on a regional basis even one time,
much less year after year.
Ideally, I would like to do what they
are doing in Pennsylvania: there they trap a
lot of bears - a good percentage of the
population - in the summertime, and then
when the hunter kill data comes in during
the fall, they compare the ratio of
tagged/untagged bears. They feel like they
are right on in terms of the bear population
in Pennsylvania.
The bait station index is the best
method we have right now (see sidebar).
It's rough, but it gives us more information,
and it's a feasible method that could be
carried out throughout the whole Tri-State
bear range.
We've gotten good correlations
between bait station results and what we
actually know about population density in
the Smokies. For instance, for a long time
we figured that the density of bears in the
Cherokee National Forest was one-half that
in the Park for a lot of reasons - road
access, higher than usual poaching, and so
on - and when we got in some bait station
data, it indicated that the bait station talce
was about one-half what we were geuing in
the Smokies. It told us what we thought
we'd find out.
A friend of mine Died the bait station
technique out in Idaho, and it correlated
very well to what we found in this area.
They're using it in Michigan and are
very optimistic about it out there. Georgia
Died it in the Chattahoochee National Forest
for three years, and they are now going to
make it a permanent part of their
inanagernentprogram.
It's a general index, and it works very
well, if you don't expect more from it than
that.
Katuah: When you say the Tri-Staie
area, what does that encompass?
Pelton: It's basically the same as the
area known as the Blue Ridge
physiographic province (Katuah) in the
states of North Carolina, Georgia, and
Tennessee. The bear range is basically the
federally-owned lands in this area. The
Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a
focal point for this range. We can call an
area a discrete range as long ns there are
connections between its various pans, and
the Park is connected to all the major
national forest areas surrounding it. But
there is a very definite line of human
habitation between the Cherokee National
Forest in Tennessee and the George
Washington National Forest in Virginia that
cuts those two bear populations apart
The assistant head of the wildlife
department in Virginia called me last year to
see about meeting at the state line to discuss
reconnecting the national forest areas by
means of wildlife corridors or conservation
easements.
FALL 1987
�Katiiali: Wouldn't corridors make
bears more liable to poaching pressure by
concentrating their numbers in a narrow
saip of land?
Pelton: This is a new idea, and I
don't know exactly how wide a corridor
should be to protect bears in this kind of
country
South of here we've seen black bears
dispersed down hardwood corridors along
riverbanks that are just a few yards wide.
They are very vulnerable in th:u situation.
The best survival habitat is~ of cover,
and the wider the corridors can be, the
better.
I don't have much hope for anything
outside the federally-owned lands. The rest
is gone. Down in Louisiana they are
reclaiming some abandoned farmland and
putting it back into bear habitat, but I don't
think that will be the case in Southern
Appalachia. Once the second homes and the
strip developments are there, they're there
forever.
K atua/1: Is the region approaching
its carrying capacity for bears?
P elton: I can't speak much for the
North Carolina side of the mountains, but
from what I can tell in the Cherokee
National Forest. it's not near the carrying
capacity.
The mast production there cenainly is
not optimal. A lot of these forests arc 40-60
years old now after being essentially wiped
out during the '30's, and they're just
beginning to reach mast production
capability, so there's room to grow there.
Wit h more control of illegal hunting
activi ries. the density in the national forest
could approach that in the Park, which is
approximate!y one bear per 1,000 acres.
K at fiah: What do you think arc the
cumulative effects of human habitation on
the bears?
Pelton: "Cumulative effects" is a
specific term for a relatively new idea tha t
has already been applied to the grizzly
s.ituacion our west. It means to take all the
bits and pieces of impact and put them
together to see how they fit in terms of an
overall effect on the species you arc looking
at.
They are doing that in a very
sophisticated way for the grizzly, and a
Forest Service employee is going to develop
a cumulative effects model for the
Chauahoochee National Forest as a case
study for the Southern Appalachians. That
will involve him looking at all the
population parameters he can dig out of our
data base and adding up all those factors:
roads, timber management, number of
people, bunting, and so on.
Essentially, he is going to t.alce each
of those factors and index it with some son
of value system that is weighted in terms of
its assumed impact.
Pe lton: I don't think it's going to be
that sophisticated. This is just a one-person
project.
My personal concerns are, first,
sustained, long-term mast production, and,
second, access and how that's used.
My first question is: is the clearcut
technique setting into motion a situation
where they are going to be perpetuating
non-mast-producing species for eons of
time?
If there is a marginal cove hardwood
setting where there was a good oak
component, and it is clearcut , then that oak
component is lost forever, either because it
is replanted in white pine, or because it
comes back in poplar, and they return in 60
• 80 years and cut it again when the poplar
is large, but the oaks haven't had a chance
to get started.
f ve been ta.king the Forest Service to
task for that. They argue that the oaks reach
maturity in 80 years and start downhill after
that, and that they need to be cut at that
point. rm not convinced that the data would
support them on that, particularly with white
oak, which is the most important one. I'm
not a forester, but from all the data that rve
been a ble to dig o ut, they do not reach
maturity until 120-150 years, when they arc
reaching peak acorn production.
O ur second poi nt is that the trees
should be allowed to sustain their peak for a
c:untinued on nCXI page
TENN.
N.C.
s.c.
GA.
BLACK BEAR RANGE IN THE "TRI-STATE REGION"
(Source: Tri-Stntc Block Bear s1udy, 1978)
KATUAH-page9
BAIT STATION SURVEY
K at uah : Will it take atmospheric
deposition into account?
The bait station survey was developed
as a relatively inexpensive method that is
easy to implement and provides a standard
data base of relative density, distriburion.
and activities of the black bear that could be
easily implemented throughout the whole of
Katuah.
The bait, three panially opened cans
of sardines, is hung at least 10 feet high in a
small tree, so that it is necessary for a bear
to bend the tree over to get at the cans.
These stations arc spaced a1 one-half mile
intervals along routes selecte d to
systematically cover the chosen sample area
at the density of one bait site per mile. Baits
arc placed during the month of July, when
bear activity is highest.
The s lope; aspect, ele vatio n;
oversto ry and unders tory vegetation ;
d istance to the nearest road; timber
c::= -
..,.ne....t; nmal past.
1u4
disllDce to die
1lle
or bear
sanctuary
bat,
boundary are noted for
each bait site to aid in analysis of bear
habits. movements, and habiw preferences.
Each bait station is revisited five
nights after it is set. Marks of tampering arc
very clear, and the percentage o f baits taken
is used as a comparative index value to give
an idea of the bear population in different
areas over the course of time.
The more widespread the usc of the
bait-station method and the higher the
degree of consistency that can be achieved
in its usc, the more value it will have as a
research technique in the Southern
Appalachians.
The bear range in Tennessee and
Georgia is being monitored with bait-station
surveys c onducted by the Tennessee
Wildlife Resources Agency and the Georgia
Depanment of Natural Resources. The
National Park service carries out surveys in
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Isolated surveys are being done as pan of
research projects in North Carolina bear
sanctuaries.
An annual, region-wide bait station
survey is immediately possible and
dcsircable as a means to provide uniform
data among the differe nt p o litical
jurisdic tions and agencies of Ka tuah.
Coordina ti o n by a n i ndepe nde nt
organization or the US Fish and Wildlife
Service could enhance the value o f such a
survey.
All that is lacking is a committment
from the US Forest Service and 1he NC
Wildlife Resources Commission to make a
region-wide black bear management swvey
a reality.
~
FALL 1987
�• oonunucd rrom pm·ious page
period of time to get the best mast crops. So
I've been pushing them to increase the
rotation time to 120-150 years.
There is also a problem regenerating
oaks. foresters just haven't been abk to
work that ouL Some of them are certainly
interested, but all they have been able to do
is to go into a stand before they cut it and
see if there's enough advanced regeneration
(oak saplings) beneath it so that there will be
some oaks coming back. If they cut too
early the oaks will be out-competed by tulip
poplars and other sun-loving, pioneer
species.
"It would help immediately
also the effect of gener:il use of the ro:id
forcing individual be:irs to shift their home
range to another are:i.
A be:ir chooses :in area for a home
range because it's a good habitat :irea. :ind if
he has to shift it over. he will either have to
shift over to land that is not as good for
habitat or he will push another bear over to
poorer land. The more marginal the
situation, the more vulnerable the bear
becomes.
I've said before that road
development should be restricted where
there is more than one-half mile of road per
square mile of forest.
Kai1ial1: But gating roads would
if the Forest Service defined its
job as more than just timber
management. Like the Park
Service and the state game and
fish agencies, they need to play a
tripartite role in managing the
forest: biological management,
enforcement, and information/
education."
"MARK TREES" MYSTERY
For many years naturalists have
speculated on the meaning of the trees found
in bear habitat area that have been
purposcfulJy scarred with clawmarks. As
;
yet, no one has been able to decipher the
meaning oflhe "mark trees".
Marie trees are not randomly scattered
through the brush. They arc always on a
trail and usually on a ridgetop along a very
distinct game trail. Any species of tree may
be marked. They are always live· although
sometimes a tree may be killed by extensive
marking. The marks arc definitely made by
bears. They are always head-high, and
sometimes bear hairs can be found caught in
lhe b:irk of rough-skinned trees.
The marks can be vertical or
horizontal, but arc most oflen horizontal ns
differentiated from the venical marks they
leave \\hen they are climbing a tree.
There are several theories as to the
meaning of the m:irks. One thought is that it
is females and males signalling to one
another during the breeding season.
Another idea is that the marks signify
the dominance hierarchy among the males,
panicularly during the mating season when
they are competing for fem.1lcs.
They could also be territorial markers
placed by an adult female to warn away
other females from her range area.
Whatever the interpretation, the marks
are of great imponancc to the bears. Tree
marking appears to be highly ritualized.
Some trees are marked once and never
marked ag;1in, while others :ire marked year
after year. But if a tree is marked repeatedly,
the bears - even different bears - wiJI walk
in the same footprints to get to the tree.
Trappers used to take advnntage of this and
set their traps around a previous footprint
close to a mark tree. They knew that if a
bear returned to the tree, he would follow
the cJ<.isting footprints and be a sure ca~
help.
Pelton: Cenainly, unless they use
that road to make a clearcut.....
It would help immediately if the
Forest Service defined its job as more than
just timber management. Like the Park
Service and the state game and fish
agencies, they need to play a tripanite role in
managing the forest: biological management, enforcement, and information/
education.
They don't do much enforcement.
For example, they only have one man on the
whole southern Cherokee National Forest.
One person can't do anything in an area like
that.
They also don't do much educating of
the local people about what the forest means
and how it serves them. In the northeast
people are more accepting of bears. Up
there if a person killed a bear out of season,
he'd get reponed. People would gee irate
about it! Here you don't see that. It's a
long-tenn educational problem. People need
to learn about the animal.
The Forest Service has not been
fleJ<.ible enough about alternative
silvicultural methods that might be
applicable in cenain areas. They tend to
generalize and say that they don't have the
time or the personnel to try some other
alternative Conn of cutting.
The second concern is roads. We are
finding that road density may not be as
imponant as how the road is used by
vehicles over time. There are two effects of
roads. There's the direct effect of hunters
using that road to kill a bear, and there's
- Mike Pelton
KATUAH - page 10
FAI.t 1987
�Attirude is very imponant as well. In
Vennont, the Forest Service didn't have any
trouble getting their mar.agemcnt plan for
the Green Mountain Forest accepted. There
they staned out on the right foot. Their
approach was to question, "What's unique
about this forest, and what docs it provide
that won't be provided any other way?"
The black bear was one resource they
mentioned. Another was large saw timber
grown on a long rotation. That just isn't
available outside the national forest
anymore. We have the opponunity to
provide that as well
Vermont also has some very strict
land use and zoning laws. I saw them in
action, and it's impressive. When anyone
wants to do anything to change the land,
especially above a cenain elevation, they
have to appear before a board and justify
their planning, even if they own the land.
Pel ton: A lot. ....I have a lot of
respect for the animal, more and more as
each year goes by. I am constantly amazed
at what it is capable of doing.
There's a special relationship between
humans and bears that has existed through
time. There's a theory floating around that
says it is because of the bears that we are
here. As far as we know, the only place in
the world where there hasn't been ttaccs of
pre-historic bears is in central and southern
Africa. and that's the focal point of the
development of primates, and the thought is
that had there been bears there, the primate
species would never have been able to
develop and evolve as they did.
Bears were always imponant to the
early culrurcs, but even in the present, there
is an instinctive attraction that people have to
the animal. Perhaps it's its human-like
characteristics. I don't know what.
Today I think people are drawn to the
bears because they are symbolic of our
remaining wild lands.
Katuah: The black bear has been a
major pan of your life for the last two
decades. From your long experience with
them, what have they come to mean to you
personally?
Resource Reading on the Black
Bear:
-The fragmented Forest, Larry D. Harris
(Univ. of Chicago Press, 1984)
- The Sacred Paw: The Bear jn Nature,
Myth. and Literature. Paul Shepard and
Barry Sanders (Viking Press, 1985)
- The World of the Black Bear, Joseph V.
Wormer (Lippincott, 1966)
- Mammals of 1he Grea1 Smoky Mountains
National Park, Alicia and Donald W. Linzey
(Univ. of TN Press, 1971)
- The Mammals of Nonh America, E.R.
Hall (John Wiley & Sons, 1987)
- Bear Crossjn~s: An Antholoc of Noah
American Poe1s, Anne Newman and Julie
Suk, eds. (New South Co., 1983)
- The Tri-State Black Bear Study (by
university faculty and government agencies
in TN, NC, and GA - available from the NC
Wildlife Resources Commission; 512 N.
Salisbury St.; Raleigh, NC 27611)
THE CHALLENGER:
THE WILD BOAR
IN THE GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
NATIONAL PARK
There is competition between the black bear and the wild
boar ... The stiffest competition is in years of a poor mast
crop, for then both species are trying for the same acorns.
In the early 1900's George Gordon
Moore, a wealthy English businessman,
decided to entenain clients by creating a
game preserve in the area of Hooper's Bald
in the Snowbird Mountains. He built a huge
enclosure of split chestnut rails and brought
in a variety of big game animals - bear,
buffalo, elk, and the European wild boar.
The game park was a miserable
failure. The fence broke down, the animals
escaped, and vinually everything was shot
in the open woods .....exccpt the wild boar,
and they have been in the mountains ever
since.
Boars (Sus scrofa) are shy and
secretive, so they are not often seen by
humans, but they are impressive-looking
animals. Average adult weight is 120-150
pounds, but individuals close to 300 pounds
have been captured. Their long tusks are
vicious-looking and can produce terrible
wounds, but boars are generally shy and
avoid humans whenever possible.
The wild boar species is native to
Russia, eastern Europe, and western
Europe. In their native territory their major
predator was wolves, which had already
been exterminated from the Appalachians
when the boars were first imported. A
bobcat or occasionally a bear will kill a
young piglet, but otherwise they have no
natural predators in the mountains.
After their escape, the boar population
readily naturalized itself in rhe
Appalachians, and in time the animal
became a high-profile big game species in
both Nonh Carolina and Tennessee. People
from all over the country came to bunt wild
boar in the wild mountains.
At that time it was still legal to
free-range domestic bogs in the forest. The
two breeds had a lot of contact, and at one
point hog cholera almost wiped out the wild
strain. The two strains are of the same
species, so they interbred freely. Even in
1973 ttappers caught two or three black and
white spotted boars - the sign of mixed
breeds. None of those have been caught
lately, so it is assumed that the domestic hog
characteristics have been eliminated.
Inevitably the wild boars moved into
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
The first sightings were on Parson's Bald
and Gregory Bald at the west end of the
Park. The Park administration immediately
recognized the threat from the wild boars
and began a trapping program to catch the
animals using hogwire enclosures.
It was a futile effort. The hogs spread
eastward, and now the entire Park is
occupied by the species, although they favor
continued on next page
KATUAH - page 11
FALL 1987
�- continued Crom P&&C 11
the western end.
On the Tennessee side of the Park
hogs can be removed by trapping or
shooting by a special team of hunters.
They can only be trapped on the Nonh
Carolina side of the Park. In 1986 over
1,100 wild boar were trapped or shot
within the Park boundanes. Officials
have no guess whether that is 10% Or
90% of the boar population.
Whether or not the wild boar can
be eliminated from the Park is no longer
in question. The Park is a huge area over 500,000 acres - of which a large
pan is only accessible by foot trails, and
a large pan of that can only be reached
by climbing cross-country through the
thickest kind of brush. These
inaccessible areas harbor a breeding
nucleus of boar that multiplies
exponentially in years of a good acorn
harvest And immediately bordering the
Park, the Nonh Carolina and Tennessee
wildlife agencies are developing and
promoting the wild boar as game
animals.
Wild boar do an incredible amount
of damage wherever they go. Their
rooting can tum over great areas of the
forest floor as if it bad been tilled. They
are a great threat to the many endemic
varieties of plants that are found in the
Great Smoky Mountains and exist
nowhere else in the world. There are
rare plants here that are in great jeopardy.
Wild hogs will root up
salamanders. They will wallow in the
only water sources at the higher
elevations and silt them and foul them,
so that the water is undrinkable. They
spread diseases to other wildlife species.
The damage they are creating is serious,
and much of it is permanent
There is competition between the
black bear and the wild boar. In a direct
confrontation a grown bear will kill an
adult boar, but these occasions are
infrequent
The stiffest competition is in years
of a poor mast crop, for then both
species are trying for the same acorns.
Bears have an advantage in that they can
climb into the tops of the oak trees and
feed on the acorns before they drop.
Bears arc also safely in their dens
during the cold winter months, while the
boars have to continue to forage for food
in all weather. To make a dent in their
population levels, the best time to hit
them is at the end of a hard winter. They
are in poor condition then.
The wild boars' biggest advantage
is in their remarkable reproduction
capacity. Under the best conditions
female bears, when they become
sexually mature at three and one-half or
four and one-half years of age, can have
only two or three cubs every other year.
Female hogs become sexually mature at
six to eight months of age. After that
time they can have two litters of four to
eight piglets each year! The boar
population is dramatically affected by the
acorn crop. In a poor acorn year, rhey do
not reproduce, but when the acorn crop
is good, the boar population
mushrooms. In that kind of situation the
piecemeal control being practiced in the
Park is not effective.
.
- Mike Pelton
KATUAH - page 12
cougar
thick velvet fur rippling
bone muscle sinew moving
eyes sharp clear piercing
you pulse
through the dense night air.
lithe fluid lean
slipping through pathways
known only to your kind
you stalk life itself
in the still luminous forest.
/#
fr
gn(ilie: Martha Tree
poem: Mamie Muller
�Finding Allies in the World
We have been told that the Indian people native to Turtle
Island saw the world differently than the Europeans do. They
saw the world as a spiritual place, where Spirit took shape
and existed in the many forms of the Creation.
We have been told that the Indian people believed in
power, and they sought power, but the power they sought
was spiritual power and not power over others, such as the
white people seek.
We have been told that every rock and tree, every bird and
every animal, each living thing in the world is an ex:pression
of some aspect of the spiritual energy of Creation. Each
entity has its own spiritual personality, so to speak. The
native people saw some of these personalities as particularly
good and desireable, and they would seek out these spiritual
beings and ask their help for the tribe and the people so that
they could get along in the world. They called these beings to
become the spiritual allies of the tribe.
We have been told that an individual could also seek a
spiritual ally to strengthen some pan of his character and
balance his personality. Preparation was an important part of
this. Just because someone wanted an ally, it did not mean
that the ally would come. First that individual would go to a
medicine person. The medicine person would give them
medicine to attract the ally - a feather, some hair, or perhaps a
bone from that animal. And the medicine person might give
that individual some advice on what to do and how to act and
give that person a song with which to call the desired ally.
Then the seeker would go off alone into the forest and fast
and pray for that spirit to come.
Sometimes, we were told, an ally comes to someone
without that person even asking. A Cherokee man in the
generation of our grandparents' parents was knocked into a
river by a bear, who then pursued him into the water and
slapped him down several times and clawed him. The bear
went away leaving the man with scratchmarks and bruises,
but did not kill him. The medicine people in the mans' village
told him that Yonah had chosen to be his ally and would help
and protect him. The medicine people said that it was
apparent the bear had followed the man into the water to be
sure he was marked. Always after that the man was called
"Man-Who-Bear-Knocked-1nto -Water". One does not have
to be mauled to realise the presence of a spirit ally, but people
today are so domesticated that some have allies and are not
even aware of it.
We were told that once a connection with the spiritual
realm was made, that people then spoke to their spirit allies in
a tone of command. The Creator, and the Sun, the Moon,
and Fire (which is the power of the Sun on Earth), are
primary Jl9Wers, and these were always asked very politely
to share their power. But other spirit beings were told what
was needed, not arrogantly, but in a way that ex:pected their
cooperation.
We were told that even Kanati, the lightning, must
sometimes be taunted and mocked before he will bring rain.
Someone could speak to him in such a way, saying, "Kanati,
you are considered a great power, yet there you sit, while I.be
humans and all living things here below stand in great need
of rain. Ha! ls this the best you can do?" But when speaking
to Kanati in that way it is a1 ways wise to stand in a place
where one can take shelter quickly.
KATIJAH-page 13
We have been told, however, that although it would not
work to beg a spirit ally for its help, one must always thank
an ally sincerely for coming and lending its power. And
nothing is given for nothing. A human must always serve an
ally and think well of it to keep the spiritual connection
strong.
Yonah, the bear, we were told, is a spirit representing
great physical srrength and endurance. The bear is strong in
the ability to survive, because it can eat almost anything. It is
also moody, and its temper is ferocious. In its build and its
appearance, the bear shows it is closely related to the
mountains. And since the red wolf, the elk, the panther, and
!he woods bison are gone from the mountains, Yonah is the
last symbol of animal strength remaining here.
But, we were told, a spirit does not need to be large and
physically strong to be a powerful ally. The dragonfly is a
very small creature. It is not fierce. It is very delicate and
beautiful, but the dragonfly is a very strong power in the
world.
We have been told that the golden eagle is a strong power
both in the physical body and in spirit. The eagle could fly so
high into the sky that he would disappear from the sight of
those watching from the ground. When he returned and sat
on a branch, he had such a regal look about him that the old
ones would say,"Surely, he has spoken with the Creator."
But, we were told, the Cherokee people did not consider
the bear to be one of the str0ngest powers in the mountains,
because they knew where the bears came from.
The bears, it is said, were once humans, a clan of the
Cherokee tribe called Ani-Tsa'guhi. One boy among them
would spend a lot of time in the forest, until one day his
mother noticed that he was starting to grow hair all over his
body.
"Stay in the village with us," she begged. "You spend all
your time in the woods. You hardly eat with us anymore."
"I am going to go to the forest to live all the time," the boy
replied. "There is plenty of food to eat there, and I like wild
food berter than com and beans. Why don't all of you come
with me? There is enough for our whole clan to eat."
The clan met in council, we were told, and they decided to
go with the boy to live in the forest. He told them that first
they must fast for seven days. So they did that, and after that
time, they went away from their village.
We were told that on their way, they were met by a group
of messengers from the other villages, who had come to beg
them to stay in their homes. But the Ani-Tsa'guhi could not
be persuaded. In fact they were already starting to grow hair
on their bodies.
"We are going into the forest to live forever," said the
Ani-Tsa'guhi. "There is plenty for us to eat there. But when
you hunger, come into the forest and call us, and we will
offer our bodies to you that you may eat our flesh. Do not be
afraid to kill us, for we will live forever."
And we were told that the Ani-Tsa'guhi taught the
messengers the proper songs and told the messengers how to
call them. Then, singing and dancing, the clan went away
into the forest. As the messengers started back to their
villages, they turned around for one last look, just in time to
see the last of a line of black bears disappear into the trees.
Therefore it is said that Yonah, the bear, is Cherokee, but
is not Cherokee. The bear is considered a brother, bur there
are stronger allies, like Fire and Water, and the trinity Kanati~
rattlesnake, and ginseng, living in the mountains.
#-
Tlu!se words are spoken by a traditional Clu!rokee.
FALL 1987
�"ME AND MY WALKER HOUNDS:"
An Exposition on Bears and Bear Dogs by Robert McMahan
When I was seven years old, my daddy
would take me hunting. He didn't force me to go. I went
because I wanted to go.
I'd say, "Daddy, you goin' bunting tonight?"
"Yep."
"You care if I go with you?"
"Nope."
Well, I'd go with Daddy. He'd lay out aJI night
long. I'd make it 'til about midnight. They'd always
cook a hot dog or fry some bacon on a stick about then,
and I'd stay up for that, but lhen I'd go to the sleeping
bag.
As I got up to 10 or 12 years old, I got to listening
to what they were listening to: the dogs. I got to be able
to tell which dogs were leading, which dogs were
behind, how long it was going to take this dog to catch
up, or how far ahead lhat dog was from the pack.
I started possum bunting when I was
14 or 15 years old. I'd borrow a certain
redbone hound dog from my uncle. I lived
in the very last house on the paved road,
and I'd walk down to my uncle's house on
lhe highway, borrow that dog, and walk
back up to the top of that mountain. I
enjoyed doing that. I caught some possums
using a .22 and a two-cell flashlight. Most
of the time that little two-cell flashlight
wouldn't shine more'n three or four limbs
up on the tree. If the little possum wasn't
there, I'd grab my dog and go. l didn't pay
no attention to walking three miles in lhere
to that tree.
Finally I got enough money to buy
my own dog. A good dog cost $50-75.00
back then. It made it real big for me to know
that !hfil dog belonged to~I started out bear hunting with an
older man namedWade HaJl. I was about 22
when I first went out with him. The whole
first year I hunted, I never saw a bear. We
- oonlinued on ne.<tl page
KATUAH - page 14
FALL 1987
�had some good chases, and we had some
good times, but the bear just didn't show.
I start breeding and training Walker
hounds in L976. The United Kennel Club
(UKC) recognizes six breeds of hunting
hounds: blue tick, English, redbone, Plort,
black-and-tans, and Walker.
Walkers are making their mark in the
bear hunting world. They're coming along.
The reason these Walker dogs are
coming along is that people are breeding
them carefully. They're wanting to get the
best. and they'll go where they have to to
get the best. But anybody with a hound dog
will tell you, you can breed the best to the
best. but your wodc is still cut out for you,
because you still have 10 train that dog.
You're going to wear out a lot of shoe
leather to make those pups into bear dogs.
There are different things to look for
in a dog. Myself, I'm looking for a good,
medium-nosed dog. I don't want a real
cold-nosed dog that can trail a track two
days old. Sometimes that pays off: I've seen
it happen that a dog will start on a cold trail
he could just barely smell, go over the
ridge, and a bear will be laid up there. If a
bear gets in an area where there's mash
(mast), he'll stay there 'til the mash is gone.
But you can waste a lot of time that way,
too.
I also want a dog that'll go when I
tum him loose. I don't want one hangin'
'round my feet. He's got to go 'ti! he
strikes.
The mouth is another thing. I like a
dog to have a good bay mouth when he's
trailing or running and just "hammers every
breath," as I call it. That way I know right
where the bear is at. And when he comes
into the tree (trees the bear), he needs to
change over to a good, hard, chop-mouth
sound. You can tell when a good one does
tree.
Color is imponant too. I don't want
no ticks in a Walker. I like big spots. If I
find small spotS about the size of a quarter
all over the dog, that tells me that's not a
pure-bred dog. What's color is color, and
what's aint, ain't.
Before I go out there and breed to
someone else's dog other than my own, I
just about have to see how M's bred and
raised his dog. I have to see what that dog
does when it trees a bear or a coon.
One thing to get straight: the dogs are
the main factor in bear hunting. The greatest
pan of the sportsmen in this area, all they
want is to hear their dogs run, hear a good
race, and see a good fi_ght The grea[er pan
of them is not interested in killing a bear.
We carry a rifle. We're legal - we don't
believe that's illegal - but killing 1he bear
isn't the main thing.
To get a good gun dog, now, you do
need eo gee him on a bear kill. You kill one
to him, because chat really perks a dog up.
He feels like he's accomplishing something
then. He's got a taste of what he's supposed
to be doing. But you don't have to kill every
bear that a dog gets after. You could take
one bear a year for a pack of dogs, and that
pack will go in next year and run you
anol.ber bear.
Some people say. "You get more
game from a bound dog." Well, that's not
true. We hunt with our dogs, because that's
KATUAH- page 15
what's important 10 us. I don't see any :;pon
wha1soever in still hunting. That's why I
don't deer hunt. You go up there early of a
morning, get behind a tree, and sit there
about two hours, and wait on a deer to
come up. That deer doesn't even know
you're there. He's grazing, and you stick
that gun barrel out from around that tree,
you shoot that deer, and he's a dead deer.
He never knew what hit him.
I could see doing it for I.be meat, but
in this area here there's nobody who has to
depend on deer meat or bear meat to
survive. There's no point in going out there
and just shooting it.
1lle way we bear hunt is in a group.
It takes at least seven men who get along to
make a good group. l could go bear hunting
by myself, but more than likely I'd be
fighting a losing battle. I couldn't stay up
with the dogs, because when a bear is
jumped, he'll turn and run. An
averaged-sized native bear, a 100-200
pound animal who's been born and raised in
these mountains, can run eight to ten hours
or even longer. There's no way one man
could stay up. But if you've got a good
group of seven men, you get someone on
one ridge, one on another, and one on
another. There might be three dogs after the
bear, and then when he comes my way, I'll
turn my dogs loose to see what they can do.
.....you could tap Sam on the lzead
with your foot, and everything in
him would just rattle. He was
broken ruJ. to pieces.
When a bear is jumped up and
running, he might be a mile ahead of the
dogs, but they can run him then with their
heads down. A bear hunter can tell every
one of his dogs by its bark. The whole rime
he's listening to the chase, he's got that
sound down pat He can tell which dog is
which, and he can tell what it's a-doing.
You can't tum a young pup on a
track, because there's so much other game
in these woods. You loose the well-trained
ones first. Ihu'll stay on the bear. But if
you go ahead and tum out 15 dogs, you're
gonna have 10 that don't even know what
they're out there after. They're going to be
ahead of your dogs trailing the bear, and
they're going to jump a deer or whatever,
and - wham! - there's a big blow-up.
You don't want more than seven dogs
on the chase up to the point where they stop
him. Then you turn your young dogs in on
that. That's the way you make bear dogs.
I've known limes when somebody
saw a bear cross the road, and ~body
got excited, and J<Ymbody jerked their dogs
out. Ir didn't take that bear l 0 minutes to get
tid of che dogs, but it took us three days to
find chem. Not one dog got after the bear and we'd~ 1hat bear!
You can put as many dogs as you like
on a bear that's 75 pounds and up, and
they'll never kill that bear. That bear's
gonna take care of himself, he's dangerous,
and he'll kill a dog.
Everybody's got their own opinion
about breeding and raising dogs, but I
believe that if you're going to get a bear,
you've got to have dogs that'll fight.
You've got to have dogs chat'll nip at his
heels and let him know that they're there
and not be scared of that bear in no way.
If you have dogs that'll fight that
bear, that bear's gonna have to do one of
two things: he's either going have to run
and get the bell out of there, or he's going to
have to get into a tree.
A bear will kill a dog - he will, there's
no doube about it A bear'll slap a dog, but
his intention is 10 get the dog pulled into
him, to get a mouth hold on that dog. If he
gets a mouth hold on that dog, that's a dead
dog. You can make it up for that dog, he's
gone.
We turned out one last year named
OJ' Sam - as good a dog as I've ever seen
turned after a bear. He was an English dog,
and while I've been acquainted wi1h some
dogs that were as gQQd as that one. but as
far as being any better, they're hard LO find.
This wasn't but an averaged-sized bear, and
we turned Sam and the rest of the dogs on
it, and in 15 minutes that dog was dead.
What happened that panicular time
was that we turned the dogs on one bear,
but a bigger bear had crossed this other
one's path going another direction. The
bigger bear didn't run; he wailed for the
dogs, and by the time we made it up to
there, you could tap Sam on the head with
your foot, and everything in him would just
rattle. He was broken all 10 pieces.
Personally, in my opinion, a bear's a
beautiful animal. If you are out in the
woods, and you happen to see one, chey
look real pretty just because you so very
seldom get to see one.
But once you put the dogs on a bear,
it's different. It's a fact of me saying, ''l'm
going to stop you," and him saying, "No,
you're not." If I win the battle, I've got him;
he's mine. Then he's not so good-looking. I
mean, he looks good, but not near as good
as he was standing somewhere all alone, no
dogs, up there.
But if he kills or injures one of my
dogs, when we finally get enough dogs on
him to get him stopped, he's not
good-looking at all.
Once a good dog gets on the trail of a
bear, he'll be there. He'll be there 'ti! he just
totally gives out. When a dog like that gives
out, he'll be two days before you find him,
unless you know tight where to go gee him.
because he's going to go out there
somewhere and lay down. I'v.: carried
several out of the woods. Even afeer two
days, they'll walk four or five s1eps and fall
down, walk four or five steps and fall
down. It wasn't that the bear hu·: them in
any way, it was just 1hat the dog I 1d, as the
old saying goes, "busted a gut."
When a bear is shot, we Lake it to
someone's place, Clarence Hall's or maybe
mine, and we lay him ouc and chop him up,
and we take the meat and put it in10 liule
piles, one for each man who's hunted wilh
us. Each pile has the same amount of each
part, and we put those in freezer bags, and
carry that meat home. I like bear meat in the
fall of the year, but I don't like it frozen too
much. Several people down here call me
every year, asking if I've got any bear meat.
If I've got it, they're welcome to it. le does
me good 10 see them eat it.
- continued on page 26
FALL 1987
�Onphic by Rob Messick ~
"SMELLS LIKE MONEY TO ME"
by Jay S. Gertz
The campaign to get Champion
International Paper Company to clean up the
Pigeon River is not a new one. This
long-term crisis has currently been reheated
by a groundswell of opposition
downstream, fanned by recent federal
concern, and fueled by Champion's
incendiary ultimatum: 'We cannot afford the
pollution controls necessary to clean up our
wastes, and we will close down rather than
clean up!"
By putting the people of Canton and
Haywood County under the fear of
widespread joblessness and the subsequent
spectre of economic collapse, Champion has
amassed quite a constituency of vocal
proponents. Many residents believe that the
environmentalists, the citizens of Newpon,
TN, and all others who just happen to want
a clean river in their backyards are
black-hearted scoundrels pushing poor,
little, old Champion to the brink of
bankruptcy and ruination.
Nothing could be further from the
truth. Champion International, a huge,
multinational corporation based in
Stamford, CT, does have the resources and
power to return the Pigeon River to its
former crystal clarity. For Champion to bold
the citizens of Canton economic hostage in
this matter is patently unfair.
Champion's claim that they cannot
meet their own clean-up costs tarnishes their
corporate image and philosophy. It is also
KATIJAH - page 16
Other industries and
individuals now see the
Pigeon River as a potential
resource again, not only in
economic terms, but in terms
of its former g Lory as a
free-flowing, living stream.
ironic, because Champion Corporation was
a major factor in crearinft the economic
structure prevailing in Katuah today.
Champion Fiber Co. came to the
mountains as the brainchild of Ohio-based
industrialist Peter G. Thompson in 1905. At
the height of the timber boom, Thompson
and other nonhem industrialists purchased
400,000 acres of steep forest land, built a
pulp plant on the banks of the Pigeon River,
and began construction of a mill town,
which he named after Canton, Ohio.
Thompson showed great foresight in
his undertaking. He shrewdly profited on a
rural, unindustrialized area with an
abundance of timber, a constant source of
water for pulp processing, and a cheap and
unlimited native labor supply. By 1914 the
Canton mill employed 1,000 people, and the
population of the surrounding area had
jumped from 400 to 8,000.
There was not a diversity of interests
in the new company town of Canton. As in
the other towns that sprang up ar that time,
the single-interest economy was dominated
by the controlli.ng industry in the area, the
timber interests.
In Haywood County, Champion
become the guiding force for the entire
locale. Following the pattern of industrial
development then current in Appalachia, the
company controlled the jobs, the political
system, and the surrounding natural
resources.
The people of Haywood County were
hard-working members of an isolated,
agriculturally self-sufficient, indigenous
mountain culture. Like other mountain
people, many of them sold their land for
ready cash and forsook the hardship of
farming the difficult terrain for the promise
of steady work and wages.
This migration to the mill towns and
industrial centers denoted a turning point in
mountain life. It marked the beginning of
the modem era, in which mountain people
gave up their independent ways and became
a part of the cash economy.
By 1930 the Champion operation in
Canton was the largest in the United States.
Today Champion International is the founh
largest company in the forest products
industry. They are ranked as the 86th largest
company in the world. Their sales in 1986
FALL 1987
�topped $4.3 billion. Champion is the
second-largest private landowner in the US
with 6.5 million acres of timber. They also
own oil and gas fields with reserves of 2.5
million barrels of oil and 2.2 million cubic
feet of gas. From mills in the United States,
Canada, and Brazil, Champion produces
3.3 million tons of pulp, 815 thousand tons
of newsprint, and 2.5 million tons of paper
annually. Champion's six chief and 15
executive officers receive $6.25 million per
year with additional incentive compensation
of$2.8 million annually.
Canton and Waynesville's 2,300
Champion also uses 43 millio11
gallons ofthe Pigeon River daily.
This constitutes 90% of the total
stream.
Champion employees contribute a mighty
share to the wealth of that international
giant. They make one-third of the country's
total of coated papers (including duplicating
paper and most of the nation's dairy-type
containers). In 1982 the Canton mill used
2,162 cords of wood and 956 tons of coal
per day to make 1,620 tons of paper and
board per day.
Champion also uses 43 million
gallons of the Pigeon River daily. This
constitutes 90% of the total stream. The
wastewater is extremely discolored by
tannins and filled with other organic
compounds. This "din". although not
dangerously toxic, renders the Pigeon River
unfit not only for aquatic life, but for
commercial and domestic use as well.
Champion Fiber was once the sole
lord of a tremendous mountain fiefdom. The
Pigeon was its personal river - itS chief
resource, its sewer, and its ttansportation
system. Other industries and individuals
now see the Pigeon River as a potential
resource again, not only in economic tenns,
but in terms of its former glory as a
free-flowing, living stream.
Prior to 1900, the Pigeon River was
as pristine a mountain stream as one could
find in eastern North America. One could
see the bottom through ten feet of water.
Bass were prevalent, and upriver the
speckled trout were plentiful. Sun perch,
borneyheads, mullets, and hogsuckers
could be caught by the string in a matter of
hours. Mud tunics and muskrats could be
trapped by the water's edge. Other riparian
species lived by the Pigeon in great
numbers.
Now highly-colored tannins and other
compounds enter the Pigeon at Canton.
From this point on into Tennessee, the
Pigeon River no longer has the natural
vitality necessary to suppon typical aquatic
life. The sparkling clarity of the Pigeon bas
given way to a murky, smelly, and
sometimes foamy brew.
Above Canton the Pigeon River is
designated a Class A-ll trout stream, and the
water can be used for drinking or food
production. Below Canton the river
supports some atrophied "garbage" fish,
like carp, goldfish, and suckers. The
municipality of Newport, TN finds the
Pigeon so noxious, that although the river
flows through their city, they get their
drinking water from the French Broad, six
miles away.
The Southern Appalachians of the late
1980's are home to a greater variety of
corporate interests and economic livelihoods
than ever envisioned by the early timber and
mineral barons. One of them is the
recreational industry, which includes
fishing, hunting, camping, hiking,
white-water rafting, kayaking, etc. A study
recently published by two professors at
Walters State Community College estimates
the direct recreational benefit of a clean
Pigeon River at $7.3 million per year. This
does not include a projected increase in
agricultural use or productivity along the
river. or new industries. or a rise in real
estate values or development
Yet the river cannot be any sort of
asset to anyone, as long as Champion views
the Pigeon as its own and refuses to clean
its wastewater any further.
Champion lntemational, with annual
assets in excess of $6 billion, claims it
cannot afford to clean up the Pigeon River.
Over the past ten years, Chamfion has
earned $1.28 billion, paying $62 million
just to stockholders. If Champion spent $60
million in colorant removal, their projected
earnings would be reduced by $7 .8 million,
which is only a loss of 8 cents per share.
Champion's corporate philosophy is
summed up in a document entitled l l i
Champion Way. According to this
document, "Champion wantS to be known
as a company which strives to conserve
resources, to reduce waste, and to use and
dispose of materials with scrupulous regard
for safety and health. We taJce panicular
pride in this company's record of
compliance with the spirit as well as the
letter of all environmental regulations."
In the mid-1960's Champion did
begin instituting pollution abatement on the
Pigeon. At that time only sludgeworms
could live in the river. Gradually other
life-forms returned to the water, but not in
vast numbers or in the great variety of
former times.
Champion no longer
provides the only source of
livelihood in these mountains, and
they can no longer dictate a single
use for the river.
Today, Champion's North Carolina
wastewater permit docs not meet up with the
stricter federal standards of the Clean Water
Act, and Champion claims that it is
economically impossible to bring the river
up to legal standards.
For Champion to claim that a fouled
river is necessary to its business operations
should be an outrage to all the citizens of
this region. Presently existing waste
handling technology could reduce the color
pollution by 95-99%, and with 23% profits
last year and 40% profilS projected for this
year, Champion can cenainly afford to be
cleaner.
Another statement from ~
Champion Way points out the vast gulf
between the corporate ideal and the hard-line
stance of the Canton management:
"Champion wants to be known as an open,
LESSONS TO BE LEARNED
FROM CANTON'S PLIGHT
Despite financial headlines
proclaiming a bull market on Wall Sacct and
a rosy financial picture, the national
economy has been sluggish throughout the
1980's. Champion Paper Co. has
maintained a dominant place in the national
financial picture by a drastic streamlining
program begun in 1983. Shut-downs and
layoffs arc pan of that program. They have
laid off27,400 employees nationally in five
years. They have divested huge scgment.s of
their industry, such as brown paper
packaging, envelopes, cardboard boxes, a
distribution network, and an insurance
company.
Andrew Sigler, Champion CEO,
plans to "meld remaining business and
boost return on equity from single digits
into the top quaner of US industry." The
only way to grasp this potential 16% leap is
to cut costs and raise productivity. The
company intends to save $400 million (or
10% of its costs) annually.
This may explain the company's
bard-line stance on the Pigeon River plant.
The Canton mill is already 79 years old, its
rate of return is dropping as newer plants
with more modem technology arc built, and
it is obvious even to the plant management
that it has outgrown the river that feeds it
Champion will very soon, perhaps already,
be faced with a choice of expensive
modernization at the Canton mill or closing
the plant and moving to greener J>3StureS.
The decision, in fact, may already
have been made. Champion will finish
planning on a state-of-the-an mill in
Halifax, NC in 1989. They could decide to
close down in Canton and write off the
capital loss in corporate wees.
In that situation, they could only win
by taking an uncompromising stance on
pollution abatement. They would either
force the EPA to knuckle under and
maximize profits from the last days of the
Canton mill, or they would provide
themselves an excellent cover under which
to pull out of Haywood County: it would
then appear that it was the EPA and the
"damn environmentalists" and not the profit
motive that caused them to leave.
Whether Champion chooses to
squeeze Canton or to leave Canton, the
outlook for that mill town, whose whole
livelihood depends on the outmoded
Champion plant, is bleak. Hindsight, of
course, is 20/20, but it is obvious now that
Canton should have begun years ago to
diversify itS local economy, preferably with
smaller, locally-owned businesses. It is also
in times like these when the value of a
strong agricultural sector is clear.
Hopefully other towns will learn from
Canton's plight. The temptation is great to
give over to large outside business interests,
when it seems that they have the power to
make local residents pan of the American
Dream. But the end result is inevitably
economic peonage. The giant corporate
interests do not come here to give money;
they come here to taJce it, and they will stay
only as long as their profit interest is served.
In these times it may seem like
bucking the economic tide, but stability in
- continued on nexl ~&•·
- continued en MJCI page
KATUAH-page 17
FALL 1987
�continued from prcv ious page
1ru1hful company. We are committed to the
highest standards of business conduct in our
relationships with customers, suppliers,
employees, communities, and shareholders
In all our pursuits, we are unequivocal in
our suppon of the laws of the land, and acts
of questionable legality will not be
tolerated."
This sta1ement from a company that
threatens 10 sink an entire region inio a
depression if its excessive profits margins
are not upheld.
Champion no longer provides the
only source of livelihood in these
mountains, and they can no longer dictate a
single use for the river. Champion must
begin to accept the variety of commerce and
the multitude of changes that have come to
the mountains in recent years.
If Champion would uphold its values
of corporate excellence, it must stand by
words like these: "If change has a most
valuable lesson to offer, perhaps it is that
we need not be victims of it, if we can
accept it as an opportunity to grow and
achieve. In this sense, we believe that the
best companies are the ones with operating
styles flexible enough to make necessary
changes ..... " (from the Champion
International 1986 Annual Repon)
~
-wntinued from previous page
the long run is best maintained by making
decisions locally about the land, its
resources, and the economic sustenance that
is based on them. Perhaps now it is again
time 10 reclaim part of the mountain tradition
of self-sufficiency disrupted by the arrival
of industrialism to Appalachia.
The days of an economy based on
subsistence farming are past, but the more
people who move into locally-based, basic
production, such as producing food or
finished wood products; or who serve the
need for healing that draw people 10 the
mountains; or who pioneer new, more
appropriate occupations, the less
catastrophic will be the corning changes in
Haywood County and elsewhere.
Canton and its individual residents
would do welJ to de-emphasize their
dependence on the Champion plant before
the Champion company does the same.
Local governments and far-sighted banks
who would like to keep 1he local area
functioning and in1ac1 could begin now to
inventory local resources and opportunities
and begin making money available for
training and business loans to put the
Canton economy on a firmer footing. An
inventory of goods and materials imponed
into Haywood County would also indicate
needs that could be locally filled.
The hope that Champion Paper can
provide continuing security for the area is a
strong one, but in the end a strongly
diversified local economy will best
withstand the ·vagaries of the industrial
economy. Corporate interests are not always
the same as local interests. Champion
Company is a huge business complex and
responds 10 changes in the economic winds
far distant from the Southern Appalachians.
To Champion executives in S1amford,
there are many thmgs more important than
the welfare of a small, isolated mountain
town. To someone who lives here and sees
their job threatened by shifts in corporate
~
economics, there is not.
KATUAH- page 18
Bear
In the core of the thing is darkness
It is our final judgement
While we sleep it paces outside our door
It is the first time It has been around us
So closely. Steaming shit in early morning.
Maybe our private poems will never leave our heads,
Thoughts about confrontations.
Fear of opening that door.
Maybe our pirate poems will leave our books
And enter into our nights
And bring us Interrupted dreams
Of half knowing and fear until we awake
And wonder over ignorance.
It is the current tracking we must be
Concerned with, tables turned.
Hunting signs that read Know Me or Keep Out.
Except for untamed few of us,
We know only edge of mountain forest
Home to the black bear.
The word now is totem
The word out is guns and dogs down
Radios, cages, baiting - unholy
The apparition before us is round
Ginseng, Raccoon, Kanati, Bear, Wind, Earth gathered
With one place empty, Us.
- by Scott Bird
FALL 1987
�/
GREEN POLITICS IN KATUAH
Wlien Ille animals come to us,
askitlg for our help,
will we k11ow what tliey are saying?
When the plants speak to us
iii their delicate beautiful language,
will we be able to answer tllem?
When tlie planet lierself
sings to us in our dreams,
will we be able to wake ourselves,
and act?
-Gary Lawless, Eart/J First!
can developed countrjes contrOI and dictate nctions
to 'underdeveloped' nations. All people, no mnucr of
what sex. color. creed, sexual oricnta~on or heritage
must be empowered 10 have conLrol over the
decisions which nffect their own lives We must live
with a dedication for nonviolence in all aspects of
our lives.
Green panics are growing ~roughout the
world today. Most notably are the West Germon
Greens who during the lasl election won 8.3~ of
the national voie and the same proportional number
or scats in the Bundestag. Other pmies exist in
1131y, France. England, Canada, Cosu Rica, Brazil,
Sri Lanka and Spain.
It was an incredible evening. lhlll night in
Amherst. MassachWICUS siuing with several hundred
other people listening to G:iry rc:id his pocuy. We
had already spent three days and nights discussing
our ideas on wh:it the green movement is and what
is happening in our own areas th:it is 'green'. Gary's
words soothed our spirits and connected us all with
our most fundamental belief-th:it we must live in
harmony with all of nature.
We have to develop a new p;irodigm for our
world, one which follows a love and understanding
for our role within nature as equals tO all other
species, not as dominntors. We arc not, as our
indus1.rial society purports, doing 'battle with'
nature. As we recognize this fact. then we can see
better how to reorder our lives nnd rcl::uionships
with each other and the planet. This new paradigm
must begin in our own local communities and
regions, be it Katuah, the 01.nrks, or wbcrcvcr.
During the I950's the civil rights movement
began as a struggle by the peoples of color to
empower themselves and take their n:uuro.I and equal
place in a white dominated and contr0lled society
and to change th:it society. This movement later
IJUnsformcd into a celebration or peoples' or color
bcrilllge and history and contribution to our world in
freedom and oppre,sion. Later an lhe sixties. the
emphasis v.'35 on community control. anti-war,
feminism; and then in the seventies, aw;in:ness of
en\·ironmcntal concerns and problems. l':ow in the
eighties all or these concerns and energies for change
arc drawing together into the grocn movcmenL
Many people throughout the world are
becoming awnrc Ihm specific io;sue activism, though
icrribly necessary, doc.~ not change the root causes
of the problems. Green politics is a holis11c view of
life on Eanh. ft is based on the premise th3t we
cannot pursue growlh for growth's sake without
regard for its impacL It insists on the necessity tO
chnnge our foc11s from quantity to quality of
lifestyle. No longer can men dominate women; nor
KATUAH- page 19
There are now over 75 gnssroot gTCCn
organizations throughout the United StateS. They
are networked togelher under an orgooization based
in Kansas City. Missouri called the CommittteS of
Correspondence. named afru the original grassrooc
movement agnirul colonial rule in America.
As l lhink of my community witlun Katunh
I see many 'green' activities, though they may not
Ten Key Values
Ecological Wisdom
Grassroots Democracy
Personal & Social Responsibility
Nonviolence
Decentraliuition
Community-based Economics
Postpatriarchal Values
Respect for Diversity
Global Responsibility
Future Focus
have been labeled as such. Take, fer instance, the
Stone Soup Restaurant in Asheville, NC. A
worker-owned business, it is celebrating its
tenth-year anniversary this year. 'Thue ue also the
small business incubators located ii Waynesville
and Marion, NC which provide a location and
technical small business assisiaace to infant
businesses for two years each. After this time the
businesses move out into the community and new
'babies' move in. The Self-Help Credit Union is
another example. This organimtion h!lp<; employees
buy businesses which are closing, as well as sun
new ones, throughout the state.
The Swnnnanoa Valley Project 1s a case or
local people taking contr0l of the direction of their
community's growth and doing som~thing positive
to unite them all. Through meetings with the local
residents, they found what people liked about
Swannanoa; what they didn't like: w~nt they wanted
to change; where the investments of the people were
used by the banking institutions whether within or
out of the area; where did their community's garbage
and waste go; and where do the valley's youth go
when leaving school for good. This gave lhc people
of lhe Swannanoa community a power to move in
ways which they could truly affect their area's life.
After reluming to Katuah from the
conference in July, I helped tO set up an initial
meeting to sec who in the area was interested in
green politics. Over SO people auended from all
around this area - Brevard, Hendersonville,
Asheville, Madison County, NC. Since then we
have organized a group called lbc Western Nonh
Carolina Greens which has adopted the JO key
vat ues or the Commiuees of Correspondence as its
philosophical foundation.
At our August meeting we filled out a
questionaire to find out each person's views and
ideas about how they would want the regional
organization IO be involved politically, i.e. field
Green Party candidates, support 'green' Democratic
candidateS, or present green positions on specific
issues IO the voters and traclitional candidaies. There
was overwhelming interest in working on
cnvironmen131 issues as well as presenting a 'green'
position on local issues. Other interest arens are:
organizing a town meeting or open forum with
minutes being submitted 10 city/county
government; promoting voter registration/
participation, particularly people of color; assisting
local government and group recycling efforts; giving
auention to low-income housing with a view to
appropriate residential development in order tO
avoid growth which forces people out or their
ncighbolhoods and communities; and adding support
to ongoing community groups and organll.ations.
Monthly meetings are planned as well as
separate 'green' value study groups. Times and dates
will be announced in the Western Carolina
Coalition for Social Concerns Calend:lr (always on
display at Pack Library in Asheville, NC); on
WCQS: Malaprop's bookstore in Ashe,·ille. as well
as uca newspapers. For more information call
704/2.54-6910 or write:
W.N.C. Greens
P.O. Box 14-1
Asheville, NC 28802
Next Meeetlng: Sept 30 (see calendar p.28)
Thi.r article was wriuen by Richard llarri.fon
who has returned from a national grun
conftreru:e which took place this swnmer (see
Katilah Jssiu XVI). I/ere he shares his report
with us as it relates to our bioregion.
FALL 1987
�PROTECTING OUR
MOUNTAIN WETLANDS
NATURAL
by William 0. McLamcy, PhD
WORLD
NEWS
MODERN SCIENCE RESTORES
ANCIENT INDIAN MAIZE
For thousands of years the Cherokee
Indians have had a distinctive variety of
maize, or "com" as it came to be called by
the European seulers. Ii was derived from
the Harinoso de Ocho strain of maize found
in northwestern Mexico, and it has long
been a scientific mystery how the variety
made its way to the Appalachians without
leaving a trace of its passage between
Mexico and the eastern mountains (see
Krufuill. #3).
In 1981 Dr. William Brown, retired
president and general manager of Pioneer
Hi-Bred International Inc. of Des Moines,
Iowa, the world's largest producer of
hybrid com seed, was visiting his friend Dr.
H. F. Robinson, former professor of
biology and at that time chancellor of
Western Carolina University in Cullowhee,
NC. During that visit, Brown noticed that
some Indian farmers on Lhe Cherokee Indian
Reservation in Cherokee, NC were still
growing the old flour corn, although it had
been contaminated by cross-breeding with
varieties of commercial yellow dent com,
commonly grown for s1ock feeding. The
two decided to collaborate on a project to
restore the Cherokee white flour corn,
develop an improved, pure seed, and give it
back to the Cherokee fanners for their own
food supply and for distribution as ground
meal outside the reservation.
The project was begun in 1982, and
the first two years were directed at making a
basic improvement in the Cherokee flour
com. Test plots were planted and seed that
had the characteristics of the original maize white kernels free from indemations, or
"dents" - was selected from the harvest.
The second stage of the program was
begun in 1984 and is almost completed. The
objectives of this pan of the project are to
purify the seed by eliminating all of the
characteristics not found in the original
Indian maize and to improve the yield.
Brown and Robinson are working to derive
flour com with shorter stalks; more ears of
com per stalk; ears with eight or ten rows of
kernels; and com free of tillers, or extra
stalks. Taller com, or stalks weakened by
tillers, may fall over and rot. The native
Indian maize typically grew on stalks much
taller than modem hybrid varieties.
Among the techniques used by the
scientists was the creation of "selfed
one-generation" plants. In this process, the
silks of a forming ear of com are dusted
with pollen from the same plant, a kind of
forced inbreeding to help eliminate foreign
characteristics.
KATUAH - page20
Plantings in fields in Cullowhee and
Bryson City were harvested last fall, and the
superior 10 percent of some 200 tested
plants was saved to provide seed that was
planted this spring to create the superior
variety of flour com. The seed from that
crop will be harvested this fall and will be
given in carefully measured quantities to 20
Cherokee farm families for planting in
1988.
Thus, after five years of work,
Brown and Robinson will be able to return
to Cherokee farmers a seed that will produce
Cherokee maize in its historic white,
smooth, flour kernel form.
The Cherokees will be able to grow
the maize for their own use as cornmeal,
hominy, and grits, as they have
traditionally, and it can also be ground into
meal for commercial sales. The scant supply
of it now available stays in demand at a
premium price. The appeal of the pure com
meal could make it an important product for
tourist sales.
And for the scientific world and the
rest of us, the result will be the preservation
of a locally-adapted species of native Indian
maize that can continue itself here in the
Appalachian Mountain region.
(Source: Western Horizon: May, 1987)
One of the least appreciated resources
in Karuah is our wetlands. While we do not
have environments as extensive or
immediately impressive as the floodplain
forests, cypress swamps, or salt marshes of
the coastal plain, our own mountain bogs,
pocket swamps, and beaver ponds are
important pans of the uplands ecosystem
and all the more precious for their scarcity.
And they are under the same pressures as
the lowland swamps - mainly dredging and
filling for "development."
Section 404 of the Clean Water Act
states that anyone who wants to do any
modifications of a wetland area must first
get a permit from the US Army Corps of
Engineers. lf that seems to you like setting
the fox to guard the henhouse, your
instincts are sound. In fact, no agency of the
federal government has a worse overall
environmental record than the Corps.
On the other hand, to make any sense
at all out of our dealings with the
government, we need to understand that it
does not function like an ecosystem. !1 is
often at cross purposes with itself. From a
practical point of view, what matters is lo
identify the good individuals and the useful
offices.
Recently, a two-acre swamp just
upstream from my house came under
assault by crews using bulldozers. chain
saws, and fire. It was a spot I have to pass
on the way to town, and I have delighted in
watching the maples be the first trees to tum
red in the fall or scanning the edges for
colorful or unusual birds - redwing
blackbirds, yellow warblers, and perhaps an
occasional teal.
I would prowl the edges noting where
the deer (so scarce in this pan of the
mountains) had taken advantage of the
protection of the thick growth and had
found a small, dry spot in which to bed
down.
During spring and summer evenings
the frog concert would entertain me as I
went past, and I would sometimes see the
muskrats and beaver who lived in the
vicinity of the marsh.
The tiny swamp even offered
downstream residents like myself a
modicum of flood protection.
Local rumor had it that this delightful
lµ'Ca, so full of natural life, was destined to
be a trailer park. I wasn't happy about this.
Since I knew the law, I phoned the Corps
Regulatory Branch in Wilmington, NC to
report the situation.
I was dubious abouc what the result
of this action would be, but, to my
amazement, a biologist from the Corps was
on the scene within two days time.
While my reaction was not fast
enough, nor the law tough enough, to save
all the swamp, the owner was forced to
modify bis plans and the habitat hangs on.
More importantly, that visit was the
beginning of a series of Corps actions in the
mountain area that are enhancing the
prospects for the survival of our mountain
wetlands. In some cases itll has been
removed and landowners ordered to carry
out restoration work; in other cases filling
has been prevented.
FALL 1987
�Neither the law nor the agency are
perfect. We have much better control over
filling than ditching. Small projects are
sometimes exempt. There are questions of
interpretation, and the answers have not
always made me happy. Nevertheless,
contractors and developers in Karuah can no
longer claim ignorance of the 404 permit
process.
So we have a tool to use. One of its
limitations is that all of North Carolina is
administered from the Corps Wilmington
office some 400 miles away. With this in
mind, a number of people in organizations
in North Carolina have been trying to get the
Corps to establish a regulatory office in
Asheville. If you would like to help, write:
Col. Paul Woodbury
US Corps of Engineers
P.O. Box 1890
Wilmington, NC 28402
Tell Colonel Woodbury that our
wetlands need protection, that it is the
Corps' job, and that you are not sarisfied
with the service we are getting. Suggest
they open a permanent regulatory office in
the mountains.
Not all of Katliah is in North
Carolina, but the situation is similar in other
states. The bulk of the Corps' traditional
work - the damming, dredging, canalbuilding and ditch-digging for which the
Corps is so infamous - is in lowland areas,
and so are their offices.
Before residents of other states call on
the Army Corps of Engineers to intervene in
I.heir local sicuations, they might want to
check with local conservation groups. The
regulation branch in Wilmington, I am told,
has a good reputation for dealing with
conservation issues, and I am certainly
impressed with the integrity of the
individuals l have dealt with. Other district
regulation branches may be equally
conscientious, but I do not want to be
blamed for loosing the proverbial fox into
anybody's henhouse.
Ecologically, our high-elevation
wetlands are our most critical habitat. They
are imponant stopover points for migrating
birds whose flyways pass across the
mountains. They are home for endemic,
marshland plant and amphibious species that
are found nowhere else.
Other animals pass through the
micro-marshes, some feeding on the rank
growth, others preying on the smaller
animals, and all taking advantage of the
protection afforded by the swamplands'
dense cover.
If you see what looks to you like a
wetlands violation, call Bob Johnson at tfie
Wilmington office at (919) 343-4641.
If you want to learn more about this,
ca1l me at (704) 524-8369.
Oraphic by Rob Messick
D.0.E. HOT MEALS PROGRAM
Natutal World News Sct"icc
Natural World News has recently
learned that the US Department of Energy
(DOE) has finally come up with a solution
to the bothersome nuclear waste crisis:
we're going to eat it!
The vehicle for this dramatic
breakthrough is the Byproducts Utilization
Program (BUrP). This seemingly
innocuous scheme is the cover under which
the doebo1s plan to recycle nuclear waste
into the private sector. An early plan was to
resurrcc1 "low-level" contaminated metallic
hardware from nuclear plants as
dinnerware. Now the doebots are planning
to irradiate food with cesium 137 to help the
food industry control spoilage organisms
and give fresh food a longer shelf life.
Developing cesium 137 food
irradiation facilities (there arc plans calling
for 1,000 such facilities) would serve the
DOE in two ways:
First, if the doebots are allowed to
create an artificial market for Cesium 137,
then they can put pressure on Congress to
repeal a 1982 ban on the hazardous
reprocessing of civilian spent fuel rods,
which have accumulated in dangerous
amounts in temporary storage pools at the
nuclear plants. Congress originally
institu1ed the ban to prevent circulation of
the material to keep i1 secure from terrorists.
Secondly, reprocessing would
allevia1e the waste problem by reducing
radioactivity up to 55%, thus encouraging
the use and production of more nukes and
more waste, and would generate plutonium
enough to satisfy the Pentagon's appetite
well into the 21st century.
The food irradiation plan is being
continued despite knowledge of potential
health hazards as cited in the Congressional
Record, S1788, February 4, 1987: "The
application of ionizing radiation alters or
damages food cells. It also creates reactive
chemical intermediates known as free
radicals, which react with food constituents
to fonn potentially new compounds in the
food called 'radiolytic products' or RP's.
Some of these compounds, called 'unique
radioly1ic products' or URP's, formed
during radiation exposure are no1 known 10
exist previously in foods."
In the US House of Representatives,
Rep. Doug Bosco has introduced "The
Food Irradiation Safety and Labeling Act of
1987" (HR 956). Senator George Mitchell
has introduced a companion bill in the US
Senate. The two bills would stop food
irradiation plans until safety studies are
completed and contain strict labeling
regulations for irradiated food products.
Unless you would like to be served
up a plutonium/cesium 137 economy, you
might want to write your Congressional
legislators and express your support of the
bills.
Cesium 137 - all you care to cat!
BURP!
NO PROBLEMS WITH TOBACCO
Nanni World NeWl Savice
"We do not have a problem of
pesticide use on tobacco," said NC
Agriculture Commissioner Jim Graham, as
he announced that an NC Department of
Agriculture (NCDA) task force of inspectors
has been specially trained to detect the use
of herbicides (particularly Dicambra and
2,4-D) on smoking and chewing tobacco.
The toxic herbicides kill the tobacco plantS
prematurely and yellow the leaves, making
it appear that they have been cured in the
field. The herbicides are highly poisonous,
and their use is illegal on tobacco and food
plants.
According to a report in the
Agricultural Review. the official publication
of 1he NCDA, the specially-trained
inspectors will fan out to every
tobacco-producing county in the state to
stamp out any traces of illegal herbicide use
on tobacco bound to domestic or foreign
consumers.
The inspectors will visually check
tobacco crops for signs of illegal herbicides
and will pull leaf samples for lab analysis.
Offenders, who endanger the health of
consumers and the reputation of the North
Carolina tobacco product, will be hit with
strict penalties, Graham promised.
Commissioner Graham also sent
letters to all of the major domestic and
export tobacco companies to explicitly
assure them that the North Carolina tobacco
crop is uncontaminated with poisonous
chemicals, and that there is no problem in
the North Carolina tobacco fields.
- NATURAL WORLD NEWS continued
K.ATUAH- page 21
®Xt
page
FALL 1987
�- NATURAL WORLD NEWS continued
SHOWDOWN AT FLAT CREEK
NalUnl World News
The signs appear all around the Flat
Creek Community on billboards, telephone
poles, and motor vehicles:
STOP VULCAN QUARRY!
Vulcan Materials Company, a national
corporation
headquartered
in
Winston-Salem, N.C., has leased 99 acres
and plans to blast 400 feet into the Eanh to
mine the granite substratum below the Aat
Creek Community. The angered community
residents are not going to let it happen.
Vulcan says there is enough granite
to work. three shifts a day at the quarry for
55 years. How does that weigh against the
risk to the health and well-being of Aat
Creek, its watershed, and its people?
Aat Creek itself would suffer. Any
water that leaks into the 400-foot-deep pit
during quarrying operations would be
pumped into Aat Creek. That water would
be laden with sediment, wastes, oil,
chemicals, hydraulic fluids, and other debris
from the mining operations.
Vulcan is required to maintain only a
75 feet buffer strip between their operation
and the waters of Flat Creek.
"Seventy-five feet? That's the same
as for my septic tank!" declared an irate
residenL "What do they think they are doing
here?"
The ground water beneath the Flat
Creek watershed would also be heavily
impacted. A letter received June 24, 1987
from the North Carolina Dept of Natural
Resources and Community Development
listed four impacts a quarrying operation
could have on ground waters around the
site:
1. When the overburden above
bedrock is stripped away, the water storage
for the underlying fractured rock aquificr is
removed. This can affect the flow of water
in nearby wells and springs.
2. The blasting of bedrock can disrupt
the flow of water in the fracture system
supplying bedrock (drilled) well sand
springs.
3. Dewatering the open pit could
lower the water-table in the vicinity.
4. The exposure of fractured bedrock
in the quarry can result in contaminated
water entering and contaminating drilled
wells in the vicinity.
Constant blasting and the noise and
dust from the cavalcade of trucks and heavy
machinery will affect the two hundred
homes and the two schools that are within
one half mile of the quarry site.
Vulcan already operates a quarry in
Enka that blasts six days a week. The noise
and the residues of the blasting dust are
impossible to conttol. The new Enka High
School, only two years old, is already
starting to show cracks.
Vulcan Materials Company has leased
the 99-acre propeny in Flat Creek rather
than purchase the land. Leasing relieves a
company from any liability if water, air,
propeny values, etc. are negatively affected
by their panicular use or misuse of the land.
A public meeting was held at the Flat
Creek Elementary School August 6 in
response to the announcement of the quarry
plan. Over 600 concerned citiz.ens ancnded.
KATUAH - page 22
For an area such as Flat Creek to
become a "community'', a petition has to be
submitted bearing the signatures of at least
20% of the citizens. Within four days 60%
of the people of Flat Creek had signed a
request for community status, and within
one week Flat Creek formally became Flat
Creek Community· a voice united.
The concerns among the Flat Creek
Community residents arc valid and
immediate. With threatened water and air
quality, daily explosions, increased traffic
flows, and potential lowering of property
values, it seems safe to say that Vulcan
Materials Company would be more
responsible and wiser 10 choose an area that
offers less risk to humans and the
environment than within the Flat Creek
Community.
NC LEGISLATORS WANT DUMP
Nlllnl World News Service
The North Carolina General
Assembly bas decided, at least for the time
being, to remain a member of the Southeast
Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact and
to receive all the low-level nuclear waste
from the member states for the next 20
years.
In both the House of Representatives
and in the Senate motions to table
withdrawal legislation won overwhclmi_ngly
by margins of 66-32 and 39-IO respecuvely
during the last days of the session. Most of
the western representatives voted for
withdrawal.
The three weeks of the legislative
session saw an intensive campaign by paid
utility company lobbyists to influence
legislators. Their cffons apparently had
effect, as the legislature passed RB 35,
which calls for a Siting Authority that is not
accountable to either the public or the
legislature to decide on the location of the
radioactive waste dump.
If there is any positive benefit from
these votes at all, it is that the roll calls
indicate which legislators deserve to retain
their posts and which need to be replaced in
the primary election next May. Then we can
try again next session.
Our work is cut out for us.
For more information, contact:
Citizens Concerned about Nuclear Waste
P.O. Box 653
Dillsboro, NC 28725
or
Ron Lambe, Nuclear Waste Task Force
WNC Alliance
P.O. Box 157
Spruce Pinc, NC 28777
PEREGRINE NEST DISCOVERED
NC Wildlife Reaowces Commission
Thirty years ago the peregrine falcon,
the fastest of the birds of prey, was wiped
out of the Southern Appalachians largely
due to damage from the pesticide DDT.
For the past four years NC Wildlife
Resources Commission (WRC) staff and
volunteers have been "hacking" young
peregrine falcons at several l<?Cations i.n t~e
Katuah province to re-establish the bird m
this pan of its native range.
The program seems to be paying o~f.
A pair of the peregrines have made a nest ~n
the Pisgah National Forest. The female ln1d
two eggs in the nest, one of which hatched a
young chicle, who only lived for three
weeks before dying of unknown causes..
Nevertheless, Allen Boynton, project
leader for the WRC, was exuberant.
"This is the first nesting pair of
peregrines in the state in 30 years," he said.
"All the people in the project arc thrilled."
When biologists learned the sole
falcon chick had died, they quickly sent for
another peregrine chick that had been born
in captivity. When the chick arrived, it was
placed in the nest, a mossy area on a rock
ledge.
"When the adults returned, they flew
aroung the nesting site, looking at the
chick," said Boynton. "The chick staned
begging for food whenever an adult
peregrine would land on the ledge. After a
couple of hours, the birds settled down.
Several days later when I returned, I saw
one of the adults feeding the chick.
"We put the foster chick in to hold the
adults at that nesting site and to give them
experience in raising a chick," said
Boynton. "We'll continue to watch for
return birds, as well as releasing more
falcons in future years."
The peregrine project has released 45
young falcons in the state of Nonh Carolina
in the four years of its existence. The project
is funded by the Peregrine Fund, a national
organization dedicated to re-establishing the
peregrine in its native range, and taxpayers
who marke<l the Non-game W1l<llllc
Checkoff on their state income tax returns.
The US Forest Service and the US Fish and
Wildlife Service have also provided funding
and personnel for the project. ~
FALL 1987
�PeaceNet
In tenns of networking continentally and globally, an
invaluable resource is PeaceNet. PeaceNet is computer-based
communication system helping the peace movement and the
environmental movement throughout the planet cooperate
more effectively and efficiently.
With a large minicomputer based in northern California
connected to Telenet, a common carrier, PeaceNet can
facilitate letting subscribers communicate globally, usually
through a local phone call. PeaceNet is compatible with
virtually any personal computer or computer terminal
outfiued with a 300 or 1200 baud modem.
P eaceNet has more than 1,000 subscribers including
the Coalition for a New Foreign and Military Policy as well
as Earth Island Institute. PeaceNet now also serves EcoNet.
PeaceNet has an electronic mail system which allows one to
send and receive messages to and from the other PeaceNet
subscribers and from Telex and University systems around
the world. It offers easy-to-use tools for posting events on
international bulletin boards, preparing joint projects through
electronic conferences, and finding out the latest information
on environmental and peace issues.
In addition, PeaceNet can provide computer
conferences, like specialized bulletin boards. By using
this conference tool, a geographically spread out
organization can carry on frequent and responsive
communications. Some organizations use it to facilitate
group decision-making and task sharing processes,
long distance. Conferences can be set up in private
fashion for a small group of users or they can be
established as a public resource.
PeaceNet also has databases which provide
easy access to large quantities of information and allow
for custom searching and output (printing) fonnats.
Databases include: lists of speakers, organizations, and
foundations as well as bibliographic, legislative and
project infonnation.
PeaceNet is a non-profit project of the Tides
Foundation, based in San Francisco. So far, PeaceNet
has been funded primarily through grant and gifts.
Soon, though, fees from users will help it become
financially independent. PeaceNet's rates arc extremely
reasonable. Fll"Sl, you pay a $10 one-time sign-up fee.
This gives you a user's manual and a free hour of
off-peak computer time. Then you pay a monthly
charge of $10, which gets you another hour of
off-peak computer time each month. Every additional
peak hour is $10 and every off-peak hour is $5.
Sometimes, initial fees are waived and sometimes
discounts arc available.
If you are interested in finding out more about
PeaceNet, writeorcall:
PeaceNet
3228 Sacramento St
San Francisco, CA 94 I I 5
(415) 923·0900
,
Oacc it caac to ac j1st after the leans
had catirely flllca ia the forests,
whca cn1 loacsoac whip-poor-wills had goac,
that s1rely it is c111g• jHt to breathe
aad be, or take nothcr's h11d i1 Inc,
sighiag to behold the old Milky Way
dastiag the hcucas with a t&gae woader.
Why do we aeed sach passioaatc delights
whca we may fi1d aew streagth ia elder aightsT
S1rcly te feel preaeditated s11
wara oa yon sh11lders all the S1aaer,
or to gaze 1po1 fresh saow i1 wiater,
is charge enough to wholly fill our days.
So whcace comes the dark mysteries we breed,
huiag to s1ffer, or at least astond
the world, and her followers arouad usT
We hue forgottca what we oace beheld:
that life is what we make ef it: ao more.
Tho1gh sickless cater as ia awcfal forms,
our lowed oacs die eatirely, lcuiag aoae,
aid weights of tragedy 11chor fi1e joys,
of 11 iastaat we may feel sweet gladacss,
seeiag though it fades, that it still eadares.
So wherefore the sad, regrettable maaT
Builg oace drau such sercadipity,
10 time is left to sorrow or coaform.
Each murmur of aatare souads iHiolate.
by Michael Hoctadag
~
•
,.
~
~
'furtlt ls/Olld is tht o/dlnew nativt namt for North Am.:rica
KATUAH - page 23
Old Galaxies
Cnpluc by Rob M~s1d: ~
�DRUMMING
LETIERS TO KATUAH
Persimmon seed, I am ....
let me glisten in the sunlight
to paint you colours,
gold, bronze, amber forever.
let me be free to grow
to bear....
to watch my young sway,
to grow, to bear.
let me not lay
on the cold, damp ground
trample me not
for the Eanh is my food
and the sunlight my wonderment
Dear Katuah,
I am writing you I.his leuer because while visiting wiLh
our new friends Ann and Michael at the Rainbow Gathering
here in neighboring Graham County, we were given a copy
of your paper.
During our visit lo the gathering, my wife and I found
I.hat our love for the mountains I.hat we live in was revitalized
and reinforced by Lhe people's love and respect for nature
and their desire to preserve our planet for generations to
come. They also helped to remind us to judge only a
person's deeds, not his looks or possessions.
My wife and I both work at Mountain Park Medical
Center in Andrews where we live. Some of our co-workers
were quick to judge the Rainbow brothers and sisters by
looks alone, never trying to understand what they stood for
or believed in.
I am 37 years old and can still remember what the
sixties meant. I may have served in the Navy during that
time, but I always believed that everyone should follow their
own hearts and not be absorbed in the masses. We must
remain individuals, yet not do anything to hurt any other
living c reature, no matter how small or seemingly
insignificant they may seem. My wife and I both stop for
animals when driving, getting out and carrying turtles to the
side of the road in the direction that they were heading.
Getting back to why I am writing this, we would like
any information pertaining to groups or activities in this area
that we could attend or help at. We would like to help
preserve our bioregion for all time. Also, please let us know
about subscribing to your journal.
Kelly
(Kelly and Deborah Jones
Andrews, NC)
Persimmon seed, I am....
betraying the man.
Bern Grey Owl
Raleigh, NC
Dear~
Dear Katilah,
Someone showed me your summer issue and I
noticed that your next issue, in the fall, is going to be on the
black bear.
As a bear hunter, I may have something in common
with you. I want to see the black bear population flourish in
these mountains.
Here are some things that concern me about the present
state of affairs: Jllegal hunting. In some areas in these
mountains, poaching is rampant. What we need is good
enforcement of the hunting laws. There needs to be enough
personnel to do this. Illegal hunting doesn't do any of us
legal hunters any good.
Huntini: season in NC. The hunting season here in NC
actually opens too soon(@ Oct 12). You see, female bears
need time to get in their dens; they go into their dens earlier
than the males. For the black bear to reproduce, it is very
important to protect the females during this time. Also, they
may still be caring for cubs at this time, and the cubs need the
protection, too. Other states around here don't start up their
season 'til later. That's what we need to do in NC. Although
it's illegal, I have seen hunters shoot a female bear with cub.
Radjo Collars. Some hunters rely on tracking bears
with radio collars on their hunting dogs. To me, this takes
the sport out of it
.B.fil..l:ill. Although it is illegal, some hunters bait for
bears. The law against this needs to be enforced as well.
Having good hunting laws and the personnel to
adequately enforce them is our best bet in ensuring a healthy
black bear population for these mountains.
anyone, - HELP!
The word has been out long enough about scarab
beetle larvae (see .K_illiiM. #12). After getting sick at yet
another Rainbow Gathering, I'm pissed. The time for
pondering has passed. It's time for Rainbow people to quit
scratching their asses and produce a large enough crop of
these critters to eat all the shits of a gathering. The larvae can
be scooped up at the end and returned home. If it's a very
cold gathering, a few candles in jars should keep their
appetites stirred. The shitters won't fill up, and dysentery
will become history.
If not the Rainbow Family to lead the way of the
future, who? 'Cause the larvae are coming to the world to
clean up one of man's (sic) greatest problems with or without
the Rainbow Family (unless the poles shift first... ..)
I am but one person at a lonely Rainbow outpost, who
can only do so much, like write you and send a few starters
for new colonies.
I kept them alive all winter!
They are ready! Let's go! The time is NOW!
Sincerely,
Corry
M.C.
Rutherford County, NC
KATUAH - page 24
FALL 1987
�The Lessons of the Hunt
"Patience," says the stately Heron
As it stands in the shallows,
Waiting for a fish or frog
To obligingly swim by.
and isn't he
contained in she?
(She wishpered) isn't
he in herand
here and male in
side of female? Isn't man in
woman, prince in princess
God in Goddess? Isn't
Ibis a very narural thing
in a very natural world
Yes! i said
(an excited fool now) Yes!
HE is in HER!
Yes! HEARE
H*E*ARE
"Patience," says the tiny Jumping Spider
As it dans along a vine,
Its huge front eyes alert
For an insect's telltale twitch.
"Patience, "says the coiled Rattlesnake
As it lies beside a log,
Waiting for an unsuspecting mouse
To follow its accustomed path.
"Concentration," says the Heron
As, one slowly moving foot at a time,
It stalks
A shining minnow.
HE*R HER
And i saw this planet as a
veiled cruxible of
pressured light and
She laughed and said
even the Y chroma
some's an
X standing on
one leg and
i laughed too.
"Concentration," says the Rattlesnake
As the mouse scampers closer,
For there can be
But a single strike.
"I see and understand," say I
dr.iwing by Troy Settler
Will Ashe Bason
Check, VA
"And thank you for your gifts.
Now I can tread the inner paths
To seek my own prey, Truth."
e Douglas A. Rossman
- continued from page 5
In his normal tone he resumed, 'The
sorry, but I would have accepted it. But to
have tracked her down by radio, insjde the
sanctuary, inside her den absolutely enraged
me. There's no sense to it. Someone
hunting, even poaching, outside the
sanctuary is likely to pick up transient
males. But invading the sanctuary means a
poacher is likely to get one of the females,
which are the breeding element of the
population."
To protect the other bears, all radio
collars have been removed, except for three
bears the Project team has been unable to
catch. Removing the collars has hampered
the study this year, but Roger Powell says,
"We're fairly confident that we have figured
out a way that we can continue to collect
data that will put the bears in no jeopardy of
poaching - but we're not talking about it yet
"Our project's handling procedure has
one of the best safety records for least bear
injury and monality of any large mammal
study in North America. I feel good about
that. We've put a lot of care into handling
lhe bears promptly and safely, so that it has
minimal impact on them. It seems that all
that care has been worth it."
bears have to live with people. We need to
"Those of us who want to share
the world with other creatures need
to learn as much as we can about
them ....."
learn as much about the bears as we can,
because I've got a feeling that most people
are not ready to immediately stop changing
the world to suit themselves.
"Those of us who want to share the
world with other creatures need to learn as
much as we can about them, because there
are a lot of people out there who don't care.
"We need to get to the good things
and keep them good, before other people get
to those things and change them."
c
..
CD
And, when asked if he thought that
the bears had anything to teach us, he
replied softly, "The whole world does.
"I don't see the bears out there trying
lO change things. They're living with the
world the way it is. It seems that every time
we change it, we mess it up. We're better
offleaving it the way it is."
KATUAH - page 25
~~E.'11.~~
c
::>
~
::>
:~e:~~~
I
3
~
.;..;~ri:l:lllL.IC~ ~~;;s;.::.::..;;...;;;..:;:c;::i;z..;:m:;~.a.:.;..l:ll;;L...:;~-=---':.;._.::.:...:::::=::......11..;:,;.;;.:.;...J ;
FALL 1987
�- continued from page 15
Every year our club has a bear
supper. Our wivcs'll cook bear meat. They
fix ii about five different ways - baked,
barbecued, stcwed.....any way you like it.
And they make potatoes, bread, coffee, all
the side dishes. It's a fine time, and it
doesn't cost nobody a dime. You can cat
bear meat 'til you can't eat no more.
At the first part of the season when
our club gets together, we take up a
donation. Everybody pitches in $3-5.00,
whatever they can afford. We put that
money in an envelope, and one guy hangs
onto it. If anybody's dog gets hun, and has
10 go to the vet, that money pays for that
dog, no matter who's dog it is. A group of
guys sticking together can 1113kc up that bill,
where one guy can't afford it.
We depend on Forest Service land to
hunt. Bears like to go back into the deep
woods. They always have, and, as long as
there's a mash crop every year, they always
will. For the last five or six years the mash
has been spotty. If you go back deep in the
mountains, you might find a big, bumper
crop of mash on one mountain and none at
all on another mountain. But I believe that
as long as the Forest Service controls that
land, and keeps people from building
summer cottages there, we'll always have
bears. They'll always be here.
The hunters aren't going to destroy
the bears, but the poachers nre something
else again. They arc something the Wildlife
Commission doesn't like; the sponsmcn
don't like them; and the ochers don't like
them either. But as long as there's man and
womnn on the face of this Earth, there's
going to be murders, there's going to be
robberies, and there's going to be poachers.
Hunters themselves are going to have
to protect the wildlife. And they can do that,
because they are out in the woods, and they
can report any violations that they see going
~
on.
l'nwiJona Ptr1Mal S..rv1ct
Fill,,,. You< 8oolt Netds
In 5r«1ahzed fjelJa
--=~
UlTIIAVIOlET PUlllFICATIOH AHO FILTERING SYSTEMS
SOlAll PRODUCTS · WATER AHALYllS
OAJtY HEMSOTM
8oola.ltr
~ Htleh«is Sbopplq Ctntu
~ Nar1b c.rouna 28'07
RANDAU. C. LANIER
~2
.HWY 107
RT. 68 BOX 125
CUUOWHEE. NC 28723
Chinese
Acupuncture
and
Herbology
Clinic
SCOTT BIRD
GREG BLACK
(704) 683-1414
683-4795
342 Merrlmon Avenue Ashevllle, NC
(704) 258-9016
•.,.(notli«r Small lluslnut Jor IJorCd P£ACe ...
'1\iilee,
'ltUll~I 'Na~rcm
BOBCAT
T-SHIRT
SHORT SLEEVE T: $10.00 ppd.
Colors: Ecru, White, Sliver,
Se.foam (It. green) Teal
LONG SLEEVE T: $14.00 ppd.
(Includes Paw Print on Sleeve)
Color1: Ecru, Sliver, Teal, White
Satisfaction assured or return for full refund.
Please Indicate size, color,
sleeve length, quantity.
--t<c.,_._ _
l :::I
ICIU ........_M,w . , -.IC-!lO'I-._,
~a..
Introducing the BOBCAT
This full color design Is hand-screened on
T-SHIRTS OF 100% PRESHRUNK COTTON
IN ADULT SIZES S,M,L,XL
We •I.a have a line of sweatshirt• and kids T-Shlrts
KATU All - page 26
c~•-..;::=:=:=:=:=:
C WSA
~I
Natural Food Store
& Deli
160 Broadway
Ashevllle, NC 28801
Where Broldway1Neta
Mamnon Ave & 1-240
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Monday-Saturday: 9am·8pm
Sunday: lpm·Spm
(704) 253-7656
FALL 1987
�Littering: The Same Old Story
~
by Michael Hockaday
I think it happened by accident,
but it's hard to decide about some
things. I'd bad it with a bag of fruit
left aging on its own too long. It was
time to go, so I brought it with me on
my morning walk over along the
pastures where the creek doglegs
toward the big oak mountain. I
stopped to toss those too-juicy pears
toward a neighbor's cows clustered at
the far end near the cornfields,
leaving the bag by the wayside. I'd
get it on return. Which I did, and
found myself colJecting bottles,
broken mostly, and cans: glass,
plastic, aluminum. Beer cans were
understandably the worst offenders,
especially Budweiser, the King of
Beer. Obviously Bud isn't wiser, and
I still didn't understand.
How quiet it was late Friday
morning just coasting into the noon
daze .... .leaves falling together in
little groups or spiraling away one by
one. Crickets caroled their tiny insect
syrunphonies, or were they lullabies
being put sleep by the vivid sunshine?
Crows were growing less raucous,
but the bluejays sure were arguing. I
kept on with it, listening and cursing
some.
It was hard not to have bad
thoughts against those who
offhandedly dumped some of their
junk on ~ nieghborhood, this
stretch of public, county dirt road to
boot! But I thought: I too am a
litterer, though I don't break bottles
against treetrunks or creekrocks, or
cast my cigarette wrappers where all
the world will see. Call that pride,
ability? Ignorance? Carelessness?
KATIJAH - page 27
No, I don't litter like I used to . Yet,
as a consumer, I do my share of
littering, for to buy and to throw
away is interwoven.
So there I was collecting
garbage in my own neighborhood,
which seemed at first a little
embarrassing. I'll admit to being
stubborn, but I didn't get it all. And
I'm glad no one drove by. Those
candy wrappers left seasoning for the
last few weeks in the autumn sunshine
had dried, melted, and broken into
slivers that stuck to the blades and
stalks of grass and weeds. I really
couldn't pick them up without being
quite meticulous, and it's true: the
shade of my own front porch was
calling me.
Pausing in the road in the hot
noon light, I remembered why I fear
walking barefoot through these
countrysides, crossing creeks at
random, drying my feet in the cool
shore sand: broken glass, jagged tin.
Sparkling like mica under current,
hidden under soft fall leaves.
Dragging it all back home, I found
out one thing: within an arrowshot of
this old farmhouse I call home, a
large grocery bag had been filled
with that dirty stuff: garbage, junk,
waste. Nowadays our roads are
becoming dotted with more silver,
red, black, orange, and less natural
greens or the clear, plain color of the
dirt of a Georgia country road. Why?
I felt confused and very ignorant. It
is more than a process of becoming
an adult.
A lot of conflicting thoughts
and new questions came and went in
my mind. Was littering a form of
possessing, of exercising the right to
litter the space around you, especially
the place you grew up, the land you
claim as yours? At first I believed the
stuff I carried home was left by
people driving through, or were my
own neighbors littering? Could
someone pay me to do this? Do I want
to be a waste disposal unit? Hello,
Mr. Dumpster. Or free to walk the
woods and forest paths like I did the
first year I arrived from a dirty city,
going barefoot through the upland
meadows, moving casually through
deep grass, not finding any hurt but
vinerash or stonebruise to my naked
soles? And I would love to have those
days again, though the past won't be
reclaimed. But in the present, in
today's world, does it seem too much
to expect strolling barefoot through
these hills, or to thoughtlessly race
and dive into these lakes becoming
clearer, yet thus more poisonous?
Do you know where the
honeysuckle clusters around that
locust comerpost where the roads
meet and the pavement starts? I found
a pile of broken bottles there. And
you know along the creek where the
bitter, purple ironweed prospers in
the low spots - I am finding layers
upon layers of old junk: tractor tires,
glinting slivers of old mirror glass,
red velvet dance shoes dampening to
tatters and dust Old garbage, family
trash. The same old story. Quite
usual. But still I feel a useless,
impotent sense of despair as I see the
simple, local, beautiful places marred
by littering. Society at large won't
solve it. Neither can I. That night I
spent more time gazing on the feather
of the grand Milky Way,
appreciating clear, silver, tremulous
stars. A cool wind stirred and
freshened me.
FALL 1987
�evenrs
3
WILLIS, VA
"Healing the Family in the
Wise Woman Way" - finding and preparing
herbal medicines with Kathleen Maier and
Sherry Willis. Indian Valley Holistic Center,
see 9/19-20.
SEPTEMBER
12-13
ASHEVILLE, NC
RIVERFEST - "C'mon down
to the riverside!" for the grand finale of
French Broad River Week. Call (704)
254-8131 far more information.
18-19
3
ZIONVILLE, NC
"Whole Brea1h Bodywork"
workshop at Polestar Re11eat Center with
Ginny Wright; 604 Mt. Vernon Ave.;
Charlotte, NC 28203
ASHEVILLE, NC
New Priorities Conference on
Peace, Social Justice and the Environment..
3-4
Includes featured speakers, workshops,
panels and fellowship. Sponsored by
Katifah and many other organizations.
Asheville High School. $10 registtation,
includes lunch; childcare $2. Info: (704)
252-3036
Is There a Future for the
Southern Appalachian
BLACK BEAR?
4-9
18-20
TOWNSEND, TN
Tenn. Environmental Education
Association Conference at the Great Smoky
Mountains lnstitu1e at Tremont; Townsend,
TN37882
GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.
"Research on the Wild
Mammals of the Great Smokies" with Dr.
Michael Pelton. $40. Smoky Mountain
Field School; Department of Non-credit
Programs; 2016 Lake Ave.; Knoxville, TN
37996
A Wlldllfe and Habitat Conference
September 29, 1987
WILLIS, VA
"Health and the Human Mind"
- the fundamentals of body electronics with
Richard Lowenthal. $95 + $20 room and
board. Indian Valley Holistic Center; Rt. 2,
Box 58; Willis, VA 24380
21
FALL EQUINOX
BREAKS, VA
Stage productions "South of
the Mountain" and ''Talcs" by the Roadside
Theater. For more info, write: The Roadside
Theatre; Box 743; Whitesburg, KY 41858
22-27
BRASSTOWN, NC
Coker Creek Anists' Creative
Clothing Workshop. John C. Campbell Folk
School; Brasstown, NC 28906
9-11
Owen Confemice Cent.er
UNCA, Asheville. NC
19-20
19-20
STAUNTON, VA
Earth First! Appalachian
rendezvous and action against clearcutting in
the George Washington National Forest Meet
at North River campground, GW NF. For
more info, call Roland Knapp at (606)
259-0252.
Sponsored by:
Environmentlll Studies Program. UNCA
Soul.hem Appalachian Black Bear Fe.dcnltion
Long Branch Environmental EducDtion Center
KAWh.Biorcgio03l Journal
27
WILLIS, VA
"An Afternoon of Personal and
Planetary Healing" - circle on Mother
Mound with Tom Williams. Donations.
Indi~ Valley Holistic Center, see 9/19-20.
30
ASHEVILLE, NC
Green Politics. Regional meeting of the WNC Greens. Montford
Community Center. 7pm More info: (704)
254-6910.
OCTOBER
15-18
HIGHLANDS, NC
"Fall Landscape Photography
Workshop" with Sam Wang - exploring and
photographing fall in the beautiful Highlands
area. $250. The Appalachian Environmental
Ans Center; P.O. Box 580; Highlands, NC
28741
BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
The Black Mountain Fall
Festival. Traditional music, dance, and stories
by Gamble Rogers. the Houseband, Peter
Ostrousko Band, Wild Asparagus, David
Wilcox, Golden Rod Puooets and others. $30
for the weekend. Write: Grey Eagle and
Friends; P.O. Box 216; Black Mountain, NC
28711
16-18
2-4
ZIONVILLE, NC
"Healing Wise," a weekend
seminar on herbal healing with Susan S.
Weed. $125 or daily, includes camping,
meals. Sun.- "For Women Only". Contac1:
Phoenix Productions; Rt. 2, Box 59;
Zionville, NC 28698
25-27
WA YNES VILLE, NC
"Spiritual Astrology: Symbols
of the Self" - using the birthchan as a
mandala to center the Self among the
various roles we play in life. Michael
Thurma.n at Stil-Light Theosophical Retreat
Cen1er; Rt 1, Box 326; Waynesville, NC
28786 (704) 452-4569
25-27
KATUAH - page 28
HIGHLANDS, NC
"Elders' Circle of the American
Indian Council - elders from the Six Nations,
Hopi, Pueblo, eastern and western Cherokee
will speak at the Mountain; 841 Highway 106;
Highlands, NC 28741 (704) 526-5838
WA YNESVnLE, NC
"The Modern Woman and
Spirituality" with Elisabeth Peryam.
Discussion, group work, ar.d worship for
women at Stil-Light. See 9/25-27.
FARNER, TN
"Wild Foods and Medicines"
expedition into the woods with Snow Bear.
$50. Pepperland Farm Camp; Star Route;
Farner, TN 37333. (704) 494-2353
2-4
HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Courage, Kindness. Commitment, and Humor" retreat with Bo Lozoff.
$50. Sou1hern Dhanna Retreat Center; Rt. l,
Box 34-H; Hot Springs, NC 28743
CEDAR MOUNTAIN, NC
Sierra Club "Outing Skills
Workshop" - essentials of backpacking,
knots, food drying, map and compass work
and much more. $20 includes meals. Write for
info before Oct 1 to: Shirl Thomas; P.O. Box
272; Cednr Mountain, NC 28718
17-18
WILLIS, VA
"Introduction 10 Pennaculture"
principles of cultivation with Thelma Snell.
Indian Valley Holistic Center, see 9/19-20.
17-18
2-4
23-25
FARNER, TN
"Primitive Camping Skills" learn to stay warm, dry, and well-fed wilh
what lhe forest has to offer. See 10/2-4.
FALL 1987
�- .. '
21
KNOXVILLE, TN
The Roadside Theatre presents
"South of the Mountain''. See 9n.2·27.
25-29
WAYNESVILLE, !'liC
Good cookin' at Stil-Light! "A
Vegetarian Thanksgiving - The Role of Diet
on the Spiritual Journey." $20. Sec 9n.5.
27-29
HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Medicine Wheel/Mamlala
The Circle of Peace" with Louise Sunfeathcr
and Jennifer Gordon See 10/2-4.
14
Rob Messick
23-25
YELLOW SPRINGS, OH
Conference: "The Self-Reliant
Community" with Jeffery Bercuvicz, director
of Rodale's Regeneration Project; Sue
Jackson; William Berkowitz - identifying local
skills, talents, and capital and using them to
take the community's future in hand. $50 +
$20 accomoclations. Prices include meals.
Contact: Community Services; P.O. Box 243;
Yellow Springs, OH 45387
WILLIS, VA
"Rebirthing Weekend" Michael McDowell. $50. Indian Valley
Holistic Cenier, see 9(1.7
24
W ILLIS, VA
"Healing Old Wounds" rele:ising the past. Tom Williams. Indian
Valley Holistic Center, see 9n.7.
UNICO I ST. PAR~ GA
"Earth Skills Workshop" for
the whole family with Eustace Conway.
Contact: Linda Rigell; Rt. l, Box 1426;
Clayton, GA 30525.
28-29
DECEMBER
7-8
13-15
FARNER, TN
Caving expedition. See 11/6-8.
5-6
SMOKY MT'N PARK
Winter
High
Country
Camping. The Smoky Mountain Field School.
See 9/19-20.
11-13
14
GREAT SMOK Y MT'NS.
Winter Field Botany. Smoky
Mountain Field School, see 9/19-20.
23-25
BRASSTOWN, NC
Fall Dance Weekend. JCC Folk
School, see 10/4-9.
WILLIS, VA
"Trusli ng In tu it ion"
following the inner voice. Tom Williams.
$60. Indian Valley Holistic Center. See 9n.7.
14
RADFOR~VA
"Leaving Egypt" - stage
production by the Roadside Theatre. See
9/22-27.
20-22
CHAPEL HILL, NC
Economics As If Earth Mattered
Conference with Herman Daly and Paul
Wachtel. Center for Reflection on the
Second Law. (919) 847-5819
WAYNESVILLE, NC
"Intuition: Gateway to
Knowing" - "Intuition is not psychic
phenomena.... It is the Soul and its expression
in form" - Joyce Keane. $20. Stil-Light, see
9n.5-27.
HOT SPRINGS, NC
''Tibetan Buddhism: Traditional
Methods for Spiritual Growth" - the Ven.
Tubten Pendey. $75. Southern Dhanna, see
ion.-4.
11-13
BRASSTOWN, NC
18
Olde Follcs Party.
19
Children's Pany. JCC Folk
School, see 10/4-9.
30
HALLOWE' EN (Samhain) the ancient Feast of the Dead.
30-11/1
HOT SPRINGS, NC
''To Leap Like :i Tiger: A Zen
Weekend" with B:irbara Rhodes. $86.
Southern Dhanna, see lOn.-4.
NOVEMBER
1-14
BRASSTOWN, r\C
"Log Cabin Building" course
with Peter Goit. JCC Folk School, see
I0/4·9.
6·8
FARNER, TN
Caving expedition to Cloudland
Canyon. Basic safety. geology instruction by
Snow Bear. Pepperland, sec IOn.-4.
6-10
HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Meditation Retreat for
Women" with Anna Douglas. $112. Southern
Dharmn, see ion.-4.
KATIJAH - page 29
FALL 1987
�STIL-LIGllT THEOSOPHICAL RETREAT
CENTER • a qu1el space for personal mcdiLntion,
group interaction through study and community
worlc, and spiritual semin:lrs. Contact Leon Frankel:
RL I, Box 32.6; Waynesville. NC 28786
CRAFTSPEOPLE -send price listings to Gif1td
/lands of NC, 331 Blake St; Raleigh, NC 27601
(Au'n: Bcm Grey Owl) - unique shop presenting
35-40 craflers' worlcs in Raleigh's City MlrkcL All
aafts considered.
ROCKIN' Willi BILLY B • Do the Dance of tht
Dragonfly or the Rock 'Roll of Photosyntthsis in
the "Music and the Natural World" workshop.
Available for bookings for schools or loc3l groups,
Jan. 29-Fcb. 4, 1988. Great motivation for kids!
Call Ken Voorhis (615) 448-6700.
FUTO~S
by Simple Pleasures • affordably p1iccd
Send SASE for info to: Simple Pleasures; Rt. I,
Box 1426; Clayton, GA 30525 (404) 782-3920
I HA VE ACCEPTED the responsibility to
participate m a powerful and imporunt cetemony to
be condut1Cd in Nov. '87 inside the Great Pyrnmid
in Egypt. I believe this wo1k will help uncarth
ancient and new information crucial to the
well-being of our planeL I h:ive received guidance
Lhm in order to go on this mission. I would have to
be sponsored. Plc.ise send don:itions t0: RL 2, Box
58; Willis. VA 24380 (att: Journey to Egypt) Tom W illiruns..
...AnJ I/it £11r//1 limf
APPLE TREES • grafted old-fashioned and
contemporary. Send 50 cents for catalog: Henry
Monon: RL I, Box 203; Gatlinburg, TN 37738
ASTROLOGICAL
CHARTS.
7-pllge
intcrproLntions of planets in signs and houses with
plancwy aspects. Easy to read. Great gift for the
newly-born. Send SS. name, date, time, and place of
birth 10 Touchstone; Rt. 2, Box 314·K: Vilas. NC
28692
ORGANIC FERTILIZERS, herbs, and
organically·grown, local produce at the WNC
Farmer.;' Market! Look for the Fairglen Farms stall.
units F and G in the wholesale area of the Farmers'
Market; 570 Brevard Rd.; Asheville, NC (704)
2524414
ELEMEl'.'TARY SCHOOL TEACHER, certified,
creative, self-motivated, and organized needed at
Valley School, a parent-governed 11ltcmati"e school
in Monongahela National Forest, WV Resume,
references to: Teri Kutsko; I Kirt St., Elkins, WV
26241 (304) 636-2979
THE APPALACHIAN HERR NEWSLETTER:
explonng the potential for herbs as ca.\h crops m
Appalachia. Subscriptions $12/yr.. Write:
Aopalnchj3n Herb Newslwcr • ASPI; RL 5, Box
423; Livini;sion. KY 40445
LAND TRUST in I.he forming on 57 acres near
Boone, NC ~king famihcs wiLh strong visions and
resources to manifest a peaceful place for our
children to grow in love nnd to survive the coming
of the new age. Paul and Susan Del Rios; RL 2,
Boit 314; Vilas, NC 28692 (704) 297-4937
ROSE AROMATICS • essential oils have been
healing body, mind, spirit, since ancient EgypL A
most plcasa.nt therapy! Dabney Rose; 108 Church
Rd.; Asheville, NC 28804 (704)254-9551
PURE HONEY • unheated and unfiltered. Poplnr,
locust., and sourwood. One of nature's blessings!
Price and ordering info from Jimmy Holladay, the
Beekeeper; P.O. Box 908; Black Mt'n., NC 28711
(704) 669-9788
.. ANQ THE EARTH LIYEP HAPPILY EVER
AEJ.El.· stories from folk U11ditions all around the
world chosen lO help protect all living beings by
bringing the world society a few steps closer lO
peace and respect for au life. Edited by Floating
Eagle Feather. $7.00 ppd. (All profits go to
Greenpeace and the Peace Museum). Order from:
Wages of Peace; 309 Trudeau Dr.; Metaire, LA
70003
ALTERNATIVE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL - At
Arthur MorgJll School 24 students and 14 staff lc:im
together by living in community. Curriculum
includes creative academics, group decision-making,
a work program, service projects, extensive field
trips, challenging outdoor experiences. Write: 190 I
Hannah Branch Rd.: Burnsville, NC 28714 (704)
675-42.62
DRUMS - Custom handcrafted ceramic-dumbecks 8c
wooden medicine drums. Call Joe at (704)
258-1038 or David at (704) 253-2846, or write ta:
Joe Roberts, 738 Town Mountain Rd.; Asheville,
NC 28804.
TECHNOLOGICAL
APPROPRIATE
COMMUNICATIONS • low-tech, economical
telephone systems for the altcmntive community or
farm. 2· 100 phones, a.utomatic or human-assisted
systems available. Write: TAC; PO Box 936;
Gatlinburg. TN 37730
MOON DANCE FARM HERBALS· herbal salves,
tinctures, & oils for birthing & family health. For
brochure, please write: Moon Dance Farm; RL I,
Box 726; Hampton, TN 37658
PEPPERLAND offers a vericty of outdoor education
for church, school, or civic groups
year-round. We will help you design a program for
your group. Send for information packet to:
Pcpperlnnd Farm Camp: Star Route; Farner, TN
37333
program~
1988 SIMPLE LIFESTYLES CALENDAR •
PhOlos of "CraftSpCOple of App:il:ich1a" by Warren
Brunner and suggestions for simple hvmg for each
day. S6.00 from Appalachia-Science in the Public
Interest; Rt. 5, Box 423; Livingston, KY 4~45.
All proceeds benefit the work of ASPI, n non-profit
corporation.
CHEROKEE INDIAN LANGUAGE classes. For
info, \\rite Robcn Bushyhc:id; P.O. Box 705:
Cherokee. NC 28719
APPLE TREES • Old·timcy and popul.1r
contcmpor.uy varieties on sumdanl, semi·, or dw:irf
stock. Send SASE for prices: Jeff Poppen: Long
Hungry Creek N~; Red Boahng Springs, TN
37150
ARCHITECTURAL ADVICE ANO DESIGN:
Adam Cohen; RL 2, Box 217; Check, VA 24072
SOCK-A-DOOZ PUPPET PETS • Walk 'cm, talk
'em. make 'em Oy. Wag their tails, you can try.
They will love you. bug you if you're blue. Now
PUPPET PETS can be your friends too.
Handcrafted by Bonnie Blue; 78 1/2 Pauon Ave.
(#10); A.~hevillc, NC 28801
FLOWER ESSENCES • Harmony with Nature &
SpiriL Gentle emotional suppon durmg tr.lllsitions,
specific issues, relationships. Opens
communications. Self-adjusting, non-toxic,
awareness "tools" for improving I.he inner quality.
Correspondence to: Elaine Gcougc, c/o Patchwork
Castle, Celo, 3931 HWY 80 So.. Burnsville, NC
28714
DAYSTAR ASTROLOOICAL SERVICE· natal,
transil, comparison charts. Very accurate. Only
S3.00 each. Chris and Will Bason; Rt. 2, Box 217:
Check, VA 24072 (703) 651·3492
KATUAH ·page 30
APPALACHIAN GlNSENG CO. - Stratified seeds,
seedlings, roots. Send for price list to: P.O. Box
541; Dillsboro. NC 28725
WEBWORKlNG is free.
Send submissions to:
Kil.l.uAh
P.O. Box 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748
FALL 1987
�. /¥IDJ1lh wan~s to commtmicate yoiu· thougltts and feelings to the other people in the
b1oreg1onal province. Send them to us as letters, poems, stories, drawings, or
photographs. Please send yo1u contributions to 11S at: Ki:Wklh; Box 638 ·Leicester NC
Karuah Province 28748.
'
'
'
"Home" is shelter....."llome" is the heartll....•"Home" is conun11nity. Share yotu
plans, sketches, and dreams with the others in tlie bioregion in the winter issue ofKm.tklh.
The deadline/or conrriblllions is October 3.
What does spring make you think of? Send your ideas to us for the spring isme.
Mtdfrfnt- Alllts
BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH AVAILABLE
ISSUE lWO- WINTER 1983-84
Yona - Bear Huntus - Pigeon River Another Way With Animals - Alma Becoming Politically Effective Mouniain Woodlands - Katiinh Under lhe
Drill - Spirilwtl Warriors
full rolor
T-snlrts
In the traditional Cherokee Indian
belief, the creatures in the world today are
only climinuitive forms of the mythic beings
who once inhabited the world, but who now
reside in Galuna'ti, the spirit world, the
highest heaven. But a few of the original
powers broke through the spiritual barrier
and exist yet in the world as we know it.
These beings are called with reverence
"grandfathers". And of them, the strongest
are Kanati, the lightning, the power of the
sky; Utsa'nati, the rattlesnake, who
personifies the power of the eanh plane; and
Yunwi Usdi, "the little man", as ginseng is
called in the sacred ceremonies, who draws
up power from the underworld.
Each is the strongest power in its own
domain. Together they are allies: their
energies compliment each other to form an
even greater power. As medicine allies, they
represent the healing powers of the
Appalachian Mountains.
The medicine powers of Katuah have
been depicted in a striking T-shirt design by
Ibby Kenna. Printed in 5-color silkscreen
by Ridgerunner Naturals on top quality.
all-cotton shins, they a.re available now in
all adult sizes from the Kanfoh journal.
"To show respect for this supernatural
trinity of the natural world is to in turn
become an ally in the continuing process of
mnintaining hnnnony and balance here in the
mountains of Kau.iah."
To order, use the form below.
ISSUETHREE-SPRING 1984
Sustainable Agriculture - Su.n nowen • Human
Impact on the Forest • Childrcns' Education
Veronica Nicholas:Woman in Politics - Linle
People - Medicine Allies
lSSUE FOUR - SUMMER 1984
Water Drum - Water Quality - Kudx.u ·Solar
Eclipse· Clearcutling - Trout - Goin& to Wal&¥
Rom Pumps - Microhydto ·Poems: Bennie
Lee Sinclair, Tun Wayne Millet
lSSUE FIVE. FAU. 1984
Harvest - Old Ways in Cherokee - Ginsen& •
Nuclear Waste • Our Celtic Heritage •
Bioregionalism: Past. Present. and Futute -
John Wi!nol)I • Healing Darkness - Politics of
~
ISSUE SIX· WINTER 1984-85
Winter Solslice Earth Ceremony • HcrKp&Slurt
River - Corrung or the Ugbl - Log Cabin
Roota • Mountain Apiculturc: The Ril!lt Crop
- William Taylor ·The Future or the Forest
ISSUE SEVEN · SPRING 1985
Susiainable Economics - Hot Sprinas - Worker
Ownership· The Great Economy - Self Help
Credit Union - Wild Turkey - Re'J'Onsible
bwesting • Working in the Web of Life
lSSUE EIGHT· SUMMER 198S
Celebration: A Way of Life. Kauiah 18.000
Years Ago • S6Cred Sites • Folk Aru in the
Schools - Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle Poems:
Hilda Downer· Chcroku Heritage Center•
Who Owns Appallchla?
lSSUE NINE· FALL 1985
The Waldee Forest - The Trecs Spcalt •
Migrating Foresu - Horse Logging • Starting a
Tree Crop· Urban Trees • Acom Bread • Myth
Tune
ISSUE TEN· WINTER 19&S-$6
Kate Rogers - Cin:les or St.one • lntemal
Mylhmaking - Holistic Healing on Trial •
Poems: Steve Knauth - Mythic Places • The
Uktena's Tale • Crystal Magic •
"Omu-nspcalcing"
ISSUE ELEVEN - SPRING 1986
Community Planning • Cities and the
Bioregional Vision - Recycling - Communil)I
Gadcning· Floyd Counly, VA • Gasohol •
Two Bioregional Views - Nuclear Supplement
Foxfire Games - Good Medicine: Vasicns
ISSUE n«RTEEN - Fall 1986
Center For Awakening· Elizabeth Calllri. A
Gentle Death - Hospice - Ernest MoTgan •
Ocaling Creatively with Death - Home Buri.al
Box • Th" Wake • The Raven Mocker •
Woodslore and Wildwoods WiJdom • Good
Medicine: n...s..-Lodge
lSSUE FOURTEEN. Winier 1986-87
Uoyd Carl Owtc - Boogcn and Mummc:n AD
Species Day - Cabin Fever Un ..cnlty •
Homeless in KatUah - Homemade Hot Wall:r
Stovcmakcis Narrative - GooJ Medicine:
lntmpeci"5 Conummication
ISSUE FIFTEEN -Spring 1987
Coverlcls • Wom:m Forester · Susie McMahan
Midwife - Alternative Contraception •
Bioscxuality - Bioregionalism and Women Good Medicine: Mlllriacharial Culwn: - ~
ISSUE SIXTEEN - Swnmcr 1987
Helen Waite - Poem: Visions in a Garden •
Vision Quest - First Flow - Initiation •
Leaming in the Wilderness - Cherokee
Olallenge- "Valuing Trees•
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------KAJVAH: Biore~jonal Journal of the Southern Appalachians
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Katuah Province 28748
For more info: call Marnie Muller (7().1)683-1414
Regular Membership........$ IO/yr.
Sponsor..........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.
Name
Address
City
Area Code
KAJVAH -page 31
~ess!
t1ot£r.t"'
Enclosed is S
to give
this ejfon an exrra boost
State
Phone Number
Zip
Back Issues
Issue# _ _@ $2.00 = $
Issue# _ _@ $2.00 = $ - Issue#_@ $2.00 = $ - Issue#_@ $2.00 = $
Issue# _ _@ $2.00 = $ _ _
Complete Set (2-11, 13-16)
@$19.00=$_ _
T-Shirts: specify quanticy
color: tan
S_ _ M_ _
L_ _ XL_ _
@ $9.50 each............$_ _
I can be a local contact
person for my area
TOTALPRICE=
postage paid
$_ _
FALL 1987
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, Issue 17, Fall 1987
Description
An account of the resource
The seventeenth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on black bears: their place and future in southern Appalachia. Authors and artists in this issue include: David Wheeler, Sam Gray, Paul Gallimore, Mike Pelton, Robert McMahan, Jay S. Gertz, Scott Bird, Richard Harrison, Michael Hockaday, Martha Tree, Marnie Muller, Rob Messick, Richard Harrison, William O. McLarney, Bern Grey Owl, Will Ashe Bason, Douglas A. Rossman, and Troy Setzler. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1987
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
The Life and Death of Bear #87: Glady and The Pisgah Bear Project.......3<br /><br />Bear Story by Sam Gray.......6<br /><br />Issues (and a Few Answers) for the Black Bear: An Interview with Dr. Michael Pelton.......8<br /><br />The Challenger: The Wild Boar in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.......11<br /><br />cougar: A Poem.......12<br /><br />Good Medicine: "Finding Allies in the World".......13<br /><br />"Me and My Walker Hounds" by Robert McMahan.......14<br /><br />"Smells Like Money to Me": A Report on Champion International by Jay S. Gertz.......16<br /><br />Bear: A Poem by Scott Bird.......18<br /><br />Green Politics in Katúah by Richard Harrison.......19<br /><br />Natural World News: Modern Science Restores Ancient Indian Maize | Protecting Our Mountain Wetlands | DOE Hot Meals Program | No Problem with Tobacco | Showdown at Flat Creek | NC Legislators Want Dump | Peregrine Nest Discovered.......20<br /><br />Turtle Island Talking: A Look at PeaceNet.......23<br /><br />Old Galaxies: A Poem by Michael Hockaday.......23<br /><br />Drumming: Letters to Katúah.......24<br /><br />Littering: The Same Old Story by Michael Hockaday.......23<br /><br />Fall Calendar of Events.......28<br /><br />Webworking.......30<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Black bear--Appalachian Region, Southern
Bear hunting--North Carolina, Western
Black bear--North Carolina--Fiction
Black bear--Mythology
Animals--Poetry
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1980s
Agriculture
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Bioregional Definitions
Black Bears
Cherokees
Community
Good Medicine
Habitat
Hazardous Chemicals
Hunting
Katúah
Katúah Organization
Pigeon River
Poems
Politics
Radioactive Waste
Stories
Turtle Island
Water Quality
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/b7c30c6ce7c5fb288b9fbaf8533bfb00.pdf
e4fb1233504bfc8d0f823864df5a94b2
PDF Text
Text
ISSUE 19 SPRING 1988
$1.50
BIOREGIONAL JOURNAL OF THE ~OUTHERN APPALACHIANS
�©~
Postage Paid
Bulk Mail
Permit#18
Leicester, NC
28748
P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
�The Perelandra Garden ...... 3
Spring Tonics .............. 6
Rooting Blueberries ......... 7
"First Dogwoods"
a poem by Michael Hockaday .... 7
Gardens of the Blue Ridge .... 8
A Visit with Granny:
An lnterVlew with Carolyn Port ... 1O
Flower Essence ..... . ...... 13
The Origin of the Animals:
Plants have been in
communion with the human
species for thousands of years.
Only recently with the advent of
the mechanical age have we
relegated them to muteness.
a story by Clyde Hollifield . . . . . . 14
''Sacrament,"
"Rain Has Come Again:"
poems by Janeice Ray ......... 15
Good Medicine: "Power" .... 16
Be A Tree .......... ...... 17
Natural World News ........ 18
Drumming:
Letters to Katuah .......... 22
A Children' Page . .......... 25
Events ... .. .............. 28
Spring Gathering ........... 29
Webworking ............... 30
In the past, plants have
shared their information with us.
They have told us which of their
species is good for medicines,
for healing, for food, for making
musical instruments ... They have
whispered songs to our ancestors
...and poems. They have sent
dreams our way...and visions.
We share a sacred bond with
plants. Our "world" depends on
their world. Even from the
beginning, photosynthesis was
essential in allowing our
species to eventually occur.
Today, sharing the earth's
atmosphere...exchanging oxygen
and carbon dioxide with each
other... reflects how intimate our
connection is. In fact, at the
heart of the relationship is
"exchange".
We receive nourishment from
plants ... not only for the physical
body, but also for the psyche.
They daily reveal to us visions
of rootedness, stillness ...
vibrancy and life.
The plant world holds the
memory of what a bioregion
is...what it looks like in its
wholeness. By listening to the
plant world, we can tap our own
underlying sense of what this
region could be... how to
re-inhabit Katuah.
As we begin to become more
conscious, we see how power and
creativity can be used to enhance
and celebrate the heartbeat of
the ecological processes here
rather than disrupt or destroy it.
The plant world can participate
in a vital way in this
internal reawakening . Plants
can partner with us as we
explore integrating the human
species into the ecological
symphony of this place.
Whether in a garden, in a
grove...or in wilderness, we can
begin to develop a co-creative
partnership with plants, where
once again, they speak to ~
�EPlTORTAL STAFF THIS ISSUE;
Scott Bird
Christina Morrison
Mamie Muller
Jack Chaney
Sam Gray
Michael Red Fox
Sally Mander
Manha Tree
Rob Messick
David Wheeler
THA NKS TO: Julie Gaunt. Ellen John, Brooks Michael,
Judith Hallock, Tom Hendricks, Kathleen Mclaughlin, Karen
W.i1.ldns-Deckct. Susan Laird, Chip Smi1h, Joe Roberts, John
Peuie, Manha & Dean, and Cclo Communi1y.
Cover: Manha Tree
Invocation: Rob Messick
EPTTORTAL OEFTCE nos ISSUE:
Worley Cove, Sandymush Creek
THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BIOREOION AND MAJOR EASTERN RIVER SYSTEMS
PRINTED BY: Sylva Herald Publishing Co., Sylva, NC
WRTTEUSAT:
TELEPHONE:
(704) 683-1414
KiWah.
Box 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748
Diversity is an imponan1 elemeni of biorcgional ecology, both
nn1urol and social. In line with this principle, KatCiah tries IO serve as a
forum for 1.he discussion of regional issues. Signed articles express only
the opinion of the authors and are no1 necessarily lhe opinions of the
KatU/Jh editors oc staff.
The lniemal Revenue Service has declared KaJiia.h a non-profi1
organizatioo under section SOl(cXJ) of the lntcmal Revenue Code. All
conuibutions IO KaJliah are deduclible from pcrsooal income 13X.
Let !he center of the earth
Be my heart
Aod the laod be mv shell
Let the soil be mv cells
Aod the rock be rrrv bo!la
U!t the water be my blood
The ocean be my pulse
And a• rivers be my veins
Let the atmosphere
Be mv bream
And the seasont be my senses
As the spirit lives
Let its growing bring a change
Aod plant the seed of its continuance
For all things will return
To the elements from which they come
In
being
one
Sl'ATEMENTOF PURPOSE
Here in the southern-most heartland of the
Appalachian mountains, the oldest mountain range
on our continent, Turtle Island; a small but growing
group has begun to take on a sense ofresponsibility
for the implications of that geographical and
cultural heritage. This sense of responsibility
centers on the concept of living within the natural
scale and balance of universal systems and
principles.
Within this circle we begin by invoking the
Cherokee name" Katuah" as the old/new name/or
this area of the mountains and for its journal as
well. The province is indicated by its natural
boundaries: the Roanoke River Va.l/ey to the north;
the foothills of the piedmont area to the east; Yona
Mountain and the Georgia hills to the souih; and the
Tennessee River Valley to the west.
The editorial priorities for us are to collect
and disseminate information and energy which
pertains specifically to this region, and to foster the
awareness thaJ the land is a living being deserving
of our love and respect. living in this manner is a
way to insure the sustainability of the biosphere and
a lasting place for ourselves in its continuing
evolutionary process.
We seem to have reached the fulcrum point of
a " do or die " situation in terms of a quality
standard of life for all living beings on this planet.
As a voice for the caretakers of this sacred land,
KalUah, we advocate a centered approach to the
concept of decentralization. It is our hope to
become a support system for those accepting the
challenge of sustainability and the creation of
harmony and balance in a total sense, here in this
place.
We welcome all correspondence, criticism,
pertinent information, articles, artwork, etc. with
hopes that Katfuzh will grow to serve the best
interests of this region and all its living, breaJhing
members.
- The&Utors
KATUAH - page 2
SPRING - 1988
�'The Pere.Candra Clarden: Cooperation JJi,th N atu.re 'LnteUU}ences
It is in a garden that we have a special opportunity
to enter into a purposeful relationship with the Earth
and its creative energies. MachaeUe Small Wright has
been working with these energies in her garden in a
specific, conscious way for over a decade. She refers to
them as "nature intelligences."
Machaelle's garden, called Perelandra, lies a few
miles east of the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.
Perelandra, meaning "of the heart", began as a small
family homestead and has now grown into a nature
research & learning center. There, she teaches
co-creative gardening, produces flower essences, and
publishes books and tapes based on her experiences.
Machaelle's first book, Behaving As If The
God in All Life Mattered (1983), is an
autobiographical account of how she came to garden in
cooperation with nature intelligences.
From Behaving As If the God in All Life
Mattered:
...One evening in early January 1977, I walked into
the woods and announced in a loud, clear voice, "...I
want to work with devas and I want to work with nature
spirits. I invite all of you to make yourselves known to
me. I am ready to learn from you."
Then I left the woods, returned to the house, put
myself into meditation and waited.
At the time of "my declaration," I didn't know what
I was doing. But years later, l realized that I had used a
oercmony to ground a shift that was taking place in me.
Ceremony is a physical vehicle used to ground energy
from a higher level, thereby giving it form and greater
accessibility to the people involved in the ceremony. It's
a tool designed to give clarity and form to energy. To
accomplish this, we use special settings, actions, words,
music... whatever is appropriate. On that night in
January, I moved through a ceremony. I made a clear
decision about what I wanted. I chose the woods as my
setting. Then I moved through a seric:s of physical
actions via the use of words. I stated my mtent Clearly
SPRING-1~88
and simply. I invoked to myself what I felt I would need
to carry out my intent. Then I scaled my declaration by
physically acting on it -- by going into meditation and
opening myself to whatever was to happen next
The response was immediate. In fact, I. had the same
experience that Dorothy Maclean had at Fmdhom when
she first connected with devas. I had a "crowd of voices"
coming at me, all talk:ing at the same time - all telling me
that it was "about time." I connected in with them and
found that they had been waiting for this for some time. I
remembered that in the Findhom book, when Dorothy
described this experience, she said she simply asked the
devas to speak to her one at a time. Having nothing to
lose, I tried the same thing. Much to my ama~ment,
they responded instantaneously. And from that pomt on,
I received one devic voice at a time.
Behaving was followed in 1987 by The
Perelandra Garden Workbook: A Complete
Guide to Gardening with Nature Intelligences.
This book is a step-by-step manual for anyone wishing
to develop a relationship with the devic levels and
nature spirits. In this excerpt, Machaelle describes her
understanding of these presences and their distinctive
characteristics.
From The Perelandra Garden Workbook:
... "Deva" is a sanskrit word meaning body of light.
This has little correlation with what I experience when I
am open to the devic level, but I accept the word. The
devic level is the architectural dynamic within nature. It
is the force that formulates every individual aspect of
form on Eanh. It is the creative force which determines
the size, color, shape. weight, texture, taste, life cycle,
and requirements of all form, all of nature. Each form
has inherent in it its own deva. There is, for example, the
• continued on Delli pqc
Editots' Note: In her book:s, Machacllc baa chosen to follow lhe conventional
mode of grammar, ic. "he" ralher lhUI "1/he" or "one"; "mankind" ralher lhUI
"bwnankind"; etc. Becauac lhc pusagca cc diJcct excap!S. we have left them u
they arc.
- continued on next page
--·KATUAH - page 3
�Deva of Soil, the Deva of che Shasta Daisy, the Oak Tree
Deva, the Carrot Deva. Each deva holds, as in a
computer bank, all the specific information relative to its
form. It also holds the information pertaining to how its
individual natural form fits into the grand scheme of
things both on Earth and within the universe. If there are
to be any physical changes made -- for example,
changing carrots from the color orange to pink - they
must be made within the devic level in order to maintain
natural balance. Change made through the pure will and
desire of us humans disregarding the devic dynamic is
called "manipulation" and results in a weakening
imbalance and becomes part of the ecological disaster we
are experiencing...
...There is another distinguishing feature about
nature spirits that will help you understand them and the
differences between them and devas. Nature spirits are
regional. Although I do not have a phalanx of little
people visible in the garden, I do have my group of
nature spirits who are connected to this land and what is
happening here. Your connection will be with your own
group. They are an intelligent reality that is individuated
enough to be connected with specific geographic areas
on Earth. Devas, on the other hand, are universal in
dynamic. When I contact the Carrot Deva, I touch into
lhe very same intelligent reality someone in China would
touch into when making the same contact.
...Here is my understanding of nature spirits.
In Behaving .... I referred to nature spirits as the
blue collar workers within the realm of nature
intelligence. I still hold to this imagery today but feel it is
simplistic. My work with the nature spirits has
convinced me that they are truly masters of
understanding and working with the concept of bringing
spirit into matter, energy into form. They tend to the
shifting of an energy reality which has been formulated
on the devic level and assist the translation of that reality
from a dynamic of energy to form. In short, they
constantly work with the principle of manifestation on
Earth. They also function in a custodial capacity with all
that is of form on the planet. That is, when not interfered
with by us humans, they tend to the care and needs of all
physical reality, assuring perfection within form. ..
Machaelle depends on a systematic communication with the devas and nature spirits to inform
her about every aspect of the garden, including what
plants go in which locations, soil preparation, and how
to deal with insects and animals. She consistently
affirms that "the backbone of the Perelandra garden is
communication."
From The Perelandra Garden Workbook:
.. .I happen to be someone who feels deeply that this
communication is possible for everyone. We are talking
about a natural partnership between humans and nature
and it is not meant to be exclusive. It only stands to
reason that there be simple ways for us and nature to
communicate with one another. There have to be
language frameworks that are just waiting to be
developed.
I see the communication problem as being similar to
the problem that arises when you are faced with someone
from another country who speaks a language that is
completely foreign to your ear. There isn't one sound
they are making that strikes a familiar note. We can back
off the situation and say, ''This is impossible." Or we
can tackle the situation together with the other person,
begin to learn each other's language, and devise
additional techniques for communication.
This is what I've done with nature. I've worked to
develop techniques which we can use for the purpose of
sending and receiving information. And it's not difficult.
In fact, it's embarrassingly simple. But that's as it
should be.
The workbook gives complete instructions on
how to use the form of communication that Machaelle
has found to be most effective - kinesiology. In the
following passage, she explains the principles of this
technique.
From The Perelandra Garden Workbook:
...Simply stated, if a negative energy (that is, any
physical object or energy vibration that does not maintain
or enhance the health and balance of an individual), is
introduced into a person's overall energy field, his
muscles, when having physical pressure applied, will be
unable to hold their power. For example, if pressure is
applied to an individual's extended arm while his field is
being affected by a negative, the arm will not be able to
resist the pressure. It will weaken and fall to his side. If
pressure is applied wl\ile being affected by a positive, the
person will easily be able to resist IUld the arm will hold
its position.
To expand on a more technical level, when a negative
is placed within a person's field, his electrical system
(the electrical energy grid contained within the body) will
immediately respond by "short-circuiting," making it
di.fficll]t for the muscles to maintain their strength and
hold their position when pressure is added. When a
positive is placed within the field, the electrical system
holds and the muscles are able to maintain their level of
strength when pressure is applied.
Original Drawings by Kore Loy McWhirtt:r
SPRING - 1988
�This electrical/muscular relationship is a natural pan of
the human system. It is not mystical or magical.
Kinesiology is the established method for reading their
state of interaction at any given moment. It is most
commonly used today by wholistic physicians,
chiropractors and the Touch for Health people.
What does this have to do with "hearing" information
from the nature spirits and devic levels, you ask. Simple.
If you ask a question using the yes/no format, they can
answer your question by transferring a yes (positive) or
no (negative) into your energy field. Then you read the
answer by testing yourself using kinesiology...
For good communication, Machaelle emphasizes
being outside in the garden space, achieving an inner
quiet, and vocalizing one's requests. She then affirms
the importance of asking simple, precise questions and
being willing to act on the information and ideas
received...even if they challenge one's conventional
concepts.
The workbook provides detailed information on
how to formulate these questions. It also includes many
insights and practical tips that Machaelle has gained
from her own experience in the garden.
From The Perelandra Garden Workbook:
...It has been over ten years since I began gardening
under the tutelage of these nature intelligences and the
result has been a garden in which all inhabitants, be they
animal, mineral or vegetable arc truly compatible with
one another. Each member of the garden enhances the
health and well being of all the others. And this includes
the bugs. The garden is inclusive, not excl usive. I do
nothing for the purpose of repelling. The focus is to
create a balanced, wholistic environment in which all
within that environment arc enhanced. The results are not
only more food than I know what to do with, but also
food that has contained within it a very high level of life
energy - light.
...The Perelandra garden thrives because of the
approach I have been taught and the underlying
consciousness and reality that motivates the approach.
What l'm going to describe to you in this book docs not
fit comfonably into the recognized notions of tradition,
logic or even sanity. Be that as it may, it works. And
that's what drives traditional gardening thinkers a little
nuts. Everything you know which has gone into
establishing your sense of order, stability and balance, in
other words, logic, both in your garden and your life
away from it, will be constantly challenged. For you see,
this gardening is, in fact, a metaphor for the whole of
life. As you change how you approach the garden, you
will, in turn, change the very fabric of how you
approach your life.
'"~7~,.....~~t
In addition to the specific information that
Machaelle obtains through kioesiology, she also
receives more extensive messages from the nature
intelligences. In both books, she includes these
messages that have deepened her understanding of
herself and her garden. (1be devic voices are indicated
by italics.)
From Behaving As If The God in All Li/e
Mattered:
... As each deva came into my awareness, 1 noticed
that there was a slight shift in vibration, that each had its
own vibration. After awhile, I could recognize which
deva was entering my awareness. This led me to develop
tho ability to call upon specific devas by "aiming" my
awareness for the deva's own vibratory pattern...
Overlighring Deva ofthe Garden
We urge you to join our creative process. When you
planr a seed, invoke the deva and nature spirits connected
with that seed. The seed is the door between you and the
various energies that are drawn rogether on the devic
level and cared/or by the nattue spirits. Once you have
planted the seed, put our the call for the deva to draw
together all the individual energy components of that
variety. Ask that the natwe spirits receive the energies
and, in essence.fuse them to the seed. The seed contains
the potential of the plant's perfection. The grounding of
the plant's energy into the seed activates that potential
and transfonns it inw reality. As you call the energy into
form, see its energy channel wuch into the seed as it is
growuled by the nattue spirits.
By joining in our creative process in this manner,
you will begin to see the importance of worldng with the
nature energies with clarity. We urge you to plant the
garden in this new way and see the difference yow clear
panicipatkm as a co·creative partner with us makes i11 the
germi11arion ofthe seeds and the qualily ofplant growth.
· continued on page 24
KATUAH - page 5
�dandelion can be used throughout the growing season. but
to avoid bitterness you need to look for new growth and
young plants.
Spring Tonics!
The docks, dandelion, roostard, sorrel and lamb's
quarters can all be used as cooked greens. V- 0/ets can also
1
be cooked, but I have never bothered. They are too good
raw. When cooking greens it's best to pid< a lot because
they cook down. Most can be thrown into boiling water and
cooked, but dandelion leaves should be started in cold
water and brought to a boH.
by Lucinda Flodin
A s I sit poring over seed catalogues, looking for
bargains on untreated, non-hybrid seeds, scheming and
dreaming my gardens. plotting crop rotations, remembering
ga"tr:Jens past, wishing gardens future. feeling in my rooscles
the reminders of turning spring soil - I remember a time not
too long ago when I thought one could not have food
without the hard work of digging, planting, and weeding.
Lamb's Quarters
M ind you, gardening is work I love, especially in the
springtime, but in recent years I have disct:Jvered the joy of
foraging for wild foods, food that is Earth's gift - available at
the cost of some study and a walk in the sunshine (although
some plarts I hardly have to leave my door to find!). I feel a
wonderful balance when I take a break from the garden to
seek out a treasvred wild food which grew gloriously without
my help or work. It gives an insight into how the Earth
worlcS..... who, after all, really grows the food.
I start to forage early, pulling bad< snow looking for
that first new growth. By the time spring arrives •officially"
there is food abounding - rooch moffJ than I find in my garden
at that point. This is a time when mountain people tonic with
wild foods, knowing their health will be more vigorous year
round. It is a tradition worth embracing.
My favorite cooked green is poke, which roost be
cooked when young and tender. ff the stems are red or the
plant is over 12" high, it is too old, because it becomes
poisonous with maturity. The roots and the seeds are
medicinal, but they are poisonous and should be used under
the guidance of an experienced herbalist. Some folks will say
that poke should always be eaten cooked. I always do, but I
have seen ffJCjJes that cal for it raw.
Another fine cooked green, ff you don't mind the
hassle, is nettle, the stinging variety. Anyone who's ever
been caught in nettle knows the respect the plant requires.
Long pants, long sleeved shirt and heavy gloves are
necessary to gather and handle it until it's cooked or dried.
Repeated cookings, each in fffJsh water, get rid of the
stinging hails. It's a wonderful food rich in vitamins A and C
and high in protein. It is also a lot of wolk. I always gather a
bunch to dry for nettle tea in the winter.
There BffJ so many edib/8 plants and so many ways to
eat them. An old timer is a great ally in teaming local plants.
and theffJ are also many books that contain good pictures
and important information. I am fond of Foraging For Dinner
by Helen Ross Russell, Roda/e's Herb Book, and also the
Foxfire books. It is important to know your food plants,
because there are others which can poison you.
Early spring salads can begin with a base of sorrel
rumex and sorrel moxalis. Rumex sorrel can be eaten in great
quantity; moxalis sorrel must be eaten In small amounts to
avoid too much oxalic acid. Both have a slightly sour taste. I
add small amounts of the more bitter plants - dandelion,
cress, and the docks (yellow, curled, or burdock) - using very
young leaves because they get more bitter the bigger they
grow. I try to pick dock leaves before they have completely
unfolded. In early salads I also use leaf lettuce from my
greenhouse, and I add in violet leaves and flowers as soon as
I see them. Violets are also a favorite hiking food, a nice
munch while you walk.
Later in the spring saxifrage comes in season,
followed closely by lamb's quarters. a great salad green which
will carry you to the first frost. Late spring salads are also nice
with purslane leaves and shepherd's purse leaves. Dock and
Plantain
A nother way to prepare spring foods is green drinks.
Rll your blender with leaves • violet, plantain, mints,
dandelion, or other tasty greens (either singly or as a mix).
Cover with water and whiz in the blender until it is a pretty
green color. Strain and drink immediately.
I have heard that you should blend green drinks for at
least a minute, but that makes a powerful drink, which Is too
heroic and strong for most. When I use bitter plants In a drink,
I add a lot of mint to sweeten it. Some vegies like carrots w11
1
also sweeten the taste. Experimentation will lead you to the
tastes you like. Green drinks have become a standard In our
home when the children decide to hate green food. Then
they get a ChOice - they can eat a salad or drink a green drink •
it's the same great nutrition whichever they choose.
Ramps are a food which people either love or love to
hate. I love them - in moderation. The blend of onion and
garlic taste is a wonderful seasoner to food. A few ramps will
season a pot of beans or a mess of greens. Try them cooked
if you don't like the strong raw taste. Ramps are not only
good tasting, their lily·like appearance makes them one of
the prettiest plants.
Violet
KATUAH - page 6
illustrations by Ellen John
SPRING - 1988
�rooting blueberries
After a warm rain, when the darl< blue violets bloom,
the morel ~shrooms grow. They Jove old apple groves in
the fn!'Untams.....and they are the highlight of spring
foragmg. Morels are all one piece and they are hollow. f went
rooshrooming ona tifn8 with a neighbor to be sure I could
cfistingufsh the right kind, before I set off on my own. Morels
are fun to hunt, beause they hide In the undergrowth.
Sometimes one will appear beneath your feet, as though in
that instant it had magically popped to full growth. .... perhaps
by Will Ashe Bason
it did.
In my kltehen the best meal of springtime happens in
May when we have stir-fried rafTfJS, morel rooshrooms and
asparagus with a wild green salad. To me it's Thanksgiving
spring-style • knowing that each food is there because the
Earth grew It, and we were blessed to find it. We look forward ~
to it and celebrate It. The Earth Is good to us.
P'
Scientific classifications and vitamin/mineral information on
above mentioned plants:
Nettle (urt/ca d/oica) • contains almost all vitamins and
minerals necessary for human growth and health.
Vitamins A, C, 0, K. Calcium. potassium, iron, sulphur,
silicon, copper.
Lamb·~ quaners (Chimopodium abum) - contains calcium,
silicon, follc acid.
Dandelion (Taraxacum otricinale) ·contains vitamins A, 81.
82, niacin, C, E. Calcium, phosphorous, potassium,
magnesium and many trace minerals. The bast
at(angthener of tha liver.
Yellow dock (Rumu crispus) • Fully absorbable,
non-consllpating source of iron.
Burdock (Att:tium lappa) • Vitamin C, iron.
Watercress (Nasturtium ofrlcina/e) • contains Vitamins A,
81, E, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium,
Iron, manganese, flourine, copper, sulphur, Iodine,
zinc.
Plantain (P/anlago ma;or) - contains calcium, potassium,
sulphur
Sorrel (Rumex aa.tosa} • oontains iron.
Violet (Viola psp/lionacea) • contains vrtamin A, calcium
Shepherd's purse (Capsella bursa-pa. toris) - contains
s
calcium, Vitamin K. A great remedy for all bleeding
problems
Poke (Phytolacca amerlcana) • contains vitamin A. C,
calcium.
Lucinda Flodin lives a1 Moon Dance Fann in Hampton,
TN where she crea1es herbal health care products, Moon
Dance Farm Herbals. Moon Dance Farm, Rt. I , Box
726, Hampton, TN 37658.
First Dogwoods
Now I don't know what is going on.
These days I wale the fJBJds with tears
in my eyes. Spring is so lovely
l follows fn8 around and gives mB shame.
In quiet little D~minations of the moment,
when rlJbons of light descend between the ic.B and snow,
my heatt achBs with death and dying itto the nBW land.
Sure it is good to bum li<e the eatth with desire,
and then by aystal beauty to be cooled. Each brief
rainshower glistens the air so the sollBI)' trees
in first leaf glow li<e candles on the mountainsides.
During spaC6s between the birds singing so freely,
my lamentation unfolds. My mind bursts open
like the hard·held ctUst finally gona to green.
My woe Is akin the whispers of an errant breeze
enveloped and carried off by the long west winds.
SPRING · 1988
© ev'J
B lueberries are an excellent crop for Katuah. They
bloom late enough to almost always escape spring frosts and
love acid soil. Here In Floyd Co. VA we doni have the high
quality wild blueberries found in most of the rest of Katuah
The oldest planting I know of is a half acre in the Riverflow
Comroonity that is seven years old and doing very well.
Last year, as my friend Alta was pruning the Riverflow
blueberries, we decided to try to root the prunings. Alta put the
prunlngs Into water In which I'd placed willow cuttings several
days before. The willow has magic rooting enzymes which the
blueberries lack. Chris, my wife, cut these prunlngs Into pieces
about 3 or 4 Inches long, and dipped their tower ends In
rooting hormone powder. She then Inserted the cuttings Into a
propagation frame filled with a mixture of half sand and half
peatmoss.
T his frame was oovered with a layer cl plastie and then a
layer of burtap. The plastic keeps the environment humid and
the burtap reduces the amount of sun to a tolerable level We
made our frame 2' by 4', from 1x4's and with a bottom of
hardware cloth. We made the ribs for the covering from some
bent rebar we had but bamboO, lath or pvc pipe would wort<.
We watered the cuttings mostly with comfrey and with a
ittle manure tea We took the poly oover off in June and the
burtap off In August although I think this last could have been
e811ier. We had about a 90% soocess rate and some cl cuttings
put on 6 inches of new growth.
We were worl<lng with highbush varieties but this year
we are rooting some rabblt-i!ye varieties as weU. These are
larger bushes and though oonsldered less oold tolerant than
highbush or lowbush, some are thriving in the riverflow
oomroonity and we are at neal1y 2500 feet at the northern tip of
Karuah. Rabbit-eye blueberries fruit later than the hlghbush
and, In our area, continue till frost. They are supposed to be
harder to root.
-Will Ashe Bason /
KATUAH - page 7
�..
©~
rot\li
Ejardtns "f-t11e 13(11f.
'RiJ,t..
...Each displaying its own particular
beauty beneath the young sunshine and soft
waters ofspring
·
...Each with its own particular niche
in tMwoodland habitat benelllh the tall rrees
- the right balance of fll()iscure and light, the
particular soil that will encourage its
growth.
...And each with its own unique
capabilities and strategies for sustaining life
and reproducing its ldnd.
The world of the forest wildflowers is simultaneously
one of exquisite beauty, rigorous specialization, and
demanding competition. Though the soft colors and delicate
textures of their blossoms delight the eye in springtime, these
plants have evolved through eons of stress. and change to
prove their sturdiness and resiliency among the life forms,
great and small, inhabiting the Appalachian forest.
Their magical appearance in the spring, their apparent
daintiness, and their impossible beauty, have enchanted the
human beings of every age. And in these days, when people
want their affluence to be tasteful, there is a resurgence of
interest in purchasing the small wildflowers of the eastern
forest for shade gardening and home landscaping.
KATUAH-page 8
There are several companies now catering to that
interest, but none have been in the trade longer than a small
concern located off Highway 221 near ihe smaU town of
Linville, NC at 4,000 feet elevation in the heart of Katuah
province. The Gardens of the -Blue Ridge was begun in
1892 by the family of a surveyor named S.T. Kelsey. The
sense of power and grandeur around nearby Grandfather
Mountain had always atttacted people to the area. In Indian
times it was known as a sacred place of power. In Kelsey's
day, Grandfather Mountain Corporation and the Linville
Improvement Co. were founded on a cenain reverence for
the area's durable real estate values.
Kelsey was called to use his surveying skills to help
parcel out the lands at the Grandfather's feet. He liked the
area and bought a tract for himself for the nursery from
which he sold ornamental shrubbery.
A young man from the area, Edward C. Robins, took
a job at the nursery and worked there steadily until 1923,
when he bought the operation. Since then the Gardens of the
Blue Ridge has been a Robins family enterprise. Members
of t~e fourth generation of Robins' are now worlcing in the
company.
For a time E.C. Robins carried on the business as
Kelsey had left it to him. He dug a tremendous number of
nati\'e rhododendrons, azaleas, mountain laurel, and
dogWood trees and shipped them by rail throughout the East.
As a sideline, he also collected and sold the small woodland
wildflowers.
. But the ornamental shrubs trade grew more
competitive, and the native varieties began to be eclipsed in
the eyes of wealthy buyers by new hybrids developed
especially for the color, holding capacity, and brilliance of
thei{ blooms. Robins decided to deal exclusively in
wildflowers and began a tradition that the family has adhered
to since.
In those early days of the Garden's development, the
trees still stood tall in many areas of the forest. The ground
was largely clear beneath the great trees' massive crowns,
and hunters and bikers could still stumble into clearings
carpeted in ginseng or brilliant with the color of an extensive
colony of pink ladyslippers in full bloom.
In those days it seemed that the forest would never die,
and .the wildflowers would always grace the forest floor.
Robins employed 30 - 40 men digging, transplanting, and
shipping shrubs and flowers. They dug wherever they could
and took all they could find. Trilliums and lilies were
popular at the time, and Robins shipped thousands of
individuals of the various trillium species, the (now rare and
endangered) Gray's JiJy, (Lilium Grayii) and the Tur.k's cap
lily (Lilium superbum) to the eastern cities. As he became
more completely committed to the wildflowers, Robins
gathered all the local varieties he could find, until he was
offering 200 varieties of plants.
E.C. Robins lived until 1969, when he died at the age
of 93. Today the Gardens of the Blue Ridge is run by hrs
son, Edward P. Robins. The company still offers 159
varieties of flowering plants, 22 varieties of native fems,
and 38 types of trees and shrubs. But the plants are now
propagated almost exclusively in 10 acres of mulched, raised
beds at the nursery.
Logging practices and extensive development were
largely responsible for changing the face of the forest, and it
was in the late 1940's -and early 1950's that the Robins
realized that the supply of local flora was limited and that
their methods of coUecting were helping to diminish the
supply. The family shares with their customers a deep
appreciation for the subtle beauties of the native wildflowers.
So, once begun, the transition to nursery propagation was
made swiftly.
In 1969 ginseng (Panax quinquefolium) became a
protected plant in the state of Nonh Carolina. Now the small
plant known as shortia or Oconee bells (Shortia galacifolia)
and the medicinal plant golden seal (Hydrastis canadensis)
SPRING - 1988
�are also registered plants, requiring a special certificate to
accompany each individual sold. Pink ladyslipper
(Cypripidium acaule) in all probability will soon join the list.
The Robins family follows scrupulously all regulations
for producing and selling the native plants. They note that by
making wildflowe~ available, they are relieving pressures on
the wild natives and that they are actuaUy aiding several
species of wildflowers to survive by spreading them as
domestic plantings, while their native habitats are being
destroyed or drastically cunailed. In particular, they have
helped ex.tend the range of shortia by shipping it throughout
the East. The plant grows on runners and is easy to
establish, if it is planted in a moist spot or kept wet until it is
well secured. E.P. Robins remembers one private wildlife
preserve in western Massachusetts where they planted
"thousands, literally thousands" of shortia as a ground cover.
Pink ladyslipper is harder to establish. The plant
depends on a relationship with a particular variety of funius
that lives in the soil close to the plant roots. Wherever 1t is
planted, pink ladyslipper will prosper for the first year, but
unless the soil is such that it can produce the particular strain
of symbiotic fungus, the plant will soon languish and die.
Once the business of collecting native plants '+'as
strictly a matter of stamina and endurance. E.P. Robins
remembers fondly the day when the company received a
permit to collect plants on some land near the North
Carolina-South Carolina state line that was to be cleared by
Duke Power Company. "We dug 10,000 shortia that day."
But idiosyncrasies such as that shown by the pink
ladyslipper make propagating the wild plants in nursery beds
more a question of familiarity and accurate attention to detail.
The demand for the graceful natives has been steady
through the years, and there is room for new companies to
enter the field.
"There's good prospects for this business," says E.P.
Robins. ''It's always been steady. Even during the
Depression it was a good business. Wildflowers are
becoming popular, so the demand might go up for awhile.
But we have all the business we can handle right now, so we
don't care if it goes up more or not.''
Breaking into commercial wildflower raising requires
more initiative and careful attention than capital. It is a
business that can sran small and grow to whatever ~ize is
desired. But it is slow work. While most of the flower
varieties are easy to raise, some varieties have special
requirements that can only be learned through long familiarity
and by suffering through mistakes. It takes time to establish
a market and to~ain a reputation.
"We never got rich," says E.P. Robins, "but we didn't
expect to get rich, and we're making a living. As long as we
keep our bead <tbove water and have a liltle, that's all·we
·:.:· .....
.··
..·:
:-.
·.
.! ·.
shortw
·:·..·.
.
·: ...
©~
Shortia, Oconee bells (Shortia galacifolia), the
mystery plant of the mountains of western North Carolina
was first discovered by a French botanist, Andre Michaux,
on December 8, 1788. He had been sent to America by the
French government to seek new plants that might be of value
ro France. In his search through western North Carolina and
eastern Tennessee, Andre Michaux found and described
many new species and carried back to France pressed
specimens to be placed in the Jardin des Plantes in Paris.
Some were labeled "unknown" and among these was a leaf
and root of this plant from the mountains of western
Carolina.
care."
Perhaps many botanists studied the specimens with M
identity over a period of the next fifty years. In 1839 Asa
Gray, a young American botanist, became intrigued with a
specimen and recognized it as a new genus, and wrote a
scientific description of the genus from the single specimen
in France. To lwMr Dr. Charles W. Short, an able botanist
of Kentucky, Gray devised the scientific name of tlte genus,
Shortia. And, since it resembled galax, the species name
became galacifolia.
But growing the native wildflowers offers rich
rewards in satisfaction. The international reputation for
quality plants developed over the last 96 years by the
Gardens of the Blue Ridge is obviously a source of d~ep
pride to Mr. Robins. Propagating the native wild plants is an
occupation that takes little from the land and offers much in
the way of natural beauty. And it is good to walk beneath the
tall trees and see the colors of the flowers shining in the
spring rain.
~
Gray soon returned to America and began his search,
high in the mountains ofNorth Carolina and Tennessee.for
shortia. In 1842 Dr. Gray was appointed professor of nanual
history at Harvard University. For 38 years on every field
trip high in the mountains of North Carolina, Gray hunted
for the elusive slwrtia. He found many plants and published
manuals on botany, but always the little specimen in Paris
continued to haunt him.
Sources for wildflower plants:
- Gardens of the Blue Ridge
P.O. Box 10
Pineola. N.C. 28662
- Appalachian Wildflower Nursery
RL I, Box 275-A
Reedsville, PA 17084
,P'
Further reading:
Growing and Propagating Native
Wildflowers. Harry Phillips (UNC
Press; Chapel Hill, NC. 1985)
SPRING - 1988
Then, on an April day in 1877, George HytllnS went
fishing in the Catawba River in McDowell County. His
father was a botanist employed by Wallace Brothers of
Statesville, NC, whose firm collected plants for
pharmaceutical purposes. Nodding and swaying in the breeze
were some charming bell-shaped, waxy white flowers, on
slender stems, with irregularly-toothed petals, growing from
a roserre of wavy-margined, roundish, shiny evergreen
leaves, similar to the familiar mountain galax. George
decided to take a piece Jwme to his father. Mr. Hyams did
Mt know the plant, but it looked so interesting that he sent a
specimen to Dr. Gray at Harvard University for
identijicaJion. Dr. Gray replied, "You have smmbled on what
for many years I have tried so hard to find."
continued on page 26
KATUAH - page 9
�;-
--
- ____.,._...,..,.
_
_,_
-- -- ---·-------~
F'inclitUJ Out Abou t lka!int] with Plants ....
A Visit with Granny
An Interview with Carolyn Port
by Karen Watkins-Decker and Christina Morrison
Carolyn Porr has been a practitioner
of herbal medicine in Burke County, NC for
over 50 years. She has also given lectures,
classes and workshops on herbology and
will soon publish a book of herbal
remedies.
As a single woman, Carolyn raised
two adopted childre11 and now has several
grandchildren a11d great-gra11dchildren. She
is fondly referred to as "Granny" by family
and friends.
Katuah:: How did you begin your work?
G r anny: I'm a registered nurse. I also
carried a midwife's certificate for years until
retirement age pushed me out
K: How did you become specifically
interested in the use of herbs?
G: I don't know that I was more interested
in herbs than anything else. The body is a
whole. If it's sick one place it's sick all
over, and it needs help all the way around.
Anything that brings it back to normal is
good.
K: Yet you've found that herbs treat the
whole body better than olher medicines?
G: Yes. I believe that herbs build health
as well as treat symptoms. And if an old
woman told you that wall link tea would
save a baby's life that had bold hives, you'd
try it.
K: What is wall link? I've never heard of
it
G: It's a kind of lichen that grows in spring
have to take a knife and scrape those little
roots off to make it clean enough for the
baby.
Editor's ll()te: Wall·linJc "lichen" is actually a type
of liverwort (probably Marcha!ltla polymorpha).
conjectured to bt among the very first plants to
exist on land. It is interesting that such a primitive
plant is healing to humans in our tarly stages of
developmen1; i.e. infancy.
branches. Some people call it "turkey
tracks."
K : Where did you gather all your
knowledge? From your own experience?
K: And bold hives - what kind of illness is
this?
G: People told me things just like I'm
G: I don't really know. I think in the
medical profession some would say that
there is no such thing as bold hives. The old
folks said there was. The babies would just
tum blue - they'd find them blue in the bed.
Some of them broke out in a red rash first.
like pimples, and not be able to catch their
breath - so they'd die.
K: The symptoms you mention remind me
of sudden infant death syndrome for which
no cause or cure has been discovered. I'd
like to know just exactly which lichen
you're talking about.
G: I can't show it to you as good as if I
had you over on the creek bank. It's a deep
green • not a green green. It has a ridge right
under the center seam and its hair-like roots
go down into the moss to get moisture. You
KATIJAH - na2e 10
telling you. They told me about the wall link
tea and I said I'd remember that and try it
and see if it works .. .if I need it • and I did
need it again for a baby that was JO months
old. They called me in the night and I went.
The baby had been blue for two weeks.
They'd had her to the doctor twice and in
the hospital once for a day or so. It didn't
do her any good - still she was blue and
beginning to get the red rash. Quick as I got
there, I gave her a hot and a cold bath to
stimulate circulation and it pinked her up
right away. She seemed a little more alen,
but as soon as she was out of the bath she
began to look blue again. So I asked if
anyone knew where I could find some wall
link. They said there was some in an old
spring half way down the mountain. I asked
if anybody would go get some. One woman
said she'd go if I'd go with her; nobody
else wanted to - they knew how bad the
road was. (she laughs, remembering). We
took a pine pitch torch and climbed down
the mountain at 2 o'clock in the morning
and gathered wall link. I got a nice handful
of it and went back and made some tea.
When the baby got a taste of it she just
drank that bottle Hke she'd never had
anything good before. And before she was
through she began to get pink. I stayed
around to 5 o'clock when I was sure she
was alright, and then I went home... and
that's the way I got the remedy.
K : From what age did you begin paying
ancntion to these things?
G: I decided I was going to be a nurse
when I was just three years old. My mother
was a nUTSC and while she treated people I
treated my doll. I'd give my doll an enema
and then hang her on the clothesline by her
toes to dry. (laughs)
K: Your mother took care of people at
home too, just as you do?
G: Yes, and my father was a veterinarian.
K: Did your mother use many herbs?
G: What she knew she used. For instance,
when they learned that raspberry leaf tea
would stop hemorrhaging we always kept it
on hand. She used blackberry roots for
diarrhea; things like that
K: Did you and your parents work
together?
SPRING - 1988
�G: Yes. When we moved here (to
Morganton) in 1920 we built a home across
K: Do you have any' favorite plants that
you work with?
the street. We had three private room units
and an upstairs for father and mother. We
could take up to 4 mothers with their babies.
G: I just get whatever people need. rve
also got a greenhouse full of aloe and I use
K: So that's when you became a midwife?
G: I was a midwife from the time I finished
school in 1929.
K : You already had your degree by the
time you were 20?
G: Yes. You didn't have to finish high
school back then, so I went straight into
nursing school. Then when I was about to
finish up, they said I couldn't take the stare
board exams because I was 100 young to
become a nurse. But my supervisors
worked things ou1 for me to take the exams
anyway and I made a 98 average.
K: Do you use any standard medicines in
your practice?
G: I never have. That's the reason I didn't
nurse in a hospital professionally. I had 10
find some other way to help people, because
I'm not going to give others something I
won't take myself.
K: And how did you develop that attitude?
Did your mother have that approach?
G: Yes. She never gave drugs. She was an
old Battle Creek, Mich. graduate if you've
ever heard of that school. When she was
there it was in its heyday. It was around the
tum of the century and they had patients
from all over the world. They used many
kinds of therapies like hydrotherapy, diet,
herbs ...as well as standard medicine.
K: That must have been quite a departure
from the general trend in the rest of the
country.
G: Yes. They believed the body was the
temple of God and they treated it that way.
They used very few drugs.
K: Seems that possibly we've gotten away
from the use of herbs because people have
come to mistrust them - they're unknown,
unfamiliar. Maybe if we stan using them
more we'll come to trust them again.
G: We've got to.
K: They can even become like old friends.
G: You wouldn't think that the humble
little violet would cure stomach ulcers - bu1
it does.
K: Do you gather most of the herbs you
use?
G: Yes, I love to... but I don't have time to
pick many. And I try 10 get people to gather
them on their own. If they're going to get
any real lasting benefit they'll have to learn
10 do it themselves. That's why people
don't doctor with herbs - they think it's too
much trouble to get out and hunt for them
and fix them up.
it for lots of things - it helps people with
cancer who are losing strength, its good for
the stomach if drunk· as a juice... ! make
suppositories with it for hemorrhoids or
vaginal infections. And of course for bums
there's nothing that takes its place.
So, many herbs li,kc aloe can be used
for different things, but when you think of a
malady you should use the plant that's the
I!!Qfil ~ for that problem. For instance,
aloe is good for the stomach but if you have
an ulcered stomach and are having pain,
violet leaf tea is the thing you wanL There
are also lots of remedies for colds, flu and
bronchitis, but the best one l know is a tea
made from mullein and cockleburrs
(xanthium pensylvanicum)... the cockleburrs
really make it taste good. And the beauty of
it is, you can put it right in a baby's bottle just dilute it a little. (see REMEDIES)
G: Comsi1k tea and Queen Anne's lace tea
are good for kidney ailments too. A woman
came to me who was going to the hospital
the next day to have one of her kidneys
taken out as she had so many stones in it. It
was right in the summer when Queen
Anne's lace was in bloom all over the place.
I told her I believed I'd try some Queen
Anne's lace tea before I had an operation.
She said, " Alright, I will." We went up on
the hill and galhered flowers and stems to
make the tea. I told her to drink a cup every
thirty minutes 'til bedtime and whenever she
got up in the night to use her chamber pot
she should drink some more. Well, by
morning she'd filled that pot up half-way,
but the bottom of it looked like red clay In."
thick. Those stones had dissolved. And as
far as I know, she's never had that problem
again.
Editor's note: Queen Anne's lace (Daucus
carota) somewhat resembles poison
hemlock (Conium maculatum). Be sure to
know the difference.
K: My neighbor's baby often has colds I'll recommend it.
G: You know, when you give a child herbs
you're giving them a kind of nourishment
they don't get any other way. And it seems
to immunize them to that same malady.
They won't have it nearly so quickly or so
badly again, and they'll get over it faster.
K: Why do you think the medical
profession has gouen so far away from
using herbs?
"Of course these
common weeds we walk
over all the time, like
dandelion and chickweeds,
are some of the best - if
you can get to them before
the mower does!"
G: How would they make any money with
it? Oaughs). I knew a doctor once whose
little girl nearly bled to death with a nose
bleed. I told him to give her raspberry leaf
tea to stop the bleeding - and he did and it
worked - but he didn't seem interested in
finding out why it worked or in using it
again.
K: What do you think about when you're
harvesting herbs?
G: I think about how quick I can get this
person enough plant to do some good
Oaughs) and get home and get it fixed up.
And I don't get to go out and harvest all the
time. If I did I might be like the man I know
who went up on the parkway towazd Jonas
Ridge. There was a whole bank of ttailing
arbutus there and he decided to gather
some. He'd filled a bag half full when a
lady patrolman came along and asked him
what he was doing. II was against the law
up there to pick those leaves, so she took
them and put them in the back of her car. He
told her, "I hope you know what to do with
them!"
K: What arc ttailing arbutus leaves used
for?
G: Kidney stones, or as the old folks say,
"gravel" ...some folks call arbutus, "gravel
weed" because it eases the pain in passing
kidney stones by dissolving them.
K: Sounds as though it's been a useful and
well-known remedy.
K: How did you learn to identify plants?
G: We always studied nature in our family.
Sabbath afternoons we'd go for hikes in the
woods and look for bmls and flowers ...and
whatever we didn't know we'd look up. Of
course these common weeds we walk over
all the time, like dandelion and chickweeds,
arc some of the best - if you can get to them
before the mower does! Chickweed is a
wonderful little weed.
K: ... and it tastes so good fresh.
G: Yes, and it's a good wash for any skin
ailment. But it's not only the wilder plants
that arc good, we have tame things like
marigolds and calendula which arc good for
salves.
K: You use marigolds? I use those for a
dye.
G: If you grow them in your gazden they
keep the bugs off your plants ... and a
tincture of them will keep the bugs off your
head! A young'un of mine got uce at scnool
and we rubbed the tincture into his scalp and
wrapped it in a towel overnight. Next
morning we washed it out and that was thaL
(see REMEDIES) You can also dry the
blossoms for tea that takes polyps out of the
intestines.
• continued on next page.
SPRING - 1988
KATUAH - page 11
u. OSCO - nn.v '""
�- continued from page 11
K: I never knew marigolds had so many
uses!
G: Well, when you get started on
something you find so many things its good
for ...
K: What is your feeling about the healing
properties of plants - the origin of that?
G: God put it there. That's exactly where
it comes from. He knows what we need.
Now right around here, there's lots of
kidney stones ...something in the soil
contributes to that problem. There's also a
lot of trailing arbutus. It's like an herbalist
once telling me to gather stinging nettles and
I said, "Yes, if I can stand the sting." And
she said, "Wherever the nettles grow you'll
find yellow dock - just rub your sting with
its leaves and it won't hurt."
K: That reminds me of using jewel weed to
neutralize poison ivy. Do you primarily
make teas with herbs?
G: Most herbs do yield their strength best
to water - some to cold, some to hot - either
boiled or steeped - according to what you
need. For high blood pressure you use cold
mistletoe tea. (see REMEDIES) But if
you've got epilepsy or seizures then you
make a hot infusion. (see REMEDIES)
K: I know of a dog with epilepsy - maybe
it would cure him. (laughs)
outlawed in the U.S. And now I've beard
they're closed down. I hope its not true.
K: Did you keep the literature from that
course or do you just remember everything?
G: Well, I got all hepped up studying it and
ii worked so good...that I got the address of
Indiana Botanical Gardens - and what I
didn't know I'd order so J could recognize it
and test it out.
K: Did your father use herbs as a
veterinarian?
G: Yes, we studied together. One day a
man came to us who'd overworked his
horse. He said her heart was pounding like
a hammer and she was standing with all
four legs splayed - wouldn't eat; wouldn't
drink. So I fixed some lobelia tea and filled
up a big drenching bottle full. When we got
to the mare the sweat was running off her in
a stream and her nostrils were red and
looked like they would burst. We lifted her
head and drenched her but only got half of it
in her before she reared up and came back
down and slobbered. After a while she
began to walk around and drink water. He
asked if she'd live and I said I didn't know she might have burst a blood vessel.
Months later my father saw him again and
asked about the horse. He said he'd been
logging her everyday.
G: Well, you just be a brave woman and
drink it down - and drink some water after.
K: What if someone's ailments demanded
remedies of an opposite kind - of opposing
forces, so to speak'?
G: Nature fits with nature.
K : Lobelia is an herb I've beard you
should be careful with.
G: Did you ever taste Indian Turnip?
Lobelia's like that - very strong. It smells
good, but nobody's going to eat much of it.
Only a very little is needed for healing.
K: I've also heard that the seeds of the
poke plant are supposed to be poisonous,
although I've eaten them myself. The young
shoots are very good cooked Do you use
poke?
G: Yes, I've given the berries for arthritis
(see REMEDIES) and folks have had good
results. Some harvest the berries every fall
and freeze them to have oo hand all year.
K: Staghom sumac berries (rhus typhina)
crushed and soaked in water make good
lemonade. Have you used them as a
remedy?
G: The tea is good for bedwetting - helps
K: Not quite as hard, I hope! That's
retain the urine.
interesting - lobelia grows in my holler
G: A woman came to me one day and said,
where horses are still
used for
logging... Has anyone ever had a bad
''What can I do for my poor little doggie?
reaction to remedies you've prescribed?
He's having seizures one right after
another." So I said, "Give him some
G: I don't give them anything that would
mistletoe tea." She said, "That's poison,
cause a bad reaction.
isn't it?" I said, "They say so - but birds eat
it." She said, "Well ..." A couple wee.ks
K: Are there any herbs that you finally
later I saw her and she said, "What can I do
decided to stop using?
for my doggy?" And I said, "Did you give
him the tea?" She said, "No." So I said,
G: Some are easier to get than others...and
"Well, just let him die then." And she
some taste a lot better than others.
looked at me as if I was the meanest thing in
Personal) y I like things that taste better. If I
the world. I didn't think she was very
much impressed. Then a few months later I
saw her husband and he said, "Did you
hear-the dog's all well." I said, "Good what did you do?" He said, "We gave it
mistletoe tea!" (laughs) The dog had gotten
so weak he couldn't get into his little wicker
bed. He wouldn't drink water and hadn't
eaten for days. She put down a bowl of tea
and she said his nose twitched and he raised
up and began to drink. When he finished
she set down another bowl and some food
and water. She expected him to be dead by
morning. But in the morning the tea was
gone, the water was gone, the food was
gone and the dog was gone! He was over
V'.......~~~*::;:;:·~rt;.l'!D
across the carport in his bed.
K: What a great success story! So how did
you learn how to prepare so many different
herbs - was it just from people telling you?
G: No, honey, l see what you're after.. .!
took a correspondence course from
Canadian Herbal College in the early '30's.
They had to go to Canada because they were
K: Do you have any ideas about the
intelligenc.e behind plants?
G: The same God that made you and me
made the plants. He knows what they need and they haven't perverted their appetites
like I have. So they take only the
nourishment they need from their
environment..! think the.main good we get
comes through the life of the plant - from
the minerals and food value it gives us.
K: It's very pure, isn't it..
G: It gives your body just what it needs.
K: Do you feel the plants you gather have
any awareness of your picking lhem?
G: I don't feel they have a ...what would
you say?... a soul...or a menrality. But they
do have some kind of feelings and ability to
communicate. And I think in the new earth
state, after sin is gone, that we'll be able to
communicate with animals and plant life
better than we can now.
K: But you don't feel like you do thar at all
now - when you're working with them?
G: No...when I'm gathering plants I think
Mullein
illustra11on b'f Ellen John
give people somerhing that tastes good
they'll probably use more of it.
K: How do you mask the ones that don't
taste good?
of the good they're going to do. I don't
believe in nature spirirs or fairies ... Angels
exist, and can lead us to plants, but God is
the spirit And He is a personal God. I le
made us and He made the herbs. He knew
what we needed so He put their healing
qualities in them.
- continued on page 27
KATIJAH- page 12
SPRING - 1988
�Frower Essences:
Harmony wtth Sp£r£t and Nature
Flower essences serve as catalysts to
awaken the natural life force and spiritual
consciousness within us. Each flower essence
embodies the hamumious vibrational panern of
the particular flower species used, and thus
attunes and resonates with specific human
energy patterns. The essences stimulate an
enhanced awareness and ability to transform
limiting attitudes, emotions and behavior into
more creative and health-affirming ways of
living.
Flower essences are liquid, potentized
preparations which carry a distinct imprint ofa
given flower and only an insignificant material
component. They are prepared from
sun-infusions ofj[Qwers in water, diluted and
preserved with brandy and generally taken
orally af~ drops at a time, several tim&r per
flower, coltsfoot In the joy of the moment we
found the radiance within one another and
made our life commitment together, although
the golden flower eluded us then. Since that
lovely day, coltsfoot has found us often...and
in most surprising places... along highways
and mountainsides, dry bulldozed places and
small streams...during needful, dark and
joyous moments. Each time she Earths the
Light for us along our journey. Each time she
opens us to our own knowing.
day.
yellow is used to dispel depression. One
spring, Edward and I both developed 'lung
fevers' - my first, his, a long endured ailment
It was this particular Spring that we felt
agreement to prepare the flower essence. I'd
been relating with friends with 'lung troubles'
and this encouraged my own healing. fd been
holding grief for so long. The Equinox came
brightly and we t.ook our healing bodies to the
cold creek to be with the coltsfoot flower. In a
sacred way we happily created coltsfoot
essence, with her permission. Her radiant light
dispelled our 'darkness' and we got welU
These essences are completely safe and
do not inteifere with and are not ajfected by
other medications. They show a lack of
effectiveness if used improperly but if too
much is taken they do no harm. Flower
essences harmonize well with other health and
growth practices including exercise, nourishing
diet, relaxation, balanced lifestyle, and
appropriale medical care.
Always gentle and strengthening.flower
essences bring a continual union between soul
and body, Higher Self and personality. The
graduiJJ attuning within blends and connects
one with one's source.
As a medicinal herb, ~o farfm
(coltsfoot) is traditionally used for lung
ailments. The lung is an "earth" organ and
Drawing by Shell Lodge
Cottsfoot
~tooc£t"oot
C oltsfoot is the earliest blooming flower
here where we live in Katuah, appearing in
February before the cold snows have finished
melting. Blooming fully bright, coltsfoot
brings her Promise of the Light and Radiance
of Spring from the deepening regenerative
forces of Winter's Dark.
In early Spring, before leaves cast
shadowy images, petite candles stand erect on
hardwood forest floors. Arriving at dawn, one
can lie amongst their glow. As the sun warms
the day, one then can watch the delieate
unfolding petals of the beautiful bloodrool
flower. A single protective leaf shelters this
flower in her early development As it matures,
the candlelight shoots up from the leaf and
opens to fullness. Then the forest ground
covering is a myriad of white stars with
glowing golden centers.
Heaven laying to rest a s~ll on Earth...Spirit
blossoming with matter.
Her special way of responding to the
sun lends to us knowledge of her use as a
flower essence. She follows the arc of sunlight
across the blue Heavens then closes up silently
to the cold night awaiting the Sun's ever
re-appearing warmth for opening each day. The
large green leaves developing at the end of her
flowering season grow in the shape of a "
colt's foot" and tell us of her ability to ground
us as well as enlighten.
My husband and I affectionately call
coltsfoot our initiator. On a clear sunshiny day
along a delightfully cold rushing mounrain
creek, Edward and I searched the banks and
boulders for signs of the radiant yellow ray
F eelings of my sacredness flow while in
the presence of Red Puccoon ( Indian for
bloodroot). a revelation of my opening psyche.
My initial experience of using bloodroot flower
essence came like the swift flooding river over
rapids, gurgling forth in living affirmations.
Life affirming words came pouring forth from
my being, streaming out. fd been struggling
with the use of affirmations, but no more! I
experience their inner wadrings now; I foci
surprise and delight and laughter. The aeative
process of receiving the Divine Feminine
within began blossoming.
T hrough this process Bloodroot
becomes my friend ...sharing her self wilh me
through the opening of my feminine
psyche...and being so intimately here with me
while I clear the cobwebs from my ancient
cauldron. The exhilarating union with my
feminine creative spirit and ageless wisdoms is
coming home using bloodroot flower essence.
As an herb, this member of the poppy
family is known to be internally poisonous in
all but small doses. The red root was used
medicinally to make tinctures and decoctions
for internal use , and external washes for skin
Edward & Elaine Geouge are flower ess~nce
infections. When freshly dug, the root of
sanquinaria canadensis bleeds a red juice. Dried lovers living in Yancey Co., NC ga1herinY'
flowers and wisdom to co-create flower
and powdered roots were used by the Indians
essences with Nature in KaJUah.
as a dye and as a body paint
These Appalachian Gower essences are available lhtough
Flower Essence Services, P.O. Box 586, Nevada City,
CA 95959. A.sic ror the research flower essence list.
SPRING - 1988
KATUAH-page 13
�THE ORIGIN OF THE ANIMALS
by Clyde Hollifield
" lam a storyteller. You can take this
story any way you want to - as a dream, a
Ue, an exaggeration, a vision, or as the
truth. l am only required to tell the tale. "
Long, long ago, at the dawn ohime,
there were only plants upon the Earth. No
people, no animals, no birds, no fish - only
plants.
At first the plants were rather meager.
T here were onl y algaes, liule mosses,
lichens, and fems, but gradually they grew
into larger species. The early trees began to
develop.
If you look at the geological record,
you will see that animals came into existence
about the same time that plants began to
develop fruit, nuts, and grains. Of course,
the animals could not have existed before
this, because there would not have been
anything to eat. Here is how it came to
happen.
Plants bad evolved for millions of
years before any animal was even thought
of. For eons they had experimented with
dispersing seed using water and air as
carriers. For a lot of the plants, this was a
problem. Some, like the milkweed, bad
learned to send their liule seeds on
parachutes through the air. The cattails and
the rushes experimented with floating seeds
that were carried to the other shore of the
lake and took root there. But many of the
other plants could only drop their seed at the
base of their own stem, and were thus
crowded out by their own offspring.
As the plants evolved, and their
intelligence grew, some among them began
to discuss a radically new way of dispersing
seed. The oak trees, in particular, were
precocious plants. They watc hed the
mistletoe, the only mobile plant, which had
no roots and flew from one oak tree to
another. From this the oak trees got an idea:
they would devise a small, living creature
that could move !lllml around from one place
to another, as the mistletoe was able to do.
They called together the hickory trees, the
walnut trees, the hazel, and all the other
nut-bearing trees, and they made their plan.
It being such a new idea, it was
difficult at first to convince the other plants
to allow it.
"It'll never happen."
"Ridiculous."
"Go away," said the other trees, but
the oak tree persisted. (Oaks are very
persistant trees) .T hey agreed that they
would design their creature so it would not
harm the environment or intrude on the
living spaces of the other trees and plants.
They also agreed to provide total care for
this little "animal" creature.
You have probably guessed already
that the animal they were devising was the
squirrel. His job would be to plant oak
seeds at some distance from the parent tree.
lo exchange, the tree would offer him a
place to live, hollow places in which to take
shelter, and food in the form of acorns and
nuts.
They finally completed their task,
and, as you can see to this day, the plan
KATUAH- page 14
worked very well. A squirrel will get a
mouthful of nuts, run down the tree, and go
off into the woods a little way. Then he will
dig a little hole, plant the seed right side up,
and pack the din back around it very
carefully. Then be will promptly forget
where he's planted it. That's the business of
the squirrel; it's in his nature.
With the help of the squirrel, oak
trees began to become a dominant tree on
the Earth. The other trees began to think that
maybe this was not such a silly idea after
all, and the persimmon tree, the
serviceberry, and the pawpaw got together
and decided to create a creature of their
own. The persimmon tree suggested an
idea, and they all thought it was a good one,
and carried it out. They made the possum.
The possum was different from the
squirrel. It was completely nomadic, it
never denned up. This was an improvement
because they did not have to provide the
possum with a home, only food.
The fruit trees were not as determined
as the stout nut trees, and the possum was
the lazy approach to making a squirrel. The
fruit trees did not waste a lot of energy
filling up the possum's brain housing. The
possum, therefore, is not quick and clever
like the squirrel. Face it, a possum is dumb.
But the possum does not have to be
smart, because it has a natural design
advantage. It eats the sweet, ripe fruit off
the trees. Then, as the possum meanders on
through the forest, the fruit passes through
its body, and when the possum is a good
distance from the parent tree, the seeds are
deposited .among tho leaves, neatly packed
in a small bundle of fertilizer.
But neither squirrels nor po5sums can
cross large bodies of water;·and some of the
other plants began to think that they would
have a big advantage if they could come up
with an animal that could fly.
What a totally outrageous idea! None
of the other plants thought it would work,
but a daring group of plants - blackberries,
blueberries, mulberries, and even cherries got together on it, and so many of them
were working on the plan that they actually
made it come about. They took the best
features of the possum, passing the seeds
through the digestive tract, combined with
the brightness of the squirrel, and they
designed their creature with wings and a
new invention, feathers and this new being a bird - actually flew!
With their mobility and sense of
purpose, birds could fly to where a crop of
berries were ripening, eat these, and fly,
often for hundreds of miles, to where other
berries were coming into season, depositing
their seed packages along the way.
These plants, too, took care of their
own particular creature. They gave the birds
materials to use in building a nest and a safe
place back in among the briars or high in the
tree branches to protect themselves and
safely raise their young.
The new idea worked splendidly, and
there came to be more and more birds of all
sizes and varieties, and at the same time
more new and different animals were being
created as well.
SPRING - 1988
�But what plant devised the human
beings? This is a question that bas baffled
science for centuries. Some say that the
humans were thought up by the intestinal
bacteria. but l happen to know that the apple
tree was responsible.
The apple tree felt that life was
becoming too confusing, because there were
too many kinds of apples. Each young tree
created from seed was different from its
parents, and when the young ones crossed,
they themselves produced entirely different
types. It was a dilemma that required a
quick and drastic solution. So the apple tree
devised a creature with the intelligence to
help them reproduce by cloning. In this way
a strain would remain true to its original
form.
This required a creature with special
qualifications. This creature needed to be
able to graft a tree, and, when the graft was
established, to transplant it in a good
location, and then wait seven to ten years
before being rewarded with any apples.
This was a remarkable achievement. None
of the other trees had created a creature that
could do that. It took a coalition of different
kinds of plants - the apple tree and other
fruits, the grains, and the vegetables - to
create and sustain the human animal.
The new "animal" system was turning
out to be successful beyond any plant's
wildest expectations. The plants were doing
extremely well. and there was hardly a pan
of the Earth that they could not coloniz.e.
But too much was happening at
once. It was too much to control. The fust
sign of trouble was when some lower
orders of plants. being too lazy to take the
trouble to devise and maintain their own
animal or bird, grew seeds that could ride in
other animal's fur. These were the
hitcbikers: cockleburrs, beggar lice,
agrimony, and others like them.
This was just the beginning of the
troubles. The animal kingdom that the plants
had created took on a will of its own, and
new animal species began appearing that the
plants bad never dreamed of. Animals
apppeared that ate the flesh of other animals
and were not under the control of any of the
plants. Other animals began to manipulate
the environment to their satsfaction.
Beavers, for instance, began gnawing down
their host trees to build dams and lodges.
Shocking! Before this only the plants had
done anything to change the way of the
world.
A bad day came when the humans
discovered fire. With fire they became the
greatest threat to the plant world that had
ever appeared. They could start fires, but
they were not so proficient at putting them
out. The humans made a lot of mistakes and
did a lot of damage in the early days when
they were learning how to manage fire.
·
The beautiful system the plants had
created was careening out of control, and
the plants could do nothing to bring it back
into balance. The plant kingdom began to go
on the defensive against the very creatures
they themselves had created. Poisonous
plants developed, vines and brambles
appeared to hinder the animals' way through
the forest. Long prickers grew on the locust
tree and other plants that had never bome
thorns before.
The humans, their most complex
creation, turned out to be devilishly adept at
cutting, cleating, digging, and poisoning the
SACRAMENT
Candlemas Day divined one blue violet.
Yesterday trout lilies were spawning
down at the creek.
I have saved a beeswax candle;
there will be other times to celebrate
the rites of spring:
the planting of peas & potatoes,
signs of urging warmth, a stirring of the earth,
the surging of the body to stir the earth.
One honeyed candle burns at an altar of lilies.
bringing the poems of spring to light.
-Janeice Ray
RAIN HAS COME AGAIN
Rain has come again
after the dryest spring recorded
deep in me the garden has leapt
these past weeks-mullein sends up spires
in the moonlight.
The four o'clocks burn a bush
of sweet purple, effigy of efflorescense.
The garden is a dense verdant
mass of growing summer vine & bush & stalk
screaming recklessly open to
foraging bees, wasps, bugs, birds, me.
I think I have seen it climax,
baptiz.ed in pale the night of the last
full moon of summer, wide wide open
and singing with life.
Flowers of luffa glow yellow and grow long.
Vines vein white; leaves in a mad ebb
of chlorophyll drink in the sudden
abundance of water
and are reborn.
The mute sundial casts gray & wan.
Stolons passing underground
fountain into spearmint.
These are the showers of blessings.
From the wetness comes redemption.
- Janeice Ray
- C01llinuod on page 21
SPRIN,9 - 1988
_ KATUAH-pagel5
�(These are lhe words of a traditional Cherokee 111-0dicinc person.)
ON POWER
There are three types of power, and they are:
Power over others or power over ideas. This is the
power to force other people to do certain actions,
whether they would like ro or not.
Personal power. This is the power of will. This power
can bring ideas into physical form. A person can also use
this power to step into a negative situation and change it
into a positive situation by simple strength of will.
The third kind of power is spiritual power, and this kind
of power comes when one is connected to the Greater
Life, which is the totality ofcreation. We must recognize
that we are only a part of a greater whole. Then we will
be able to receive spiritual power. This is the greatest
power ofall.
To attain spirirual power, one has to be open to it. This
is done, not by cultivating a strong desire for spiritual power,
but by recognizing a need for that power. This creates a hole
or a space that the spiritual power can flow into.
In the story of the Garden of Eden, it was separation,
not fornication, that was man and woman's original failing in
the Garden. Separation from the Greater Life is the source of
all our limitations. We limit ourselves by emphasizing and
valuing our egos, our fears, and our prejudices. This limits
the spiritual power we can contain. We cannot be changed by
the spiritual power if we indulge ourselves by dwelling on
our limitations. What if your mother did do something that
was not right to you when you were a kid?! The hell with it!
We all have to continue and to live our own lives.
Ask some spiritual people the simple question "How
are you doing?" and they will say "Oh, I'm working
on...... " and give a whole involved list of what they see as
their personality defects. These people devote a good part of
their attention and energy to what is holding them back,
instead of thinking about how far they have gotten. If those
people would think about how far they have gotten, they
would be amazed at the resources they have to work with and
what they could do. If they would share those resources and
put them to use, they would find that they would grow mucli
faster than by "working" on their limitations.
0
ne way to overcome our limits is by serving
unselfishly. Most people begin to practice this in order to
increase their spiritual power. This is ''serving selfishly," but
service becomes a habit that is performed without thinking,
and then it begins to woik. Another way to gain spirirual
power is by practicing unconditional love. This means to
love somebody without requiring that the person do
something, be something, or act in any particular way to
"deserve" that love. What a strong magic this is!
Fasting is also useful in helping to become conscious
of our limitations. We may feel that we cannot go four days
without food or four days without food or water. But when
we accomplish that, even if there is some bitching, we learn
about how we can go beyond our limits.
Praying is talking to the power of creation. When
praying, express your feelings clearly. Any person who
would pray for 15 minutes every day would witness
remarkable changes in themselves and in the world. It does
not maner how you identify the Spirit to which you pray.
The action and sincerity of praying will bring amazing
changes in just a few months.
We have been told not to pray for ourselves, but to
pray on behalf of others. The only thfog to ask for oneself is
the strength and endurance to continue to serve the Creation
and to help others. Praying is a humbling activity, because
prayers must be humble to be sincere.
A sincere prayer is powerful and can bring about real
accomplishments. When even just one person is convinced
that something is true, the power of that belief is enough to
set changes in motion. If only one person sees an obvious
injustice and knows that it is an injustice, that is enough to
change the situation a little bit
It may appear that nothing has happened, but if one
person out of 100 can be changed, then much has been
accomplished, because an idea grows like a seed, and once
the seed is planted in someone's mind, that person will
change somebody else, and the idea will keep growing and
spreading in that way.
Spiritual power is greatly magnified in the circle of the
people. We need to get over our separation - literally - and
come together to pray. If 20 people who are fairly clean
inside gather together in the circle and hook into the power,
that group could accomplish almost anylhing. Of course if
there are people working in opposition to the goals of thls
group. that limits the degree of unity that can be reached.
And, of course, we cannot eliminate negativity and evil. If
we did, there would be nothing in the world! Each of the
opposing forces, positive and negative, is the basis for the
other, but the negative can be neutralized or deflected by
people's focussed energies.
How is this done? On the spiritual level we do not try
to defeat other people or their energies. Instead we 1ransform
them by bringing them to the awareness that the world is a
unified and connected entity, and that we are not separate
from the world or from each other. Thus we achieve our
goals by increasing the opposition's spirirual power!
Conjuring in the traditional Cherokee medicine is a
way a medicine person empowers his or her prayers. To
bring about a healing, a medicine person first would pray and
then would do conjuring, which is acting out the cure and
seeing the result already accomplished. The act of conjuring
opens part.S of the mind that do not act through verbalization
and focusses the deeper power of the mind on the task at
band.
The old-time conjurors knew that praying does not
take the place of action. The old Cherokee belief is: "You put
the seed in the ground before you pray for the crops to
grow." You do your work, and then you hook into the
Greater Power to bring it to fruition. This is very sincere,
very humble. The physical work is an important part of the
magic.
- continued on page 26
KATUAH - page 16
SPRING - 1988
�BEA TREE
by Brian Ellis
The following is a brief exercise I
use frequently with children at camp and
with adults at conferences. You may want to
adjust the vocabulary to the child or group
you are working .with. Be sure to add lots of
pauses... and speak In a soft voice.
F ind a tree that you feel really
drawn towards, one that speaks
of beauty...perhaps, one that you
may have climbed in your youth.
Stand facing that tree. If a small
group, hold hands encircling the
tree. Then, begin to center down,
breathing deeply and relaxing.
(At this point, I introduce the
idea of "deep listening" or
"hearing with your inner ear".)
Ask, "Have you ever been sitting
quietly, maybe thinking about a
problem, and all of a sudden you
hear a voice inside that tells you
what you need to know? Or have
you ever sort of known
something and not known exactly
where it came from? Well,
that's a kind of deep listening.
What we are going to do is to let
our "inner ear" open to what
this tree may want to share with
us. Some of you might hear a
song, a poem, or a story of what
happened here long ago. For some
of you it might be a feeling,
pictures, or Images.
Continue to breathe slowly and
deeply. Keep your eyes closed
and focus your attention on your
feet. Wiggle your toes a little.
Now imagine that you are
growing roots. Feel your roots
sinking down Into the soll,
sprouting out In all directions.
And like a tree, draw energy
from the earth. Feel warm,
healing energy flowing Into your
roots, into your feet and legs, up
your strong straight trunk. Feel
Iha! energy coming from the
earth up into your heart,
shoulders, arms, and head.
SPRING - 1988
Now Imagine yourself growing
limbs, reaching out in all
directions. Send earth energy
from your body, up, out into
your branches. Draw the
warmth of the sun into your
leaves. Feel the warm light soak
down into you, filling your
heart, filling your body and
sinking down into the earth.
Earth energy surging up through
your roots; Sun energy pouring
down through your
branches...and mixing in your
heart.
Now feel your own heart send
love, warm light, into this t.ree.
Open your heart to this tree.
Allow the love to flow back and
forth. Take a few moments of
silence and listen with your
inner ear to what this tree might
have to share with you...open
your heart to this tree... (pause
2 - 5 minutes)...and know that
you can always reconnect In this
way. (again, pause)
Now it Is time to finish up.
Remember to give the tree
thanks...now draw back into your
heart. Feel your body becoming
human. Feel how strong and
healthy it feels to be a human
being. Wiggle your toes and
fingers, drop hands and stretch.
Open your eyes and shake your
arms and legs. Feel how vibrant
and alive you feel! Now give the
tree a hug, maybe a kiss and a
deep thank you.
At this point, I give folks a
chance to share what it felt like
to be a tree, or something the
tree shared with them. Almost
every time people have really
powerful feelings of empathy and
often some neat idea or bit of
wisdom.
I remember once a girl shared a
real clear image of what the
place looked like when the tree
was a sprout. Another time a
child said, "The tree told me how
old it ls...157". I have counted a
lot of rings on a lot of trees and I
would have guessed it was about
150orso.
Please be careful when you lead
this exercise with a group. Let
them know what they are getting
Into and carefully guide them
out. Please try it many times by
yourself or with an experienced
guide before leading others. And
make offerings to the spirit of
the forest. Mo/ All my relations/
Walk in Balance~
BRIAN ELLIS (alias Flying Fox)
/iv9s in Celo, NC. HB is a dynamic
storytBllBr, pOBt, and songw1iter
as well as a membBr of lhB National
Association for the PBrpetuation
and Preservation of StorytBliing.
KATUAH-page 17
�an issue when dealing with the giant utility
corporations, but Duke Power Co. in
panicular seems to have a hazy conception
of the difference between public service and
corporate adventurism. The company bas
promised
ratepayers
in
t h e ir
recently-acquired NP&L territories that for
several years their rates will remain lower
than those of Duke customers on !he
piedmont. After that promise has expired,
however, Dulce's new dependents may find
themselves contributing the capital to fuel
Duke's continued corporate expansion.
NATURAL
WORLD
NEWS
THE LATEST WORD IN
NUCLEAR WASTE
P ANTHERTOWN SOLD!
Nllllr&I Worid Naws Service
High at the headwaters of the east
fork of the Tuckaseegee River lies a valley
called Panthertown. The beauty of the
valley's striking features was for many
years a secret known only to a few. But
Panthertown may soon be crossed by a
Dulce Power high-voltage electric al
transmission line.
The site has recently been the focus of
much attention and activity, but for a long
time it lay in relative obscurity, the property
of the Liberty Life Insurance Company,
which limited access to the area. Before last
year few people knew of the white, domed
cliffs that framed the valley and the sttcams
and waterfalls that graced the location.
When Liberty Life decided to unload
the 7100-acre tract, they tagged it with an
aslcing price of $10 million. Congress
passed bills in both houses, one sponsored
by NC Senator Terry Sanford and the other
by Rep. Jamie Clarice of the NC Eleventh
Distriet, that appropriated $6 million toward
the purchase. But this was not enough for
Liberty Life, so the Nature Conservancy, a
private land conservation organization, went
to work to try to engineer the purchase to
bring the prized site into the public domain.
For financial reasons, the Nature
Conservancy let its option on the
Panthenown tract lapse. Immediately Duke
Power stepped in and bought up the
prope.rty for the $10 million asking price.
Dulce is in the final stages of acquiring the
holdings of the Nantahala Power and Light
Co. (NP&L), and the utility has been
rapidly buying up land in the Panthertown
area to create a link between the NP&L
territory and Duke's other facilities in the
Piedmont. The high-profile, high tension
wires will span 30 miles to join a station in
the Jocassee watershed area to a tie-in in the
Tuckaseegee district that links with all the
NP&L facilities. The proposed ttansmission
line will cost $30 million to build.
It is unclear whether Dulce's
expressed interest in the Panthertown
property contributed to Liberty Life's
intransigence in the land dealings. Duke has
been willing (and is certainly able) to pay a
high price to obtain clear ownership and
avoid any public accountability over the
route. The corporation has reportedly paid
exorbitant rates for small-acreage tracts, so
as to have complete control over the
proposed right-of-way.
That control is now virtually
consolidated, and Duke is acting the part of
a magnaminious benefactor who might
KAUIAH- page l8
- - -~--~
compromise its own interests to accomodate
those who wish to preserve the beauty and
habitat areas in the Panthertown valley,
rather than a public agency that must
consider the best interests of all in its
decisions. In other words, Duke is holding
all the cards, and those who arc interested in
keeping the valley in a wild state arc
scrambling to petition the company to take
the least obtrusive route for the proposed
power line.
While the utility corporation's first
proposal was to run the high-tension wires
down the middle of the valley corridor,
there are now several alternate routes under
consideration. Ralph Bauman, land
acquisition officer for the US Forest
Service, has indicated that the agency is
open to land swaps of adjoining National
Forest land to make alternative routes
possible. Congressman Clarke's office and
the Nature Conservancy are still hopeful of
acquiring the unused remainder of the
property a fter the locatio n of the
transmission corridor is set
The route of the proposed power line
will affect other areas as well. From the
power house at Bear Lake through the
magnificent Tuckaseegee Gorge, the
Tuckasccgee River valley is pristine with no
sign of human habitation. A route should be
chosen that would spare the river the
massive intrusion of a high-voltage line.
The installation of the new power line
will be tho culmination of decades of
corporate planning and desire on the part of
Duke Power. The company has the dubious
honor of being known as efficient and
effective managers of nuclear reactors,
because they have been making their
stoclcholdcrs substantial profits from the
generation of nuclear power while other
utilities have beeen backpedaling from the
nukes lilce the proverbial "hot potato."
In recent years Duke has maintained
an aggressively expansionist stance. Their
insistence on initiating a gig antic
engineering project to generate electricity on
Coley Creek in the Jocassec watershed
when the need for that amount of power
remains still unproven, and the enormous
size of the proposed transmission line that is
to penetrate the Panthertown area has raised
questions that perhaps the company is
contemplating a move into TV A territory in
east Tennessee, as the TVA nuclear plants
along the Tennessee River are currently
inoperable. There has been speculation that
Duke plans to install yet another reactor on
the shores of the Oconee lakes to funnel
power west to accomplish this goal.
Public accountability has always been
Nllunl Worid News Service
Under the t e rms of the
Johnston-McClure Bill passed by Congress
in December, 1987 an unwilling state of
Nevada was chosen as the site of the first
nuclear waste repository.
The bill also eliminated the eastern
repository - which in politicians' language
means, "eliminated the eastern repository
for awhile." An area overlapping Madison,
Buncombe, and Haywood counties in
Katilah was considered a lilcely site for the
eastern dump.
The Monitored Retrievable Storage
(MRS) facility, a "temporary" storage area
which the Department of Energy is counting
on to hold tons of spent nuclear fuel rods
that become government property in 1996,
was re-ratified in principle, but no
construction work may be begun until a site
for the first underground repository is
clearly decided. As part of the political
dealings around the bill, the states of
Tennessee and South Carolina were grant.e d
immunity from consideration as MRS sites.
A . three-person panel will be
appointed by Congress to study the need for
a MRS facility, which may delay plans for
the facility somewhat, and a negative
finding by the commission will most
certainly strengthen opposition to the MRS.
A DOE study at Yucca Mountain,
NV, the favored first repository site, shows
a strong possibility !hat groundwater
contamination may occur. This may delay
first repository siting and therefore slow the
MRS as well.
Johnston-McClure serves notice that
if a politically feasible solution presents
itself, Congress will seize it immediately to
hasten an end to the nuclear waste debacle.
The bill does buy us additional time.
Meanwhile, heed the words of
Congressman Clarke: "We must be prepared
to fight any future plans to locate an MRS
facility in our region."
ENDANGERING AN
ENDANGER ED SPECIES
T he Roanoke logperc h, an
endangered species, will become more
endangered if developers and ignorant
public officials of Roanoke County, VA
have their way. Their plan is IO withdraw
most of the flow of the Roanoke River and
pump it into the proposed Spring Hollow
Reservoir.
Even after strenuous opposition from
a citizens' group, "Friends of the River" and
SPRJNG - 1988
�milder opposition from the US Fish and
Wildlife Service and the State of Virginia, a
colonel of the US Army Corps of Engineers
responsible for the project "leans" toward
approval of the reservoir.
The question for people interested in
the future of the river is, "Arc the profits to
be made from this project worth sucking
away the habitat of an endangered species?"
If the answer to this question seems
clear, send a letter of protest to:
US Army Corps of Engineers
P.O. Box 1890
Wilmington, NC 28401
EVEN CANTON IS
DOWNSTREAM
Na.tural World News Scrv""'
"We have to give quality water to our
people!" shrilled C.W. Hardin, the mayor
of the town of Canton, NC.
A turnabout on the question of
Champion International Paper Company's
effluent discharge?
Not hardly. It was discovered that a
faulty wastewater treatment system was
discharging improperly treated effluent into
the little Pigeon Creek, which feeds into the
Pigeon River from which Canton draws its
drinking water. The system handles wastes
from the Pisgah Inn, a concession on the
Blue Ridge Parkway at the head of the
Pigeon River watershed. It was Canton's
tum to be downstream.
Public health officials closed down
the old treatment plant, but the inn bas a
permit to install a new system that would
again discharge imo Little Pigeon Qcclc.
Unfortunately, that permit was sought
and received without consultation with the
Environmental Advisory Board of the Blue
Ridge Parkway. The board has among its
members Dr. Dan Pittillo and Dr. Garrett
Smathers, well-known and respect¢d
scientists in the region, who sincerely care
about the fragile ridge-top environment the
Parkway traverses.
"Overload on the original facilities
was a contributing cause to the system
failure, " said Pittillo, ''but they are adding
even more buildings and extending the
paved roads in the campground even
further. And flushing down oil from the gas
station and chemicals from RV chemical
toilets is not going to help. Those
substances kill organisms in the biological
treatment system and will slow or possibly
stop decomposition.
"The Pisgah Inn is acting like any
business: it's trying to get more and more
people in. And the Parkway administration
is saying everything is alright, but it's not
alright.
'They need to remember where they
are. That is a very delicate area, and the
greatest resource they have up there is the
area itself.
''The whole operation needs to be
reviewed. Perhaps it is time for a study to
determine a ceiling on the traffic the area can
handle."
Serious questions arise when people
throng to a delicate area like the top of the
Pisgah Ridge. Those questions are always
close to tho surface when vigilant
watchdogs like the Environmental Advisory
Board and the town of Canton are standing
up for water quality.
SLOWING THE LAND RUSH
NllUnl World News Seivice
Two concurrent bills now before the
Georgia state legislature offer some relief
against the rampant development proceeding
unimpeded in the north Georgia hill
country.
The Senate unanimously passed Bill
393, the Mountain Protection Act, which
restricts development on lands over 2200
feet in elevation and with more than a 25
percent slope to one single-family unit per
acre. Within the area of the bill's
jurisdiction only one single-family dwelling
or six-family unit could be built per acre.
No structure may extend more than 40 feet
above the ridge line. The measure also
provides that any land on which more than
40 percent of the forest cover is removed
must be reforested.
Other minimum standards would
require an environmental assessment and
landscape plan for commercial construction,
a soil erosion prevention plan for
agricultural activities, and would permit
private logging activities only after a harvest
plan had been professionally prepared.
A similar bill is now before the
Natural Resources Committee of the GA
House of Representatives. The House bill
has been modified to restrict construction on
lands over 1200 feet in elevation that
maintain a 33 1/3 percent slope over a
distance of 500 feet
In other respects the bill as it stands
before the House is only slightly different
from the measure that passed the Senate.
One clause in the House bill attempts to put
some teeth into the Soil Erosion and
Sedimentation Act by allowing the GA
Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to
charge counties and municipalities for the
services of the DNR if the agency has to
move in to enforce the terms of the
anti-erosion law.
Although the Mountain Protection Act
is just a beginning at alleviating human
pressures on the north Georgia habitat, it
bas attracted a major amount of attention.
With the legislative session nearing its
close, it is in doubt whether there is time for
the House to pass its version of the bill and
work out a joint measure with the Senate to
give Georgia a much-needed land use
Statute.
EARTH SHAKE!
NlllnU World News Seivice
The mountains trembled Wednesday
evening, February 17, as a minor
earthquake shook Cherokee, Clay, and
Graham counties in western North Carolina
and parts of eastern Tennessee at 7:30 P.cc.
The tremor, centered near Robbinsv11le,
NC, registered 3.8 on the Richter scale.
No damage was reported. Residents
who experienced the quake felt a vibration
and beard a rumbling noise at the time of the
event. Some reported feeling a brief
sensation of being under pressure, as is
experienced when one goes deep
underwater.
©~
TRACHEAL BEE MITE
INVADES WESTERN SLOPE
Nallllal World News Service
Bee colonies in the Katuab region
have come under attack by the tracheal bee
mite, a destructive intemaJ parasite.
Officials of the Tennessee State
Agricultural Extension Service announced
that the state bee inspector found hives
dying from mite infestations in Greene
County, TN and Monroe County, TN
during the month of January.
The mites are suspected to have
arrived in shipments of bees from South
Carolina. Once established, the mites spread
rapidly. The infestation was first reported
within the national boundaries of tho United
States only four years ago. Since that time it
has spread to locations in 30 states. Bees
throughout the region are now under
immediate threat of the parasite invasion.
Chemical poisons cannot be used
inside of bee hives, as they contaminate
honey and beeswax in the hive, so
commercial beekeepers are deprived of the
orthodox method of recourse. The TN
Extension Service does not know of any
natural defenses the bees have against tho
parasite.
The only known method to protect
bees from the tracheal mite is complete
isolation of the hive. Hardest hit by the
infestation will be commercial apiarists who
routinely import bees and equipment. To
commercial producers, replacing lost hives
means a financial loss in labor and
equipment costs.
Honey producers who survive the
mite attack will not receive premium prices
for their honey, according to the Extension
Service announcement, because cheaper,
imported honey will make up for any
shortage in the regional supply. Allergenics
and those who depend on local honey
supplies may have to look harder for honey
this summer, and there will be fewer
honeybees to pollinate the apple blossoms
and sunflowers this year.
- continued next
SPRING - 1988
~
KATUAH- page 19
�EPA TESTING FOR DIOXIN
IN PIGEON RIVER
Nllllnl World News Service
Who knows what evil lurks in the
murky shadows of the Pigeon River?
Officials of the Champion
International Paper Co. have consistently
claimed that it is only the excessive
coloration of their corporate effluent that
keeps the Pigeon River barren and lifeless
below the Canton paper mill in Haywood
County, NC. They are fond of deriding
"environmentalists'" and other residents'
concerns about the river as a big flap based
on arbitrary regulations of "harmless"
colorants.
River fish say otherwise, having
deserted the river in droves, leaving only a
few species of pollution-tolerant "garbage
fish" to inhabit the lower reaches of the
Pigeon.
Now, alerted by reports of the highly
toxic compound dioxin being found in the
effluents of other paper-making companies
that employ a process similar to that used at
the Canton mill, the federal Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) has ordered that
fish samples be taken from the river to test
for that substance, which is a deadly
carcinogen.
Dioxin was a primary component of
the herbicide 2,4,5,-T, which gained
notoriety as the defoliant Agent Orange in
Vietnam and which came under attack in this
country as a dangerous substance that
causes cancers and mutations.
Fish samples from both the NC and
TN stretches of the Pigeon River have been
sent to the EPA for analysis. The samples
were obtained by an elecao-shock technique
that stuns f1Sh within an eight-foot radius of
the point of contact with a powerful
electrical source.The fish are then gathered
and sent to EPA laboratories in Atlanta for
testing.
Tennessee officials had to return to
the river for a second round of
fish-gathering after taking initial samples in
January, 1988. They did not bring in
enough fish in their first try to make an
adequate sample.
The government fishermen said that
the water in the deep pools where they
fished was a dark brown color. They
complained of the foul smell of the river.
Local people living along the
riverbanks said that although fish were few
in the river, they would catch what they
could, untiJ lhrcc years ago when, according
to one resident, the fish "had a lcind of blue
mold on them and their eyes were
funny-looking."
Dioxin has been shown 10 pass along
the foodchain via small, bottom-feeding fish
and into the larger predator fish.
Officials from Champion International
and the state of Tennessee are involved in
protracted negotiations that might perhaps
resolve the immediate fate of the river. The
EPA has indicated that it would be amenable
to ratifying a compromise agreement on
color standards for the Pigeon, if one could
be reached.
The fish say that unless the river is
cleaned up completely, they will noc return.
The Dead Pigeon River Council
(DPRC) is a group of western slope
residents who feel victimized by
Champion's misuse of the river. The group
KATIJAH - page 20
was a strontt voice urging the EPA to
undertake the dioxin testing. They also have
been persiste.ntly urging the TN Department
of Health and Environment to undertake a
study of the abnormally high number of
cancer deaths of residents of the
downstream community of Hanford, TN.
An informal survey by residents of
the town (population 500) revealed that 167
cancer deaths have occurred there in the past
20 years. The Cocke County commu ' t;y is
.locally known as "Widowville."
The TN Water Quality Control Board
will test Hanford's well for contamination
of the local water table by river water
pending a review of the EPA 's dioxin tests.
ConlOCI:
The Dead Pigeon River Council
803 Prospect Ave.
Newport, TN 37821
MEETINGS CALLED
ON TOXIC SPRAYING
Nanni World News Set\lice
Carol McGincbey, Mary Ann Delany,
and Nancy Barnhardt are three women who
litcralJy cannot stand toxic chemicals in the
environment. The women, who are from
neighboring Floyd and Patrick counties,
VA, have body systems that are extremely
sensitive to toxic chemicals. They have
suffered acute symptoms of poisoning in the
presence of chemical insecticides and
herbicides.
The three arc acting as a liason
committee between community people and
state agencies on the questions of
agricultural and silvicultural spraying. They
are meeting with Dennis Anderson of the
Vrrginia Forest Service and a representative
of the state Agricultural Extension to discuss
the spraying of the herbicide "Round-up" to
weed out young broadleaf trees, particularly
yellow locust, which contend with young
plantings of white pines, and the spraying
of "Paraquat" as a pre-emergence herbicide
oo "no-till" com plantings.
Nancy experiences liver problems and
respiratory ailments in the presence of the
poisonous sprays.
"When I feel an aching sensation in
the area near my liver," she says, "I start to
ask around. If I investigate, I always find
that someone is spraying nearby."
Carol has more extreme symptoms in
the presence of the toxics. Her body reacts
with a high fever, sore throat, numbness of
the extremities, nausea, and extreme fatigue.
"I was laid out in bed for three or four
days at a time in several instances last spring
and summer," she said.
The
women
maintained
communication with Anderson during last
year's spraying season. The Forest Service
officer said it was almost uncanny how the
women pinpointed his spraying schedule
through their bodily reactions.
The women also approached the
Appalachian Power Co. about clearing
brush under their transmission lines by
mechanical means rather than with
poisonous herbicides. The company is now
considering the idea.
This year the three are meeting with
Anderson and the state Extension Service
before the spraying season to communicate
the depth of feeling that some area residents
have about this question and to suggest
measures like publicizing spraying
schedules so sensitive people can avoid the
toxic clouds.
"We are going to meet with them in a
non-confrontational way," said Carol, "to
tell them about our needs and viewpoints,
and to seek out any common ground we
may have about this issue."
"Everyone, whether they know it or
not, is affected by these poisons near our
living-places," said Nancy. "Everyone who
is exposed accumulates those complex
chemical compounds within their bodies to
the detriment of their life and overall health.
Because our special sensitivity causes us to
have immediate, visible reactions to the
poisons, we have been selected to be the
buffer between the sprayers and the general
community."
Suppon the women advocates of air
that is clean and safe to breathe. Investigate
toxic spraying in every part of the
bioregional province. To offer suppon, or
to receive advice and a standard survey form
to evaluate the effects of chemical poisons in
the local environment. write to:
Nancy Barnhardt
P.O. Box 417
Aoyd, VA 24091
US FOREST SERVICE
RELENTS ON RIVERS
Nawn! World News SCNlce
104 miles of eleven rivers in Katuah
are among 35 rivers and 98,000 acres of
riparian land in the southeast that are at least
temporarily protected by agreements with
US National Forest supervisors.
"Binding comminmcnts" by the US
Forest Service (USFS) provide for
evaluation of ponions of these rivers to be
included into the National Wild and Scenic
Rivers System and five 10 ten years of
protection while the study is being carried
out. Only the parts of the rivers on National
Forest land arc presently under
consideration.
The agreement was negotiated by the
American Rivers organization with the
assistance of the Sierra Club Legal Defense
Fund. Highly pleased with the results of
their talks, American Rivers withdrew
motions of appeal the group had filed
against the forest management plans for the
National Forests involved.
American Rivers is a non-profit
organization seeking legal protections for
rivers in the US.
FORECAST: CLOUDY UNLESS THE PEOPLE ACT!
Nllllnl World News Service
Against overwhelming economic,
scientific, and ecological evidence,
incineration still persists among technocrats
as a preferred choice for solid waste
disposal. The engineering mentality
apparently demands a technological solution
to the waste disposal problem, as it has in
so many aspects of our society.
Yee, when the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) announced their
opinion that incineration of Asheville's
dehydrated sewage sludge by the
metropolitan Sewage District (MSD) would
require no environmental impact
assessment, such a squall of protest arose
that the agency extended the public comment
period, and is now considering public
SPRING- 1988
�petitions for a full environmental irnJ?act
statement.
Local residents and organizations
have sent documentation to the EPA that the
most favored alternative, biological
composting, as well as being cheaper, is
ecologically safer. The airborne emissions
from incinerator p lants simply move
pollution into the upper at:m0sphere, and the
leftover ash is in most cases classified as a
hazardous waste. Dangerous cadmium
levels from industrial process wastes in
Asheville's sludge can only be removed by
an electrostatic precipitator. This is much
more expensive that the Venturi scrubber
process currently budgeted by the MSD and
might make the cost of incineration
prohibitive.
Activists have also informed the EPA
that land next to the MSD facilicy is available
to buy, which would considerably lower
MSD cost estimates for composting, which
were boosted by the addition of expenses
for transportation and transportation
equipment to move the sludge to a distant
site.
Cocke Councy, TN is also flirting
with the incineration alternative for waste
disposal. A Nashville, TN company,
ironically called Resource Recovery
Tech nology, has approached the
commissioners of the west slope councy
with a package plan in which the private
corporation .would assume all construction
costs for an incineration facilicy and charge
a disposal fee of $18-22 per ton of trash. As
Cocke Co. is producing about 100 tons of
refuse daily, the cost for incine.ration would
likely be over $100,000 per year.
Steam power from the incineration
plant would be sold to a local industry for
additional profits for the contractor.
Apparently, Resource Recovery
Technology Co. did not mention toxic gases
and heavy metal particulate matter among
the benefits of the plan.
CSI WASTE INCINERATOR
waL BE CLOSED
The county commissioners of
Caldwell Councy announced that they will
close the Caldwell System Inc. (CSI)
hazardous waste incinerator.
There is a major law suit pending
involving the county commissioners,
Caldwell Systems, and several local
ci ti:zens. At issue is the fate of a dairy farmer
located just below the plant who bas
suffered a complete Joss of his business due
to health concerns about his product. Other
local citizens in the neighborhood have
suffered r ashes and burns, and a study
commissio ned by members of the local
chapter of the Western North Caro lina
Alliance uncovered evidence of toxic soot
falling miles away on the 1-40 expressway.
CSI is offe ring an out-of-court
settle ment, whic h is meeting mixed
reactions from local citizens. The company
wants to shut down its operation but use the
site for hazardous waste storage for five
years. Many feel that plan is unacceptable
and want guarantees of verifi able
monitoring written into any agreement.
From WNCA "Issues Update"
available from WNCA; Box 180
~
Asheville, NC 28814
P'
SPRING - 1988
The Origin of the Animals
continued from page IS
plant people. They even learned to hybridi:ze
the plants. By stealing their reproductive
power the humans gained control over the
plant kingdom. They made the plants serve
as human food sources, instead of
cooper ating in serving the plants as
seed-bearers, as it was intended to be.
This is a most dangerous new
development. Hybridization is causing the
disappearance of the str0ng, old varieties
that could reproduce themselves. They are
being replaced by new varieties that,
although they better serve the humans'
immediate purposes, are weak and not able
to stand up to stressful conditions like the
natural varieties. By their desire for control,
the humans are putting themselves in
jeopardy. If their ltost plants cannot swvive
in the world as it changes, then the humans
will perish as well..
The humans also have still not learned
to control their fire. Their powerful nuclear
fire is the most dangerous form yet
discovered. This above all causes the plants
to be concerned about the future of the
world which has been thrown so out
balance by their wayward experiment.
But the story continues. It is not over
yet. There may be other developments in the
evolutionary game.
Who knows? The world may be
returned to the plants. once again. Plants are
more immune to radiation than animals.
They mutate and change in the presence of
radiation; they are not as likely to die and
become extinct. Plants eat sunlight, which is
one fonn of radiation. They may find the
means to utilize other types of radiation.
They are far ahead of the humans in that
respect and may once again become the
masters of the planet
It is obvious from this look at our
history that if we want to fulfill our true
purpose on Earth, we should save seeds and
propagate plants. That is our inborn duty
and one of the most healthy things we can
do for our world.
/
Rediscovering Heirloom Seeds
Janeice Ray
Hybridization has taken the ancient art
of seed-saving away from us. F-1 hybrids
(meaning first filial generation) are a forced
genetic cross between two unalike parents and
exhibit unusual vigor and uniformity. Their
seeds, when grown out, revert back to some
ancestral strain. Hybrids must be re-crossed
year after year by seed companies, so we
become totally dependent upon them for the
basic source of our food.
The uniformity of hybrids produces
vulnerability to crop failure. Hybridization and
the lack of varieties shrinks the genetic base of
our crops, leaving them in a weakened state.
This caused the potato famine In Ireland in the
1840's · the people were growing only a few
varieties of potatoes, which were not blight
resistant, and the country starved when the
disease spread through the fields.
Crop diversity may save us in the future
when we are searching for a gene that may
withstand the environmental problems that our
world faces. Are there varieties that can take
the effects of acid rain? Or of shifting weather
patterns? Some old variety may be the answer,
and we need to keep those gene pools alive.
So I am convinced to buy only standard,
open-pollinated varieties, no matter how
amazing the hybrids sound, and I am learning to
save my own seeds. I buy seeds from small,
family-owned seed companies. Many of the
major companies have been taken over by
huge corporations, usually petrochemical in
nature. The smaller companies with the less
glossy catalogs (most of whJch enoourage seed
independence) need our support. The Graham
Center Seed and Nursery Directory published
by the Rural Advancement Fund is a wonderful
resou rce for localing these seedspeople.
Send a few dollars to:
Rural Advancement Fund
P.O. Box 1029
Pittsboro, NC 27312
I am beginning to plant heirlooms -
vari eties our foreparents grew for generations.
With the advent of seed companies, many of
these were lost, many endangered, and only
now are folks rediscovering them and returning
them to our collective gene pool. The book to
read is Heirloom Gardening by Carolyn Jabs,
and the place to connect with like-minded
people is:
The Seed Savers' Exchang~
Rt. 3, Box 239
Decorah, IA 52101
Here are a few seed companies offering
open-pollinated and traditional varieties:
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Albion, ME 04901
JL. Hudson,Seedsman
P.O. Box 1058
Redwood City, CA 94064
(Catalog: $1 J)())
F/Qating MoUlltain Seeds
P.O. Box 1275
Port Angl!les, WA 98362
forganically-grqwn heirWoms ca1a/og: $1 .00)
BounJiful Gar<kns
5798 Ridgewood Rd.
Willits, CA 95490
(open-pollint1led, untrea1ed)
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
P.O. Box 158
North Garden, VA 22959
(Caralog: $1 J)())
Peace Seeds
1130 TetJu:row Rd.
Williams, OR 97544
(Caralog: $1 .00)
Seeds Blum
ldalw City Stage
Boise, ID 83707
(1-ltirloom seeds, catalog $2.00)
KATUAH - page 21
�DRUMMING
LETTERS TO KATUAH
Dear Katuah My husband and I own 40+ acres in Kaniah. We have no
children and are concerned about whnt will happen to our
land when we die. We would like 10 sec it prorected, not
subdivided, and used in a way that is kind to the earth hopefully continuing the organic gardening & orcharding we
arc doing, carefully using and preserving the forest land, etc.
Ideally we would also like to sec it benefit people in need. A
lot to ask! If you have any ideas or can refer us to anyone
with solutions for this sort of situation, we would appreciate
it. We don't want to sec the place tied up in such a way as to
be useful to no one.
Thanks for any help you can give us.
Shalom,
Sheila Wofsy
Reggie Lenoir
Rt. 1Box178
Suchcs, GA 30572
Dear Editor,
Someone who did not identify themselves sent me an
unsolicited photocopy of your Fall, 1987 issue of K.i1.iah
containing the article "Smells Like Money To Me" CKiW.i\11
#17 - ed.)
The author presented a corporacc image of the wealth
of the Champion Corporation, however implications in the
article were critical because Haywood County had not
diversified the economy, and because Champion did little to
support quality of life, including this generation of Haywood
County residents. True, the mill is old, and Haywood
County should be offering incentives to keep the industry,
and to assure that better environmental controls arc the goal.
In the meantime, children are threatened by the attitude
of fear and unrest that prevails because their parents,
grandparents, and neighbors are frightened.
If your publication is truly interested in the
bio-technical development of Southern Appalachia, publish
positive approaches about appropriate industrial development
which will match our workforce, our geographical terrain,
our water and sewerage supply, our cultural and ethnic
heritage.
Please include articles 10 which the common man who
has a sense of stewardship for the earth can relates. l am of
Scotch-Irish descent, a daughter of generations of farmers
who valued land. Today I see developers cutting into the
mountains wilhout regard to the sediment which will be
altered and moved into our streams. l see local real estate
developments over-building on fragile land sites. J see that
the larger number of land holders are no longer full time
residents of the county. A land use plan is a critical issue for
Haywood County. An indusrrial recruitment plan would add
balance to the economy.
Yes, I care about poUotion, but try to be
comprehensive in future articles rachcr than singling out our
"greatesc bread basket" in Haywood. r believe a reasonable
solution such as a five-year plan could be implemented.
Sincerely,
Ernestine E. Upchurch
Maggie Valley, NC
Thank you/or your thbughtful reply. - The Editors
Hopefully KJJ.nu11J 1120 will be ofsome help. - Editors
The Stones at Laurel Creek
The stones here are
shoulders and elbows of the lover I
looked for everywhere I travelled
to anive hen:
poking through her
garment of rhododendron, shaped
by the rush of her laughter,
pools of thought
I feel her
enjoying my step best when I step
naked, enjoying it
Like the pause
when the fingers seem to listen to the skin
and forget which name the lover has
and what color the skin,
I bend
to soothe my bands on her tender grain
Through the slow, gigantic
pulse of sun in stone I suddenly
recognize her- "Mother!" (bur even thar
is just a name
She lies
under every itch and movement ofmy f001
and I have only known her
by names-)
- Stephen Wing
KAlUAH - page 22
Awakening
Soft vault of sleep
attended darkness
Quiet folds around me
silence screams
In the midst of pitch
my eyes arc opened
to wondrous views
ineffable
Angel's garments, as white smoke
gently billowing
as they tum
My mouth is opened to kiss
hot coals
burning away mortality
I change
and enter, again, the womb
of infinity
- Diane Yeager
SPRING - 1988
�Dear Katuah -
An idea we have been considering here in Spring
CTCCk is the Community Computer Bulletin Board This is an
interlocking system of computers in users' households that
are connected by telephone lines to a central computer that
stores the messages that folks wa.nt to share with their
neighbors. The networlc could be set up on a local or regional
level.
The system could be used for communication, keeping
records, playing games, word processing, and planning
various projects. The network could coordinate bulk
purchases of commonly-used items like clothing, shoes,
tires, seeds, and fertilizer to obtain substantial discounts.
People could barter, buy and sell, call for help, announce a
baby, share car-pool infonnation.....the list of uses is
endless.
The information on the bulletin board appears on the
individual TV sets or monitors in the users' homes or places
of business. The central computer is located in the home of
the system operator. If desired, the computers could connect
to national and international networks, so the bulletin could
extend all over the world.
If a user had a telephone and a TV set, the minimum
cost to buy a computer would be around $270. The cost of
the central computer and its operation would be shared by the
users.
If any readers are interested in the Community
Computer Bulletin Board idea, please have them contact me.
John Artley
Rt 1, Box 27-A
Hot Springs, NC 28743
(704) 622-7421
Flowers
I'm cleaning up
the inner environment
I'm plowing the fear
to prepare the soil
I'm mixing the elements
to make my hean fertile
rm weeding the hun
4:00 A.M.
Grandmother moon
is caught in the branches
of the tulip tree.
My husband's arm
is around me.
She calls out her longing.
We hold the crystal aloft
and catch her Light
in its center.
This moment is Forever.
Our moccasins
lie still
Upon the flintstone.
to care for the love
I'm coming up flowers
- Colleen Redman
SPRING - 1988
- Rose Morningstar
Bryson City, NC
Drawings by Kore Loy McWhiner
KATI IAH - oa2e 23
�continued from page 5
From The Perelandra Garden Workbook:
Deva of Soil
When Jmmans open a garden, any garden, a note is
sounded within the devic level. One mustn.'tforget that a
garden is a man.made invention. Therefore, the sounding
of the note indicating that one is w be created must come
from humans. When such a thing occurs, 1he devic level
immediately responds by creating the numerous energy
units which will even.tually be grounded into form.
When a human sounds the note with the intent to
work in co-creative partnership with devas and n.ature
spirits, that note is very different in sound, quality, and
vibration. If I were w use an orchestra as an example, I
would say that in the case of the ordin.ary garden, the
note sounded would be that of one instrument. Add to it
the intent to co-create the garden with nature itself, and
one would suddenly hear a full orchestra sounding a
deep and vibran.t multi-levelled chord.
Nawre, on all its levels, will respon.d in kind. The
various energy units we on the devic level create when
the single note is heard is very different from the units
we create when the full orchestra is sounded. So from
the instant you sound the note with the more expanded
intent, you will set off creation and movement on a far
grander scale.
As Machaelle's relationship with the garden grew,
she found herself appreciating the quallity and integrity
of the relationship itself as much as the fruits and
vegetables produced.
From The Perela11dra Garden Workbook:
Deva ofthe Pere/andra Garden
The physical planting process of a garden is not the
primary issue. What is of utmost importance is attitude
and i111ent...
I have specifically chosen dance (as metaphor for the
garden)for in order w parricipatefully within dance, one
must lift his spirit, center his senses.focus his thoughts in essence, he must strike an attitude that will allow him
to hear the mu.sic all the way into his soul and move in
accordance to that music. It is this attimde I wish to
convey for one who wishes to move into the garden in
harmony with what is happening there....
...Through (your mind and heart), the music will
1nove an.d you will naturally move with ~t both within
and outside yourself. And you will be most surprised at
the ease and grace in which you. your tools, and your
young plants and seeds join in effortless movement.
...My experience in the harvesting process has been
to sense joy and celebration for a job well done. At
special times, I can feel all of nature around me, on its
various levels, literally celebrate not just the health and
balance of the garden, but the resulting incredible
production as well. When I approach gardening, it is
with my sights set on creating a bala111ced, healthful
environment. I don't consider production. That
automatically takes care of itself. So there is always a
moment of happy surprise on my part when 1 realize the
green bean row has produced a whole slew of beans. It
may sound terribly naive, but I think this probably
illusttates best how changed my thoughts, focus and
intent are around gardening.
The larger issue of humankind's relationship with
nature is a central theme in the messages Machaelle
receives from the devas. It is in her garden that the
macrocosm becomes revealed by the microcosm.
KATUAH - page 24
Photographs by Clarence Wright
The devic messages address the importance of
reverence for life in the Perelandra garden as well as
the importance of reverence for all of life. Machaelle's
sensitivity and attention to the Perelandra garden opens
up for her a "window" on the needs and cures for the
whole planet.
Machaelle Small Wright's journey to the center of
her garden was a long one. The first half of her
autobiographical work, Behaving, recalls a childhood
of intense pain and trauma. Yet the chaos of events,
memories, and feelings has now become a sensible
whole.
Through her garden, the healing of herself and of
the land has become a single and continual process. It is
in her garden that Machaelle has taken the opportunity
to interact in a daily, conscious way with the dynamic
energies present there. Through her works, she offers
us the inspiration and encouragement t_o begin the
endeavor ourselves.
From Tiie Perela11dr0: Garden Workbook:
...The Perelandra garden is my life, my. heart aoo .
my very breath. It is my friend, my healer, my nurturer
and teacher - about myself, my planet and my unjverse ...
.. .It has taught me about power - my own and that
which is contained in all life around me. About equality.
About balance. About teamwork on a peer level...
... And it has taught me that we are a vibrant, active
planet fully participating in a larger, loving whole. /
Excerp<s rq>rinJedfrom The Pcrclandra Garden Workbook with f"m1issit111.
Machaelle Small Wriglu has just completed her third book, eniitled
Flower Essences: Reordering Our Understanding and
Approach to Illness and Health. It will be available in June 1988.
Gardening workshops and an annual open house are held at
Perelandra during the summer and early fall. For schedules and infomlillion
or to order any of Macluulle's books. meditation tapes orflower essences,
write 10: Perelandra, Box 136. Jefferson/on. VA 22724.
Excerpts selected by Christina Morrison with Mamie Mui/er
and Sam Gray assisting.
SPRING - 1988
�The
true art
of dancing
is
dancing what
comes out and not
following the rules.
Dancing
ho~ you want.
Because if you
follow rules
your soul
will never
get to show you
the dance you've
known ever since
you were born.
- Emily
1dance within myself
And look without
Joy within
Sadness without
Music within
Silence without
Lying on my bed
Waiting for morning to come
The moon sings to me
About the sun
Words by Emily Turner, age 6 with
Drawings by Amelia Brommer, age 8
SPRING - 1988
KATIJAH - page 25
�900€£ me€£i.ci.ne
continued from 1>3ge 16
What people call "visualii.ation" today
is a fonn of conjuring. People can visualiu:
a healing and by putting their collective
energy behind it and getting some sense of
how it fits in with the all, they can "push it
with power."
It is best not to try to visualize a
specific end to a situation, because that
limits lhe possibilities. Also, things seldom
tum out the way we plan. It is bes1 10
visualiu: a return to balance and hannony
and to encourage the awareness that the
lives of all things are interrelated. However,
I do see anything lhat works against the Life
Force as a whole as being negative and evil.
Nuclear arms and nuclear power, for
instance, appear to be destructive forces as
far as l can see. They seem like something
we can gel along without.
The human species is a high
consciousness, bu1 a1 the same time 1he
human race is a cancerous cell that is trying
to diges1 its host, the Greater Life. Yet
people on the spiritual path are always
searching for the connection to the whole.
As individuals 1hey realize their separation,
and they are searching for that connection
with every part of every cell from the
marrow of their bones outward.
One of the greatest blocks for us
.humans is our intellect. lt is self-defeating to
try to comprehend the universe with the
intellect, for it is not designed to
comprehend the whole. Being in a linear,
critical culture as we are makes it even more
difficult. Not impossible, but certainly more
difficulL It leads us to try to understand the
whole by adding up all of the parts. But the
whole is greater than 1he sum of its parts.
Organ ic Gr owin g Coop e rotiue
The Organic Gardening Cooperative
of Western North Carolina was started in
the early spring of 1987. A small group of
enthusiastic people came together 10
promote the merits of organic gardening and
fanning and the health and life-giving value
of organically-raised food. Meetings are at
Unity of Arden on Airport Road. The
cooperative meets the third Monday evening
of each month. There is time for sharing at
6:30 pm and a meeting at 7:00 pm.
The name "cooperative" was chosen,
because the group wished 10 create an open
forum for sharing experience, infonnation,
resources, and projects. There is a steering
committee that plans and coordinates the
meetings and other activi1ies. 01her
commiuees take on the tasks of a newsletter,
education, publicity, and telephoning. These
committees are volunteer efforts, and new
participants are always welcome. Th~ are
no dues. A small voluntary donation per
meeting helps to cover expenses.
The cooperative's meetings offer an
array of interesting activities such as songs
and music about gardening and nature; an
educational program with speakers, films,
slide shows, etc; a short nutritional update;
news on environmental issues; and a time
for sharing among the group. The main
topic of each program usually pertains to
gardening ac1ivities appropriate for that
month of the year, such as composting, soil
preparation, seed starting, etc. A varied
program is designed to meet the needs of
beginning gardeners as well as the
experienced ones in the group. There are
presentations of resources like magazines,
seed catalogs. extra seeds and produce, and
group seed or narural fenilizer orders. Glass
(clear and colored) and aluminum are
collected for recycling at each meeting.
We who are active in the cooperative
feel it is an exciting opportunity to
encourage each other and the public at large
to learn how to live in harmony with the
Earth and to produce quality food, which
will make us all more healthy and happy.
We invite newcomers to come and
participate at the meetings. Together we can
create rewarding adventures in learning and
"growing!"
- Ellen John
For more information about the
Organic Gartkning CooperaJjve, call Cheryl
Stippich a1(704)687-1741.
Herbology
Clinic
M. C. Majebe
Licensed Acupuncturist
78 E.ast Chestnut St. Ashevllle, NC 28801
(704) 258-9016
KATUAH - page 26
• conlinucd Crom JlliC 9
Dr. Gray soon arrived in Statesville
bringing several eminent botanists. Dr.
Gray had been misled by Miclraux's
description of the habitaJ of slwrtia. ltistead
of the moun1ain tops where he Juul always
looked, it Juul been found along a stream in
the foothills. Michaux's directions had been
fairly specific, bw his continual references
to the "high mountains" misled Gray, the
botany detective. Shorria, the mystery
flower of the mountains, soon became so
famous that pressed specimens of a single
plaru were selling/or fifty dollars.
SJwrtia makes a good grour1d-cover
under rhododer1drons. It needs a shady sire
with an acid soil rich in humus, plemy of
water, and regular mulching with oflk
leaves. It spreads mostly by runners, and
grows in luxuriant, dense colonies where
conditions are to its liking. Its delicate white
flowers lost for several days. It is one ofthe
most coveted plants of any wild flower
garden.
A collector has written, "No idea of
the beauty of this planI can be formed unJil it
hos been seen in its native Jwme. The mass
of glossy green and white, once seer1, car1
never be forgotten." It was never Gray's
privilege to see shortia at the height of its
blooming period, which is the latter part of
March into early April.
Of the 25,000 botanical specimens
that Gray classified before he died, Gray
asked that shortia cover his grave at
Cambridge, Massachusetts. In Gray's life,
many honors had come to him, but they
were os naughl compared to the discovery
ofthe little mountain pla111 thal Dr. Asa Gray
named shortia.
The mystery plant, sJwrtia, lost/or a
hundred years, because ofits limited narural
distribution, is probably to be found
growing more in culdvarion now than in the
~ild. This is especially significant today
because of the destruction of much of
shortia's native habiuu in North and Sowh
Carolina due to artificial lake construction.
Rtprinltd from the Noah Carolina Native
p(o111 Proaagqljon Handbook prepared by the North
Carolina Wild Flower Prtsuvalion Sociery (Tollen
Chinese
Acupuncture
and
sh.ot"tta
Garlkn Centtr 3375; University ofNorth Cmolina;
Chapel Hiil, NC 27599 - $5.00 ppd.) /
Natural Food Store
& Dell
160 Bro.ctway
Ashevllle, NC 28801
Whlf-e llroadwmy n..ia
MlrTlmon Ave I. ~240
OPEN 7 DAYS A WE. K
E
Mond•y·Salurday: 9am·8pm
Sunday: 1pm-Spm
(704) 253-7656
DE_51GNS
by Rob Messick
Illustration & Design
In Pen & Ink and Colored Pencil
P.O . 8o)( 260t . eoone. NC 28U07 • (704J7a4 tiOQ7'
SPRING - 1988
�· continued from page 12
K: How d o you think people first
determined how to use herbs?
G: The first herbs that were used were the
leaves of the Tree of Life in the Garden of
Eden. And we'll never find the fountain of
youth until we get the Garden of Eden back
and get back to the Tree of Life.
K: Until we get back in touch with nature?
G: No, back to the Tree of Life. God took
that to heaven before the flood. And when
he makes this earth new again he's going to
bring it back. And when we see the Garden
of Eden we'll see herbs as they're s'posed
to be.
K : Do you think this will be a sudden
occurence or will it be a gradual awakening
of God, and now Satan's walking up and
down, to and fro on the earth. You see, this
battle isn't something done in a comer; this
earth is the theatre of God's love. God had
to let us tear things up and let things go
because our natures won't accept the truth
otherwise.
Are you passing your knowledge on to
them? Are they receptive?
G: No young people are interested like I
was when I was young. Some are interested
and could learn, but they're all afraid of
being tied down. They're interested when
they feel like it, but when they don't feel
like it they don't want to be bothered.
K: Do you know when your book will be
out or what you11 call it?
G: When there are enough people that will
G: No, I don't. I was held up all summer
be true to God then Christ will come. Think
how all this time the angels have tried to
help people to think of these things and do
what's right Still we go on in our lives and
don't study, don't stop to read what God's
given us. And just look what a mess we've
made. Think of the Garden of Eden - the
beautiful flowers and trees - and then loolc at
that hillside over there (points to trailer park
across road) ... all the death and dying. Of
course there's still a lot of beauty here...
Satan tried his best to get Christ to give
up and not go through with his plan of
salvation, but He stuck to it and proved that
God's truth could be followed. Adam sold
out because he chose to obey Satan instead
with my eyes - couldn't see to read. And
many days like today are holding me
baclc...(laughs). [While talking to us,
Granny gracefully received five patients and
several phone calls. We arrived at 10 a.m.
and by 5 p.m. she hadn't paused once.]
K: Thanks so much for your time and
energy! We both have personal questions
but they can wait 'til another day.
G: Oh, I can help you now - would you
like that?
K: Sure, but you must be tired...
COMF TOlHf
FOR
Drcamwcaver l!Boomllcn:
Books and Tapes by Mall and Special
Order. Metaphysics, Comparative Religion,
Psychology, Children and Women' s
Studies. New Age Music. Call Barbara,
(912) 233--5934 for Info.
NEW AGE SEMI NARS
\llHOLISTIC lf[ALTH
RETRf;ATS
&md fnr our Ire,.. bcuchurtr:
L.1.F. E. • Bo• 144K
Pullmon WV 26421
(.1041 t.5?·319:1
'Living In Full E nergy
K : Everything!
REMEDIES
K: What about your great-grandchildren?
among people?
l.l.F.E. RETREAT
CENTER
G: What have I been doing?
Cockleburr and Mullein cold remedy:
A large handful each of cocldebuns and mullein
leaves to 2 qts waJtt. Boil 20 minutes. Suain well
and drink. Burrs and leaves can be used a 2nd time
with 2 more quarts waier boiled 20 minutes again.
Mar l&old tin cture for lice:
Chop marigold blossoms fine. Cover with rubbing
alcohol in glass jar. Sel in sun for 2 wect.s, stirring
once each day. Strain and boWe.
MislldOt tea
For lal&b blood pressure: 1 Tbsp crushed
mislleioe leaves 10 1 qt cold water. Shake and let
Slalld ovcmighL Strain and drink 1(2 cup before
breakfast; 1/2 cup after brealdasL Repeat wilh
supper.
Mlstlttc>t tea
For epilepsy or Stizuns: Pour 1 pint boiling
water over l Tbsp crushed leaves. Take 2 Tbsp.
every 2 boors.
Poktbtrry artbrlt.ls remedy:
Take one berry at each meal the lst day, 2 at each
meal the 2nd, 3 the 3rd and so on for 8 days. Then
drop back to one berry again and begin climbing
back up IO 8. Continue until joints feel free. Then
drop back one berry per meat 8-7-6-5, until you're
baclc to ooe, and quit
mtl&n
WEEKLY CRAFTS COURSES
~
Woodcarving,We aving,
Blacksmithing,Basketry,
Pottery,Spinning,etc.
John C. Campbell Folk School
Brasstown, NC 28902
(704) 837-2775 o r 837-7329
T-SHIRTS, SWEATSHIRTS
For ADULTS and CHILDREN
15 ORIGINAL
HAND·PRINTED
NATURE DESIGNS
,_.'?
ULTRAVIOLET l'UNFICATIOH AHO FILTENNG SYSTalS
SOI.AR PflOOUCTS ·WATER ANALYSIS
.HWY. 107
EACH COLORFUL
DE.SIGN IS
RT. 88 BOX 125
CULLOWHEE, NC 28723
PRIN'IED ON
QUALITY T' s
Alill SWEA'IS
APPALACIDAN BUILDING
& DESIGN
Passive Solar,
Eartlt-Shellered Homes
Greenhouses, Spas,
Decks
SCOTI BIRD
(704) 683·1414
GREG BLACK
683-4795
SPRING - 1988
KATUAH - page 27
�MARCH
20
evenrs
SPRING EQUINOX
23-24
ASHEVILLE, NC
Rhythm Alive! Classes in African
drumming with Martha Overlock and Dean
Buchan:ln. Ongoing. Wed and Thu evenings, 7: l S al
Asheville Academy of BallcL Call (704) 645~
16
canoes.
New Moon
CULLOWHEE, NC
Tuckaseegee River Cleanup. Rllfts,
kayaks. Mcct 11 am. 227-7206 for more
info.
14-15
GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.
Spring WildOower Pilgrimage. Auto,
wal.lcing tours lO view plants and birds of the
Smokies. SS. Call (615) 436-1257.
27-29
24
ASHEVILLE, NC
Sierra Club meeting. Spcllkcr Bill
Thomas, "TheJocasse WatcrShed" with slides. 7:30.
Unitarian Univcrsalist Church, Edwin Pl. and
Oiarloue.
25-27
WAYNESV ILLE, NC
"Vibrational Healing" with Joyce
Keane. "Flowers arc the highest vibratory
expression in the vegetable kingdom." Lc:im to use
Oower essences - gentle, yet powerful. $20.
Stil-Light Center; Rt. I, Box 326: 28786. (704)
452-4569.
26
ASHEVILLE, NC
The Paul Winter Consort,
"Celebration of Creation." Central Methodist
Church. Tickets $10.SO at Malaprop's.
and meditation with Fr. John Groff. SSS.Southern
Dharma Foundation; RL I, Box 34-H; Hot Springs,
NC28743.
29-30 & T ANASJ RIDGE
MAY I Come to X.~.'TU.~K SJ>1t1.N<l
(l.~'JKE1t1.Nlll Worlcshops, waterfall, crystals,
mountain meadows. Join the family circle! (Sec ad
next page.)
30
BELTANE (MAY EVE)
ROANOKE, VA
Sixth Annual New Horizons Festival
of alternative healing and lifestyles at Roanoke
Civic Center. Pre-register. S26.00.
TRENTON, GA
Caving Expedition with Snow Be:ir.
Learn safety, techniQue, geology.Camping at
Cloudlaad Canyoo. f.quipmem provided. Sec sn.s.
IS
New Moon
BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
The Black Mountain Music Festival.
Taj Mahal, Rare Air, Robin and Linda Williams,
Elise Win and the Small Family Band, Fred
Armstrong-Park, and more will be there.
Pre-register: $35 for the weekend. For more info,
ctll Gray Eagle and Friends, (704) 669-2456.
20-22
20-22
WAYNESVILL E, NC
"Therapeutic Touch" • using hands to
direct human energies in healing with Maria
Parisen. SLil-Light Sec 3(25-27.
WILLIS, VA
"Finding Our Place.• Developing a
deeper relatiooship with the land and the spirilS who
dwell there. Brian Ellis. Pre-rcgisler. $85. Indian
Valley Holistic Center. Sec 4/8-10.
28-29
APRIL
31
2
Full Moon
CELO, NC
Full Moon Drumming Celebration al
Mountain Gardens. Call (704) 675-5664 for more
info. ONGOING.
Full Moon ("Blue Moon")
JUNE
1·30
3
CHEROKEE, NC
"Cherokee Concepts of Birth and
DcBlh" art exhibit on display al Cherolcee Hcriwge
Museum and Gallery.
EASTER SUNDAY
8-10
WILLIS, VA
"lmaginccring Ourselves and the
Crystal Planet." Exploring Earth energies with
Mary and Joseph Jochmans. Pre-register: $95.
Indian Valley Holistic Center; Rt. 2, Box 58;
Willis, VA. (404) 789-4295.
APPALACH IAN TRAIL
Trail work. Bring gloves. Call
Thelbett Dowdy, (704) 684-3053 for dcUlils.
4
MAY
9
9
BLACK MT'N., NC
David Wilcox, singer and songwriter
Bl McDibbs'. $4. Sec 3(l2.
9-10
ATLANTA, GA
Shamanic Jowney, Power and Healing
workshop. $100. Call Barbara Hmison, (9 12)
233-5934.
HELEN, GA
EARTHSKILLS WORKSHOP Lc:im
old ways, a new awattllCSS of the woods with Snow
Bear, Darry Wood, and EUSUllCe Conway. For more
info, call (404) 878-2201.
GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.
"Forests and Trees or the Smokies."
Pre-register: $25. Smoky Mountain Field School;
Univ. of TN: 2016 Lake Ave; Knoxville, TN
37996.
F ull Moon
GREAT SMOKY MT'NS.
•A Historical Perspective of the Great
Smoky Mountains NP." Natural and human history
of the Park with Wilma Dykeman. Pre-register:
$25. See 6/4.
!!
1-31
ASHEVILLE, NC
Robert Johnson's paintings on exhibit
t the Asheville An Museum. One of the main
themes that runs through his work is the
tionsbip between the inner world of dreams and
visions and the world of Natwe.
He has lived in the Cclo Community near
o, NC for the past 16 years and the Katuah
ioregion has had a strong innuencc on his worlc. %
o Community. Burnsville, NC 28714.
lS-16
14
15-19
HIGHLANDS, NC
"Meianora• with Walter Chappell.
Recording the ethcric image or local nora. $250
includes accommodations.Highlands Biological
Center. P.O. Drawer 580; Higblllnds, NC 28741.
WILLIS, VA
"HEALING WISE • an Herbal
Medicine Intensive.• Work with botanical
medicines, spirit healing, body systems, and
self-love with herbal healer Susun Weed.
Pre-register: S9S. Indian Valley Holistic CenlCr. Sec
-4/8-10.
KATUAH - page 28
CHEROKEE, NC
"The Eagle Dancer." exhibit or the
worlc or carver John Julius Wilnoty on display at
Cherokee Heritage Museum and Gallery.
17-19
7-8
IS-17
New Moon
1-31
17-19
FARNER, TN
"Wild Foods and Medicines• taught by
Sn.ow Bear. Peppcrland Farm Camp; Swr Rt;
Farner, TN 37333. (704) 494-2353.
13-15
HOT SPRINGS, NC
"The Mystic Journey
Rc1tc~11·
- talks
BOT SJ>RINGS, NC
"A Rinz.ai Zen Retreat" with Sandy
Stewart. Pre-register: SSS. Sec 5/13-15.
WAYNESVILLE, NC
Workshop: "Fundamentals of the
Ancient Wisdom.· Esoteric philosophy with Ed and
Mary Abdill. Pre-register: S20. Stil-Light. Sec
3(}.S-27.
20
SUMMER SOLSTICE
..
SPRING - 1988
�KATUAH JOURNAL is beginning
compilation of a regional directory... a
GREEN PAGES of political, food,
environmental, clothing, arts and
crafts, shelter, healing, and other basic
resources in the Katuah bioregional
province. Listings will be free. If you or
your group would like to enter a listing
( including a brief description ) in these
or any other categories, please send
to:
KatUah Journal
P.O. Box638
Leicester, NC 28748
The International 4th World
Assembly wilJ hold its seventh assembly
this summer, July 31-August 4, 1988 at
Meredith College in Raleigh, NC. The 4th
World is an informal group of people from
all over the world who affirm the right of
urban neighborhoods and rural villages to
make their own decisions about their own
lives. The theme this year is "Community
Economics As If the Earth Mattered".
Registration is open to all. Full conference
fee including meals, lodging and
proceedings is $150. ($130 before June 1).
For more info: School of Living, 7th
assembly; 3030 Sleepy Hollow Rd, Falls
Church, VA 22042.
News Flash!
Environmentalist in NC
Governor's Race
NABCID
The third North American
Bloregiolllll Congress will be
held in the bioregion ofthe Ish
River Confluenc-e, north or
Vancouver, British Columbia. It
will be held August 21·26, 1988.
NABC I ('84) and NABC II
('86) brought together local and
regional peoples from all over
Turtle Island to celebrate and
work towards preservln& the
spiritual, environmental and
cultural diversily or this
precious continent. NABC Ill
will continue lhis work and
discover other ways to cooperale
in this way.
Katuah has been represented
at these congressings. If you
are Interested In participatin&
in this upcoming coneress,
please contact KaJilah, P.O. Box
638, uicttter, NC 28748 or
write to: NABC m, Box 1012,
Lillooet, BC, VOK lVO, Canada.
... Avram Friedman (Bruce A.
Friedman) announces his candidacy
for Governor of the state of North
Carolina...
As director of the NC Political Action
Committee to Dump the Co~act. Avram had
been looking lor candidates for all the NC state
offices who oppose NC's membership In the
Southeast Low Level Radioactive Waste
Compact. Because there was no gubernatorial
or lieutenant gubernatorial candidate who was
In favor of withdrawing from the compact, he
began a statewide search to enlist a candidate
for governor. Because he found no one who
would be willing, he registered himself as a
democratic candidate right ahead of the
deadline.
He Is basing his gubernatorial campaign
specifically on getting NC out of the Compact
although he stresses there are many more
related Issues including NC's economy and its
future.
For more information, w rite: CCNW, P.O. Box
653, Dillsboro, NC 28725
on the Tanasl Ridge, near Blue Ridge Parkway
'.F'rtday - Sunday, A.priL 29-'.M.a.y 1
Wor~nops:
Nati.ve Crysta.Cs
Kerb f"ora.91..n<J
Women 's Ci.rcCe
The ftiorecJional Poet
Commu.ni.ty
nowsi.n<_J ... and: others
..USo: M.eadows, Waterf~ . M.usic,
Dancl.tuJ, & Drummi.tuJ
and
Cdebratl.on of the first of ttay
wUh MoypoCe, Dc:mc1.!19 !o S""e4 Ckc;C.e
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------Tent or RV Camping
Bring your shelter, bedding and utensils.
Bring clothing for all weather conditions.
Friday night potluck
Other meals community cooking,
with food provided
Name:_______________________________
Address:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ __
Phone: L_)_ _ _ _ __
Number of Adults_ _ _ _ __
Number of Children_________
SPRING· 1988
$15/adult before April15
$1 O/child before April 15
$17/ adult at camp
$121 child at camp
Mail to: Karen Rodriguez
U.S. 19W, Box481
Bryson City, NC
Katuah Province 28713
KAnJAH · page 29
�PEPPERl.AND FARM CAMP - a unique summer
camp experience for child!Cn 6-16 years. Adventure
trips, riding, Indian lore, swimming, more.
Delicious vegetarian meals - special diets
accomodatcd. Also seeking counsellors and staff.
For info: Pepperland Farm Camp; Star Route:
Farner, TN 37333 (704) 494-2353
STIL-LIGHT THEOSOPHICAL RETREAT
CENTER - a quiet space for petSOnal meditation,
group interacti. n through study and community
o
work. and spiritual seminars. Contact Leon Frankel;
RL l, Box 326; Waynesville, NC 28786
RM DESIGNS - I use the media of pencils, colored
pencils, gouache, pen and ink, and pholOgraphy in
creating unique fine and grafick an. l can make
diagrams, logos, finished prints, and designs for
brochwes, calenders, cards, books, ete. Mandalas and
symbols are my tendancy among other styles.
Coo tact Rob Messick (704) 754-6097.
ALTERNATIVE JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL - Al
Arthur Morgan School students and staff learn
t0gether by living in community. Curriculum
includes creative academics, group decision-making,
a worlc program, service projects, extensive field
trips, cballcnging outdoor experiences. Write: 1901
Hannah Branch Rd.; Burnsville, NC 28714 (704)
675-4262
SEEDS FOR SALE - organically grown lurfa
sponge, purple globe amaranth, Mexican sunflower,
bushel basket gourd, garlic chives, holy basil SJ/pkt. w/SASE. Velvet beans, jack bean - S2/pkL
w/SASE lO Janeice Ray; RL. I Box 188-H; Quincy,
FL 32351
SIX RURAL COMMUNITIES - established over
lhe last 20 years, invite visitors/members.
Nonsexist, Nonracist, genlie cullUres based on
equality and cooperation. Write (SI appreciated):
Federation ofEgalitarian Communities; Twin Oaks,
KH8; Louisa, VA 23093
FREE CATALOG - Our books cover solar energy,
natural foods, metaphysics, fiction and poetry. The
latest project is Black Mountain Review, with
themes on the individual vs. society. Write: Lorien
House; P.O. Box 1112; Black Mountain, NC 28711
(704) 669-621 l.
KA1UAH- page 30
HAND CARVED WOODSPIRITS. mystical
hilting staffs and wall hangings by Steve Duncan.
For brochure, please write Wippoorwill Studio; RL
4, Box 981; Marion, NC 28752.
SOCIAL ECOLOGY SUMMER SEMESTER June 10 lO July 24. For more information call (802)
454-8493, or write: Institute For Social Ecology;
P.O. Box 89, DepL K; Plainfield. VT 05667
CENTER FOR ROBERT BLY STUDIES - Ally
Press is now maintaining a mailing list for people
who would like lO be informed of Robert Bly's
workshop and reading sciledules. An updated listing
is sent out twice a year along with a catalog of all
available books and tapes. Please write Ally Press;
Box K; 524 Orleans SL; SL Paul, MN 55107
1988 SUMMER WORKSHOPS at the Penny
Royal Center (Winged Heart Homestead) by Sufi
teacher Muzawir. How to prepare spiritually for
Earth Changes, How to build a no mortgage shelter
and much more. Send SASE lO P.O. Box 552;
Floyd. VA 24091
TEACHER NEEDED: Alternative, parent-governed
elementary (K-6), set in Monongahela National
ForesL Send resume lO Valley School; P.O. Box
83; Elkins, WV 26241.
DRUMS • Custom handcrafted ceramic dumbecks &
wooden medicine drums. CaU Joe Roberts at (704}
258-1038 or write to: 738 Town Mountain Rd.;
Asheville, NC 28804.
REVERSE OSMOSIS WATER PURIFICATION better than dislillers. To find out why write New
Energy Products; 660 K SL; Pullman, WV 26421
BLIGHT RESISTANT CHESTNUT - hybrid
American/Chinese Dunstan Chestnut trees - bliglht
resistant, timber growth form, productive orchard
crop with large, sweet, easily peeled nuts. Chestnut
Hill Nursery; RL 1 Box 341K; Alachua, FL 32615
(904) 462-2820.
NA1lVE AMERICAN MEDICINAL PRODUCfS:
white sage, cedar, sweet grass, k:innikinnick and
more. Please specify your needs and send SASE lO:
Good Medicine; 77 Parle Terrace East, D38; New
York, NY 10034 (212) 304-9605.
M. TREE DESIGNS: Illustrations and design
Beyond the pages of this journal, I work in pencil,
colored pencil, ink, cut paper, and batik. Fine and
graphic art to express and enhance our lives. Logos,
brochures, books, portraiture, window and wall
hangings. Cont.act Martha Tree (704) 754-6097.
HANDWOVEN WOOL BLANKETS - inexpensive,
from Mexico. Federation of Christian Cooperatives;
P.O. Box 120154; San AnlOnio, TX 78212
LETT'ERS OF FRlENDSHIP AND SUPPORT
would be appreciated by incarcerated brother. Write
t0: Rick Whilalcer #85670; Box 2000; Wartburg,
TN37887
WANTED: IDEAL SPACE FOR RURAL
COMMUNITY/HEALING CENTER. 50 - 150
acres, at least 30 arable, with southern exposure,
privacy, within 45 min. of Asheville or equivalent
urban center. One large house and several cabins
preferred. StteamS, springs, river, lalcc? Finder's fee.
Write Hibiscus; 521 Northeast Blvd.; Gainesville,
FL 32601 or call collect (904) 376-2146.
GARDENERS are encouraged lO visit our Paradise
garden for instruction and inspiration (free) and/or
pereMial plant sale (cheap). Artists are invited 10
come and create in the garden - painting, drawing
and photography are encouraged. We also bnvc a
cabin available in exchange for working in lhe
garden. Mountain Gardens; 3020 While Oak Creek;
Celo, NC 28714 (704) 675-5664
"TREASURES IN THE STREAM" - a cassette tape
of songs by Bob Avery-Grubel. $10 postpaid to Bob
at RL 1 Box 735; Floyd, VA 24091
ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY NOW FORMING
in the mountains of north Georgia. Join others
seeking greater cooperation and self-sufficiency.
Based on spiritual and ecological values. Propeny is
now available. (404) 778-8754
'ESSENCE' - the all-one skin - dress - jumper pantaloons with nursing pockets. Earthwear; RD 1,
Box 75-Cl; CarllOn, PA 16311
WOMANSONG - ongoing choral group forming.
Songs of beauty, meaning, spirit, fun, peace,
cooperation, sisterhood. Come and sing! Monday
evenings 7:30 - 9. Also Orff Schulwerk:
music-making for beginners of aU ages. Come and
sec the studio! CaU (704) 254-7()68
WANTED - LAND in western NC. Family seeks 5
or more acres, preferably near Cullowhee, 10
preserve and eventually inhabiL If you have or know
of affordable land, contacl Bob & Mary Davis; 213
Westmoreland Cowt: Georgetown, KY 40324 (502}
863-4267.
WISCONSIN RENAISSANCE FAIRE - 2-story
shop for sale or renL Weekends July 9 - Aug. 21.
Excellent location with sales and living space. Write
or call Becky Farnam; RL 1: Check, VA 24072
(703) 651-6170
WEBWORKING is.free.
Send submissions to:
K.a.IW.
P.O. Box 638
Leicester, NC
Kaulah Province 28748
SPRING - 1988
�I
Comt.n«J Up . . .
Mtdfrfn,.. Allfts
The Katuall Journal wants to communicare your thoughts and feelings to the
other people in the bioregional province. Send them to LIS as letters, poems, stories,
arricles, drawings, or photographs, etc. Please send your co111ribwions to u.s at: Katuah
Jo11r11al, P. 0. Box 638, Leicester, NC, Katuah Province 28748.
The summer issue of Katiiah will concern itself with "Our Relations with the
Land" ...our effect on the land, new forms of relating, visions of our fumre habitat, and
other perspectives.
In the fall, Katuah will look at Castanea dentata, tile American cliestnut
tree. Any information abo1a this great tree's past andfmure will be welcome.
BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH AVAILABLE
ISSUE ELEVEN · SPRING 1986
Community Planning
Cities and the
Bioregional Vision • Recycling • Community
Gardening· Floyd Couruy. VA • Guohol •
Two BIORgional Views • Nuel- Supplemau
Foxfire GllllCS ·Good Medicine: Visions
ISSUE THREE · SPRING 1984
Sustainable Aj!ricuhure · Sunflowers - Human
Impact on the Forest • Cllildrens' Education
Veronica Nicholas:Woman in Politics· Ullle
Ptopl.e . Medicine Albea
ISSUE FOUR - SUMMER 1984
Water Drwn • Waiu Quality • Kudzu • Solu
Eclipse· C~tling ·Trout ·Going IO W1.1U
Ram Pumps. Microhydro · Poems: Bennie
Lee Sinclair, Jim Wayne Miller
full rolor
T-s61rts
In the traditional Cherokee Indian belief,
the creatures in the world today are only
diminuitive forms of the mythic beings who
once inhabited the world. but who now reside
in Galuna'ti, the spirit world, the highest
heaven. But a few of the original powers broke
through the splritual barrier and exist yet In the
world as we know fl. These beings are called
with reverence •grandfathers·. And of them,
the strongest are Kanai/, the lightning, the
power of the sky; Utsa'nati, the rattlesnake.
who personifies the power of the earth plane;
and Yunwi Usdi. ihe little man", as ginseng is
called in the sacred ceremonies. who draws up
power from the underworld.
Each Is the strongest power in Its o wn
domain. Together they are allies: their energies
complement each other to form an even
greater power. As medicine allies. they
represent the healing powers of t he
Appalachian Mountains.
The medicine powers of Kawah have been
depicted in a striking T-shirt design by Ibby
Kenna. Printed In 5-color silkscreen by
Ridgerunner Naturals on top quality, a/I-cotton
shirts, they are available now in ail adult sizes
from the Katiiah Joumsl.
"To show respect for this supernatural trinity
of the natural world is to in tum become an ally
in the continuing process of maintaining
harmony and balance here in the mountains of
KatUah."
To order. use the form be/Ow.
ISSUE TIURTEEN - Fall 1986
Ccnicr For Awakening • Elizabeth Callari ·A
Gentle Death • Hospice • Ernest Morgan •
Dealing Creatively with Death • Home Burial
Box • The Wake • The Raven Mocker •
Woodslore and Wildwoods Wisdom • Good
Medicine: The SWeat Lodp
ISSUE FIVE • FALL 1984
Hatvest ·Old Ways in Cherokee - Ginseng Nucleu Waste • Our Celtic Heritage •
Bioregionalism: Put. Present. and Future •
John Wilnoty • Healing Dukness • Politics or
Plttiaipation
ISSUE SIX-WINTER 1984·85
Winia Solstice Earth Cuemony • Horsepas1ur•
River - Coming or the Uaht • Log ~in
Root• • Mounl&in AgricullW'C: The Right Crop
• W"tll.i.IJn Taylor· The Furore or the foiat
ISSUE SEVEN • SPRING 1985
Sustainable Eco~ics . Hot Springs ·Worker
Ownership • The Great Economy • Self Help
Credit Union • Wild Turkey • Responsible
Investing • Woriting in Iha Wab of Ll!e
ISSUE EIGIIT ·SUMMER 198S
Celebration: A Way or Ufe • Katuah 18,000
Ycan Ago • Sacred Sites • Folk Aru in the
Schools • Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle • Poems:
Hilda Downer • Chciokee Hcri• Cenu:r •
Who Owns Appalachia?
ISSUE NINE- FALL 198S
The Waldee Forest • The Trees Speak •
Migating Foresll • Horse Logaing • SW1lng a
Tree Crop - Urban Trees • Acom Bread - Mylh
lllllC
'
ISSUE FOURTEEN· Winlef 1986-87
Uoyd Cul Owle • Boogcrs and Mummen • All
Species Day • Cabin Fever University •
Homeless in Katuah • Homemade Hot Waicr
Siovemakcr·s Narrative • Good Medicine:
lnLcrspCcics Communication
ISSUE FIFTEEN· Spring 1987
Coverlets • Wo~ Forester • Susia McMllwi
Midwife • Alternative Contraception •
Biosexuallty • Bioregionalism and Women •
Good Medicine: Matriacharial Culwre • &ad
ISSUE SIXTEEN· Summer 1987
Helen Waite • Poem: Visions in 1 Garden •
Vision Quest • First Flow • Initiation •
Leaming in the Wildcmeas • Cherokeea
OWlcnJ!C ·"Valuing Trees"
ISSUE EIGH1E£N ·WU- 1987-88
Vemaculu Atehi1eeiure ·Dreams in Wood and
Stone • Mowllain Home • Earth Energiea •
Earth.Sheltered Living • Membtanc Houses •
Brush Shelter • Poems: Oc1ol!cr Dusk • Good
Mcdk:inc: "Shelia" •
ISSUE TEN. WINl'ER 1985-86
Kate Rogers • Circles of Sione • Internal
Mylhmaking • Holistic Healing on Trial •
Poems: SleVe Knaulb • Mythic Places • The
Uk:ten a's Ta.la • Crystal Magic •
"Dmmspeakin&.
/'"r"
~UA~URNAL
P.O. Box 638
Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748
For more information:
(704) 683-1414
Name
RegularMembcrship........ $10/yr.
Sponsor- .......................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.
Address
Enclosed is $
to give
this ejfon an extra bOOst
City
Area Code
State
Phone Number
Zip
I can be a local contact
person for my area
Back Issues
Issue# _@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# _@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue # _@ $2.50 = $ _ _
Issue# __@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# _ @ $2.50 = $_ _
Complete Set (3-11, 13-16, 18)
@ $25.00 =$_ _
T-Shins: specify quantity
color: tan
S_ _ M_ _
L_ _ XL_ _
@ $9.50 each............$_
TOTAL PRICE =
_
$_ _
postage paid
SPRING - 1988
KATUAH - page3 1
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, Issue 19, Spring 1988
Description
An account of the resource
The nineteenth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on springtime, plants, and the New Age movement: gardening with "nature intelligences", rooting blueberries, native plants, and herbal medicine. Authors and artists in this issue include: Michael Hockaday, Clyde Hollifield, Janeice Ray, Lucinda Flodin, Will Ashe Bason, Karen Watkins-Decker, Christina Morrison, Elaine Geouge, Sheli Lodge, Martha Tree, Brian Ellis, Stephen Wing, Diane Yeager, Colleen Redman, Rose Morningstar, and Ellen John. <br /><br />Beginning this issue, the title of the journal was simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>. A quarterly publication, it was published from 1983 to 1993 and was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1988
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
<p>The Perelandra Garden.......3<br /><br />Spring Tonics.......6<br /><br />Rooting Blueberries.......7<br /><br />"First Dogwoods" a poem by Michael Hockaday.......7<br /><br />Gardens of the Blue Ridge.......8<br /><br />A Visit with Granny: An Interview with Carolyn Port......10<br /><br />Flower Essence.......13<br /><br />The Origin of the Animals: a story by Clyde Hollifield.......14<br /><br />"Sacrament" <br />"Rain Has Come Again:"<br />poems by Janeice Ray.......15<br /><br />Good Medicine: "Power".......16<br /><br />Be A Tree.......17<br /><br />Natural World News........18<br /><br />Drumming: Letters to Katúah.......22<br /><br />A Children' [sic] Page........25<br /><br />Events.......28<br /><br />Spring Gathering.......29<br /><br />Webworking........30<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em></p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Herbs--Therapeutic use--North Carolina, Western
Plants, Edible--Appalachian Region, Southern
New Age movement--Appalachian Region, Southern
Wild flowers--Blue Ridge Mountains
Heirloom varieties (Plants)
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1980s
Agriculture
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Children's Page
Earth Energies
Electric Power Companies
Geography
Good Medicine
Habitat
Hazardous Chemicals
Health
Katúah
Katúah Organization
Pigeon River
Plants and Herbs
Poems
Radioactive Waste
Stories
Turtle Island
Water Quality
Western North Carolina Alliance
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/3bb540dcdbeaaaf1f14ddae1dc0e4557.pdf
a36e851f2b8b17710f0753e60cf20014
PDF Text
Text
Postage Paid
~UA~)OURNAL
Bulk Ma~
Permit #18
Leicester, NC
P.O. Box638
Leicester, NC
28748
Katu ah Province 28748
ADDRESS
CORRECTION
REQUESTED
ISSUE 20 SUMMER 1988
$1.50
BIOREGIONAL JOURNAL OF TH E SOUTHERN A PPALACHIANS
�THE TRACKS OF THE PANTHER
Will Mark the Length of the Appalachian Range
..... and Beyond
CONTENTS
The Tracks of the Panther............... 1
"Wilderness is not a land-use designation!"
Alphonso Lubek
Highlands of Roan ..................................6
Celo Community:
50 Years on the Land ..................... 8
Celo. lnterview.................................... 1O
Land Trust: Tenure for Our Time.. 11
Learning Community......................... .12
Mountain Landscapes at Risk ......... 13
Rest in Perpetual Wilderness ....... 14
"The Ridge"............................................15
Farmers and the Farm Bill... ........... 16
Good Medicine:
"Relating to the Land" ............. 17
"It Comes in a Mist" ...........................18
Duke's Power Play.............................. 19
Cherokee Micro hydro Project... ..... 21
Drumming: Letters to Katuah ........ 22
by David Wheeler
Photographs by Gil Leebrick
Leave for awhile this world of
damaged and broken life cycles, and step
into a different time frame. Leave the
deranged pace of our society - the quick
buck, fast food, the instant replay - and
move to another rhythm. In this time
perspective, forests and glaciers flow and
recede. Slowly and ponderously the
mountains breathe, inhaling and exhaling
through the ages. Species migrate across the
face of the Earth, through time in which
there is no time, only an endless procession
of seasons and the stars circling overhead.
This is evolutionary time. From this
time space we can see indusaial society as a
sudden wound that tore open the Eanh's
flesh and let in dangerous poisons,
diseases, and putrefactions which threatened
our planet's very existence. But the wound
is now slowly healing over. The last traces
of infection and sick, decaying tissue arc
now disappearing.
See a new race of human beings, few
in number, their bodies strong and sensitive
to the world, their intuitive faculties awake
and aware to every shift in the energy
patterns around them. These people are not
driven by goals or guilt from artificial
motivations or formulations of good and
evil. They live simply, keeping their senses
unencumbered to fully receive the greatest
delight: the gift of existence in a world that
is whole, that informs and provides every
motivations or formulations of good and
evil. They live simply, keeping their senses
unencumbered to fully receive the greatest
delight: the gift of existence in a world that
is whole, that informs and provides every
facet of their lives.
These people live in small tribal
circles surrounded by the powerful forces
of the natural world. They see themselves
as the eye at the center of the world - the
part of the whole that can look back on
itself, see itself jn its entirety and delight in
the intricacies and movements of the life
pattern mandala.
The camps of these humans are small
islands in the midst of the flow of the
world. Wilderness to them is not a rare and
specialized category. Wilderness is their
reality • sometimes fearsome, but never
alien or forbidding. Wilderness is the central
fact of their existence. It provides for them.
It shapes their consciousness as well as
their physical existence. And when the
time comes, wilderness takes their lives.
Wilderness is habitat is home.
Life at the center of the world can be
sustained forever, if the people think and
live in evolutionary time.
The step into this vision of the world
may seem like a long one to us, situated as
we are in this time, but in actuality it is not
so far. We are only 400 years removed
from it on this continent. And we need to
think in these terms, for this is ecological
reality. This is a vision of the world in
balance. We need to think of it, aspire to it,
before we can achieve it
It is from this perspective that we are
offered the proposal "Preserve Appalachian
Wilderness" (PAW) authored by Jamie
Sayen of Stratford, NH and first published
(continued on page 3)
KATUAH- page 1
SUMMER- 1988
�CARRYING WATER:
Scott Bird
Christina Morrison
Chip Smith
Rob Messick
Marnie Muller
David Wheeler
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
John Morris
Jack Chaney
Michael Red Fox
John Lang
Colleen Williams
Will Ashe Bason
Judith Hallock
Michael Hockaday
Oliver Loveday
Cover Photo by Gil Leebrick of the
Environmental Arts Center, Highlands, NC
Invocation by kore loy mcwhirter
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
EDITORIAL QFFJCE nus ISSUE:
Worley Cove, Sandymush Creek
PRINTED BY: Sylva Herald Publishing Co., Sylva, NC
WRITE US AT:
Katuah Journal
Box 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748
TifE SOlll'HERN APPALACHIAN BIOREC!ON
AND MAJOR EASTERN RIVER SYSTEMS
TELEPHONE:
(704) 683-1414
Diversity is an imponanl element or biorcgional ecology. bOth
natural and social. In line with this principle, the Katuab Journal
lries to serve as a forum for the discussion of regional issues. Signed
anicles express only the opinion or the authors and arc not nccessnrily
!he opinions of the Katuab Journal editors or stare.
The Internal Revenue Service has declared KatiJah a non-profit
orgnniMtion under section 50t(c)(3) of !he Internal Revenue Code. All
contributions to KatUah are deductible from personal income tax.
'LNVOCA.TWN
summre solstice songe
I speake forre the darke forces
I amme the seede
the light-mongres have forgottenne theirre purpose
we gathre ande growe
no one canne live withoute oure beinge
evenne the sma!Jeste glimmre
is made greate
inne oure presence
a!Je muste returne to us
you maye dance ande dragge atte youre sbadowes
wishlnge themme awaye
whenne you wearye of the battle
forre supremacye and separationne
you wille come to reste inne oure annes
we wille rocke you to sleepe
to the songe of the moones' darke face
she singes of youre memorye
thatte we are one
Here in the southern-most heartland of the
Appalachian mountains, the oldest mountain range
on our continent, Turtle Island; a small but growing
group has begun to take on a sense ofresponsibility
for the implications of that geographical and
cultural heritage. This sense of r~sponsibility
centers on the concept of living within the natural
scale and balance of universal systems and
principles.
Within this circle we begin by invoking the
Cherokee name "Kantah" as the old/new name for
this area of the mountains and for its journal as
well. The province is indicated by its nawral
boundaries: the Roanoke River Valley to the north;
the foothills of the piedmont area to the east; Yona
Mountain and the Georgia hills to the south; and the
Tennessee River Valley to the west.
The editorial priorities for us are to collect
and disseminate information and energy which
pertains specifically to this region, and to foster the
awareness that the land is a living being deserving
of our love and respect. Living in this manner is a
way to insure the sustainability ofthe biosphere and
a lasting place for ourselves in its continuing
evolutionary process.
We seem to have reached the fulcrum point
of a " do or die " situation in terms of a quality
standard of life for all living beings on this planet.
As a voice for the caretakers of this sacred land,
Katuah, we advocate a centered approach to the
concept of decentralization. It is our hope to
become a support system for those accepting the
challenge of sustainability and the creation of
harmony and balance in a total sense, here in this
place.
We welcome all correspondence, criticism,
pertinent information, articles, artwork, etc. with
hopes that Katuah will grow to serve the best
interests of this region and all its living, breathing
members.
- The EdiJors
KATUAH - page 2
SUMMER - 1988
�(continued from page I}
in the Eanh Firsr! Journal. The PAW idea is
simply to create a continuous wilderness or
habitat area from the Florida Keys to the
Laurentian Mountains in Quebec, using as a
foundation the present protected route of the
Appalachian Trail. The idea seems
outrageous in the present social context, but
it is actually a modest transitional step
toward ecological sanity.
A continuous wild habitat the length
of the Appalachian Range could provide the
first requirement for wilderness, space, and
in time enable the return of unique plants
and large animals - panthers, bears, wolves,
moose - that have been exterminated
throughout all or parts of the mountain
chain. lf the PAW plan became a reality,
plant and animal species could migrate
freely from Karuah to the Gulf of Maine
bioregion to the north, and likewise to the
Aorida Peninsula bioregion to the south.
"The 'backbone' for this wideranging habitat," says the PAW document,
"already exists, albeit plagued by slipped
discs and cracked vertebrae. The
Appalachian Trail runs for over 2,000 miles
from Mt. Katahdin in nonhem Maine to
Springer Mountain in northern Georgia.
"Wild areas along the Appalachian
Trail must be expanded, buffered, and
protected in perpetuity as wilderness. Only
then will the backbone suppon the weight of
the massive wild areas throughout the
C3Stern reaches of Tunic Island which will
be joined to the Appalachian Trail
'wilderness backbone' by means of wild,
natural corridors. In this way the
Adirondack wilderness (in NY) can be
linked co the Appalachian Trail in the Green
Mountain National Forest (VT) via Lake
Champlain and other riparian and terrestrial
wild corridors."
KA1UAH - page 3
A continuous wild
habitat the length of the
Appalachian Range could
provide the first requirement
for wilderness, space, and in
time enable the return of
unique plants and large
animals - panthers, bears,
wolves, moose - that have
been
exterminated
throughout all or parts of the
mountain chain.
Of the Katuah province, PAW says:
'The Southern Appalachians.....are home to
the most varied deciduous forest in North
America. Due to the extraordinary range of
plant habitats and climates, 2,500 tree,
shrub, moss, and lichen species occur there,
1.500 of which are flowering. There are
over 200 endemic species, including 40
wildflower species.
'There are more than 25 wilderness
preserves in this area, but, unfortunately,
most are of the usual variety, i.e., less than
10,000 acres. Almost the entire length of the
Appalachian Trail from Springer Mountain
to the northern tip of the Shenandoah
National Park traverses National Park,
National Forest, or designated wilderness.
There is enormous potential for 'big
wilderness' in the southern Appalachians.
"This is the good news. The rest of
the story is more familiar. Roads parallel or
bisect much of the Appalachian Trail.
National ForestS and Parks are not managed
for wilderness, and most designated
wilderness is fragmented and confined to
mountain tops with spectacular views. The
lower reaches, drainages, swamps, valleys,
and less scenic areas - in shon, the areas
with the greatest biological diversity and
species richness - are generally
unprotected."
The proposal also mentions
re-establishing the American chestnut tree,
once a dominant species in the Appalachian
woods and a major food source for the large
wildlife populations that inhabited the
mountain forests.
PAW activist R.F. Mueller and olhers
in Virginia have proposed a 65,000 acre
"Shenandoah Wilderness Area" in the
northwest corner of the present state
boundaries. The PAW proposal states that,
"This proposal is PA W's highest shon tenn
priority even though the Shenandoah
Wilderness lies approximately 30 miles
from the Appalachian Trail. Appropriate
buffering and connecting corridors in
National Forest land will connect it to the
backbone. It should be noted that in the long
run PA W's vision calls for greatly
expanding this core area.....
"The Cranberry Back Country in the
Monongahela National Forest in West
Virginia, fifty miles as Raven flies from lhe
Appalachian Trail in Virginia, will also be
joined by natural corridors to the
backbone..... (The Cranberry Back
Country) offers promise of supporting a
healthy wolf population which could begin
to radiate to other wild areas such as
Shenandoah Wilderness, and then up and
(continued on page 4)
SUMMER- 1988
�(c.ontinued from page 3)
down the Appalachian Trail Wilderness
network.
"The Cranberry Back Country is
composed of the 35,000 acre Cranberry
Wilderness and the 45,000 acre Cranberry
Back Country which merits immediate
wilderness designation. Surrounding the
Cranberry Back Country is a large block of
roaded, but wild, Monongahela National
Forest and other public and private lands
which provide good buffer to the core
wilderness..... "
The northernmost of the large,
protected habitat areas would be a Northeast
Kingdom Wilderness Park and Biological
Preserve in the northeast quadrant in the
present state of Vermont. The PAW
document says that this area is particularly
important, because "For four of the most
wilderness-dependent species - cougar,
lynx, wolf, and pine marten - blocks of
400,000 acres or more in wilderness are
needed to maintain viable, stable
populations. For the cougar, a 400,000 acre
wilderness is needed specifically in Vermont
to assure thriving, interbreeding populations
elsewhere in the Appalachians, because this
species has a country-wide distribution and
prefers mountain realms."
Below Springer mountain the habitat
zone would continue south to link up with a
proposed habitat area for the Florida panther
and other native life forms that would
comprise most of central Florida.
"One possibility," mentioned in the
proposal, "would be to continue the
Appalachian Trail southwest from Springer
Mountain into eastern Alabama's Talladega
National Forest and thence eatsward to the
Chattahoochee River south of Columbus,
Ga.
"A similar priority exists at the
northern end of the Appalachian Trail A
route north of Katahdin, hopefully
incorporating the St. John's River and the
fabled Allagash in Maine to the Gaspe
Peninsula region must be devised The goal
is to ultimately reach the Canadian tundra.
Then the tropical will be truly rejoined with
the tundra, just as migratory birds have
KATUAH - page 4
continued to keep them joined throughout
the centuries of ecological fragmentation and
destruction."
"We must consider the
natural history of the region
and the ecological needs of
wild/ife and the landscape,
rather than continuing to ask,
"What is politically realistic
in the context of industrial
.
A merzca.?' . . . . . we must
consider the whole system,
not what sort of a
compromise we can sneak
through Congress."
"Our basic strategy," says the PAW
manifesto, "is to identify large, core
wilderness areas which are to be protected
in perpetuity as federally-designated
wilderness. Surrounding these cores will be
buffer zones. The inner buffer zones will be
managed as mature forests, thus increasing
the effective size of the wilderness core.
They will mitigate the impact of civilization
on the core areas and will mitigate the
depredations of wildlife species on humans
and their possessions. Appropriate benign
human activities like canoeing will be
permitted.
"Outer buffer zones would border on
human settlements. Primitive hunting and
long-rotation forestry might be permitted in
the inner portions of these outer zones. The
outermost sections, which actually border
on developed areas, might permit more
intensive forestry, including tree farming,
recreation, and possibly low-density
housing.
"These buffered wilderness cores
would be linked by wild corridors to other
nearby cores. These corridors must be wide
enough to permit the flow of species,
individuals, genes, and energy, and to
provide space for habitat patches."
Elsewhere in the PAW document
author Sayen explains the need for massive,
undisturbed habitat areas:
"The issue of predation points out the
importance of large wilderness preserves,
preserves of 400,000 or -more acres. As is
well known, many plant and animal species
undergo periodic fluctuations in population
and range. During periods of unusually
favorable weather, species tend to expand
their ranges and populations. When
conditions change adversely, range and
population contract to below-average
numbers.
"Herbivores like moose and deer feast
off early successional plant species that
colonize natural disturbance areas. But after
a number of years the plants mature and
grow out of reach of the herbivores, or the
SUMMER- 1988
�browsing pressure causes a decline in
vegetation locally. Large moose and deer
populations can no longer be supported. and
they either decline or go localJy extinct and
move on co another, more hospitable
locales. The decline of the herbivore
population affords plant communities a
chance to recover.
"Meanwhile, the decline in prey base
causes the wolf population to decline or go
locally extinct, as it follows its shifting
prey. Gradually, the herbivore population
builds up in favorable new feeding areas
and the wolf population follows. The cycle
goes on endlessly, and in time herbivores
return to the first site, whicb by now has
recovered from earlier overbrowsing. It is
essential that wildlife and wilderness
managers recognize this cyclic phenomenon
and that a wide range of ecosysteµis in
differing states of succession be inclulied in
a wilderness preserve to insure chis dypamic
process. This requires that we manage for
processes rather than for individual
species."
The PAW proposal is a challenge to
us to dare to break the boundaries on our
thinking imposed by the current social
order:
"We must consider the natural history
of the region and the ecological needs of
wildlife and the landscape, rather than
continuing to ask, "What is politically
realistic in the context of industrial
America?'.....We must consider the whole
system, not what son of a compromise we
can sneak through Congress."
The vision embodied in PAW is also
a challenge to our society as a whole,
because "Merely setting aside large
wilderness preserves will be fruitless if we
continue to generate acid rain; nuclearwaste;
pesticides and herbicides; overpopulation;
and a violent. exploitative attitude towards
others (human and non-human)."
Can our species live up to the
standards of wilderness? This question is
crucial to the success of the venture to
"Preserve Appalachian Wilderness," but it is
also the ultimate question of our species'
continued survival in the world.
KA TUAH - page 5
Jamie Sayen, the author of the PAW
manifesto, is also tlu! author of the book Einstein in
America. lie is a member of Conneeticut Valley
Earth First! and was a spawner in the Salmon
Revival Run up the Connecticut River this
summer.
Gil Lubrick is residenf plzofography
teacher and workshop leader at the Appalachian
Environmental Arts Center in llighlonds, NC. lie
has fought of Honolulu Community College and
NC Cenrral University. His landscape photographs
hove been nationally exhibited and reside in
numerous public and private collections.
Copies of the complete PAW
proposal are available for $3 .00 ppd. from:
Gulf of Maine Books; 61 Maine St.;
Brunswick, ME 04011
In addition to the outline of the
wilderness plan, the paper also contains
valuable background information on the
formation of the Appalachian mounrain
chain, a brief history of the Appalachlan
Trail, thoughts on the importance of
wilderness and the need for large,
wuJisrurbed habitat areas, and more specific
specifications for wilderness in the
nonheast.
THE POSSIBLE WILDERNESS
For more information on the
importance of large-scale wilderness
habitats, read The Fragmented Forest by
l.Arry Harris (University of Chlcago Press,
1984)
Potential Wilderness Areas in Appalachia
SUMMER-1988
�Xnown as the Highlands of Roan, the Roan Mountain
massif is a magnificent isolated mountain mass of 23,000
acres located in Caner County, Tennessee and Avery and
Mitchell Counties, North Carolina It is a vast high country
with huge grassy areas that roll and undulate in every
direction. Winds, averaging 25 miles per hour year-round,
ripple the tall sedges and hair grass ...like seaweed in a great
tide. l n late June, Catawba rhododendron blooms color the
ridges purple. Flame azalea and mountain laurel splay orange
and pink against blue-grey backdrops. In winter, the winds
pile snow deep in the protected valleys while rime ice clings
to exposed twigs on the summits. Unaka, the Cherokee word
for "white", gives the range its name. Season by season,
almost moment by moment, the Roan reveals itself, always
displaying a wide spectrum of mood and ecological treasure.
The Roan provides a haven for an extraordinary
diversity of plants and animals, many of which are rare and
endangered. Each year researchers, teachers, and amateur
ecologists come to the Higltlands to study the many species
and seek new finds. Throughout the nineteenth century,
botanists from around the world visited the Roan in their
studies of Appalachian flora. The quote (on next page) from
Elisha Mitchell, for whom the East's highest mountain is
named, is indicative of the high regard these botanists held
for Roan Mountain.
The balds are treeless areas of sedges, grasses and
wildflowers covering several hundred acres along rounded
KATIJAH - page 6
ridges and peaks from 5,400 feet to 6,100 feet above sea
level. Wild, yet tranquil, rugged yet fragile, this place is not
like any other. Great rocks, weathered and timeworn into
strange and fascinating shapes, jut from knee-deep grasses.
Wind-wracked, rocky crags edge the balds. Ancient
many-colored lichens, centuries old, creep across the rocks at
the rate of only 1/16 of an inch every 25 years.
Season f>y season, almost
rnom.ent f>y m.om.ent, the '.R.oti.n
rnvealS i-tsd f , alwa y s d:i-spCa.yi-fl-9
· a wi-d:e sp ectrum. of mood: and:
ec0Co9i.cal t r easure .
For fifteen of its 2,100 miles, the Appalachian Trail
traverses the Higltlands of Roan. It crosses the great balds
and moves into the conifer-covered Roan High Knob-Roan
High Bluff area, providing hikers with some of the most
striking natural vistas along the entire Trail. lo season,
wildflowers carpet the Highlands. Acres of white fringed
phacelia cover the ground in May, accented with splotches of
may apples with white and purple violets, trout lilies and
many other early spring flowers. A month later the balds are
streaked yellow and red with hawk weed and other
sun-loving flowers.
·.
SUMMER- 1988
�'Lt ts the most &ea.u.ti.fut and will
& r epay the Ca&or of ascendi.~ i.t of
est
aU ou.r h.i.qh. mou.ntai.ns. 1Ji.th. the
except w n. of a &
oc:Cy of roe~ Coo~i.~
[ ilt,e the rui.ns of an o[c:C casUe near i.ts
sou.th.western. ex.t remi.ty, the top of th.e
R oan may & c:Cescri.&ec:C a.s a vast
e
meadow wi.th.ou.t a tree to obs t r uct a
prospect, w h.ere a person may 9a.[[op
fl.ts fwrse for a m ile or two wi.th. North.
Caro[i.na. a t fl.ts f eet on one si.c:Ce and
Tennessee on. the other and a 9rea.t
ocea.n of mou.n.ta.i.ns ra.tsec:C i.n.
tremendous &tllows i.mmedia.tay
a.rou.nd h.f.m . 1.t t.s the eLyst.u.m of the
southern &ota.nt.st, a.s a. nu.m&er of
From a boianist's perspective, the Roan Mountain
massif is superlative because of the outstanding diversity and
the exceptional quality of plant communities found there.
Over 300 species of plants a.re found on the Highlands,
including the very rare Gray's lily (lilium grayi) as well as
spreading avens (Geum radiatum) and Blue Ridge goldenrod
(Solidago spithamaea). There arc more nationally or
regionally ranked rare species on the Roan massif than any
other site in the high mountains of the southern
Appalachians.
Roan Mountain also has varied and abundant wildlife,
a fact which can be attributed to its exceptional habitat
diversity-a product of latitude, altitude, geology, vegetation,
and even history. At least seven of the thirty rare mammals
listed in Endangered and Threarened Plants and Animals of
North Carolina have been reported in the Highlands. The
Ronn massif is a vast, high altitude island surrounded and
isolated by low and narrow valleys and rolling hills. Because
its slopes vary in steepness, soil composition, orientation,
and drainage, it suppons a mosaic of vegetation types and
microhabitats, and these are of sufficient total area to sustain
substantial animal populations.
Ice Age History
Roan's dynamic Ice Age history transformed the
18-mile ridge into a fauna! melting pot of northern relics,
southern invaders, and local isolates or endemics. The Roan
was left a northern island in a sea of southern deciduous
forests. These factors as well as the low level of human
activity have created the living space for a spectacular array
of animal species. Roan Mountain's major habitats arc
generally described in terms of their dominant vegetation.
Distinctive attitudinal plant zones, from the spruce-fir forests,
grass balds, and rhododendron heaths at high elevations,
through northern hardwood and oak forests to valley
hardwoods and old field sites, largely simulate the Latitudinal
sequence of habitats from southern Canada to southeastern
US. Thus a few species, such as the New England cottontail
and the bog lemming, arc at or near their southern limits and
may be relics of a past ice age. Others, like the opossum and
southern flying squirrel, are warm-climate species which
periodically invade the upper slopes.
Some species arc confined to one type of habitat on a
pennanent or seasonal basis. For example, meadow mice
inhabit the grass balds, a habitat used by the rare snow
bunting only in winter. Other species occupy the adjacent
pans of two vegetation wnes: the threatened northern flying
~----.1
pCa.n.ts a.re fou.nd 9rowt."9 t.n th.ts co[c:C
and h.u.mt4 a.tmosphere wnicn a.re not
seen GCJGt.n. u.n.tU we ha.ve 9one
h.u.ndrecls of mUes fu.rther north."
- EUsh.a. M.t.tcheU, 1839
squirrel frequents the lower spruce-fir and upper northern
hardwood forests. Still other animals-shrews, jumping
mice, salamanders and many invcncbrates--require ccnain
micro-habitats within a zone to provide special foods or
refuges. Finally, active carnivores (least weasels, spotted
skunks), large species (bears, bobcats, and foxes), and fliers
with special needs (owls, bats, hummingbirds) must range
widely over the mountain and, in fact, would probably not
survive if confined to a single area. The Roan also provides a
haven for over a hundred species of birds during nesting,
migration and wintering. Bird sitings include the bald eagle,
golden eagle, peregrine falcon, snow bunting, raven, alder
flycatcher, and saw-whet owl.
Need for Protection
This whole extraordinary area is in great need of
protection. Fortunately, the Southern Appalachian Highlands
Conservancy is working to preserve it. The Southern
Appalachian Highlands Conservancy (SAHC) is a
non-profit, tax-exempt organization founded in 1974 with
two goals in mind: to ensure the means whereby the
Highlands of Roan wiJl be protected in perpetuity against
development and other incompatible uses and to establish a
continuing program of stewardship for these lands.
Efforts to protect the Highlands were begun under the
auspices of the Appalachian Trail Conference (ATC) in 1966.
Most of the initial preservation work of the Highlands was
directed toward the proteetion of tracts along the Appalachian
Trail in preparation for their purchase by the ForeSt Service.
Conservation efforts were carried out by the Roan Mountain
Preservation Committee of the ATC, with the cooperation of
The Nature Conservancy. In time it became evident that the
Highlands of Roan project would require a greater cffon than
could be accomplished through a committee of an
organization concerned with the entire Appalachian Trail. As
a result, the SAHC was organized to take responsibility for
fund-raising, land acquisition, and land management
In the mid 1960's, the US Forest Service, cooperating
with the ATC, instituted an acquisition program on Roan
Mountain. So far, SAHC has assisted the US Forest Service
in acquiring 4,300 acres. When combined with the Forest
Service's previous holdings, a central core of 11,800 acres
has now been acquired as public lands. The remainder of the
protection effon is focussed around this core area. As most
of the Forest Service's planned Appalachian Trail corridor
acquisition work has been completed, it is now up to other
organizations and individuals to complete the mountain's
protection.
(continued on page 2.S)
pho10graphs councsy of SAHC
KATUAH - page 7
SUMMER- 1988
�C 1981 John M. Morgan
CELO connu.Nt'Jy:
50 YEARS ON THE LAND
by Marilyn Cade
While fireworks were exploding for the bicentennial
anniversary of the United States Constitution, in a small
valley at the feet of the Black Mountains in Yancey County,
NC another anniversary slipped by quietly, almost
unnoticed. 1987 was the fiftieth year of existence for the
Celo Community, the oldest land stewardship community in
the nation, but life flowed on as evenly as the South Toe
River, which winds through the valley.
Celo Community, Incorporated (CCO is an eclectic,
occasionally eccentric, collection of people who all unite on
the idea of saving and preserving the land. They are painters,
carpenters, architects, glass blowers, poners, weavers, and
farmers by trade. Some are staff at the Arthur Morgan
School, an alternative junior high located in the community.
The school grounds are also the location of the Celo
Press, a small publishing firm. Rural Southern Voice for
Peace, a newsletter published by members and non-members
of Celo Community, has its offices on the campus as well.
The Barrus family runs a summer camp for children
with an emphasis on interlinking with handicapped children
and children of different races and socio-economic
backgrounds.
The Celo Community land base is owned, not by
individuals, but by the CCI. An individual or family cannot
purchase title to any of the community land, but rather leases
a "holding". The price is actually a "deposit", calculated
according to the local price for a similar piece of land in the
surrounding area. But community agreements govern the use
of the land, and land speculation, subdividing, clear-cutting,
abusive agriculcure, etc. are not available options.
If a member withdraws from the community, the
amount they paid as a deposit is refunded, without regard to
any appreciation in land value since the original holding was
taken. Any buildings or homes are treated separately, with
refunds equalling the cost of replacement value including
depreciation.
For members, the advantages of community
landholding outweigh the loss of traditional ownership.
Residents are attracted by the concern shown for the present
and future well-being of the land. They want to live on a
protected large tract, where certain areas are kept wild. And
they enjoy sharing the community life.
Cooperative ownership is contrary to the notion that
KATUAH-page 8
hwnans arc given dominion over lhc Earth. It is based
instead on the idea that we arc given stewardship over it, that
we are accountable for our actions. This principle is now
being advanced in the land trust concept, a new model for
land tenure currently being practiced in Lhis country.
Ernest Morgan, a community member and son of
Anhur Morgan, says, 'The land trust is designed to avoid the
exploitive nature and abuses of individual land
ownership...The land trust concept is something lhat western
society urgently needs to face up 10."
Celo Community advocates the establishment of more
land trusts and cooperative ownership arrangements in the
region and beyond. The population of the community bas
stabilized and they are no longer actively seeking new
members. They hope that their role at the present time could
be as an inspiration and a model for lhe development of other
community experiments.
Depression Roots
The Depression and the t 930's were years of great
economic and social turmoil. ELhics in daily life seemed
desirable and even practical. People, especially young
people, were ready to experiment with new ways of living
and working outside the failing mainstream economy.
W illiam Regnery, a Chicago philanthropist, at this
same time sought suggestions for new charitable causes from
Arthur Morgan.Then Presidc.nt of Antioch College in Ohio,
Morgan had been an engineer who built successful flood
control dams, later becoming Chairman of the Tennessee
Valley Authority. He was a Quaker who had already thought
a good bit about the difficulties of leading a fulfilling life in
the modem world. He felt that there should be an opportunity
for young people to try new approaches to making a living.
Morgan told Regnery of an idea conceived in
conversations during 1932 and 1933 with Clarence Pickett,
the Executive Secretary of the American Friends Service
Committee. They wanted to somehow provide a situation in
which the young people then seeking answers from them
could instead work out their own solutions to leading a
fulfilling life.
With the general industrial collapse of the Depression,
they decided a rural piece of land suitable for families to
develop into individual farms would be most practical. This
whole idea appealed to Regnery, and he agreed to finance the
land if a suitable spot could be found and if Morgan and
Pickett would serve on the board of directors.
Morgan envisioned a small community situation. He
SUMMER- 1988
�wanted the land to be located in an area sufficiently isolated
that the settlers could pursue new goals without the
distraction of old habits reinforced by the wider world. A
small community would have more influence on how its
children grew up. A small community could support positive
values and beliefs among the adults.
If Morgan sounds utopian, that was not his intent. He
denied being io any way a visionary. He stated from the
beginning that there would be no religious, political, or social
code binding the community together. In a memorandum for
the community written in 1937, he said, "It takes more than
economic need or craving for congenial society to hold men
together. Set religious or political dogmas tend to be a
dividing influence. Above all other reasons for living and
working together, there needs to be a strong common
purpose..."
As to the land itself, Morgan desired a location that
was arable, affordable, had wholesome neighbors, and was
blessed with a natural beauty.
After several months of combing the Southern
Appalachian Mountain region for such a site, the search
ended in the valley of the South Toe. ln 1937, 1200 acres
of woods, somewhat exhausted farmland, streams, and
pasture were bought in the Celo area of the valley.
Land-sharing was not a clear objective when the
community first began. The earliest residents were renters
who were already living on the land when it was purchased
by the community. One of them was appointed a manager.
The goal of encouraging young families to be self-sustaining
was the primary object. However, most of the first families
who came had no financial resources. The struggle for
simple swvival prevented them from taking a larger view of
the community and its future.
Managers succeeded one another in frequent
succession, each one recruiting different kinds of people to
pioneer the community. Tenant farmers, socialJy troubled
families, bible colJegc graduates, and ex-missionaries came
for short periods of time between 1937 and I 945, with
largely unsatisfactory results. The community tried and then
gave up farming, dairy herds, a sawmill, timbering, and a
nursing home. By 1945, only five families remained in the
community.
Community Revival
1945 was clearly a watershed year for the Celo
Community. After some early members withdrew their
membership but kept title to their land, the first steps toward
community ownership were taken.
Conscientious objectors moved to the community after
the war, bringing with them a new idealism about the
community and land use, and they supported the land
cooperative idea.
It was also in 1945 that the land manager system was
finally abandoned at Celo as well. It was replaced by a
steering committee of fi vc people, one from each household.
The committee met once a week, and the whole membership
met once a month. The meetings have continued without
interruption since that year.
Members regard the meetings with varying degrees of
enthusiasm. One of the ongoing problems for the community
is maintaining a much higher level of group involvement than
most people have previously experienced. But since all
decision-making power rests with the meetings, they arc an
indcspcnsable part of the Cclo Community life.
There are also four standing committees: Finance,
Membership, Property, and Land Use. It is evident that half
the specific concerns arc about land.
Sara Smith, a daughter of a Celo family, wrote in a
college paper that "the single common bond for CCI
members now is the land they hold in trust".
During the 1950's more people came to Celo and
swelled the population to 20 member households. The "back:
to the land" movement and disaffection with prevailing
political and social conventions in the 1960's brought still
more members. Others came after being introduced to the
area while resident craftspeople at the Penland School of
KATIJAH - page 9
Crafts in nearby Mitchell County.
As the new members came, they tended to build their
houses in tucked-away comers of the woods. There was a
strong sense of wanting to pioneer and to feel self-sufficient.
However, the spreading population could quickly have made
the forest into a suburb. Realizing the danger, the community
about 17 years ago began to set aside land for a wild area. Of
the community's 1,200 acre land base, at least 300 acres arc
now in forest preservation.
Within this wild area, overseen by the Land Use
Committee, arc examples of the usual and unusual wild flora
of the Southern Appalachian Mountains. There are plant
communities that date back to the time of the glaciers. There
are endangered species found in some of the coves and
bogs. Use of the proteetcd area is limited to bikes and nature
walks.
Much of the community is bounded by National Forest
land. At ti.mes this has been seen as an asset, as for years at
a time there is no activity in these areas. However, the
National Forest is managed land, and the Forest Service
builds new roads and marks off timber sales for clearcuttlng.
Community members sec these actions as a threat to soil
stability as well as destruction of valuable forest. They lobby
the government and the Forest Service co limit this manner
of land use. They arc concerned 001 only with the land they
hold in trust, but with all the valley and the wider mountain
area.
Many members of the Cclo Community are active in
various organizations and strongly support local efforts to
preserve the environment, such as the Friends of the Toe
River. Bob Johnson, a wildlife enthusiast who is on the
Land Use Committee, has observed that "this is prime condo
country". AU around the county there is unprecedented
growth. County political leadership has expressed little
concern with curbing this development, and in fact probably
encourages it. The Southern Appalchians were economically
deprived for many decades, though chere has been much
improvement over the last 20 years. Still, it causes leaders to
sec any growth as a good thing.
Arthur Morgan, 50 years ago, predicted that decades
of upheaval lay ahead for the nation. Among his many
concerns he included land conservation, endangered species,
alcernative living opportunities, animal rights, and the need
for a new cornminment. He once remarked bow much he
would relish being a 25 year old starting ouc life in the Cclo
Community, ready to take on the challenge.
Morgan had some final thoughts on Celo when he
wrote a brief history of his experience with the community:
"It seems co me that Cclo Community and the surrounding
neighborhood is a favorable setting for an interesting human
adventure lasting through generations, which will not be a
retreat from life, but an adventure in living."
C 1981 John M. Morgan
SUMMER- 1988
�r--~·-·--
1
I
A Conversation
Ruth Ostrenga and Rio Alden have
Jived in Celo Community since 1985. In
February of this year they became official
members of Celo, where they now run a
plant and flower business called High
MoUnJain Greenery.
Christina Morrison of rhe Katuah
Journal spoke with them one afternoon
about how it feels to belong to a land
stewardship community.
with
Ruth and Rio
of Celo Community
Katuah: What does living on a land
cooperative mean to you?
Ruth: I've lhought about it a lot lately
and I've realized that its so much about
relationships. It's preserving a large piece of
land and looking to see what's the best use
for lhe land with people who have pretty
common values. And that requires working
lhings out in a community fashion where
you come together and have to really
communicate and see more sides than just
your own. I value that a great deal-growing
and moving through my stuff by being in
relationship-so what better place to be than
in a community where I'm pressed with it a
lot?
K: I understand that the. Forest
Service doesn't actually sell the land; they
sell lumber companies the right to clear-cut
And then the Forest Service builds the roads
for them and reseeds the land and actually
ends up losing money on the deal. And we
all lose the forest
Ruth: Exactly. Those are the kinds of
things we really have to take a look at. And
I know that lots ofus he.re don't approve of
this mis-use of government land and feel we
don't have the say we should have in it.
Ruth: I've had a dream for a long
time of growing good food for a large
number of people. And now that we're here
it's starting to seem feasible ...The idea is to
put up several composting greenhouses that
can grow food al l year round. They're
self-heating and also create C0 2 for
optimum growing conditions. I've already
asked to lease one of the open fields so we
may soon be growing enough food for the
whole area. Fresh vine-ripened tomatoes in
January! I know I'll need more energy than
mine to make it work, but I also know there
are others here who'd get excited about it
too.
/(: Sharing land seems to open up so
many possibilities. It's surprising that lhere
aren't more communal projects going on
that utilize th~ land.
Rilth: J ~c;e Ce!o,as )c.ind of divided
iMo two spaces--there are long-time
members who've.already figured out bow to
make it and then there are young ones wilh
families wJ\o are t;trusgling to 9uild houses
and take Qare of kids...so there's not a lot of'
extra energy for even things like stopping.
the clear-cutting. People are still doing
things they'd be doing anywhere and that is
getting their acrs togeiher.
K: How about your relationship wilh
lhe land itself?
Ruth: That's something lhat took a
while to sink in... that it's my land--all of
this is my land--yet it's not. A big thing is
that I have a voice in deciding anything that
happens in regards to it. That feels really
good. I feel the importance of taking
responsibility in all respects for what we're
doing right now to the Earth...and if I have
a band in a pretty good size chunk, then that
feels good to me. Also, because we're a
community, we have a wider influence than
just within the land trust. We can be an
example to others who want to do the same
thing - preserve large pieces of land.
We can also help to influence what
happens to other areas around us. Most of
our land backs right up to the National
Forest. land that the ~Forest service has
control over (that is actually ours too - only
not as directly), and they're going to be
selling off parcels to the lumber industry for
clear-cutting not far from here. That feels
really awful
K: Any dreams of what you'd like to
see here?
Rio: T here's been a lot more
cooperation lately about almost everything
though .... childcare, building projects-it
seems like a growing trend to give here and
take there and trade.
So....and this is kind of a wild idea, but I
thought perhaps the community could buy
rights to that land instead of the timber
companies. What better use for a chunk of
money? And if we bought the land they
wouldn't have to build a road or any of that
- so that could be subtracted from what
they'd normally charge and they'd actually
end up owing us money! (laughs) I can't
wait to run this by the land use committee.
K: So when you take care of a piece
of land you realize how connected it is to the
whole area.... Even though I'm not a
member, it's great to live near Celo and
have so much land to walk on with fewer
roads and fences and no "No Trespassing"
signs. It's a real feeling of freedom and
welcome. Living here, you can even forget
what it's like out in the "real world" where
land seems so arbitrarily divided up.
Rio: I think I would call this the real
Ruth: We've started a small garden
club of organic growe~--and there's even a
local person down the road who has joined.
It's a real nice thing to be connecting wilh
others in the area-feels like starting to reach
out and cover the whoJe planet in terms of
cooperation and doing things in a good
way....
Hey, there's the osprey! (points
above river) They've stayed around for
three weeks now--they might be raising
babies.
K: Are there any areas where you'd
like to see change?
Ruth: Some members would like 10
see more things done communally. We have
workdays once a month for 4 hours and
they're a great way to get things done and
help each other out. They'd really been
fizzling out, lately - like 2 people showing
up. But the last workday was really good,
Rio: I think it was partly your
enthusiasm...
Ruth: Yeah, I got really fired up at
lhe last meeting and presented it as a
wonderful opportunity for everyone.
world.
K: What was the job?
Ruth: I bet the trees would agree.
(continued on page 24)
KATIJAH-page 10
SUMMER- 1988
�LAND TRUST:
Tenure for Our Times
Among primitive tribal societies the
world over, the Earth was seen as a living
being, as alive and conscious as we. There
were no "resources," but the mother planet
gave her children what they needed to live.
The natural forces were potent elemental
beings. The idea of "owning" land or
"resources" never came to mind until the
development and spread of European
society.
lo our western culture land is
parcelled out and sold, and once money has
changed hands, owners assume it is their
right to have their way with "their"
property, whether or not it is in the interests
of the land, the wider human community, or
the life community as a whole.
In 1945 the members of the Celo
Community saw that individual land
ownership threatened the continued
existence of their community, and put their
land base into common ownership.
Members of Celo now lease a "holding,"
which grants a holder the right to live on
and the right to use the land within
guidelines set up by the community's
Property Committee.
This arrangement was a forerunner of
the land trust concept, which was developed
by Roben Swann and Ralph Borsodi during
the 1960's. A land trust is a corporate entity
(usually incorporated as not-for-profit)
which is empowered to hold land.
Land trusts are set up for a variety of
purposes:
- in rural areas they can be used to
make homes and fanning land available to
community people as the Community Land
Association is doing in Clairmont in
nonheast Tennessee.
- in cities they are a powerful t.ool for
resisting gentrification and making homes
available to low-and moderate-income
people. The South Atlanta Land Trust,
which is restoring a declining neighborhood
in Atlanta, GA is an example.
-Conservation land trusts put Large
tracts of undeveloped land into trust to
preserve them in perpetuity
The Ozarlc Regional Land Trust of
Canhage, MO is an umbrella organization
worlcing to foster all three approaches in the
Ourlc mountains, as well as initiating
educational projects in ecological land use
and farming practices appropriate to that
bioregion.
In each of these situations the
essential purpose of the land trust is to
remove the land from the speculative
marketplace so that. for whatever reasons, it
can no longer be treated as a commodity.
In a conservation land trust, human
access to the Land is strictly limited. In rural
community Land trusts, pans or alJ of a tract
are made available for human residency and
appropriate use such as ecological
agriculture. In an urban setting, land trust
holdings are dedicated to uses most
beneficial to the community, whether for
residences or community service areas.
The non-profit land trust corporation
retains title to the land and leases rights to
community people, subject to land use
KATUAH-page 11
Drawing by: Laurie Pierce
guidelines of varying strictness depending
on the purpose of the land trust. These
leases are usually long,term contracts that
may be passed on to descendants.
Leaseholders who wish· to terminate a lease
are allowed to sell the equity they have
earned (i.e., the value of buildings and other
improvements). Often tbe land trust reserves
first options on these equities and buys them
to re-sell to the next leaseholder.
Land trusts can slow down runaway
developmenL Land trusts can enable farm
families to gain access'to agricultural land
where Land speculation (as on vacation
home properties) has caused highly inflated
land prices. Land trusts can also preserve
wild areas far beyond the lifetime of an
individual owner.
It is now a widely accepted principle
that we cannot own ~nother of our own
species as propeny. Someday we may
evolve to the point where it would be
incomprehensible to own an individual of
any species as propehy. And someday,
someday, we may progress to a stage where
we once again regain the primitive sense of
a free and living Earth that cannot be cut into
pieces, cannot be bought or sold.
The land trust, then, is a
stepping-stone to the re-sacralization of the
natural world. It is a legalistic mechanism
suitable to the complexities of modem
society, but it offers a way forward into a
new and ancient relationship with the land.
RESOURCES
to help in unch:rstanding and implementing
land trust:
BOOKS
The Community Land Trust
Handbook by the lnstitwefor Community
Econormcs (Rodale Press; Emmaus, PA;
1982 - available for $6.00 from ICE, see
address below). "Through land trusts,
co171171Wiities can regain control oflocal land
and Jwusing. This book tells how.for both
nual and urban communities."
New OrJaniutional Prospects for
Community and Conservation Land
Trusts by Gregg Galbraith (available for
$12.50 ppdfrom the Ozark Regional land
Trust, see address beww). "A legal study of
the nl()tUI of a regional land trust to assist
the development of other regional land
trusts."
PERIODICALS
Communit1 Economics - quarterly
newsletter with articles abow develo~nts
in community land trusts, community
revolving loan funds, and other community
development issues. Available by donation
from ICE (see address beww).
ORGANIZATIONS
Jnstituiefor Communil)I Economics
151 Montague City Rd.
Greenfield, MA 01301
Oz.art Regional Land Trust
427 S. Main St.
Carthage, MO 64836
Solllhe.asr.un Land Presuvali,on Trust
305 Buclchead Ave. NE
Atlanta, GA 30305
The School ofLiving (land Com11Uttee)
do Common Ground
Rt. 3, Box 231
Lexington, VA 24450
The Katuah Regional Land
Trust is looking for charter members. This
new organization is dedicated to "serving
first the land, and then the life nourished by
the land" by "reserving and restDring narural
habitat areas; the ancient sacred sites and
places of power; and a land base, whether
rural or urban,for humans to conduct their
lives in accord wilh the conditions of nature
as found in the KatUah Province of the
Appalachian bioregion." Please respond to:
KatUali Regional land Trust; Rt. 2, Box
108-A; Whittier, NC 28789
~
SUMMER- 1988
�LEARNING COMMUNITY
by Judith Hallock
Arthur Morgan School is a unique
boarding school for 24 girls and boys in
grades seven through nine. Named after an
innovative American educator and activist,
the school is based on the principles of
Maria Montessori, Mohandas Gandhi,
Arthur Morgan, and the Religious Society
of Friends (Quakers). The stated central aim
of the school is to help each student grow
into a confident and responsible young
person.
The school property is part of Celo
Community, an intentional land stewardship
community. The 100 acre campus consists
mainly of woods and meadows and is
largely surrounded by national forest.
Elizabeth Morgan, Anhur Morgan's
daughter-in-law and founder of the Arthur
Morgan School, did not go to school until
she was the age for eighth grade. She had
been lightly tutored by her parents, but she
had mostly played around her home, helped
her mother, read books, and made music.
When she finally did start school, she found
it exciting and raced through high school in
three and one-half years as an honor student
Elizabeth oommeoted that the amount
of time children spend in school is usually
out of proportion to what they learn there,
and that most schools are a great waste of
children's time. School, she said, is mainly
a gigantic baby-sitting operation designed to
keep children out of circulation in a society
in which children no longer have any
meaningful function except to grow up.
It was her experience as a public
school teacher that inspired her to found the
Arthur Morgan School in 1962. She felt that
adolescence is a particularly crucial time in
the development of the whole person. Patty
Keene-Windsor, school clerk, a central
administrative position at the Arthur Morgan
School, defined some of the special needs
of puberty-aged young people:
"The years between 12 and 15 are
KATUAH- page 12
crucial years for developing a sense of self,
and to do some brt;alcing away from family.
It's a time of questioning habits and ways of
doing things, challenging the way your
family does things. It's a time of change and
rebelling."
In meeting these special needs, the
Arthur Morgan School offers a
community-based response.
"The main focus of the school is for
staff and students to create this community
together," said Patty.
Through conscious commuoitybui lding, the school becomes a
working/living/learning/caring place. in
educating the whole person, a whole life
approach is taken, and the loving, healthy
oommuoity becomes the core of the learning
experience. At the same time, a I :2
staff-to-student ratio suppons individual
needs.
Values, which have been largely
separated from education in the public
schools, are an integral part of the Arthur
Morgan School, and are directly related to
community ideals. Cooperation, respect,
openness, sense of self, responsibility, and
interdependence are all qualities of a healthy
community, and are learned by participation
in the school oommunity life.
''By creating this oommunity, we are
teaching community skills. We are giving
the students an experience and a model that
they can carry always. If they have
experienced hearing each other, working on
problems, being interdependent, in a small
oommunity like this, they will Temember
that when they move into a bigger
community, or when they start thinking
about the world," said Patty.
Housing at the school is in family
groups, with each composed of several
students and two houseparents who share
housekeeping functions as well as teaching
and/or other staff duties. These families live
in wood-heated homes on campus.
Margot, a houseparent at Arthur
Morgan School, wrote of her experience,
"Ideally the job of a houseparent is to create
a harmonious family environment for the
students dwelling under her roof. We try to
offer the students a secure and supportive
place to return to after their school day.
Since many of our students are seventh
graders leaving home for the first time, we
strive to maintain a family setting. The
boarding houses are not dormitories, rather
individual homes with structure and rules
varying with the different houseparents.
"What I find unique about
houseparenting these young adults is that I
can give them both support and positive
criticism in a more or less objective manner.
Their exposure to other peers of different
backgrounds expands their universe and
encourages social responsibility. The
houses reflect the philosophy of the school
in microcosm."
Breakfasts are cooked and eaten in the
houses, as are weekend lunches and two
dinners each week. All other meals are eaten
together in the school dining hall. The diet is
largely vegetarian, with an emphasis on
fresh whole foods, natural sweets, and
organic produce from the school's large
organfo garden.
Weekdays begin with a short
community gathering to share songs, skits,
and announcements. All students attend
classes in four core subjects - English,
social studies, science, and math. Though
individually designated by grade levels,
students are grouped in these classes only
by ability and interest. Class sizes are small,
so teachers can focus on individual needs.
Students are encouraged to see connections
between their classwork and the outside
world.
Academics are supplemented by an
electives program. Each student can choose
up to six classes a semester from such
offerings as music, drama. arts and crafts,
shop, languages, sports, and dance. Neither
electives nor core subjects are graded.
Students and parents receive instead
periodic written evaluations of the student's
work.
Leisure activities include special
Saturday night activities such as a dance,
talent show, group game, or sweat lodge. In
addition, weekends often include soccer
games and housefamily outings. Much time,
both on weekends and weekdays, is spent
outdoors.
The mountain forest surrounding the
Arthur Morgan School provides students
with a wide variety of outdoor experiences.
Extended trips in the fall and spring are
supplemented by periodic day hikes and
overnights.
Patty said, "We provide challenges in
this area that we are pretty sure the students
can meet: like being able to stay out in the
mountains for six days, or walking or
canoeing certain distances. At this age,
when these kind of physical challenges are
met, and the students feel they have
succeeded, there is a great feeling of
exhilaration."
Each spring the students explore the
world beyond Katuah on a three-week field
trip. In recent years they have put on a
travelling show, canoed the Florida
Everglades, and assisted at a refugee camp
on the Texas-Mexican border.
(conlinucd on page 26)
SUMMER-1988
�Land Use Planning in
Buncombe County, NC
by Carol Lawrence
Whether or not it is mentioned by
Asheville promoters recruiting new
businesses, one of the attractions of
Buncombe County - along with the clean air
and water, year-round temperate climate,
and stunning natural beauty - is the freedom
to develop land outside the city in any way
the owner sees fit.
There is, in other words, no overall
counry zoning plan.
The last attempt at county-wide
zoning was made in 1973. It was not
successful. Johnny Robens, a Flat Creek
resident who worked against the recent
zoning proposal there, remembers that
attempt.
"It went down like the Titanic," he
recalls.
Buncombe County Board of
Commissioners Chairman R. Curtis Ratcliff
recalls it the same way.
"When commissioners held hearings
on that proposed zoning plan, the further we
got into the county, the more opposed
everyone was."
"I doubt that there is currently enough
pro-zoning sentiment to revive the
county-wide plan," says Jim Coman,
County Zoning Administtator. "There is not
a consensus among the commissioners on
county-wide land use planning and
regulation. Undoubtedly, some are more in
favor of it than others. Among residents,
there's certainly limited desire for zoning
out in the rural areas. What I hear over and
over is 'We don't wanr anybody telling us
what to do with our land_"'
As a result, land use in the regions
surrounding Asheville is a matter left up to
each individual township. And the recenr
events in Flat Creek point up exactly how
difficult it can be to develop land use
planning on a local basis.
Earlier this year, the Vulcan Materials
Company of Birmingham, Alabama took
out a long-term lease option on a 99-acre
parcel of land in the Flat Creek area. Their
intent: 10 quarry granite and produce
crushed stone. Controlled blasting would
open up a large pit, eventually going down
some 200 to 400 feet. The granite in the
substrata would be extracted, crushed, and
hauled away in trucks.
In compliance with procedures
established by the North Carolina
Department of Natural Resources and
Community Development (NRCD), Vulcan
sem notice of its plans to all Flat Creek
residents owning adjacent land. Upon
learning of this intended development, area
residents became concerned. In fact, they
were so concerned that when the NRCD
sponsored a public bearing in the elementary
school on the hot, muggy night of August
6, the auditorium was packed with 400 area
residents. Another 400, unable to fit in,
remained outside.
Overwhelmingly, those attending
disapproved of the proposed quarry.
Together, they began to investigate what
they could do to prevent the coming of the
quarry. Thar's how Flat Creek residents
started what is called a community planning
program. This option, open to any
KATUAH - page 13
AT RISK
Photo by: Chip Smith
Buncombe County township, allows
residents to establish a community planning
council, which, in tum, can draft land use
(zoning) ordinances.
On October 17, after two months of
work by a 15-member planning council and
community input at the Buncombe County
Planning Department, a comprehensive
zoning ordinance was presented to the Flat
Creek residents for approval. As evidence
of the interest sparked by the zoning
question, 1,560 residents - 600 more than
cast ballocs in the last Presidential election turned out to vote. The proposed land use
ordinance was defeated by a margin of
nearly 3 to 1.
Manha Claxton, an Asheville
pediatrician who lives in Flat Creek, served
on the community planning council and
continues active volunteer work against the
proposed quarry. She explains the move
toward zoning this way: "We started
looking at zoning because of that quarry.
We were concerned about things like the
effects the quarry would have on the fragile
water table, whether the blasting would
cause basemenr walls to crack, how safe the
children would be in school buses that share
roads with large rock 1:IUcks, not to mention
the nuisance of noise, dust, and blasting
vibration."
"We knew, even in early August, that
passing of the zoning ordinance would not
necessarily keep Vulcan out; they started the
application process before we started the
zoning process. We proceeded because we
hoped that strong anti-quarry sentiment
combined with a zoning ordinance
prohibiting quarry expansion might cause
Vulcan to rethink that particular site."
Johnny Roberts, a 43-year resident of
the Flat Creek area and owner of a local
store, agrees that local sentiment ran against
the quarry. Yet he, like many others, voted
against zoning.
"The main thing is that people here
own their land, they pay for it, and they
don't want people telling them what to do
with it," he says. "The County has very
strict rules about building and construction
and people just feel that's enough."
There will be no zoning in Flat Creek.
And Flat Creek residents - who by and large
still oppose the proposed quarry - have not
solved the problem of persuading the
NRCD to refuse Vulcan's mining permit
application. Further, Flat Creek citizens
could find themselves in this sicuation again,
should another company announce plans to
build an asphalt production facility, for
example, or open another tavern adjacent to
the elementary school, or develop a
multi-acre mobile home park.
In every case in Buncombe County
where there has been interest in
community-based zoning, it has been in
response to unwelcome development. The
two communities in the county that enacted
local zoning, Beaverdam to the north and
Limestone to the south, did so out of
concern, the former about housing
development and the latter about a junkyard.
IUnkVard.
Currently, residents of an area on
Goldview Road are investigating zoning
because they do not want the new Craggy
Prison located in their neighborhood. They
approached the Commissioners for help in
developing prohibitive zoning. The
Commissioners responded by asking them
to try to establish a community planning
program for the whole French Broad
Township, rather than just the Goldview
Road area. Given strong anti-zoning
sentiment present in rural Buncombe
communities, it may be impossible to do
that
"Because of the differing opinions,
zoning is a difficult question," says County
Attorney Keith Snyder. "For the most part,
where there's interest in zoning is in
portions of townships that are highly
urbanized. In the outer perimeters of the
county, they are against it.
"Rather than have piecemeal, partial
zoning, I recommended to the Commission
that they do a comprehensive analysis of the
county. We know which areas are becoming
urbanized. We know where the large tracts
of undeveloped land are. Looking at all
those things together, the Commission
could then develop policy on where industry
should locate and where there should be
shopping centers and where there should
only be residential building."
In the meantime, county residents though in favor of protecting their
community's water supply, clean air, and
propeny values - may have little say in what
happens in their neighborhoods.
Reprinted from the Winter, 1988 issue of
Dircovery
News
a publication of
Asheville-Buncombe Discovery; 46 llaywood St.
(Suite 336); Asheville, NC 28801.
~
SUMMER - 1988
�REST IN PERPETUAL WILDERNESS
by Billy Campbell
In the densely popula1ed highlands of
the island of New Guinea in the lands of the
once cannibalistic Fore ( pronounced
"!or-AY") tribe, there are still pockets of
untouched wilderness. These are the sacred
groves, or pies masalai, near which the
bodies of their dead are buried. The Fore
regard these areas with/ear, believing that
here the ghosts of the dead are waiting to
possess the bodies of any who enter.
Because of their fear, beamif11l, wild,
untouched stands of the original forest still
exist in the midst ofagricultural lands and a
teeming human population.
When my father died, the funeral
director, a decent person and a friend from
childhood, steered us toward his
top-of-the-line casket It cost more than a lot
of cars do. We settled instead for the only
wooden model that he had. He cautioned us
that it was not "watertight," but consoled us
with the fact that Dan Blocker (Hoss
Cartwright on the TV show "Bonanza") was
buried in an identical casket
could we not put the money that is spent on
expensive burials and sterile plots into the
purchase of natural settings that could also
act as protected habitat areas?.....Sacred
groves, certainly. The money that we invest
in funerals and "perpetual care" today is
considerable. The Wall Street Journal stated
in May of 1985 that there is more than $4
billion invested in funeral trusts in this
country.
I live where the mountains drop to the
piedmont in South Carolina. Land here goes
for $800 per acre. Together, one thousand
members of a memorial society, each
contributing $1,000 (which is only
one-quarter the cost of my father's burial)
could purchase l,250 acres of land: a
The pies masaJais of the Fore inspired
me with a different idea. I would rather
have laid my father's body to rest in a wild
setting, full of the quiet and peace of
nature...a place reached by a trail instead of
a road, where trees would stand guard over
my father's remains and in turn be
nourished by him to stand tall in his
memory. Why is this not possible? Why
While some might want their remains
cremated and their ashes scattered, others
would want a marker designating a specific
place of interment. Instead of the usual
tombstones, more natural markers would be
appropriate. ln keeping with the concept of
creating vigneues of wilderness, living
plants, or colonies of plants, might be best.
A particular burial site might be graced by a
colony of orchids,for example, or perhaps
trilliums.
Living memorials could be
coordinated by a resident restoration
ecologist in areas that have been heavily
impacted. ln such a setting, an American
chestnut tree might make a particularly good
memorial. Because of the continuing blight
problem, native chestnuts will probably
need human help if they are to survive
outside of orchards. The setting would offer
a rich source for ritual. Imagine a
communion ceremony using chestnut bread
and muscadine wine. Limited harvesting of
stunted rrees from the forest would yield
materials to make heirloom baby cradles,
marriage beds, or even caskets. While it is
consistent with most religious beliefs, the
practice of using funeral parks could be
transforming, "greening" Christianity,
Islam, or other spiritual practices.
Next he showed us the vaults. The
first was Italian scrolled, guaranteed not to
leak for 100 years and able to withstand
thousands of pounds per square foot of
overpressure. I cold the director that it all
seemed silly. First of all, who was going to
check to see if it leaked, and who cared if it
did? Such strength might come in handy if
we were trying to protect the corpse from a
direct nuclear strike. but otherwise it seemed
pretty useless. I suggested that we not have
a vault.
The director seemed aghast at the
idea. "Billy, the casket you picked is not
watertight. If you don't get a vault, in a few
years the ground above will.....sink. in.
Family members would have to deal with
the fact that din and water are.....going
in .....on the loved one." Ultimately, my
father's body was pumped full of toxic
chemicals, placed in a casket, which was
placed in a vault, buried in an
over-manicured graveyard, and covered
with pea gravel. The whole affair cost
$4,000.00.
parks are hazardous waste dumps, filled
with small, sealed capsules of toxic
chemicals, the grass abpve artificially
maintained a perfect green with another
assortment of toxic materials.
significant parcel of land that would serve as
a lasting (and, to my mind, a fitting) legacy
for furure generations.
Large undeveloped tracts near towns
would be the first sites to be considered as
memorial forest areas, especially those
unlikely to be protected by government or
other private programs. Unprotected Indian
mounds, especially those in proximity to
extensive woodland areas, would be prime
sites. The membership in a given area might
sponsor a survey and biological inventory
of significant sites.
Burials in this memorial forest would
have to be simple. Bodies could not be
preserved, and any containers would have
to be built of easily degradeable materials.
Formaldehyde, with which bodies are
preserved in standard practice, is a
poisonous material. Present-day memorial
I wish my body to nourish a part of
the Living forest, marked only by a colony
of trilliums or a chestnut tree, in an area that
would be pleasant and rejuvenating for
others to visit, in which they would be
reminded of life's continuing cycles of
growth and death, decomposition and
rebirth. This would be truly a sacred place.
Any others who are interested in
joining a memorial forest society may
inquire (send no money, please) of:
Dr. Billy Campbell
P.O. Box 152
Westminster, SC 29693
or write to the:
Katuah Regional Land Trust
Rt. 2, Box 108-A
Whittier, NC
Katuah Province 28789
~
p
(see page 11)
Dr. Billy Campbell practices family
medicine in Westminster. He is a good Scot
and true to his clan.
Drawing by: Wes Wyau
KATUAH - page 14
SUMMER - 1988
�r
THE RIDGE
There is a ridge in southern Virginia over which I enter and leave my
farm. Deer leap and call on this ridge, ground hogs scurry to their holes,
wild turkeys range. An almost white skunk lives in an old pile of handmade
brick, which I would like to use were they not his home. I've seen a silver
fox on this ridge, and thought a 'possum really dead, and sat spellbound as
deer walked close and looked at me.
Here the moon rises damp and close and the stars seem near touching.
The unseen life of night lingers in the early dew and the sun rises with
ringing echo from two ridges and a river over, where a farmer calls his
cows. Unless fog has quietened the world, a blue line of distant ridges
separates the sky from all the fields and tree tops that lie before it. The
day's last color slips westward behind a mountain that humps large and
green, protective.
Breeze skips up the pass to this high place or shifts to wind that
rushes in from the woods to the north. An unmaintained road cuts beyond
those woods down to the house, too steep in ice or mud for my jeep. I park
atop the ridge and climb a split rail fence. Pasture grass nods as I walk,
and halfway down the familiar path, cool air from the spring dampens my
face. Grouse flap the air as they rise. I glimpse my house in the hollow
below.
The ridge is more than passage to my home and place where I walk at
each days beginning and end. The land itself is a friend to talk to and the
animals answer. Here I learned to stand alone and discovered myself joined
to all life. It is my place of beginning and entry to a larger world.
© 1988 &y Nancy Bcir nharcit
KATUAH - page 15
SUMMER-1988
�FARMERS AND THE FARM BILL
By Chip Smith
Late in 1985, the U.S. Congress
passed into law the Food Security Act, or
"Farm Bill." According to the U.S.
Department of Agriculture, the
administrating agency, the intent of the bill
is to "reduce soil erosion, minimize the
amount of wetlands and grasslands being
converted to cropland, and reduce surplus
commodities, which in rum will strengthen
the overall farm economy.''
The impetus for this bill was the
realization that the governme.nt has actually
encouraged soil erosion and loss of
wetlands by allowing farmers to include
highly erodible lands and converted
wetlands as part of their "base acreage" for a
variety of farm support programs. This
policy contributed to the crop surplus and
falling commodity prices which have fueled
the recent era of unpaid loans and farm
forecloswes.
To Congress, "farm" means the
corporate superfarms of the west, midwest
and coastal regions, but agriculture in
Karuah is affected as well.
Legislation passed in Washington
cannot afford to be sensitive to special
problems and paradoxes on the local level.
But in Kanfah, implementation of the Farm
Security Act is rife with paradox. While the
goals of the act are necessary and valid and
the principles on which it is based are
admirable, the sweeping generalizations in
its provisions are causing hardship and loss
and may force more small farmers off their
mountain landholdings.
In Katuah, agriculture is a
small-scale industry that is no longer the
major contributor to soil erosion problems.
A "Land Development Security Act" or a
"Road Construction Security Act" would be
more effective in controlling soil loss and
stream siltation.
Yet, the conservation provisions of
the Farm Bill state that fields with a slope
greater than nine percent are "highly
erodible land" and are to blame for
excessive erosion and lost productivity.
Furthermore, if farmers are to receive
the benefits of the various farm support
programs, they must submit approved
conservation farm plans by 1990 and have
them implemented by 1995. The locaily
governed Soil and Water Conservation
Districts, with assistance from the U.S. Soil
Conservation Service, are in charge of plan
approval. The Conservation Reserve
Program has also been established for those
who wish to be subsidized for retiring
croplands to pasture or tree farms.
At the head of Long Branch in
Yancey County, North Carolina two old
timers, Raines and Eugene Hughes tend
burley tobacco. Their farm is an original
version of small-scale mountain agriculture.
They bought it as a gullied-out and
overgrown depression farm in 1936.
KATUAH-page 16
Today, the pastured hills, neat garden, and
"baccer" patch reveal much of their
independence and stewardship.
Proud and outspoken, they resent
what they feel is a judgment passed on their
farming abilities.
"Well, I tell you - I don't think too
much of that Farm Bill myself," said
Raines. "You don't have much freedom
anymore, do ya? Somebody telling you
something what to do all the time, seems
like.
"Anytbing's gonna get eroded, if it's
not got a cover on it"
And Eugene said, "We've always
farmed that way, ever since we were kids.
Our dad was the first man to start that in this
section here. It looks like a plan to cut us
small farmers out, is what it looks like."
Today, the conservation provisions of
the Farm Bill require the installation of
erosion control practices such as terrace
systems, grassed water ways, field borders,
and/or alternate year crop/cover crop
rotations. For mountain farmers already
short on tillable land, conservation
compliance means fewer crops, smaller
profits and a questionable future.
Tobacco has been a staple of
mountain agriculture for generations,
because tending burley is a labor intensive,
family operation. It requires very little
mechanization: a borrowed tractor and
planter and the garden tiller will do. The
labor needed for weeding, cutting, hanging,
and grading the leaf is provided by family
members.
Tobacco growing is possible with
resources mountain people have, and a
productive season can bring a profit of at
least $2000 an acre.
"To fellers like us it means a lot," said
Eugene. "It goes right back on the farm,
what we get from tobacco. That's what we
set aside to pay our taxes, buy our fertilize,
and such.
"People here in these mountains
depended on tobacco until these factory
plants came to town. We're one of the few
who still live off the farm."
Raines and Eugene realize the good
intentions of the Farm Bill, but as Eugene
put it, "Those fellers haven't been outta
Washington in a while:
"lf we was younger we'd kick more.
We always looked forward to farming all
our life. People say anymore: Well, I may
farm this year and I may not next year.'
Nowadays a feller will just get him a job at
the plant."
Raines said, "It's a haphazard way to
farm. It's just turned around from the way it
used to be."
Realizing
an too well the
consequences of noncompliance, Eugene
lamented, "We're gonna try to comply with
the law. Take two fellers that's 75 and 77
years old - we've not got too many years to
grow, have we? We're Appalachian
paupers, but proud of it."
In the midst of renewed interest in
stewardship and small-scale mountain
agriculture, many of our teachers are
packing up shop. These mountains are no
longer a barrier to the fast paced "outside
world." An inflated land market has pushed
propeny values out of the reach of local
Plant jobs are pulling family
people.
members off the farm, and discount stores
entice them away from agrarian values.
Tobacco abuse kills, but an alternative
crop to fill the place of burley in mountain
agriculture hasn't been found. In short,
while the Farm Bill may help clear the
streams, in the Appalachian mountain
country it is inadvenently contributing to
the demise of a way of life.
SUMMER- 1988
�"Relating to the Land"
(These are the words of a traditional Cherokee medicine
person)
My grandfather told me that one day when his
grandfather was sick and they knew that he was going to die,
he called together some friends and the members of his
family and spoke to them. My grandfather was jost a boy at
the time, and he could not hear what was said, but his
grandfather got up and he looked strong and healthy. The old
man gathered a group of men and boys, and, though he was
young, my grandfather was allowed to accompany them.
They walked and camped for a month through western NQitb
Carolina and parts of eastern Tennessee. They carried his
grandfather some of the time, but most of the time he walked
by himself.
They went to places that, seen through a boy's eyes,
seemed insignificant to my grandfather. They would go to a
rock and his grandfather would look at it and rub all over it,
and then maybe he would tell them to take him to some little
creek up in a cove someplace, and he would peer around in
there.
He was tcliving bis history. These were places that
were familiar to him, that represented part of his life, and
each place was important to the old man. To him, the land
was personal. These places wetc a part of himself. They
were alive as the world was alive.
Western culture sees the world as dead. But the Indian
People know the Earth as a living organism. The screams are
the Earth's blood. The soil is the flesh. The plants and the
leaves are the hair. The rocks are the bones. The wind is the
breath. The Earth is one living organism, and the human race
is part of that organism, not something set apart.
Everything has a spirit. Everything that is living seems
to be an in. ividual entity, separate to itself. Each of us seems
d
to be an individual. bot actually, we are each made op of
trillions of parts - things that can be seen and things that
cannot be seen. And all those pans are dependant on one
another. The planet is the same way. It is the same kind of
life just larger. And the human species is just one of the pans
of the Great Life.
Collectively, the individual spirits of everything that
lives make up the Great Spirit When you conjure, and you
hook into power, that is your power. But you have to feel
part of it first. We get our power from being able to move
evenly with the other pans of the Great Life. There is no trick
or magic to it, other than knowing yourself as a pan of this
life.
KATUAH-page 17
Our gifts of intelligence and creativity were given to us
so we could be caretakers, so we could perpetuate the Great
Life. It is our role, our pan of the plan, to be conscious. The
side effect of that is ego. Some people call it lust or sin, but
it's separation from God. It's true, because what we have
here is God, whatever it is.
At some time the human race reached a point in its
developement where our ego overrode all the innate
understandings we had held since we were primeval slime,
or whtaever we first were. Now, our biggest conflict is to
concrol our intellect that has grown by such leaps and bounds
in such a short period of time.
Our shortcomings are reflected in the culmination of
European or western culture, which is highly individualistic:
Western culture makes people believe that the Earth begins
when they are born, and is over when they die. They have
the most incredible notion that there is a God up in the sky
that serves us alone and, the ultimate of ego, that we are
created in his image. He made everything on this planet for
our use, and if we can't use it, it's a weed or crash.
The best story my grandfather ever told to show the
difference between European and Indian ways was to say
that when an Indian man bunts the bear, and be kills the bear,
be gives thanks, and promises the bear to use all the parts of
his body, for that is the bear's gift to us.
If an Indian man goes out to hunt the bear, and the
bear rips him down and eats him, there is no hostility against
the bear. It wasn't the bear's idea that be was to eat meat
The Creator.put this notion in him.
.
.,
The people would mourn the man and grieve for him,
but there was no anger toward the bear. It was just the
creature's nature, just like it was the man's nature to be out
hunting him. There was no separatiQn from the bear at all,
If this were to happen to a white man, the others
would go out and comb the mountains and kill any bear they
saw.
We arc all predators. But western man cannot tolerate
another predator. Wolves, mountain lions.... white people
don't want them out there as competitiou. They don't eat
them. The only other predators western man eats are fish.
They aren't going to eat a wolf, but they will kill him off. If a
creature can be domesticated, controlled completely, and
made useful to humans, then it's from God. If it can't be
made useful, then they eliminate it God made a mistake
there.
·
For European culture there. is no concept of balance,
no concept that we are pan of a greater whole. It is alien; it's
like they arc from another planet. Look at how they throw
their crash and litter around! Would they do that at home? It
all goes back to the ego that says we are made in the image of
God and all this was created for us.
In the body of the world, we are cancerous cells.
Cancer is when a group of cells in the body goes crazy for
one reason or another. There are environmental reasons for
why we are acting so crazy, reasons which we created
ourselves. But there are still some deeper reasons why we
are susceptible to this disease of the spirit. After all, we are
the product of millions and millions of years of evolution,
and everything else is evolving along with us. We m
responsible for ourselves. We may not be able to stop
accidents, or something somebody else does to us; but the
sickness and disease, we are responsible for all that.
The world was not made for us alone. My
grandfather's grandfather said that we are mainly observing
what is happening in our own lives. We can dodge things a
little bit to the left or to the right, but the major aspects of
things we are just observing. Observation....tbat's what we
are doing.
SUMMER - 1988
�- Soil acidification could release
bound aluminum in toxic amounts.
- Nutrients could be leached out and
lost from acidified soils.
- Excess nitrogen, acidification, or
released heavy metals could deplete or
destroy soil microorganism populations or
the mycorrhizae fungi, which Live in a
beneficial relationship with the roots of the
spruce and fir trees, causing nutrient
deficiencies.
NATURAL WORLD NEWS
REPORT
"IT COMES ON A MIST..... "
"The bottom line is that someone at
some point has to make a decision as to
whether or not the evidence is strong
enough to do something about acid rain .....
"We have a lot nwre informarion now
than we did two to three years ago. The
nwnality of trees has increased tenfold over
the past five years. But we could spend
another 50 years studying this issue and
never gather enough proof to slww that A
plus B equals C."
- Roben Bruck, to the
AsbeyWe Ciifilul, March 5, 1988
Since 1983 Dr. Robert Bruck has
been coordinating a team of field scientists
from North Carolina State University
(NCSU) investigating the mysterious
dieback of the spruce/fir forest that was
once a grand mantle draped over the
shoulders of Mount Mitchell and the other
peaks of the Black Mountain range (see
KatUah Journal #9).
Using the most sophisticated
equipment, the researchers have been testing
the soil, soil microorganisms, and the trees
themselves, to determine the amount of
airborne pollution the mountaintops are
receiving and the effects of this pollution.
Their field work is supported by
experiments in climate control chambers and
greenhouse tests to determine the tolerances
and parameters of the tree species. Another
team of NCSU scientists funded by the
Environmental Protection Agency doing
intensive studies of the chemistry of the
orographic (associated with mountains)
cloud cover that shrouds Mt. Mitchell and
the Blacks for 250 days of the year.
The data these scientists have
produced are chilling. During the year
1986-87 Ml. Mitchell received
approximately 122 kilograms/hectare
(roughly equal to pounds per acre) of
acidified sulfates. Ouring that same period
approximately 65 Kg/ha (lbs/a) of nitrates
were deposited on the mountaintop.
Ozone, when in the lower
atmosphere, is a gaseous pollutant
panicularly damaging to plants. It is formed
when nitrogen oxides are combined with the
hydrocarbons produced by auto exhaust in
the presence of sunlight. Ozone is
frequently present at concentrated levels at
the top of Mt. Mitchell. Of 3,000 readings
taken during 1986, one quarter approached
or exceeded a level of 80 ppb (parts per
billion), which was shown in greenhouse
tests to be acutely toxic to young fir and
spruce trees.
At the same time the mountaintops are
bathed in an acidic mist which registers a
2.5-3.4 pH level. Because pH is figured
KATIJAH - page 18
Cm.tree
logarithmically, the clouds' lowest pH
levels are 1,000 times more acidic than
normal atmospheric conditions.
Precipitation, which is more diluted, ranges
from pH 4.0-5.0.
Those clouds, so gentle in
appearance, are panicularly threatening to
the upland forests. They are formed by
moisture-laden air, which, as it rises over
the mountains, cools and condenses into
fog. In the process it attracts and bonds with
particles of airborne, water-soluble
pollutants, and this concentrated, poisonous
broth settles on the tree needles, where
much of the toxic payload is absorbed
before the droplets fall, branch by branch,
to the soil.
The variety of chemicals in the mist
solution could affect the trees in different
ways at each stage of their journey to the
eanh:
- Acidification could damage or
destroy foliage, as was observed after one
highly acidic cloud covered the
mountaintop. Forty-eight hours later the rips
of exposed spruce needles were brown and
dead.
- Acidic oxides, alone or in
combination with ozone, could leach
nutrients from the foliage.
-The chemical pollutants could
interfere with the tree's metabolic processes.
- Excess nitrogen could increase
susceptibility to frost and freeze damage.
Pollutants can also work through the
soil. In one experiment. seedlings were
planted in soil taken from the top of Mt.
Mitchell to a lower elevation. 93% of the
seedlings died. Examination of the soil
showed that it was highly acidified and low
in the nutrient elements calcium and
magnesium.
Toxins in the soil could damage trees
by some or any of these means:
To come to grips with the problem of
the airborne pollutants, " ..... the scientific
and policy-making communities wilJ have to
find common ground in dealing wich
'imperfect knowledge,"' wrote Dr. Bruck.
He is warning us that, although his
team and other scientists will be keeping up
the intensive investigations they have
maintained for the last five years, it would
be a mistake co postpone decision-making
until a clear and simple cause-and-effect
relationship is proven. The situation is
simply too complex. That the high-altitude
boreal forest is being subjected to massive
doses of airborne pollutants is clear. But it
is impossible to isolate a single chemical
compound or a single process as being the
sole culprit for the forest decline. The
different chemical permutations and
possibilities are endless, as would be the
wait if positive proof of the reasons for the
tree dieback were required.
It has been clearly shown, however,
that a great percentage of the sulfates being
carried on the air currents are produced by
coal-fired utility plants and smelcing
industries.
It is also known that most free nitrates
are put into the air by automotive exhaust
emissions.
There are sophisticated scrubbers
presently on the market that, if installed in
the tall industrial smokestacks, could
remove much of the sulfates now being
spewed into the air. Catalytic converters are
now being developed that could reduce the
level of nitrates produced by automotive
traffic by 85%, according to Bruck.
Nothing is going to avert the need for
a basic change in the way we live our lives,
but we are not going to have the chance to
effect a change, unless we take steps to
alleviate the ecological catastrophe we are
creating. And, meanwhile, we are
sacrificing other species daily to our
wantonness.
Again quoted by the Ashcyil le
~Bruck said:
1:
0
300
j
200
E
£
"The technology is available today,
right now, to clean up the vast majority of
the problems I am showing you the daJa on.
Tlrat is what can be done if you decide as a
society that this is a problem and that we
need to do something abouz it."
100
5 15 25 35 45 55 65 75 85 95 1~ 115 125
0.-IPl>DI
SUMMER- 1988
�NATURAL WORLD NEWS
REPORT
Duke Power Company of Charlonc,
NC, intends 10 purchase the Nantahala
Power and Light Comany (NP&L) in
Katuah Province. The Linc is proposed 10
carry bulk electricity from Duke installations
on the piedmont to Nantahala's service area
in the mountains. But scratching away the
surface reveals that there is more, much
more, at stake in this project than the needs
of a small rural utility company.
The Linc is 10 be 26 miles long,
strung from hilltop to hilltop on towers that
would range from 125 10 175 feet in height
and 100 feet wide at the base, costing at
least $30 million to construct. It will carry
two 230 kilovolt (KV) high-tension lines
from Duke installations in the Jocassee
watershed to a point near Cashiers, NC,
from which point a single 161 KV line
would continue on to tie in with a
sub-station planned for construction in the
small community ofTuckascgee in Jackson
County, NC.
The Line would climb out of the
Jocassee Watershed, leaving an ugly scar
through the basin of the Toxaway River.
Along its route The Line would march up
the sides and over the top of Toxaway
Mountain, marring the face of that mountain
beloved by residents and summer people
alike in Transylvania County, NC. It would
stretch along the sides of the Pamhcnown
Valley, a spectacular area that harbors sights
of sheer cliffs and rare vegetation not 10 be
found anywhere else in the cast.
The Linc would bisect imponant wild
habitat areas in the Greenland Creek
drainage and the Tuckascgee River Valley,
which arc large areas of uninterrupted forest
that would be cut in two and laid open
forever after to disruption by humans and
their machines. Fanher down the valley,
The Line would swallow up property and
homes and heedlessly push aside families
who have lived on the same farms and
homesites for generations.
One evening in May representatives
of citizen and environmental groups and
residents of the NP&L service area came
together to talk about The Linc. As the
conversation moved around the table, and
each participant spoke of his or her own
perspective or fears on the issue, the pieces
of the giant jigsaw puzzle that is Duke's
master plan for the Kauiah Province, fell
into place.
Ripped Off by Alcoa
Veronica Nicholas, a county
commissioner in Jackson County, told of a
decade-long struggle between a group called
Citizens for Low-Cost Power and the Alcoa
Aluminum Company, the industrial giant
that presently owns NP&L (sec Katuah
Journal #3). Originally, Alcoa had set up
hydroelectric generating facilities on the
TV A lakes in the Tuckasegee River
watershed as a public utility, which meant
DUKE'S POWER PLAY
that the company had certain privileges in
acquiring land and setting rates that went
along with the obligation to provide power
to the residentS of the area.
However, soon after the generating
facilities were completed, Alcoa split its
holdings into two companies, Tapoco
Company and NP&L. Tapoco, although it
was originally established as pan of a public
utility, was kept to feed Alcoa's voracious
energy appetite. NP&L remained a utility to
provide for the area residents, but it was
clearly a "neglected stepchild" of the parent
corporation.
When Tapoco was a utility, almost all
of the area's electrical needs were met with
hydroelectric power generated in th.!
mountains. After the split, NP&L's
generating capacity had to be supplemented
by power purchased outside the region.
This resulted in the ludicrous situation of
Alcoa siphoning cheap electric power from
the mountains, while ratepayers in the hiUs
paid to have nuclear power "wheeled in"
from the Tennessee Valley Authority. Not
only did the nuclear power cost more, but it
had to pass directly through the Alcoa plant
on its way back to the mountains!
NP&L ratepayers finally rebelled in
1977 and began legal motions to regain the
use of Tapoco's generating power and 10
recover the money with which they had
been subsidizing Alcoa. The case went
through extended litigation, until the
ratepayers were flatly denied by an
unsympathetic conservative bench on the
US Supreme Court in 1987.
"II feels that (with this sale) we arc
simply changing masters," said Nicholas.
"It is becoming increasingly clear that we
are losing our power to determine the use of
our natural resources. That's what my main
input will be tonight: Tapoco is not included
in thjs sale to Duke Power. Alcoa is trying
to relieve itself of itS public obligations, just
as it did in the l950's when it tried to sell its
transmission lines to Duke. If this sale goes
through, Tapoco will be supplying the
power Alcoa needs for smelting aluminum,
and our ability to provide for ourselves will
be forever gone."
Biology professor Dan Pittillo,
chairman of the Western North Carolina
Alliance and a resident of Jackson County,
added, "NP&L has never been funded
properly, and it has not been able LO keep up
with their maintenance as they should, so
that there is S40 million in maintenance that
needs to be done in the next ten years.
"Duke promised us that when they
purchased the company, ratCS would remain
stable for five years. rm thinking, though,
that after that time the rates we will have to
pay will go up from the 4.5-5 cents per
kilowatt/hour that we arc paying now, to
8-9 cents per kilowatt/hour, which is about
what Duke's rates arc at present"
Pittillo also displayed a copy of a
Duke Power annual report, published in
February, 1988, which boasted that, "If
regulators approve the acquisiton, we expect
that NP&L will become a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Duke Power. The company
(continued on next page)
KATUAH-page 19
SUMMER- 1988
�HOLD THAT LINE!
WHAT'S ON THE OTHER END
OF THE DUKE POWER LINE?
- HABITAT & SCENIC AREAS
DESTRUCTION?
- NUCLEAR DEPENDENCY AND
NUCLEAR WASTE?
- RATE HIKES FOR EXPENSIVE
IMPORTED POWER?
- MORE DAMS? ENERGY
EXPLOITATION OF THE MOUNTAINS?
)!
~;
- ..
c:
• ·c
LET'S GET THE FACTS BEFORE DUKE BUYS OUT
NANTAHALA POWER AND LIGHT
S! •
-
Write to the public staff of the NC Utilities Commission.
Support their request to postpone hearings on the
Nantahala sale until, September.
Address: Antoinette-Wike, Public Staff, NC Utlltltles
u
c •
2
S!
,, >
c( .Cl
Commission, P.O. Box 29520, Ralelgh, NC 27626
M ,... fOf ttf HO\.D THAT llNIJ l o• -
Otll• "°" NC tUU
(continued from page 19)
will in turn supply bulk power to
supplement NP&L's hydroelectric
generating system. To deliver that power,
Duke will build a transmission line to the
NP&L system and gain a direct link.for the
first time with the 7VA, which serves more
than 3.1 million customers in seven states.
That link will create the opportunity for
other bulk power sales to the west."
(emphasis ours)
Showdown at Coley Creek
Sitting near Pinillo was Bill Thomas,
public lands chair for the NC state Sierra
Club chapter and a co-chairman of the
Jocassec Watershed Coalition. Duke has
nlready damaged a pristine wilderness area
in that basin with a pumped-storage project
on Bad Creek.
Thomas said, "The Jocassee
Watershed Coalition is tied up with this
transmission line in some fashion, because
Duke is considering putting a second 2100
megawau pumped-storage facility on Coley
Creek at a cost of $3.3 billion dollars. We
thought aJI along that they were jiggering
their electrical demand forecast to make it
appear as if they would need a 5,000
megawatt output in their service area by the
year2000.
"What I'm thinking now, when I sec
this NP&L move, is that there is no penalty
co Duke for over-forecasting if they have
this pipeline to the west. What we are seeing
is the use of North Carolina resources being
used for Duke's profit, as they extend their
tentacles to the west. That's a matter of
public policy that needs to be debated quite
fiercely."
Thomas continued, "Jim Hendricks,
principal engineer of Duke's design
division, and others have told us that the
ultimate plan is to put in a 500 KV line.
That means that any route that is chosen will
have two sets of towers and a 1,000·1,500
foot right-of-way.
"500 KV lines are up in the voltage
range where possible adverse health effects
are something you can't just brush off. I
don't know much about electromagnetic
KATIJAH - page 20
radiation fields, but it has been brought up
as a possible cause for health problems in
other places."
"Why, western North Carolina is
being set up like dominoes!" someone
exclaimed. "If they can get that line in, then
they can justify Coley Creek. And, while
they've been saying they need it to supply
NP&L, all along they've been wanting to
sell power to TVA and even further west!"
''What we are seeing is the
use of North Carolina
resources being used for
Duke's profit, as they extend
their tentacles to the west.
That's a matter of public
policy that needs to be
debated quite fiercely."
"We Didn't Want to See lt"
A woman resident from the Sapphire
Community, located along the route of The
Line as it passes through Transylvania
County, said, "It would have been just
above our house. We didn't want to see it,
but we didn't know what effect physically
living under those lines would have. So we
sold our house because of it
"Duke gave us a very good price. We
asked them if we should price it without our
furniture, but they said that they wanted co
keep the furnishings, because they were
going to use the house for an executive
retreat. That doesn't sound like a public
service company to me."
Dan Pittillo said, "A main issue in this
discussion is the attitude that Duke is taking.
Duke is working like an aggressive business
1hat is interested in selling power and
keeping people working on their projects.
They are doing what is good for business.
Their interest is not the people whom they
are supposed to be serving. They are not
interested in conserving energy. Why, if
Duke were on a conservative bent, they
would have no need for this whole system
whatsoever!"
Others in the room spoke as well.
Several Jackson County residents were
unalterably opposed to Duke Power's
nuclear record and the company's lobbying
effons to bring the Southeastern Compact's
low-level radioactive waste dump to North
Carolina. They wanted 1he NP&L sale
stopped completely.
Some of the most vigorous
opposition came from members of a
property-owners' group around Lake
Toxaway, whose main interest was in
maintaining the value of their area as a
vacation spot. They complained of Duke's
high·handed methods in not consulting with
local people as The Line was being planned,
buying the right-of-way propenies under
false pretenses, and announcing the project
only after the property was purchased and
the company was already commi11ed to a
specific route. Although Duke's publicity
said alternate routes were being considered,
the propeny-owners said that the company
could produce no alternative plans when
asked to do so.
The group gathered together that
evening represented different people from
different points of view, but each piece
added co the puzzle made the whole picture
of Duke Power Company's plans for the
"development" of Katuah become more
frighteningly clear.
David Wheeler
SUMMER 1988
�Tiffi CHEROKEE MICRO-HYDROELEC1RIC
DEMONSTRATION PROJECT:
An Appropriate Community Energy System
(Readers are referred to the article
"llomemade Electricity• by Richard llotaJing in
Ka11jah Journal #4 concerning the value,
simplicity, importance, and •how-10• of
micro-hydroelecrric power gtner01io11.)
Tucked away in the shade of a cool
mountain holler on the Cherokee Indian
Reservation is a prototype of an advanced
technology still little-known to the world.
It 1s not made with circuits and
capacitors, but rather with concrete, plastic
pipe, and common sense. It is a
micro-hydroelectric system that taps the
kinetic energy of the Galamore Branch, a
small creek flowing down from the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park into the
Raven Fork in the Big Cove Community.
Electricity produced at the site powers
the Big Cove Head Stan Center, the Big
Cove Community Center, and the Big Cove
Volunteer Fire Department building. The
project has been developed through the
cooperation of Appalachian State
University, the Energy Division of the
Nonh 01rolina Depanment of Commerce,
and Save the Children, lnc ..
by Michael Red Fox
With its abundant water supplies and
steep slopes, the Katuah Province is ideally
suited by climate and topography for
micro-hydro power production. It is hoped
that the Cherokee project will serve as a
model that will help increase popular
awareness that micro-hydro is a benign,
narural, and renewable energy resource and
will encourage the development of
micro-hydroelectric sites in other areas of
Kan1ah.
The site on Galamore Branch was
located in an early study of
micro-hydroelectric si1es in Katuah. The
study found 1,950 suitable micro-hydro
sites in the mountains that would be capable
of producing a combined potential output of
34,000 kilowaus of energy if developed.
Fifty-three of these sites are on the
Cherokee Indian Reservation and represent
a combined potential output of970 kilowaus.
The Big Cove micro-hydro system
divens a design flow of 1.2 cubic feet per
second through a six inch diameter PVC
penstock (pipe) for a distance of 2,500 feet
10 develop a net head (drop) of 210 feet
The intake structure is located at a
point where the streambed is less than six
feet wide and consists of a poured concrete
dam, which divens water into a concrete
seuling basin.
The energy generated by the falling
water is convened by a Pelton turbine wheel
into a design power output of 12 kilowaus.
The small turbo-generator is located beside
the Head Start pre-school building, which is
the primary load center that utilizes most of
the electricity produced The maximun load
for lhe pre-school is 7.4 kilowatts, which is
currently being reduced somewhat through
load management devices and more efficient
lighting.
Under federal law, small electricity
producers have a right to be connected into
the commercial power grid. However, the
Galamore Branch project is too small for
interconnection to be cost-effective.
Operating on a "stand-alone" basis (not
connected to the larger utility grid) requires
a ballast to prevent the electrical generator
from over-speeding when the load is low.
Currently the ballast load is divened
into two three-kilowatt resistance space
heaters mounted on the basement wall of the
Head Stan Center. However, plans call for
an integra1ed system in which the
micro-hydro plant will complement a
passive solar greenhouse to be built on the
side of the school building, which will
include water containers for a solar algae
pond aquaculture operation.
The water absorbs solar heat directly
and will not need backup heating in the
winter. But electrical resistance coils buried
in a bed of sand below the containers will
act as electrical ballast for the micro-hydro
system and will provide additional heat for
the tanks.
It is fitting that the Cherokee people
are developing this energy alternative. By
utilizing lhe natural products of the
ever-circling environment, they are
following the traditional values of their
culture in a modem context.
Micro-hydroelectric power is a
liberating technology. lt is a technology
scaled to living and working in place. It has
minimal negative environmental impacts and
could be a significant resource in developing
the new, land-based economv of Katuah.
Micro-hydroelectric power production
is site specific: each unique stream site
determines a different configuration for a
micro-hydro system. But the principles are
everywhere 1he same. The Galamore Branch
project provides descriptive exhibits and
workshops on micro-hydroelectric power
generation.
For information on visiting the
project, contact:
Save the Children
Box33J
Cherokee, NC
Ka/Uah Province 287I 9
or call (704) 497-6092
Michail Red Fox Is a whitt person
living on the Cherokl!e Indian Reserva1io11. fie was
involved in the design a11d construction of tht
micro-hydroelectric instal/Olion 011 Gal.amore Branch
aN1 is now head opera/or of the project.
KATIJAH- page21
SUMMER-1988
�spruce mountain song
DRUMMING
LETTERS TO KATUAH
~
If I could take this broken world
and give it back it's trees
it's gentle healing summer rain
f
~
it's clear, cool, autumn breeze
then I could rake the magic of the wood
the magic of the mind
and spread it then to ail my kin
to all of humankind
~
~
.i
And yet I know even as I speak
that this cannot be done
J.
I feel the earth through every pore
my healing bas begun
we start out as a candle flame
we will become the sun
~~i
~
~
~ ::°'b::::g: ~ethe
~
l
~.
-
earth
Mara Bradburn, 16
~
Robert Stough
Deny.PA
'..t
:rl·
~~
;~
~
~
4
~
~
;
~.g
~.~ i·
~
~
.... .It's funny how I picked today to read this issue of
Katuab, because I took a long walk through the woods
today with my neighbor (I live in the mountains of north
Georgia). We walked an old road that runs by Sharp Mt.
Creek I often stopped to wonder what life was like here in
these woods hundreds of years ago and how peaceful it must
have been to be one with nature, in this sacred land.
I will be looking forward to bearing from you.
Valerie Ansted
Jasper, GA
~
~
~
kt.
~
!§
t~~~~~~~~~.\t:19~..~~~~ .
Dear Kattlah,
We're busy in this area trying to repel the
Superconducting Supercollider the governor of this state
thinks should be in Durham, Granville, and Person counties.
We're talking forced relocation of (at least) 100 or so
families, some who have lived here for 5-7 generations
already.
The SSC is an atom smasher (53-mile underground
circle), that will produce particles of energy called muo.ns,
that will penetrate soil, rock and groundwater tables. It will
only be used for 25 years, at which time they have no idea
bow they will deal with the leftovers (our children).
Please help us pray for the Eanh and our children here
in the flatlands.
Tara Clayton
Rougemont, NC
KATUAH - page 22
summer morning dew, the nightclouds gone,
dawnlight glowing on the old sugar maples,
tree-snails stiJTing in its thick moss-fur,
i take the deer-trails through soaking meadows,
thoughts flowing with the yellow swallowtails
over hucklebeny meadows bumming with bees,
past moccasin orchids, young ferns in the sun,
through flame azaleas and wind-twisted birch
into deep spruce shadows, mossy and still,
then down a ways along a faint grassy trail
to a cool spring among ancient spruce/sages,
and rested there awhile. a stone for a pillow,
a feather in the hair of the wild old nx>untain,
then wandered on, sailing with the ravens
over jwnbled rockfields and tangles blowdowns,
by flowering witch-hobble, snow-petaled comets,
sparrows chatting in gnarled gray hawthorns,
a lone swallow skimming the crest
above the broken wing of the old wrecked plane,
i a thoughtless seed drifting on the wind,
each moment a cosmos sprouting,
waves of gn:cn mountains rolling me home,
soaring free, clear blue sky in all my mind
Dear KatUa b,
Thanks so much for the time and interest you are
giving to help make our vision become a reality. Without
such concern of kindred spirits we know that very little
would ever be accomplished.
As I mentioned to you, we need any useful donations
of building materials, hand tools, garden tools, heavy farm
equipment. livestock, and even workers to help clear and
build shelters on over 18 acres, recently purchased to provide
needy people with a "farming community home"!
Thanks again,
Cherie & Tom Lowry
Rt.#5, Box 216 T
Ellijay, GA 30540
(404) 838-4636
SUMMER- 1988
�APPALACHIAN SLEEP
In sleep,
each tree
becomes
the one cree,
each flush
of rhododendron,
color for the cheek
oflhedream
I rub with
dozing fingers,
each mountain,
something to climb
without thinking,
to soar above it
effonlessly
as a brash-feathered bird.
I do not leave
the glorious ou~lde
as I slip beneath ,
the sheet
but bring it w\tb me,
to wearcomfonabJy,
to wrap round
the child's soft body.
John Grey
C RMDESIGNS
Spring Equinox Dream 1988
There is a group of us out on a kind of platfonn and
we are watching a performance: dancing and farting around.
It feels more like a show than a performance. There are some
of the kids among us participating in the performance that is
going on to music. It is a kind of trapeze they are playing on
that is pulling them over humps in the straps etc. They seem
to be having fun playing on it, though the apparatus does not
seem to be working very well. At some point we realize that
!here is an authority that is about to impose a soning on us.
We each have numbers and are seated on these smooth
rounded pebble like soners that glide easily on the floor
surface. As we are being sorted we go through openings in
which we can not see the ends or where they come out. I
realize that I do not have a number, and begin to also realize
that I am being sorted toward the low end of the numbers.
People with low numbers or no numbers are soned for
extinction by the brutal authority. As I am finally sorted into
this category 1 become restless and begin to search for ways
to get over to the groups with higher numbers, such as 8 or 9
and find it very intimidating and difficult. There seem to be
no physical police yet their presence is still felt. I have with
me a metallic object that has on it a symbol like a planet or a
rounded form and a there is a feather sticking out of it It
becomes a spirit guide to me as 1 get a rush of energy from it
and find my way to survival. This magic symbol in metallic
form spoke to me with wisdom and 1 easily made it to the
group that slipped past the authority. It showed me that I had
my own energy with which to escape the trap that was made.
Later we are walking through a passageway and I am so
amaz.ed that we made it through alright. I remember the spirit
guide and its assistance. Together some friends and I realize
that this is all a movie of ourselves that we are watching, and
we are walking out of a kind of theatre in the earth. Soon we
are all together in the yard of our house around a fire. There
is a friend who is burning huge sticks of incense and we are
talking, and eating, and laughing.
RM
You know
Sometimes
in the quiet cool of summer dusk
I sit oo the porch after a rain
has washed the dark mountains and covered them
with quiet mist
a restless dream
rising and rolling
and the still hum of a million trees
lulling to the milky sky
like
This moment
as the river murmurs in its sleep
a hot tongue of lightning licks a distant ridge
the husky voice of far off thunder
sends a shudder through the bedded earth
she turns and breathes a long green sigh
and in her subtle sleepy way
Whispers the answer
- Tony Fisher
KA TUAH - page 23
SUMMER- 1988
�A Conversation
with
Ruth and Rio
of Celo Community
continued from p. 10
Ruth: It was one of the worst things!
-the worst! How to deal with multiflora
rose.
K: lt seems that people here have
very different lifestyles and interests that
keep them busy and not as involved with
each other as they might be. That may make
support difficult. Yet diversity can also be a
strength ...
the dark. Someone put a flashlight in the
middle of the circle and there were just
shadows... and there was such a difference
in the way people were sharing! That was
when I talked about the next workday...and
I was able to be real vibrant and alive 'cause
everyone wasn't staring at me. It was like I
was in the dark by myself talking to I don't
know who.
Ruth: Yeah- I really value the large
age diversity here. You have the wisdom of
people who've been here so long and have
been through all the processes and then you
have the young sprouts wilh new ideas and
energy--it's such a nice mixture.
K: Because some want to use
herbicides and some don't?
Ruth: Yes, and some don't even care
if we get rid of it
Rio: What's neat about the older
members is how open they are to new ideas.
And how they can even joke about
themselves and the community and how
crazy it is here.
Rio: And some say, "We've been
fighting it forever and it's getting away from
us so let's have careful use of chemicals and
just get rid of it "...and it's become such a
touchy subject people don't even want to
bring it up anymore.
Ruth: I remember hearing an older
member talk about the process in the
meetings being just like in a family--how
you're certainly going to have
disagreements so you just go ahead and
have them and move on. And you still love
each other because you're a family.
Ruth: So it took some new people to
say, "Let's go folks ... those who wanna do
it, come on out - we'll have a great time!"
K: So what'd you do?
Rio:
And knowing that the
difficulties not only pass but that they're
useful. And that new energy is coming in
and things are moving constantly.
Rio: We cut and grubbed... and got
rid of a Jot!
.~
Ruth : Life would be like that
E anywhere, only there are more rewards and
Ruth: And the same day a big group
also cleaned up the river. People were really
enthusiastic and had a fun time together. I'd
like to see that trend continue.
~ more possibilities here than I can imagine
:i
d
Ruth: People not being open with
how they feel.
Rio: I tend to say very little in the
meetings because I'm often intimidated.
Ruth: But you're loosening up.
Rio: I have to-I'm secretary of the
Property Committee so I have to read my
minutes and if people think I didn't do it
right I have to go through that.
K: It's great you're doing it.
Rio: It is. I do see it as a good
process for me.
Ruth: One of the best meetings we've
had recently was last month's. There was a
thunderstorm and the lights went out and
three-fourths of the meeting took place in
KATUAH-page24
K : Making a commitment to land is
.9
Rio: Some of the complaints now are
about how group process in the meetings is
so difficult. ..
K: Because of communication
problems?
having anyplace else.
seems to give a blessing to whatever
happens there. It almost assures success
because the land is so giving in return.
1i' such an important thing to do these days .. .it
!
K: Sounds like you should hold all
of them that way! You mentioned
relationships before and how important they
are in communities ... yet some people
probably came here panly to avoid deali.ng
with others as much ...aod suddenly find
they're as close as ever!
Rio: That reminds me - Billy
Bernstein wrote a hilarious song after he'd
been here awhile -·it goes something like "I
thought I was dropping out but it looks like
rm dropping in"!
Ruth: Celo is also getting fairly large
and that makes group process all the more
difficult
Rio: And there arc so many opinions
and the aim is to reach consensus on
everything. It also seems that with groups in
general it's hard to make commitments and
follow through on what you say you'll do.
It really takes supporting each other.
Ruth: That makes me think about
owning land. We owned some land in
Minnesota and I never even felt like I owned
it even though it was in my name. Holding
land as a community feels much closer to
true ownership. I want to call it
stewardship. It's about taking care of land
the way it needs to be taken care of and not
about saying, "I can do whatever I want
with it!" That doesn't even make sense to
me.
I'm really grateful to Arthur Morgan
and the others who started this place - and
all the work that's gone into it over the
years. And the longer fm here, the more I
appreciate it. It's such a healing
place... there's healing going on, and you
can't even put your finger on it - it's just
happening.
SUMMER - 1988
�The "'i4Jhtan4s of Roan
continued from p. 7
The SAHC is leading the way in securing this
much-needed protection. Examination of a broad range of
alternatives has led SAHC to conclude that protection can
best be accomplished through a blend of federal, state and
private ownership. SAHC encourages governmental
protection where appropriate, receives gifts of land and buys
land from willing sellers using donated funds. To date,
SAHC has protected approximately 900 acres through private
means and has partially funded a 693-acre acquisition by the
state of Tennessee. Approximately 9,500 acres still remain to
be protected.
SAHC's protection strategy Involves four approaches:
I. Receive gifts of land, including conservation
easements and other partial interests.
2. Encourage additional acquisition by Federal and State
agencies.
3. Purchase lands or interests in lands with donated
funds; own and manage such lands. The bulk of the
protection will be accomplished by this means.
4. Register lands under the respective Stare Namral Area
Registry programs; since registry is nm binding upon the
registrant, it may be considered only temporary
protection.
Cooperating with SAHC in saving the Highlands are
state agencies in North Carolina and Tennessee as well as the
US Forest Service. Endorsing the program are the National
Audubon Society, the Garden Club of America, the
Appalachian Trail Conference, and numerous state 8Jld local
organizations.
Without an active plan for preservation, it is likely that
much of the area now unprotected would eventually be
purchased by developers. In the early days of the
preservation effort, a part of the area was purchased by
developers. Fortunately these tracts were since acquired by
the US Forest Service. To date there have been two kinds of
development pressures: 1) second homes and 2) high density
recreation. Development activity bas been particularly strong
o.n the North Carolina side of the mountain. The largest
stngle development is on Beech Mountain, about 10 miles to
the aonheas1 of the Highlands of Roan. A particularly
controversial development is that on top of Sugar Mountain
where a concrete ten-story condominium is visible from
many points. Public outcry against this intrusion was so
great that the NC Legislature passed a "ridge law" restricting
construction on mountain tops; however, there is no
equivalent law for the slopes. Numerous smaller
developments are in the vicinity. Throughout the
Newland-Linville-Boone area, second homes are appearing
on many ridges and in rural areas.
The high density recreation developments have so far
been primarily oriented toward skiing. One large tract within
the preservation project boundaries was earlier surveyed as a
possible ski resort and determined to be among the top ten
sites in the southeast. (The same tract was considered as a
site for a Tennessee Regional State Prison.) There are large
ski developments on nearby Beech Mountain, Sugar
Mountain, Big Bald, and at Seven Devils. If skiing business
increases, development pressures will escalate.
The adverse consequences of developments within a
unique natural area are worth recounting: First, developments
limit accessibility by the general public. The owners of
second homes want privacy. Other facilities may be limited to
club members or pacrons. Second, it is clear that the health of
the animal populations within the Roan massif depends upon
an adequate range over which they can roam and feed.
The entire massif provides protection for certain
species that individual tracts a lone cannot provide.
Rare plant and animal species are more likely to survive in a
large area of protected tracts. Third, the views from the
higher summits depend absolutely on the absence of
incompatible development on the massif itself, particularly
within the project boundaries adopted by SAHC. High
density recreation facilities, public or private, could be so
heavily used that the present naturalness-would disappear.
KATUAH- page 25
'lt is cCea.r that the health of the
ani.mat poputati.ons wi.thi.n the
.Roan massi.f depends u.pon an
adequate ran9e over which they
can rnam and feed. The enti.rn
massi.f prnvi.des prntecti.on for
certai.n. speci.es that i.ndi.vi.du.a[
tracts a!on.e cannot provi.de.
SAHC realizes that the task of land protection cannot
be accomplished simply by acquiring lands and conferring on
them a certain conservation status. A continuing stewardship
program must be exercised to prevent damage from
ever-present threats to existing natural values. SAHC's plan
is to keep the Highlands of Roan the way they are: to
maintain the balds, to leave the forests undisturbed. to
encourage retention of fanning and other rural activities on
the lower slopes, and generally to let the lands be available to
the visitor on foot. The overall goal of SAHC's stewardship
program is to accommodate nondestructive scientific,
educational, and recreational uses of the Highlands of Roan
while protecting their biological and physical features.
To assure survival of the rich fauna and flora of Roan
Mountain, SAHC is keenly aware that management plans and
preserve boundaries must consider both habitat diversity
and t he total size of the a rea to be protected.
Boundary and acquisition decisions based on the narrow
distributions and requirements of individual plant species and
a few special plant communities will not suffice. A broad
view of the protection zone-·one which considers
wildlife habitat, animal mobility, and critical
population size--is more likely to ass ure
preservation of both the flora and the vast wildlife
legacy.
Vital to the success of SAHC's plan to preserve the
Highlands of Roan is a strong and successful fund-raising
program. SAHC has launched a major effon to raise the
approximately $10 million needed to complete the private
share of the protection plan. Nearly $1,000,000 has been
raised so far mainly from individuals. Individual
memberships in SAHC are available from a $10 minimum
Subscribing Membership to $1,000 or more as a Life
Member. Currently SAHC bas approximately 1800
members in 40 states.
SAHC also receives donations. The project is an
excellent vehicle for individual tax-deductible giving.
Appreciated land, securities and other property may be
donated without payment of capital gains tax; donors may
take a tax deduction on the market value of the gift as well.
The donation goes into the land fund and is used for the
acquisition of tracts within the project. SAHC also maintains
a perpetual register of memorial gifts. Also a number of
members have named SAHC as beneficiary in their wills; no
estate taxes are payable on bequests to tax-exempt
organizations. Another common form of giving is to take out
a life insurance policy and make SAHC the beneficiary and
owner of the policy. Such donations are tax-deductible as
well as the premium payments.
Becoming a member of the Southern Appalachian
Highlands Conservancy and volunteering time and skills is
an excellent way to participate in the protection of this
excraoidinary treasure-the Highlands of Roan.
~
Southern Appalachian Highlands Conser vancy
P.O. Box 3356, Kingsport, TN 37664
(615) 323-3677
This ar1icle was compiled by Marnie Muller of
Katuah
Journal Crom SAHC materials, panicularly
the SAHC Case Statement. Special thanlcs to Stan
Murcay of SAHC.
SUMMER-1988
�LEARNING COMMUNITY
-Arth ur Morgan Schoolcontinucd from p. 12
'The reason we have such a variety of
experiences and such an openness about
giving the students choices is because we
know that there arc things that each student
can do well. We make an effon to help find
out what they are, and we let them know in
a sincere way that they arc good enough,"
said Patty.
ttEvery situation is approached
slightly differently. We try to give
everybody involved a chance to talk about
their perspective. We try to clarify all the
specifics of any problem. We might use the
chalkboard for writing 'this is his problem
with the issue, and this is what he would
like to see happen' and 'this is her problem
and what she would like to see happen' to
get everything clearly out
'This can be done in a small group,
or in the all-school meetings which happen
weekly. It is a consensus process and deals
with the issue in a way that can satisfy
everybody. Discipline often comes in the
form of a proposal that is carried on during
a trial period, such as from one all-school
meeting to the next. and then re-evaluated."
In this way students have the opponunity to
participate significantly in making decisions
that affect them.
Cooperation is another quality needed
in a healthy community. This means sharing
the work as well as the play. Students arc
involved in all phases of community
responsibility - cooking, cleaning, wood
gathering and spli11ing, and gardening.
Wor k teaches responsibility and
interdependence as well as practical skills.
Patty said. "If a student doesn't want
to do their chore at lunch, and their job is to
wash dishes, then that throws everything
off. It means that whoever is drying and
potting dishes away can't do it, or has to
wait In practical ways like that we try to
poi.n t out that each student's personal
actions affect everyone dse.
"This isn't the right school for
everybody. We want to be clear about what
the school is. We're flexible in trying to
meet each student's needs to an extent, but
if a student has a problem with stealing
things, for example, we're not willing to
lock everything up so that ccnain student
can remain here. If a student can't cope with
the 'freedom within a structure' that we
offer here, we're not going to change our
whole philosophy."
Elizabeth Morgan in her notes
referred to a quote from Mahatma Mohandas
Gandhi that summed up that philosophy: "A
school should be built by the children,
should seek to be self-supporting, and
should never be finished!"
,
DE.SIGNS
by Rob Messick
1
1tus1ra1lon & Design
in Pen & Ink and Colored Pencil
P.O. Box 2801 •
Boone. NC 28007 •
(704)7~;
111.TMVIOLET l'UWICATIOtl AHO fllTBllMO IYITfMI
GM PlflODUCTI • WATSI AHAL\'Ill
.HWY. 107
RAN~
C. LANIER
~2
RT. II IOX 125
CUL.1..0WHEE, NC am
T-SHIRTS, SWEATSHIRTS
For ADULTS and CHILDREN
15 ORIGINAL
HANO-PRINTED
NATURE DESIGNS
EACH COWRFUL
DESIGN IS
PRlN'IED ON
QUALITi T' s
AND SWEATS
Chinese
Acupuncture
and
Herbology
Clinic
M. C. Majebe
Licensed Acupuncturist
78 East Chestnut St. Ashevllle, NC 28801
(704) 258-901 6
KATIJAH - page 26
S~R-1988
�. ........
NABC ill
From Aug 21-26, 1988, Lhe Third North
A meric an Biorcgio na l Con gress
(NABC III) will draw Turtle Islanders
from all over the continent to Vancouver,
British Columbia, for a five-day celebration
of their varied cultural forms and their
commitment to the restoration of ecological
harmony on this pan of the planet
NABC Ill will adopt a cultural focus,
encouraging panicipants to express their
bioregional identities by telling their stories,
presenting displays and mapping projects,
exhibiting their arts and craflS, and sharing
their cerebral and ceremonial activities.
For more information, write NABC III,
Box 99, Lillooet, BC, Canada VOK !VO.
Individuals or groups wishing to contact
other NABC participants from Katliab may
phone (704) 683-1414.
For a copy of NABC ll Proceedings, a
112-page report on the 1986 Congress,
send $11. 50 (p & h included) to Ha.rt
Publishing, Box 1010, Forestville, CA
95436.
Cry, Sacred G round: Big Mountai n
U.S.A. (© 1988) by Anita Parlow js a
compelling oral testimony of Navaho
sheepherders who describe the religious
beliefs that underlie the impressive
resistance to stop a disinheritance from their
sacred ground. The Navahos who share
l11eir stories do so to make certain that what
is happening will not be forgotten - and that
it be stopped. As one Medicine Man told the
author, "our children will know that we
knew how to live.as' Navahos and we knew,
too, how to die as Navahos.
Cry, Sacred G ro und, produced by the
Sacred Lands Project of the Christie
Institute, includes 50 photographs and
artwork by award-winning artist William
Franklin.
,
.
The Sacred Lands Project of th.e Christie
lnstiuae, 1324 North Capitol Street, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20002
Who Owns North Carolina is a
420-page guide to the largest landowners in
the state's 100 counties, tile result of the
most exhaustive land ownership
investigation ever undertaken for a state or
region in the U.S.
Maps, charts, data analysis, and
interpretative essays offer statistical details
and comparative ranlcings of each county's
largest landowners, data on forestry and
farming in each county, rankings of the
counties by 25 different social, economic,
and political characteristics, and discussion
by the project's investigators of the cultural
significance of their findings.
The book is available for $30 for
Katuah readers (mention our name). Write:
lnstitme for Sowhern Studies, P.O. Box
531, Durham, NC 27702
The International 4th World
Assembly will hold its seventh assembly
this summer, July 31-August 4, 1988 at
Meredith College in Raleigh, NC. The 4th
World is an informal group of people from
all over the world who affirm the right of
urban neighborhoods and rural villages to
make their own decisions abopt their own
Jives. The theme this year is "Community
Economics As If the Earth Mattered".
Registration is open to all. Full conference
fee including meals, lod ging and
proceedings is $150.
For more info: School of Living, 7th
assembly; 3030 Sleepy Hollow Rd, Falls
Church, VA 22042.
Economics as If the Earth Really
Matte r e d is the first in a new series of
books from New Society Publishers
exploring the possibilities for creating an
accountable economy. The book by Susan
Meeker-Lowry offers hundreds of
suggestions of how average people can
invest their money and/or their time in
building a new economy in harmony with
life-affirming values. Subjects covered
include boycotts, shareholder action,
socially responsible investment funds,
small-scale investing, projects i n local
economic control and worker-ownership,
new community economics, tools for
reinvestment and.revitalization, alternative
exchange systems, and seeds for the future.
Dozens of names and addresses and
resource lists round out this unique and
exciting book.
Meeker-Lowry, publisher of Cara/yst-a
quarterly newsletter for those interested in
small-scale socially responsible investing,
offers us new glimpses of ways in which
people are using their participation in the
economic system as a vehicle for the
expression of consciously chosen values:
living in harmony with the earth, fighting
poverty and injustice, combatting feelings of
helplessness and hopelessness, and building
lives which combine diversity and
synthesis, integration and balance.
New Society Publishers, P.O. Box 582,
Santa Cruz, CA 95061-0582
The Ca r olina Associa tion fo r t he
Ad va ncement of Midwifery (CAAM)
is a grassroolS organization whose goal is to
remove the current legal restrictions that
prevent direct-entry midwives from
practicing in North Carolina. CAAM's goal
is to promote competent and legal midwives
to serve the women and families of North
Carolina. CAAM wants members from all
over North Carolina. Membership ($10/yr)
entitles one to receive future issues of
Midwifery News as well as contribute to the
effort to make North Carolina a state where
parents have real choices about giving birlll.
CAAM, Rt.1, Box 201 M, Durham, NC
27705
A unique
summer comp
uduenture
Natural Food Store
& Deli
160 Broadway
Asheville, NC 28801
{704)683-1414
68:M795
Where &oadWay rMets
Merrlmon Ave & 1-240
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Monday-Saturday: 9am·8pm
Sunday: 1pm-5pm
ror
young people
6 - 18 years old
Woods, water, trail experiences,
horses, crafts, Indian lore
free brochure available
Pepperland Farm Camp
Star Rout e Fiimer, TN 37333
{704) 253-7656
KATUAH - page 27
SUMMER - 1988
�€V€0t'S
7-10
LINVILLE, NC
The Highland Games at
Grandfather Mountain. Caber toss, sheepdog trinls,
Highland dancing, bagpipes. $8.00/day. For more
info, call (704) 733-2013.
9
HELEN, GA
·Appalachian Mountain Music
Festival" at Unicoi State Park; Helen, GA 30545.
Call (404) 878-2201.
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
"Big Game Observation." S4S.
Smoky Mountain Field School Sec 6/},5-26.
9-10
JUNE
19-2S
BRASSTOWN, NC
"June Music and Dance Week" at
John C. Campbell Folk School; Brasstown, NC
28902.
SUMMER
20
CELEBRATION
SOLSTICE
22-26
HIGHLANDS, NC
"The Art of Landscape
Photography" workshop with Gil Leebrick and John
Scarlata. $2SO incl. accommodations. Appalachian
Environmental Ans Center; P.O. Box 580;
Highlands, NC 28741
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
"Wild Mammals of the Great
Smokies" field instruction with Dr. Michael Pelton.
$45. Smoley Mountain Field School; 2016 Lake
Ave.; Knoxville, TN 37996.
25-26
29
Full Moon
29
RABUN GAP, GA
"Wild Fems" expedition with
Marie Mellinger. $8 incl. lunch. The Hambidge
Center; P.O. Box 339; Rabun Gap, GA 30568 or
ca1J (404) 746-5718.
13
New Moon
13
RABUN GAP, GA
"Materializing the Shadows."
Investigating stream life with Dr. William
Mcl.arney. The Hambidge Center, SQC 6(29.
17-23
m G HLANDS, NC
"Transcendentalism on the
Mountain" seminar at The Mountain; 841 Highway
106; Highlands, NC 28741
29-31
CELO, NC
"Midw i fery
in
the
Mountains" conference. Workshops on
"Herbs in Pregnancy and Binh," "Medical
Questions," "Body Work," "Tricks of the
Trade," more. With Lucinda Flodin;
Barbara King, MD; Lisa Goldstein; Pat
Roy; others. $55 incl. meals. Lisa
Goldstein; 823-C Hannah Branch Rd.;
Burnsville, NC 28714. (704) 675-5316.
30.31
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
"Mushroom ldcntific.ation," for
beginners. $45. Smoky Mountain Field School, sec
6/2S-26.
22-24
HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Rhinoceros Glances at the Moon:
The Art of Movement as Meditation.• Tai Chi
weekend with Jay Dunbar. $75. Southern Dharma,
see7/l-4.
22-24
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
Family Weekend at Great Smoley
Mountains Institute at Tremont. Hiking,
siorytelling, music, more. AdultS:· $4S. Children:
$35. Write at Townsend, TN 37882 or call (615)
448-6709.
RALEIGH, NC
Fourth World Conference
("break down all the big powers into their
ethnic or bioregional areas") - bioregional
sp~ers, including Jim Berry, Peter Berg,
Susan Meeker-Lowry, and Mamie Muller.
At Meredith College. $150. For more info,
write School of Living; 3030 Sleepy
Hollow Rd.; Falls Church, VA 22042..or
call (703) 237-7507.
24-29
JULY
1-31
ASHEVILLE, NC
"Mountain Sweet Talk," a two-act
play with The Folktellers, Barbara Freeman and
Connie Regan-Blake, at the Folk An Center on the
Blue Ridge Parkway. Advance LickctS: S8.00. Call
(704) 258-11 13.
GREAT SMOKIES PARK
"Teacher and Naturalist
Week" (and anyone interested in learning
more about the natural world). Joseph
Cornell (Sharing Nature with Children),
guest instructor. "Learn about the natural
history of the Smokies and ways of
effectively motivating people toward a
deeper appreciation of the natural world."
$145. Great Smoky Mpuntains Institute at
Tremont. See7/22-24
31-8/4
24-30
1-4
HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Writing Down the Bones."
Writing, meditation and yoga retreat with Natalie
Goldberg and Frances Kean. SJ20. Southern Dhnrma
Retreat Center; Rt 1, Box 34- H; Hot Springs, NC
28743.
ROANOKE, VA
"Celebrate Love• conrerence
sponsored by Visions or Tomorrow at Hollins
College. Cllls.<:es, events, conccrtS. Program: S165;
w/ food, acc. $290. Contact: Jan Settle; Rt. I, Box
310-A; Goode, VA 24556
28
AUG.UST
l
LAMMAS
FESTIVAL
1-28
ASHEVILLE, NC
"Mountain Swee1 Talk," sec
7/1 -31.
1-31
C HEROKEE, NC
"The Art of Cherokee
Fingerwcaving" cxhibil at the Cherokee Heritage
Museum and Gallery; Box 477; Cherokee. NC
28719.
5-7
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
Naiuro Siudy Workshop fOI' adults.
$45. Grct1t Smoley Mountains Institute al Tremont,
see 7/22-24
Full Moon
12
KATUAH- page 28
DAY ( Mid s ummer )
New Moon
SUMMER- 1988
�27
ELKrNS, WV
August.a Fcs1ival - 11adilional
music and dance wilh all the 11immings. Write
August.a Hcriiage Ccn1cr, Davis and Elkins College;
Elkins. WV 26241.
Full Moon
12-14
22-28
WILLIS, VA
"Women's Wellness Week"
with Libby Outlaw (massage therapist);
Carolyn Moore, MD; Katherine Chantal
(herbalist); Christine Byrd (nutirtional
counselor); much more. Pre-register: $295
incl. food and acc. Indian Valley Holistic
Center; Rt. 2, Box 58; Willis, VA 24380
26-28
LOUISA, VA
· women: Cclcbra1ing Our
Divcrsily - A Multiculiural Galhcring•
wi1h
workshops, performance, dance, culwml sharing.
S35·75 sliding rec. Wrile Women; Twin Oaks
Communi1y; Louisa VA 23093 (703) 894-5126.
10
New Moon
1-30
CHEROKEE, NC
"Ayun'ini (Swimmer): Cherokee
Shaman" exhibi1 al Cherokee Hcrit.age Museum and
Gallery. SceS/1-31.
2-5
BRASSTOWN, NC
"Labor Day Music and Dance
Weekend" wilh Pelc Sulhcrland, Karen Billings,
Marlha Owen, olhcrs. John C. Campbell Folk
School, sec 6/19-25.
3-5
HIGHL ANDS, NC
"Pinhole in lhe Landscape,"
pinhole camera workshop wilh Eric Renner. "/ use
no viewfinder or exposure meter; I rely upon the
passion and the timing within myself and the belief
that it will worlc." Environmcnllll Aris Ccn1cr, sec
6{22-26.
17-18
HARRISONB UR G, VA
"Restoring Wilderness in the
East: A Deep Ecology Perspective"
conference featuring Dave Foreman (Eanh
First!), Gary Lawless (Gulf of Maine
Bioregion), Jamie Sayen (PAW), Barbara
Dugelby (Earth First!), David Wheeler
(Kataah). Sponsored by Virginia Earth
First! and Virginians for Wilderness;
co-sponsored by Karuah. At James Madison
University in Harrisonburg. Registration:
$10 advance, $15 at door. For more info:
write VA EF!; Route 1, Box 250; S1aunton,
VA 2440 I or call (703) 885 6983.
17-18
HE LEN, CA
"Native Americans of lhc
Soulheast• a1 Unicoi St.ate Park, see 7/9.
4
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
"Wild Mammals or lhc Grcal
Smokies," see 6125-26.
/'
TU~
f~LL GATME~NG
RND THROE FRIR
SEPTEMBER 30 • OCTOBER 2 , 1988
in Floyd County, VA
Actiuitie s, Music, Dancing, Workshop s
Bring: camping equipment, musical instruments, trade goods
For more information, contact:
Katherine Delauney
Will Ashe Bason
Travianna Farm
Rt. 1, Box 217
Check, VA 24072
(703) 745-2708
(703) 651-3492
Need a ride? Share a ride? Call your local Katuah contact person or:
Eastern slope (NC, GA, SC): David Wheeler (705) 586-3146
Tom Hendricks (704) 689-5382
Western slope (TN):
Sariah Loveday (615) 688-7408
KATUAH - page 29
SUMMER- 1988
�STARSPAN ASTROLOGICAL PROFILES:
Relationships, life chans, forccastS. ChartS and
proCcssional taped readings also available. P.O. Boll
10413; Raleigh. NC 27605
WANTED: LAND in western NC. Flllllily seeks 5
or more acres, preferably near Cullowhee, to
preserve and evenwally inhabit U you have or know
or affordable land, contaeL Bob and Mary Davis; 213
Wesunorcland Ct; Georgetown, KY 40324 (502)
863-4267.
MOON DANCE PARM HERBALS - herbal salves,
tinctures, & oils for birthing & family health. For
brochure, please write: Moon Dance Farm: Rt 1,
Box 726; Hampton, TN 37658
FUTONS by Simple Pleasures - affordably priced.
Send SASE for info 10: Simple Pleasures; RL. l,
Box 1426: Clayton, GA 30525 (404) 782-3920
FREE CATALOG - Our books cover solar energy,
natural foods, mCUlphysics, fiction, and poetry. The
latest project is Black Mountain Rtvitw, with
!hemes on lhe individual vs. society. Write: Lorien
House; P.O. Box I 112; Black Mountain, NC 28711
EUSTACE CONWAY- Guide and 1eaeher of
primitive Earth Skills with emphasis on fire
building, hide tanning., shell.er, and foraging. He
teaches at public schools, parks, environmenlal
cen1ers, and classes of au kinds. For more
information contact him at: 602 Deerwood Drive,
Gastonia, NC 28084 or call Allein Stanley al (704)
872-7972
POLE STAR RETREAT CENTER available for
rental. Days. weekends, or weeks. Conferences,
workshops, CIC. in privalC, rural setting. 30 ft yurt,
camping, swimming. Localed near Boone, NC.
Contact: Rt 2, Box 59: Zionville. NC 28698
(904) 385-2071.
GARDENERS are encouraged to visi1 our Paradise
Garden for instruction and inspiralion (free) and/or
perennial plan1 sale (cheap). ArtistS are inviied. IO
come and crealC in lhe garden - painting, drawing,
and photography are encouraged. We also have a
cabin available in exchange for working in lhe
garden. Mountain Gardens; 3020 While Ouk Crock;
Burnsville, NC 28714 (704) 675-5664.
M. TREE DESIGNS: Illustrations and Design Beyond the pages of lhis journal, I work in pencil,
colored pencil, ink, cul paper, and batik. Fine and
graphic an to express and enhance our lives. Logos,
brochures, books, portrailure, window and wall
hangings. Contae1 Martha Tree (704) 754-6097.
DAYSTAR ASTROLOGICAL SERVICE - natal,
transit, comparison chartS. Very accurate. Only
S3.00 each. Chris and Will Bason: RI. 2, Box 217;
Check, VA 24072 (703) 651-3492
ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY in the Smoky
Mt'ns. of east TN. 10 acres with creek, springs,
views. good neighbors. Be a part for $8500. Call
Leslie (615) 453-1538.
STIL-LIGHT TREOSOPHJCAL RETREAT
CENTER - a quiet space for personal meditation,
group inLCraction lhrough s1udy, and community
work, and spiritual seminars. Contact Leon Frankel;
Rt l, Box 326; Waynesville, NC 28786
WOMANSONG - ongoing choral group forming.
Songs of bcau1y, meaning spiril, fun, peace.
cooperation, sisterhood. Come and sing! Mon.
evenings, 7:30-9, Asheville, NC. (704) 254-7068.
CRAFTSPEOPLE - send price listings 10 Gifted
/lands of NC, 331 Blake S1; Raleigh, NC 27601
(Au'n: Bern Grey Owl) - unique shop presenting
35-40 craflers' works in Raleigh's City Market All
crafts considered.
HAND-CARVED WOODSPIRITS. mys1i:al
hiking staffs, and wall hangings by Steve Duncan.
For brochure, please wri1e Whippoorwill S1udio;
Rt 4, Box 981: Marion, NC 28752.
ASTROLOGICAL CHARTS - natal. progressed, or
solar re1um. 4-page prin1ou1 includes wheel wilh
planetS and houses, aspecLS, midpoin1s, and
keywords. Specify name, binh time, date, place, and
chart type. StO 10 Phoenix Productions; Rt 2, Box
59; Zionville, NC 28698.
RM DESIGNS - I use the media of pencils, colored
pencils, gouache, pen and ink, and photography in
creating unique fine and graphic art I can make
diagrams, logos, finished prints, and designs for
brochures, calenders, cards, books, CIC. Mandalas and
symbols are my 1cndency among other styles.
Contact Rob Messick (704) 754-6097,
LAND TRUST in lhe forming on 57 acres near
Boone, NC seeking families wilh slrOng visions and
resources to manifest a peaceful place for our
children to grow in love and to survive lhe coming
of lhe new age. Paul and Susan Del Rios; RL 2,
Box 314; Vilas, NC 28692 (704) 297-4937
LETTERS OF FRIENDSHIP AND SUPPORT
would be appreciated by incarcerated brothc.r. Write
10: Rick Whitaker #85670; Box 2000; Wartburg,
TN 37887
DRUMS - Custom handcrafted ceramic dumbccks &
wooden medicine drums. Call Joe Roberts at (704)
258-1038 or write LO: 738 Town Mountain Rd.;
Asheville, NC 28804.
ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY now forming in
the mountains of norlh GA. Join olhers seeking
greater cooperation and self-sufficiency. Based on
spiritual and ecological values. Properly is now
available. (404) 778-8754.
BLIGHT RESISTANT CHESTNUT - hybrid
American/Chinese Dunstan chestnu1 trees - blight
resistant, timber growlh form, productive orchard
crop with large, swee1 easily-peeled nutS. Chestnu1
Alli Nursery; RI. J, Box 341-K; Alachua, FL
32615 (904) 462-2820
BLOW YOUR MIND wilh "Medicine Wind."
Finc-1uned bamboo nu1es and soothing musical
recordings masterfully 1rancemit1ed 1hrough
"Medicine Wind"/Gcorge Tortorelli; 86 NW 55 SL;
Gainesville, FL 32607 (904) 373-1837.
ORGANIC FERTILIZERS, herbs, and
organically-grown, local produce at the WNC
Farmcss' Markell Look for the Fairglcn Farms stall,
unitS F and G in lhe wholesale area of lhe Farmers'
Markel; 570 Brevard Rd.: Asheville, NC (704)
252-4414
"ESSENCE" - the all-one skin/dress/
jumper/pantaloons wilh nursing pockCIS. Earlhwcar;
ROI, Box 75-CI; Carl1on, PA 16311
SMALL HOUSE on land trust in rural NC
mountains in exchange for pan-time farm chores and
occasional companionship to creative, joyful,
mentally handicapped adul1 (or olher labor, such as
carpentry). Quaker Camily. Meeting nearby. Write:
Bob and Dot Barrus; Cll!llp Celo: 1349 Hannah
Branch Rd.; Burnsville, NC 28714
ARCHITECTURAL ADVICE AND DESIGN:
Adam Cohen; Rt. 2, Boll 217; Check, VA 24072
"TREASURES lN THE STREAM" - a casset1e tape
of songs by Bob Avery-Grubel. SIO to Rt. I, Box
735; Floyd, VA 24091.
WEBWORKJNG is free. Send submissions to:
KatUah Journal
P.O. Box 638
Leices1er, NC
Kauiah Province 28748
ORM DESIGNS
KATUAH - page 30
SUMMER - 1988
�Mtdlcln,..
The KatUah J ournal wants to communicate your thoughts and feelings to the
other people in the bioregional province. Send them to us as letters, poems, stories,
articles, drawings, or photographs, etc. Please send your contributions to us at: Kat:Uali
Journal, P. 0. Box 638, Leicester, NC, Katuah Province 28748.
.?tllfts
In the fall, Katuah will look at Castanea dentata, the American chestnut
tree, and its importance in restoring Appalachian habitat. Any information about this great
tree's past and future will be welcome.
"Hand Made," exploring the benefits of living simply and creatively, will be the
focus for the winter issue of the Katuah Jo um al.
·BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH AVAILABLE
ISSUE THREE - SPRING 1984
Sustainable Agriculture - Sunfl~wers - Humm
Impact on the Forest - Children.s' Eduution
Veronica Nicbolu:Woman in Politics - Little
People - Medicine Allies
full C'olor
ISSUE FOUR - SUMMER 1984
Waler Drum - Waw Quality - Kudzu - Solu
Eclipse - Clearcutting - Trout - Going to Waicr
Ram Pwnps - Microhydro - Poems: Bennie
Sinclair, Jim W ayne Miller
T-sfilrts
w
In the traditional Cherokee Indian belief,
the creatures in the world today are only
diminuitive forms of the mythic beings who
once inhabited the world, but who now reside
In Galuna'ti, the spirit world, the highest
heaven. But a few of the original powers broke
through the spiritual barrier and exist yet in the
world as we know it. These beings are called
with reverence •grandfathers·. And of them,
the strongest are Kanati, the lightning, the
power of the sky; Utsa'nati, the rattlesnake,
who personifies the power of the earth plane;
and Yunwi Usdi. "the little man•, as ginseng is
called in the sacred ceremonies, who draws up
power from the underworld.
Each is the strongest power in its own
domain. Together they are allies: their energies
complement each other to form an even
greater power. As medicine allies, they
represent the healing powers of the
APPalachian Mountains.
The medicine powers of KattJah have been
depicted In a striking T-shirt design by Ibby
Kenna. Printed in 5-color silkscreen by
Ridgerunner Naturals on top quality. all-cotton
shirts, they are available now in all adult sizes
from the KatUah Joumal.
"To show respect for this supernatural trinity
of the natural world is to in turn become an ally
in the continuing process of maintaining
harmony and balance here in the mountains of
Katuah."
To order, use the form below.
ISSUE AVE - FALL 1984
H:irvcsl - Old Ways in Cherokee - Ginseng Nuclear W ute - Our CeIlic Heri111ge Biorcgionallsm: Put. Present. and Future John Wilnoty - Healing Dlllkncss - Politics of
Participation
ISSUE SIX - WINTER 1984-85
Winier Solstice Earth Cct'cmony - Horscpasturc
River - Coming of the Light - Log Cabin
Roota - Mountain Agricul1ure: The Righi Crop
- William Taylor - The Fururc of the Forest
ISSUE SEVEN - SPRINO 1985
Sustainable Economics - Hot Springs - Worker
Ownership - The Great Economy - Self Help
Credit Union - Wild Turkey - Responsible
Investing - Working in the Web of Life
ISSUE EIOHT - SUMMER 1985
Celebration: A Way of Life - Katuah 18,000
Years Ago - Sacred Sites - Folk Ans in the
Schools - Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle - Poems:
Hilda Downer - Cherokee Heritage Ccnicr -
Who Owns Appalachia?
ISSUE NINE - FALL 1985
The \Va.Idec Forest - The Trees Speak Migrating Forests - Horse Logging - Starting•
Tree Crop - Urban Trees - Acom Bre.od - Myth
rune
ISSUE TEN- WINTER 1985-86
Kate Rogers - Circles of Stone - lnicmal
Mythmalting - Holistic Healieg on Trial Poems: Steve Knauth - Mythic Ploces - Tbe
Uktcna's Tale - CryJtal Magic -
I'"
ISSUE ELEVEN - SPRINO 1986
Community Planning - Cities and the
Bioregional Vision - Recycling - Community
Ocdcning- Floyd County, VA - GllSOhol Two BioregioMI Views - Nuclear Supplement
Foxfire Oames - Good Medicine: V'tSion.s
ISSUE THIRTEEN - Fall 1986
Cenicr For Awalccning - Elizabeth Calllri - A
Gentle Death - Hospice - Ernest Morgan .
Dealing Creatively with Death - Home Burial
Boit - The Wake - The Raven Mocker Woodslore and Wildwoods Wisdom - Good
Medicine: The Swea! Lodge
ISSUE FOURTEEN - Winier 1986-87
Uoyd Carl Owlc - Boogen and Mummers - All
Species Day - Cabin Fever University Homeless in Katuah - Homemade Hot Wau:r
Stovema kcr's Narrative - Good Medicine:
Interspecies Communication
ISSUE FIFTEEN - Spring 1987
Coverleis - Woman Forester - Susie McMahan
Midwife - Alterna tive Contraception Bioscxuallty - Bioregionalism and Women Good Medicine! Maniaclwial Culwie - ~
ISSUE SIXTEEN - Swnmcr 1987
Helen Waite - Poem: Visions in a Garden Vision Quest - First Flow - Initiatjon Leaming ie the Wilderness - Cherokee
Challenge - "Valuing Trees"
ISSUE EIGHTEEN - Winier 1987-88
Vernacular Architecture - Drums in Wood and
Stone - Mountain Home - Earth Enc.-gics Earth-Shch•m'<I Living - Membrane Houses .
Brush Shelter - Poems: Oc1obq Dusk - Good
Medicine: "Shelter"
ISSUENINETEEN-Spring 1988
Per!eandra Garden - Spring Tonics -Blueben:ies
WildDower Gardens - Granny Herbalist Flower Essences - "The Origin of the Animals:
Story - Good Medicine: "Power" - Be A Tnoc
"Dreamspcaking"
~~'
~UA~URNAL
For more info:
call (704) 683-1414
P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28723
Back Issues
Issue#_@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue#_@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue#_@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue#_@ $2.50 = $_ _
Complete Set (3-11, 13-16,
18-19)
Regular Membership........ $10/yr.
Name
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.
Address
Enclosed is$
to give
this ejfon an extra boost
City
State
@ $25.00 = $_ _
T-Shirts: specify quantity
color: tan
S_ _ M _ _
L_ _ XL_ _
@ $9.50 each............$_ _
Zip
I can be a local contact
person for my area
Area Code
KATUAH - page 31
Phone Number
TOTAL PRICE=
$_ _
postage paid
SUMMER-1988
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, Issue 20, Summer 1988
Description
An account of the resource
The twentieth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on preserving wilderness in Appalachia with a look at land trusts, the Preserving Appalachian Wilderness (PAW) proposal, and Cherokee perspective on relating to land. Authors and artists in this issue include: David Wheeler, Gil Leebrick, Marilyn Cade, Christina Morrison, Laurie Pierce, Judith Hallock, Carol Lawrence, Billy Campbell, Nancy Barnhardt, Chip Smith, Martha Tree, Michael Red Fox, John Grey, Rob Messick, and Tony Fisher. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1988
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
The Tracks of the Panther.......1<br /><br />Highlands of Roan.......6<br /><br />Celo Community: 50 Years on the Land.......8<br /><br />Celo: Interview.......10<br /><br />Land Trust: Tenure for Our Time.......11<br /><br />Learning Community.......12<br /><br />Mountain Landscapes at Risk.......13<br /><br />Rest in Perpetual Wilderness.......14<br /><br />"The Ridge"........15<br /><br />Farmers and the Farm Bill.......16<br /><br />Good Medicine: "Relating to the Land".......17<br /><br />"It Comes in a Mist".......18<br /><br />Duke's Power Play.......19<br /><br />Cherokee Microhydro Project.......21<br /><br />Drumming: Letters to Katúah.......22<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Sylva Herald Publishing Company, Sylva, North Carolina
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Human ecology
Wilderness areas--Appalachian Region, Southern
Celo Community--History
Land use, Rural--Appalachian Region, Southern
Land trusts
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1980s
Acid Deposition
Agriculture
Alternative Energy
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Community
Economic Alternatives
Education
Electric Power Companies
Geography
Good Medicine
Habitat
Katúah
Katúah Organization
Poems
Reading Resources
South PAW (Preserve Appalachian Wilderness)
Turtle Island
Wilderness
Women's Issues
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/d265838cdaadc8b321dba6f48590eaf8.pdf
1c5248620a6e795d64134a0d67addc57
PDF Text
Text
RESTORING THE CHESTNUT
�"No other tree grows so rapidly or to such a great size 011 tile
dry gravelly hills of the nonheastern states. Always beautiful
with its massive trunk. its compact round-topped lzead, and
slender dark green leaves, in early summer, long after the
flowers of its companions have disappeared, the Chestnut
covers itself with great masses of spikes of yellmi flowers. and
is then the mos1 magnificent ohject in the sylvan landscape."
1
- Charles Sprague Sargent, Silva of North America ( 1896)
~LlAH JOURNAL
Postage Paid
Bulk Mail
Permit #1 8
Leicester, NC
28748
P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
�"Where There Be Mountains,
There Be Chesmuts"................. 1
A Natural History
Returning the Chesmut.. ................6
to the Eastern Forest
by Scott E. Schlarbaum
"Poem of Preservation and
Praise" .......................................7
by Stephen Lewandowski
Continuing the Quest.....................8
to Restore the Cliestruu
by uicille Griffin
Forests and Wildlifc ...................... 10
Eighty Years in tile Mountains
by Taylor Crockett
Gift of the Chestnut.. .................... 12
Chestnuts in the Regional Dier
by Kim Sandland
From the Roots ............................ .1 4
Chestnut Restoration Work
An Herb Note from Lucinda ......... 17
Good Medicine:............................ 18
"The Cli.anges to Corne"
Natural World News ..................... 20
Drumming: Leners to Karuah.......24
Review: Where Legends livc .......27
Young People's Page.....................29
Evcnts ........................................... 32
Webworking.................................34
"Where There Be Mountains, There Be Chestnuts"
by David Wheeler
I. The Forest of Old
B orn as we are into the world of the
twentieth century. we do not truly know the
Appalachian forest. What we know as "the
forest" now is a diminutive second growth
sprouting from the seed and stumps of the
devastation of the original trees. What we
are witnessing now is the foresi's incredible
powers of growth and rejuvenation and its
determined endurance in the face of
conditions that are becoming increasingly
hostile 10 life.
The forest we see is not the forest as
it once was nor the forest as it could be. We
have never seen the full majesty and power
of the climax forest. the great specimens of
"virgin" timber: massive beings - calm,
beautiful, and so very alive. We never have
experienced the abundance those trees
provided. It is hard in the present day for
our imaginations to even conceive of the
numbers of living cre:uures, great and
small, that the~c m:c:s supported and
sheltered.
"Climax" means 1he fullest expression
of growth for any given environment • h is
a state of dynamic equilibrium in the variety
of species and distribution of populations
that can sustain and continue itself un til a
major climatic shift sets new conditions for
climax. The deciduous forest in eastern
Turtle Island (Nonh American continent)
remained stable for thousands of years after
the retreat of the last glacier. But within a
mere 400 years after it was discovered by
European culture, the forest was completely
changed.
ln the lowland areas, the climax forest
fell back before the rush of European
settlers as they immigrated in unprecedenied
numbers in the 200 years following the
discovery of the New World. In the last
years of the nineteenth century and into the
beginning of the twentieth centu~y. the
remaining forest areas high an the
Appalachian mounrnins were subjected 1~
timber ex.traction marked by a degree ol
destructiveness unparallelled in history. .
The deadliest blow, however, fell m
the first half of the twentieth century when
an introduced fungus disease from the
Orient completely decimated the American
chestnut rree (Ca.uanea dentaia (Marsh.)
Borkh.), the largest and most prolific tree ~n
the fore ..1. The sudden and ca1astroph1c
disappearance of the chestnut sent sh~k
waves through the whole forest communuy.
The eastern climax forest was permanently
altered, and every plant and animal species
felt the impact of the chestnut's demise.
(continued on p3gc 3)
�,"
~LJAHjOURNAL
EDITORIAL STAFF THlS ISSUE:
Scou Bird
Jack Chaney
Rob Messick
Michael Red rox
ChipSmilh
David Wheeler
Mamie Muller
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Sariuh LowuJay Martha Tree Sam Gray \Viii Ashe Bason
Christina Mo"ison John Moffis Kim Sandland Judith llallock
Tom lltndrick.s Michael Jlockaday John Lang Jeff SmJ1h
John Creech Brad Stanback Brad Co111d
Thanks 10 the following ror their help in preparing this issue or
the Katuah Journal· Dr. Scou Schlarbaum, George Friacll. R.D.
Wallilce. Dr. John Rush Elkins, Edwin M:inchester, Philip Rutter.
COVER by Rob Messick
PUBLISHED BY: Ka!Uah Journal
PRINIED BY: The Waynesville Mountaineer Press
WRITE TO US:
K01U/Jh Journal
TELEPllONE:
(704) 683-1414
P. 0. Box 638
Leicester, NC
KalUah Province 28748
Diversity 1s an impon.3nt element of b1oreg1onal ecology, both
na1ural and social. In line with !hi..~ principle. the KatU/Jh Journal tries
to serve as a forum for the di~ussion of regional i~'UCS. Signed 1111iclcs
express only the opinion of the authors and are nol ncccssanly the
opinions or Ole K<Ullah Journal editors or sUIJT.
The lntemal Revenue Service has decbrcd Kati<ah u non-profit
org;inization under section 501(cX3) of lhc Internal Revenue Code. All
conlributions IO K01Uah are deductible from pcssooal income ux.
TiiE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN BIOREOION
AND MAJOR EASTERN RIVER SYSTEMS
STATEM£Nf OF PURPOSE
Here in the southern-most heartland of the
Appalachian mountains, the oldest mountain range 011
our continent, Turtle Island; a small but growing group
has begun to take on a sense of responsibility for the
implications of that geographical and cultural heritage.
This sense of responsibility centers on the concept of
living within the natural scale and balance of universal
systems and principles.
Within this circle we begin by invoking the
Cherokee name" Katf.lah" as the old/new name/or this
area of the mountains and for ics journal as well. The
province is indicated by its natural boundaries: the
Roa11oke River Valley to the north; the foothills of the
piedmont area to the east: Yona Mountain and the
Georgia hills to the soU/h,· and the Tennessee River
Valle) to the west.
The edi1orial priorities for us are to collect and
disseminate information and energy which pertains
specifically to this region, and to foster tile aware11ess
that the land is a living being deserving of our love and
respect. Livi11g in this manner is a way to insure the
sustainability of the biosphere and a laslillg place for
ourselves in its continuing evolwionmy process.
We seem to have reached the fulcrum point of a
"do or die "situation in terms of a quality sta11dard of
life for all living beings on this planet. As a voice for
the caretakers of this sacred land, Katiwh. we advocate
a centered approach to the concept ofdece11tralizatio11.
It is our hope to become a support system for those
accepting 1he challenge of sustainability and the
creation of harmony and balance in a total sense, here
in this place.
We welcome all correspondence, criticism.
pertinent information. articles, artwork. etc. with
hopes that Katuah will grow to sen·e the best interests
of this region and all its living. breathing members.
- The Editors
KATUAH - page 2
AUTUMN- 1988
�•
"Chestnutt, of this sorte there is very greate plenty; the tymber whereof is
excellent for building, and is a very good commodity, especially ill respect of the
fruit, both for man and beast.''
·Monon, New £11glish Canaan (quoted by Charles Sprague Sargent
in Silva o/Norr/i America, 1896)
(conltn~ fn>m
page I)
fl.The Life of the Chestnut
The American chestnut tree was a
life-form unequalled in the eastern forests of
the Tunle Tsltmd continent. The chestnur
was a member of the family Fagaceae, and
the leaves resembled the leaves of the beech
in appearance, although they were larger
and longer. being six to eight inches in
length, "oblong-lanceolate" (like a long
ellipse, sharply pointed at both ends),
heavily toothed along the edges, with
prominent veins on the underside. The dark,
gray-brown bark was fissured and divided
into ridges interwoven into a distinctive
criss-cross pauern.
The leaves were late to unfold and
were followed in late June or early July by
the long, pendant catkins of drooping white
flowers that made a striking show on the
Appalachian hillsides. Chestnut flowers
gave off a sttong odor that was fragrant to
some and disagreeable to others. Because
they bloomed well after the last spring frost,
they set a reliable crop of nuts for wildlife LO
feed on each year.
After the first frost in October, the
prickly burs began to open and drop their
sweet chestnuts into the leaves on the forest
floor. The nuts were smaller than the
imponed chestnuts we are familiar with
today. being one-hair 10 one inch in width,
two or three to each bur.
Declared "one of the most useful and
beautiful trees of the forests of eastern
North America" by Harvard Arboretum
botanist Charles Sprague Sargent, the
American chestnut was surely the hallmark
of the eastern woodlands. The tree was
adaptable to a variely of habitat situations
and grew faster than any other hardwood
tree in the forest: two reasons for its
widespread success. The chestnul had a
spreading crown, and cast a deep shade
around its base as wide as the upper
branches could extend. In the open it could
produce a crown up to 100 feet in width. It
grew rapidly on soils that were poor and
shallow as well as on deep, fenile soils, and
only avoided limestone-based soils. fl was
moderately tolerant of the shade of other
trees, and so could grow up through their
shade until it in tum overshadowed them
and suppressed lheir growth.
The chestnut tree is thought to have
originated in China. The first seeds could
have been carried into Nonh America in the
food pouches of migrating humans. The
oldest evidence of the chestnut tree on this
continent was found in Yellowstone
National Park and dates back 50 million
years ago to the Eocene Era.
Once established on Tunle Island. the
chestnut tree migrated widely. Signs of its
presence have been found in Alaska and
Greenland. But climatic changes gradually
pushed the species into the eastern half of
AUTUMN· 198
the continent. There were 18 or 20
glaciations during the last two million years.
Each time the ice sheets pushed au before
them. After each glacier retreated, the
chestnut followed. The chestnut was a slow
mover, probably because it was a self-sterile
tree, and at the time of its demise it was still
a relative newcomer to the northern pans of
its habitat. Evidence shows that Cas1a11ea
arrived in the Connecticut River Valley a
scant 2,000 years ago.
Jn 1914 Professor Anhur Graves of
Yale University gave the range of Casr.af!4a
as extending "from southern Maine to the
valley of the Winooski River in northern
Vennom, to southern Ontario, and along 1he
American chestnut tree in size, but because
of its rapid growth habit and greater
tolernnce to shade, the chestnut prevailed as
a dominant tree throughout its range, while
the poplars were limited in number, usually
being restricted to choice cove habitats.
Today the yellow poplar inhabits m1my of
the sites formerly dominated by chestnut. In
its time. however, the chestnut tree often
comprised 25% of the forest, reaching
densities of 70-85% on the mountain slopes
of Katuah. So plentiful was the species that
a member of DeSoto's expedition through
the Appalachians in 1520, who styled
himself "The Gentleman of Elvas," declared
as simple fact, "Where there be mountains;
there be chestnuts: they are somewhat
smaller than the chestnuts of Spaine," thus
providing the first recorded reference to the
species by a white person in the New
World.
m. Chestnut Ecology
Natural r011ge of till! Am<ricon chL.ttnut tru.
shores of Lake Ontario to southeastern
Michigan, southward in the ~tern pan of
its range to Delaware, and in the west to
southeastern Indiana and extreme southern
Illinois, while it extends along the wuthem
Appalachians to north central Georgia.
central Alabama and Mississippi, and central
Tennessee (sec map)." In the southern
mountains the tree was common on slopes
between 2,000 and 4,000 feet in elevation,
but it was seen in the low bo11oms and up LO
6.000 feet on the highest peaks.
lt was in the Southern Appalachians
that the chestnut attained its greatest
dominance and its grandest size. Gifford
Pinchot in a 1897 report told of tre~s
reaching 120 feet in height and 13 feet in
diameter. Although the chestnut usually
grew to only 50-70 feet in height in t~e
nonhem part of its range, a standard tree in
the Southern Appalachians would be 90 feet
tall and 4-6 feet in diameter, often living
beyond 500 years of age.
Only the yellow poplar tree
( Liriodefldron mlipfera) rivaled the
The American chestnut tree was not
only a grand and unique species in the
11egral
eastern climax forest, it was also an i1
species. Oak trees. red maple, and
sometimes hemlock and gray birch. were
other t:ree species that, along with the yellow
poplar, could make a place for themselves
alongside the chestnut. In the shadow of
their high crowns grew hazel, holly, and
dogwood trees; huckleberries and other
Vaccirrnium species: and spicebush, flame
azalea, dog hobble, mountain laurel, and
rhododendron: the familiar understory
plants of the mountain forest. These species
interacted with the chestnut trees in a
multitude of ways to provide the conditions
for their mutual growth. Even the soil
chemistry and water patterns of the forest
were 1nnuenced through their many
generations of continuous habitation.
This association provided optimal
conditions for a wide variety of wildlife.
Many animals ate the chestnuts: they were a
nutritious. abundant, and dependable food
source. Game nourished at a rate
inconceivable today. Families of deer and
flocks of turkeys moved among the thick
trunks of the giant trees in the shady
twilight. Foxes denned in fallen, hollowed
trunks. Raccoons stored chestnuts in their
holes high off the ground, while chipmunks
carried nuts 10 their small holes among the
boulders. Squirrels and jays quarrelled over
possession of trees-full of the succulent
feast. Immense flocks of passenger pigeons
paused in their migrations to gorge on the
small, sweet nuts. In winter. elk pawed the
ground to tum up chestnuts hidden in the
leaves beneath the snow.
These animals in tum fed the great
predators that stalked the woods and s:iiled
the skies: the grny wolf, the mountam hon.
the red-tailed ha wk. the peregrine fal<X>n.
and the golden eagle.
(continued on page S)
KATUAH · page
�Mrs. ~Jimh Shelto11 of Sevier Col/Jl/y. Tc1111cs.set with her um Olld thru daughters s1afllling in front of a giant
chest11UJ tree MJJr Trtmofl/, presently in IM Great Smoky Mountains National Park.. /"his photo was taken 111 1920.
KATUAH - page~.
AUTUMN- 1988
�"They also grew behind my house, and 011e large tree, which almost overshadowed it, was. when
in flower, a bouquet which scented the whole neighborhood, but tile squirrels and the jays got the most of
its fruit; the last coming in flocks early in the morning and picking tile nuts out of the burs before they fell.
I relinquished these trees to them and visited the more distant woods composed wholly of chestnut. These
nuts, as far as they went, were a good substitute for bread."
- Henry David Thoreau, Walden (1854)
(continued from p:1ge 3)
And high in the trees the black bears
would bend or break the branches in 1he foll
of the year to pull the sweet nuts from their
spiny husks to provide the all-imponant
calories necesary for them to survive their
winter sleep. Dead chestnu1 trees also
provided large, hollow trunks that were the
bears' preferred denning sites for a warm
winter home and a secure place for the
females to binh their cubs.
Humans came to live in the forest.
The Indians hunted Lhe animals that fed on
the chestnuts and also foraged for the nuts
themselves to store for the winter. As their
agriculture developed, chestnut bread made
of chestnuts ground into com flour and tied
in com husks to boil became a staple dish.
They also used an infusion of the chestnut
leaves medicinally 10 cure the whooping
cough.
When the white settlers came, they
valued the chestnut tree for the use they
could make of it. Most of the newcomers
were farmers, so they cleared the chestnut
ttees from their farming fields and used the
logs to build their cabins. They roofed their
small dwellings with shakes split from bolts
of chestnu1 wood. Chestnut rails and fence
posts kept their animals in the pasture. And
when the farmer died, he was buried in a
chestnut box. Because of its high tannin
content, chestnut was highly resistant to
moisture and rot when in contact with the
soil, and was known as the best coffin
wood.
1n 1914 Professor Graves spoke of
chestnut wood somewhat scornfully,
saying, "...as far as the finer, technical uses
are concerned, such as interior finish of
houses, furniture, etc., it is decidedly
second-class material because of its warping
and checking tendencies; yet it is often used
for these purposes, where 1he element of
cheapness is the chief consideration. By the
uninitia1ed, chestnut used in interior house
finish may easily be mis1aken for the more
expensive ash."
But the wood was highly valued for
its durability and was used for bridge and
mining timbers, ships' masts. railroad ties,
telegraph and, later, telephone poles. By the
cum of the century, one-quarter to one-third
of the saw timber crop in the Southern
Appalachians was chestnut wood.
It seemed that chestnut lumber was an
inexhaustible resource. After 1900,
tanneries bought 1he wood for $2.00 per
cord to extrac1 the tannic acid from the bark
and wood for leather processing. Chestnut
was also a major source of pulpwood for
the paperrnaking industry. With the chestnut
so prevalent, it did not seem was1eful 10
sacrifice millions of board feet of 1he wood
to the industrial mills.
Mountain families also counted on the
fall chestnu1 drop. It was an imponant pan
of 1heir livelihood. Hogs were allowed to
AUTUMN-19
free-range in the forest, and the family fed
on fall chestnuts in the fonn of pork roasts
and hog jowls during the wintenime. In an
interview with journalist Vic Weals of the
Knoxville Journal, John McCaulley, a
former inhabilant of Cades Cove (now pan
of the Great Smoky Mountains National
Park), spoke about this way of
stock-raising:
"In the fall we'd separate into families
and go into the mountains to 1end to our
hogs - move them along from place to place
where the chestnuts were plentiful.
"Our hogs ran wild in 1he woods.
We'd put a bell on the old sow and tum her
out, with the liller, and go see about her,
along.
"And then in the fall of the ye.ar we'd
drive !hem home just as fat as if they'd been
in the cornfield.
"The acorns hi1 in the fall, and the
chestnuts hit, and, law, it wasn't no trouble
to drive in a big herd of fa1 hogs."
Foraging for chestnuts was also an
important activity for many mountain
families. John Mccaulley said, "I saw one
time in the cabin at the bald mountain, 100
bushel of chestnuts, piled up there, and
abou1 four men packing them off, every
day. There was quite a lot of people there
gathering chestnuts then.
"There was worlds of chestnuts. I'm
a-telling you, the whole eanh'd just be black
with them ....
"The last time 1 was ever on the
mountain a-chestnut hunting, me and one of
the girls rode up there one day. We got up
there about one o'clock and we picked up
seven bushel.
''We propped them up against a ltCC
there and went back nex1 day with the mules
and carried them home. We took them 10
Knoxville and got four dollars a bushel for
them."
FaJI was the time for game hunting,
too. Every hunter knew that bear meat never
did 1as1e right until the bear had filled up on
chestnuts in the fall. Mountain families used
the chestnuts in many different ways.
For everyone and everything living in
the Appalachian forest, the chestnut tree was
an important fact of life. It was often taken
for granted simply because it was so
common, until, one day in the early I 890's,
a boat returning from a successful trading
nip 10 1he Orient docked in New York
harbor.
IV. The Destroyer
Unbeknownst to anyone, a silent,
invisible stowaway rode aboard that ship.
Nursery stock of Oriental chestnut trees that
were being imponed into the country carried
in their tissues a fungus disease later 10 be
known as Endorllia parasirica, the chestnut
blight. Oriental trees had lived with the
blight for thousands of years and had
developed an inbred resistance to the
fungus, but lhe native American trees were
highly vulnerable to the invading organism.
Observers on Long Island firs1 saw
the effects of the blight in 1893, but it was
not iden1ified until Hennan W. Merckcl,
forester at the New York ZoologicaJ
Gardens, recognized in 1904 that it was a
fungus disease which was killing the tops of
chestnut 1rees under his care. Merckel took
bark samples to Dr. A.W. Murrill of the
New York Botanical Garden, who named
the new disease and published his findings.
But Endotllia already had a headstan
on the scientists. The blight spread by 1wo
kinds of spores. 1n Lhe summer infected
cankers on the trees oozed a sticky mass of
spore material tha1 stuck to the feet of birds
and insects and was thus carried long
distances to other trees. In the winu:r clouds
of microscopic spores, like puffs of dus4
were carried by lhe winds. On landing in a
crack in the bark of a chestnut tree, the
spores grew into the wood, causing large
cankers (or swellings) on the irunk. The
cankers were visible as orange-tinted
(continued on p:ige 28)
Summary of measurements of a group of nine chestnuts in a sheltered hollow on
Noland Creek, Swain County, North Carolina
(Soll. 9ooa: upecl., 1:outhe>rly1 • levadon, 2,500
''"'I.I
Age ...•.•.........••................•.......••..•.... years .. 202
Diameter of stump, inside bark ...............•..••... inches .. 41
Average increase in diameter of stump for each decade ••... do .. 2
Increase in diameter for last ten years ................. do .. 1.1
Height ..•.•...•...•...•.............•.•........•...... feet .. 108
Length of merchantable timber ...••.•........•...........• do •. 62
Diameter, at top of merchantable timber,
inside bark .........•...........•. inches •. 21
Merchantable timber ..• - •.•..•............•....• feet B.M .•. 2,200
SOlVtt A'j(!rs.11.B. and WW. hM; The Soulhcm Appalachian Forest;
US GttJlogical Sun;ey. Pro{u1Wmal Paper No. J7 ,p 49 (1905)
KATIJAH- page 5
�RETURNING THE
AMERICAN CHESTNUT
TO THE FORESTS OF EASTERN NORTH
AMERICA
by Scott E. Schlarbaum
In the years following the infes1ation of the blight
fungus that destroyed the American chesmut tree (Castanea
dentata (Marsh.) Borkh.) throughout i1s range. developing
blight resistance in the na1ive ches1nut became a goal for
various scientific research programs in this counrry. Literally
thousands of cross-pollina1ions were made in an effon to
incorpor:ue blight resistance into the genetic background of
1he American chestnut. Native chestnut trees tha1 were
believed to be blight-resistant were crossed with each 01her
Other chestnut trees were crossed with Castanea species from
Europe, Japan, and China, as well as with the closely related
chinkapin species.
Resistance to 1he blight was greatest in hybrids
involving Asiatic chestnuts. However, 1hc poor form of 1hc
Asia1ic species was also inherited. Differences in bligh1
resisiance were detected in the American x American crosse~.
but 1he levels were so low that mos1 scientists gave up the
project as unfeasible.
Because of the largely negative results produced by
these two lines of research, most of the breeding programs to
restore the American chesmut to the eas1em forest had been
discontinued by the mid- I970's.
llowever, research on the Castanea species and on the
chestnut blight fungus (Endothia parasitica) did not stop. A
small number of plant pathologists and breeders fom1ed a
regional research project, "NE-140 Biological Improvement
of Chestnut," to continue studying the species and the
disease. This project still exists and has grown to include
representatives from seven state agricultural experiment
stations and various federal agencie~. Private organizations.
such as the American Chcstnu1 Foundation and the Roche
Institute for Molecular Biology. also arc involved in various
aspects of chestnu1 research and anend annual NE 140
1cchnical meetings. Research projects range from tr.insi1ional
breeding and plant pathology investigations to molecular
generics studies of the tree and the pathogen.
A renaissance in chestnut experimeniation came as a
result of developments in two different areas of research.
One was the discovery of trees that had been infected with
less virulent strains of 1hc chestnut blight fungus
(hypovirulcnt strains): the other was the discovery of an
unexplored breeding approach tha1 may provide the solution
for returning the American cheMnut 1rcc to its place in the
eas1em forest
The discovery of hypovirulent strains of the chestnut
bligh1 fungus has excited both 1hc scientific communi1y and
the general public (sec page this issue), A tree infected with
a hypovirulcn1 strain of the Endotllia fungus can heal and
eventually recover completely. Moreover, if spores of the
hypovirulent fungus land on or near the infection site, 1hey
can transform the virulent strain to a hypovirulcnt condi1ion,
Figure t. BRF.EDISG SCllF..\fE TO PROVL'Cf:
BLIGJl1" RESISTAXT .~ .\fERICA.\' CHESfNLfTS
Chinese
----
I11 YBRlDIZt\'flO:'ll
t
IF cF.:-;ERAno:-;I
I
----
Badcross (BC)
Bh11ht Resistant
American
Bhght Suscephblc
to
Amcm:nn Chestnut
t
!Uc:, GENERATION!
I
Snc1!n for Perltal
Rcs1slancc
Badcross Parhall\'
Rrsastant Trees
IBt
+
Gl::;>.;ERATIO:\I
I
Scrncn und
Baclccros~
t
lBC CF.NERATIQNI
I
Snecn 11ncl Cross within BC,
Crnarahon
Ir
Resistant
+
GE.'\ERATID~I
'''
Pnrli«lh Resistan1
Susrcptible
I
Screen & Select
Resistant Trees
+
Breeding Population of
Resistant Tr~'
Prepared by ProfCSD" Sclllarbaum a!icr Burnham
Gl.OSSARY:
Baduoss. C'o" betwun a hybridJ:td o/!Jf"llll o!ld MLm«r of its f'<J'tlll s~ctts
Blight rtslstane1. l11lr.trittd abif1ry to l41tlutalld blight.
Cambium .l'trtical ll1}tr 111 sttms ofplanu 011d trus 111 which trat1Sport of nu1ria1ts
occws: includes tlr.t ph/O(m alld xy/tm ltJytr!,
Canlctr. Wowul caused by dJSeaSt; infection .nit
Fplcormlt sprouts. Smalt brancht'J that cofrU' off the sidts of tht' main sum.
KATUA I · page<>
Hybrid. Cross betwu11 rwo sptc1e.s, tht olfspr111g of 14·hidi dots not necusunlJ
ahibit purt111 chvactL.nsacs.
llJpo•irultnt uss vrTult11t, l4'tilkt11td str0111 of blight
Phlotm. Stem laytr which carries org.1nic mattrial i11 plants.
S1ratificatian.C0<1/ing of ued.s to trUmic na1ival 1Hntu111g prou.u.
Xyltm. Sttm layer which carrits ..atu i11 plants.
AlHUMN- 1988
�•
.•
thereby allowing the tree to recover.
Early observation of the hypovirulent strains gave rise
to optimism that a biological control for chestnut blight had
been discovered. Unfortunately, this optimism was
premature, as infection by hypovirulent strains does not
immunize a cree, as vaccinarions do for humans. For a tree to
recover from the blight, spores of the hypovirulent strain of
Endotlzia must come into contact with each virulent canker.
There is also a question of compatibility, as there are many
varieties of the blight, and a hypovirulent strain may not
necessarily combine with a panicular virulent fonn of the
fungus.
Despite the fact that hypovirulence is not the whole
answer to the chestnut blight, extensive research is being
conducted on these variant strains. This research is providing
much-needed information on lhe biology of the chestnut
blight fungus and contributes greatly to the overall scientific
effon.
'
I
I
'
':'
I \
:
I
11
,'
The gTeatest promise for a return of the American
chestnut, however, lies with a breeding scheme commonly
used with agronomic crops. The technique was devised by
Dr. Charles Burnham, professor emerims at the University
of Minnesota and a member or the National Academy of
Science. In a survey of the scientific literature undenaken
some years ago, Dr. Burnham uncovered some clues that led
him to believe that restoration of the American chestnut might
still be possible.
Results of the early experiments had caused scientists
to believe that resistance to the blight was contr0lled by many
genes and that it was genetically linked to the low, spreading
growth form characteristic of the Oriental chestnut varieties.
In reviewing the data, Dr. Burnham came to the conclusion
that blight resistance was controlled by only one or two
genes, and he found no evidence that blight resistance and
tree form were linked together.
These realizations led him to investigate one breeding
approach that had not been fully explored: backcrossing of
hybrids to pure American chestnut stock. Professor Burnham
escima1cd chat af1er initial hybridiza1ion between American
and Chinese chestnuts, t4fee generations of backcrossing of
blight-resistant selections to American chestnut would yield
trees that were predominately American chestnut, possessing
the moderate blight resistance of the first generation Chinese
x American hybrids (see diagTam). Intercrossing of third
generation backcross trees would produce a percentage of
trees with the form of the American chestnut and the blight
resistance of lhe Chinese strain.
Currently there are a number of regional breeding
projecis following Professor Burnham's stra1egy. Even
within the same species, trees exhibit different charac1eristics
in response to different environmen1al conditions, and trees
must be bred to meet the demands of the area they are to
inhabit. Therefore, each region is developing its own
chestnut population, specifically adapted for conditions in
that region.
In the Southern Appalachian Mountains, chestnut
restoration work following Dr. Bumham's approach is being
carried out through a cooperative project formed by the
University of Tennessee with the National Park Service, the
US Forest Service Southern Region, the Tennessee Valley
Authority, the Tennessee Division of Forestry, and the
American Chestnut Foundation.
The American chestnut t.ree sprouts vigorously from
the roots and so, although the cops of the giant chestnut tree
have been destroyed, recurring root sprouts preserve the
species' genetic architecture. These sprouts can reach
reproductive maturity in the fores! Scion wood cuttings from
flowering sprouts bave been gathered by National Park
Service staff in 1he Great Smoky Mountains National Park
for grafting at the University of Tennessee. A substantial
breeding population is being accumulated. If enough grafts
flower next year. actual breeding will begin.
Unfonunately, most chestnut research programs arc
hampered by a lack of funding. It may be d1fficuh for a
(continued on page 23)
AUTUMN- 191SIS
•
•
•
. . . . . ... .. . . .
.
~ .
•
. . ..
•
•.
•.
•
•
.•
.·
..
..
•
Poem of Preser\'ation and Praise
•
•
•
•
for the /-lemlock!Canadice Watershed
•
•
•
.
•
•
•
•
•
•
by Stephen Lewandowski
.
•
•
•
•
•
...
.••.
..
..•. .
..
...
·:
•
•
•.
HERE JS THE LAND
WHERE TREES HAVE A VOTE.
WATCH HOW THEY ARE CAST.
WHITE PINE VOTES FOR CLEAN AJR.
BLACK WIUOW VOTES FOR WATER.
YOUNG POPLARS LOITERING JN A CROWD
VOTE FOR A FLOWING SPRING.
TRIBES OF CHESTNUT AND ELM
ARE SADLY DIMINISHED:
THEIR ONCE GREAT PLURAUTIES
SILENT.
SHAGBARK HICKORY VOTES
IN A HAJL OF NUTS.
SUGAR MAPLE AND BLACK CHERRY
CAST A SWEET BALLOT.
AT THE MARSH EDGE
BEECH, BIRCH. MAPLE AND ASH
GATHER TO DISCUSS ISSUES.
SCOTCH PINE PLANTATIONS VOTE
IN A BLOCK UKE A UNION.
HERE AND THERE
LONELY IDEALISTIC HEMLOCKS
HANG AGAJNST A SHADY BANK
STILL VOTING AGAINST GRA Vl7Y.
AGAJN THIS SPRING
WITH FLOWER. LEAF,
ROOT, BRANCH AND BOLE.
TREES VOTE UNANIMOUSLY
TO BASK IN SUNSHINE, TO
HOW SOIL AND DRINK WATER,
AND TO RETURN US BREATH.
.
•
."'
.
:•
·
.•
•
·
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
.•
.
.
.
..
•
•
•
.
.
·
.
•
•
•
•
:·
•
.
.
•
•
•
.
.
•
•
•
.
•
•
•
..
..
...
•
...
.....
...
•
..
•.
•.
..
.
.. ..
..
..
...
.
..
•
•
....
•
..
...
•
·:
•.
•
•
•
·:
•.
•
...
•
•
•.
•.
•.
•..
•
•
•.
•.
•
•
..
..
·:
·:
•
•
•
•
•
•
·:
•
.•
•
.
•
•
•
•
.
·•.
.
·•
.
..
..
•.
•
•..
•
•
Sttphtn Uw<Jndowsk.i is a biortgionol ~I and native of
tlu! Fingtr LaUs arta of Ntw York Sta~. lit i.f currtntly
d1smct educator with tht Ontario Counry Soil and Water
Conservation Dwrir.t. lli.f works inc/ULlt . Daohe'ko, The
•
..
..
Three Sisters an Seneca Life: lmphcauons for a Z-:auvc
Agric:uhurc an the Finger Lakes and Ten Tilousand Y~ m
Ten Mmu1c:1. a shon na1ur:il history of the Wc~tcm Finger
•
•
...
..
•
·:
•.
Lair.cs.
.
. . . . . . ..... . . .
KATUAH - page 7
--
•
...
.. .
•
�This idea is not new. It has been tried
previously, but worldwide scientific
investigations of the past 30 years have
supplied Griffin and Elkins with crucial
information their predecessors lacked.
The earliest crosses to encourage
blight resistance in ches1nuts were made by
R. B. Clapper and A. H. Graves in
Connecticut. Their approach was to develop
a hybrid between the American and the
Oriental chesmut strains that would display
the physical characteristics and vigor of the
American, while retaining 1he bligh1
resistance of the Oricn1al.
Hybrids from their first generation of
crosses were more blight resistant than 1he
American chesmut and still had reasonably
straight forest form. To further increase
resis1ance. these first genera1ion trees were
backcrossed to Japanese and Chine~e
chestnuts. Most of these seedlings grew to
favor the short, spreading "apple tree"
of the Oriental parents. From this group the
best trees were selected on the basis of their
resemblance to the American chestnut.
These hybrids were planted in a sepnr.lte
orchard to produce nuts by open pollination.
Seedlings from these experimenis and
other hybrids from later, more complicated.
crosses were planted in eastern forestlands.
The largest of these hybrid plantings was
established in the Lc:sesene State Forest in
Virginia by Richard A. Jaynes of the
Connecticut Agricultunil Experiment Station
in cooperation with the Virginia Division of
Forestry.
Eyvind Thor at the University of
Tennessee at Knoxville was the first to graft
shoots derived from mature trees surviving
in the wild. Many of the resulting t.rees were
likely to have carried some degree of blight
resistance, but Thor was hindered by the
lack of a definitive test for resisrance co the
blighc. The university deemed his work
unproductive and destroyed the nursery
after his retiremenL
The fate of Thor's trees convinced
Griffin and Elkins 10 begin the American
Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation. They
joined with Al Dietz., who had for 30 years
been working to induce mutations for blight
resistance by exposing American chestnuts
10 ionizing radiation. With the help of Bruce
Given, they were able to propagate their
large surviving trees by grafting. The ftrst
crosses were made between the most
resistant trees from lhis graf1ed stock. The
trees from these crosses are growing and
Spain, and Yugoslavia, and for centuries
were of great economic imponancc.
Thus it was wi1h dismay that growers
in Europe learned of an outbreak of the
chesrnut blight fungus (£11dothia parasitica)
in Italy in 1938. By 1950 the blight had
spread widely in ltaly and was reported in
France and other countries as well. While
the European chestnut was somewhat more
resistant to blight than itS American cousin,
it could not defend itself against the lethal
disease, and the European chestnut industry
appeared doomed. However. in 1953 an
Italian plant pathologist named Antonio
Biraghi reported seeing groves of chesmut
trees which appeared to be healing from the
blight. He found that cankers were
successfully fonning scab tissue, and that
new cankers were restricted to the bark layer
of the trees.
Jean Grente, a French mycologisl,
visited the Italian trees in 1964 and gathered
sample materials for research. He found that
there were two different stmins of the blight
fungus: one was a less virulent,
"hypovirulent," form of the original
Endorlzia strain.
Grente's most astonishing find,
however, was lhat the hypovirulencc factor
was transmissible: hypovirulent mains
could infect the virulent E11dothia and confer
the hypovirulent charJcteristics upon the
killing fungus. When he inoculated
blight-ridden trees wilh the hypovirulent
fungus, he observed tha1 the infected
cankers began to heal over, and that the
trees eventually recovered.
Gren1e began inoculatin~ infected
trees on French chestnut plantations. After
several years of continued inoculation
wherever blight cankers appeared, he found
that the hypovirulent blight had begun to
spread naturally throughout the groves
where it had been applied. The European
chestnut industry was thus saved from
extinction.
Reports of a possible biological
control of the chestnut blight in Europe
caused great excitement in Nonh America.
Research was begun and still continues at
Michigan State University. West Virilinia
University, the Connecticut Agricullural
Experiment Station, and the Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University in
Blacksburg, Virginia.
The excitement increased when in
ronn
Woodcut by Rollo
CONTINUING THE QUEST
by Lucille Griffin
"It is Ml beyond the grasp of science
to restore the American chestnra to
economic importance. It corild be
accomplished within the next 50 years."
• Prof. Cary Griffin
A new breeding program is
a11empting to develop a bligh1-resistan1
American chesmut by combining 1he genes
from several large survivors of the
devastation of the chesmut bligh1 fungus
which swept through the eastern United
Suues during the firs1 hnlf of 1his century
and killed 99.9% of the species.
Surviving American chestnut trees
have been found in Ohio, West Virginia.
and Virginia in spite of 50 years' assault by
the blight. Gary Griffin a1 Virginia
Polytechnic Institute and State University
and John Elkins of Concord College, West
Virginia. have saved genetic material from
HYPOVIRULENCE
European chesmut 1rees (Castanea
sativa Mill.) were found growing near the
Black Sea and were introduced into Europe
by the Romans. They were planted widely
in Europe, paniculnrly in Italy, France,
• KA TV.~~-l - page 8
these large survivors as scion wood to be
grafted onto other rootstocks.
When they flower, the grafted trees
are tested for possible resistance to the
chestnut blight. They are then handpollinated to combine and possibly increase
in their offspring any blight resistance that
their parent trees may possess. By
developing blight resistance in this way
through several generations of genetic
crosses, the scientists hope to develop a
fully blight resistant American chestnut tree.
~U"ft.JMN •
!988
�awaiting tests for blight resistance.
Besides lacking a reliable screen for
blight resistance, Clapper, Thor, and the
other early researchers knew nothing of a
weakened strain of the blight fungus (called
hypoviruient), which was not identified in
this country until 1977. They also did not
know co assess the role of the environment,
which sometimes enhanced tree survival.
Thus, the effects of nature intervening on
behalf of certain American chestnut trees
were often wrongly identified as indications
of natural, and therefore heritable, blight
resistance. Accordingly, selections made in
earlier breeding trials were often mistaken,
and doomed the success of those early
programs.
The development of an observational
index 10 blight resistance by Griffin was a
significant contriburion to chestnut research.
The test is simple. One year after inoculating
a tree with virulent Endothia parasi1ica, the
vertical length of the cankers is measured
and factored by the percent of cankers
reaching the tree's vascular cambium layer
underneath the bark. This gives a shorthand
"canker severity index" thac has proven to
be a valuable shortcut 10 determining the
mosi likely breeding stock. This test has
helped to determine why a few large
American chestnuts still survive in the
Southern Appalachians: some arc living
mainly because of the effects of the
hypovirulent fungus; a few because of some
degree of herirnble blight resistance; and
many because of a combination of these
factors. in addition to
environmental
advantages.
At Concord, Elkins developed a
chemical test for blight resistance in Chinese
chestnuts through analysis of the tannins.
He is now working on a similar screen for
the American chestnut. based on enzymatic
analysis. Such a test would greatly improve
breeding efficiency by further shortening the
interval between planting and selecting from
each generation.
Offspring trees from lhe American
Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation breeding
program are growing in the Manin
American Chestnut Planting on Salt Pond
Mountain, Virginia, and at Beckley, West
Virginia. Planted in 1982, they represent
the first generation produced by combining
the genes of resistant American parents.
Some may already have resistance levels
adequate for planting in orch:ird or y:ird. By
testing and selecting among them through
several more generations of controlled
crosses, as much blight resistance as
possible will be loaded into the American
chestnut. If all goes as predicted, 1rees
resulting from this carefully directed
breeding program will be fit to compete
once again for a niche in our eas1em
hardwood foresLS.
calculate it with certainty, scientists decline
to set a definite deadline, but they do offer a
few hints.
From germination, it takes the
American chestnut an avCr:lge of ten years to
bear nuts, though grafting may reduce that
time period by three to live years. Chestnut
1rees usually reach large sawlog size in 50 to
55 years. but very favorable growmg
conditions can shorten this estilllllte by as
much as JO yeats. Gary and John, both
about 50, expect to see blight-resistant
American chestnut trees growing in
Appalachia. They believe our grandchildren
will see JOO-foot chestnut trees once again
dominating the eastern forest.
1976 Mrs. Priscilla Johnson of Rockford.
Michigan. found what she thought 10 be
hypovirulent blight on trees in her town.
Scientists in Connecticut confirmed that she
had indeed found a naturally-occurring
hypovirulent Endothia strain on the Nonh
American continent. Jn the ~ame year
hypovirulent strains were discovered on
wild chestnut trees in Virginia.
A research team at Michigan State
University led by Dennis W. Fulbright also
reported the encouraging news that
hypovirulent strains of the blight were
spreading among infected groves of old
chestnut trees in Michigan.
But the hopeful ~igns in :Vlichig:in
occurred in an ecological vacuum: outside
the irec's natural range. Experiments to test
the hypovirulent £mlothia as a biological
control for lhe blight within the chestnui's
natural range proved discouraging. First.
researchers found Lhat the varieties or the
native strain of the parasite were many and
diverse. Thcv found that in order for a
hypovirulent" fungus to modify a leth.11
strain, the two must be compatible, or the
hypovirulcnt fungus will have no effect.
They were also disappointed to learn
that applied hypovirulcnt E11do1Jria also
offered no lasting cure. llypovirulence is
caused by a virus-like factor in the
cytoplasm of the weakened strain. a
"disease of the disease," in a sense. Because
lhe hypovirulent facto~ are transferred from
one form of the blight 10 the other, the
hypovirulent strain must come in contact
with each infected canker. Trees do not
acquire immunity from contact with the
hypovirulent blight.
New evidence also andic:ucs that the
hypoviruleot blight is not always :;table and
may rcven back to the v1rulen1 fom1.
II appears th:u biological control of
the chcsmut blight in Appalachia, "'here
Endothia has been running rampant for 50
years. 1s much more complicated a
proposition than it was in Europe. Scientist!>
pursuing this line of research are now
grappling with the questions of how much
of a reservoir of hypovirulcm £11dmh1a and
how many different forms of the ~train
would be necessary to actually hope for any
control in lhe field.
Environmental factors must also be
considered. Young chestnut sprouts or
seedlings in a forest seuing must compeLe
with other tree spt'Cics as well as fend off
the blighL
Just like the sprouting chestnut t.ree
itself, however, hope for finding an
effective strain of hypovirulcnt E11dothia is
<>till alive. Besides being seen on \\ild
chestnut sprouts in Appalachia.
naturally-occurring hypovirulence has also
been found on a plantation of trees planted
for rcse:m:h purposes in Maryland. The
trees with the weakened blight arc
apparently recovering.
More reason for hope comes from 11
planting of chestnut trees in Connecticut.
Treated with a mixture of hypovirulent
fungus strains ten years ago, the
experiment w.is later declared n failure, and
the trees were left for dead Recently.
however, the disease has appeared to have
gone "into rcmii.~ion." Old cankers arc
healing over. and new ones arc le;;s severe.
Dr. Jack Elliston and hls team arc working
to find out .... hy.
Biological control of the chestnut
blight in Appalachia is ndmittcdly :i long
shot, but some fair day it might be a p:in ot
the program that restores the American
chestnut tree to the eastern foresL ~
AUTIJMN · 1988
Living Chestnut Tree in Flc>yd Co.. VA
How long will it take? Will we get to
see lhe really big trees? Because they cannOI
KATUAH • page 9
�FORESTS AND WILDLIFE
EIGHTY YEARS IN THE APPALACHIAN WOODLANDS
by Taylor Crockett
Taylor Crockett was brought up
in Black Mountain, North Carolina, the
son of a Presbyterian minister. His
father was ofren gone, raising money
for the church, and young Taylor fell in
with an old-timer who trapped, and
hunted herbs and semi- precious stones.
Taylor <kdares that hunting was
"in his nature." During the 1930's, after
his family moved 10 Macon County,
North Carolina, the young man would
go ow hunting and fishing for several
days at a rime in between logging jobs.
Sometimes he would carry a blanker
with him; other times he would simply
crawl into a "dry holler" with his dogs
and pile old leaves high over the whole
group of them to keep warm for the
nighJ.
In those days, when he was
''young and i"esponsible," he traveled
the whole te"itory from Wayah Bald to
the head of the Na111ahola River. The
general belief was that the bears had
been exterminated in that area, but
Taylor explored places where other
people never went, and he occasionally
saw bear sign.
"For years," he says, "I had the
only pack of bear dogs in Macon
County." He has always favored the
Pion lwwul.
In 1971 afrie11d gave Taylor a
.44 Magnum pistol, and he used it for
tlie rest of his Juuuing career, because it
was easier 10 carry through the laurel
thickets than his old .44 Winchester
CtJTbine.
Taylor and his wife live in a log
cabin half-buried in additioru in the
Carroogechaye Commw1ity south of
Franklin, North Carolina. He was 81
years old on August 4, 1988. Perhaps
that is why he noticed when he went om
bear hunting last year that lie "could11'1
keep up with the dogs the way I used
lO."
-The Editors
This pholograpli ap~ar~d in The American Lumberm111 shortly afltr IM turn ofIM u111ury.
When the white settlers first came into
this country, the mountains were covered by
great, open forests. 1 moved 10 Macon
County in 1928 and, when I arrived here,
there was still a lot of virgin forest left.
Half of the Nantahala River watershed was
still virgin forest at that time.
The carrying capacity of the forest
was much greater at that lime than it is now.
Under the conditions of the climax forest
then: was a lot more sunlighr., and the
woods were opened up so that certain
grasses and weeds could grow under 1he
1rees. There was oak grass and wild
legumes, like pcavine and beggar Lice, that
kepi 1he animals fat. IJigh-bush blueberries
and blackberries would grow in the
openings where one of the big trees had
died :ind fallen out of the crown.
Mast was plentiful al that lime as
chesmut. Some high coves I have seen were
half chesmu1 and the rest would be a mixed
stand of oak, (yellow) poplar, and cherry.
These were big, rich coves with a good
s1and of timber.
ln the old days when the wl'llte people
first came here, there were a 101 of bear, and
the settlers had to thin 1hem down, if they
wanted to plan1 any com or raise any
livestock.
In those times the way they raised
lives1ock was to mark them and let them
free-range in the open woods. They hunted
bear partly for meat, partly for spon, and
panly for self-preservation. because one
bear could kilJ several sheep or a calf or a
hog in one nigh1. Not every bear did that,
but stock would be missing every now and
then.
I was talking with an old couple by
well. Probably 20 perceni of the forest was
the name of Phillips, inquiring about the
KATUAH .- page 10 .. •
history of the Plou dog breed. They told me
that their father had come over from
Haywood County and had brought his Plou
hounds with him. They said that in the
summer their father would trap bear, and
then in the fall, when the weather got colder
and the bears got fat and fit to eat, their
father would take up the traps and hunt the
bears with dogs. Hunting the bears so much
exterminated them everywhere except for
the roughest, most isloatcd pockets of land.
In those days people virtually
replaced the native wildlife with caule,
hogs, and sheep. As the Forest Service
began taking over in the l 920's, they
instituted a "stock law," which said that a
farmer had 10 fence in his fields and that
livestock could run loose in the woods.
But fewer and fewer people were
depending on the open range, and finally a
law was pru;scd that said that the livestock
AUTUMN- I
�The most critical changes affecting wildlife today are
the result of clearcutting. In the next 25 years clearcutting
is going to have a devastating effect on our wildlife.
had to be fenced in.
By that time most people thought that
the bears had been completely exterminated,
but I spent a 101 of time out there, and I
knew better. I used to like to stan up Mill
Creek, go out Old Bald, down to Wine
Spring, over to White Oak, and come back
out by Silcr's Bald and down. I would take
off two, three, maybe four days, whatever I
felt like. 10 fish and hunt. J spent a 101 of
time in the upper reaches of the Nantahala
River. Those thickets are rough up there,
and once in a while I would see some bear
sign. Nobody else knew about il, because
nobody else went out there. Even the game
warden said, "No, there's not a bear in
these mountains."
But in the '30's when the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park was
created, the bear started coming back. The
population was back up to a pretty good
level a decade ago, but it has been
overhunted in the last five years-"ovcrkilling the increase," as they say. h's
getting hard to find country to hunt over
here. There are too many hunters for the
mountain territory.
Hunting appeals to 3I1 inherited streak
that has been passed down from when we
were nearly wild animals ourselves.
Hunting b an outlet for that thing that's in
our nature. Of course in earlier days there
was a reasonable excuse for wanting to kill
bears, because they threatened the people's
way of living. That's not the case anymore.
But any time a specie:; of wildlife has only a
limited area in which the population can
expand, they have 10 be kept under control,
or their numbers will get out of hand, and
they will starve or do the environment harm.
Hunting is the best method, unless it is
overdone.
Hunting bears the old-time way made
for a good contest. An ordinary man
wouldn't get a bear every time. A man had
, to be physically fit and willing to hang with
it. h was a good contest. With these roads
and thc:-.c walkie-talkies, it':-. not such a
good contest anymore.
I remember a bear they killed last year
across the Glade Gap. That bear had run
from way over on Tusquitec, across the
mountain, and he was home free, except
that a man in a truck saw him crossing the
road. He got on that walkie-talkie, reached
those men on the hunt, and told them where
the bear was. They drove all the wav
around, about 15 miles, put some more
dogs on the track and eventually killed th:u
bear. That':. ju't not giving the bear a
chance.
What appeab to me now is the dogs'
pcrfom1am:e. A good bear dog puts his life
at risk all the time. If he is going 10 slop that
bear for you, he has 10 be constantly in and
out. He pinches the bear, and he dodges.
h's a satisfaction 10 see a dog 1ha1 really
does 1he work. The contest of finding a
bear. of hunting him, and watching the dogs
perform is what appeals to me. I don't care
about killing a bear anymore. 1 wan1 most of
mine to get away. But once in awhile you
have to get some blood for your dogs, or
they'll wonder what i1's all about.
I've noticed that when I was younger
and able to follow my dogs close enough
that they could sense my presence, they
worked a 101 harder. They knew somebody
was behind them backing them up. Even
today, the more successful hunters will be
the young fellows who follow their dogs up
close.
The most critical changes affecting
wildlife today are the result of clearcuuing.
In the next 25 years clearcutting is going to
have a devastating effect on our wildlife.
h's a cumulative effect. For the first few
years clcarcuts provide more deer browse,
and insects will be there for the turkey and
grouse. But when those saplings get up
10-15 feet high, and they arc as thick as
they can grow, lhey shade out all the early
succession plants, and thereafter that area is
of very little wonh for wildlife. It remains
that way for years and years. until the uccs
get large and old age thins the forest out
naturally. But the Forest Service docs not let
that happen. Under the even-aged
management system, af1er 60-80 years they
come back and clearcut it again.
Clcarcuuing is also creating an
imbalance in the timber species. When the
chestnut died out, it opened up large spaces
for sunlight to hil the forest noor, and, if it
was a good, rich cove, this was an ideal
situation for poplar 10 grow. The result was
a 101 of young poplar thickets.
Poplar is a fas1-growing tree and a
good umber species, but it is not the same
as oak or chestnut. Poplar will not suppon
much wildlife. A boomer (red squirrel) or a
gray squirrel might eat some poplar seed.
but the main value of poplar for wildlife is
that wherever poplar comes up. grapevines
come up with it. Wild grapes arc a wry fine
fall wildlife food; everything likes them. But
they will not suppon the amount of wildlife
th:ll a good mast crop will.
Poplar is replacing oak, because it
grows faster. Clearcuts arc creating
conditions that favor the poplar. The Forest
Service admi1s we are losing our oak trees,
but they are continuing the policy that i~
responsible for the loss. In fact. if they had
tried 10 think up the best way 10 replace
stands of large oak timber with birch. red
m.1ple, and poplar, they could not ha"c done
better than what they nrc doing right now.
None of those types of wood serve the same
purposes as oak timber. The oak tree has
some uses the other woods cannot fill.
Poplar doesn't grow as fast on the
poorer ridges. and these would stay in oak
after clearcuuing. but the Forest Service is
replanting these ridges in \\-hite pine. That is
a poor policy. One hundred board feet of
oak is wonh twice as much as 100 board
feet of white pine. Of course, white pine
grows a 101 foster, but while the white pine
is making fiber, the oak tree will be
furnishing wildlife food and a valuable
timber.
The F0Tcs1 Service is also putting
roads through the last territory in which the
bears can find a little isolation and
pro1cc11on. Because of the roughness of the
terrain, those areas were natural sanctuaries,
but now those areas arc being laced with
gravel roads. With tha1 kind of access and
radios and radio-tracking collars on the
dogs, it is going to be more than the bears
can stand.
Some hunters want the roads open,
but a 101 of hunters have learned. When the
Forest Service first put the gates up with
locks on them, the hunters would shoot off
the locks and go in anyhow. They could
ride the roads in their jeeps and lei lhe dogs
trot along, and 11 was easy hunting. But they
found Out lhat after tWO Or three years Of
that, they could ride around there all night
and never sec a bear. That was when they
decided that they would rather have it a little
harder and have some game ro hunt for. So
now, while not aJI hunters are reconciled to
closing the roads, a 101 of them are.
Even when it is gated, a graveled road
gives more a'-ccss. Two years ago I got a
bear over here 1n Macon County on a new
gravel road. Before, ii was all I could do to
get through that area with just two dogs; I
couldn't go one·third as far in a day, so that
gave the bear some protection. That extra
access, even if it i:. on foot. is huning the
bear, and there nrc rm.ny miles or :idditional
acces). The Forest Service is essentially
nuking a tree farm out of our wood.\.
Small clcarcuts here and there would
be alnght. But clcarcutting at the rate of
10.000 acres per year, the way we arc now,
is going to result in a young forest that will
not suppon the numbers of wildlife that 1he
forest should. Because of both the densi1y
and the species make-up, the forest is not
going to support the game that it has in the
past.
KA TIJMI, page 11
�Gift of the Chestnut
by Kim Sandland
On a sultty July evening, my back
weary from hoeing and weeding, strands
of hair sticky-plastered down my neck, I
dreamily anticipate snowboot puddles on lhe
kitchen floor, a robe of snuggledown, and
the simmering sweet smell of summer's
preserved fruits wafting in from the kitchen.
Cooking! Cooking is the last thing
on my mind in summer .... or is it?
Rummaging through the freezer I find it at
la.st: one of winter's favorite memories- that
la.st bag of chestnuts gleaned from a friend's
Cherryville farm. I'm not lucky enough yet
to gather my own, but as I chop a cupful of
the fragram nuts, steamed tender and ready
for sau!Cing in butter and brown sugar (or
my favorite, maple sugar... and, yes, I add
a liule rum to mine). and savor the
anticipation of winier and winter foods, I
know I will gather chestnuts from my own
tree someday.
Someday soon, it looks like. Parts
of the nation are nunuring a growing
chestnut agriculture with natives or with
blighc-resistant hybrids of the once
magnificent American chestnut tree. That
chestnuts were once a staple in the diets of
wildlife and humans in the Southern
Appalachians is undisputed. The notes of
early scientists and settlers, some as early
as the 16th century, include chestnuts
among the foods of native Americans.
Among nut crops, gathered in the fall by
Indians throughout the Southeast and dried
for storage, the chestnut was the most
important, followed by chinquapins (a small
variety of the chestnut), pecans, hickory
nuts, and walnuts. Mooney's collected field
notes of the late l800's related how the
Cherokee burned the forcSlS in the fall to
clear the leaves and expose the chestnuts
when they dropped to the ground as the
burs split apart.
Chestnut bread, made by adding
chopped chesrnuts to a com batter,
wrapping pauies of dough in com shucks
and boiling them in water, and eaten fresh
or sun-dryed for storage, was a delicacy for
the Indians of the Southeast. This recipe
and the value of gathering from the
seemingly limitless bounty of plant and
animal foods were passed along by natives
to early settlers. Gathered chestnuts were
used as a form of exchange by early
Americans. The people of the Southern
Appalachians. for whom chestnuts had been
a plentiful staple, were especially hard-hit
by the chestnut blight. Some of our elders
living today may yet remember buying hot
roasted chestnuts from streetcomer vendors,
gathering chestnuts for the campfire roast,
or enjoying grandmother's Thanksgiving
stuffing.
KA UAll - page 12
Chestnuts can return to Appalachia
as an agricultural crop. Chestnut agriculture
flourishes in Europe and in the Orient,
where blight resistance has evolved or has
been successfully introduced. Chestnuts
have been cultivated in the Orient for
thousands of years, and chestnut orchards
on the Mediterranean island of Corsica, for
example, produce an average of more than
3,000 lbs. per acre. J.R. Smith, in his
book Tree Crops, compared this yield to
that of com in the Southern Appalachians:
"Yields of corn in Appalachia and of
chestnuts on European mountainsides are
about the same in quantity, but the corn
yield can be made only occasionally and for
a short period of time before erosion
destroys the field. Chestnut yields on and
on and holds in place the ground it feeds
on."
Corsicans, Smith noted, consume
chestnut bread instead of com bread, and
feed farm animals with dried chestnuts. A
rich chestnut stew , he said, has been a
basic dish for the common people
throughout Europe for centuries, while the
wealthy have served it in pates and sugary
dessens. In Corsica "one-third of a farm is
in grafted chesrnut with a byproduct of
wood; one-third of the farm is in tilled
fields; one-third is in pasture and hay
meadows."
The chestnut ttee, a proven high
producer, is also fast-growing, maturing to
bear fruit in only three to five years. It
could be an imponant family food resource
on any Appalachian homestead and replace
annual crops on at least a ponion of the
acreage of every mountain farm. Retail
prices of chestnuts run up to $6.00/lb.,
while wholesale prices run $1.00-3.00/lb..
Averaging 3,000 lbs. an acre, the income
potential for farmers is evidem. Twenty
million dollars wonh of chestnuts are
imported from orchards in Italy, France,
and Korea by the United States ever year .
Chestnut orchards are established in
the Pacific Northwest, where the climate
and growing conditions suit the species, and
where the blight has not spread from the
east. With the introduction of
blight-resistant hybrids, the same could
happen in Katuah, an area where the
chestnut once reigned over all flora.
The chestnut is an ideally balanced
source of nutrition: high in carbohydrates,
moderate in protein, and low in fat.
Nutritionally, chestnuts resemble a staple
grain and occupy that place in traditional
diets. Michael S. Burnell, in an article in
the journal Chestn11rworks, entitled "The
Grain that Grows on a Tree," reveals that an
almond contains three times as much fat as
protein, while a chestnut has three times as
much protein as fat. Chestnuts compare
favorably to brown rice in nutritional
components in government studies, yet
brown rice has over 100 times as much
sodium as chestnuts. Chestnuts contain an
optimal amount of three of the essential
amino acids (the components of protein)
needed for adequate daily nutrition, and,
gram for gram, provide more protein value
than eggs. Chestnuts have the added
advantage of containing no cholesterol.
Chestnuts must be cooked to be
palatable (raw, they produce intestinal gas).
They can be boiled or steamed until tender,
then sauteed in buner and served by
themselves or in a variety of combinations.
They can be roasted in their shells in the
oven or fireplace (the flat side is slit,
traditionally in an "x," so they won't
explode). They can be boiled in a syrup and
baked in a sugar coating for an unsurpassed
confection.
Yesterday at my house we had a
sliced chestnut-and-squash casserole, and
today we had fresh blackberry and chestnut
cobbler--the last of my winter stock. l
happily visualize that glorious spreading tree
in my pasture, only a few years from now,
and already taste the fruits of my own
gathering.
AUTUMN - 1988
�Essential Alnico Acid Content
<1119 ot amino acid per
9~
ot proteinl
l\!Di no Acid
Che;stnut
.I.deA.l.
Trypt.ophao
Lysine
Sulphurcontaining
amino acids
Isoleucine
11.67
54.29
51
11
50.24
37.38
26
42
106
106
193
89
Chestnut Stuffing
2 lbs chestnUIS, cooktd and sieved
J cup dicttl apples
1cup grruttl carrot
J12 cup m.elttd bu11er
smsoning
do.sh paprika
I cup dictd cekry
2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
Native American Chestnut Bread
112 cup chopped onion
2 rblsp. chopped parsley
thyme, marjoram. and rosemary, if
tksired
Mix all together. Stuff turkey or pumpkin or
MAJOR NUTRITIONAL COMPONENTS
squash. eu:.
Sh.elf and put one lb. of chestnuts Chop finely or
mash. Add e110ugh cornmeal to hold chtstnws
togtthu, mixing ch.estnJAJS and cornmeal with
boiling water Wrap in gru11 corn shucks, tying
each one with white twine. Pfau in pot ofboilillg
water and cook IWO /tours. Saft when ea11ng, if
dWed.
CHESTNUT CAKES
CHESTNUT
ALMOND
50\ Carbohydrate
5-10\ Protein
1-5\ Fats and Oils
20\ Carbohydrate
18\ Protein
50\ Fat.
Thue may be se~d in ploct ofpow.tots:
To one lb. of mashed, cooUd cht.rtnws, odd OM
tbsp. cooud, chopptd onion; one oz. bw1u. and o
beOlen egg. Mix thoroughly and shape into colts.
COOi with egg and brtodcrumbs and fry until goldtn
brown. Drarn and ~rve with parsley.
114 cup bUlttr
314 cup dark corn syrup
2 cups coolced rice
2 cups peeled chestnuJs
I cup toastttl bread c~
I cup celery, chop(J(d
J cup onion, chopped
2 tbsp. Uimari soy souce
1 112 tsp. poultry seOSQning or sage
I 112 cup mil/cor cream (can be nut or soy}
Sauti onion, celery, bread cubes, and chestnuts
Ughlly. Combine with rest of ingrttlitlllS and boke
at 3500 for JO min
Northpon, WA 99157
<Doug/cw h)brids and other varieties)
qntJ SttdliJigs}
1 tsp. vaniffa
2 cups boikd and grated or ground chest/IUts
213 cup sugar
:J eggs btoten
1 singte·laycr pie shell
Chestnut-Brown Rice Loaf
Bear Creek Nuisery
P.O. Box 411
Chcs1nu1 Hill Nursery, Inc,
Rt. 3, Box U,7
Alochua, Fl. 32615
(Dunston hybrids and othLr blighz.resisJont grafts
CHESTNUT PIE
Recipes
Chestnut Trees for the Orchs rd:
Enrl Douglass
Red Creek. NY 13143
(ChintSe·Amtritxur hybrid sud and settllings}
Reading Resources:
PreheOI oven to 45<fJ. Cream butlu and sugar
togtthLr until flllffy; odd corn syrup, eggs. and
vanilla. Lint pit plate with pastry and sprinkle with
chestnuts. Top with beaten ingredit!llts. Salce/or JO
mm.; reduct MOl lO 3500 and baJce 35 min. fongtr,
or until a knife inserted in th.ti ctntu COlnl!S oui
clean. Mok.es orre 8" pie.
Nw Tru Culture in North America, edited
by Richard A. Joynes and published by lhe Nonhem
Nut Growcis' Associauon. They say it is "the most
complete boolc on Nonh American nut ttetS ever
wriuen; and lhis is true. ($17.SO from NNGA;
Brolceo Anow Road: Hamden. CT 06518)
The thru recipu above au from the
Victorian Nui Growers Associa1ion Recipe Book;
Mtfbourrre. Australia.
Alf the above recipes were reprinted in
Ch~mutworks and gleaned with pemussion.
Trtt Crops: A Permanent Agriculture, by J.
Russell Sm11h. Even though some of bis
tnformalion is outdated. Smith's book is worth
reading for his thoushtS on lrCt$ as food.producing
crops.
·Lynn Fain:hild
Chestnut Muffins
2 cups shelled, coolced chtstnJAJS
112 cup flour
1 tsp. hoking powder
l tsp. so.It
112 cupmil/c
2 egg )'01/c.s, beaten
2 egg whites, beoten
Purie the chtstnurs 111 blender; odd remoinillg
ingredients. carefully folding in the well-baJtn egg
whites lost Dalee ill muffin po11 in 3500 o~n for
15·20min.
• {romS1 . F1ancU\>ilk WommrClub
CooAbool<; SI Froncisvilk, 11/mois
DraW1ngs by Kim Sandland
AUTUMN· 1988
KATUAH • p;1ge I
�FROM THE ROOTS:
GETIING INVOLVED IN CHESTNUT RESTORATION WORK
START......... .
SAVE ..........
A CHESTNUT TREE!
ll will require a widespread
grassroots ("treeroots") effort by the people
of Appalachia if the magnificent American
chesl.llut tree is to once again become a
viable species in the orchards and forests of
our mountain land. The time to st.an is now!
People who intend to be serious
caretakers may request chestnut seeds from
the American Chestnut Cooperators
Foundation (see address under
"Organi7.ations," p 16.
Other sources for American chestnut
seed and seedlings are listed at the end of
this an:icle. Hybrid trees and foreign strains
for orchard plantings are available from the
nurseries listed on page 13.
The several chestnut restoration
organizatio11s listed need your help. Some
suggestions on how to support them are
given.
Or, find several chestnut sprouts
growing near each other in the woods,
release them (clear around them), and care
for them. These trees still carry the original
chestnut gene pattern, and, if they can be
brought to bear, will make a valuable
contribution to the species' gene pool.
paper towels will do. Be sure 10 leave lhe bag open
or lO punch plenty of air holes in ii Pu1 the nuLS
1mmediatcly in a cooler or refrigerator (32-400 is
best). Do no1 freeu. The vegetable crisper is an
idc:ll spoL Keep the seeds in this environmen1 for
abou1 two monlhs in order 10 siroufy them. Check
lhem often, and do not let them dry out.
• Source. American Chestnut Revival
Planting and Protection
IC possible, plant your nulS directly in their
permanent site and avoid transplanting, which is
very fussy work and always sclS back seedling
growth. ChestnulS prefer moderately acid, sandy
loam soil and sunshine and require a well-dr:uned
location. For maximum protection from frost, plnn1
on high ground on sloping land. Avoid known frost
pockets and wet spots. At least two trees arc
necessary to pollinate nuts, and they should be no
more than 200 feet opan for efficient pollination.
The nuts, sprouts, and young uees must be
protcctcd from animals. Squirrels, chipmunks, and
mice cat the seeds and young sprouLS. Mice and
Care and Maintenance
of Chestnut Trees
Handling and Storing Nuts
The time lO collect nuts is after frosl in late
September and early October. Remember. chestnut
l1US are self-sterile, so lhey w1U DOl produce viable
nut~. unless there is another tree nearby 10 pollil13lc
them.
The best straregy is 10 plan1 the nuts in the
fall, when they would drop nmurally. This avoids
the need for str.Uilication. (StratJlication meat\S to
pass the seeds through a cold, donnnnt period of two
months or more to s1imula1e the seeds 10
gcnninatc.)
If you purchase seeds or need to Store them,
ii is imporuint never to le1 lhe nuts dry ouL Drying
kills the germ. Newly obl:llncd nutS should always
be kept in a mois1 (no1 wet) contamer tha1 can
breathe. A iiplock bag with moist peal moss or
chipmunks gnaw the roots, and rabbits enjoy the
young stalks. Deer nibble the new growth and rub
agGinst the trunks or saplings.
The "tin can plnnling method" de1ers early
underground rodent damage. Remove the top from a
soup, beer, oil or similar-si7.cd can. Cut a hole one
mch m diame1cr in the other end; cover with one
inch of soi I: ploce the chestnut on us side, then fill
lhe res1 of the can with soil. Plant the can upside
down, with the one·mch hole ru ground level. To
preven1 the can from girdling the esublished
seedling, check to be sure iron cans have rusted
through: aluminum cans must be cut and removed
once the seedhng is well-established. Young t.rces
should be proieclt.d with plastic lJ'Ce guards availnble
at nurseries.
Rat trops baited with dry prunes or nulS IJed
to the !rigger will caich squirrels and chipmunks.
r'CllCing is always a good idea. If a nursery
bed is to be used, fence around the prepared soil wilh
1/4-inch mesh screen that cxiends 6" to 12" below
the surface lO prevent 1unnclling by mice and
chipmunks. Individual seedlings can be protecled
from deer rubs with wire fencing auached lO stakes
abou1 a fool from the 1rce. An eight foot fcnc~
aroWld the yard or orclwd will keep ou1 deer.
Less cxpcnsi ve than the big fence are the
many deer repellants on the llllll'ket, which de1er by
tasie, smell. to0ch, or all three. Consult your local
nursery people. However, repellants must be
re-applied aftcr each rainfall. For older seedlings. ooe
of our coopcr310rs in Georgia reports tha1 hanging
mesh b:lgs (like those in which citrus and onions me
sold) full of human hair (barbershop sweepings)
every three or four trees is an efTcctJve detcrrenL VA
Tech Exlension recommends using a cake of
Lifebuoy soap in the same way.
Mulching protccts the young plants from
extremes of heat, cold, and droughl and from weed
competition. Mulch should be pushed b.1ck from the
trunk during winter, so tha1 rodents will not hve
there and nibble lhc IJ'CC.
If one wi~cs 10 stnn the seeds in a protcetcd
si1uation, Dr. Collin McKeen of Ottawa, Ontario,
Canada has reported good germination results from
American ches1nu1s planted about two lO three
weeks aftcr hn.rvcs1 in a topless cold frame bu1l1
against the brick foundntion on the south side of his
house. The box was aboul four feet by four feet and
stood 1wo feet above the soil level. 'The soil was a
sandy loam mix. Seed nuts were laid on their sides
on the soil and covered with a mulch or rolled
leaves. A wire screen was fitted over the top to keep
out animals.
uanting from Our MistakLs
Th4 photo shows an U.co"ectly applied soil comprtss. The tree is an American chestnw trtt that was about
ltn years old in 1987 w~ the pMlO was talcen. The tret belongs to Mrs. Barbara Suman ofCt:nJre Island, Oyster
Bay, NY WM is pading UJro soil aroWld the base of the largtsl of three soil compresstS, which wert! securt:d over
the silts of blight outbrtak.
This /Tu is now dying from the bligh1. The first error is that this particular soil compress was applied Ont!
year 100 late. The trtt was already ~d......in applyillg the compress. hawtvu, tlie two lowest limbs should havt
bun cut away tnlirely and burned. The uwnk sMuld thln have /Ken covered with one large compress from ground
ltvel "' ont foot above the highest infection silt.
Although this porticuku ca# was a failure, it was a valuoblt tdut:ation in MW to apply the soil compress
correctly that has sub~quently hllped w greatly.
• from Lucille Griffin
.
. .
KATIJAH - page I
AUTUMN· 1988
�Drawing by M. Tree
Transplantin2
Unless con~lanl ~urvcillance is possible. or
lhe seedling is a precocious grower (20" or more m
!he first year), it is best IO wall until seedlings arc
two y~ old before moving lhcm Crom I.he nursery
to the permnnen1 site. Transplant them when I.he
seedling is donnant (no leaves) • in the fall or the
spring in the soulh, but only in lhe ~ring in the
north. The chestnut has a large tap root • e:inra care
must be taken not to injure it becau.~ this inJury is
life· th~tcning to the b'Ce.
Proper handling is important. Seedlings
should be planted as soon as possible. Purchased
seedlings should be SIOrcd in a cool pbce out or
sunlight The rootS .J\ould be wroppcd in sphagnum
moss and always kCPI moist. but not soaking wet.
If lhc objective is rcfon:station or growing
trees for wOO<I production, tr.1nspllln1 seedlings at 10
Coot intervals (435/acre). IC lhe object of plllnting is
nut prodllCtion for humans or animals, plant the
U'CCS at 2S foot inlCJ'Vl1ls (70/acn:) with the inicntion
or removing every other tree (for sale as a specialty
wood) when the crowns begin to touch.
Do not plant the uus f urtller than 200 feel
apatl, as this will limit pollination.
Review irisb'UCtions for pro1CCtion.
Cart ofTransplanttd
Chestnut Setdlin~
ChestnutS do not requite a rich soil, but lhe
R111jor nutricntS should be balanced. However, the
nut crop w1U be beucr and the nut size lnrger lf the
tree is growing on deep, fcnile soil. Fertilizing
should no1 begin unul lhc second yw after a tree is
planted. On poor soil apply an organic fcrtihzmg
rru:ictun: or one pound of S· IO·S per year of tree age
or per inch of tree trunk. diamc1tt.
Water the same as you would garden crops.
Keep grasses and weeds outside a two foot
radius around !he ~ling~ by cultivaung or
mulching for at lea.'11 five years.
Cbesfnul Blight
'The fungus Endothia parasirica is present
throughout most of !he eastern US. Jn some
orchards. however. a virus disease or the blight
fungus causes hypovirultnu, which wCllkcn~ its
attack on lhc chestnut. American chestnuts infected
by the hypovirulcnt fungus usually survive.
To idcn11ry blight. look for oval·~hapcd.
reddish-brown local discolorations of the bark
followed by premalUJ'e yellowmg of the foliage
above. SomclimC$ protruding orange stubs of lbc
fungi may be visible. Epicormic sproutS growing
from the trunk of lhc tree arc a good mdic.ation of
lhc blight. Look JUSt above the sprouts to sec !be
canlccr.
If a canker is on a minor limb, trim off lhc
limb and bum it If n occurs on lhc ma.in trunk any
place wilhin reach. apply a soil compress.
Chestnut trees need careful watching,
because 11 lakes only one year for lhc blight io ltiU a
young tree.
FIRST AJD
FOR CllESTNUTTREES:
THE SOIL CO:\fPRESS METHOD
This technique m:iy be used to protect a
planted tree, or to kocp alive selected sprouts in the
woods. It will work as high on the ucc a.~ you can
manage to hfl lhc soil!
To m:ikc the Soil Compress: Cut away any
branches, even healthy one~. which occur 10 lhc area
that must be covered by the soil comprc.-.s. Fit a
sleeve: or polyethylene or similar sheet pl:istic 0( Lal'
J>3pcr around lhc cm:umfcrcnce of lhe trunk from
ground level upward IO a point that 1s as far above
the infection as IWO times the length of the
infection (because there is probably more Endothia
just under lhe bark lh:ll has not yet broken out).
Secure and seal the lower edge of the sleeve by
mounding soil up around 11and1>3ckmg iL firmly.
Fill the sleeve with wet gllrdcn soil 1• to I
If]." inches thick all the way around. There is an
antagon1st1c orgwusm which occurs naturally in
moist soil; wherever it is kept in conta.cl with the
disease, 11 ..,,u lull the fungus.
For the Soil Compress to succeed, 11 must
be appbed at lhc earliest Stages of the dLSCa.IC, when
the infection is pcrllaps under the bark but has noi
yel pcncumcd the wood.
• So11.rct: Tht Amtrican Chts111u1
Cooptra(()r-s' Foundmion (drawn largtly from tM
Handbook of North American Nut Trees tdittd by
Dr Richard A. Jaynts)
(COl'dJIUIDd on rwu pea")
AUTUMN· 19 8
TUAH ·page 15
�FROM THE ROOTS:
ORGANIZATIONS
(continued from page IS)
BRINGING BACK THE CHESTNUT TREE
Nonh Carolina (where American chestnuts
grew best) as a last bastion of polentially
good trees. The blight came later 10 Nonh
Carolina; hence the trees have not been
subject to StreSS from the blight for as long
as those we have worked with, and more
may be living." - John R. Elkins, secretary.
Cooperators are also needed to Taise
and care for chestnut trees from seed.
Volunteers must be ready to be responsible
for a long-tenn project and prepared to make
regular repons of successes and failures.
The American Chestnut Cooperators
Foundation is a publicly-supported,
tax-exempt foundation under section
501 (c)(3) of the IRS code. All donations arc
tax deductible.
"Wt art h4ppy to be involved in IM process of restocking lhtse hills with this beautiful Olld prodtutnot tree."
CHESTNUT COOPERATORS
THE AMERICAN CHESTNUT
REVIVAL
do Carol Klinger
Rt. I
Dowelltown, TN 37059
The Mountain Garden Club, Highlands, NC
THE AMERICAN CHESTNUT
FOUNDATION
do Dr. David W. French
Depa rtment of P lant Pathology
University of M innesota
St. Paul, M N 55108
The American Chestnut Foundation
was formed by a group of prominent
scientists in 1983 as a non-profit foundation
to suppon biological research and genetics
projects to restore the American chestnut
tree to its natural range. The American
Chestnut Foundation provides the suppon
for the breeding progTam developed by Dr.
Charles R. Burnham that is being carried
out in Minnesota and several regional
centers, including the University of
Tennessee at Knoxville. This program is the
most promising for a speedy return of the
American chestnut tree.
Mr. Phillip Rutter, president of the
foundation, says, "As a scientist, I have to
say that there is an 80% chance that I will
live to see a blight-resistant American
chestnut. As a human being, I'd say it's
100%."
Regular membership in the American
Chestnut Foundation is $15.00. Members
receive the Journal of the American
Chestnut Fou11dation and may attend the
annual meeting to hear progress reports on
foundation projects. Donations arc tax
deductible.
The foundation needs help with
fundraising, public education, and finding
wild chestnut tree locations.
KATUAH - page 16
The American ChestnUJ Foundation
requesrs rhe help ofall concerned abou1 the
fate of Ult! American chesrnut rree. The State
of New York is now considerating
legislation to establish a national chestnut
research cemer ro be affiliated with the state
university system and ihe American
Chestnut foundation. The legislators
sponsoring this effort need to know that
there is widespread StlJJf)()rt for this idea.
let them hear from you. Write to
Assemblyman Francis J. Pordum;
Legislative Office Building (Rm. 252);
Albany, NY 12248.
A~1ERICAN CH ESTNUT
COOPERAT ORS FOUNDATION
2100 J efferson St.
Bluefield, WV 24701
"Our top priority is for long-term
funding of the regional effon already
underway: first, 10 develop a blight-resistant
:4Jnerican chestnut tree capable of competing
m our eastern hardwood forests, and
second, to develop economical biological
control measures against chestnut blight in
the forest environmenL....Foundation work
will be focused in the Appalachian Mountain
area."
Besides funding, cooperators arc also
needed to help locate surviving American
chestnut trees which could be valuable
sources of genes carrying resistance to the
blight.
"We are especially interested in the
environs of the Blue Ridge Parkway in
The American Chestnut Revival is a
people's organization supponing the return
of the American chestnut. The group is the
creation of the Cumberland-Green Council,
our bioregional neighbor serving the
watersheds immediately west of the Kawah
Province. The Revival sponsors want to
link up with Katuah people 10 make the
American Chestnut Revival a cooperative,
inter-regional effon.
The stated goals of the group are to:
1) replenish our woods with the
American chestnut - a beautiful, useful
species
2) promote diversity and
ecological health in our forests
3) move toward a healthy,
self-sustaining agriculture
4) educate the public and our
public servants to the realities of
deforestation, ecological monocuhurization,
and general environment.al degradation.
The first priority for the group is to
locate and correctly identify existing wild
chestnut trees. Identification is tricky; even
expens are sometimes fooled, but the group
hopes to c:ualog large native chestnuts, keep
track of them, and protect them for the
future.
The group is also seeking chestnut
sdon wood for research purposes and for
their own grafting projects. American
cheslllut genes current.ly exist in a pure fonn
in surviving mature trees and in root sprouts
from trees whose tops were killed by blight.
They are also assisting in technical
research projects as needed. They presently
are maintaining a close connection with Dr.
Scott Schlarbaum and his project at the
University of Tennessee.
If you want to help bring back the
chestnut, take part in the American Chestnut
Revival!
~
AUTUMN- 1988
�RESOURCES
Seeds and Seedlings: Sources
Bear Creek Nursery
P.O. Drawer 411
Nonhpon, WA 99157
(American, ChiMSe, and hybrid CMStnllt
seedlings, grafted rrees - 5% of the value of
any sale of ches11uas benefits ti~ American
CMstruu FoW1daritJn)
Wexford Soil and Water
Conservation Disnict
200 West Thirteenth St
Cadillac, Ml 49()()1
(American chestnut seedlings - $41.40 for
JO, $25.80for 5. Writefororderi11g
i11fom111tion.)
Louis Lipovsky
RFD
Brunswick, ME 04011
(American chestllUl seedlings)
Benhan Rajala
3030 lsleview Road
Grand Rapids, MN 55744
(American cl~stnUJ seed)
Donald Rudisuhle
Rt. 3, Box 216
Caladonia, MN 55921
(America11 cl1es11111t seed)
Periodicals
CMstnurwork.s is edited by R. D. Wallace
and published by the Chestnut Growers'
Exchange. lls purpose is to promote
chestnuts as an agricultural crop, and to
research the natural history and culture of
the chestnut. Valuable updates on scientific
research on the species. Two issues per year
for $10.00. Write to: Rt. 3, Box 267;
Alachua, FL 32615
The Journal of the American Chestnrlt
Foundation focuses on the work of that
organization, but also carries articles by
other top scientists working to restore the
American chestnut to the wild. Membership:
$15.00 minimum donation. See ACF
address p. 16.
...tn J!er& Note from Luci.mla. . ..
'The clear, crisp days and nights of autumn arc, to
me, the best times for gathering roolS for food and
medicine. Roots can actually be gathered anytime from
lhe first frosts of fall until the early spring because that
is when the energy of the plant is in the rooc but to me
the best time is autumn. I like fall gathering for two
reasons: fi.rst, my memory of exactly where the plant is
is the freshest (often dying rock and dead tops remind
me of the way) and secondly, ~use after the heat of
summer passes my personal energy is rising, and that
feels like a good time to make medicine.
My personal ritual is to gather from the third quancr
to the new moon, following the first froi.ts. Now is the
lime for the hardier roots - burdock, yellow dock.
cchinacea, dandelion and comfrey. My lools vary from
a digging stick for the comfrcy to a pick axe for the
AUTUMN· 1988
Diagram 1:
Genetic Hybridization of
Chestnut Tree Species Castanea
dentata with Castanea
mollisima
Drawing by Rob M&asick
burdock. While I dig the root I tell the roots why 1 am
gathering them and ask for their healing power. Then I
listen. After I have dug the roots I need, I leave a gift of
tobacco or a prcuy rock or ~hell, and smooth rock the
earth over my diggin\.
One of my favorite fall tonics is an iron rich mix of
dandelion root, yellow dock root. and burdock root. 1
cut up the root~ and put them in a jar and then cover them
with apple cider vinegar. I use vinegar for the tincture
because alcohol inhibilS lhe absorption of the minerals.
ln vinegar, ilS shelf-life is shoncr, bul it will last unlil
next fall. I also dry some of each root for infusions.
Considering how hard il is lo gather burdock root, I have
io admit I try to use mostly tincture so I don't have to dig
so much!
Comfrey root I use in a number of ways, I've
already dried the leaf for lea, now I dry some of the root
in a darlt, dry place. I also malce tincturci; in alcohol and
Ill vinegar and, lastly, make an oil extraction in olive oil.
Comfrey is one of the most used herbs in my medicine
cabinet. so I try to keep it in all the varied ways I might
use it.
Echinacea is the herbal antibiotic and I cannot
imagine a medicine chest without it The kind of
echinacca which grows here is Echin1Jcea purpurea, and
it only has medicinal properties if it is freshly tinctured
(i.e., dig fresh root, uncture immcdiaiely). When it
dries it has no medicinal value. To make an infusion, it
is necessary IO order ec/unacea angustifolia. which
grows profusely in the West
There are numerous other fall root plants,
but these are the ones which are the mainstay:; in my
medicine chest I value lhc rime I spend in the autumn
gathering root medicine and feel the time spent, in itSClf,
is a tonic and nourisher of my spirit It prepares me for
the winler to come.
KATIJAH · page 17
�THE CHANGES TO COME
(TM>e are the words ofa uaditionol Cherl>Ut: medit1M person.)
I can agree with some of the things the
Judeao-Christian philosophy considers evil. but not the
majority of things. To me what is evil is that a small
percentage of the world's population can justify
destroying the Earth in the name of profit. I think that it
is the ultimate form of separ:nion--for the ego of the
human to think that the Eanh begins when one is born
and ends when one dies--to think that one can flush
one's waste in the river and not care about it going to
one's neighbors. We arc destroying the Great Life.
When I was about founcen years old l went with
my grandfather to listen to an old man talk. We went
over to these people's house and they had a fire outside
and they greeted everybody and passed coffee around
and I was proud that I could sit in the circle and listen.
The old man talked about lots of things, but one
thing he talked about strongly impressed me-in fact it
scared me so bad I thought it was going 10 happen in the
next few days. He said that the Earth's existence was m
four quaners, and each quaner was a very Jong time-thousands, maybe a million years, I don't know. But he
said that the bear was on three legs now and is about to
siep down on the founh. And he said every time that the
Ear1h goes through shifts from one quaner to another
one. there is a cleansing process. The cleansing takes the
form of droughts, floods. earthquakes and all these
things. The old man kept repcaung that the Earth is
living, ll's not dead. Volcanoes nren't things of the past,
they're things of now, Floods nrc things of now, nnd
droughts are things of now. 111e Earth is alive.
My body is a miniature Earth, as all kinds of
organism~
are miniature Eanhs, but \\e are all connec1ed
to this greater organism. We are like a cell in this Great
Life. When I take an alien substance inio my body, like
cigarette smoke or some other kind of pollution, ir's
destructive to me and I can feel the evidence of it. I
become ,,hortwinded and feel all the symptoms. I may
not feel the effects as strongly at first as I do later. The
Earth is now strongly feeling the effects of all the cmp
thnt we have been puuing in her atmosphere and in her
streams.
The point I want 10 make is that the evidence of the
effects of our abuse of the Eanh is here for everyone 10
sec. The Earth is heating up--the greenhouse effect. I
ha1e to bow to the ~icntists, but even the scientists are
saying that we an: in danger because of our own ncuons.
There are 1wo things we need to do. We have no
choice. l think we should do everything that we possibly
can to reverse this process because of the
unborn-yet-to-be. The unborn-yet-to-be have the right to
KATIJAH- page 18
be included in all the decisions we make today. Part of
that decision-making is 1ha1 they should have the same
choices about the environment as we do. I can breathe
fresh air, I can swim in the streams, although it's getting
harder even now in our generation. A friend who just
got back from New Jersey said she couldn't swim,
because the beaches were closed because of hospital
wastes. A place where she had swum all of her life had
been taken away from her.
Before the non-Indian came 10 this country I could
go to any stream or river and drink from it, but I no
longer can do that. I don't know of a river anywhere that
I can drink out of. I don't know of a srream anywhere I
can drink out of. And where I am right now I don't
know of a spring I can go to and drink out of that I
wouldn't be afraid because of agricultural run-off or any
of those sorts of things. There is the evidence. And the
evidence is multiplying by millions of tons just in my
own lifetime.
It is not fair that a few people based on
materialistic and shiny, glittery things can make the
decisions for the majority in the name of profit. It isn't
even in the name of national security . It is in the name of
individual, personal profit. because the only philosophy
we have as a society b to manufacture and to consume,
manufacture and consume--that's our only philosophy.
So in terms of this reality the most important thing is that
these people be perpetuated, no matter what happens
with the waste.
I intend to do everything within my po"'er--and I
encourage everyone I meet-to deal with this crisis. I
don't use scare tactics, but I do say whats going on.
and I tell people that they have a responsibility and an
obligation. Some people say, "Yeah. \I.ell, people have
always said the Earth is going 10 be destroyed. anJ there
have alv.ny~ been bad times ...and my father said it wa.-;
bleak and it was gorng to end," and so on and so on.
At first that statement bothc:red me. But there are
1wo forces on the planet: there's good and there's evil.
and we have to have both forces, or there's no existence.
And I think that the force that de~trovs the Great L.ifc is
evil--be,-ause 3 few can't make these choices for so many
and so many yet-to·bc. The force that destroys the
Earth-that destroys the streams, that kills all the animab
off, and that cuts all the trees down- is an evil force.
Now, I am a pacifist in the sense that I believe in
nonviolence. I think the Quaker attitude would help us
deal with this situation. We can do somcthmg about it in
our own regions: we can quit buying products that
destroy. We can examine how we can gear down our
own lives - not in the sense that we are bleakly going to
do away with everything. but we can do without things
like styrofoam, electric toothbrushes and all these
unnecessary kinds of things. We can try to make
everyone in our little area conscious of what's going on.
Stan from there, and encourage people from other areas
10 do the same thing.
AUTUMN - 1988
�The second step we need to take-and I think this
is just out of real procticality--is to make certain
preparations for ourselves and our families, and maybe
in some instances for our community as well. The
number one thing is 10 think of ways ro feed ourselves
when we unplug from that consumer/manufacturer
society. One of those things that we have to consider is
gardens--ways to raise a 101 of food in small an:as-and
also alternative forms of fanning, such as dryland
fanning like the Hopi Indians do. They raise food down
there in a place that gets very little rainfall.
We need to learn how to catch waternnd conserve
it. Even if you have only one moist spot, plant some
kind of food there, even if there's room for only one
plant.
We need to look al the indigenous plants around
us as food sources. Lamb's-quarters is a wonderful
food. but we pull it up and throw it away. Yet i1 keeps
returning, because it's adapted 10 the area. Look at
plants, like the different species of com: from the hard
flim com that grows in the southwest to the softer meal
com that grows here. Think about both of those plants
and start growing them and adapting them to this clim:nc.
Do the same thing with pumpkins. squash. and maybe
even the more arid-land food plams and trees. like some
of the nut trees.
When you think of growing planes. consider them
as protein and carbohydrate sources. Grow plants that
fill those needs. And get several varieties of each one of
several species. Be very selective about your seed. If
you have a dry year, pick '1he best plants for seed. Don't
do anything else with them, but encourage them 10 make
seeds. even if it means stripping them of leaves in order
to encourage the seeds to grow instead of the fruit, if it's
that way. And then pick the seed from there and be
merciless about picking the right seed. We ought to be
concerned about that
People ought to get into different kinds of food
preserving--canning, drying, and all fonns of food
processing. We need to sort 0111 our refuse and look a1
what's there. I take all of our kitchen garbage :ind throw
it tn our compost pile to make soil out of it. Even when I
pull a weed out of the garden, l put 11 m there. I think it's
important to build up the soil to be :is stron~ as it can.
Don't depenct so much on :mimal protein, because
the animals will be falling under the same environmental
stresses that we Y.111, and plants are much more odnptable
to drastic environmental changes than the animals. Don't
dismiss that when you consider your sources of protein.
I think for agriculture we should consider draft animals
as a back-up. Mules eat les~ food and ure stronger than
horses.
We ought to think about alternative energy
sources. An energy source that does pollute 10 a cenpin
extent, but is cenninly not a~ polluting as automobile~
and coal-powered plants, is the small steam engine. It
can run lots of tools: it can even generate electrici1r. if
people are still wanting electricity. Or consider
alcohol-based machines that use alcohol fuel from plants.
I think people ought to consider those sorts of things.
Another thing that has much to do \\ ith biological
survival is psychological and spiritual survival. Going
from a society in which almost c:very desire and whim is
met--or able to be met, if one has the money-and leaving
all that will create certain psychological stress. The
outside information that we get from TV's and radios
may not be there eventually. That's going to be a
psychological trauma for ~ople. People \\ill have 10
learn to deal with the psychological and emotional
upheavals which will come up when their so-called
reality is fractured in some way or another. That needs
to be addressed.
I also think that groups of maybe 25 people-or 30
at the very most--who live reasonably close together and
are of like heart and like mind should make some kind of
pact together. A group that size is a very compatible
group for surviving. I think we ought 10 include our
children in what's going on and what's happening. for
the simple reason that they're the ones who are going to
inherit whatever is left here.
Political action should be the emphasis for every
group of people. I think that nuclear war is an incredible
threat. and I'm no1 putting that down, but I think the
number one issue for this planet right now---0ne that will
be more devastating than even nuclear war. unless it's
total nuclear war--is the environment. If anyone doubts
that, all they have to do is look around. It's a new age
for us all--a new age in which the survival of our species
is going to be a number one concern.
Our philosophy is that the EJnh is one gn:at living
organism, and it operates like my own body. When
something a11:icks me--viruses or whatever--my immune
system goes 10 work. I think we have bc:come a
cancerous cell in this environment, and the droughts, the
eanhquakes. and all these kinds of events mean that the
Eanh is alive. Its ex1Stence is threatened by one of its
pans. and l think it's kickmg in its immune systc:m.
I think we're probably overpopulated on the
planet. I know we arc overpopulated as a species. Even
if we all work on it right now, y.e're s11ll going to led
terrible effects from 11. 11 we all had it in our minds that
"We are going to clean up 1he Eanh." and started doing
everything right now. we would still feel negouve effects
from what we've done in the past.
People are afraid of havin!! to do with less. We
could have a much higher quality 01 lifc--not only for
ourselves. but also for the whole planet. We may have 10
give up some of our so-called independence. but this is
an illusion anyhow.
We're going to have 10 change our way of
thinking. There are lots of ways we can go, but the
whole thing concerning the planet tod:iy i~ that first Y.C
ought 10 identify the problem. It's like slcoholism. Until
one admits there is a problem. there is no solution. But
the minute one admits there is a problem, then you're
one step towanl a solution. The big step.
Drawing by Rob Messick
AUTUM,\1- 1988
KATUAH - page 19
�. ... . .. Natural . . . Wor l d .. . News ........ .
• • • • • • • • Natura l • • • Wor l d . .. News .. . . . .. ... . .
NP&L SALE APPROVED;
DUKE POWER INVADES
Narural Wodd News Savicc
The controversy over Ille erection of a high
p0wer tnlnsmission line in Transylvania and
Jaclcson Counties is mounting.
Dulce Power Co. of Charloue, NC has
gained the approval of lhe NC Public Uti Iities
Commission (PUC) for ilS purchase of the
Nantahala Power and Light Company (NP&L) in
wesletn North Carolina. The company now has
righl-of-way access 10 scU ilS nuclear-generated
p0wer 10 Alcoa and TVA customers in Tennessee.
The PUC ignored a las1-dilCh effort by local
mounlain people lO form an energy co-op as an
alternative lO Duke's purchase of NP&L. To
lrnllspon this p0wer, Duke has proposed clcarculting
a huge swath of forest about 1,300 feet wide by 30
miles long. The line would slfelCh from Lake
Jocassee in South Carolina to a substation in the
rown ofTucicasegee in Jackson County, NC.
Residents of the Lake Toxaway area are
greatly upset that lheir view of Touway Moun&ain
WlU be SpOiled - IO lhe extent th3l they hued 10p
lawyers and enjoined Duke from any further
conslrUction until they revealed plans for an
alternative route. Tom Sweatt of the Lake Toxnway
Property Owners Association paints out that "there
are a IOL or people who have spent a lot of money lO
build homes where they can have a good view of
Toxaway Mounuun. • ln addition, Swe:m argues that
Duke's proposed route would endanger rare and
Propoud Transmission Corridor from
JocasM!e to TudJ:!Mgu-DukL Power line
KATUAH - p:ige
M
threatened plant communities and encroach on
pristine trout wruers in fackson County.
Unfonuna1ely on alternative route for the
powerline propOsed by the homeowners nnd Other
concert1cd groups trespasses through more of
Nantahala Nationlli Forest than Duke's proposed
route and will pass close 10 the homes of the
residents of the Owens Gap area Cena.inly the
allemlllivc would reduce the visual impact of the
line on the Lalcc To,.;away homeowners. but l11e line
would impact other residents and fragment an
eminently important habil.al area in the Nantahaln
Nlllional Forest.
USFS PROPOSES NEW REGS
Natural World News Service
The US Forest Service (USFS) has received
nearly 1,000 wriucn responses to sweeping
regulation changes proposed this spring.
On May 16 the USFS published revisions to
its appeal regulations. A year in the milking, these
fat-reaching revisions would fundamentally all.Cr the
USFS appeals process, and undercut the meaningful
right of appeal fOf all outside panics cooccmed with
USFS decisions.
The agency is heralding the revisions as an
au.empt to increase efficiency, reduce delay, and
benefit the public. Yet all evidence points lO
inl.emal mismMagCmCl1t and agency inaction as Ille
causes of most delays in the current appeals process.
ll is clear that the proposed revisions will nol
benelit Ille public.
Two setS or appeal ·processes• are proposed.
Forest planning, timber management. and Other
so-called "policy decisions" will be relcgalcd to a
sccond·class status of appeal under 36 CFR 217.
Democratic "due process" fealurcs would no longer
be avail3ble in p0licy appeals. A second set of rules
(36 CFR 251) would govern appeals dealing with
agency administration of written ins1tuments, such
as special use permits. The USFS prop0scs to
m:tintai"I full due process procedures for apppcals of
this ruuure.
Notices of appeal (now clllled "requests for
review') would be combined llllO a single document
with a suitc.ment of reasons. This document. along
with any siay requests, would have to be filed
within 45 days from the dale or publication of the
decision in a local newspaper. No time extenS1ons
are pcnnittedl This means that Forest Service
planners h11ve years 10 strategize clearcuts,
roadbuilding, recreation development, and other
assaults on "natural resources." Deep ecologists,
ci11ZCOS' groups, and their allies are allowed only a
moolh and one half ro prcp:irc a defense.
Other "efficiencies· the Forest Service
proposes would limil project appeals (umber sales.
etc.) to the level of the regional forestc.r. Appellant
replies to agency submissions ("responsive
suuemcnts") and oral pre~cnU1tions would be
cl1min3led.
While the USFS is nOI proposing a liling
fee for entering appeals, the agency IS specifically
rcquesung public comment on this controversial
issue.
The proposed changes in regulations would
further insulate the Fore~t Service from c11izcn
review of improper decisions. If changes in
regulations are ro be made, they must be balanced._
fair, and aimed at increasing efficiency and better
decision-making. The proposed revisions fall far
Mon of these basic goals.
By denying the public o right lO a
meaningful nppeal, the propOsed rules changes fora:
parties seeking ro influence the USFS to t:lke lheir
coocems to court. Private citizens and conservlllion
organizations do not have the financial resources IO
suppon numerous lawsuits.
Although the shon comment period alloled
foe the proposed regulation changes expired on July
12. 1988, the Forest Service needs IO hear how
people feel about being cu t out or the
decision-making process for the National Forests.
Theie is a tremendous amount of momentum within
the USFS 10 adopt lhesc revisions. The timber
indusuy is exerting pressure lO limit the scope of
Ille appeals process.
Send your ktters to:
F. Dale Robtrnon, Chief
US Fortst Suvice
P.O. Box 96()9()
Washington, DC 2()()90.
Send copies 10 your congressional
rtprtsoltati\leS.
FOREST WATCH!
HELP WANTED!
Nawral World News Service
A "Forest WalCh" program is being started
in K:uuah. Members of the Wilderness Society,
Western North Carolina Alliance, Carolina
Mounlain Club, Audubon Society, and four local
Sierra Club groups are creating a coalition that will
interact with rangers in each US Forest Service
(USFS) district. Forest Watch members will sit
down with rangers to discuss and review
environmental asscssmenL~ for proposed timber
cuts, roads. and other Forest Service ac11v1ties before
they are begun.
Successful Forest WalCh operations arc
already in action in other National Forests (e.g., the
Chauahoochce NF in Georgia). At the least, such
oversight activity will hold the USFS lO 1lS own
forcsl managemcnl plans. At best.. both volunteers
and rangers will move closer to cooperation and
muwal understanding, to lhe bcnelil of all.
Workshops will be offered on forest
management and on the Fores t Service
decision-making process. Those who would like to
ltnow more about forestry and multiple use
demands, and who would like to have some
mOuencc on the future of the forests Ill Kauiah,
$hould conlllCI Ginny Lind!>ay: P.O. Box 1275:
West Jefferson, NC 28694 (919) 982-3633 or Speed
Rogers: 251 Purple Finch Lane; Brcvnrd NC (704)
gg3.304g_
AU1ID1N - 1988
�....... Natural ... World ... News ........ .
RESISTERS RISK ARREST AT
Y-12 WEAPONS PLANT
by Pat Montee
In an historic moment on August 6. 1988 at
lhe gnies of the Y -12 Nuclear Weapons Components
Plant in Oak Ridge, TN, five people linked anns
and in a simple trespass action crossed over a
symbolic line onto lhe plant grounds to be arrested
by local police.
The action was the first act of civil
disobedience at Y-12 and was lhe culmill31lon of a
day of concern for lhe plant's role in nuclear
weaponry and nuclear cootamination.
Preceding lhe arrests 200 demonstrators
rallied at a municipal park and then paraded lo Y 12.
Speakers at the rally urged support for a
comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty. The
demonstration was held on lhe anniversary of lhe
dropping or lhe first atomic bomb on Hiroshima.
The protest was organized by the
recently-formed Oak Ridge Environmental Peace
Alliance (OREPA). Co-sponoors included Tennessee
Peace and Disarmament Campaign, Jackson County
(NC) Peace Network, Western North Carolina
Alliance, Madison County (NC) PlowsharcS, and
lhe American Peace TCSL
Those living near weapons facilities across
the country are beginning to speak ouL The August
6 protest at Oak Ridge was minored by other
grassroots demonstrations at DOE facilities in
Aiken, SC, Amarillo, TX. and the Nevada test site.
The formation of OREPA is a call for public
auention to the DOE's Oak Ridge facility. In
February of last year the Radioactive Waste
Campaign, a public interest organization,
pinpointed the Oak Ridge Reservation as one of the
most scvesely contaminated government facil1ucs m
lhe US.
Millions of pounds of uranium-derived
wastes have been dumped in landfills at Y-12.
Between World War II and 1981, over 12 million
cubic feet of low-level rad.ioactive WllSUl we.re buried
at lhe Oak Ridge Reservation. Radioactivity has
seeped out and contaminated streams and
groundwater bolh on and off the site. The TV A has
identified more than 140 dangerous chemicals and
radioactive materials present in Oak Ridge creek
bouoms.
The Y-12 plant manufactures uranium
components for lhe primary sUJge and the principal
nuclear components for secondary stages of
thennonuclC31 weapons. Covering an area or 3,400
acres and employing over 7,000 people, the Y-12
plant plays a pan in the production of every major
nuclC31' weapon in lhe US arsenal. 1l was Y -12
which produced I.he firsi gram quantities of highly
enriched uranium used in the "Litlle Boy" bomb
which dcsuoycd Hiroshima.
One or I.hose arrested Ill y -12, Chris Irwin, a
University or Tennessee student and a native of
Knoxville, said, "IL seems lhal at Y-12 I.hey just
ignore us. I've written my congressman ·everyone
has .....SomcbOdy luld 10 do ~mething. If I don't,
who will?"
Sharing this concern for the future, Judnh
Hallock, a resident of Jackson County, NC and a
mother or three, was quo~d by the Associlucd Pres.-.
as saying before her arrest. "My children arc m
dotnger. The plnncl is in danger. and I feel I h;ive no
choice.•
Others arre.~led were: Jeff Warner, 24, of
Bowling Green, KY; M)'T'B Zeller. 40, or Madison
A
County, NC; and Doug Mason, 38, the father of
two children, who is from Memphis, TN.
The five anest.ed were booked at the site and
released on lhett own recognizance. At n hearing the
following Monday at the Anderson County
Court.house, they received a eiUJtion for simple
trespass.
OREPA is forming an active regional
community lO non-violenlly overcome the violence
at Oak Ridge. A "Nuke Watch" action as planned for
Octobcr24-29at y.12.
To conwcl the Oak Ridge Environmental and
Peace Alhancc, write Box 1101: Knoxville, TN
37901 or call evenings at (61S) 588-9370.
"the most massive crackdown of its kind in lhe
country". During lhe investigation. undercover
agents bought 266 gall bladders. SS claws, 77 feet,
four heads, nine hides and one black bear cub.
Agents also round dead bears in the woods from
which only the gall bladder and claws had bcc:n
removed, with the rest left to rot Black bear pans
are commonly sold illegally both on the
intcm.llional and domestJC rruirkets.
During lhe three year operation, wildlifo
officers were receiving criticism about not acting
against poaching. However, to have made a
premature move would have blown lhe cover on lhc
entire operation. Wildlife orrocers and olher state and
federal agencies formed 28 raid teams that served the
. -~
,~ ~
anc~t and search warrantS in a 20-county area in
~.,.. .;,.
/
,.t' ,,frl __ ~ K.atliah.
.:
'.. /~}'- -~ '//• "'.r r ..- -·~
All or lhis in. tense activity, however.
-~ 1
~
culminates in the cowuoom. h i~ up to the federal
.;.fJ/r~~, .
~udge to enforce the ex1s_ting law.s ~ regulations. as
.;.,,,J.11"'' ~.._.,...., ·~/
1t relalCS to bear poaching. If I.he Judge treais lhe
,,,,~,,,,,.....____, ~ "~
mauer lighlly and elects to impose very lenient
..._'<.~
sentences, ii would.be a signal to poachers that they
~-"
~
.
''"·"'"'
~~"
could continue w1lhout severe c.onsequences. It
fl///"
, \
would also be a blow to the wildlife officers who at
• ·
...,..., '
times risked their lives uncovenng the poaching
network.
Lcuec; to the US District Attorney would let
the court know that citi7.ens are watching and care
PERE GRINES RETURN
about lhe outcome of I.his case. Send a leuer
Nanni World News Setvicc
expressing your feelings and concerns to lhe D.A.
who is prosecuting lhe federal government's case
Five pairs of the peregrine falco11s •haclced
against the poachers.
out" Last summer by human volunteers have
Max Cogburn
returned to nesting places established in National
US District Au.omey
Forest areas in the Kauiah Province.
US Courthouse, Rm. 306
The small, but eictrcmcly swifi, raptors were
I00 Otis SllCCl
obSCIVed at nesting sites at Linville Gorge, lhe
AsheviUe. NC 28801
Shelton Laurel area of Madison County, Looking
(704) 259-0061
Glass Rock, Whiteside Mountain, and Pickens
.r - -"
·
'
,r...._, ;. ,.
j:-,,..
..,,,.,?';,::,:
'
Nose.
One young falcon was nedged from lhe DCSl
on Whiteside Mountain, and a heallhy chick is
livmg in the nest ID I.he Shelton Laurel area.
To avoid disturbance to the nesting falcons,
hang gliding and rock climbing were lmhed at
Whiteside Mountain and Looking Glass Rock unul
August 31 of this year. Climbers and gliders were
very cooperative wilh the closings.
The peregrine restoration project is a JOinl
effort of the US Forest Service, the NC Wildlife
Resources Commission, the US Fish and Wildlife
Service, and a private organiation called The
Peregrine Fund. The NC state income LaJt refund
"Check-off for Nong:imc and End:ingcred Wildlife"
contributed substantially to funding for the projecL
BEAR POACHERS ARRESTED
Natural World Ncw1 Scivice aa
A three-year investigauon into bear poaching
in western Norlh Carolina and ca~tern Tennessee led
to charges again.~t 43 people who were uccused of
illegally profiting from the marketing of gall
bl!lddus and olher b13ck bear paru.
Both federal and state wildlife officers
panic ipated in "Operation Smoley." de.<.eribcd as
PUBLIC INTEREST
LOST IN THE OZONE
Nuural World News Savicle
On July 2. 1988, ozone levels recorded at the
oz.one monitoring Slation in Fairview, NC, outside
of Asheville, reached 118 parlS per billion (ppb),
within 2 ppb. of the 120 ppb. maximum Standard
allowed by the Environmental Protccuon Agency
(EPA) under the Oean Air AcL
Ozone in the lower aunosphere is a proven
ha.z:lfd llult contcibut.eS io smog, rcspinuory disease
in humans, and damage lo trees and crops. At
excessive levels. o:r.one does acute damage to the
lungs or children, old people, asthmatics, and I.hose
who arc doing SLrCnuous outdoor exercise. Ozone
has been shown to be pan of the deadly combination
of factors that is killing the spruce/fir forest on Mt.
Mitchell.
Paradox 1cally, 07.0ne in 1he upper
atmosphere is necessary 10 slueld lhe Earth from
harmful ultraviolet radiauon in the run's rays, but m
the lower atmo:;phcre it ~ a dangerous pollutant,
and Asheville re:;1dcn1S rue now aware thal their cuy.
too. ha:. an air qualuy problem.
Yet, one month after lhe high reading was
recorded, the 01.ooe monitoring station was closed.
According 10 Ronald Boone, lhe director of the
(conllnucd on nut Ne)
- p:igc 21
�...more...Natural World News
LOST IN THE OZONE
(canlin\IOd from IJa&C 21)
Western North Carolina Air Pollution Control
Agency, construction had displaced the Station from
its original location at Fairview school. and lhere was
no ochet space available in Buncombe County r0t the
8 root by 8 foot IJ'ailer which houses the monitoring
instruments. The EPA granted permission for the
closure.
This action was iaken shortly before the
summer heat wave, which undoubtedly booSted
ozone levels considerably in Asheville and
surrounding areas in tho French Broad River basin.
ff«, sugnant air masses provide ideal conditions ror
lhe creation cl owne and keep the gaseow subslance
trapped in valley areas, inslead of allowing it to
dispetse.
Had the sys1em been in operation, it almost
cettainly would have recorded orone levels higher
lhat the 118 ppb. reading or July 9. Readings
during August would in all probability have shown
Iha! Asheville was exceeding the re.detal Slandattls for
ozone.
The EPA has declared th:u if a city exceeds
the maximum allowable ozone SUUldard of 120 ppb.
two times in a single year, vehiculnr emissions
ICStS must be undenaken immediately. Hydrocarbons
from vehicle exhaust combine with nitrous oxides
Crom industrial and utility company fumes to create
Orone.
The EPA also says Iha! if the ozone problem
persists in a city, tha1 ci ty will be designated a
"non-attainment area• and be rcsuicted from starting
any new industries that require smokcsUICks to
exhaust industrial vapors. If Asheville were
restricted as a "non-a1
tainmen1 area." it would
obviously slow the city's industrial grow1h, and
might adVCtSC!y affect tOUnSt tr.iffic as well.
The ozone monitoring station is still closed,
and Boone says that. as ozone levels decline during
the cooler months, it will probably be April of
1989 before another locauon for the focility will bc
found.
Having no accurate de1ermm:1uons or how
severe the ozone problem actually is m the French
Brood River ba.sin will do liule to relieve public
uncasinesi. about the situnuon.
And pulling orr finding a locntion for the
small testing sUllion for nine months does little lo
bol.'ilU public confidence thnt the problem IS being
adequately dc:ll t with or even considered.
Having unknown levels or 01.one in
Asheville's air supply iL1so r:uses other quesuons.
bolh environmental and political
New datn have been made public that show
that long-term exposure to lower conccn11111Jons of
ozone impairs the foncuonmg of the lung.~. causes
adverse biochemical renctions in the lung$, and
acceler.ites lung delerioration due to aging. These
data have led scientists to urge the EPA lO
immediately ndopt more stnngcnt oz.one standards.
If the standnrds were changed, the EPA
predicis lhat nine urbnn areas in the US would be
ou1 of compliance. Prominent on that list is
Asheville, NC.
Is the municipal public hc:llth admmistrauon
trying to sidestep the consequences of exceeding
federal regulations by subjecting city ~dcnLS IO the
consequences of exc:essi ve air poll uuon levels?
Buncombe County's Metropolitan Sewage
Administmtion is presently considering construcuon
of an incineration plant to dispose of the area's
sewage sludge. The pt;in has already come under
severe criucism, as it would add several types of
KA TUAH • page 22
dangerous gaseous pollutants into the area's air
flow.
With Asheville already suffering a critical air
pollution problem, it seems obvious that an
insUllation which would make major contributions
IO the ambient air toxicity should be avoided.
Yet, at recent hearings on the incinerator
proposal, of all !hose who made presentations, only
two individuals spolce in favor or the plan. Those
were Jim Tenney. Di.rector of Public Health for
Buncombe County, and Air Pollution Control
Direct.or Boone.
Actions such as this call into question the
competancc or public health adminis1n1tion in
Buncombe County, or r.iise the ugly possibility that
the public health is being made subservient to the
intcrest.s or economic and industrial growth.
CP&L RA TE INCREASE
(or " LET THEM EAT CAKE")
residents posted their own black-and-white metal
signs aloog a 30-mile stretch of the river. The s igns
warn that fish from the river ate contaminated with
dangerous levels of dioxin, a toxin that "causes
cancer, miscarriages. and birth defeas."
Recent EPA tesl.S have found dioxin in most
or the 120 flSh taken from lakes fed by the
contaminau:d river. One brown U'OUt was round to
contain 80 pans per trillion or dioxin, more than
three times the allowable dose.
Shelley Stcwart. a Greenpeace official from
Seaule who studies the pulp and paper industry.
says thal "lhere is no levd al which this stuff can be
considered safe.• Stewan also pointcd out that
dioxin levels in the Pigeon are the second-highest
found yet in the EPA's current analysis of 100 rivers
below pulp and paper mills. Dioxin residues result
Crom tile chlorine bleaching process used by
Champion and other mills.
Grttnptace may be contacted 01 (404)
874-8581.
Nanual World News Service
On August 8, 1988 the NC Public Utilities
Commisssion (PUC) granted Carolina Power and
Light (CP&L) a 9.1% increase. Profits from the rate
hike will benefit the shareholders of the
privately·held monopoly and will pay for the
extr&Ordinarily high cost of building the Shearon
Harris Nuclear PlanL
According 1 F3lr Share of North Carolina, a
0
consumer advocate group. CPclL has spen t S4.S
million on outside consultants to teSury in the rate
case. A key issue was the cost overruns incurred in
the conSU11Ction of the Shearon Harris planL Design
changes and reworking during construction added at
least $200 million LO the cost or the nuclear power
pl:inL
In testimony before the PUC, Chip Smith
of Fair Share presented an anmysis of over l,000
changes 1n design during a nine-mont.h period.
CP&L's own records showed most were errors and
only one was cau!S(XJ by changes m rcgufauons.
Fair Share maintained that the cost of
misl.'lke~ made during cons11UCtion was excessive.
CP&L mainl.3ined it "should 001 have to be
pctfecL"
In the linal weeks before the PUC decision,
a S300.pcr-hour CP&L consullllnt stated that 1f
widows and orphans could nOl pay lhetr electric
bills, they could tum their lights off. Does this
reveal CP&L's true pcrspecuve?
Writt th<! NC Public U11li1its Commission
or P.0 Bo.IC 29510: Raleigh, NC 27626 10 t.ICpl'US
your opinion of 11rL1r dtcision. and ID Fov Shart of
North COTolino: P.O. BO.IC 12543; Raleigh. NC
27605 111 support of thtir worlc.
POISON PIGEON FISH
NllUnl World News Service
Representauves from the Greenpeace
organization and 01hcr concerned people recently
accused Nonh Carolina's Health Dcpanmcnt or
dragging its feet in posung warnings along the
Pigeon River, which the Env1
ronrnenUll Protccuoo
Agency (EPA) has round is contaminated with the
chemical dioxin below the Champion International
paper mill m Canton, NC.
Dr. Ted Taylor. a State tolliCOIOglSI, could
not say when the sign would be posted, even though
the flSh have been known 1 be toXJc since last
0
spring.
"MOURNING THE VICTIMS"
NlllWIJ World News Service
East Tennessee residents seeking to
short-circuit Champion International's bid for a
wastewater permit a1 a public ~earing August 18,
mourned for 1 Cocke Cow!ty cancer victims
67
whom they believe died as a result of accumulations
of dioxin from wastcwater dumped into the Pigeon
Rtvcr by the Champion plant in Canton, NC.
Organizers of the variance hearing labeled
167 cent.er-section seats with the names of the dead
and marlced the rows with block bows. Flags in
Newport, TN bung at half-mast as a memorial rite
was held. which fcatwcd the unveiling of a cenoiaph
listing the names of the cancer vicums.
Champion has produced blc:iched paper in
the Canton plant since 1908. and scientisL' say
dioicin is a byproduct of the bleaching process.
The Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) and Tenne..~see omcials inili.ally proposed a
wastew;iter pennn for the company that would have
set a SO-unit color limit on the river at the statc
line.
Although dioxin levels nre not adclres.o;ed m
the proposed wastewacer pcrmu. envrronmentahsts
say that chemical and color levels ace closely
associaced
Tennessee Governor Ned McWhcrter 1s
likely to make the linnl dec1s1on. Speakers at the
hearing directed therr 1111ger at the governor almost as
often a.~ at Champion. McWhcrtcr campaigned in
Newpott during the last elecuon, promising to help
clean the darkened and foamy Pigeon River. which
nows through the ci ty's downtown distncL
Two Asheville researchers demonstr:ued a
new process they have developed, which they say
can clean up the waters or the Pigeon. University of
North Carolina Asheville professor Richard Maas
and scienust Philip Neal hope to sell Champion on
their method, tha1 they say could remove 90 percent
of the color in the water.
Wilma Dykeman, Tennessee state hisiorian,
called a11en1ion to Champion's history of
environmental abuse. and went on LO say that
human actions should not be allowed to destroy any
natural re.source.
One speaker suggested that to establisb a
vanance would open a Pandora's box to industry.
Another Cocke County resident said that he felt that
SU\lc leaders, by holding the hearing, were requesting
the public "to make my murder legal.•
So Greenpeace voluntocrs and ea.st Tcmesscc
UTUMN • 1988
�(continued from page 7)
Natural World News
SPECIAL REPORT
THE DOGWOOD BLIGHT
by John Creech
For as long as people have lived in Appalachia. they have delighted in the
white dogwood flowers which splash the hillsides in spring.
The bright red berries of the dogwood arc an important food source for many
bud Gild ammal species when lhey appear in the fall.
And the dogwood tree plays an imponan1 part in the ecology of the forcsL II is
a prevalent understory tree that helps to develop the dark, loamy forest soil that is the
basis of life.
Soon, however, the great contributions of this small ltCC may be a thing of the
past For, even as we lament the blight that killed the chestnut tree back to the
ground, another blight lhreatcns the existence of the dogwood r.n:e I.Oday.
The dogwood blight has been liule-publiciu.d, yet it has been killing Cornus
Jlorida uces throughout a three million acre area in Georgia, Tcnn~ee. and Nonh
Carolina. according to Professor of Foresuy Roben Zahner of Clemson University.
Unlike the chestnut blight, which was introduced from Asia and swept through
lhe Appalachian range 10 a period of 40 years, the anthmcnose fungus which causes the
dogwood blight has coexisted with other plant life throughout the region for thousands
of years.
Scienlists first identified the fungus on dogwoods in Now York and
Pennsylvania about 10 years ago. Reseachers at Cornell University inilially believed
that some species of the fungus had mutated and attaekcd dogwoods only in the
nonheasL However, an identical fungus was discovered on dogwoods in the Cashiers,
North Carolina nrea about five years ago and has since been identified on Cornus f/orida
trees throughout the Appalachians. The alternate-leaf dogwood (Cornus alttrnifolia),
which is not as prevalent nor as beautiful as the flowering dogwood does not seem to
be affected by this fonn of the blighL
The blight thrives most successfully in moist, shaded areas such as mature
forest areas, where it appears first as colonies of spots on lower tree branches. Sunlight
inhibits the fungus, so it climbs upward from the shaded interior leaves, blackening and
curling all of a tree's healthy foliage in a shon time. The youngest trees are the first 10
succomb to the infection.
One scientific hypolhesis is that environmental StrCSSCS may have weakened lhe
dogwood tree species 10 such an extent that 11 has become susceptible to the blight
fungus. If this is true. as well as boding ill for Lhc dogwood species, it may mean that
other trCCS as well arc on the threshold of their tolerance of hUITlllll pollution.
Currently rcscarchcrs arc cultivating dogwood trees in controlled environment
chambers under various kinds of simulated streSS s1IU31ions. Folinge on young trees has
been leached with anlficial acid rain at levels similar 10 those present in the Ka1Uah
region today. Investigators have found that these dogwoods take inoculation of the
fungus quickly and easily, whereas trees grown free of acidic precipitalion have taken
inoculation poorly or not at all.
Acidic moisture qwtc possibly destroys the waxy layer of cutin on the leaf
surface. leaving interior cells vulnerable to infection. Thi~ damage. perhaps coupled
with stress from ozone or other pollutants, allows the fungus to destroy lhc affected
leaves in a single year.
The metabolism of lhe dogwood U'CC requires tremendous amounts or calcium
for sustained and heallhy growth, all of which must be cycled up from the soil. Zahner
and others in the scientific community believe that the chemical relationship is such
that sulphur and nitrogen deposited in the soil from precipitation are releasing large
amounts of aluminum normally bound in chemical comb1ruuions and unavailable. The
roots of the dogwood tree draw dissolved aluminum into the tree, where, as Zahner
says, the aluminum"competes with the sites on the cell membranes that would
normally be occupied by calcium." Th.is creates a calcium deficiency which wealcens
and evenlU3lly kills the trees.
The dogwood is "not just another pretty tree." The pH of its foliage is basic,
and, as the uccs shed their leaves in the fall. Ibis addition to the soil helps balance the
soil pH throughout the yenr.
Dogwood berries arc a dependable fall and winter food source for quail, IUrkcy,
grouse, and a host of songbirds. They arc a wintertime staple for these birds, when
v1nually no other foods arc available. Squirrels and deer also rely on this fruit for
winter nutrition, and it is an allcmntive fall food for black bc8IS during a poor mast
year.
. .
Zahner believes that this valuable member of the forest community 1s
diminishing more rapidly than we rcali7..C. Indeed, the dogwood may soon be facing
citlinclion in lhe Appalachian Mounuuns.
~owy display of the
KATUAll - page 23
;i'
Photograph taken tarly in this century of miud timber growth on
Moust Knob Branch of S110wbird Creek.
chestnut enthusiast to understand why state and federal
agencies are not providing strong support for chestnut
research. The hard fact is that the chestnut is essentially gone
from today's forests. Government research monies are
already so severely limited that important areas of research
for existing commercial species are often not addressed.
Diversion of these dollars for chestnut breeding research,
which can offer no absolute guarantees of success, would
not be in the best interests of our forests from either an
ecological or a commercial standpoint.
Therefore, it falls upon the private sector, both
individual people and organized foundations, to suppon
chestnut research. Private support can come in a variety of
forms: monetary donations, sharing knowledge of flowering
chestnut sprouts with researchers. or volunteer labor. Private
chestnut interest groups are forming in a number of states.
The American Chestnut Foundation is an ideal organization
10 coordinate the activities of private groups and individuals.
The Foundation's scientific steering committee is comprised
of leading chestnut researchers and other scientific
authorities. It advises and guides research conducted by the
Foundation and associated cooperators. Private groups may
become state chapters of the Foundation and thereby become
linked with the scientific community.
In summary, there is still hope for returning the
American chestnut to the forests of eastern Nonh America.
An increasing number of scientists, private individuals, and
organizations are working toward developing a
blight-resistant native chestnut. Reforestation of our
woodlands with American chestnut trees is a massive
undertaking and will only be possible through the
cooperation and coordination of all interested parties.
Hopefully, the results will be positive, and some day in the
future some of us will be able to sil under the "spreading
chestnut tree."
Dr. Scott £. Schlarbaum is Associate Professor of
Forest Genetics in the Department of Forestry, Wildlife,
and Fisheries of the Institute of Agriculture at the
University o/Tennessee in Knoxville. He direc1s the UT
Tree lmprovemem Program and is coordinating a project
to develop blight-resistant American chestnuts suitable
for resroration ill the Appalachian Mowuain bioregion.
,
AUTUMN-1988
�Dear friends,
We have heard about you lhrough friends and
want to supparc your effortS at b1oregional
enlightmcnt. We have a small family dairy with
25 cows, hogs, sheep, poultry, etc. on a 200 acre
hill farm 20 miles north or Roanoke. We can
spare you about 200 lbs of milk (translated mto
monetary donation). Send us a few back issues if
you have them. Lei us know when you need
more. Many thanks for your effons.
DRUMMING
LETTE RS TO K
ATUAH
John & Linda Thornton
Fincastle. Virginia
Dear Friends,
Dear KOJUah,
A friend gave me a copy of Summer '&8
issue a few days ago. I read through ii with
delight I've lived here 12 years loving these
mountains while watching lhe desolation, which
is gelling out or hand and going really rast It is
good 10 see a journal which represents other, of a
concern similar 10 my own. I feel less alone in
my panicular facets or appreciation for this mOSt
beautiful area of USNearlh ..•The change going
on here is best expressed by announcers a1
monster IJUCk rallies when a big-wheel pick-up is
crushing a line of cars, "The dcs11Uc1ion is
awesome.•
1 enclose a donation 1ow3tds encouraging
your efforts, and would love 10 panicipaie along
the way in whatever capacity possible. I can write
readably. and my heart is with you.
T. J. Northington
Spana, North Carolina
Dear Friends,
David Wheelers article, '"The Tracks or lhe
Panther" is so incredibly beautifulIt was also very informative and inspiring.
There is enough motivation and human power tO
bring this wilderness corridor into reality' With
just a handful or advocates locrucd lhrooghou1 lhe
ll1C8 or the proposed corridor, interest can be
drawn from local Audubon chapterS. Sierra Clubs.
etc.
I remember my first trip along the parkway
and thoughts of what it could be like if moose,
cllc, bear and wolves still remained. I remember
the sadness of knowing they were gone. I beheved
they could never return. What a gin Jamie Saycn
has given us by focusing his energy and
developing the PAW plan! And how fonunate we
are to have KOJUllh to bring us the news!
The PAW plan is so WORTllY of our
aucnuonl WE can mnke a positive 1mpac1 on the
ecology unlike anything that h:is been done to
dale in lhe United StateS.
Dear Friends at Ka11'ah,
Blessings! Thanks so much for your wisdom and
time on the phone (in helping to form a bioregiofllll
journaJ for the Adirondack area). We are making
some solid contaCtS with wrilCrS, graphic artists. and
others who are encouraging us on to do this thing
and are iniercslCd 1n participating. The crv.ies1
"chance• meetings cum out to be the most fruitful
of all.
We had spoken about lhe boundaries of this
region - n's huge! The Adirondack Biorcgional
Province (according 10 a map in the old
RAJNBOOK) prcuy much follows the boundaries
of the Adirondack Parle - 6 million acres!
Needless to say, we llunlc that we can best get a
clear image of the many ecosystems here if we
divide this massive area into 4 to 6 (or more)
sections, and in the first issue ask in1crcs1ed
persons in each section tO connect with us - they
can 1C3d us on an exploration of their particular
sections - one fca1ured in each successive issue.
How does 1ha1 look to you? Comments and
advice are apprcciar.cdl
I'll just enclose what we have so far. We'd
love lO be able IO share Our copy of Ka1Uah with
folks. but i1 is bccom ing dog-eared, ecc. Tt's in
our collection or newsleu.ers that we are using as
"texcbooks". If you could find some exlt3S, we
would be happy IO help with a dona1ion 10 cover
eos1 or postage and retail value of copies! (And,
of course, to suppan your efforts there, a bil
more green). A friend se1 up a barter for us: If I
do a particular Indy's gardening, she will do our
initial layout design!
Tnlce care, Mamie and all! We respect you,
KOJtlah!
With Warmth!
Joyce Vanselow
Box 12
Riparius, New Yort 12862
With love, cxci1emcn1 and e1emal gratitude,
Frank Trombeua
HendCtSOnv1llc, North Carolina
Dear KOJuah,
...Thanks. Your journal moved me, as a native or
Kaniah now displxed to ScauJc.
Clair Englander
KATUAH - page 24
...Found a copy of Kotuah Journal at the
Appalachian Trail shelter on Wild Cat Mountain·
near the Fish Hatchery - and near Camp Cherokee
...enjoying iL
Beuy M Gore
Dec!l1ur, Georgia
Today I received your complimentary issue
and I'd like to thank you very much for it When
I saw 11 a1 the Black Mountain Festival, I knew it
was for me. At present, I'm unable to send the
SIO, but once I'm employed again 1 plan 10
subscribe.
A li1Lle while ago a friend called to say he
h:id mailed in a subscription in my name. Now,
once I can afford it, I'll order one or your great
tee shins.
The day after returning from the festival, and
after having !'CM your Spring issue. I h:id an asunl
experience which I'd like to share with you and
perhaps you could shed ligh1'as to lhe meaning
for me. I was above the festival s11e and saw ii
all - sky, mounUlins, meadow, ring of tents and
pand; with 4 hawk feathers in the sky a1 cardinal
poincs. Superimposed on it all were the words
"Wolf Medic me".
I am carving all or this in what I call a
medicine shield format. and once it's completed
and painted, I'll send you a picture. l wonder
whaL the signific~nce of Wolf medicine is. Any
ideas from you or your re:idecs?
Thanks,
Kicran Crunficld
412 ML View
Valdese, North Carolina 28690
.. .I enjoy taking my newborn (well. actually
he's 3 months old already) with me m the woods,
and he looks around a1 the ll'CCS so w ide-eycd. He
really loves the outdoors, and sometimes I will
wonder, wow, if only you could see the Smokies,
the wild rivers, the huge boulders, the trees, feel
God's presence around you, way up on a
mountain ...bul then I remember, my wife and I
lived m Tennessee (Pigeon Forge) for four
momh~ and we Jost everything we owned trying
to survive up !here.
I don'1 think I wilJ ever be able to live
amongst the earth cathedrals of Kauiah, but I've
kepi Philippians 4: 11 m my mind. I'm not
t0ta.lly satisfied here in Texas, but I am doing
wha1 I can. I've already planted 3 low chill apple
trees on my 1/3 acre "farm", and I plan on using
pcrmaculturc design principles throughout The
beginnings of a Big Thickel/Texas pcrmacul1urc
center, maybe? ...
Peace and light,
Jorge Vcl4zqu.e1
Rt 5, Box 86-D
Cleveland, Teus 77327
AUTUMN - 1988
�Drawing by Rob Messick
Dear Friends,
I am a member or the Prison Opposi1ion
Commiucc. We arc b:mling a prison the
Arkansas S1:1te Boord of Corrections says lhcy
wall build in our unique comer or the Ozarks.
And we say they will not.
We have over 3,000 sign31WCS on petiuons.
At our last meeting, a mM named Ray Waus
stood up and told how his grc:it. great-grandfather
was born on the Trail of Tt3rs. He s:tid th:lt 300
Indians had died at a place called Lukcy Springs
(obou1 three miles rrom my home). The TraiJ or
Tears runs very, very near the proposed prison
Sile.
That night I was reading. I heard a
rhythm--rain1ly at first, becoming louder--and
then I "hc:ud" the words or the enclo.~ poem. As
I Slit up lO get pen and pencil, a presence "sat
down" to my len. It wns very, very UUlgible. (I
am part Cherokee.) I wrote down the poem.
Later, as I do1.cd off, I felt my right arm
being rruscd an the darkncss--qu1tc eerie. Then a
voice spolcc through me--a hu.~ky voice, like a
man's. It s«med to me that a lot or time
posscd-but my husband ~id u was only a liuJe
while. •r had spoken of being "lost..los1..I had
II()( died a Warnor's death. I had come to join in
this new battle"."
Yesterday we traveled over a portion or the
Military Road--a part or the Trail or Tears. I saw
Lukcy Sprin~. A little further along the road, I
was led" into the woods. There I saw a faint
impression in the earth - lhc old trail. Then I
"heard" them again. I s:it on the ground. They
said again, ·we did 1101 die a Warrior's death.
When these leaves fall ... we will return .•." This
autumn will mark the 150th "birthday" of the
Trail or Tears.
I sec this as a Vasioo Quc.~1! I intend to
record mote or Ray W:m's stories and legends
handed down in ha~ family • and I m1end to record
the Voices of my people ti they ~to/through
me. Arc you interested an my journal as I ltllvel
along?
Sincerely.
Barbara Ellet Dail
AUTUMN- I
TRAIL OF TEARS A NEW PROTEST
Our only mark a wind thaJ blows
Upon our heads a thousand snows.....
Ow only tears rain on the hills
And the sobbing song ofthe
wluppoonvil/s.
YOU asked for the stOry of \lo hy I spc:ik about
pcsticulcs. II is a question I have :l'kcd m>-sclf,
because I would rather enjoy the farm quaclly or
speak of the oneness or hfc. Several years ago I
be&311 to conuic1 App31achian Power Comp:111y
and slalC agencies 10 protect myself from p.!Sl!Cide
exposure. I had had severe allergic reacuons to
chcmicols and several years or health proi.tems•
.,,,hich have healed 'The scns1tiv11y I ha'e now IO
chemicals simply alcns me to theu presence tn
the air.
Often .,,, hen there LS pc.~ticulc an the air. 311d
v3por from it docs get in the air, I hc.y others
speak or symptoms which I know can be
tnggcrcd by indirect pesticide exposure. I ~'peel
that many people without recognizing at are
nffcclCd to some degree by chemicals. Sance Uiey
are a stress to the immune system, I wond.:r what
wall be the long term consequences to children
growing up in the midst of chemical use. And
how much wall our environment absorb? I speak
of my concern while knowing that symptoms
reflect something deeper.
Three umes I was accidenlly SPtayed in public
places with herbicide or insecticide.and I think
about the weeds and insects that arc labelled pc~ts
ond lulled. And about lhc animals on which these
chemicals arc tested. The language of public
agencies IS facts and figures. a different language
from that which Earth and its fauna and flora
speak, but one which I have learned out of my
experience. So I speak of facts and figures,
though they arc but one level of a multi-leveled
truth .
Thanks to Ka1Uah for speaking so beautifully
ol the mtcr-coonectedocss oC all life.
Sincerely,
Nancy Barnhardt
ML Airy, Virginia
Now peacefully we lie at resr
Here in the Ozarks' Stoney brea.rt.
In life we could not wulerstand
Why we were driven across the land
And now we hear, not even death
Can save us from the white man's breath,
For still he gives the loud commands
Thal drove us once across srrange lands.
He comes now ro disturb our sleep
Where cedar glades a vigil keep.
Hear us now. We will not go
For on our heads a thousand snows.
Hear us now. \Ve will not bend
To the white mllll's ways again.
Three Juuulred strong, a mighty ba11d
To keep the wltire man from the land.
They cannot build a prison here;
Where live men like the the dead appear.
Hear us now. We will not go.
Hear us now. We rel/ you so.
We waJJc these hills on ~ery wind.
Great Spirit is a mighty friend.
-Barbara Eller Dail
Noncy has now moved to the Chapel Ifill, North
Corolino area (Uwharria bioregional pro11inet}
where she will be working as on tnvironmtntal
lobbyist.
Dc:it Kailiah friends,
The issues you are dealing with are criucal for
our continued CJtistcncc. Being a member of the
Baha'i Faith and having Cherokee heritage makes
me even more concerned about ha.rmony with
nature and my fellow humans.
Some Baha'i friends arid I arc in the planning
stages of cstabli.~hing a Lcaming/Hcalmg center
which v.oold work 10ward the uni[)' ol the healing
.u and education methods. Therefore I would be
very intcrcSIC.d m any Ulfornutioo or contacts )'OU
may ha\'C in this area. I am especially inLCreSICd
in knowing more about herbal n:mcdics such as
those prescnlt.d by Carolyn Pon.
I would v.-clcome the opportUn11y 10 meet
with you to discuss some of our mulllal concerns
and goals. I li\'C near the headwaters of the Clillch
Raver. What do you know about this area (the
Clinch Valley) being sacred tem1ory 10 the
OlcroL.ccs? I am looking forward to heanng from
you.
Warmest Greetings,
Oint Dye
P.O. Box 55
Swords Creek,
Virginia 24CH9
KATU AH - page 25
�(nruural) - no electne, no plumbing, and the liule
DRUMMING
continued from p. 25
wildlife people feel OK hete.
Ka11lah editor:
I really connected IO the concepis of your
journal and your goals. as expressed in Earth
First! (February issue, •Reviews"). all.ho' I
myself see us as passed beyond the point of
choosing qwtlity life stand:uds or not, for living
beings. I feel humans have destroyed (and are
destroying) so much of our basic life-support
needs - air, watctS, soils- that we may only have a
choice of octivating NOW IO save what's left., or
simply become extinct in I.he very near fuuue.
I've been trying IO "live on I.he land"hcre
since 1978, doing a "half-passed" Job of it-still
connected much IOO much IO machine age things.
I'm trying now IO deepen my own dctcm1inalion,
woit MUCH harder, sleep less. quit wasting time
on any unnecessary things, and become much
more self-suflicicnL Cutting off from machine
age life 100% is my goo.I. I want IO produce all
my own food and drinking water. finish the rock
walls for this old home, can all the summer fruit
here, and so on. I've kept my place very primitive
Anyhow. I wnnt to offer you info of I.he
suppon system that has enabled me to deal wilh
never-ending stvere problems as natural world
meets machine age. I refer to Nichircn Shoshu,
Buddhist World Peace MovcmcnL
Here's our chant:
"NAM-MYOHO-RENGE-KYO" and we chJnt LO
a small scroll called "Gohonzon" on which is
inscribed concepts of universal enlightenmenL
Due to I.he miserable schedule of my city
job, I feared I'd not get my nightly chanting done
last nighL I figured I'd fall asleep, after nighis of
home-coming al midnight and 1:20 am, so I've
been chanting how I'd stay awake.
Sure enough, after some chanting. I dozed
off last night. I woke up. but I jus1 would not get
up, laying there, thinking of all the urgent
things, but NOT MOVING. Then I heard
"Thump. Thump." an odd noise ..?? I guessed
what it was and jumped up. It was BAD KiUy,
go1 in I.he cupboard, got my Swiss cheese, and
was banging it on the floor to break off bites. It
was chanting that brought Kiuy into the cabinet
of food: the only lhing lh31 would get me up,
without being dreadful, like a fire or such.
I've chanted for Glady, murdered bear, that
she returns to happier new life. Here's a grc:it
phJ'Mc Crom our teacher, wriucn by Miao-lo, great
Buddhist teacher of India:
•A plant., a uee, a pebble, a speck of dust,
each has innate Buddha D3turc, along with the
other causes and conditions needed t0 auain
Buddhahood." I hope you people there may only
try this chanting 10 bring many bencliis to your
own fine work. To locate members in your area,
contact: Nichercn Shisher Community, 4603
Eastern Avenue. Mt. Ranier. Maryland 20712.
(301) 779-3255.
Sincerely,
Janice Blise
A Katuah reader in Knoxville, TN sends this
flier that was being distributed there by you11g
people in punk auire.
ROOFING FOR AUNT PEARL
"They want met' move I' town,"
bent over her cane and squinting
up at me covered with stop-leak and tar,
holding hot rolled roof,
"but a told 'em:
her palsied hand's finger
pointing to the soil,
"that I'm Cold Knob born.
Cold Knob bred,
'n' when I die, by God,
I'm gonna be Cold Knob dead.·
KNOXVILLE PUNKS GO ECO ...
- Bob Henry Baber
Dear Kataah,
Just wan1ed to write in and say how
much I appreciate the efforts of those
wildlife officers who for three years have
!>een looking into the bear pooching here
tn these mountains. h was very
courageous of those folks to do that.
. .You know t~ey were really laying
their hvcs on the hne in some cases. So I
think they deserve a special thanks from
all of us who want to see the bears
survive here.
I hope the coun has the sense to
follow through in adequate punishment of
the people who were poaching. It doesn't
do much good to do all that work and then
have them not be strongly punished.
The bears are having a hard enough
time dealing with this drought. They
don't need co be having to deal with all the
threat of poaching as well.
MAKE TH M PAY PLUG
UP
A MAGH1NE TODAY !
Sincerely,
M. L. Lewis
Let Ille Military-Industrial Complex Beware!
�Medicine- .Allies
ful I color T- sfJirts
REVIEW
Where Legends Live:
A Pictorial Guide to
Cherokee Mythic Places
by Douglas A. Rossman
(Cherokee Publications; Cherokee, NC),
1988
If you are enchanted by the colorful,
moving myths ana legends of the
Cherokee .... .if the skin along your neck
crawls at the thought of Utluhtu, the
Spearfinger, snaring the livers of
unsuspecting victims.....if you have feared
the giant serpent Uktena, bearing the
blinding crystal Uluhsati on its head, luring
even the greatest warriors to their
death .. ... then you have also wondered
about the dwelling- and haunting-places of
these great creatures of myth.
Where Legends Live, by frequent
Kati1ah comributor Douglas A. Rossman,
will provide you with a glimpse of those
places. Black-and-while photographs depict
the actual geographic locations of sites: from
Gahudi ("the finding place"). where the
great Uktena met its demise; to the various
dwelling-places and council houses of the
Nuhnehi ("those who have always been
here"); to Uguh-yi, "the place behind the
water," where Thunder Beings lived.
Lovely stippled illustrations by Nancy-Lou
Patterson bring alive the text.
Where Legends Uve is the perfect
companion 10 Cherokee myths and legends
recorded by historians, ethnologists, and
other writers. If you dare to view the land of
the g.reat Uktena, Rossman's book is for
you.
In ths traditional Cherokee Indian belief.
the .cr~~turss in the world today ars only
dlmmultlve forms of the mythic beings who
once inhabited ths world, but who now reside
in Galuna'ti, ths spirit world, the highest
heaven. But a tsw of ths original powers broke
through ths spiritual barrier and exist yet in the
world as ws know it. These beings are called
with reverence •grandfathers•. And of thsm,
the strongest ars Kanatt, the lightning, the
power of the sky; Utsa'natl, ths rattlesnake.
who personifies the power of the earth plane;
and Yunwi USdi, "the little man·. as ginseng ls
called m the sacred ceremonies, who draws up
power from the underworld.
Each is the strongest power in its own
domain. Together they ars allies: their energies
complement each other to form an even
greater power. As medicine a/Iles, they
represent the healing powers of the
Appalachian Mountains.
The medicine powers of Katuah have
been depicted in a striking T-shirt design by
lb~y Kenna. Printed in 5-color silkscreen by
Ridgerunner Naturals on top quality, all-cotton
shirts, they are available now in all aduh sizes
through the Kalanu bioreglonal mail-order
suppUsr.
Order shirts from: KAl.ANU
Box 282; Sylva, NC
Katuah Province 28779
Please specify size: Sm., Med., Lg., X·Lg.
KRLRNU
BI OREG I ONRL BOOKS
ANO TOOLS FOR LIU I NG
IN RPPRLRCHIR
•The Education or LitUe Tree
• by Forrest Olster
A boy ltarllS oboUI lift from his
Chtrok.te gra11dpam11s ON! 1ht surrounding hills. A
story full of wisdom and love tlwt will one day be
recognized as a lilerary classic. • S11.00
• Myths and Sacred Fonnulas or the
Cherokee • collected by J31ncs Mooney
A jollnlty through time and the
Appalachian mythic lond.scap<!. - S15.00
• The French Brood • by Wilma Dykem311
A rousing history of the French Broad
River wotershtd.full offaCJs and tht spirit of the
mountainS. • SI0.00
• Strangers in High Places
- by Michael Frome
Tht story of 1/te Great Smoky
Mountains and tht creation of a national park. •
$9.50
• Landscaping with Native Plants
- by Cordelia Penn
Creating nmural londscQ/XS iJr ti~
eascernfores1 lands. • S7.00
• Where Legends Live
- by Douglas Rossman
A geography of Cherokee myth. ·
S5.00
All prices include posmge.
- Kim Sandland
P~ add
5% sales w IO iolal.
Order from:
KRLRNU
P. 0. Box 282; Sylva, NC
Kamah Province 28789
WATER PURIFICATION EQUIPMENT
SO LAR PROOUCTS
Member NC Wa1 Ouahly Assoc1auo11
er
HWY 107
RANDA LL C LANIER
RT. 68 BOX 125
704-293-59 12
CULLOWHEE, NC 28723
.~·~
!> ~if."'~:
Natural Food Store
& Deli
All 1101urol
160 8I080W1ly
Ash9Yllle, NC 28801
· '.ll·1fiune- Cmm1..._
1
Ht,,.x l.J.Jc., L .·
~n.;.au.
Clary S.1gc. and more
.lir.lf,,;.,..
/re~ cota109ue
,.,. ~
Bluebird Botanlcalt ~ ·oJ~ao.G.r>
p 0 Bo• 1271 ~. . .;"'.
'J.~~·,
fr~nkkn NC 211734
~/
~
~
&rbdra R,;m,•n,nyder PhD ~,
~~--
t....
AUTUMN - 1988 '
Where l!lroadwly ~
Mlrrtmon Aw &1-240
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
SCOTT BIRD
GREGBLAO(
(704) 683-1414
fl8M795
Monday.S.urct.y: 9am·8pm
Sunday: 1pm-5pn
(704) 253-7656
KATUAH - page 27
�"A Cosby farmer used a hollow chestmn tree as a barn
for a pig and a cow."
JOURNEY
• Dr. Frank W. Woods (University of Tennessee)
1. Gm wl.ncrel!
IJear my &~ c:rown
Slt h1.9h on my throne
X.now the trees
CGU ••• CaU •••
TauntLnlj ~out of my sf«p ... wa!.A.
There·s sGfety ln the Jtock.
B1.1t you Gre Q Coner too
_.tnd,
Q WQtc:fiu
1.mpotlult to tclL
IJhere hGve you &ecn, c:row?
you C:Qn trovd ln GU wortds
Swoop down Qnd. r~
See lhroUCJh my CtJCS
!he c:unnlruJ
X.now my cfarrt.ness
What CQn you. open wlth my beart.?
l.lhat c:Gn you CJrGsp wlth my tciC.ons?
Caw ••• C11W •••
n~
c:row splrlt
f i.qflts the Ctil.Je
Ctever down.
you survwe
t see throucfo your eyes
the c:unnln9
1. &eco~ one wllh the c:row
Thro"'Jh the c:rGclt. Ln the stone
S!lp down journey
deep l.n f t!Ajht
n~ c:row Ln the nxu!
p Lcrt.s at my m l.nd.
1.t dears the splrLt. wGy
kle l.f"Gvet far
ln c:a!t Wortds
Author Lorna Thornborough stOJlding by a c~.ftnut giant in the I920's
(continued from page S)
The Last Rites
We neec! to rleClt our hurts
now
Put our [lves ln order
I?
now
We neel! to say
what we m&Gn to stly
and. pray
for9we anci CJlve
get Cuctd
now
Our [lves fttl5h &efore our eyes
The o[c( ways Ifie
I.le Gre rec1m1~"'9
the Ca~t nuis
from Crow Woman Dreaming
-poems
by
Colleen
(Self-published), 1988
Redman
Eight pages, available for $5.00--or
trnde--plus postage from Colleen Redman;
P.O. Box 634; Floyd, VA 24091. ,
KA TUAH • page 28
depressions in the bark with small orange
bumps protruding from them. The can.kers
grew through lhe phloem, to the cambium,
and into the rree's xylem layer, eventually
girdling the tree.
By 1910 the blight had spread acf?SS
New York and New Jersey and was moving
nonh into Massachusetts. It had previously
been spotted in locations in Pennsylvania.
Already the blight had damaged millions of
magnificent trees, and scientists knew that
they were faced with an epidemic.
Pennsylvania made the only attempt
to stop the spread of the blig.ht. In 11 _1he
state gathered a team of enunent sc1en11sts
and spent $500,000 on their effons. bu~ to
no avail. The blight continued on, mov.mg
inexorably southward • almost 25 miles
each year - through the valuable chestnut
stands.
By 1938 F.H. Milh:r, park forester in
the Great Smoky Mountains National Park,
announced that 'Tully 85% of the chestnul in
the Park has been killed or affecied by the
blight." Undamage~ tree~ we.re found,
p:micularly at 1he higher clevauons, even
laie into the I 940's. but eventually v1nually
all of them succumbed to the invader. An
estim:ued 3.5 billion Castanea trees
wllhered to the ground. The mighiy chestnut
was vanquished.
A mainstay of Appalachi:m economic
life was lost v. ith the demise of the
American chestnut, as well as an important
source of sustenance for mountain families.
But unquestionably it was the fore:.t wildlife
that was hardest hit by the loss of this gre~t
tree. No one was mrudng wildlife surveys m
the early J900's, but it was apparent to any
hunter lhat the loss of the chestnut severely
curtailed the populations of several species
of Appalachian wildlife. Black bears and
wild turkeys were particularly threatened.
Between the loss of the dependable fall
chestnut mast crop and the inroads of
over-hunting, both those species were
almost eliminated from the Southern
Appalachians.
The chestnut tree is not entirely
extinct but ll has been banished into a
strang~ limbo. Root systems still live
underground, and they still send up sprouts
that in some places have become an
imponam understory shrub. But ~fore ~e
young saplings can reach matunty, their
bark cracks, the typical cankers appea;. and
the small trees are soon dead. W11hout
leaves to suppon them, the chestnut roots
arc slowly losing their vigor under~round.
Few of the saplings reach nut-beanng age.
and large chestnut trees surviving above
ground are very, very few.
.
But isolated trees do survive. and
through the work o~ sc~cnce pas_!onately
s
applied and sheer f:ulh in the resiliency ot
the chestnut, hope for the former forest
giant i~ grov. ing. A concerted effort on the
pa.rt of a large number of aware volunteers
could undo the damage we have done a~d
restore the American chestnut tree to us
naturnl habitat in Appalachia.
"Where there be mountains, be there
clte.wiuus once again!"
AlJTUMN • 1988
�Young People's Page
!\ature is a book with a lesson for each day.
Before man This is where the animals roamed
looking for prey.
This is where the flowers grew
making the valley be:iutiful.
Then came man •
I le destroyed the animal ' homes.
I le killed 1he aninlats.
I le polluted the air: and water.
Man has done wrong.
It is up to u. to correct htm.
- M:itt Ghonnley
Clnldrcn, running through the fields,
Leaves. rustling through the winds.
The sight of n:itun: make-. me h:ippy.
But the iliought of nature m3kes me radiant.
- Steve Yazdik
- Kamari Venable
As the cricket checpi;
And the jays say goO<lnight
To one another,
I wonder "hy we must
Destroy this world
Which we do not own,
But nrc pennincd to borrow.
'I'ake your problems to lhe mountains
Ami ask for help.
Your problems may be solveu.
If you le:lrn how to listen.
- Brittany Hop~ns
. Wan.song lfarley
Nature is talking to us.
Some people have coough patience
To listen to what it.says.
The future can be changed
If only we i.top to listen.
- Suzanne Schenley
- B:irbara Miller
If every man had the chance to sit alone by a river.
he may think twice what he does.
- Amy Jones
Thanks ro Amy Cogan ar Grear Smoky Wo11111ain Envimnmenral Education
ln.srimre ar TrefTll)nt, locared in rile Grear Smnky Mo1111rui11 Nminnal Park.
Drawing by Rob Messick
AUTUMN- 1988
KATUAH ·page 29
�Helping
Injured
W ildlife
Each year many injured or orphaned
wild animals and birds of prey are brought
in from the woods. The Western North
Carolina Nature Center received over 600
creatures, mostly raptors, requiring
assistance last year. Yet there arc few
wildlife rchabilitators who have the
necessary permits from the US Depanment
of the Interior and the North Carolina
Wildlife Resources Commission to care for
the distressed individuals.
Wildlife rchabilitators house, feed,
and exercise the disabled birds and animals,
and then introduce them to prey so that they
can again fend for themselves. Presently,
the few wildJife rehabilitators in the region
are overburdened and cannot possibly keep
up with the number of creatures in trouble
that are constantly brought in.
Clyde Hollifield, a wildlife
rchabilitator from Old Fon, NC has
conceived of a program to help bird and
animal fanciers to become licensed
rehabilitators. Working with the Western
Nonh Carolina Nature Center, Clyde is
organizing a series of night courses on
rehabilitation skills: feeding, handling,
observing and diagnosing bird and animal
ailments, and emergency first aid. No
experience or technical skills are required,
just a desire and a commitment to help
wildlife. Rehabilitators are volunteers who,
though they receive no pay, gain deep
satisfaction from their work.
Being a wildJife rehabilitator requires
dedication, but it can rake up as little rime as
the practitioner desires. "Even keeping and
releasing one bird per yeru- is a great help, ..
says Clyde. "Every creature is important.
Each bird that flies away is a valuable
addition to the gene pool, and means many
generations of offspring later on down the
line.
"Even if there were just 10 or 20
more rehabilitators in the area, that would be
a great help."
Those who would like to register for
wildlife rehabilitator training classes or
would like more information about the
program, write or call Clyde Hollifield, 355
Cedar Creek Rd.; Black Mounrnin, NC
28711; (704) 669-6821.
Call for Presentations
lmernational Conference on
Parkways, Greenways, Riverways
The Steering Committee of the l111ulllJ(ional
Con[erenu on Parkways. Greenways. Riverways;:
The Way More Beouiifu/, to be held Sept.ember
19-22, 1989 in Asheville, North Carolina. invites
your proposals flll' prcsenutions.
An intemntional gathering of presenters is
being sought to represem diverse areas as they relate
to parkways, greenways and riverways--their
conceptual foundations, their design and
construction, and the roles they may piny in our
future. Suggested topic areas include
multi-governmental cooperation in the jurisdiction
of, psychologic:il importance or. and habit.at
preservation and the development of parkways,
grecnways. and rivcrwnys.
The Conference is intended to provide a
forum for di31ogue and discussion. Presentations can
be in the form or papers, panel discussions, films,
videotapes, workshops, case studies. artistic
interpretations. etc. Abstracts of presentations
should be submitted in narrative form, no longer
than two pages, and include presenter's name,
institutional/organizational affiJiation, address, and
ielephone number, and the title and description of
the proposed presentation. DEADLINE FOR
RECEIVlNG ABSTRACTS IS DECEMBER 1,
1988. AbstmclS or inquiries should be din!clCd to:
Dr. Barry Buxton
Appalachilln Consortium
University Hall
Boone. North Carolina 28608
(704) 262-2064
The Confetenee is sponsored by The Appalachian
Consortium, The Blue Ridge Parkway, The River
Foundation, The Lyndhurst Foundation, and the
National Parlt Service.
For additional ideas and inforl'll(llion, co111ae1 Kallinh
co-editor Marnie Mu.lier who is a member of the
Steering Committu.
New River Symposium
The New River Gorge National River, a unit
of the National Park System in West Virginia., and
lhe New River Slllte Parle in North Carolina arc
again co-sponsoring the New River Symposium.
The eighth annual throe-day symposium, scheduled
for April 20-22, 1989. will be held in Radford,
Virginia.
The multi-disciplinary symposium is open to all
those with a professional or avocational interest in
the New River, which courses from itS headwaters
in North Carolina through Virginia. to itS terminus
in West Virginia. a disUlllce of approximately 250
miles.
Papers for the symposium are being
requested in natural and/or cultural history, folklore,
:uchocology, geography, other na.1ur:il. physical. and
social sciences, and the humaniLies. All papers
should share Lhese common 1hcmes or the
interrelationships of the natural, physical, and/or
human environmenlS.
In order for proposals to be considerod they must
be received NO LATER THAN DECEMBER I,
198g and include a 250-400 word nbstrnct which
will be reviewed by a panel of professionals. All
proposals should be sent Lo the Chief of
lnterpret.ation, Nationnl Park Service, New River
Gorge National River, P.O. Box I 189. 03k Rill,
West Virginia 2590 I. Questions C11D be answered by
calling Parlt Headquarters at (3~) 465-0508.
~
T·SHIRTS, SWEATSHIRTS
For ADULTS and CHILDREN
15 ORIGINAL
HAND·PRINTED
NATURE DESIGNS
EACH COLORFUL
IIDHGN It;
PRIN'lED ON
Q.UALI'IY T' s
Ai<D SWEA'fS
�PLA NT A L ITTLE MAGIC
Cullivating Communities
In the Garden
Amuica11 Community Garde11111g Association
Conftwire · October 17-20. 1988 • Ask•·tllt,NC
All o•cr lhc: country people arc working
LOgcther io 1t:1nsrorm open, unu~ space mio viable
community gardens. A communtty garden is made
up or people, young and old. who appreciate the
beauty of growing vegclllblcs and nowers and
cultivating communities. Mountain ~ Gardeners
in Communtty (MAGIC) (sec Katuah Journal,
Spnng '86) has been developing twelve community
gardens in Asheville, Nonh Carolina for the past six
years.
This fall, on October 17·20. 19118, MAGIC
will host the American Community Gardening
A-~soci:uion's (ACGA) annual conference.This will
be a special opponunity for area residents to learn
how alive community gnrdening really 1s--around
the country. Formed in 1979. ACGA now has 600
members nationwide who suppon the greening or
cilies and the building or communities through
community gardcrung.
Community garden supporters from all over
lhc: country and parts or Canada will be imending
and MAGIC would like to cxitnd a direct invitation
to area residents 10 JOin m the events. The
conference will provide a full schedule of acuvities
including round ublc discussions. workshops, a
trade fair, a BBQ/square dance and a umc for
networking.
The conference. to be held at the Quality
Inn on the Plaza m downtown Asheville, will begin
at 9:00 am Mond3y with the kcynot.c address by Jeff
Bcn:uvit.Z, direct()( of the RcgcncrJuon PtOJeCt,
Rodale Press. The Rcgcncrauon Project is
pioneering an innovative rippro~h to community
revilllli:r.ation by focussing on the living
cn'·ironmcnt and sll'Cngthening local economic.~. Jeff
Bcrcuv1l7 will provide pmctiail mformauon or value
to groups working on de•cloping and strengthening
communities.
Workshops will be oHcrcd lrom 9 am 10 4
pm on Monday and Tuc.o;diy and 9 am to noon on
Thursday. A lot:JI of 26 workshops will cover a
wide range or topics, mcludmg sclf·help gardening
programs, gardening with children, new village
gardening in Mexico, recycling, and a homculturc
therapy panel. The trade fair will run all d3y
Tuesday nnd w11J feature ci1h1bits showing n:iuonal,
rcgionnl and locul products that provide sarcr, more
effccuvc gardening. Wednesday IS traveling d3y ror
conferees. featuring vi,1ts to MAGICs garden .sites,
a trip up to Cr:iggy G31d.:ns. and a BBQ/square dJncc
at the Warren Wilson campus.
The conference fees are SIOO for ACGA
members and Sl50 for non· mcmbel'!. A·la·carte
sclccuons of S35 for a full d3y or work.shops. S20
for the BBQ/sqlWC cbncc and SIO for the g:udcn tour
arc offered. If you arc int.c~•tcd in attending or
helping with the conrercncc, contact Tom
Youngblood·~tctliCll at (704) 251-5666.
• Kartn Morgan
Herbal Wisdom WorlL<Jiops
and I k1b:tl Products
Send for Brochure
Cyndi llcath
Route 2 Box 251
Vala.~.
NC 28692
The Second Annua l
NEW PRIORITIES
CONFERENCE
The Ka11iah Journal again joins with
a number of other organizations in the area
to co-sponsor the annual New Priorities
Conference o n Peace, Social Justice and the
Environment. The theme for this second
annual event is "Wake Up and Dream!"
The conference will begin at 8 pm
Fnday eve, September 23, with musical
entertainment and will then continue all day
Saturday, September 24. All activities will
be held at Asheville lligh School in
Asheville, Nonh Carolina.
Registration begins at 8:00 am on
Saturday with the opening plenary at 8:45
Keynote speaker will be Alan Gussow,
national president of Friends of the Earth,
who was enthusiastically received last year
as one of the main speakers. Afterwards the
morning workshops will offer ideas, skills,
and tools needed for turning community
"dreams" into reality. There will be two
concurrent sessions in each of these subject
areas: 1) Mediation/active listening/conflict
resolution; 2) Community building; 3)
Hope and empowennent/ dealing with
change; 4) Earth awareness; and 5) Creative
parenting/ non-violent lifestyles.
For the session on Earth awareness.
K acuali co-editor Marnie Muller, Kay
Littlejohn, nauve Cherokee, and Paul
Gallimore of Long Branch Environmental
Education Center will jointly present a
workshop entitled "The Earth is Alive:
Living Withi n the Community of Life
Systems." Drawing from the bioregional
work of Thomas Berry, from contemporary
biological and ecological findings, and from
native traditions. they will lead a discussion
on how to perceive, work with, and
celebrate the ecological life processes in
which we are immersed.
rn the afternoon workshops trained
facilitators will assist a dynamic coalescing
of "dreaming" and strategizing by
conference participants. Using the skills
and ideas fro m the morning session.
participants will have the opportunity to
envision together and share their personal
"community dreams," and then to develop
positive "next steps" for individual and
group actions.
The closing plenary, which will
conclude at 4:30 pm, will be a time for the
afternoon groups to summarize and share
the outcome of their workshops and to
acknowledge their ongoing capacity to wake
up and dream together during the coming
year.
Conference costs will be held at a
minimum to encour:!ge as broad a
participation as possible. Fee for Saturday
will be $8 to $12. depending on
preregistration and lunch options.
Scholarships and group rates are also
available. Childcare will be available for
children ages 3-10. The fee will be $2 per
child for the day. The Friday evening
musical event will be offered on a donation
basis. Volunteers to help with conference
prepnration and publicity are needed. For
more details regarding this imponanl event,
call (704) 252-3036.
Now available...
A B ioregional Bibliography
lis1ing major bon/c.s, periodicals a~ articles associa.1ed w!th 1/ze bioregio11al
effort. An e.xcel/em wot f~r a: 11111s1s, scli'!ta;s. /1~rari~s, a~d 1e.acl1ers.
Compiled by 1/ze Hudson 81oreg1onal Counc1/, in con1unc11on wuh 1he North
American Bwregional Congress.
/11c/U/k$ co1111tnit11J Jub/1J1J11g1, 46 pages. S4 00 111clu.ks po11agt. Carh or chr:ck (payabk
10 K. Salt). llwdw11 81oreg111nal CoW1C1/ clo 1\1,kSalt, I 13 W. //th S1 .. New. Yor.l. NY
10011.
DESIGNS
by Hob :-. tcssick
lllustrnt1on & Dcs1~n
In Pen & Ink and Colored Pcncll
t!lti11ese ,At11p1111ct11re
ut
.Her/J11'41v e!iHk
11U.STCKSNJTSllCliT
ASKVUl'....CZllOI
IOU~toll
AUTUMN· 1988
KATUAH ·page 31
�eveors
ON-GOI NG • CULLOWllEE, NC
"Mountain Troul" • exltibi1 wi1h
prints, painungs, pholOS, sculplure, rceM!ings of
old fishermen, and aquarium wilh live rrouL 8-5
Mon.·Fri., 12-4 Sal. al The MounUlin Het1U1ge
Center. WesLCrn Carolina Universily, Cullowhee,
NC 28723.
SEPTEMBER
17-18
HARRISONBURG, VA
"Restoring Wilderness in the
East: A Deep Ecology Perspective"
conference featuring Dave Foreman (Earth
First!), Gary Lawless (Gulf of Maine
Bioregion), Jamie Sayen (PAW), Barbara
Dugelby (Earth First!), David Wheeler
(Katuah). Sponsored by Virginia Earth
First! and Virginians for Wilderness;
co-sponsored by Kau1ah. At James Madison
University in Harrisonburg. Registration:
$10 advance, SIS at door. For more info:
write VA EFI; Route 1, Box 250; Staunton,
VA 24401 or call (703) 885 6983.
OCTOBER
8·9
CHEROKIEE, NC
'The An of Troy Anderson (wescem
Cherokee) and Shan Goshorn (eastern Cherokee)."
Cherokee Hericage Museum and Gnllcry; Cherokee,
NC 28719.
LO
1-31
MARS HfLL, NC
The Bascom Lamar Lundsford
Mountain Music and Dance Festival. Mounuun
crafts and mounUlin living CllhibiLions. music,
stories, dancing. Evening concert. 7 pm. For more
info .. call (704)689-1228.
1-2
BRASSTOWN, NC
Fall Music Fes1ival, John C.
Campbell Folk School; Brosscown, NC 28902
2-14
VALLE CRUCIS, NC
"The Great Mad Mother Earlh
Pa.intings• • exhibiting lhe work of Marlene
Mountain. Pan of "AesthcLic Access '88," privncc,
non-<:ommcrcial ellh1b1tions at the Lowell Hayes
Studio. Call for inviUltion: (704) 963·5835.
CHEROKEE, NC
Cherokee Fall Festival. Stickball,
Indian dancing, cheslnut bread. exhibits. Ceremonial
Grounds, Cherokee.
4-8
17-18
GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS
"Wild Mammnls of !he Great Smokies"
field instruction with Dr. Michael Pelton. $45.
Smoley Mountain Field School: 20\6 Lake Ave.:
Knoxville, 1N 37996.
17·18
RALEIGH, NC
Eart.h Skills Workshop with
Eustoce Conway. ConL3Cl Bern Grey Owl: 4 Winds
Indian Score: W. Johnson SL (919) gs6-0144.
6-7
CHEROKEE, NC
Shan Goshorn speaks about her
anwork. Cherokee Heritage Museum and Gallery:
Cherokee, NC 28719
CROSSNORE, NC
Forest Watch Training Program.
Forest management. wildlife, water qunh1y, CIC. $3
registrauon. Dorm space available: S!3/nigh1.
Meals extra. Sponsored by Blue Ridge Group, Sierra
Club.
NEW MOON
13-30
ASHEVILLE, NC
"Moumain Sweet Tallc." 2-act play
by The Follccellers (Barbara Freeman, Connie
Regan-Blake). The Follc Art Center, Blue Ridge
Parkway. S8 advance at Malaprop's, SIO al door.
For more info., write: The Folktcllcrs; Box 2898;
Asheville, NC 28802.
14-16
BLACK MOUNTAINt NC
"The Black Mountain
Festival" - traditional music and dance,
children's activities. The Merropolitnn Blues
All-Stars, 0.K. Bayou Dance Band, The
Heartbeats, Johnny Gimble, Claudia
Schmidc, Lorraine Duiset (of Trapezoid),
callers Fred Park and Sue DuPre. For the
kids: Goldenrod Puppets, songs and stories
with Susie Crace. Camping or bunks.
$35/person. Pre-regiscer: Grey Eagle and
Friends; P.O. Box 216; Black Mouncain,
NC2871 I
14-16
HOT SPRINGS, NC
"S1umbling Toward lhe Light" retreat wilh Bo and Siia Lozoff. $50. Southern
Dharma Retreat Center; RL I, Box 34-H: Hot
Springs. NC 28743.
15-16
ASHEVILLE, NC
The Second Annual New
Priorities Conference on Peace, Social
Justice, and the Environment - beginning
locally and reaching out. Keynote by Alan
Gussow (president, Friends of the Eanh).
Workshops, including "The Eanh Is Alive"
with Marnie Muller, Kay Littlejohn, and
Paul Gallimore. Pre-register by 9/16 to 725
Chunns Cove Rd.; Asheville, NC 28805.
For more info, see p. 31 or call: (704)
252-3036
23·24
24-25
RALEIGH, NC
Ear1h Skills Workshop, see
CARTERSVILL E, GA
Southeastern Indian Cullural
Festival al Etowah Indian Mound. Largest gathering
or SE Indian artisans ever assembled. Contacc
Valerie Spratldn (404) 942-8917.
ASHEVILLE, NC
American Community Garden
Association National Conference at Quality
Inn. Speaker Jeff Bercuvitz (director,
Regeneration Project), 9 am 10/17. Trade
show, 10/18. Workshops. Registration:
S!OO/members, $150/non-members. For
more info., see p. 3 1 or call MAGIC
(704)251-5666.
17-20
9/17-18.
2S
FULL MOON
20.23
J0..10/2
HIGHLANDS, NC
Men's ReucaL A special weekend for and
about men. A lime or exploration and shnring led by
Dr. Bill Sutton, psychologist. SIOO. Highlands
Camp and Conference Centcr: 841 Highway 106:
Hlghlllnds, NC 28741.
KATUAH • page 32
HI GHLANDS, NC
"Fall Landscape Workshop."
pho1ography instruction by Sam Wang.
App3lachian Environmenial Ans Center: Box 580:
28741
AlITUMN - 1988
�24-29 OAK Rll)GE, TN
"Nuke Wa1eh opera1ion ai Y-12 Nuclear
Weapons Components Plant. Con1ac1 Oak Ridge:
Environmcnllll and Peace Alliance: Box I IOI:
Knoxville, TN 37901 or call evenings al (615 l
588-9370.
WA YNESVlLLE, NC
Seminar. •A Theosophical Pcrspecu ve
on Dath and Dying· with Belly Bland. Towald
removing fear and anxiety lhrough under..1:111d1ng of
Ille process S20 donation. Std-Llgh1. Sec 10/21-23.
19-20
BOONE. NC
Earth Skills Workshop w11h
Eusll!cc Conway. Conltlct Allem Smnlcy (704)
872-7972.
ATHENS, GA
Sandy Creek American Indian
Pow-wow and Rendezvous. sponsored by Ille Native
American Cul1ural Prc.scrva1ion Socie1y Adults:
S4.00. Children, seniors: S2.00. For more info.•
call An:hie Russ (615) 525--6769.
28-30 HELEN, CA
"EARTHSKILLS WORKSHOP• with
Snow Benr and Darry Wood. Learn pnm1uve skills
1ha1 1each mindfulness as well as dex1erity.
Prc-rcgis1cr S65 10 Bob Slack; Unicoi Smte P..uk:
Box 1029: Helen. GA 30545. Call (404) 1178-2201
30-11/11 VALLF. CRUCIS, NC
"Thero: is a River·. Ille paintings of
Lowell Hayes on exhibll as pan or "Aes1he1ic
Accc.~s '88." See 10/2-14.
23-27
21-23
29
21-23
HOT SPRINGS, NC
"In1roduction to Zen
Meditation, lkebana. and the Tea
Ccre:mony" with Dnimn K:ungiri-Roshi and
Tomoe Kniagiri. Sou1hern Dhnrma, see
10/14-16.
21·23
YELLOW SPRINGS, 011
"Building Community as if 1he
Earth Mauers• conference. Susan Meeker-Lowry.
Bob Swann, Chris Weiss, speakers. Community
Service, Inc.; P.O. Box 2423; Yellow Springs, OH
45387 (513) 767-2161.
ASHEV ILLE, NC
Candidates' Forum - Morie Colton and
other candidlllcs for SUllC lcgislal.ive posillons will
discuss the issues at a public meeung. Sponsored by
WNC Alliance, WNC Environmental Summi1,
\VENOCA SicJTa Club. Asheville High School, 7
pm. Call 258-8737 for more info.
21-24
31
SAMHAIN (ALL llALLO\\'S
EVE) - Hnllowe'cn celebration. Gel out and howl!
PISGAH FOREST, NC
Rock Climbing Clinic for novu:es
at Looking Glass Rock. Gilbert's Rock. ConUICt
Eagle's Nest Camp: Rt. 2, Hart Rd.: Pisgah Forest.
NC 28768 (704) 877-4213.
23
FULL MOON
WAYNESVILLE, NC
A Thanksg1V1ng Weekend Spiritual
Retreat at Sul-Light with Ille Stil-Lighl staff.
Contemplation, discus.~ion of diet and a non-violcni
lifestyle. excellen1 vegetarian food. S20. Stil-Light
Sec 10/21·23.
DECEMBER
2-4
llOT SPRINGS, NC
"Tibetan Buddhism. Traditional
Melhods for Spirilual Growth" wllh lhc Ven.
Tub1cn Pcndey (James Dougherty). "Each moment
of our li~·es provides us with the potential for inner
growth." Southern Dharma, sec 10/14-16.
NOVEMBER
:!2
MADISON COUNTY, NC
County-wide recycling day. Cash
for trash. Raise money for your group! Call Lou
Z.cllcr (704) 656-2773 for de Lail.~.
9
HOT SPRINGS, NC
"A Mystical Sabbath" - exploring
the inner ways and practices of Ille Jewish lrodition
wi1h ordained woman rabbi Lynn Oouheb. Soulhcm
Dharma, see 10/14-16.
4-6
22-23
ATLANTA, GA
Earth Skills Workshop with
EusUlce Conway. Contac1 Jill Korn (404) 736-9573.
2.1
11-13
9
J.ULL MOON
NEW MOON
NEW MOON
18
FRANKLIN, NC
"KJllU3h: The Spiritual Landscape•
prcscnmtion by David Wheeler and Mamie Muller of
Ille Katdah Journal. Meeting of the Mountrun Ligh1
Network. Macon County Community Center. 2
pm. For more mfo, call Marion McCracken (404)
746-2454.
However...
We hope
you'll make plans Lo come
to the
'.K.atU.ah '.Fall PtcnLc
Fall Weekend
scheduled for
Sept 30 - Oct 2
in Floyd County,
Virginia
WILL NOTTAKE PLACE
due to unforeseen
community-wide health
problems there.
We apologize for any
disappointment or
inconvenience but will look
forward to the possibility of
planning it for 1989.
·~ .
AU'fUMN - 1988
..
'if
.(~•·:-
which we have now scheduled for
SATURDAY, OCT. 1st
Full Directions:
(They're simple, but lhey work.)
Go to Bryson City, Norlh Carolina.
Follow the signs to "Deep Creek
Campground".
Optional:
Camping is available on a first come
basis. The Campground ls pan of lhe
National Park system.
from 11 :00 am ti! 4:00 pm
at Deep Creek Campground
in I.he Great Smoky Mountains
National Park (as usual).
Potluck Lunch
games. music, fun. bioregional
sharing!
Everyone Welcome!
Pu::nic info: (704) 622-3430 or (704) 683-1414
Picnic info:
(704)622-3430or (704) 683-1414
..
KATUAH ·page 33
~
�DRUMS • Cus1am hnndcraft.ed ccr:unic dumbecks &:
wooden mediclllC drums. Call Joe Roberts al (704)
258-1038 or write to: 73g Town Mount.:iin Rd. ;
A.'hcvillc, !l/C 28804.
"I'm now 111 a minimum security prison in
Knoxville {my home town). r can get out Nov. I, if
I find a job before that date. Docs anybody Jeno"' of
any job opponunities in the Knoxville area?" Rick
Whiu.aker 185670; 5225 Ballard Dr.; Knox\•ille, TN
37918.
SMALL HOUSE on land trust in rural NC
mountains in exchange for pan-time farm chores and
occasional companionship to creative, joyful,
menially handicapped adult (or other lllbor, such as
tallJCOtry). Quaker family. Meeting nearby. Write:
Bob and Dot Barrus: Camp Celo: 1349 H3nnah
Branch Rd.; Burnsville, NC 28714
TR.EE PLANTERS WANTED • small, friendly
company. Hard worlc, eitccllcnt pay for n:sponSible
people with own transport and camping set-up. Dc:c.
thru Apr. Eckman Forestry Service; RL l, Box
290-D; Warrensville, NC 28693 (919} 385-6838.
FUTONS by Simple Plea<urcs - affordably priced.
Send SASE for info to: Simple Plcasurcs; RL I,
Box 1426; ClaytOn, GA 30525 (404) 782-3920
SIMPLE LIFESTYLE CALENDAR, notceards, and
publications on central Appalachian envuonmcntal
issues and home ccologicAI projects avwlablc from
ASPJ. AppaLlchia • Science in the Public Interest
Publications: Route 5 Boit 423: Livingston. KY
40445
M. TREE DESIGNS: Olustrations and Design •
Beyond the pages of lfiis journal, I work in pencil,
colored pencil, ink, cut paper, and batik. Fine and
graphic an to cxpn:ss and enhance our lives. Logos,
brochures, books, portraiture, window and wall
hnngings.. Contact Manha Tree (704) 754-«IJ7.
EUSTACE CONWAY Guide and teacher of
pnmiuve Earth Skills with cmphasi< on fire
b1ulding, hide tanning, shelter. and foraging. He
tc;Jch~ at public schools, parks, environmenwl
centers. and classes of all kinds. For more
infonnation conl:lCt him ac 602 Dc.irwood Drive,
Gastonia, NC 28084 or call Allcm Sl3111cy at {704)
872-7972
RM DESIGNS • l u.<;e the mcdiu or pencils. colored
pencil<, gouxhc, pen and ink, and photography m
cre<1ung unique line and graphic an. I can make
diagrams, logo<, linishcd prints. and design~ for
brochures, cal.:ndars, cards, books. etc. Mandalas and
symbols arc my tendency among other styles.
Contact Rob M~<~ick (704) 7S4.fl097.
KATUAH ·page 34
BLIGHT RESISTANT CHESTNUT · hybrid
Amcricarl/Chine.~ Dunstlln chestnut trees - blight
resistant, limber growth fonn, productive orchard
crop with lnrgc. swceL easily-peeled nuts. Chestnut
Hill Nursery: RL l, Boit 341-K; Alachua, FL
32615 (904) 462-2820
"TREASURES IN THE STREAM" • a cassette tape
of songs by Bob Avery-Grubel. S 10 to Rt. I. Box
735; Aoyd, VA 24091.
PEPPERLAND olTcrs a variety of outdoor education
programs for church, school, or civic groups
year-round. We will help you design a program for
your group. Send for information packet to:
Pcppcrland Farm camp; Star Route; Farner. TN
37333.
WANTED: LAND m western NC. Family seeks 5
or more acres, preferably near Cullowhec, to
preserve and eventually inhabit. tr you have or know
of affordable land, contact Bob and Mary Davi~; 213
Westmon:land Ct., Georgewwn, KY 40324 (502)
863-4267.
CROIV WOMAN DREAMING • selC-publishcd
poetry journal, Celebrating, JOUmeymg, love's
alchemy, p!J.netary last rites, renew-JI. SS (or trade)
+ po.uige: Colleen Redman: P.O. Box 634; Floyd,
VA 24091 .
CRAFTSPEOPLE - seeking American Indian and
contemporary a.rt and craft for purchase or
consignment. ConUICt Bero Grey Owl: Four Winds
Indian Store: 616 W. Johnson St.: Raleigh, NC
27603 (919) 856-0144.
WINGED HEART HOMESTEAD • 283 acres in
Indian Valley district, SW Virginia. On tl1is farm
we want to start a self-reliant community of
families emphasi1.mg orgWlic farming methods and
creative pcrsonnl and spiritual growth. Contact:
Muzawir; RL HC-67, Box 171; Alum Ridge, VA
24051.
HANDMADE HOME in secluded woods, beautiful
Wears Valley, Sevier Co .• TN. 7+ acres on priVllte
rd. w/ separate anist studio/guest room. House h3s l
bedr'm .• bath, wildOowcr patio garden. Asking
$52,700. Also•....
COMPLETE WOODCRAFT SHOP. tools and
mvcntory for S31e. Located one mile from house on
major highway. Reasonable lease on facility.
Asking S8700. For more info on the above, call
(615) 453-1206.
MOON DANCE FARM HERBALS • herbal ~Ives,
tinctures, & oils for birthing & family health. For
brochure, plca...c wnte: Moon Dance Farm; Rt. I,
Box 726: Hampton, TN 37658
ALTERNATIVE COMMUNITY now forming in
the mountnins of north GA. Joan others ~ccking
gn:atcr cooperation and sclf-suflicicncy. Bnscd oo
spiritulll and ecological values. Property IS now
available. (404) n8·87S4.
Wingtd lwm111 llgutt from Eiowah Mound, KJl!li.ah
MEDITATION CUSHIONS • High qWllity
traditional cusbaons as well as something new • an
"inllatable 1.afu." For fn:c brochure, write: Carolina
Morning Designs, Rt. l Box 31 -8, DepL K, Hot
Springs, NC 28743 or call (704) 622 7329.
STIL-LIGHT THEOSOPHICAL RETREAT
CENTE.R a quiet space for personal mcdiuation,
group mtcracuon through study, community won..
and spiritual ~minar; . Contaet Leon Frunkel; Rt. I,
Box 326: Waynesville, NC 28786
FLOWER ESSENCES · H3rmony with Nawrc and
SpariL Ocntle cmouon3l support during transitions.
specific issues. rclat1onsh1ps. Open
commun1c11tions. Self -adJUSting. non-toxic,
awan:ncss "tool\" f0< improving the inner quality.
Write; Elaine Geougc; c/o Patchwork Castle: 3931
Hwy. 80 S.; Burnsville, NC 28714
HAND-CARVED WOODSPlRITS, mystical
hiking stnffs. and wall hangings by Steve Duncan.
For brochure, please write Whippoorwill Studio:
Rt. 4, Box 981: Marion, NC 28752.
WILDERNESS SURVIVAL TRAINING • one
week basic to live week instructor certilicalion
COU!SCS. Best training m shelters, fircbuilding. food
procurement. plants, land navigation wi1hout
JOIRing the army • maybe better! Professional
training in beautiful wilderness setting. Green
Mountain Wildc:rness Survival School: P.O. Box
125; Waitslield, VT 05673 (802)496-5300.
APPLE TREES • old·timcy and popular
rontcmpornry varicues on swndard. semi-. or dwarf
stoek. Send SASE ror prices Jeff Poppen, Long
Hungry Creek Nursery: Red Boiling Springs, TN
37150.
APPLE TREES • grafted old -fashioned and
contemporary. Send 50¢ for catalog: Henry Mon on;
Rt. I, Box 203; G:lllinburg. TN 3773R
APPALACHIAN O!NSENG CO. · stratified seed. .
<
!>Ccdhngs, roots. Send for price list to: P.O. Box
547; Dillsboro. NC 28725.
CHEROKEE INDIAN LANGUAGE classes For
info, write Robert Bushyhcad; P.O Box 705;
Chcroktt, NC 28719.
WEBWORKING is free. Send submissions w:
Kauiah Journal
P.O. Boit 638
Lc1CCSLer, NC
Kaulah Province 28748
AUTUMN· 1988
�In the winter issue of Kattloh Jo11r11al the focus
will be on views of the economic and natural "changes to
come" and lifestyles that will carry us through.
The Katuah Journal wanes to commw1icate wmr
tlumglus and feelings to the other people the
in
bioregional province. Send them tom as le11ers,
poems, stories, articles, drawings, or photographs, etc.
Please send your comribwions to us at: Katliah Journal,
P 0. Box 638, Leicester, NC. Kattiah Prt1vi11ce
28748.
"Water" and "P~ce and Social Justice Issues in
the Mountains" are possible topics for future issues of
the Kati1ah Journal. What do you think? We would like
10 hear your perspectives on these imporunt questions. ·
BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH AVAILABLE
ISSUE TIIREE - Spring 1984
Sustainable Agriculture • Sunflowers - Humnn
Impact on the Fores1 - Childrens' Educnuon ·
Veronica Nicholru;: Woman in Politics - Liule
People • Medicine Allies
ISSUE FOURTEEN· Winier 1986·87
Lloyd Carl Owle · Boogcrs and Mummers • All
Species Day - Cabin Fever Unjvcrs1ty • Homeless
in Kaul:lh • Homemndc Hot Wal.CI • Stovcmakcr's
Narrative - Good Medicine: In terspecies
Communication
ISSUE FOUR - Summer 1984
Wiiler Drum - Water Quality • Kudzu· Solar Eclipse
• ClellJ'Cuuing - Troul - Going to Water - Ram
Pumps - MicrOhydro - Poems: Bennie Lee Sinclair,
Jim Wnyne Miller
ISSUE FIFTEEN ·Spring 1987
Coverlcis - Woman Forester - Susie McMah.1n:
Midwife - AJLCmative Contr3Ccption - Bi~llll3li1y •
Bioregionalism and Women • Good Medicine:
Mauiacharial Culture - Pearl
ISSUE FIVE· Fall 1984
Harvesc - Old Ways in Cherokee - Ginseng • Nuclenr
Waste - Our Celtic Hcrit:1ge • Bioregionalism: Past.
Present, and Future • John Wilnoty • Healing
Darkness - Politics of Participation
ISSUE SlX - Winter 1984-85
Winter Solstice Earth Ceremony • Horsepns1ure
Raver - Coming of the Light - Log Cabin Roo1s Mountain Agriculture: The Righi Crop • Willi:un
Taylor . The Fu1ure of the Forest
ISSUE SEVEN· Spring 1985
Sustainable Economics - Hot Springs - Worker
Ownership ·The Great Economy • Self Help Credit
Union • Wald Turkey - Responsible Investing •
Working in the Web of Life
ISSUE EIGHT· Summer 1985
Celebration: A Way of Life· l<Duiah 18,000 Years
Ago • Sncrcd Sites - Folk ArL~ in the Sche>ols - Sun
Cycle/Moon Cycle • Poems: Hilda Downer Cherokee Heniage Ccmcr ·Who Owns Appala,h1a?
ISSUE NINE - Fall 1985
The Wnldee Forest - The Trees Spc~k • Migrating
Forests · Horse Logging • Starting a Tree Crop Urron Trees - Acom Bread - Myth Time
---- -- ------
ISSUE SIXTEEN • Summer 1987
Helen Waite - Poem; Visions in a Garden - Vision
Quest • Firs1 Flow - lnitilltion • Leaming in lhc
Wilderness - Cherokee Challenge - "Vuluing T~·
ISSUE TEN· Wlinccr 1985-86
Kate Rogers - Circles of Stone - ln1emal
Mythmnking - Holistic Healing on Trial - Poems:
Steve Knauth - Mythic Places • The Uktena's Tale·
Crystll Magic - "Drcamspcaking"
ISSUE EIGHTEEN· Winter 1987·88
Vernacular Architecture - Dreams in Wood and
Stone • Mountain Home • Ear1h Energies •
Eanh-Sbcltcrcd LlVlng • Membr:ane Houses - Brush
Shelter • Poems; October Dusk • Good Medicine:
"Shelter•
lSSUE ELEVEN· Spring 1986
Community Planning - Cities and the Biorcgional
Vision - Recycling • Community Gardening- Floyd
County, VA - Gtl.SOhol - Two Biorcgional Views·
Nuclear Supplement - Foxfire Games • Good
Medicine: Visions
ISSUE NINETEEN· Spring 1988
Perclandrn Garden • Spring Tonics - Blueberries •
Wildflower Gardens . Gr:anny Herbalist Flower
Essences - 'The Origin of the Animals:· Story Good Medicine: "Power" - Be A Troe
ISSUE THIRTEEN· Fall 1986
Center For Awakening - Eliz:ibcth Callari • A
Gentle Death · Hospice · Erne.'' Morgan • Dc;iling
Creatively with Death - Home Bunal Box - The
W;ike - The Raven Mocker • Woodslore and
Wildwood.\ Wisc.lorn • Good Medicine: The Sweat
Lodge
ISSUE nVENTY ·Summer 1988
Preserve Appalachmn W1ldcmess - Highlands of
Roan • Cclo Communily - L:md Trust - Arthur
Morgan School - Zoning Issue - "The Ridge• •
Farmers and the Farm Bill - Good Medicine: "Lind"
• Acid Rain • Duke's Power Play - Cherokee
M1c:rohydro Project
-
~UAH JOU RNAL
For more infom1atio11:
(70-l) 683-1414
P.O. Box 638
Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748
Name
Regular Membership........ $10/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/y r.
Address
F.nclosed 1s $
City
Area Code
AUTUMN· 1988
to gfre
this effort a11 e.ttra boost
State
Phone Number
Zip
Back Issues
Issue # __@ $2.50 "' $ _ _
Issue # _ _@ $2.50 = $ _ _
Issue # _@ $2.50 = .S_ _
Issue # _ @ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# __@ $2.50 = $~
Complc.te set of available issues
(see above)
@ $30.00 =$_ _
l can be a local contact
person for my area
KATUAH ·page 35
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, Issue 21, Fall 1988
Description
An account of the resource
The twenty-first issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on the history of the American chestnut trees in the Appalachian mountains and a call for their restoration. Authors and artists in this issue include: Scott E. Schlarbaum, Stephen Lewandowski, Lucille Griffin, Taylor Crockett, Kim Sandland, David Wheeler, "Rollo," Martha Tree, Rob Messick, Lucinda Flodin, Pat Montee, John Creech, Barbara Ellet Dail, Bob Henry Baber, and Collen Redman. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1988
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
<p>"Where There Be Mountains, There Be Chestnuts".......1<br /><em> A Natural History</em><br /><br />Returning the Chestnut.......6 <br /><em> to the Eastern Forest</em><br /><em> by Scott E. Schlarbaum</em><br /><br />"Poem of Preservation and Praise".......7<br /><em> by Stephen Lewandowski</em><br /><br />Continuing the Quest.......8 <br /><em> to Restore the Chestnut </em><br /><em> by Lucille Griffin</em><br /><br />Forests and Wildlife.......10<br /><em> Eighty Years in the Mountains </em><br /><em> by Taylor Crockett</em><br /><br />Gift of the Chestnut......12<br /><em> Chestnuts in the Regional Diet </em><br /><em> by Kim Sandland</em><br /><br />From the Roots........14<br /><em> Chestnut Restoration Work</em><br /><br />An Herb Note from Lucinda........17<br /><br />Good Medicine.......18 <br /> <em> "The Changes to Come"</em><br /><br />Natural World News........20<br /><br />Drumming: Letters to Katúah.......24<br /><br />Review: <em>Where Legends Live</em>.......27<br /><br />Young People's Page.......29<br /><br />Events........32<br /><br />Webworking.......34<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em></p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, printed by The <em>Waynesville Mountaineer</em> Press
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Chestnut--Appalachian Region, Southern
Chestnut blight
Cooking (Chestnuts)
Forest health--North Carolina, Western--history
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1980s
Agriculture
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Children's Page
Electric Power Companies
Forest History
Forest Issues
Good Medicine
Habitat
Hunting
Katúah
Plants and Herbs
Poems
Radioactive Waste
Reading Resources
Turtle Island
Water Quality
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/1f2e1b45f5e29afd5e7816d6d6f26b51.pdf
e62be1d7412c88f48ec27a25918ab429
PDF Text
Text
ISSUE 26 WINTER1989-90
CHILDREN
$1.50
�~LJAt-t JOURNAL
P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
Postage Pa1d l
Bulk Mail
Permit #18
Leicester, NC
28748
�Coming of Age in the Ecozoic Em .............. l
by Tlwma.1 Berry
Kids Saving Ratnforest................................4
b) Sama/a l/ir.H
Kids' Treccyding Company............ .......... 5
ConOirt Resolution and the Family............ 6
by Ellie Ki,,cade
Developing the Creative Spirit. ...................!i
h\· /.i1uia J1c1mer
The Balloon is a Unicom ............................9
b) Art.1p1ri1 Swdio
Birth Power.................................. ............ 10
b) luc111da Flodin amt .Wanlru Pnk111s
Birth Bonding........................................... 11
b\ Jan \'erJiaexhe
Coming of Age in the Ecozoic Era
The Magic or Puppetry:
An Interview with Bonnie Blue................ 12
by 111omas Berry
by Chriltinll \.forri.w11 uiul Karc11 n mk1m
Horne Schooling..................................... 15
II) 001111 Wnmiward and Trilli Scver111
Ceremony................................................ 16
Trailin/llud
Mother Earth:
The i\atur;1l Classroom.......... ..... .. ... . •IX
111 Sma11 Grie.mwicr
Bmdegradable Diapers............................ 1R
lw Al'l\'a .Ill/ Romm
Resources............ .................................. 19
Gardening Tips tor Children ............ ..... 19
by T<>m )'n1111gblood-Pe1er.e11
\
i\atural World News............................... 20
"From the
Diary of a ~1odem Child".......... .. 24
by Roh Messi< k
Pocket Culture::.......................................24
by \Viii A.1/ie Basm1
Drumming......................................... ..•. 26
Fon:st Rescue:
An Ecological Manifesto.............. 29
Webworking.......................................... .30
We are now at the end of the Cenozoic
Era of the planet Eanh's 4.5 billion year history.
During the Cenozoic time which has been
occuring for the last 65 million years. most all of
the lire fom1s with which we are familiar came
to their foll development. The Cenozoic is nlso
when we humans came into being. I lowever.
this era is rapidly being tcm1inated.
Not only the human, but even more so.
1he functioning or the entire planet is being
altered. The climate, the chemistry of the
atmosphere. 1he wa1er and the soil, our relation
to the sun, all the bio~ystem' of the planet, e\en
the geological structure of the planet: all 1he'e
are being altered in the most extensive
transformation that has ta.ken place on the planet
Eanh in the last 65 millicm years. So extensive
is the d1ssolu11on of the life systems of the Earth
during the past century that the viability of the
human cannot be taken for gr-Jnted.
T he long-term survival of our children
depends on understanding the depth of what is
happening to the planet at present--it is essential
to admit that what b occuring 1s nothing less
than biocide. It also depends on rekindling a
relationship between the human and the natural
world that is far beyond the exploitive
relauonshi ps of the industrial mode. A different
kind of prosperity and progress needs to be
understood which embraces the wlwle Life
community. All our human institutions,
professions, all our programs and acti vities need
to funcuon now m this wider Life community
context.
It is time to evoke the emergence of a new
E.'Uth period which can be identified as the
Ernzoic era. Even now the shift is beginning to
1;ike place in which a relationship or mutual
enhancement between humans and the naturnl
world is being regarded no1 only as possible but
essential to planeiary survival. I low do our
chtldrcn fit in wilh 1his change . .
Hea/1hy £111"irm1me111
Our children need a healthy Eanh in
which to live. A sickened planet is not
conducive to healthy children physically, or to
their emotional or psychic security. Continued
conu1mination of water, soil, air and other life
syMems by unnecessary and unsound
production practices is jeopardizing their future
existence ao; well as that of the planet.
Children need pure air and water and
sunligh1 and fruitfu l soil and all those living
fonns that provide the context in which human
existence can be properly nunured. Only if this
context is kept intact and an appreciation of it is
passed on will we fulfill our obligations to our
children and to the planet.
Membership in the l ife Community
Our children need 10 be able 10 see that
they are members or the whole Life communiiy
of the natural world about them, not just
members of a local or even global human
community. Human society as such is an
abscraction. The only real community is the
entire community of the natural world. No pan
of this integral community has either existence
Dra1< tng by Rub Mo.nick
t 98S
c:ontu1ucd an p. 3
�J<eLlAHJOURNAL
~STAFF THIS ISSUE:
Andy Half-baker
Rob Messick
Marnie Muller
Rodney Webb
Chip Smith
Richard Lowenthal
Christina Morrison
James Rhea
David Wheeler
Heather Blair
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Stephen Bartlett
Will Ashe Bason
Susan Griesmaier
Michael Havclin
Scott Bird
Jack Chancy
COVER by Zack Brick, age 6, of Floyd Community.
Reprinted from the Blue Mountain School Calendar
(for sale from Colleen Redman; Box 634; Floyd, VA 24091)
THE SOUTHERN APPALJ.CHIAN BIOREGION
ANO MAJOR EASTERN RIVER SYSTEMS
PUBLISHED BY: Kanlah Journol
PRINTED BY: The Waynesville Mountaineer Press
EDITORIAL QFACE nus ISSUE:
Worley Cove, Sandy Mush Ouk
WRITE US AT:
Ka1Wih Journal
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Katuah Province 28748
TELEPHQNE: (704) 683-1414
Ka/UahJournaJ is on SkYland BBS, Asheville, NC.
For information, call (704) 254-6700.
Diversity iJ an important clcmeot or bioregional ecology, bolh
nalUral and social. ln line wilh !his principle, the Kataah Journal tries
io serve m a forum for lhc discussion of regional issues. Signed aniclcs
express only the opinion of the authors and arc not necessarily lhe
opinions of lhe Kataah Journal edilOl'S a staff.
The ln1U1181 Revenue Service has declared Kataah a non-profit
organiulion Wlder section SOl{cX3) of the lnicmal Revenue Code. All
contributions IO Kataah are deductible from pcrsooaJ income tax.
'LNVOCA.TWN
I think ouer ogoin my smell oduentures,
My fears,
Those I thought so big.
For ell the ultol things
I hod to get
And to reach,
And yet,
There Is only one greet thing The Only thing To Hue,
To see the greet doy thot downs ,
And the light thot fill s the w orld.
- Inuit song
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
Here in the southern-most heartland of the
Appalachian mountains, the oldest mountain range on
our continent, Turile Island; a small but growing
group has begun to take on a sense of responsibility
for the implications of that geographical and cultural
heritage. This sense of responsibility centers on the
concept of living within the natural scale and balance
of universal systems and principles.
Within this circle we begin by invoking the
Cherokee name " KatUtih" as the old/new name for
this area of the mountains and for its journal as well.
The province is indicated by its natural boundaries:
the Roanoke River Valley to the north; the foothills
of the piedmont area to the east; Yona Mountai11 and
the Georgia hills to the south,· and the Tennessee
River Valley to the west.
The editorial priorities for us are to collect
and disseminate information and energy which
periuins specifically to this region, and to foster the
awareness that the land is a living being deserving of
our love and respect. Living in this manner is a way
to insure the sustainability of the biosphere and a
lasting place for ourselves in its continuing
evolutionary process.
We seem to have reached the fulcrum point of
a "do or die " situalion in terms ofa quality standard
of life for all living beings on 1his planet. As a voice
for the caretakers of this sacred land, Kat"'1h, we
advocate a cenlered approach to the concept of
decentralization. It is our hope to become a support
system for those accepting 1he challenge of
sustainability and the creation of harmony and
balance in a total sense, here in this place.
We welcome all correspondence, criticism,
pertinent information, articles, artwork, etc. with
hopes thaJ Ka/Uah will grow to serve the best interests
of this region and all its living, breathing members.
-The Editors
~
k)t,nt.er ,1989-90
�Coming of Age in the Ecozoic
E r a-continued from p. 1
or life apan from the other members or the communiry.
We arc awkward at this manner of thinking because many
of our religions as well as humanist traditions carry a cenain
antagonism toward the natural world. But now the refusal to
acknowledge the intimate membership in the corrununity of Earth
is leading to their own destrucrion as well as that of the planet.
The next generation can survive only as functional members of
this larger community. Our children are instinctively aware of this
wider sense of identity. We need only foster I.his awareness.
Earth Literacy
Our children also need to be literate about the Eanh. They
need to learn not only how to read books composed by human
genius but also how to "read" the Great Book of Nature. Again,
absorbing this Great Book is natural to children. Alienation from
this primary educational experience has been, in our generation,
the source of unmeasured disaster to every aspect of human
existence.
A true prosperity requires being able to understand the
language of nature. Native peoples know this language. II is
primarily the language of the Earth, a language of living
relationships that extend throughout the universe. We have here
within this Nonh American conrinent a superb natural setting in
which our children can become Eanh-literate, capable of
undemanding what their world is telling them.
Energy Awareness
Our children need to understand how to function with the
energy of I.he sun and wind and the water rather than with the
energies of fossil fuels or of nuclear processes. Our inabilny to
use these other energies properly has led to a situation in which
the planet Earth is covered with grime and poisons. These toxins
are not only eating away with their acids the very stones and
structures of all the great cities of the world, but they are also
harmful to the planet itself.
The understanding of more benign energy forms and the
skills to interact with them effectively are absolute necessities for
the survival of our children in a sustainable life context. In
addition, it is imponant 1ha1 these energy systems be designed
with sensitivity and a sense of appropriate scale.
Our children also need to understand the healthy limits of
their bioregion's capacity to provide energy and to suppon life.
They need to be encouraged to envision a way of life that can be
compatible with Lhose natuml limits. Helping children get in Lhe
habit of conservation as well as recycling is an imponant step tn
encouraging them to co-exist with the rest of the life community.
Food
Our children need to learn gardening. The reasons for this
reach deep into their mental and emotional as well as into their
physical survival. Gardening is an active participation in the
deepest mysteries of the universe. By gardening our children
learn that they constitute, with all growing things, a single
community of life. They learn to nurture and be nunured in a
universe Lhat is always precarious but ultimately benign. They
leam profound reasons for the seasonal rituals of the great
religous renditions.
More immediately, however, i'> the question of physical
survivaJ. With the ever-increasing loss of soil on which
food-growing depends, with the rising innaiion in the economic
sphere, with the need for food grown in a proper organic context,
and with the crowded situation in our urban centers, the capacity
of our children to grow a significant umount of their o~n food on
very limited areas of Eanh will become an increasing urgency.
Elementary education especially might very well begin and
be developed in a gardening context. How much the children
could learn! A language related to life! Emotional responses 10
blossoming and fruitful plants. social cooper:11ion, death as a
source of life. They could learn geology and biology and
ascronomy. They could learn the sources of poetry and lner.iture
and the ans. They might even be saved from the sterile and
ephemeral world of Atari.
WUller. 1989- 90
Participawry Role
Our children need to be prepared for their role in the
fruitful functioning of the Great Earth itself, the first and greatest
of all "corporations". They need to learn that the underlying role
of all human corporative enterprises is to enhance the functioning
and meaning and value of this primary corporation, the planet in
which we live. If the Eanh becomes bankrupt there is no future
for anything that lives within the Earth.
The remarkable achievement of the Earth in its natural state
is its ability 10 renew itself and all its living forms. There is a
minimum of entropy in the Earth system_ Energies arc cycled
recycled indefinitely. The infrastructure renews itself. No
human process can do this. NeiLher automobiles nor Madways,
nor subway systems, nor fossil fuels, nor railways, n..ir power
plants, nor nuclear generating plants renew themselves_ They
Inst but a few years and then rust away and the resources of the
planet arc no longer sufficient 10 renew them.
A completely different role of the human in relation to the
Earth begins to identify usclf. One which functions in a different
fashion and with different ideals from the highly entropic,
exploitative manner in which our culture functions at present.
Recognizing our intimate membership in the whole Life
community and becoming literate in its wisdom and language,
our role becomes that of dynamic panicipator. ln recognizing this
intimate connecLion, we begin 10 understand and align ourselves
with 1he natural world's capacity to be self-emerging,
self-propagating, self-nourishing, self-educating, self-governing,
and self·hcaling.
Experience of the Sacred
Our children need to understand the meaning and grandeur
and sacredness of the Eanh as revelatory of the deep mysteries
and meaning of the world. Rather than teaching them to disdain
the natural world as unwonhy of their concern. it would be most
helpful if our religious traditions would move toward a stronger
emphasis on the glorious phenomena of the universe about us as
modes of divine communicauon.
In a special manner, through celebration and ceremony,
our children need to observe and esteem the spontaneities of
nature in our own bioregions here in the different areas of Nonh
America; spontaneities that give expression 10 genetic diversity
which is the most precious endowment of the living world.
Without 1he marvelous variety of living forms that swim in
the sea and live and move upon the Eanh and ny through the air,
our own human understanding, our emotional life, our
imaginative powers. our sense of 1he divine, our capacity for
verbal expression; these would all be terribly diminished. If we
lived on 1he moon, our sense of the divine would reOcct the lunar
landscape: our cmouons. sensitivities and imagination would all,
in a similar manner. be through a lunar mode of expression.
So with our children, they are what they are and have such
remarkable expansion of life because of that share in the natural
world that they have here within the Nonh American continenL
The radiance of their surTOundings is even now reflec1cd in the
radiance of our children's countenances.
Sc11se of History
Our children need a sense of their historical role in creating
this coming ecological age. 1hc F..cozoic. This future world is
something that has never existed before within the context of the
whole planeL We are involved in an irreversible sequence of
planetary developments. For the first time an integral form of the
planet Earth wi1h all its geological contours, its living forms and
us human presence has become possible as a vital, functioning
plane1ary whole expressing itself in its unbroken sequence of
splendors tn movement and song and an infinite variety of color
in the sky and throughout the continents.
There 1s truth in the expression--· The Dream is at the heart
of the Action. The greatest gift we can give our children is to
assiM them in their dreams of a planet of pure air and water and
sunlight and soil. where the community of all living beings can:.,;l!I'
~·
nourii.h in the celebration of existence.
A
Thomas Berry noted geologian and awlwr of The Dream of the
Earth (Sierra Club Books, 1988), is presently collaboraring with
physicis1 Brian Swimme on a new book, The Universe Story.
l'lb •'lnoenu Reny
�~iftFJ. §trfilkT~ ~ftfp
$11~~ ~ ~~T:P41
in
'!8~&11.
illus~uon
by Jermain Mosely
Mrs. Woods' science class at
Asheville Alternative School has
been studying forests and
rainforests in particular. We went
to the "Discovery Place" in
Charlotte to see an exhibit on
Rainforests and have studied
about forestry in class and at
Holmes State Forest.
We have learned that if all the
rainforests are destroyed then our
oxygen will decrease a whole lot.
We have also learned that the
rainforests are ancient. They are
very special and important to us.
They give us many products as
well as 1/2 the world's animals
and plants.
Our class is getting together and
making money to help save these
forests So far we have almost
made $300. With that we will be
able to buy 10 acres of land out of
a rainforest in Belize .
Jc.iiWcih Jo1Ul1Q( pllc:Je 4
'
•I
We have been raking people's
leaves in our neighborhood for
$1.50 or more if the yard is really
big. All of the people's yards we
have raked, have given a little bit
extra. One boy in our class raked a
medium size yard with his friend
tor a man and got $30.00.
We have worked very hard on this
project and hope that we will
encourage other people to pitch in.
We put pictures in the halls of our
school. A few nights ago we had a
woman named Mrs. Jeanne
Cummings come to our school to
show some slides of her
'Earthwatch' trip to a rainforest in
Borneo. We had live entertainment
and refreshments that night. It
was very exciting for all of us.
Do whatever you can to help save
the Rainforests, it is important to
all of us and we hope that these
Rainforests will survive.
/
By Samala Hirst
kll-ntcr, 1989-90
�Ph""'' b~ Karen W•tkin'
Hey, all you people out there,
have you heard of the new business Kid's T reecycling Co.?? !!
It all started when our teacher started talking about
how imponant trees and recycling are. We think 1hat
this is a great Saving-The-Trees business and a grea1
class project.
We sell all sorts of recycled paper producls like paper
1owcls. rissuc and 1oilet paper. On 1hc lirst day we
only got two orders. Then we got more and more
orders every day and week. We have $65.00 so far.
Do you know when we get older there won't be many
trees lefl? There won't be hardly any paper. Don't let
1hat happen! We all need to recycle. S1art now at
Kid's Treecycling Co. We are in third grade at
Asheville Alternative School. South French Broad
Avenue. A ... hcv1llc. NC 28801. Ourtcacheris
Victoria Maddux. You can call her in the evening at
{704)- 645-4593. Call now and become a "Recycling ..
Ci1i1en"
-·-hy: llana Craig. l.arJ Weaver, Ken;. Wahcr,\Vill lknnen.
Molly Ru ... h and Alesia Summey.
l./UlU:t, 1989-90
�Conflict Resolution
and the Family
Conn1ct. Every family has it. Household chores,
homework, messy rooms, schedule connicts, ~pace invasion~.
values collisions, power struggles, and scape-goating have all
been long-srnnding and universal sources of stress in 1hc
American family. The quality of family life. though, is
detennined not by \.\hethcr or not a family has conflict but by
what they do with it.
It is commonly recognized that parents have a great
innuence on the overall process of dealing "'ith the inevitable
conflicts that plague families. What is frequently overlooked.
however, is the contribution that children have 10 make in the
conflict resolution process. Children are our greatest source of
inspiration and creativity; they have internalil.ed fe\.\er rules and
limitations and "yes--bu1--tha1 wouldn't work bccause"s and have
a natural spirit of discovery that can set the stage for new and
more expansive ways of thinking.
This article is based upon my own experience as a par.:nt
and as a conflict management consultant and educator. coupled
with the perspectives of my daughter Dana. age 14, and my son
Nick, age 10. We will citplore three imponant variables which
operate to affect an individual\ or a fomily'~ response to conflict:
Spirit, Personality/Well·Being, and Skillfulnes5.
by Ellie Kincade
Spiritff he Spirit of Possibilit)
Spuit is the auitude with which we approach problems and
conflicts, and is the foundation of the process of resolution.
Thomas Crum, author of The Magic of Conflict. makes two
imponant points about the nature of conflict:
ConOict js a na111ral phenomenon. We see it everywhere in
nature - the magnificent beauty of mountains, canyons, beaches
was formed by eons of connict. In our human relationships,
from the intra- and interpersonal through global levels, the
choices we make determine whether the intense energy inherent
in conflict will be a del.tructive force or as Crum says. will be
"the best sandpaper around for smoothing out our lives"
ConOict js noi a comest. Winning and losing are goals for
games. 001 for connict resolution. Resolving connict is rarely
about \.\ho\ right: it's aboul the acknowledgement and
appreciation of differences.
Dana's summary of a positive spirit toward conflict is:
*Trust one another.
,. Approach problem situations with lo\'e. (Y?u can
love someone and be angry at the same nme.)
t.n.rtrt'r',~90
�•Be flexible and willing lO undersl:lnd another's
point of view.
Nick adds:
•Take responsibilny for your own "stuff' and
realize thal whal you do affects others.
•Anticipate your own and others· needs and try to
prevent conflicts from happening.
•Have a sense of humor, even when there are
problems!
Every family has to find its own unique way of
discovering and fo:.tering a spirit of possibility for dealing with
issues. Families who creatively integrate faith, hope. charity. and
love, and playfulness into their everyday lives develop the
flexibility. willingness and perspective to change gracefully and
powerfully over time. They bring this creative power 10 every
conflict or advei;ity they face.
The family who believes that it is possible to find win/win
solulions (rather than win/lose solutions) to their conflicb. finds
them! A fringe benefit of lhis philosophy about confl1c1 1s that
children (and eventually 1heir parents too!) learn that what they do
and say makes a difference, thnt conflicts can be resolved v. ithout
baules and that problems lhat seem "impossible" to solve arc
really just challenges to human flexibility. compassion and
creativity.
Dana defines respect as the wtllmgness to allow each
person the freedom to express their true and unique self.
Affirrmng differences, making allowances, and building on those
differences facilitate conflict resolution. We've grown up with
homogeny as an ideal. Think about the all-American metaphor of
the "melting pot" where cliversity becomes lost ma kenle of drab
glop. Consider, instead. 1he image of a salad where each
ingredient maintains its discrete qualities while adding volume,
texture, nourishment, variety, and beauty to the whole.
Each individual's personality de1ermines their preferences
and style in dealing with conflict. Nick emphasizes that often he
needs space and wants to be left alone when conflict arises; when
he "cools orr· he is better able to talk about it. Dana usually
wants to talk things out nght away, bu1 sometimes wants time 10
think things out alone. She stresses the importance of asking one
another for what we need and being considerate of our different
needs. Individual differences rue, in fact, one of the greatest
resources in problem ~olving. Division of labor conflicts can
often be easily resolved by having family members volunteer for
their "favorite" chore. For example, Dana and Nick bo1h like to
cook: I much prefer the mindlessness of cleaning up afterward.
Dana likes carrying in the firewood and Nick builds and tends the
fire. or cour.;e those preferences and inclinations do change in an
evolving household, so frequent communication and negotiauon
arc a musr.
In a favorite 'Peanuts' car1oon. Sally is complaining, "I
hate everything! I hate the whole world!" Charlie Brown
responds. matter-of-factly. "I thought you had inner peace."
Sally replies. "I do, but I still have outer obnoxiousness!" We all
have outer obnoxiousness. the level and intensity of which is
directly relatec.! 10 our general state of well-being. One's state of
well-being (or lack 1hereof!) may be lhe most significant factor
affecting the individual's ability to respond to conflict with
tolerance, flexibility, creativity and a "Spirit of Possibility."
The three of us agree thnt a bad day at school or work,
exhaus1ion. pressures of upcoming events, or a general sense of
malaise is often the root of our outer obnoxiousness which can
lead 10 conflict. Here are several things families can do to
enhance 1he well-being of individuals and the family unit:
Herc are some fun ways families can develop and exercise
the "Spirit of Possibility":
•Play games like, "There's Not Only One Way 10 Do Anything".
Discover throogh brruns1onnmg the many f>O"-s1h1l111cs m a snuauon.
How many different wa)'~ arc there to m:ike p<1ll<!akcs? To plant a tree?
To w~h a window? Wc"vc ycl IO find an acuvity lhal can he done m
JUSl one way. Make the jOlhl)' or brrunstonnmg commonplace. so tl1'1l
11 occurs more na1urally in connict snuauons.
•Keep 1rnck of "Impossible Things• that happen an the world Read and
d1SCus.s news s1orics, historical evenL~. sporting accomplishmenb.
amazing inventions, ulcs of survival and raniaslic JOumcys, and mo~l
1mporwuly, personal life cxpcncnccs m lhc accomplishment or "The
Impossible". For example:
Remember when ...
..."Nick almost gave up finding a shark's t0olh at the beach-and then
found live!"
·~"Grandma 105t her diamond ring m lhc gnx:cry ~iorc parking 101 and
wcnL b:lck lhat nighl and found 1L"
..."Dana though I she'd never be able to afford her trip to the Soviet
Union and !hen raised all the money for tile lrip by selling hct pocll)
books."
Our true contcmpornry heroes arc ordinary people in ordinary
cin:umslallCCS who occomplish cx1100td1nary tilings.
• Acknowledge. and celebrate seasonal changes and cytlical
llllnsfonmuions, e.g. watch 1hc moon wax and wane. gardcM grow.
birds migraic. cocoons spin and haich. seeds di\-pc.rsc. Notice and honor
developmental changes in ram1ly member;: e.g. have celebrations m
honor or landmark events. bcginnmgs. endings. and annavcrw1cs-·
there's always something IO cclcbrutc, rrom lo<;t w:cth to maJor rites of
passage. American l1'3d1tion I\ lacking in mual. Look to other cultures
and uad11ions and creaic your own! Gncve the losses and welcome the
new growth !hat rollows
Personalil~ Factor~
and Well-Being
(I) Eyeball the week ahead 10 alert one anolhcr abou1 high ~lre5' limes
and ask for cxlr'd supJ10n, e.g. Nack mak<:S school lunches when Dana
has a track meet so she can get some cxtnl rest: Dan3 covers dinner
when I need to prepare for a worlc'\hop. Communic~ning m advance
•Experience and affinn your conna:ledn~ to tile world·•ll·latgc Mike
family dcc1s1ons about what contnbuuons io m:t.lcc 10 commumty and
global service projects. The needs, a~ we look around u•. arc
overwhelming. Learning lO make choice~ aoout how to u<c: our
personal energy and rc~rces 1s a b;i~1c hfc skill for hvang m th" age.
Remember the story of 1hc person at the edge of the '>Ca, tossing
beached si.arfish back mto the occan. A man appro:1chcd und '"I.ell,
"Why arc yoo bothering to do tha11 Then: arc so mnny. Whm d11Tcrcncc
docs it make io save a few?" 11ui person p3uscd. thought. smiled nnd,
tossing ano1hcr \lllffitj\ mto 1hc sea, replied •1t make' a diffcrcnc.: to
that one:
•explore mull1-cuhurnl perspectives by cncuuragmg c~changc~
through pen.pals. ho,11ng mtcmauonal ''i\ltOrs, or travel D.> your
g1fl·shopp1ng lhrough catalog., that \upport collage mdu\trlC\ 1n
,·nrious cuhures around the world. Dana involved our cnurc famil)·.
from C03Sl to coast, in her ci111..cn-diplnmacy trap to lhe Soviet Union
lhis past summer She enhanced our ·spirit or Po~1l>1hty" by making
her own dream come true and ~he created a network of connectedness
bctwc:cn many Sovic:ts and Americans \\ho share the larger dream or
world peace.
&.>Lnte.r, 1989-90
about schedules 1\ connic1 pn:vcnuon!
(2) Milke \tree;,; mnnagcmcnt a family alTair. Take walks. have joint
"temper tantrum'· 10 let off sicam. talk about your drc3111s, give one
anolhcr massag~. have ·,1op-:icuon hug~· (prionty hug> can mltrTUp!
any ac11vi1y, C\cn an argument). Plan healthy menu.' together, hsien lO
music. dance. LAUGll A LOT! llavc nightly snuggles before bed.
Every f;tmily ~ds to discover and invent 1ts own 'tlC'' managcmcn1
plan Suppon one another's mdl\·1du.al \l.l'CSS marugcmcnt programs,
IOO. Dana ruid Nick ga>c me space for mcd11auon, racqlldball, or naps.
Tran.•;pona110n to tllcir 'JX>rb. academic and ~ul cvcnL~ is a pnoruy
for me.
(3) Learn w1lh your ch1IJrcn wmc tools for ccn1ermg. n:laxauon 8lld
sp1r11ual renewal Pra)'Cr. mcd1ta.t1on, visunli1.ation, brealhmg, }Oga,
dance. ~ns. and CCr1ilm man1al JI'\.\ (p:llllCUlllfly the nuid, powerful
and non-v1oleni ans suc;h as a1k1do and T11.1 Cha). arc all ways to
develop a relaxed, Oc.ublc. balanced. aucnuvc, and strong poMllre.
From tl11$ ccnicrcd siate at is easier to move with confidence and care
through life's ngors.
(oontiml<d an~ 23)
�Developing the Creative Spirit
by Linda Metzner
Imagine a warm, lazy summer's day, sky very blue.
You are on your back watching clouds roll by. What do you
sec there in the clouds? How docs it sound to you? Can you
move the way the clouds move?
What are the possibilities? Can your imagination take
you places you've never been before? Are there new ways to
get there?
If we are not utilizing the body-mind's creative
capabilities, we are allowing ninety percent of the nco-conex
--the largest and most recently-developed pan of the brain--to
go unused, an ocean of untapped potenrial. The work of a
lifetime, in tenns of mind evolution, is to make new
connections, to use the heart-mind, the whole brain and the
nervous system, to crave! to new realms on new paths, 10
envision and create ever-greater inter-relationships among
things.
A deeper goal of the teaching of creativity. and of an,
is to offer a starting-point, a vocabulary of the spirit, tools
for climbing through the changing terrain of the mind. The
dilemmas of our lives are dealt with by looking not just or the
problems but with them, around them, inside and outside of
them, and beyond them.
Imagination, "the ability to create images not present to
the sensory system;· involves the creation of thousands of
physical connecting links between neurons in the brain. If the
neurological structures for creative thinking are allowed to
develop in childhood, regardless of the end product of the
imaginative thought, then the resulting system of abundant
connecting links will be available to the adult as well.
Joseph Chilton Pearce, m his book The Magical Child.
speaks about a cenain point in childhood, especially between
the ages of seven and eleven, where vmually any suggestion
can be adopted and utilized by the child, if it is given without
doubt or ambiguity. Wnlking through fire, healing ~·ith the
hands, clairvoyance, many typ;!S of "paranormal" abilities arc
really extensions of creative thinking exhibited by children
given "pennission" to experience them.
Here are a few travel tips for the lifelong journey of
nunuring the creative spirit within ourselves and others:
Play. relax, go slow. New ideas will come from places
that are beyond your conscious control. Make time for
them.
Listen to your dreams, your flashes of insight, your
intuition. Try not to label mind processes as weird or
useless. Don't be shocked if you hear of other sounds,
colors, or beings a child is conscious of. You arc tapping
into a world Edith Cobb calls "common-plus-cosmic".
Give yourself guidelines for creative activities.
AJlow the mind to play with one or two small features,
and explore all the possibilities: a few colors. a few
textures, a musical interval or timbre.
Try to have material that presents ever-increasing
challenges, but stay grounded in past work. In teaching
music, try to stan with the body, with movement. for
every new idea introduced.
JC.Qiiuih
Journat p1t9e 8
"Compe1itions are for horses, not anists" (Picasso).
Don't compare, rate, evaluate or "improve" anyone's
work. Ask the anis1 to tell abou1 ii and get some insight
into her/his thinking.
Have some open rime, some open space, and some
open materials. Keep a box of bright colored papers,
scissors, glue, fabric. markers, pencils; loose clothes for
movement: a variety of sound-makers; typewriter or tape
recorder for stories.
Study and learn. Be aware of how others are taking
new leaps and exploring new territory.
Look for examples in life of an going outside old
boundaries: murals, mobiles, architecture, pantomime,
storytelling. This is the same evolutionary process found
in frogs, flowers, and blue-footed boobies.
Look at how it's been done in other places. In Africa,
animal forms become patterns on cloth; in Bali, girls
dance as goddesses in a trance state; in China, a five-note
scale played on bamboo pipes forms an orchesrra. Other
cultures have already transcended some of the artistic
boundaries that we've inherited in ours.
After working alone, try working with one or two
others. Your ideas may expand synergbtically, way
beyond what you had alone.
Learn simultaneously to respect others' crearions as
you create your own. Sometimes this calls for quiet
listening or watching others, or spending time with
someone else's finished work. What new ways does
he/she open up 10 you?
A mind that craves new solutions, new paths. can leap out
of trenches of conditioning and make miracles happen. This.
after all, is how the Universe 1s being created, even as we
speak!
RESOURCES:
CATALOGS
• Animal Town CoopcraU\'C Ventures
PO Box 2002. S:tnlll Barbara. CA 93102
• Chmabcny Book Scrvice
2830 Via Orange Way Su11.c B, Spring Valley, CA 92078
• Geode Educational ()pllon~
PO Box 106, We.~1 Che.qcr, PA 19381
• Music For Lillie People
PO Box 1460, Redway, CA 95560
• Suzuki Musical lnsuumcnis
PO Box 261030. San Diego, CA 92126
• World Music Press
11 Myrtle Avenue, PO Box 2565, Danberry, CT 06813
SUGGESTED READING
Adams, James. The Cart 01ld Feeding of Ideas. Addison· Wesley. 1986.
Amabile, TCIC.~ Growing Up Creative Crown Publishers, 1989.
Cobb, Edith. The Ecology of lmDgina11on in Childhood Columbia
Umvcrs11y Press, 1977.
Gardner. Howard. Frames of M111d: Tht TMory of Multiplt lnttll1gtncts.
Basic Books, Inc. 1983.
Pearce. Joseph Chihon. TM Magical Child and TM MallU;al Child Matures.
E.P. Dunon, New York. 1977
Piening, Ek.lcchan:I and Lyons, Nick. Educating as an Art, The Rudolf Si.cincr
Mciliod. The Rudolf Si.cuicr School Press. NY. 1979.
Reck, David. TllL Music of tM IVholt Earth. Charles Scribncr'5 Sons, NY.
1977.
~
lmdo Merzner reaches Orff music and co.directs Anspirit, a
srudio of creorive orrs in Asheville. NC. She is a composer 011d
arranger and direcis rlie choral group, Womansong.
H.l~nter, 1989-90
�The :Balloon Ls A. Unworn
These ukas /or cJ.vfik>plrJ.9 c:reattvit!I i.n mlldrcn '""
s!Jared U'ith us from A.rtspu1t, 11 i;reato-e art..s studio 1n
Asm:i•1Jle, NC. 1'!4:mbcrs 1nc{Ulk: 1'frls A.rrwld. (day). 'BarrU:
'Barron (m<wcment), Norma 1Jradky (paper), Vicki.
aadh~UIJ (ft/x:r ), and lmdu 1'f4Urwr (musu;).
Xak.e a sefJ-portrait with pieces of coCored.
paper. Choose the coCors that
you.. IJorr.. as smaU:
' - mmn the most to
or as i.ur9e as ~ou Llke.
1.nter , 1989- 90
�by Lucinda Aodin and Martha Perkins
We need co recognize how imponant it is that women
take back their power· the natural power of creation is ours.
While a woman feels most in concrol of the birthing experience
in her own home, it is most important that she be able to
exercise her power wherever a binh should happen.
Women often do not realize the tremendous reservoir of
power that is theirs to tap into when they are delivering a
newborn. Birthing a child is the most powerful activity that our
bodies can perform, and a woman who can binh with power
will be a better mother and a stronger woman. No matter where
a baby is born, the mother should be able to accomplish it with
the full power that is inherent in the act and with the dignity of
womanhood.
We recently viewed a slide show of binh as represented
in an throughout history from cave glyphs to modem
obstetrics. Traditionally women are shown birthing upright,
strong and confident. A woman helper ·or sometimes a man •
is behind her; a midwife is below and in front of her. Paintings
and drawings from around the world and throughout the ages
of history all depict this trinity of birth... until modem times.
As the picrures draw closer to the present, the woman
sinks fanher and farther back into the images until she
disappears from the picture altogether. In recent photographs of
operating room situations the woman giving birth is not even
visible. She is flat on her back. her whole body draped except
for a gaping vagina, which usually has been cut. She is not
mother or a person, but a thing. Watching those slides brought
home instantly what has happened since our birth power has
been stripped from us.
functions of her body, mind. and spirit, and she is delivered.
She is not giving birth, or delivering her new-born life. She is
being delivered, which implies that she is being set
free ... "Deliver me from this childl" ... who is then taken away
to the nurseries, to the bath, to be re-warmed after its small
body is chilled.
This separation creates much emotional hardship for both
parents and child. But the love of a mother and a father is
amazing. It reaches beyond the hardship and bonds in love
with their child • but childbirth and bonding does not have to
be so hard.
We tend co think of power in terms of its mis-use rather
than thinking of power as being healing and strong. A
woman's birth power is power in its pure sense: power that is
not manipulative, not selfish. Birth power is selfless. Labor is
a series of overwhelming surges of energy, powerful waves.
Binh is a power act. It is one way in which a woman quests for
a vision and finds her pince in this life. In giving birth a woman
must exercise the ultimate strength of yielding. In yielding to
her labor she draws on the energy of the life foroe. Our culture
tends to consider yielding as an act of weakness. But in giving
birth, yielding is the strongest act. h is the strength of the
whole uruversc that brings a baby into chis world.
When birth is a narural act of power, a woman is not
delivered. She embraces the power of her womanhood, yields
to the strength of her body and her spirit, and gives her baby
passage into his or her own life. Watching births we have
learned that a midwife's job is to guide a woman into her
power· to work with a mother, to educate her, and to help her
to use her innate knowledge. It is amazing to watch the change
in a woman as she comes into her power.
Entering a hospiial a woman feels small and
insignificant, like a pebble amid the looming technology. It is
unnerving. The situation is out of her control and her mate's
control as well. Every intervention tells her that she knows
nothing about the procedures of birth and that her instincts arc
not to be truSted. The hospital staff is in command. She is not
IO yield tO the power of birth. Rather, anaesthesia takes over the
We arc successful as midwives when at the end of a
birthing the woman says, "I did it. Thank you for helping me."
If a woman says,"I couldn't have done it without you," we
have not done our job well enough. The mother deserves the
credit. After all, she has done all the work. If someone were to
ask us, "What is the job of a midwife?", we would reply, "To
give back chc power."
.
~t.UA.h
.
.
JounwaC p"'.JS 10
�•
To rcali1.C the binhing power we must first relearn the
birthing process. It is an ancient process, a wise way, and
generations of humaniiy have proven that it works. Then,
anned with our knowledge, we must demand 1ha1 our
institutions change with us. Our hospitals. doctors, nurses, anJ
midwives have to allow us as women to have control over our
own health - no, we as women must take control.
Families will never be srrong until we take back the
power of birth...and until we have power and strength in the
family. we will never truly heal the Eanh.
Lucinda Flodin and Manha Perkins art both motlU!rs a11d
work togetlier as a midwife team in the area s11rrn11ndi11g their
lwmes in the Doe River watershed.
by Jan Verhaeghe
Midwives nuending home binhs know the success of
their calling-the welfare of the mothers and babies in their
care-depends in pan on the special time immediately after
birth. No midwife worth her salt, excep1 in a m.iner of life or
death, would take a b:lby from the mother.
What exactly is binh-bonding? Birth-bonding is the
uninterrupted time immediately following binh when 1hc
mother and baby establish the foundation for their
relationship by re-connecting in every aspec1 of their now
separate lives. The most intense and the most important
period for birth-bonding is the firlit two hours but cenainly
Iasis until the baby falls into 1he deep steep infants experience
St!Veral hour.; after binh.
During bonding, mother and child becollll! linked
psychically in a way that defies our ability 10 analyze the
experience. The newborn is extremely impressionable and
everything that happens during this period leaves a deep
imprinL The natural longing of 1he baby is to re-establish i1s
cquilibrium--to be wann, 10 be held, to suck. to hear a
familiar heartbeat. To be separated from the mother at this
time must leave a la.sung and discressed memory. I believe
bonding is visual, tactile, aural, oral, olfactory, and
hormonal and occurs most easily when the mo1her holds her
baby and interacts wi1h it through the senses during 1hc
sensitive period immediately following birth. The "en face"
posilion--touching and being touched, hearing and being
heard, feeding and being fed. learning each others
smells-are complex interactions that occur with case when a
baby is placcd--and left--in its mother's arms.
The mos1 immediate person to bond wiih a newborn i~
the mother, but it is very important that fa1hers also bond
with their infantS. Fathers who have had 1he opponuni1y to
bond with one child but not with another 1ell 1he same storie_,
as the mothers of these children. Fathers of C-sccuon babies
often are better·bonded with their infants than the mother
simply because a woman who has just undergone major
surgery cannot give her full allention to her infant Siblings
bond wi1h an infant v.ith outsianding positive results as .... ell.
Many well·mcaning physicians and hospnal personnel
feel tha1 a mo1her's holding her baby for a few minuies on
!he delivery table constitutes "bonding". However, true binh
bonding means mother and baby are nm scpara1ed for hours
or even days following 1he birth. While the imponance of
binh-bonding has caugh1 the auention of many hospitals, us
~,it.er,
l 989•90
specific meaning and significance has often become sacrificed to
hospital routine. For citample, the widespread use of anaesthesia
in hospiial binh.s continues to be common practice.
My first three binhs in 1hc 60's were under Demerol
and Scopolaminc, an amnesiac. With "scope;• a mother
"forgets" the birth Cltperiencc and is too drugged to look at her
baby who is also drugged. Twenty-four hours later, I was given
my first look at my baby. I had no memory of the binh, and the
baby seemed a perfect stranger. Having missed out on sucking
during the minutes following birth, the baby seemed not to know
what to do the first times at the breast, and I invariably felt
rejected by each of my babies. I also felt inadequate as a mother.
With each baby, a kind nurse suggested trying again later and
went off to the nursery to give the baby a bottle. As a result I and
many other women often questioned our ability not only to
breastfeed a baby but to care for an infant. Later on many of us
found little satisfaction in raising our young children.
b:lby but to care for an intan1. Later on many of us found
linle satisfaction in raising our young children.
I am fonun:11e to have had another chance at childbinh
and an opponunily 10 experience birth-bonding with two
babies. With these babies or the 70's, one born in a hospital
but with no drugs, the other born at home attended by a
midwife, 1 breastfed with ease and confidence. In addition, I
never felt any alienation from my babies, never knew
post-partum depression, and experienced child rearing as a
joyous and fulfilling experience--in my 40's.
As a result of my mid-life binh experiences. I became
a labor suppon person, childbinh educator. and activist.
Undoubtedly the most important a.~pect of my las! 1wo binhs
was the binh-bonding I had with my babies. Meeting and
observing many mothers and babies over the last eigh1 years,
I am convinced 1hat bonding has a profound effcc1 on how
we parent and on how our children grov. spiritually as well
as mentally and physically.
When I first became nctive with childbinh in the RO's,
I could not help bu1 noiice that mothers who expressed joy
and who had an air of serenity about them as they dealt with
their children were mothers who had drug-free deliveries and
who were not separated from their newborn. ln 1nlking and
corresponding with moihers who had experienced binh
bonding with one child but no1 with another, I found the
same story over and over. There were many more
difficulties of every kind where there was linle or no
bonding. These babies had problems feeding, cried more,
were often unhappy as toddlers. The mothers often fell
rejected by the babies, were frequcnily depressed, and
questioned their abilities 10 mother Where there was
bonding, the opposite was true.
While no one wants a mother to experience any more
pain than is necessary, the use of anaesthesia in whatever form
is 1he factor most likely to prevent bonding. While an epidural
anaesthetic (injected between the layers of the covering of 1he
spinal cord) allows a woman 10 be awake, it canies with it
many risks that make funherintervention likely. With an
epidural, a woman mus1 lie almost motionless for a long time
which compromises the baby's oxygen supply often making a
C-section necessary. Even if she avoids surgery, she has no
control over her body from the waist down and often
experience~ headaches which further inccrfen: with the bonding
process.
Natural childbirth may seem an impossibility 10
women v. ho have been taught 10 fear the experience.
However, with preparation and loving suppon. the great
majori1y of women experience childbirth a:; an exhilarating
even! with binh·bonding the a.\pcct that has the most positive
long-term effect.
Jan \'erliaeghe lives in tlw Hendersonville, NC are.a and
provides c/Uldbirrh prepara1im1 for ho~ and hospilJl/ bin/~
XcltUM )o"-rt1.GL PIMJC
l
l
�The Magic of Puppetry
An Interview with Bonnie Blue
by Christina Morrison and Karen Watkins
Karuah: How did you become a professional
puppetee11 You said it was a gradual process?
Bonnie: J used 10 be an extremely shy,
sensitive, unself-confident person. And going
from 1here 10 an outrageous puppe1eer... you
could ask why such a change?
Kanlah: Was it the positive response to your
gift with puppetS?
Bonnie: I didn't have the confidence to see my
gif1s. ll was playing with children. And by
doing voice exercises, breath exercises, mime,
developing charac1er, realizing what my body
was doing when I was hunched over and
covering my hean. And just grokking those
things, understanding them, made me open
up. That's all. I just got to break my own
rules.
Katuah: And do all those things your puppets
were doing!
Bonnie: Yeah, through the puppets I got to do
them. And I got 10 realize how fun it was to
run around my universe smashing my rules
and "supposed to's." And then I got to see
this whole new person in here that I liked!
You know, self-likin~. It's so much fun
teaching self-liking. Kids like themselves...
they say, "I made rhis puppet and irs great!
Bonnie says it's great. I know it's grear!"
Kau1ah: Do you make your own puppets?
Bonnie: Yes. Snooge was the first puppet I
built. He's a three foot tall abominable
snowman with a 2 year-old personaJity. So he
says things like, "You! Come! Give me hug!
Oh ho, that tickle Snooge; that make me
happy!" (laughter)...That kind of lovable
fella. And the show was a take-off on
Scrooge; that's bow we got his name.
Ka!Uah: How do you manipulate them? On
strings?
Bonnie: I know ... well, I'm glad you're here.
(laughter)
Frog: You know, its a funny thing about
peoplc--thcy'll laugh al anything, won't you?
AHAHAHA!! Oh, look at that- there's a gnat!
Bonnie: No there's not ...
Frog: No wonder I've got a headache...
Frog: Right up thcre ...comc on you liule
guy...(hystcrical laughter) HUSH! You
might sea.re him away! ... bcre be comes!!
(buzzzzz·---slurp!I) 1 LOVE GNATS!!
Bonnie: And the other hand makes your ann
move, and T don't have more hands to rn:ike
your feet \lr'alk.
Katuah: Oh that's great! The kids must go
wild. I bet they can talk to him for hours and
cell him all their feelings...
Bonnie: Yeah, they do. and I.hey wanna touch
him a loL.
Frog: Get their hands in my mouth ...
Bonnie: These arc moving mouth puppets so
they·~ not on strings. I play with Mr. Frog
most often in the classroom- he's a good lap
puppet. Snooge is hard lo put on my lap, but
Frog here...
Bonnie: He does a series, Frog here. He comes
to the classroom and helps me teach. First of
alJ, l teach three forms of character. Physical
character-when they build their own puppets
they think about how we look and our
differences, like hair color, etc. The second
fonn is vocal cbaractcr-nol just talking but
sound effects:
Frog: Hi! (deep, froggy voice)
Frog: .... Nyaat...... ncooow .....secceccuurp! !
Kawah: HL Frog!
Bonnie: And the third form is movcment--how
lo move their hands when they're making it
talk. And within moving character you have
the concept of gravity. For example, you
Frog: Hello...about time I got outta my basket.
);:Q Li4an
l
''
( .
don't let a puppet float because frogs don't
float - they jump up, they come down. So we
do this and he helps me teach gravity. The'
way I do it is he begs me 10 make him walk:
and I say, "I can't, I only have one hand-one
hand's in your head, see?
Frog: Aaarrghhh!!.... But I wanna walk!
Bonnie: I'll make you hop!
Frog: I don't wanna hop. I never liked to hop.
I wanna WALK!!
Bonnie: So then he'll say, "Hey. haven't you
been teaching these kids how to use puppcts7"
And 111 say "Yeah". And he'll whisper to me
-and I love making puppelS whisper cause the
whole class is listcning·--hc'll say...
Frog: ...Maybe a couple of them could help me'
walk ...??!
Bonnie: So we do. A couple of kids come up
and each takes one of his sticks and I say.
"Now before you sum, remember we have lb
exaggerate everything with a puppet. We're
gonna lift each leg high in the air, bringing It
far forward ... "
Frog: Jllicelegs,huh?
Jomrm! pa«Je 12
I
I
1\:
Winter, t 989-9l
' f
I
1
•ll
�Bonnie: And then down just a linle in front of
the other leg... And then I get them going
really fast and Frog'll say, "Oh this is so
exciting! So exciting! I get 10 walk!" And his
legs are going everywhere and he goes
"AAAHHHHI!" and falls down! Major
crash!... And then he goes:
Frog: .... UUUUHHH ..... .AAARRRGHHH!!
....(painfully pulling his legs up) How long
have you two been walking, anyway? Don't
you know you don't pick up both feet at the
same time? That's hard on the old frog belly...
(J1ysrerica/ laughter)
Bonnie: (to us) Are you alright? h's a
wonderful way to show teachers how 10 use a
puppet to teach a concept.The kids don't even
know they're learning about gravity... they'rc
having fun.
try, even when it comes to folding a piece of
cardboard. Third graders will say, "I can't; do
mine!" And I'll say, "Silliness!, of course you
can! If r gave you a snowy hill and a piece of
cardboard you'd bring it back to me loonng
like a rag!" And then every time, no mauer
what it looks like, I'll say, "Perfect!,
wonderful!, you guys are so good!"
Katuah: Do you stage any productions in your
program?
Bonnie: No, I don't have time. First I do a
demonstration of puppet types. I bring in
shadow puppets, string puppets, rod puppets
and scenery puppets--trccs that talk. And full
size body puppets like Momma and Baby
Dragon.
Ka!Uah: And they're getting their bodies into it,
so it's not just this abstract concept.
Bonnie: According to Dr. Joseph Chilton
Pearce, who wrote The Magical Child,
children ICMn best when rhey use their bodies.
That's why they'll be banging, clicking,
rocking ... and then they're told to sit ~till! But
a lot of rcachers now are using this idea. They
say,"When r reach syllables, we drum!
Katuah: And your kids also make their own
puppets, right?
Karuah· They must love having a puppet to take
home.
Katuah: And do their kids get out of hand when
they're with you ... because they need to let
loose?
Bonnie: No, actually they don't. The thing is
that Lhcy're not very creative - they're afraid to
try. In classrooms where the teachers are
saying "very good," "good for you," "my
class is so great!"-- the kids can't wair. They
Slllrt throwing their voices right away, they're
anxious 10 explore new ground. But where
the teachers are afraid and need to have
"proper" behavior, the children arc afraid 10
Wlnter, 1989-90
Bonnie: I encourage the teachers to follow up.
And after creating and learning to use I.heir
puppet I let each one come up and do
something wilh their puppet for the class. So
they really discipline themselves and focus on
it and create an imaginary friend ... and. you
know?, its not really imaginary anymore.
Katuah: Most kids are taken out of their
imaginations and into "reality" way too soon.
And all the creative potential that's losL..
Bonnie: It's true. The imagination is a preuy
special space. C first learned this watching
mime anists. Totally blank scage and they
create imagcs...pulling ropes, falling in love,
picking a flower. And the audience secs the
flower, a yellow flower and it smells like a
daisy ....
I do a story called "The Fishes' Wishes",
where puppets are by a nver, going fishing
and there 's a troll under a bridge and all that.
And once a 3 year old came up afterward and
said, "How come your feet aren't wet after
standing in that river all that time?" So there's
a magic that goes on between audience and
performer... that realm of imagination where
you can walk without your body and be there
with other people. And it's a place of extreme
pleasure.
Katuah: It's also unportam for kjds to work
through their feelings with fantasy. Like dolls
--it's play therapy. But \\.hen they get past
second or third grade they get messages that
it's not ok to pretend. they're not supposed to
play dolls (especially boys). And puppets give
them that okay.
Bonnie: Yes. They bring in an old sock,
knick-knacks, buttons, lace, etc .. and I
provide the furl) hlllt and moving eyes.
Bonnie : Oh gosh, they love these puppets.
First they glue the fabnc mouth pieces
together, which 1s prcuy challenging, and I
take it as an opportunity to affirm them.
Number one, when you're working with
puppets you cannot fail. Anything you do 1s
brilliant, and the more you do of it, the beuer.
So they make brides, punk rockers, little
girls, a lot of dragons. Then I say, "Go home
and empty your junk drawers!" And the next
day they bring in all kinds of stuff to decorate
them. Fabric, nut shells, boule tops, yarn ...
and we lay a big pile on the table and I insist
that the children do all the choosing.
And some teachers just can't sra11d it. They'll
say, "Red and orange don't match". So I say,
"But it doesn't maucr with a puppet- the
wilder the beuerl Let's see what it looks like."
Its just the "shoulds" we all learned as
children that they're passing on ...
Kaniah: So you leave them t0 create plays on
their own.
Bonnie: 1 think kids are pretty willing to
pretend up until third or fourth grade. Mostly
sixth grade is the oldest age I work with.
People are afraid to try puppets with older
kids.
Kauiah: Why?
When I introduce Momma Dragon I
say, "One of the things we're going to study
is character- physical, moving and vocal
differences". And while I'm doing that I'm
putting her head and hands on and I say, "Has
my physical character changed, by the way?"
And they say, "Yeah!" And I spread my body
out and start breathing really deep and take a
big, slow step. By then they're backing up,
staning to squeal. Then I slowly tum around
and make her look at one of the kids who's
not backing up 100 much. And then I come
forward and swallow that child!
Katuah: Oh my Goddess! You're kidding!
Bonnie: No--the head is so big it could
encompass your whole body. And then she
stands up and says "YUMMM• " And that's
how I begin the program.
Then they stan thinking about what they want
to make, and the second day, we glue the
mouths of the hand puppctS together. Then the
third and founh days we finish the puppets
and the fifth day we do skills ... breathing,
talking, eye contact, gravny, moving. sound
effectS.
Bonnie: In America, people think puppets are
for children ... in the European countries
people know puppets are for all ages. And
puppetry is also fairly new here, whereas it's
thousands of years old in Europe and the
Orient.
I love the origin stories. I know there used to
be puppets of Jesus that opened and closed
their eyes and mouths, and most of these were
burned during inquisition times--and I
imagine so were the puppeteers! And in Java
the puppeteer has been their spiritual teacher
for cons. He goes from village to village and
sets up his scrim and docs a shadow
production for 2 or 3 nights ... and of course
they don't have lights, so they use the fire. In
India and Java they call the veil of the shadow
scrim the "veil of the worlds".
Kauiah : There arc so many ways to use
puppets that most people aren't aware of. I
taught French 10 a kindergarten using a puppet
who only spoke French. He'd tell me he was
embarasscd cause he couldn't speak English
and was afraid the kids wouldn't like him. So
immediately the children said, "tell him we'll
continued on next page
JC:ol.UM Jo14rnoC pcaqe 13
�speak in his language!" And they all wanted to
learn French so they could talk to Giuseppe.
Bonnie: How perfect. I'd really like to work in
the depths of the education system and give
teachers the tools to usc ...altcmatives. Most
are so frustrated with all the paperwork. They
say, ''I used to be able to do art work with the
kids but I don't get to have fun with them
anymore."
gone into ans. And their parents have grown
up with very little ... but through this program
they meet so many different kinds of artists. It
gives them an idea of the world other than
T. V. and their own backyard.
When I first staned "'ith Mountain Ans I was
just going to perfonn and teach abou1 puppets.
And then I gor the idea for having kids make
1he1r own puppets and so much has come out
of it--all the characters- I had no idea.
Katuah: Do you ask teachers to stay in the
room while you're there?
Karuah: Getting the kids involved ... expressing
rhemselve~. Thar's the magic of i1.
Bonnie: I like the teachers to be there and pick
up on it and help our. And I've also had
teachers inhibit the class wnh their "supposed
to's". Especially with the sound effects. That
drives teachers crazy 'cause they've spent all
year teaching the kids not to do those things.
And then I'll say,"Lct's hear your voice. let's
hear it loud!", and the kids arc going wild and
the teacher's looking at the door...(laughs)
But they've got to realize they can let it all
loose. They can take a puppet and be fun and
make the kids laugh and they won't lose
conrrol or respect, they will gain it. If they
dare to share with a child in their realm, then
they've gotten inside and can teach much more
effectively. If they'll go into the child's world
rather than criticizing the child for not being m
the institutional world ...
Bonnie: The primary value is definitely
expression--in every form. in any form--and
the accep1ance of that expression. Self
acceptance: teachers accep1ing their
self-expression, children accepting theirs.
teachers accepting children. and children
accepnng teachers.
At the end of my program when the kids
introduce their puppets 10 the class. every
once in a while I'll get a teacher who'll do it,
too, and the kids love it! They'll say."Wow!.
she made a voice for her puppet"' And I know
the teacher might feel like an idiot. especially
when she's supposed to be a standard in a
group and she's asked to do things that are
real weird and silly. So going through and
daring to feel that sillinesi. and create an
expression--daring 10 do that is. I think, the
greatest transformer. I've seen it first of all
with myself, ho11. brave I've gouen, and I've
seen it with the cluldren.
In 1his process I've taken a close look at life
and how we hold ourselves, the way we look.
our hean area. With a puppet. if the bean's
covered you know how Lllat feels • it's sad.
And with love you're throwing it out. With
anger, you cover it, tum it away. look down
the long nose. I teach those types of
expression.
Katuah: Their world ...
Bonnie: It's not even the teacher's world - it's
the 'supposed to be' world. And they were
taught 11 and they're still trying to be very
good at it. But there are lots of exceptions...
like Mrs. Thompson in Brevard. She takes her
lcids out and teaches them to plant trees and
grow seeds and mke care of animals. She
teaches respect for nature. And she docs ii on
her own.
Katuah: What's your feeling about the
Mountain Arts Program?
Karuah: You're reaching a 101 about human
relations and the self--much more than just
"puppets".
Bonnie: h's wonderful. The thing I love about
it is we're touching the really rural
communities. If it wasn't for Mtn. Ans those
kids wouldn't be gelling hands-on contact
with artists very often.They have strong
spons programs but not a lot of funding has
Bonnie: Teachers will say, "Kids that never
talk have their puppets talking!" Or, "I learned
so much about this child from his puppet and
what it's saying."
Sometimes I see children who might be abused
at home and they'll punch their puppet or the
JC.citiwh Journa! pciqe t 4
puppet 1s very aggressive and wants 10 chew
and bite. So I might say to the puppet,
"What's your name?" And the puppet says.
"None of your business". And I say, ''Well
aren't you glad to have a boy like this?" "No.
I hate him." And I say, "But he sure did a
good job making you. that I can say for sure".
And the puppet gets quieter, softer ... So I
plant a little seed of positive. It's all I get ume
to do but it could be taken so much funher.
That's why I encourage them to hug the
puppet...
Katuah: And make friends with their puppet.
Bonme: Yes. Because they're expressing to
themselves, talking 10 themselves. Another
1hing about problem children ... If you have a
class of twenty-eight kids and one or two are
hyperactive or disruptive, the teacher usually
puts them in the hall because she doesn't have
1ime to deal with them. So I know that child is
lacking love. Love really heals a battered
child. So the disruptive child I find. which
doesn't happen much 'cause with puppets
even those children arc usually pretty
engrossed ...
Karuah: They just want a little more attention
from you.
Bonnie: Exactly. And that's what I give them. I
give them what they wanr. I make them come
up front and hold my hand. I'll pat 1heir hand
or put my hand on their shoulder if they'll let
that happen. And I'll say, "you need to hold
my hand, that way if you don't hear my
message with your cars, you'll feel it from my
energy". I reach them about communication
without words. I'll use gesture and mime and
rouch because the problem children need to be
touched.
Katuah: Do you wish you had more time to
spend wnh each group?
Bonnie: Definitely. It'd be nice to teach
puppetry as a full time cumculum. If you have
a good puppet teacher you can have art and
thearre in the same school. .. and you don't
have to use only puppets. You could combine
creative writing, theatre and an .•. And you
might be doing Midsummer Nigl11's Dream so
conum:cd on p. 28
WLntcr, 1989-90
r
�by Doug Woodward and Trbh Severin
There arc many different reasons pan:nts
might want to teach their children ut home. As
parents, the two of us panscularly want to
nurture in our children the 4u.1lities of love
crcativuy. mdcpendcnr thinking, enthusiasm for
learning, a po~11ivc ..elf-1mage. and a spim or
co-opcra11on (rather than compctiuon) with
others.
As there is no altcmauvc school in Macon
County where we live, we at one point were
seriously considering moving to an arc:1 that
offered a good choice in alternative education
Then we heard mention or homeschooltng and
decided that maybe the quality education we
sought could best be provided right here at
home.
The "social problem" often mentioned in
connection with homeschooling gave us pause.
however. We were afraid that our young one>
might become isolated at home and not have
enough interaction with other children. Our
worries were needless. We found that there
were many other families involved in
homeschooling m our area, and that there were
plenty of activities planned to bring the
homeschoolers together. The more we read and
the more we interacted with other families, the
more assured we were that the "social problem"
of homeschooling was not a problem at all. As
we watched the children interactmg in small
groups, we could not help but think it was a
favorable co.1trast to the usual social experience
found in a classroom of 25 or 30.
If, like us, your family is interested in
homeschooling, you might find that you are not
as alone as you might think at first. Even in rural
Registration
The suuc of North Cnrolina requires that 11 child
be registered by age seven for public, private, or
homeschooling. For informauon on Ille requ1remcnis f0<
regis1ntlion of homcschoolcrs, wmc:
Staie of North C..olma Division or Non·Public EdllCllltOn
c/o Ron Helder, DIJ'CCtor
532 N. Wilmingion SL
Raleigh, NC 27604
(919) 733-4276
The states of Virginia and Tennessee regmcr
homcschool children through the county bonrd$ of
education. Contact your local board for mfonnalioo.
areas the homeschooling population h
significant, and chance~ are that the.re will be a
support group dose by.
Homeschooling support groups can serve
1heir member' in a number of ways. l.c:r's loClk
at the children first ·1 hough it\ true that the
parents can direct the kids toward rradit1on:d
mu~ic cla;scs, sports activities, and classes for
special skills. socializing with other
homcschoolers has benefits all its own. When
families get 1ogc1hcr, the age grouping is vertical
and scattered. not horii.ontal as is found in an
onhodox classroom. A ~ix-year--0ld might learn
1he needs of an infant. share thoughts with a
teenager, and deal with adults on a personal
level r.ither than as authority figures. Harmony,
tolerance, and cooperation are fostered.
Even wuhin the fun activities,
opportunities for learning abound. For example,
our group pressed apples this fall. Children
involved in the ga1hering, washing, chopping,
pressing, and bouling of organically grown fruit
are likely to come away with more than just the
mste of juice in their mouths!
Adult members of a support group always
have their own skills 10 share, whether they use
these skills in the course of earning a living, or
whether these are activities that they just love
doing. And do not forget the emerging skills of
the children. They, too, have something
imponant to teach the adults. if we will listen.
Family activities • planned so that bo1h
spouses can panicipate - are the heart of the
social opportunities in a support group.
Potlucks, field trips, campouts, and service
projects are but a few of these.
On the other side of the coin, mcntorship
Finding Help
for Your Homeschooling Program
Magazines
llomt EdJ<c011011 MogortM
Box 1083
Tonaske!, WA 98855
programs offer a one-on-one growing and
learning experience. Here a child can select an
adult who offers a skill m which he or she 1s
interested. The child makes the contact and
together the child and the adult work our a time
when that skill is being used and the young one
can ohscrve or participate.
Support groups also offer the parents
infoimation to help them get staned and to aid in
dealing with legal requirements. The group can
also provide curriculum help, creative ideas,
workshops, connection to state or national
homeschooling organizations. and plain old
empathy!
We greatly appreciate the nexibility and
choice involved in homeschooling. The
children's love and enthusiasm for learning has
been fostered by studying subjects in which
they are most interested and when the readiness
is there. We srudy subjects in an integrated
manner. always making it "hands on" as much
as possible. If the children become interested in
Indians, we get involved in native dance,.music,
cooking, crafts, st0ries, and more. Since we
continue to be actively involved in bicycle
touring, canoeing, and ,backpacking, we just
take the cllildren along. We can spontaneously
take off on an adventure withowt the hqsS'le of
school schedules. A family field trip is a highly
educational expcriem.:c:! •
Leaming togettier continues to be exciting
and challenging as our falJlily-continues io.make
its own path into eCluca[lpn'. No longer do we
~lk about relocating to anoiher ~a in S8anfh of
an education that fits our children's needs, for
we've found it right here ~t home.
A Bcka Book Publications
Box 18000
Pensacola. fl.. 32523
Calvcn School
IOS Tuscany Rd.
Bnllimorc. MD 21210
Oak Meadow School
Bol 712
Blacksburg, VA
24060
Gr11wing Witlwut Sclwo/111g
2869 Massnchuscus Ave.
Cambridge. MA 02140
The Sycamon: Troe
Ttaching Books and Matt rlals
CoSta Mesa. CA 92627
Rainbow Resource Center
The loc:al library is a good place to begin your
search for aYllllable homeschooling mrucrials. Some local
libraries have worked with homeschooling groups in
pun:hasing books, petiod1cals, and assisting in the
Organlu t ions
National Homeschool Assiocialion
Box58746
Seattle, WA 98138
(SOO) 486-135 I
(S<rvius: o quarterly newsle11u. teoclttng rt-'Ourct
file, homuclwol trove/ directory, tttn·IO•lttn program,
apprtnticeslups and mtntorships for homtschooltrs.
student uchan~, oN1 o 11twslt11tr digest ~rviu.)
k'lnwr, l 989-90
Box 365
Taylorville, lL 62568
2179 Meyer Place
John Holt's Book and Music Siorc
2269 Massachuseus Ave.
dcvelopma11 or vcrucal files on homc.schoolmg.
Cambridge, MA 02140
lnrorma tlonal Book1
Educational Spccuums/
JltNnlSdtool RtDtkr
Bluestocking Press
Box 1014 (Dept. AF2)
by Mad: and Helen Hegener
Ttaclt Yowr Own by John Holl
Pliurvillc. CA 95667
�-If! 1' SUI., J11,,t'J1, Sf
(If/ ye fl1•f -nt•i/e ~ ff, , -Ae"
·Ceremony
/ 6it1 rP'U -Aeor ,,,, e.t
/1t fo r~11r 11'1/t(f (
~I J
Ct1'>Ht.
c'"'J'"' ye, I httf /.rL
1v?Ake 1~~ pt1fh $wt"o'/I, tf,.f ii
fhe br~w 'J' ffte f 'r jf ,
1
ff! f: M~Js, CJ,"Js, ~,>t, y;,,.Jf
fJ/ f' lf,.f
111 ftt.
I /;/II rtsf "'",...;-...,I
/h'/o 1""" >tt/J$f 1ft4J
e '14W '4/e..
On f ye, I iyl"re,,.
Sf,lf
11
/11'1v1
Cini
4 ir
Q
11J4~t Ifs?"#, Sht~"1, tf,.f if '114 r,4d
'!
ifte hnnJ "/ /(,e se<n.J hill
~! ~t
Jf lls Valle~s, 1?.ivtrf, L~s,
1
7fe,~, C/r4'~eJ; 1df
r of 7'e f4rft.
e
/ /,/&/ r,#11 ftear n.e !
/hfo 'f""4r m//{ff ~o au..~ ti '1e~ /,(~
Ohse,,f '/'' I iH>tff.,rc..
"WJii<~ ii~ /'"'It, SmooH,1 f/,o/ if Jn'!J read
-/4t br~w 1 /f,e
tJ,1 hi//
rJ
tk Omalia 1"£an prayer Urtmtm!J introtfucine a
new6orn dsi!tf to tk natural worUf.
Ofun, in cqnttmporory cultuns, tk new5orn is fo~
introtfuutl w tk fiuman cOtlflflunity and to tk tfiviru
orrftr··out not spu.ifially to tk natwTJl ul0rl4.
!Here in tliis urem.ong, tk naturof wo& is atftfresstd
rllrectly in anrwuntin9 tk arrival of tk diilrl into tk
mUfst of tk wfwfe Lift community.
'Ifijs is
Illustration by James Rhea
.t, '
==
........
Q .,,,.
��Mother Earth The Natural Classroom
Early one morning, I sat outside with my
dnughtcr reading a children's ~tory .. h "'as a
story dealing with bircb, habitat, animal
adaptations. predators, and camoullag_c. In the
middle of the story. we nouccd the 11n1est bare!
dan under the eaves of our garage. How did ii
get lhrough? It :.queaked underneath such a
small space. !low hard to believe. More careful
observation ~howed uo; there was indeed a
hidden nest. We could h.'lrcly see the bits of
l\\igs showing through. What a pcrf.:ct
accompanimem far the story we were reading.
It was one of those wonderful examples of
~ynchronici ty. One 1.hat Nature is so famous
for, if only v.c arc patient and obscrvan1
CnOUl!h .
~ If only classroom tC.'lching could h:ivc
more moments like that in science or
environmental studies. In my teaching
experience, I have noticed how attuned to nature
students become when they arc allowed. More
often than not, experiences like that arc reserved
for "field trips," and those occur too
.
infrequently. We are usually forced to bnng
natural science inside the classroom rather than
r.ake the students directly to the Eanh.
Twenty years ago, when l first read Si/enc
Spring, 1 was amazed nt how we were S?
closely intenwined to the Eanh. Why didn't we
pay nuention back when it was written?
Couldn't we have avoided many of our recent
environmental pitfalls? Now, as we enter the
L990's, having had some very harrowing
cnvironmenrol disasters, it is clear that schools
can no longer ignore the imponance of teaching
and providing hands-on experiential
cnvironmenlal programs. Leaming has to extend
beyond the boundaries of the classroom.
For the past three years, I have been
involved with the Nonh Carolina
Adopt-A-Stream Program which is part of lhe
National Save Our Streams Program. The
Strcam Program activities are primarily
bands-on, very environmentally conscious
lessons. Since our school is a five-minute walk
from a stream, we are able to rcgulnrly take
advantage of the opportunity to visit the stream.
The children considered the activities
wonhwhile and fun - and could see that they
were making a difference. The program
integrated well into our second and third grade
cwriculum by including science, social studies,
languuage ans. creativity, and problem-solving
skills.
In order to allow children to realize what a
unique and precious place our Eanh is and to
understand their participation in it, we need to
step outside of our classrooms. Mother Eanh
can teach us about our home, but we need to
make provisions for being th.ere in direct contact
with her. Students need to be outdoors ·
observing, listening, sensing - when Mother
Eanh shares her synchronistic lessons with us.
Second grade .mlllem Quinn \Vardin andpre-kindergarrner Anna Srein cleaning a srream ne.ar rhe_r
1
scltool on Clean Streams Day, 1988.
Photo by Tun Reid
Biodegradable Diapers:
Not What They Say They Are!
It sounds like a dream come true disposable diapers that are environmentally ~fe.
"Degradable is a wann and fuzzy word, hke
organic and natural," said R.A. Denison, a
senior scientist at the Environmental Defcnst:
Fund.
Unfonunately, "These plasucs are being
sold as a way to reduce waste and that is a
hoax," says Jeanne Wirka of the Environmental
Action
Foundation.
A truly degradable material breaks down
into basic constituents like water and carbon
dioxide through natural pr~esses. The n~w
diapers do indeed break down 1mo...smaller b11s
of plastic. But in the dry, oxygen·~tarved
environment of modem landfills, they might not
break down much at all.
"Li11lc is known about what happens
during and after the degradation process to
chemical additives, toxic heavy metals. and
other plastic ingredients," said Ann Beaudry in
an anicle in Motlutring Magazine. And "even the
eventual breakdown inr.o small pieces of plastic
offers no solution to the landfill capacity crises
because the breakdown of throwaway diapers,
disposable or biodegradable, take up just as
much room in the landfill as the original."
Large amounts of human waste arc also
- Susan Schneider Gries~!# deposited in the landfills possibily b!'Ceding
virulent strains of pathogens such as poho virus
fr'
Suggested Rtadint:
which may find 1.heir wny to underground water
SltariJtg Nt111Ut with Children by Joseph Bh3tat Cornell
sources. Toxic chemicals also follow the snme
Keepers oftlu! Earth by M. Caduto
route to the water sources.
Streamwalkingfor Kids by Gwen D1ehn and Susan
There has been a large eco-marketing
Gricsmaict (NC Stn:am Watch Program, 1988)
campaign for single-use "biodegradable diapers"
C!IMtcling people ONl nlJIJVt, Lesson plans. (Great
targeted at natural food stores and environmental
Smoley Mll\S. !nstirute at Tremont, Gre:u Smoky
catalogs, aimed at reaching environmentally
MlnS. National Park. Townsend, 1N 37882)
conscious parents.
Xl••Unh 7ournnt PIUJ'- 111
For four and a half years our family has
"recycled" cloth diapers in the wnshing machine.
You can use 1.hem from one child to the next,
tum them into rags when they're worn out, and
let them truly biodegrade when they're no longer
usable.
Of course cotton production often uses
pesticides, but there is little comparison betw~n
that and the daily disposal of 5 to 15 plasuc yes, PLASTIC! · diapers.
Most kids are in diapers for 2-3 years.
The cost comparison is nbout $84 per month for
disposables, $26 per month for clor.h through a
diaper service, or a one time cost of about $50
for a few dozen cloth diapers if you buy and
wash your own.
"Each family that chooses natura l,
recyclable conon diapers for their child prevents
I ton of waste from entering the solid waste
stream each year," wrote Benudry.
I hope this makes you reconsider whether
f
you want to buy into this fal~e dream o_ the
disposable diapers or the reality of creaung a
healthy environment . Let's stop trying to take
the easy way out.
For more resources and infonnarion on
how and why to use cloth diapers, feel free to
call me at the Traditional Binh and .Natural
Family Health Colleccive; 36 l Sterling St.;
Atlanta GA 30302 (404) 880-9172.
'
- Aviva Jill Romm
"Doubts are Voices on Dcgracbblc Ptasuc: W3SJ.c." NY
Tim(S, 10/25~9
"B1odcgr11dablc Diapers: A Pseudo Soluuon." Ann E.
Beaudry. Molhtring Magam1t, Fall. 1989
•
"The Ethics or Diapering," R.W. Hollis, Motltering
MaglWM. Fall, 1989
~
Wi.nt..er , 1989- 90
�RESOURCES
Tips for
Gardening with Children
Parenting
from Tom You11gblood-Pe1erse11
.\lo1huU1J: \lag;vmc
P.O. Bo~ lo'IO; Santc Fe. NM 87'>0-l
Start i.mall - a 6' x 10' garden can be a perfect ·
size for a liule one.
N11n1inng Tf>d.1~
187 Cao;clh Ave.: San Fmnc1S1:0, C,\ Q-l 11-l
Have fun! I put this toward the top of the list
because remember, beauty b in the c:yc of the
beholdl.'r. This means no garden is perfect, and
it's as much the proceH as ii is the results, for
children.
Education
/'h(' C)t 11/The Chtld., Rulh \fueller
(!'le" Soc1c1y Publishers)
The best garden layout is narrow beds - no more
lhan three feet wide so the children can work
from the edges - and wide paths that can fit two
willing and eager workers.
Ch1ldhodd- l lu. l\'aldorf Pc·r.1{1('Cli>-c, by ~ancy Aldri.h
R1. ::?. Bo~ :!675; We>.iford, VT 05-19-l
Grc:en J~ic/Jcr
c/o Tim Grant: 95 Robcn Succt; Toronto, Onwrio
M5S 2K5, Canuda
What to plam? Whatever the children like toe.at
and nibble. lf that list 1s shon, you can
supplcmem wtth vegetables and flowers 1ha1 are
especially fun to grow. Like cherry tomatoes,
sunflowers, ever-bearing srrawbcrries and
nastuniums. All of 1hese can be nibbled
fresh ..... tmmedia1e gratification is one of the
easiest ways to keep children interested in the
garden.
National Dirtctory of Alttrnative SchocfJ, National
Coahuon of Al1crnauve Community Schooh
R.D. I. Bo~ 378: Glcnmoorc. Pa. 193-l 3
1lorne ~1wn Magaw11:
P.O.Box IOIB: Tona.tj{e\, WA 98855
\1t:rlyn s Pt!n
P.0.Box 1058: Ea~t Greenwich, RI 02818
Skipping Stones
80574 H:11.c1ton Road: Coungc Grove. OR 97424
Our Fwur<' al Stake: A lunugtr's Gwck 10 Stopping the
Nuclear Arntf Rare, Melinda Moore & Laurie
Ol'i<:n, ti tJ/ , (New Soe1e1y Puhfohcrs)
l.111/e Fritnds for Pt!aa
4405 29th Street; Ml. R.1n1cr, MD 20712
Kid'IArt Nt!WS
P.O.Box 27-l: Mt.Sh:lsm CA 96067
Nauonal Home School Assocwuon
P.O.Box 167; Rodeo, NM 88056
American Montcsson Sococty
ISO Sib Ave.: New York, NY 10011
Waldorf lnstilutc
260 Hungry Hollow Road
Spring Valley, NY 109n
Stop War Toys Campaign
C/o Wur Re''-'lCrs' Lcaguc - NE
Box 1093: Norv.•11:h. CT 06360
Who's Calling tilt Sho1.1: /lo" to Re~nd £f/wn·tly 10
Children's Fascina11on Kllh Illar Play and War toys
by N311ey Crls.<oon-Pa1ge and Diane Levin
(New Society Publishers)
Stopping Abuse
Nallonal Child Abuse HOl Linc, l-800-4AC-HILD
National Association for I.he
Educ111ion or Young Children
1834 Connccticul Ave. NW
Wa~ing1on, D.C. 20009
Children's Defense Fund
122 C St NW; Wa.'>hingion. DC 20001
The Nalionnl Association for Mediation 1n Educauon
425 Amity St.; Amhcrs1, MA 01002
Child Welfare League of Amcnca
440 First SL NW (Suue J 10)
Washington. DC 20001
Nnlional Coaliuon or Altcrnouvc Community Schoch
58 Schoolhouse Rd.: Summertown, Tn. 38483
End Violence Agamst lhe Next Gcncruuon, Inc.
977 Kcclc1 Ave.; Berkeley. CA 94708
Changing Schools
Teacher; College 918
Ball Struc l.inivcrsity
Mu11cie, IN 47306
ramily Violence Research Program
Family Rc=h UiboralOry
Univcr~11y of New Hampshire
Durham, NH 03824-3586
Peace and No n-viole11ce
An OutbrC'alc of fi:aci:. Sarah P1nlc.
A "fanual on Nonv1oltnci: and Childrtn.
compiled ancJ edited by SitphanicJudson
(New Society Publishers)
,,li..n t.er, 1989-90
Kidsrights
3700 Progi:c~ Blvd.: Mount Dora. FL 32757
N3UOnal Chtld's RighlS Alliance
P.O.Box 17005; Durham, NC 2no5
National Commiu.ce for the Prevention or Child Abuse
332 S. Michigan Ave.; Chicago, 0. 6060
Get real 1ools. (small ones), not toys for your
children. No matter how young, don'1 waste
your money on flimsy plastic 100ls in toy stores.
Purchase smaller-sized good quali1y tools for
$4-$5.00 from hardware or garden shops.
Have the children wear old clothes and shoes.
I telp the child clean and put away all tools when
finished.
Again, HAVE FUN!
Tom Youngblood-Perersen ls director of
the MAGIC Commu11iry Garden programs in
A!iheville. NC. fie and his wife Berh eat
11aswriw11 buds in their own garden with their
five year-old so11, Evan, and plan to imroduce
the1r newbofll. Campbell, w rhe fun of it, as
well
Childre11's Media
Four Arguments for tht Elimination of Television
by Jerry Mander
Action fat Children's Television
20 Unh·ersity Rd.; Cambridge, MA 02138
Council on lnitrracilll Books for Childn:n
1841 Bro:idway; New York, NY 10023
Lollipop 'PoWCJ Press
30S £.Chapel Hill St.; Durllam. NC 2no1
Much of I.he information for these resoiuces came from:
lloliftic Educa1ion Rt!'oli<"W,
P.O.Box 1476; Greenfield, MA 01302
'Ifuml;s to X/n.!JO'l 'Xlfl9for fufp in cmnpili119 tfiis
resourus listintJ.
/
X4ti4ah ) o'4rnat palJtl 19
�HOSTAGEPANTHERTOWN
FREED
ACTION FOR BEARS BRINGS
RESULTS
Nlllrll World News Savice
Nlllrll Worid News Service
With the aid of the Nature Conservancy and
national politicians, negotialions for a major hostage
release wcre compleled Monday, No~cmber 27 when
6.295 acres of the Panlhcnown Valley in the headwaters
of lhe Tuclcascgcc River WllletShcd were tnWfcrrcd IO the
US Forest Scrvke.
The valley has been the sub.)CCt of controversy
since 1988 when Duke Power Company bought Ille l.r1ICt
as part ol ilS land acquisition program for a high-voltage
11811Smission line IO go lhrough the hcan of Transylvania
and Jackson counties In North Carolina. Much
opposition IO the pawer line cenicrcd lllOWld lhc idea of
"Save Panlhcnown Valley."
Oulte bought the propeny suddenly in 1988.
Ownership of the whole property was a powerful
negotiation IOOI 10 help Duke secure 11S preferred route
for the power line. Once the route was established.
selling the propcsty to the Nature Conservancy was easy
for the ginnl energy corporauon, as 11 only required an
800 acre comer of the land for the tmnsm ission line
right-of-way. The sale softened some opposition 10 the
power line, which 11"ill cause ml1JOT habi1a1 disruption
along its route and spur damaging development in its
service area, nnd gave Duke ihe appearance of being
syrnpnthetic IO cnvironmcnial issues.
However, Panlhcnown is a unique and scenic area
and home IO several rare plant species. IL~ future appcnrs
10 be much more secure. The Forest Service will
temporarily manage the land under a 4-C land
management classification, which restricts use 10
non-motonzod recrcauon and favOlli black bear habil31,
and promised IO preserve its 'ICCnic beauty and unique
geological and biological features. The publrc attention
the valley has received will most likely be a strong
guarantee for lhn1 promise.
A demonstration on behalf of black beats cag
on the Cherokee lndioo Reservation for tourist auraction
bas apparently brought results. The September
demonst.ration, led by PETA (People for the Ethic
Treatment of Animals) and allCnded by 100 maJChers
including many Crom the rcserva1ion, wallccd from
Oconoluf1ce Visitors' Center 1n the Great Smok
Mountains National Park to the infamous Saunooke'
Bear Land, cited as providing some of the wors
conditions for animals among CAhibits tn this country.
Chief Ed Taylor mcl the group and told them no
ID meddle with internal affairs on the reservnlioo and
go home. The response to this was a chorus of shou IS
"We are home!" from many of the dcmonsi.nuors wh
were residents of the reservation. The Chief then told lh
group ihat Indians were tired of outsiders telling the
what lO do, app:ircruly forgetting lhal. the exhibit owners
on whose behalf he was speaking were all while pcopl
who hnd leased space on the rcscrvntion IO cash in on lhe
summer tourist now. Muuenng, Taylor then got into hi
car and retired from lhc scc.ne.
But Taylor was affected by the dcmon~tration.
The following month he brought a resolution into th
Tribal Council thnt wou Id hnve required that bears
kept in "natural habitat areas" on penalty of SI ,000 fo
''iolallon. The Council. however, replaced this rcsolu tio
with one that said the caging o( bears 1s "presenting
problem• and nuthorized the Council 10 invcs1ig:ue th
pol>~ibility of the habitat area.
BENTON MacKA YE TRAIL
After nine years 3 dedicated group of volunteers
has comptcu:d a 78.5 mile hiking trail from Springer
Mountain, Georgia Lo the COhuua Wilderness Arca on
the Tcnncs.'iCC "lllle hnc.
The hiking p:ith is called the Benton MacKaye
Trail after ihe founder of the Appalachum Trail system.
Pans of the trail follow an early fll3n for the Aflll3l3chian
Trail. which was later ch311ged IO ilS prcscn1 route.
The remarkable aspect of the Benton MacKaye
Troll is that it was constructed entirely by voluntcc~.
who have worlccd steadily over a nine-year period to
complete the uaJI through the Goorgia mounuuns. Much
work still needs Lo be done 10 bring the path 10 11s
proposed termination po101 in the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, but trail votun1cers were
jubilant to have completed lhc first ~uge of the route.
Officials of the Southern Region of the US
Forest Service agreed early rn the llllil's hisiory Ihm they
would back the propo:;ed route if the Georglll segment
were completed.
A Tennc.'iSCC chapter of the trail volunlecrli has
been formed IO extend ihc trail nonhwan:t through the
Unicoi MounUlill.\ IO reach the Smokies.
• scurce: article by John llarmon (n 1hr Atlanta
Journal-Constitution, October 14. 1989.
FOREST PLAN REMANDED
Narlnl World News Service
The Chief of the US Forest Service, Date
Robenson, on September 28, 1989 sent back the
bclcllgucrcd Land and Resource f\.lanngemem Plan for the
Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests, saying in panicular
Ihm the plan places too much emphasis oo clC31CuWng
as the method of choice for lumbenng and 3Jso allows
projected umber sates that would fail 10 recover their
CO~ts.
While not spcc1ficnlly outlawing clcarcutting or
any limits on its use. Robcn.o;on dircctcd the N-P
National Forest staffs 10 research altcmauvcs w the
clcarcutting technique and to be more nex1b!e m their
thoi~ of logging methods. His denial Ytllidatcd yc:ITS of
work by conscrvation groups, parucul:irly the Western
North Carolina Allianc~. to convince the Forest Service
to stop 1ts smgle-minded reliance on the clcarcuumg
ux:hnique.
The Chiefs directive also said the rorcst rtan did
not adequately JUstify proposed timber sales Lha1 would
have resulted in the loss of additional tax money IO
subsidi1.e clcarcuts in the Southern Appalachians. In
1987 the Nantahala·Pisgah National Forests lost a total
of S2.5 million in bclow-<:ost limber sales. (l1lc For~l
Service accounung procedure was changed in 1988 lO
make it more d1fficull 10 dctcnmnc the economic swtus
of timber SJlcs 1n indl\·1duat rorc.sts. hut 11 Is csumated
that tosses held steady or rose slightly in that year.) A
rccelll study author11cd by the Forest Service, Tiie
Southern Appalachian Timber Study. documented a
decade-long price drop in hardwood lumber in the
Southern Appalachians. Robcnson's memo duected the
Nauonnl Forests ndm11ustrauve siaffs to incorporate these
more recent figures m their review of timber ~les
policies and umber qUOlaS.
Chief Robertson's remand order showed most
clearly the political nature of the US Forest Service. for
the issues of clcarcutung and below~t salcs that he
dealt with in his administrative order were drawing much
negauve publicity IO the agency. However, the Chief,
white urging caution in the construction of fore.~ roads,
did noc suggest any specific changes in road pohc1e.s in
the N3ntahala-Pisgah Na11onal Forc.,ts. Alw, white he
called for specific plans 10 provide hab11111 for 12
threatened and cnd:lngercd ~pccics, he did not cnll for a
forests-wide roadlcss areas survey IO determine the noed
for wildcmcss areas and undisturbed habnat. as called ror
m particular by the rcgion:ll office of ihe Wilderness
Society. Thc.sc 1s~~ arc as 1mponan1 as lhc clcarcumng
issue. but 11 ~med th31 ihcy were neglected m ihe
Chiefs repon because they had not aroused a vociferous
public outcry ag111ns1 the For~t Service as h3d the umber
policies.
The message is clear; 10 bring chnnge to the
nauonal forests, stir 11 up.
~uing
II
WE BRING GOOEY THINGS
TOLIFE II
Narunl World Ne"'• Service
South of Hendersonville Nonh Carolina, in th
below the East Flat Rock comm unit
where some I 50 peorle draw their drinking water
concentration~ of a canccr·causing mduslnal solvcn
exceed the siatc stnndard by at least 3.500 times
The General Electric lrghting fixtW'Cl> productio
plant in lfcndcr,on County has ~ixu:cn undergroun
Storage t.anks, two waste water trcaunent ponds, and
sludge 1mpoundmcn1 on land owned by the plant. Tw
landfills. a recently reported le:tlcing drain pipe, and
1983 chemical spill arc all contribuung factors to lh
!isling of this s11c by the Nonh Carolina Clean Wate
Fund as one of the 22 WOrsl groundwntcr contaminatio
site.~ in Nonh Carolina.
The Fund has also C!\llmaled ihat 35,000 peopt
in lhe stale arc drinking water w11h some degree 0
contamination. Nonh Carolina has the c;ccond highcs
number of household wells in the United States
(822,000) as there is a ready supply of gruund water
SOlllil of which is working 115 way to the sea from lh~
mountains of the Katuah region. It appears iha1 we Ill'
playmg a dcm11I game of "chemical do-or-dare" wnh
untamtcd war.er, esscnunl to our health and lhnt of lhc
groundwntc~
b~hcre.
A~ one of the "toxic 22" shes of sever
contamination in Nonh Carohnn, General Elcctri
contmucs to release poisons inio the underground wnters
which participate in lhe cyd1c now of water through Lhc
E:uth. It tna)· seem like these chemical ·sotu11ons' are
gone from 'sne', yet when they rc.•wface will G.E. really
be bnnging good things 10 life?
. To register comments concerning G.E.'s
you can ca.II the G.E. coMumer products
IOll·frcc number 1-800-626-2000.
praeucc~.
�PICKENS DISTRICT
FOREST WATCH
Nanni World News 5cr'1ice
WHAT'S H.A.A.P.-ENING??
Narural World News
ELA (Ecological Living Ahemativcs), a broad·
based eco-forum rccenlly ronned in East Tcnncs.'ICC, is
addressing some local problems lhal threaten the Holston
River 00..tjn and area rcsidcncs' heallh. One of the group·~
firs1 ac1ions was an 1nformnuonal demonslra1ion to
promoic press coverage of an upcoming pubhc bearing
concerning a permit rc-issunl for the was1e-wa1er
1tCalmen1 facility or 1he Hols1on Army Ammuniuoo
Plani (H.A.A.P.). located in Hawkins and Sullivan
counties. The plan1. managed by Easunan Kodak,
manufactures RDX, Composiqon B, HMX, HMX·TNT,
RDX-Plaslicv.cr and other spe(:1fteally ordered exple>sive
compounds used m the U.S. and sold on the in1cmational
weapons markc1. The action consis1ed or 15 ELA
members cxh1b111ng signs reading "National Dcfen~ al
Whose Expcn~?" and "Don'1 You Wish You Could Ea1
The Fish?" as well as posters promoung the lime and
d:llc or Ille publt<: hearing. Mcmbcts handed OUl lcallclS
to employees ond mo1ori~1S pa~smg through I.he busy
faciory inu:rsccuon.
!\.lost hearings m Ille o.rca receive small aucnd:ulCe
and liU!e or no public eommenL However. the heanng.
held Nov. 30. auracicd approx1ma1ely 30 people,
indicating the success of the group's action. Al the
beanng, comments were scheduled 10 be limi1cd to
subject maucr rclevan1 lO NPDES Permit #TN0003671
only, relating specifically to water polluuon control
guidelines. Activ1s1S speaking, though, insisted on
citing several problems at the plant which contribuLC 10
water pollution. even though they were not included 1n
the pcnniL
Among these problems is a huardous waste
landfill at the plant that has recently been re1llrflCd to
service. ft is feared that leaching from this area. as well
as other runoff from the 5800 acre plant, could cause
additional accumulauons of 1oxins in the river. Among
the elcmenis seeping from the munilion~ plant are vinyl
chloride, chromium, cyanide and nickel. Some IOxins Ind
heavy metals occur m the daily discharge crtlucn1 in
amounts grca1er than one pound per day; some occur in
ci1cess of 10 and 15 pounds per day. All discharge goes
inlO the HolslOn River which must absorb other wastes
as well. Eastman Kodak's PET plastic factory lie.:; just a
rew miles upstream. On Nov. 15 Easunan cxpcnenced a
"typical" spill loosing 36,000 pound., or acetic acid in10
the Holston. These accumulations, as well as ogncuhural
run-off, together contaminate the river which is the
source or lite Ci1y of Morrisiown's drinking waLCr
supply.
1f you would hke IO register comments on Ibis
and other problems concerning water pollu11on in
Tennessee, wri1e to: TN Dept. or Heallh and
Environment (Div. or Water Pollution Conttol); 150 9th
Ave. North: Nashville, TN 37219, or call (615)
741-7883.
If you would like IO know more about ELA and
upcoming activiues, write to: ELA; P.O. Box 851;
Jonesborough, 1N 37659.
k'i.nur, 1989-90
1
1l
'.'
While the "Up State" may be viewed as ju~t a
smllll comer or South Carolina. it holds a promineni
place along 1he cas1.em cscnrpment of the Soulhcm
Appl3chain Mountain Range. It is 31so home 10 a
growing number or bioreg1onal folks actively involved'"
the "public input" process of the Sumter National
Forest's Andrew Pickens Dislnct.
South Carolina Forest Wa1ch is presently
appealing two comparunen1 plans in the Chauga River
watershed. 1xlscd on the lack of a prcharvcst "hydrologic
survey•. which would have addressed the prot.cCtion or
two brook trout sucams and the conversion or the forest
IO a pine plantation. Additionally. the planned umber cut
was based on a study conducted in the piedmont and not
on steep mountain slopes.
"Those who arc only good with hammers sec
every problem as a ruul." Quoting Abraham Maslow.
Forest Wruch ttca..~urcr Richard Cam eqilamed that the
1985 Long Range Pinn for the district reveals a narrow·
minded approach to muluplc use. "The Plan relics
heavily on the conversion or milled hardwood and pine
forests to pllllltations or hybrid pines plan1ed on ten by
ten foot spacm~ Wildlife received very llUle auenuoo .•
"In order 1ha1 we might co1ribu1e to the
re-educa11ng of the Fores1 SCfVicc, we've done a 101 or
Sllldy on our own. Aside lrom our meetings with the
USFS and private timber interests. our bimonthly
mce1ings host a variety or speakers and lcanung
experiences. We also manage 10 gel out and cruise
management companrnenL~ in the Picltcns Oistr1c1."
For more information on the South Carolina
Forest Watch, wntc:
P. 0. Box 657
we.,tmmstcr, South Carolina 29693
CLEARCUTTING
HAS ABAD DAY
Natural World News S..,.jc.,
Research findings reported at a US Forest
Service-sponsored work.shop in September di.o;putcd the
notion that clcarc:utling provides crucial forage for cen.ain
species of wildlife. The audience at the "Wildlife
Considerations in lmplemcnung the Land and ReSOUtce
Managemcn1 Plan" mccung was addlCsscd by =hers
from various soulhcastcm universities.
Recent work Bl the Univen1ty or Georgia has
shown that deer appear IO be very adaptable 10 a wide
variety or forest types. Contrary to popular belief, deer
depend less on the type of browse found in clcarculS than
they do on a variety of hard mast (acorns and nuts)
provided l'y mature forests. Turkey research 11 Clemson
h:l.s also revealed tha.l 1urkeys make liulc use or clcarcuts,
needing a variety or hard and soft mast.
Similarly, Univcrsi1y of Tenncsscc reseateh ha~
shown that bears make very ligh1 and seasonal use of
forage in clcan:uts. depending more heavily on a good
selection or hard mast. Furthermore. the roads as.<;0eiBICd
with logging have proven IO have a severe impact on
bear populatlon.s. Bears have been found to use rough
woods roads and skid lnlib as they LrBvel in scarth or
forage, but they avoid ~ystcm roads, whether open or
closed to vehicle traffic. Thus, roads affect bear
populations by effectively reducing Ille size of their
range. as well as by providing easier access for hunLCr.>
and poachers.
Representatives from the NC Wildlife
Commission also spoke and indicated their concern
nbouc the effect of the Forest Servicc·s !'03d·building and
harvc.qing practices on wildlife population<.
THE CASE OF THE
DISAPPEARING TRJTIUM
Natural World News SetVice
The US Dcparuncnt of Energy (DOE) has again
suspended 311 commcrciai ~hipmcnts of 1ritium. the
radioacti"e ~ used in nuclear wlll1lc::lds, after significant
quantities of it turned up missing. Tritium is used in
biological and energy research and in making luminous
lights, signs. dials and w:u.ches as weU es being used to
increase the power or nuclear warllcads.
The halt in tritium shipments was 111nounccd in
July or 1989 after an inconclusive search for: five grams
or the element that laboraiory records said had been
shipped to commercial customers. bu1 which buyers said
had never arrived. ln August. the DOE said it would
resume mosi shipmcnis after bilS or the missing malerial
were found. The dcpartmcnt discounlcd the likclihood or
theft at that time. Only a few special shipmenis have
been made since then.
An in1emal lab rcpon said d~pancies in the
shipping records d:lted at least IO 1985. In some cases.
customers reportC<I they h3d received 40 percent ~
tritium lhan they had paid for.
A copy or the confidential July 20 report and
rclalcd Oak Ridge documcnis were obtained through a
legally enforceable request under the Freedom of
Information Act. lnvesLigators for Martin Marien.a Energy Systems, wtuch nms opcr311on:; at the Oalt Ridge
nuclear complex, said in the report that a significan1
amount of 1r11ium had been losL m a lest shipment
bc1 ween buildings. It appeared lhat Ille I~~ amounted to
abou1 two grams. approxima1ely half thc amoun1 used in
a smglc aiomic warhead.
According 10 the conliden1ial rcpon, workers
loaded the Lriuum into a container, which was sent to
another bu1ldmg. There pan of the contents of the
coniamer was unloaded for sampling, then repacked and
scn1 back 10 11.s ong1nal locauon. Thrcc-qW111CrS of the
tritium was lost in that round trip. Leakage and
procedural jXUblcms wcte ruled OUL
Reprcscniative Edward J. Markey (0) or
M3ss3chusctts swd, "You have IO \l/Olldct what kind of
Keystone KOJl!I operntion the Dcpanment or Energy ha!.
down at O:ik Ridge. when they lose more than 22,000
cunes or tntium in a I.Cl;! designed IO find out why DOE
keeps on losing l.nlClt or tritium."
DON'T CROSS
DA GREAT PUMPKIN
Nuunl WorldNcwsSavlcc
The WCSICnl North Carolina Alliance undcrsoc:ml
lhe gTOUp's opposjuon to wide.~ead clcarcu1ting in the
na1ional forests by staging a Halloween day
dcmonsLretion in front or the US Forest Service
headquaners m Asheville. The action specifically
protested a proposed clearcut near thc popular Craggy
Gardens area on thc Blue Ridge Parkway. The clcen:ut
would be in full view or tourisis at the visitor cerucr.
"Even the Great Pumpkin says, 'Don"1 cu1
Craggy.'" rc3d a sign held by young David Gilmour of
the group. The Alliance noted that lhis panicular cut.
which would be 12 acres in $tlC and less than a mile
away from the visitor center, is especially mappropriatc.
(Other acuvists were of the opinion. however, that the
Forest Service should be required 10 do oil their
clearcutting within sight of major IOW'i.\t auractions.)
As a result or the aucntion the Craggy clearcut
has received, the Forest Service is re-evaluating the
!ituauon. lrutcad of allowing the ll'BCt IO be clearcut, the
agency may n:quuc selective culling. which would lca.-e
~ or the trccs standing • or 11 may spare the enure 12
11CrtS. The decision is yet 10 be announced.
JC.at~
, l
Jo\&rnaL p1i9t1 21
...
'
�Natural World News
SPE C IAL REPOR T
ALARKA CREEK
CONTROVERSY
by David Wheeler
The headwaters of Alarka Creek rise high on the
Cowee Ridge, where !he North Carolina counllc.~ or
Swain, Jackson, and Macon comer. The creek\ origins
are on !he Alarka Laurel properly, l1lOtC than 2,000 :icre.~
of IJlnt.I which includes 35 :icre.~ of a unique red
spruce-bog association. The creek runs lhrough 2,000
acres or watershed uninhabited by human bemgs, along
!he way wmbting over the Alarka Falls. once a place for
fasting and p111ying held sacred by lhc native Chcrokcc
people. Until 11 reaches the Alarb Community in Swam
County. lhe wate.rs of lhc croelc are clear and support a
nallll'lllly-reproducing populntion or brook IJ'Oul
However, Alarka Creek is in clanger. The Alarlc.:J
LaW'Cl propcny, owned as an invcStmcnt by a panner.;hip
or land speculators, has been on the market for years.
Only now is a developer showing <iome interest in the
acreage. The identity of the developer is a catefully-kcpl
~ret. but it is known lh:lt plans for the Almb Laurel
propcny include a golf course and a luxury resort.
At the request of William Mcl.amey, an aqu:ttic
biologist living in Macoo County, biologists from the
NC Dcpruuneru of Envuoruncntal Management {DEM)
visited Al:uka Crcd: and ~led the wnu:r.;. Biological and
chemical tcsL:i confirmed that lhe wntershcd met the
stringent standards for qualirica1ion as a state
"OulSlanding Resource Water• (ORW). Streams 11ut
11\CCI ORV/ standards arc lamentably very few. and.
clearly, Alarka Crock is an lllca worlhy of protection.
But omcu1J efforts 10 preserve Alarka Creek have
run Into an ob!<lllCle. There is still resentment in Swain
County towards the insensitive acuons or big
government, which m the mid-1940\ condemned !;ind in
Swain, OSl.CllSibly for the citpans1on of !he Great Smoky
Mountains Nauonal Part, but which in ac1U3!11y lumcd
OUI IO be largely for lhe bencn1 of lhc Tcnnc.'--« Valley
Authority for lhc creation of Fontana Lake.
The focus for 1hc ire of 1his generation of Swam
County citi7.cns is a promise made by the govemmcm i.ll
the time of the land acquis1tOl1$ for a road that would p;is~
on the north side of 1hc lake. now within lhc Park
boundaries. That promi~ was never fulfilled, althoogh
lhc infamous North Carolina Senator Jesse Helms ha,
blocked a bill lhal would have finanC13lly compcnsalcd
the cow11y.
The uprc_o;s1on for 1h1s anger 1s a group called
"Citizens Against Wildemc.~~: which ha.~ a siorcrrom
office in Bryson Ci1y. lhc Swam county _,eat. The group
owes 1l1 existence and probably much of 1L~ crroc11vcncss
to the slrollg wppon of Senator Helms Alway' on the
lookout ror a political situation IO man1pulau: 10 has own
advantage. Helms took the "Ci111.cn~ Against Waldcmc.s"
under his ••mg and has fanned 1hc fires of their
rcscntmcnL The group's baule-<:ry 1s; "We are ltvmg
poorly because 85% of our county 1s under federal
control."
Abrka Creek lw been caughl rn the whirlwind
This ,.."a$ clc;arly revealed when a reprcscmauvc from the
Trust for Pubhc Land journeyed up tO lhe mountains to
look at the an:a at William Mcl..amcy's !QQUCSL
"He thought he was coming up to look at <1 pn:Uy
creek with a waterfall," said Mclarney. "Bui when he
51,.. the area. he said. ilus )!)ould be a national priority
fo •ur organi1.ation!' When he communicated h1~
lin1' "I'' IO the nntional office. they agreed w1lh hi$
II.\
<r.lcnt and gave cooseru 10 the project Bui to make
a lnJnsfcr, they needed sponsorship from some
appropriau: n:itional political figure. such as a senator or
a congressional reprcscn1J11Jve but none was to be found.
The reason: Jesse Helms. So efforts by the Trust for
Public Land to help A!arlca Creek have been stalled:
The Alarb Creek issue came to a head when lhe
DEM held a public hearing on lhe ORW classification 111
the Bryson City courthouse on the evening or November
2. 1989. The district couruoom was p3Ckod. Over 250
people aucndcd the hearing, mos1 of 1hem on short
notice, because the public announccmcn1 or the mceung
h:id nol been published in the county newspaper until the
week before the hearing dale. Mosl of lhe speakers
present were from Swam County, and m~l expressed
strong opposition to an ORW classilicauon for Alnrka
Creek. Regnrdless of the ickology behind 11. local power
is a fonnidablc force and noc to be underestimated.
The proposed development on Cowee Ridge
seemed to be synonymous with economic pro~rity m
lhe mind.~ or most or those who spoke agams1 the ORW
classific:iuon. Several dccned the opinions of "oul'idc~·
from ncighbonng M:lcon and Jackson counties when they
spoke in support or prou:cuon for Alarka. "You're JUst
saying that because !'.iacon alre.ady ha.' six malls." called
a woman from !he audience at one poim.
"!l's very ironic." eommcnlCd William Mct..amcy.
"They were calling people who laved 20 miles away
'outsiders.' while a California developer who ha..,n't even
revealed his name 11nd was rcprescnicd only by 1wo
Georgi.i lawyClS is considered one of lhcir own.
"PCISOllally. I would l\OI favor any ~lution to the
ultimaic fate of the Big Laurel lh:11 would lock Swain
County people out. and a big development would do lh;al
more effoctivcly than nnything else anyone could do. The
kind or people who would frequent that place don't want
locals around Swain County rcsidcnis couldn't afford to
buy a membership. and even If they were w gc1 m !here,
they wouldn'l find whnt they were lookmg for . 1 don't
think any or lhc.<;c people play golf.
"There would be short·lerm jobs building lhe
resort complex and a few permanent JObs taking care or
!he buildings and lhe grounds. Bul by all acounLs 1he
m3m access rood is more than likely going LO go down
!he Macon County side of the mounuun. Until 1t reaches
the Alarka Community. the road into Swnin Cou.nly is
cxuaort.11nari!y ~lcep. A four-wheel drive vehicle can
make ll prcuy casily...whcn lhc roat.l's dry . However, 11
would be a tremendous JOb to put a first-<:lass. paved
highway in lhcn: th:11 would be comrorublc anti snfc ror
expensive car;.
·1 feel SltOngly that lhe economic benefits ror
Swain Counly are being grcally exnggemte.d. Swain
Coumy would receive an addition to their tax base and a
few minimum wage jobs, bul lhen lhey would also gel
all the run-off and all the golf course pcsuc1dcs, and lhe
county would have a 101 of add1t1onal costs for
ma.inu:nance and county service.~.
• Anolher element of irony 1s lhal dcvclopmcnlS
arc rrcqucnlly ralionnlizcd wi1h lhe argumeni lhat
property values arc going to go up (which in lhis cnse I
am sure 1s true), as if that were a good thing. For a
l'C311or or person who has a piece or property and is
interested in selling ii, a rise in property value.~ is a good
lhmg. Bui for an)•onc else who is Uying 10 hold property
or 1s m the market to buy property. a rise m costs is an
unwelcome development These people may not be able
to alTord to buy land or may lose propeny they already
own v.hen the land values go up. The grca1 majority or
people from Swnin who spoke up in favor of
development arc acwally ca.~ing themselves out the door
by calhng for big monc) IO move mto thcll'county."
The hcanng in Bryson City did not tell the whole
story. When they heard of the Alarka Creek dilemma.
other local people, largely from Jackson and Macon
coumies, responded with a massive leuer-wnting
campaign to tho DEM c;ilhng for protection or 1hc
watcr,hcd. Apparently Alarka Creek is well·known and
:ipprcc1111ed as o spccanl place by many people in its
\·icinuy.
There was also $0me reaction 10 1he strong
pressure exercised in Swam County by the Ciuzens
Aga1ns1 Wilderness group. One local woman lOOk lhc
swnd a1 the publu: hC.lling and lCMfully told the audience
to pay aucn11on 10 what they value and be cautious about
what they would lhrow away. It was obviously a great
effort of will for her to male such a swtcmcnl, and she
wns the only speaker m support of the ORW mc:isure
who received applau:;c from the crowd.
111crc were othcn; who did not dare 10 lake 1h:11
courageous suind. Wilhom Mclarney said lhat he
received phone calls after 1hc mecung from Swai n
County nntives who had attended the h.:aring, but felt too
mumidated IO publicly voice support for Alark.a Creek.
"It's a complicated issue." s:iys Mcl.amcy. "The
people of Swain County have real grievances.
parti,ulatly in rcgnrd to Fonwl\3 Lake. Unfortuna1cly,
these gricvanres arc being man1pul3tcd.
"The wider issue to 'TIC. which gives me pause
when I lhmk about it, ts whnt has the greater soc1cly
done lO the...: people 10 create the situation 1hu1 c;cpn:.. \Cd
...
1lo;elf at th;it hcunng?"
~
Or1wmg by Junca Rhc•
�The synergy that 1s created when each family member take!)
responsibility for their own well-being and suppons the
well-being of others, is another resource that serves the process
of resolution when conflict docs arise. And of course, the greater
the level of well-1>¢ing in the household. the less obnoxiousness
and conflict there is!
Skillfulness/ Talking it Out
According 10 Dana and Nick, "talking it out"--and
sometimes over. under. around and through--is the main process
for conflict resolution. There are three aspects to that
communication process: lisrening, Expressing, and
The quality of family life is detennined
not by whether or not a family has conflict but
by what they do with it.
Problem-solving.
lisrening. Although the most powerful communication
skill, listening remains underused by us all. It is still much easier
to give advice, preach, argue, moralize, lecture, or change the
subject than it is to reaJly listen 10 what someone else is saying.
"We listen with our answers running," a colleague of mine said
recently. Reflective or ac1ive lis1ening, on the 01her hand. is
listening with your heart, listening for the unique essence of the
speaker's experience, and letting the other person know that they
have been heard by repeating back to 1hem their message as you
heard it.
It is particularly challenging to lis1en to another person's
point of view in the mids1 of a conflict situation; i1 is, however,
the cornerstone for resolution. Listening acknowledges and
validates (not necessarily agreeing with) the other person's
perspective and encourages important data in the conflict to
emerge.
Expressing. The other side of listerung is expression statements about perceptions, interpreta1ions, thoughts, feelings,
wams, and actions. In conflict situations, it is helpful to state
your experience in a way that gives specific information that can
be clearly understood by the other party. Such direct expressions
arc commonly called "I Statements," (as opposed to accusatory
"You Statements.")
Nick is the resident expert on "I Statements" in our house
these days. His fifth grade class is studying conflict and its
resolution in a Mediation Center program called "Fuss-Busters."
Through the guidance and modeling of a gifted and committed
teacher, the students are learning to express their anger and
frustrations in an "l feel
when, _ _ __
because
" format. The objective of the "I Statement" is
to communicate your feelings in a way that does not put down or
attack the other and engages their assistance in resolving the
conflict. Nick explains that if the other person does not respond
helpfully, then it's time to ask the teacher for help. As the year
progresses, trained student mediators m the classroom will be
available 10 help resolve those conflicts.
Dana reiterates that being assertive and letting your family
and friends le.now what you're feeling and what help you need
from them prevents conflict from building up. Communicating
immediately and specifically and in a non-blameful style opens
the door for positive resolution.
Problem-Solving & Conjlicr Resolurion. Frequently, the simple
expression of feelings or needs and a chance to vent or be heard
dissolve would-be conflicts. Just as often, however, living in
these bus~, high-stress, complicated times, family members need
to put their heads together to solve problems. We've noticed that
unsolved problems become conflicts to become resolved· if
Confl~CtS arc ~Ot fCSOlved, they re-emerge, often growing in
magrutude until .a blow-up occurs, or, worse, family members
separate and distance themselves from one another in an
avoidance pattern.
.
. Consider these typical modes of responding to conflict
snuanons:
I. Competition - "I win,• J get all rrry needs !Mt; you get 110thi11g.
2. Accommodation - "You win," I give ui; you get everything.
3 Avoidance - Neithu of ws geu a.ny1hing.
4 Compromiu - EtUh of ws gi11es a /i11/e fJJld gets a li11le.
.S CollDbor(JliJ)n - "Win - Win,• we wief111t IN probum aN.i
fwJ a crtasive sollllion that sat4fies both of our Mtds.
lollnter, J 989-90
~!though each o~ these a~proaches may be appropriate at
some umc, ~oU:iborauo~ provides the m~st longlasting and
mutually sausfyang soluuons. In collaborauon. the problem is
auackcd - not the people! And what would it be like if the
problem were embraced as an opportunity to fine-tune family
functioning, rather than attacked?
In the process of collaborative connict resolution, a critical
stel? is for ~II concerned to clearly define the problem in terms of
their own interests and needs. After carefully listening to each
person verbalize their side of the conflict. then all can come to an
agreement on the definirion of the problem.
In their book Gerring To Yes. Fisher and Ury recount che.
example of t~o sisters fighting over one orange. Finally, in an
effort to be farr, they compromise and cut the orange in half. One
sister takes her half, peels the orange and cats the orange. The
other sister takes her half, throws away the fruit and uses 1he peel
to bake a cake. Clearly, a far superior solution would have
emerged had they identified what each person's interesis were.
The more accurately the problem is defined in terms of basic
interests and needs, the more easily and quickly it can be solved.
The process of creatively managing conflict, stress and
change in families is a dynamic and continuous one. The more
enriching, supportive, compassionate and fun that process is. the
less resistance we feel coward it. When conflict is approached in a
"Spirit of Possibility" toward healthy change, when individual
differences and personal well-being are protected and honored,
and when families are committed to using the skills of open
communication and problem-solving, conflict becomes a resource
for growth rather than an clement of disintegration.
Ellie Kincade 1s assisrant director of 1he Counseling Cemer ar
UNC-Aslll!ville. She is also a consulranr in t/11! Aiki approach 10
creQlive corf/lier resolutwn. conducring workshops in the fields of
edµcarion and human services.
SUGGESTED BOOKS
Ct11ing 10 Y1.s Roger Fisher and William Ury
TllL Magic ofCofl/liCI Thomas Crum
Parent E/ftctiveness Traimng Thomas Gordon
Swttl D'eamsfo' Lillie Onts: Btdlimt! Fan/IJJks
10 Build Self Estum Michael G. Pappas
RESOURCE ORGANlZATJONS
Childrcn"s Ctcativc Response to Conflict
c/o Fclbwship ofRcconcili.11.IOn
Box 271, Nyack. NY 10960 (914) 358-4601
Na-th Carolina Ccn1e1 for Peace Education
214 Piusboro Street, Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919)929·9821
The Eanh.stcwanis Network
cto The Holycatth Foundation, PO Beu 10697
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110 (206) 842-7986
The Mediation Cciucr
408 County Court House. Asheville, NC 28801
(704} 2S 1-6089
The Nauonal Association for Mediation in E.ducation
425 Amity Sueet. Amherst. MA 01002
Parents llld Teachas for Social Rcsponsib.ility
PO Box St7. MOtCIOwn, VT 05660
�From the Diary of a Modem Child
How can I find a moral sense
when falsehood lives
protcetcd in governments?
\\'hen playing false becomes the norm
kids begin 10 wonder what's the form?
Our role model> have been S10len
our culture hns been stolen,
corponue bored rooms determine
our feeding, our clo1hing,
tnmsp<>rting, and :;chooling style
A way of gathering in council
has been stolen by govcming images
or faces we never see
Menning ha:; been
~laced
by scllini;,
polling. and man ipulaung ...
Waste bas been accelerated
a~ we consume resources
and spil out the remains
on pi lcs of rock idols.
profiteering religions.
and streams of vidio Ulpc
Is then: any way we can reclaim our live.~
from corporate and industrial wastelands
or pictures that lie,
jobs that don't work, :ind 'inter uiinment'
tha1 teaches escapism a.~ a way of life
that rcsponsibilily is boring·
doesn't move fast enough •
requires too much undeNanding ...
Who is more immature
the grown or the growing?
At times it is in·sensing 10 think and feel hov. much and
how quickly some aspects of human ~ociety are vanishing. It is
as though the forces of our ungainly comple~ evolution arc
usurping our ability to Ulke the time 10 recognize 1he v.onder and
POCKET CULTURES
by Wtll Ashe Bason
When we look seven generations away we first sec ourselves
and our children and then the grandchildren that are on tne Way.
This is where our impact on the future is. I low arc we raising
ourselves and our children and prepanng for our children's children
Now? How can we restructure our lives so as to bener nunure
ourselve:. and our children and our children's children? What sort
of environmcm is best for growing whole and healthy humans?
How do we bring this environmem into reJlilV in Katuah?
Many of us "grew up" in the false commumries of modem
amcrican cities or suburbs. These were and arc cnvironmenL<; which
foster alienation. Almost everywhere is owned hy someone. People
are "at home" only at home! lllc streets arc the only common
ground around, and they belong 10 cars. There 1s relatively dense
population without the community spin1 which would make such
density bearable or even pleasurable. In reaction against this, some
of us have chosen to live in rurul areas. We have tned to isolate
and insulate ourselves from the dominant culture. Our children
don't really underswnd this but they do understand that they want
to be able 10 sec their friends more often then they do now, living at
lhe end of funky driveways at 1hc end of long din roads. Fulfilling
this need usually means school and spons and other activities
which are driving us to drive. But the driving is not the worst of it,
How can we build a new society, one without the faial dis eases of
the old, if we send our children during their fol'TTl.llive yC41l'S to
institutions whose very nature fosters competition, where
s:icredness of place and being arc not even on the graph. Modem
)C"I
uon Jo~r~
pn9~ 24
necessity of simple enduring cultural bonds. Child "forwaroing"
in the context of a dominating culture, or absence of culture, can
be a very unsettling, frustrating, and paradoxical experience. Do
we re-invent human cullurc again to satisfy the need to bring
rights and meaning through the symbols we put into practice? Do
we attempt some kind of symbiosis with a decaying power
structure that needs a dose of creative innovation? Or do we just
open the floodgates and let the grimy warer of predigested images
and infonnation come into our senses without any sense of
becoming in-sensed?
The ad-age of images and sounds coming across screens
and speakers 10 thousands of people each day may seem "cool"
and scintilating but what arc their effects on the long-range
accretion of mind, feeling, and decision for a child? Is it possible
10 create a suppon network that promotes family healing in the
face of squashing pressures from a society that apparently
doesn't represent or value many of the vital aspecb of its own
being? Some of these impon-ances are sustainability, care for
those less privileged. more extensive ecological well being,
relevant work. a sense of the biological region we inhabit as
home, and a healthy supponive extended family.
What is the c:ltect of poverty on families m the Katuah
region (and not just for us SCRUFFIES or Smanemng
C:1retakers, Rurally Urbane, Fueled For Impoverished Ecological
Survival)? What is the real effect of turbulence in 'broken
homes' and 'instant familes' full of conflicting and compromising
inrerests between close relatives and step-relatives on the gcner.il
patterns of society?
Perhaps 1hese questions arc 100 deep, yet these are the
kinds of far-reaching ques1ions often coming to awareness these
days. A major difficulty in trying 10 summon the context in
which our vitals can flourish, wilhou1 being continually
smothered in stress, manifests in the allure of electTOnic media,
and its exrensive computer manipulation of visual and acoustic
"space" that we all share. As this auruo/video gaming sucks in
more and more attention it is essential io realize that it is not a
clear expression of the whole mind of our species. The complex
whole fields of human life encompass far more than movies.
sit·coms, ads. and canoons could ever fuUillingly u:mslate.
Commercial media is IJ'Uely an aucmpt by the few to dominate or
falsify for the many. The right of choice in the means and content
of any particular kind of media hypnotism should be considered~
primarv to essential responsible hum:in freedom .
~•
Corporeally. Rob Messick
American public schools are lhe melting po1 lef1 on 100 long to boil.
They arc tee vec reali1y. At their best. they are only capabk of
teaching the parts. Meaning lcs> lhL~ of wurds and dead f~g.
organ:.. Our children only choose them because we haven t given
them an alternative. We have presumed and pretended that
providing an ahemative to school was mostly a mauer of legality
and academics. In fact tt means providing a commun11y in which
children can find friends as well as intellectual stimulation and
emotional security.
11 is no1 enough 10 m~ulute ourselves from the dominant
culture. We have 10 create new culture. Not another candidate for
dominam culture. but hundreds and thousands of pocket cultures.
Pocket cultures that anfully represent unique hum:in ad:ipiarion to
unique and sacred places. Cultures m harmony with their
environments and thus in harmony with each other. A iangihle
culture of l'C.'.11 relationships between people and animals and plants
and water and din and stone and architecture and real stuff hke that
there and not a culture of tapes and magazme.~ and books and
workshops and videos and seminars and full-Oedge~·n8J'$. etc. The
culrurc that we have built m each other's heads is beautiful and true
and meaningless unless it leads to way of life, which it will.
The world is changing rapidly. Humans arc very. very
numerous and on the move almost everywhere. Everyday we hear
about more refugees and more homeless people. Earth's cities are
overcrowded and choking on their own waste. It is a world of
villages that will emerge from this nigh1marc. A world in which
people once again know their neighbors.!'- ~orld ~ sobered by the
environmental con sequences of our unthmking acuons. that respect
for and worship of nature will once again be no1 the dommant bu1
lhe only religion.
(c:on11nucd on ncxc P•&•)
kllnter, l 989 - 90
�I know lll3Jly people of good ecological conscience who have
bought land and wish 10 have a comm~nir_y. yet insist on living
miles from each other. If a person ts wishing to move 10 one of
these communities. about the fauxcs1 pas one could make would be
t0 pick a house s!~t I~ near 10 a!1 ~i~ting home, ~nd 100 near
usually means vmhin sight of. This 1ns1s1ence on d1s1a~ce seems .
downright unfriendly when J_udged by '!ie Cherokee. T1beun. Thai.
Dogon, Greek. Zulu, or Zuni (to name 1us1 a very few) standards.
There is a very good book called A Pmtern Language by
Christopher Alexander and some ~f his friends: and this l?ook i~
very highly respected among arch11ecrs and designers for its radical
and coherent approach to archi1cc1ural planning. There is a paucrn
called "connected play space"' and the book goes on to cite
information to the effect that there is a direct corm;pondencc
between neurosis and the number of friends that a child has
growing up. Alexander and company used some statistics on family
size and average 11ges of children and came up with the figure of 64
families as the number needed 10 insure that all children would have
a good chance to find friends. They suggest that what children need
is a community of this size in which each home borders on a
continuous play area. In such a place, children would do much of
the work we now call childcare. This is a much more time-honored
and natural arrangement than the pauems we sec non-functioning
around us at present. Children learn responsibility in taking care of
other children. They also generally have a whole 101 more fun
tllnte.r, 1989-90
hanging ar&ind with other kids. Saner and happier kids could help
spread these virtues 10 the older folks.
Adolescents have a compelling need to be around their own
kind, which suits the rest of us just fine. This is sure easier 10 bring
about in a small community than in isolated fanns1eads. Young
people have a terrible SIJ'Uggle just trying to exist economically
IOday. In villages and small communities young people can get
good jobs and sec their friends regularly without the expense of a
car. The ttansition from child 10 adult can be more gradual and
na1ur.t.l 1han the current IJ"Cnd which is usually to move away from
parents and friends who can function as a suppon group. Perhaps a
101 of suicide and depression is related to fear.; of nor being able 10
"make it on one's own'.' In a village or small community \\C: make
it on our own 1oge1her, a much more reasswing and slllblc
arrangemem.
Perhaps future generations will look back at the dominant
culture's concept of land ownership with the same horror with
which we now view slavery. Up until fairly recently most of the
\\Orld's people lived an agricultural village communities in which
some or all of the land was owned or used in common. This
common usage certainly more clearly reflects the basic biological
reality of 1he planer we share. Children growing where some of the
land is ~hared have a bener chance of learning ro see land as an
en111y in it's own right.
�Dear KatUah,
Another excclltnt issue (Fall, 1989) ·But I mu't Like exception with
lhc statement m Pnmck Clark's otherwise Cine arucle on the Eastern
cougar/panther/paint.er. He wn1es: •Although it seems fitting and right for
panthers tO be inh:lbiung the southern mountains. not one official sighting
has been made. Until lhcn, panther ad"ocat~ have no basis for demanding
protection for cougar habita1.0 (p.18)
Wrong. The burden or proof is on the government to "prove" !here nr.:
no pamhcrs. Until then. we must err on the side or lhc cml:ingcrcd cnt1er :llld
manage as though lhcrc arc cougnrs.
Curr.mil)· wildlife managers go by the dictum, •Extine! until proven
ext.anL • We must rever<;e this: "Extant until pro"cn e~tincL • 01hcrwise,
unscrupulous and/or incompetent managers c:in ignore even the best
sightings. awruung the day someone brings in a cougar carcass to prove ther~
1ll'C (oops, wue) cougan here.
No compromise,
Jwmc Saycn
Prt.ltnJt Appoluchian IVildl!l'MSS
DRUMMING
LETTERS TO KATUAH
Yts, wt agru. f hanks. Jamie. ·eds.
Dear Kaui3h.
At first. thank you for sending me a copy of the Katlinh Journal and
the U.N. Charter for Na1Urc.
I agree wilh your "StatemenL or Purpose·'. I enjoyed about all lh.:
Joumal's articles, you're really on the right way; I wish every 81oregions
should have a journal like yours.
Herc in ltaly, the BiOregional Movement is ju.st starting. That's fine.
but I lhink. they're sull a bit humon-ccnu:rcd.
I. as member of lhe Italian Wilderness Association's D1rec11ve
Council. am trying hard to spread an ccoccnuic awarcncSl; among i~
members..
O.K. Happy llllils tO all of you.
Cioo,
Morcul Giuseppe
Mantova, Italy
Dear Folks,
Congratulations on your grc:it "For All Things Wild issue!
I, IOO. am deeply concerned nboul the "Norlh Carolina road binge."
The same insanity grips Virginlll. We need 10 form a coohuon ag:Unst the
most environment.ally dcslIUCtivc clement in technology. (I wrote an article
about it in lhc earth First' Jow-nal, Vol. IX, No. II. 1988).
The on-going and looming cnv1ronmcnuil destruction is truly
pl:inct-shalung and i~ the mojor clement in lhc "grccnhot1~ effect" when the
infrastructure is considered
Unfortunately there seems to be a strong block, e"cn among
cnvironmcntahSlS, r.t. the automobile. We need t0 overcome lhis nnd tach
individual mu.it act to reduce dependence drastically
Tunnies ngoin for a great issue.
Enrlh Firstl
Bob Mueller
Dear Kaltiah,
I have enclosed several pamphlets explaining lhc Na11onal Peace T3X
Fund Bill. This bill 1s designed to allow !hose persons consc1cn1iou.~ly
opposed IO war IO have thc military ponion Of their taxes dirccled toward
peace rclaled proJCCl.S. Over onc-lhird of our 1ru1 dollars arc going for current
military expenses, 10 say nothing or lhe add1tionnJ 19% t0 take Ct11e of past
military expenses.
Fof mon: inform:iuon aboul lhc Peace Tax Fund Bill, please write io:
National Campaign for 11 Peace Tax Fund
2121 Decatur Pt. NW
Wa-.hington. DC 20008
(202) 483-3751
Mrs. llarold Sir.Idler
Dear Ka.Wah People.
I think you JUSt keep geuing better and bcuer! Congrntula11on~ on
puumg t.ogethcr an cons-1stently fine JOUmal.
But I'm upset! I can't believe Kataah of all plaec.,. lhousht 11 wns ok
to pnnt a want ad for "Christions Only." J really gOt goosct>umps when I '1111\
that ad. I wonder why none among you removed 1t from pnnt Did you think
it would offend no one? (Why?)
l~s so out or your charnctcr 10 print something discnmin:itmg "'h1ch
could only be painful to members of our emerging community I'm sure you
won't do u ngain. bu1 I want to let you know how I feel.
Sincerely.
Randee Brenner GoodslJl<h
Thanh for )'011.r kind words for 1~ Kaulah Journal. l\'t fttl that
inc/1Uw11 of 1~ ad is not 11uusarily n11.1 of choracta for ·1\'eb,.·orl11111"
which fr 111tt.ntkd to h('/p connect people cf t~ rtgwn with rach mhu. Thll.S
ii rtfkcu the divusity ofpeople and 111tuc1.11111~ rtgio11.
To i11dicatt that a f1U1ctio11 is "for chrwians 011/y" dot.< not
necessarily co1Utit11.1t discrimlflaJiDn. bw rather Is 1ntt!ndtd to connut
"'.t:mbus cf a s~cijic interest group. • tds
JC.a• ah Journm ptu)e 26
l.ltnlcr, 1989-90
�Hau Kauiah,
I am wriung lh1s lcllcr to you m reference to our ncwslcucr called
'echoes of lhc drum'.
I am interested m pulling 11 m the wcbworkmg section of lhc Katllah
Journal. Bui I wlll explain a liulc about ii before I go any further.
'echoes of lhc drum' 1s no1 your onlinnry ncwslcucr. It is not hke the
of the ocwslcucr~ that only put news in 11. The news thnt we put in the
newsleucr revolves around und1tional teaching or the Ntui\'C American
Indians and lho1r Sacred Red Road. h eamo 11bou1 as a need to be able to get
1r.1du1onal tcachmgs m10 the iron houses (prisons) throughout Tunic hlJlnd.
rcs1
I was a member of the Thunderbml Pmon Alliance. but when I saw
that their goal was ne>I to tench but to become an acthl't sort of group. I
separated myself from thc organi1.a1ion. And followed the mcditmc teaching
thu1 I was brought up in. As a Lakot.a and descendent of several medicine
icachers and trad1uon;ll leaders of my people, I left the radical a' u vi st ways
behind and chose 10 seek a more aauvc involvement in gcmng the trnduional
tcoch1ngs ms1dc the 1ronhouscs. And since money wns a big factor 111 not
being able to buy books frQm publishers. I <;ought a \•isie>n "hlte I was
inside lhc solitary confinement MX"llon of the Staunton Corrccuonal Center.
As I fasted and prayed to Wnkan Tan~a. the vision came 10 me. And m the
vision l saw the Ancestors calling out 10 me 10 tca.:h the teachings of all
indigenous tribes. and not just only the Lakota way,. Because 111-.dc the iron
houses there were more than JUSt Lakol<ls and behind the iron doors. The
vision told me 10 remember bad. to when the drums sounded out with
messages 10 the different villages. To become one with th•· 'ound of lhosc
drums. And Ihm was the bcgmmng of the' ision or which I now follow. And
1hal 1s where the ncwslcucr got 1lS name from. II h called 'cch<X!s of 1hc
drums'.
The hardcM pan afterwards wa.~ to spc.ik to the Eld.: rs and TClKhcrs of
the different tribes, to help me in this end<'.a,·or. And they saw the sUlt'Cfll)' in
whal I wa.~ doing. And th.:y have all come 1ogcth.:r and pro' id~ me 11. ith
teachings I will cnclo'e a copy of the ncw,lcuer. The next part was 10
resolve the issue or nm to wruc each and every warden of the different iron
houses 1hroughout Turtle hland. So I went to the Lihrary of Congress m
request for an I S S.N permit. And u 11.as granted. and therefore clc;mng
another step m getung the teachings inside the iron houses by way or a
ncwslcucr
And from the initial 75 ncwslcncrs that were sent lo 1hc guys and
women 1hroughou1 Turtle hl:md, the ncwskncr has grown to a ma1l111g l"t
of over four-hundred and flfiy now. And 1hc 1mponan1 thing 1s thal 1hc
ocw~lc11er 1s free or chargc. This is in ;icc;ordancc wnh the traditional 1c:11;hcrs
that I have gi,cn my word to, that I would m no way ~II what 1~ given to us
by th.: Grl'lll Sp1nt. And therefore I have done so. And II will be the pohr~
thal th.: newsleucr will never be sold, nor will then> Ile a -.uhscripuon r.i1e ror
ll.
The one message " 1hu1 the ncwslcuer is nQI onl) for 1nmale<. bu1
for ull who wisll to lcum from the teaching th:u arc in the newsletter>,
We don't a.sk for any donation for the ocw~lcncr. we asi.. that 1f
anyone wishes IO receive the ncwslcuer, tha1 lhcy help with the postage of it
We give to all that Wl.'h 11, whether they can aHorJ to send postage or not. It
will not be denied to anyone that wants 11. And our mo1lm1t hst 1s growing
daily. So 1f an)·onc who wishes to rccc1\'C it. they c311 do so by writing the
following people and they will be pul on the mailing li\t.
I.) Thundcrhawk, 157372, Editor
Rt.2Box Ill BIWld, VA 24315-9616
2.) Moonyccn Scay, Publi:>hcr
P.0 Box 860; Vcron;i, VA 2441!2
3.) Zandc Griffith, AsM. Editor, 'echoe.~ of the drum'
R.R. 1; Box 11 l·B: Pamphn. VA 23951!
From v. hat I ha\'c 11. riucn you may lake anylhmg oul of 11 and put 11
the Wcbworkmg scc1ion. Or 1f you choose 10, you may me and wnt.:
nhou11hc ncwslcucr once you have read 11. I will do~e thi' lcuc-r for now.
lllld m clo~1ng I Jlf8Y that th.: Four Wm<;h do grant you the People of Kat~1
Jllany of beautiful 'iOngs of joy. \\'akan Tanl;a ntCI un wclo.
I rClld your wonderful papcr and was cxcucd by it. You arc really
doing a grea1 thing by pubhshmg the kind~ of things you prin1. One
cmicbm: 11.hy nOI prim on recycled p:ipcr'!
Sintetcly,
Lonna Richmond
Kno~villc, Tcnncs.~
Good question! Ont wt've often cn11sidertd. With all our local
pruittr.<, rtcycltd paper would nu:an tlrat 1<-e would havt to bu}' o full roll of
rtcyclt:d new.<print UI an enormous prirt wt cll!lnot anywhere near afford.
Rccytlahlc f'<ll'e.T u tht be.ft wt con dQ riRht now. ·eds.
Dl:ar KatU.lh,
I just had 10 write and express appreciation for your summer '89
issue. It 1s a very thorough message mspinng all who read 11: to act rather
than to ri:act. JOin wilh others for peace, listen mlhcr th.an shove. Welcome
messages to a world or people rc.idy to run if we ,,lightly scno;c a hmt of
bcm!l pushed. And lhcn ...as I looked for your address I saw a book review on
/hr Chaliu arid Tiit Bladt--an incredible book I'm currently rtadmg Some
things ju,1 fall in place, don'1 they!
My heartfelt th:inks,
Brcc1.e Bum.\
Quincy, Florida
in
Visual comments on tefc~·ision by Thom Preston (left)
and Rob Messick (above).
Muakyc Cya.,m.
Thunikrhawk
1t K.Ul®n • 1.1 nDI paqd 27
;r.
''
Jour r '~
ft
�New ELF In Town
For six years Franklin and Susan Sides
have been head gardeners at the Mother Eanh
News demonstration gardens in Hendersonville
in the upper reaches of the French Broad River.
Now they have taken the first steps to distill their
collective experience into a self-published
newsletter that, in their words, "chases the soul
of gardening."
Rather than emphasizing the "how-to"
aspects of gardening, their small publication will
concern itself more with the delights and fears,
the successes and mistakes, the small revelations
and moments of humor that gardening brings.
The Sides are asking for help for their
infant publication. Quotes, shon articles, humor,
poems, prayers, leuers, diaries are all eagerly
solicited.
And, of course, chan er subscribers are
also welcomed. The first issue of this infant
publication is scheduled for March, 1990.
To contact Franklin and Susan Sides with
submissions or inquiries, write them at: Rt. I ,
Box 57; Fairview, NC 28730.
continued from p. 14
The increasingly critical planetary
environmental situation has led many activists,
both young and old, to the conclusion that polite
protestations are not enough ro solve our present
ills and that means of direct action arc necessary
to save life on Earth in all its many
manifestations.
This holds true for the Ka1uah Province as
well. A core group of fifty activists has fonned a
Southern Appalachian chapter of Earth First!, a
continental group known for its srrong stands
and creative actions on behalf of the planet and
all its species. The local chapter has taken the
name Earth Liberation Front (ELF).
The new group is action-oriented. At its
first meeting the chapter decided to make its
initial focus the controversy over cleareutting in
the watershed from which the city of Asheville
draws its drinking water and took 11 field trip out
to the area the following week.
"This is only a beginning," said one
activist, identified only as Roadkill, "The
natfonal forests are being decimated by roading
and habitat destruction, and rampaging
development is taking over more and more
available habitat area. Our goals are to bring an
awareness of the ecological law of 'carrying
capacity' to the human population he~ and to
restore wild habitat hy creating a large biosphere
preserve in the Southern Appalachians that
would be linked by connecting corridors to other
preserve areas up and down the whole
Appalachian Range "
To jom ELF in its effons as pan of Eanh
Fu-st! or for more information ahout the group,
write them at Box 17 I: Alexander. l\C; Katuah
Province 28701.
'-''=
'I $
~~ BARE
.~
..=.,.;
11'
:J
ESSENTIALS
Natural Foods
.~
..
Wine Making
The Spirit of the Wild
James Rhea's artwork that was the logo
for the "Restoring Biodiversity in the Southern
Appalachians" conference and the cover of Issue
25 of the K011iali Jmmw/. is now available to ;ill
as conference posters and T-Shins.
The poster. are beautiful. four·color 11" x
17'' renditions of the native species portrJll with
conference information below and are available
for $2.00.
The T-shins arc heavy-duty, all-cotton.
silkscreencd by Ridgerunner Naturals. Only
large and extra-large sizes remain. They are
available for$ l 0.50.
Prices include postage. NC residents
please add 5% sales tax.
All proceeds from the sale of these items
will support rescue actions for native habitat in
the Southern Appalachian forest.
Order fmm· KALANU
Box 282; Sylva, 1\C
Katuah Province 28789
•: Bulk Herbs, Spices, & Grmns
Vicamins & Supplcmcnrs
Wheat, Salt,
& Yeast-Free Foods
Dairy Substitutes
•• Hair & Skin Care Produus
•
I11 200 west Kini! Street. Boone NC 28607
.. \....
~\)-=-
:c
:c
111
__)~
704-264-5220
~·
=4'..
1
124 broadway
ashevJlc. nc
28801
]04-252-8..(04
carolina costume
compa11y
Katuah: Approval - giving 100% approval so
there's no failing involved - that's what's
lacking in our schools and why there's so
much fear. It's incredible when you see how
receptjve kids are to approval • 'cause Lhey
have so much to give.
Bonnie: It's attitudes. As the teacher walks
through that door - how the children respond
as a group is directly related to her attitude.
Directly. I've seen it so many times that l feel
it's an absolute truth. If the teacher is
affirmative and listens to the children and
inspires creativity then the children are eager
to learn.
Teachers all have to take psychology but if it's
not their interest they may nor use it. But
everybody's interested in what's fun and
funny. They say people learn 80% mo~e
effectively when they're laughing! Ev~~ tf
you're not using puppets you l'lln be pos111ve
and have joy in th.: classroom more often than
not.
Katuah: Could you say what you love most
about your work?
Ilonnie: h 's fun' I have a great time. ll's
definitely not something I cho:,;e - the puppet:;
chose me.
/
~
Beer &
Supplies
you could get literature in there, 100. But
there's so much specializing in schools that
you don't get to put things together. And
puppetry puts it together.
I'd like to see the<ltre become a standard pan of
elementary education ... for teachers to have to
take puppetry in order to be educators. I've
created workshops where I teach teachers how
to use puppets in the classroom and Textend
that to counselors and therapists ... anybody
who works with people. I'd like to get rid of
some of the rules and standards and replace
them with imaginative, affirmative attitudes
and teaching methods... then you're right on
the crux of the whole problem in the
institution.
801111ie Blue ca11 he camacted a1
PO Bo.\ lo57.
Asltcville. NC 28802 (7()./) 6./5-9918.
l\10LNTAIN ARTS PROGRAM
C'rc.1w.I 1n I IJ1!3, lh~ Mouniam Mts Progr-dm
(\!AP) ha." 'J'O!Nm.'d hundred' of ani,t·m rc,11kncc
rrogram< for sd1ool • in wc,tcm 1'C. \' isu;il anisl< .
dr~mall\IS, Jugi:lcr'. clo" ns, rn1111~'· mu,1cians,
crafl<Jl<.'Of>l.: and wr111 ""orl. in >ehool\ r11r a wc.:I••11
;i umc, 1yricall> '11<.·nJmg al kasl l\\O week' In a
rnun1v. Rcs1Jcnc1c' i:"c -iudcms an opponuniL}' 10
r:it1ic,1patc m tfifktcnl an forms With \\Or~ing
profc""onJh who ha'c ll tugh lc,cl of energy :inJ
,111hu,,..1.,m for their a.t. An) one intcrcslCJ m ha•mg
.1n ar11s1 1n their .s<. hoot may coma< I a "chool
.1dm1ni,1talor :ind rcq11~,I a 'l.tAP rrogr.un C'urrcntl)·
\IAP 1s .;cr,·mg 14 coun11c' with 27 .ir1""· An"tlrom ;ill d1sc1pllnc\ arc cnrnuragcd 10 a[>f>I). For
inronnouon or to reqllr\l llll ap1•ha111.. n, ""tc \11\P.
no, 11611. Bumw1lk:, ;-;c 21!71.!, (7(>1) f.8~·721'
t.>rntlr . t 989-90
�FOREST RESCUE IN THE KAT UAH PROVINCE
(An Ecological Manifesto for the Southern Appalachian
Bioregion)
These are program ideas drawn from the discussion at the
forest rescue action workshop. "For All Things Wild," held on
Saturday, OcLOber 28 at Warren Wilson College. The workshop
was held on the day following the conference "Restoring
Biodiversily in the Southern Appalachians: A Strategy for
SwvivaJ" and drew heavily on the ideas and analysis presented at
the conference.
All human use wirhin the biosphere preserve area must
conform to the demands of old-growth habita1 10 maintain ample
numbers of all native species. A grassroots initiative will be
needed to bring this issue before the federal Congress.
2) There can be no funher road construction within the
regional biosphere preserve, and we must begin clo~ing exi~ting
roads that in1erferc with the needs of old-growth habuat species.
The context for these proposals is the Preserve
Appalachian Wilderness proposal envisioned by Jamie Sayco of
New Hampshire. Put simply, the PAW proposal calls for a
system of large evolutionary or biosphere preserve areas along
the AppaJachian Mountain Range connected by wide mignuion
corridors to enable the movement of individual species and
genetic information up and down the length of the mountain
range. The preserves would maimain a variety of viable habitat
areas and characteristic ecosystems in protected landscapes large
enough to suppon the largest native carnivorous predators and
diverse enough to maintain all representative native species. (For
a more detailed explanation of the PAW proposal, see Ka11iah
Jour1111/, Issue 20.)
The "Restoring Biodiversity in the Southern Appalachians"
conference clearly demonslTated the necessity for profound and
immediate change. The Appalachian hardwood forest is being
severely compromised by human activities It may soon be unable
to fulfill its integral role in local and planetary life support. We
arc already in a crisis situation, and we need to think .and act
boldly to meet the ecological demands of our time. The current
political and social realities are self-serving and irrelevant due 10 a
distorted world-view which values the continued dominance of
Lhe human species al any cost. To conform to these present
realilies would only lead us further along a suicidal course. A
bold new vision based on ecological reality is required instead.
To correct the imbalance beLWeen the human inhabitants of
these mountains and our natural habitat, and to preserve the
original inhabitants - the native species - we must act. These arc
necessary first steps toward ecological sanity in the Katuah
Province:
l} A// the 3.5 million acres of public lands in the Southern
Appalachian Mountains shall be mandated to be a regional
biosphere reserve. AU inholdings need to be incorporated a~d the
national forests shall be extended to the purchase boundanes to
complete the biosphere preserve area.
'lljaee, '1\!tllngl 'Na@raj,s
T-S HIRTS. SWEATSHIRTS
For ADULTS and CHILDREN
ORIGINAL HAND·PRINTED
NATURE DESIGNS
3) Commercial logging in the biosphere reserve area must
cease. This would not be an undue economic hardship for the
region, as only 10% of the wood cut in the Southern Appalachian
region comes from the areas presently in national forest.
Compared 10 the ecological and social value of a large preserve
area, the dollar value of logging in the national forests is
inconsequential!
4) The Southern Appalachian Biosphere Preserve must be
connected to other natural areas. To this end:
- create a wide, viable wildlife corridor between the
Cherokee National Fores1 in Tennessee and the Jefferson
National Fores1 in Virginia
- re-define all major waterways as aquatic habimt corridors
from the mountains to the sea
- and create a corridor connection between the Southem
Appalachian bioregion and the Florida Peninsula biorcgion.
5) Bring human population lo a level within the ecological
carrying capacity of the bioregion - a size which does not
interfere wi1h the integrity or functions of the natural life
community in the Southern Appalachians.
,
Rather than promote accelerated growth, we must work to
decrease human numbers and impact to bring our species to its
proper level of influence within the region.
6) T ake a leading role in efforts to end atmospheric
deposition/air pollurion that is destroying the Southern
Appalachian forest and contributing to global warming.
7) Change our individual and social consciousness and
lifestyles to harmonize more closely with the natural conditions:#
the Southern Appalachian bioregion.
p
..
- David Wheeler
t!lti11ue At11p1111t/11re
all
Jler/J111D111 t!li11it
CALL or WRITE for
FREE COLOR CATALOG
DE..5 1GNS
by Rob \lessic.k
Jllus1ra11011 & Design
in Pen & Ink and Colored Pencil
Natural Food Store
& Dell
160 Broedw9y
Ashevllle, NC 28801
Wher9 Broedw9y ~
Mmmnon Ave & ~40
OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK
Mond.)'·S.un:lay: lllim-8pm
Sund.y; f ptn-Spm
(704) 253-7656
Wl.ntcr, 1989- 90
~t.Uah )ournGt P'"Je 29
�RECYCLED PAPER! - Directory of products
sources for the sou~ Suggcsacd donation S 1.00
ao Western Norah Carolina Alliance, PO Box
18087. Asheville. NC 28814 (7~) 258-8737.
HOMESCHOOLING FAMILIES gaaher on a
weekly basis. weather permitting, at Lake Louise in
Weaverville, NC on Wednesdays from 11:30 am
until 1:30 • 2:30 pm. We arc a small group, very
mfonnal, and open to anyone who wanas to join us
to exchange energy, infonnauon, ideas. and
playume. For more information, call Alice
Coblcnu (7()4) 6S8-2676.
BIODYNAMICALLY GROWN Com seed.
Mini-pops to giant fillers. Varieue.~ for no-aill
wilhoua hclbicidcs • and fOf compos1 ralher lhan salt
rcnilization. For caaalog please send SASE 10 •
Union Agriculwral lnstituae, Ra. 4 Box 463S,
Blairsville. GA 30512.
MOUNTAIN DULCIMERS • m3de of black
walnua, red cherry. or maple. Tops available in
wormy chestnut. buuemut, swcctgum, o;o~fras.
western cedar, and other woods. ConlllCt: Mize
Dulcimer Company; RL 2. Box 288; Blounaville,
37617 (615) 323-8489.
GREENING CARDS· concspondencc and advocacy
cards for people who care. Onginal an reproduced m
color. (10% of proc;ccds don<lled ao proJCCLS ror peaoc
and jus11ce.) Wriae to Ginny Lentz. LovEanh
™
SEA KAYAKfNG ·Come enjoy peace and solitude
llllvehng wiah lhe rhylhms or lhe sea. Classes. day
trips, overnight aours, cusaom charters.
Kayal;/Sallboat tours 10 lhe Bllhamas. Knyak tours
to Cosaa Rica. For more informntion contaca:
Charlie Reeve:;; Sea Level Inc.: POB 478; Tybee
Island, GA 31328 (912)786-S8S3
Creations: Box 144S: Black MounaaJn, NC 28711.
MOON DANCE FARM HERBALS· habaJ salves,
tincaures. &: ojls for birthing cl family health. For
brochure, please wriac: Moon Dance Fann: RL I,
Bolt 726: Hampton.
37658.
™
SCffiNCE TEACHER, ecologically aware, dcsm:s
land in KatUah, preferably E. Tenn. or W. North
Carolina for evenaual il\Mbiaauon. Mu.~1 lie well
w/ road fronaage. Conaaca: B. Bicmullcr: Soulh
Brunswick H.S.: Mammoch JcL, NJ 08852.
AUTHOR SEEKING RECIPES for wild fOOds
10 comribuaors JR book
upon publication. Recipes needed for fi'lh. game,
wild plants. Thomas K. Squier, N.D.: Ra. I, Box
216; Abcrdc<:n NC 28315.
cookbook. Will give c.rcdia
CONSCIOUS COUPLE & infana, wish 10
learn/wort on organic farm for housing + slipcnd
OR carelake a residence on acreage. Very comm1aed
and sincere. Wana to leave ahc cuy and profcss10ns
to work IOW8rd scU sufficiency. Can rcloc:ue Cllrly
June '90. Open to Options. Please Con13c:1; Dan &
Barb Umbcrget: 347 Sinclair Ave. N.E.; Allanm.
GA 30307. (404) S21-2971
SKYLAND • log on to the computer bulletin board
or the Smokies. Networking. plus new~ on the
environment. natwc photography. giuncs. compuaer
utilities, much more. Conaiiet Michael Havelin.
sysop, (704) 254-7800.
NATIJRAL CHILDBIRTH CLASES 'PCCiali1mg
In Lile Bradley Method. Classes arc small and
include nutrition physiology. consumerism.
parenting skills, and rclaxaaion and labor SUJll'O'I
techniques. For more informaaiOn call or write
Maggie Sachs; 808 Florida Ave.: Bri~tol, TN
37620. (61S) ?M-2374.
"THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT" • a complete
report on our changing cmironmcna for lhc ncxa 60
years. $17.00 po~tpaid, or write for more
information. Lorien House; POB 1112; Blac~
Mountain, NC 28711-1112.
•
PURE SORGHUM - and sorghum based dcsscr~
toppings and chocolates. Handmade m the
Appalachian (OOthiUs. Free sorghum recipe bto.:hure
send SASE. Candy sampler (2-KY Buckeye~ &
2-Bourbon Balls) S2.00 J>Cl'\lpaid. Golden Kcntuc:ky
Products; POB 246: livmgslOO, KY 40445. (606)
453-9800.
X.Oti&ah Jo\4rno! p"'Jl' 30
WANTED: HOUSE TO RENT. Profo..
"S1onal ccllha
and arust with one child are IOOking for a country
house. m lhC SUITOUn<ling A1.hev1llc, NC area from
June I, 1990. Please conuact Ron & Rachel
ClearfielJ: 7800 Colhn.~ Avenue; Miami Beach Fl..
33141 (305) 86S-048 I.
CIRCLES RETURNING • a new cassette by Bob
Avery•Grul>cl' This JS music 10 touch lhc soul and
heal ahe heart. Lynes included. To order send SIO
per casscuc to: Bob Avcry·Grubcl; Rt l Box 735:
Floyd, VA 2400 I
St..~FOODS • fresh. hand-made herbal skin
prepwaaions at '="able onces. Send for price list~
106 E. Ma111 SL. Johnson City. TN 37601
REMEDY FOR rnE COMMON COLD?· I've
found one; it\ natural and 11 works Send S3 and
your SASE to: Heaven on Enrah; 482 Whue Oal.
Cle Rd.; Burnsvlllc, NC 28714.
RENEWAL PROGRAMS· I prov1Jc mdiv1dual and
corporate renewal programs for bus1ncsse~ &
organi1.ations interested m hcahng thcmsclvc~ and
providing cmpowcrmcna 10 oth.:~. Wrote· Kalh1c
Pieper c/o Pieper A~~oc1ntcs: Ra I, Box 238:
Waync.~v1llc, NC 28786.
CREATION SOAP- lund·crnfacd herbal soaps from
the Blue Ridge Mounwn.~. Rose and bvcndet soaps,
mo1>1uri1.mg bar, slumpoo/cond1t1oncr bar. Contnet
Anna: RL I, Box 278; Blowmg RoU, NC 28605
(7™) 262-2321.
YOGA FOR ALL AGES- Ongoint; cla.<;:;C.S m the
Asheville lllC;l, workshops for group~. aml rnvaac
sessions. Give your..clr the s1fa or wellness and
peace. For more 1nfonna11on .:all Bo~ Kelly
(704) 2.S4-8698.
ORGANIC HONEY· Tulip Poplar, Sourwood,and
Wildnowet. From Patrick Counay, Virginia. No
chemicals. no white sugar, no hC11t, ever. Strained
through cheesecloth and packed JR heavy glass
canning J31'S. For a 4-oz. sample of our premium
sourwood and our catalog, send S4 10: Wade
Buckholas & Megan Phillips; Route 2. Box 248:
Stuart, VA 2A 171. (703) 694-4571
STIL-LIGHT THEOSOPHICAL RETR EAT
CENTER • a quiet sp3Ce for personal mediaalion,
group inaerneaion through study, and community
won:. and ~p1titual '1Cm1rnir;. Conmca Leon Frankel;
RL I, Box 326; Waynesville, NC 287116.
MOCCASINS, bnndcruftcd of elkhide in ahc
trlld1lionnl Plains Indian style. W:ucr rc,~iswna,
resoluble, and rugged • gtC<lt for hiking! Children's
and infana sizes available. \'/rue: Blue Feather
Mocca~ms: Box 931: Asheville. NC 28802, or call
Pollick Clark Bl (7~) 2S3-5<};7.
NATURE LOVERS' COMMUNITY • Chrisainns
only. S1000 gives you hfctimc owncl'>h1p righlS on
.S acres. Whole propetty consists of -is acres of
wooded calm and privacy. Write: Gospel Ministry;
P.O. Box 6S4: Clinton, TN 37717.
RHYTHM .6LIVE • Handcrafacd African- Style
Drums, workshops. learning tapes, drumbng_~. and
aacssoncs. Please send SASE IO Rhythm Ahvc!;
SS Phaux Cove Rd.: Weaverville, NC 28787 {704)
645-3911.
NEW AGE · group forming. All mtcrc~aed m
\haring about spirit to spirit commun1cotion,
channchng. v1suah1auon, hc;ihng, chokrns, IMOI,
etc. Emphasis on spmt and our connccaion to
Mother Earth, v1suaH1mg po~11ivc growth and
nurturing Conaact· Thcrc"a Carlson; ?SOI Ruic
Rd .. Knoxville. TN 37920.
WJ:BWORKING 1s free. Send submLssioos to:
Kattlah Journal
P.O. Box 63R
Lc1.:.:,acr. NC
Katllah Province 211748
Wint.er, 1989- 90
�The Kan1ah Journal wanrs ro communicate your thoughts and
feelings to the other people in the bioregional province. Send them
to us as le11ers, poems, stories, articles. drawings. or pliowgraphs,
etc. Please send your comributions to us aJ: Kati/ah Journal; P. 0 .
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Kati/ah Province 28748.
The Spring 1990 issue of the Ka11foh Journal will be
focusing on "Wellness in the Mountains." We are looking for
information and aniclcs on !hose who contribu1e to the heahhful
quality of life in our southern mountains; especially through
activities which promote self-responsibility and a high level of
wellness as the normal living state.
Issue 28 of the KatUa11 Journal (Summer, '90) will take up
the topic of "Carrying Capacity" and the burgeoning impact of the
human presence and human teehnology in !he mounrains. The issue
will look beyond the last induscrial smoke-cloud and past the end of
real estate, when we apply !his imponant ecological principle to our
own selves.
BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH JOURNAL AVAILABLE
ISSUE THREE · SPRING 1984
Sustainable Agricuhure • SunJlowcn • HWTWI
Impact on Ille Fon:st • Cltlldrcns' Education
Veronica Nicholas:Wom1n m Poli11cs • Linle
People • Medicine Allies
ISSUE FOUR · SUMMER 1984
WateT Drum • WalCT Quality . Kudzu - Solu
Eclipse • Clc.vcuuing · Trout • Going IO Waler
Ram Pumps - MICIOhydro - Poems: Bennie
Lee Sinclair, nm Wayne Miller
ISSUE FIVE . FALL 1984
Hll'Vcst • Old Ways in Cherokee . Girucng ·
lofuclear Wu1e • Our Celtic Heritage ·
Bioregionalism: Past, Pre""t, and Future •
John Wilnoty • Healing DatlaiC$S • Politics of
Participation
ISSUE SIX · WINTER 1984-&s
Winier Solstice Eanh Ceremony • Horsepastur<
River • Coming of the Light • Log Cabin
Rooia • MO\llll&in Agiculture: The Right Crop
- William Taylor ·The Future of the Forest
ISSUE SEVEN · SPRING 198S
Sustainable Economics - Hoi Springs • Worker
Ownership - The Great Economy . Self Help
Credit Union - Wild Turkey • Responsible
Invuting • Woricing in lhc Web of Life
ISSUE ElGIIT - SUMMER 198S
Cclcbntion: A Way of Life · KauW. 18,000
Ye«n Ago • S-W Sites • Folk Arts in Ille
Schools • Sun Cyclr./Moon Cycle • Poems:
Hilda~ . Chuobe HaUa&e Cenll::r.
Who Owns Appilachia?
ISSUE NINE· FALL 198S
The Waldu Forest - The Trees Speak •
Mi&ratin& Forata • Hone Louina - Swtini a
TrecCrop • UtbanTrea -AQQQI Bn:.od . Myth
Tmo
ISSUE TEN · WINTER 198S-i6
Kate Rogers • Circles of Sionc • Internal
Mylllmaking • Holistic Healing on Trial •
Poems: Steve Kmulll • Mytltlc Places • The
Uktena's Tale • Crystal Magic
"OrcamspW.ina"
ISSUE TWENTY ..ONE • Fall, 1988
Chutnuts: A Natunl Hwory • Restoring the
Chc:AAut . "Poem or Preservation and Praise"
Continuing the Quest - Forests and Wildlife
Chestnuts in Regional Diet - Chestnut
Resources • Herb Note . Oood Medicine:
"Changes to Come" • Re•iew: Wliuc legmds
Live
ISSUE ELEVEN · SPRINO 1986
Community Pl1nning - Cities and the
Bioregional Vision - Recycling • Community
Gardening· Floyd County, VA - Gasohol •
Two Bioreglonal Views • Nuclear Supplement
Foxfire Games · Ooocl Medicine: Visau
ISSUE TWENTY-TWO · W°U11er, '88--89
Global Warm.ing • Fire This Tune - Thomu
Berry on "Bioregions" · Earth E.xcrc:is4' . Kort
Loy McWhiru:t - An Abundance or Emp<inea
LETS - Cllroniclea of Floyd • Darry Wood .•
TheBIOlltClm
ISSUE THIRTEEN . Fall 1986
c - For Awakening • Elizabelll Callari - A
Gentle Death • Hospice • Ernest Morgan Dealing Creatively with Death • Home Burial
Box • The Wake • The Raven Moc.ku •
Woodslorc and Wildwoods Wisdom • Oood
Medicine: The s.._ Lodge
ISSUE TWENTY-THREE - Spring, 1989
Pisgah Village • Pl111e1 An - Orcen City Poplar Appeal - "CllOllt Sky" · "A New Eulh"
Black Sw1n • Wild IAvcly Days - Reviclwa:
Socred Land Socr«d Sa; Ice "6«. Poem:
"Sudclcn Tc:ndrits"
ISSUE FOURTEEN . Winter 1986-87
lJoyd C.rt Owle • Boogers Ind Mummcn • All
Species Day • Cabin Fever Univonity •
Homeless in Kaulah • Homemade Hot Wat..Stovemalter's Narrative - Oood Medicine:
Interspecies Communic:alion
ISSUE EIOITTEEN. Winter 1987-88
Vamcular Archilecture • Dreams in Wood and
Sione • Mountain Home • Earth Energies •
Euth-She.llcred Uving • Membrane Houses •
Brush Shelter • Poems: Octobu DWJt. • Good
Medicine: "Shell.Cr"
ISSUE FlFTE.E.N • Spring 1987
CoverlelS • Wom1n Forester - Susie McMahan
Midwife • Alternative Contraception •
Bioscxuality • Bion:gionalism 1nd Women Oood Modicinc: MAlriudW Culture - Petarl
ISSUE NINETEEN · Spring. 1988
Perelmdra Cl~ · Spring Tonics • Blueberries
WildOower Gardens - Cranny Herbalist •
Flower Eucnces • "The Origin of lhc Animals:
Siory. Good Modlcinc: "Power" - Be AT"'°
ISSUE SIXTEEN · Summer 1987
Helen Waite • Poem: Visions in a Garden •
Vision Quest - First Flow • lnitillion •
Leaming in the WUclemess • Cherokee
OWJcnp - -Valuing Trees"
ISSUE TWENTY · Summer. 1988
l'luave AppaJacru.n Wildr:mw · HiaJ!landl
of Roan • Cclo Community - l.IDd Trust Anh11r MOf1111 School - Zonin1 luue • .,,,_
Ricl&e" • Farmers and \he Farm Bill • Good
Medicine: "lMld" - Acid Rain - Duke's Power
Play · Chaokee Miaohydro Projoc:t
ISSUE TWENTY ·FOUR - Summer. '89
Deep Listt:rting · Life in AIOmic C"lly - OiftlCt
Actlonl · Tree of Pe.ce • Commuruty Buildlftg
Pcaccmaltcrs - Ethnic Survival • Pairing
Project • "Ba.tllesong" • Growing Peace in
Cullurea · Review: Tltc Clta/iuOlld IN Blatk
ISSUI! TWENTY-FIVE· FALL. 1989
The Gn:at Forest • Resl.orina Old Orowtlt •
Regional Planning • Tunbcr • Forest Roada
Poem: Sparr- Hawk. · A Pl..:e f« Bun •
'7/uu FLU 1/tc RtWi HLaElfl" • l!utern
P1nthcr • Oak Decline • People md Habiw
Wtld S--n.s - Daner Fair
- - - ---- - - - - - -- - - - - -- - - - - - - - -- ---- - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - ~UAtt)OURNAL
P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748
Formo~info:
Name
Regular Membership........ $10/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.
Address
City
call Mamie Muller (704)683-1414
State
Zip
Enclosed is $
to give
this ejfon an exua bOOst
I can be a local contaet
Area Code
loll.mer, 1989-90
Phone Number
person for my area
Back Issues
=
Issue# __@ $2.50 S_ _
Issue# _@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# __@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# __@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue#_@ $2.-59= $_ _
Complete Set (3-1 J, 13-16,
18-25)
@
S3s.oo =s__
1
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, Issue 26, Winter 1989-1990
Description
An account of the resource
The twenty-sixth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on children and parents: their roles in family and in the bioregion. Authors and artists in this issue include: Thomas Berry, Samala Hirst, Ellie Kincade, Linda Metzner, Lucinda Flodin, Martha Perkins, Jan Verhaeghe, Christina Morrison, Karen Watkins, Doug Woodward, Trish Severin, Susan Griesmaier, Aviva Jill Romm, Tom Youngblood-Petersen, Rob Messick, Will Ashe Bason, Jermain Mosely, Marnie Mikell, James Rhea, Martha Tree, and David Wheeler. This issue also features an interview with Bonnie Blue, puppeteer. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1989-1990
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
Coming of Age in the Ecozoic Era by Thomas Berry.......1<br /><br />Kids Saving Rainforests by Samala Hirst.......4<br /><br />Kids' Treecycling Company.......5<br /><br />Conflict Resolution and the Family by Ellie Kincade.......6<br /><br />Developing the Creative Spirit by Linda Metzner........8<br /><br />The Balloon is a Unicorn by Artspirit Studio.......9<br /><br />Birth Power by Lucinda Flodin and Martha Perkins.......10<br /><br />Birth Bonding by Jan Verhaeghe.......11<br /><br />The Magic of Puppertry: An Interview with Bonnie Blue by Christina Morrison and Karen Watkins.......12<br /><br />Home Schooling by Doug Woodward and Trish Severin.......15<br /><br />Ceremony: Traditional.......16<br /><br />Mother Earth: The Natural Classroom by Susan Griesmaier.......18<br /><br />Biodegradable Diapers by Aviva Jill Romm.......18<br /><br />Resources........19<br /><br />Gardening Tips for Children by Tom Youngblood-Petersen.......19<br /><br />Natural World News.......20<br /><br />"From the Diary of a Modern Child" by Rob Messick.......24<br /><br />Pocket Cultures by Will Ashe Bason.......24<br /><br />Drumming.......26<br /><br />Forest Rescue: An Ecological Manifesto.......29<br /><br />Webworking.......30<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, printed by The <em>Waynesville</em> <em>Mountaineer</em> Press
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Puppeteers
Conflict management
Natural childbirth
Child rearing--Appalachian Region, Southern
Home schooling
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1980s
Agriculture
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Definitions
Black Bears
Community
Education
Electric Power Companies
Folklore and Ceremony
Forest Issues
Habitat
Hazardous Chemicals
Health
Katúah
Poems
Politics
Radioactive Waste
Reading Resources
Recycling
South PAW (Preserve Appalachian Wilderness)
Transportation Issues
Turtle Island
Villages
Western North Carolina Alliance
Wilderness
Women's Issues
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/598a93ab849d56cc32fb22505a37f177.pdf
35ca04365bb9bc976cdc8ee253cc5a52
PDF Text
Text
ISSUE 30 SPRING 1991
$1.50
�=·
- ·
=
•
Drawing by D.avid Opalccky
~UAt1 JOURNAL
P.O. Box 638
Leicesler, NC
Postage Paid
Bulk Mail
Permit #18
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
28748
�lONTENT5
Econorny/Ecology...................... " .............. l
by David Whulu
Avoiding Lhe Passive/Helpless Approach
to Economic Developmcnt.........................4
by TlwmllS Power
Ways 10 a Regener:uive Economy.............5
by Rob Messick
Sacred Oconomy........................................6
by Will ~c Bason
"Money Is 1he Lowest Form of Wealth":
lnt.crv1cw wilb lvo Bnllcn1ine Bnd Robin Capc.....7
by Rodm:y Webb and llcnry EcJJcr
The Clarksville
"Miracle".......... ........................................ ]O
by Gri.rcom Morgan
Self-Help Crt!dit Union............................ IO
The Village......................................." ...... 11
by Snow Bear
"1hrough dreams, through magic''............ 12
Poc,m by Gary l;awler.t
Food \-1overs.............................." .. .......... 13
b) DU!lul II hul.-r
Poems hy Jim CJark.. ..... " ........................14
Life\Vork .................................................. 15
by Ernr.rt Wom1c.l; and Mtlflt. Sundstrom
Green Spirit,;: "Kntuah Pl:inting
Calendor".................................................. 19
by I.Le Barnt.S
Good Medicine: "Villogc Economy".......20
On Eco-cconomics...................................21
by David llaellke
Thoughts on Work, Productivity,
and Development.....................................22
by Richard Lowenthal
Natural World News................................23
Shelton Laurel. .........................................25
byRodneyWeJx,
Off The Grid: ''Regional Fuels"...............26
by Jim Houser
LETS..........................................." ...........27
Rtsources................................................. 27
Drumming................................................28
Eanh Energies: 'The Great
Lover"...................................................... 31
by Cha.rlo11e llomsMr
Events.......................................................33
Webworking.............................................34
Sprtng, 1991
by David Wheeler
"Economy" means the basic, natural
processes lhaLsupport life in the world. This is
where we begin. The wind in the trees rain
dripping through the leaves, mounrain~ silen1and
tal.11 the moon sailing 1hrough the sky - these are
basic factors of life in Lhe mountains.
These elemental powers are refined and
individuali~ed int~ a~oms ~nd whirling poplor
seeds, lwmnous cnlhums, insect larva crawling
un?:r strea~ rocks, a .grouse thrumming in the
twilight - beings 1hat live and die, eat and are
eaten, closely bound to the web of existence.
Thi~ is the living economy of lhe Soulhem
Appalachian Mount.ains.
The human "economy" is how we live in 1he
W?rl~. It is simply an accounting of how we live
within the greater economy and utilize itS energies
to support our own existence.
Tn conversation, human economy is of1en
contraI?Osed to the natuml ecology, as if they
were dtfferent and antagonistic 10 each other. But
both words share a common root from the Greek
word oikos, ·•household." This is not a
coincidence; this is observation of a fundamenral
~ity. The two conceplS are simply clifferent
views of lhe same system seen from diffcren1
perspectives and on a differem scale. The first
principle of Lhe human economy is "preserve the
system that gives life to all."
The human economy. being a smaU
er
segment of the natural economy and working
through the same laws, mirrors the health of the
greater economy. Once human economies were
dependen1 on the health of the regional
ecosystems from which they grew. Then some
humans learned to expand their sphere of
infl_uence, so lhat by drawing energy from other
regions they were able to maintain artificially
healthy economies in the midst of failed
environments.
The Southern Appalachian Mountains know
this process well. The human economy we know
as the industrial growth system has not been
good ro the mountains. The relatlonship of the
~ rull? Province lo the central economy has
histo~cally been tha1of a colonized territory,
exploucd for raw materials and cheap labor;
always for the benefit of the same urban elites
who rule the economies of Uruguay and
Indonesia, Nigeria and the Philippines - and all
the other miliLarily weaker and technologically
less-developed countries.
1n the Soulhem Appalachians, the timber
boom of the early pan of the nineteeolh century is
the clearcs1example of the "rape and run"
mentality of resource extraction. And though lbe
tech niques nave been refined, there is little
difference between the mentali1 of the old-time
y
timber barons and the current-day land developer.
But the industrial growth society has
reached rhe end of ils rope - or, more aptly, the
bollom of the barrel. There are no new bioregions
to conquer, and any funher expansion and
growth only weakens lhe condition of the
already-stressed global ecology. The industrial
growth sysLem has taken a terrible toll on !he
world - !he ecologicnl collopse is underway, the
economic collapse follows.
The planetary economy of human hobitation
i~ once again a retlection of Lhe planet's natural
ll.fe suppon system. We are now going lO have to
give attention 10 the first principle of human
economy and make a rcaJ commitment 10
"preserve the system that gives life to all."
Change is happening. Ahhough waning
govemmenrs srill dominate the headline news
their struggles over the dregs of ao obsolete '
energy source are only the dea1h agonies of the
industrial grow1h system.
The recent war, recessions, and depressions
are ~e symptoms of change. Like continenLS in
moo?n, me forces actuaUy driving this change are
moving slowly, ponderously, deep beneath the
surface - jusl as powerful and jus1 as inexorable.
The planetary life system is moving lo preserve
iLSelf.
While we can see the shadow of the
approaching change, we cannot see i1s shape, and
we know only that the future will be like nothing
that has gone before. We need to prepare.
That we are aware this transition is coming
does noLmean that it will be easy or comfortable
for us; in fact just !he opposile appears more
likely to be the case. It will help to rell1CIIlber thai
we are in the midst of a monumental
transfonnacion, and although it will be diffi.cuJ1, it
offers an opponuni1y for us to supplant the old
ioduslrial growth system with one much more
suilable - one that is ecologically viable and more
spiritually fulfilling.
During the throes of tra.nsi rion we need 10
remember that the second principle of eoonomy is
"the survivaJ of species." This refers not only to
the human species, although our kind is included
as well, but the survival of all species - each
constantly growing, changing, making its own
conoibution to the continually creative process
we call evolution. "Survival of the species•· also
does not require the survival of every individual
of a species, for that would in fact be
counter-productive. It refers instead to the life
(conlinucd on ~
3)
:l(.Qtuah Jotu"nm pa'}&
�i<eLlAHjOURNAL
EDITORIAL STAFF THIS ISSUE:
Susan Adam
Patrick Clark
Oiarlotte Homsher
Lorraine Kaliher
Rob Messick
Jeff Smith
Rodney Webb
Lee Barnes
Andy Half-baker
Jim Houser
Richard Lowenthal
Mamie Muller
Manha Tree
David Wheeler
COVER: by Rob Messick © 1991
PUBLISHED BY: Ka1ualr Jo1unal
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
PRINTRD BY: The Waynesville Mountaineer Press
EDITORIAL OFFICE Il::0$ JSSUE: The Globe Valley
WRITE US AT:
Kat(I/Jh Journal
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Karuah Province 28748
TELEPHONE: (704) 754-6097
Katuah Joiu110I is on Skyland BBS, Asheville, NC.
For information, call (704) 254-6700.
Diversity is an important element or bioregional ecology, both
natural and social. In line wilh this principle, lhe Katuah Journal tries 10
serve os a forum for the discussion of regional issues. Signed articles express
only the opinion of lhc authors and are not necessarily the opinions of the
Kat~Jaurnal edil0!'$ or ~taff.
The lnlCmlll Revenue Serviu h:is declared Ka1dah Journal a non-profil
organization under section 50l(cX3) of the tn1emal Revenue Code. All
conliibutions 10 Katitah Journal are deductible from personal income tax.
Articles appearing in Katuah Journal may be reprinted ill olher
publications with permission from the Katuah Journal slaff. Contocl the
journal in writing or call (704) 154-f:,(1}1 or (704) 683-1414.
Here,
in the Karuah Province
of these ancient Appalachian mountains
where once the Cherokee Nation lived in freedom
between th.e Tennessee River Valley and the Eastern
Piedmont
between the Valley of the Roanoke and the Southern
Plain
on this Turtle Island continent of Mother Ela, the Earth
Here,
In this place we dedicate ourselves to remembering our
deep connection to the spirit of the land.
We bring this connection into the being and the doing of
our daily lives
When the land speaks, we listen and we act
We tune our lives to the changes, to the seasons
We respect the limits of the land
We preserve, defend, and restore the land
We give thanks for all that is good
Harmony with the land is no longer an ideal; it is an
imperative.
The land is a living being. She is sacred.
As the land lives, so do we.
As the spirit of the land is diminished,
our spirits are diminished as well.
'LNVOCA.T LON
In a house of bones we
call down the spirits.
and the plants grow.
and the animals move freely.
We light candles, calling for the return,
and the flame of life
burns through the buildings,
nothing but ash,
and the plants grow,
and the animals move freely.
The Katiwh Journal sends a voice...
with articles, stories, poems, and artwork
we speak to the spirit of all the living, breathing
inhabitants of these mountains
in hopes that we, the human beings,
may find our place in this Great Life.
- Gary Lawless
The Ka16ah Journal wants to communicate your thoughts
and feelings to the other people in the bioregional province. Send
them 10 us as le11ers, poems, stories, articles, drawings, or
photographs, etc. Please send your contributions to us at: Katuah
Journal; P. 0. Box 638; Leicester, NC; Kattuih Province 28748.
,.
,i
- The Editors
The summer issue of 1he Katuah Journal will feature
stories about the sub1le energies of the Appalachians and the
Eanh - those invisible forces that, whether we choose 10 be aware
of them or not, exert such a powerful influence on our lives.
Please send in .your stories, drawings, or poems of
dowsing, eanh changes, sacred sites and their legends, vonexes,
and other accounts of encounters with the pulsing heartbeat of the
world by April 30 to Ka11wh Jotunal; Box 638; Leicester, NC
28748.
Spr tmJ, 1991
�(COminued &om pqe I)
and health ot the species as an organism unto
itself.
Pictured as an individual organism, our own
species, at this point in time, is in deplorable
health. We an: gluuonous and grossly far,
physically soft and out of shape, ridden with
cancer and other degenerative diseases, subject 10
numerous natural resource addictions, beset by a
severe attitude problem. and (among the more
advanced sectors in panicular) badly neurotic.
One of the side effects of the transition now
underway appears to be that Mother Gain as drill
sergeant is about to shape us up. In order to
maintain its place in the world, the human species
and the human economy of the future will
necessarily be lighter, quicker on its feet, more
alert, and more aware of its surroundings.
Technology will not be able to effect this
change for us. In fact an increased dependence on
fancy technology would be n debilitating
influence at this point. This change is going to be
made inside our collective psyche - in our mental
condition and our spiritual values.
Because the third principle of economy is:
''Do it well."
Consequent to redefining our idea of
"economy" is redefining our criteria for the
success of that economy in maintafoing its place
in the biosphere.
For one example: the phrase "quality of life"
as used in these mountains at one rime referred to
the health of the streams, the health and number
of the animals, the health of the forest But today,
even as the world about us is being degraded and
destroyed, we are constantly told that our "quality
of life" is improving
For a second example: what is meant by
"living well?"
At one time "living wcll" meant the manner in
which a person carried himself or herself in the
world • what a person said, what a person did, in
other words, the quality of their actions. In these
days "living well" means what and how much a
person eats, drinks, and owns • in other words,
the quality of their consumption.
ln order to correctly judge the success of our
economy, we need to revise the standards by
which we detennine our basic needs - not in
terms of goods, services, and the medium of their
exchange, but in terms of the purpose of our
daily transactions: health, satisfaction,
fulfillment, and happiness.
Here m the Southern Appalachians we are
lucky: we have a model for change. For as long
as humans have inhabited these mountains, the
removed from a time when people lived by
hunting, gathering, and small-scale agriculture.
One hundred yCtlrS ago the majority of the people
here lived a pastoral, self-sufficient lifestyle.
The Appalachian culture of that time gave rise
to the image of the "independent mountaineer."
That stereotype is still cherished today. but it is a
joke in these rimes when we buy our food from
supermnrketS, borrow money from urban
banking canels 10 buy vehicles from Detroit or
Yokohama, are dependent on job wages, send
"It's a sad situation whe11 humans in a
society like ours find thnt they can
survive only by destroying the basis of
existence.
''The basic goal of our economy is to
take the greatest possible amount of
natural materials as quickly as possible
through the consumer economy to the
junk heap. The main idea is to mnke
junk. All our jobs are keyed to making
junk...
''I'd like to say just a word about jobs:
we don't need jobs! We need food, we
need clothing, we need housing, we need
education, we need health care, we need
all these things. Now my proposal for the
Southern A7JPD.laclriat1s is to get out of the
whole consumer economy and establish
014r own internal economy based in
bioregion.
"There's no reason why we can't build
an economy here and a culture here
independent of bringing all this
extravagant consumer economy and
technology and productivity into this
region. We don't need those! All we need
are food and clothing and fun and
celebration and necessities like that.
That's wl1at we need, and there's no
reasorr why Katuah Province can't
provide it."
- Thomas Berry,
tu the 1990 "Em·ironmtntal Summit
Confertntt," UNC Ashtvilfe
monthly insurance premiums to Hanford, power
our commerce on fuel that is carried halfway
around the world, and absorb our culture from
TV programs that come to us from big-city
broadcasting stations through giant satellite
receivers. Our regional economy presently is
flaccid, lame, and unsmble.
To be independent means t0 take
responsibility for one's self. We need to
re-examine our situation literally "from the
ground up." How are we going to provide the
clean air we need every minute, the pure water
and good food we need every day, shelter,
healing, education, nns and entertainment that are
enriching and fun, and a spirituality that
recognize:. our place in the Creation?
We will provide for these needs by getting
together with friends and community, doing for
ourselves, and trusting in the land. We will
restructure our economy by methods that will be
sustainable in the mountains for many
generations to come in a variety of different living
situations. And we will renegotiate our economic
contract with the land, the foundation of all our
existence. If our relations with the land are not in
order, then we will not survive to see what the
next era will bring.
In the rimes to come, although conditions
may seem hard and the shadow of oppression
may loom large, it is important that we keep our
spiritS up and do not give in to fear or
depression. We cannot wait for someone else to
give the orders or someone else to fund the
budget We have to worlc together for our
communities and for the life of our region.
There will be a strong temptation tO "simply
survive," "get by." or "muddle through." But we
have a responsibility 10 the future and to those
who will follow us to "do it well," for we are at a
· cusp in the planet's history, and the techniques
we use to bring ourselves through the maelstrom
of transition will be the foundation for the
regional economy to come.
We need to keep compassion - that our
knowledge might be used to better understand
this world and find our place in it. We need to be
guided by wisdom - that our technology more
closely mimic the biological than the mechanical.
We need 10 keep our spiritual center - that our
vital drive be directed to care for our community
(human and natural), rather than strive to place
the individual above all.
This is a rich land. lf we embody the real
values of the natural ecology in the economy of
today, Kauiah will provide well for the needs of a
lean and healthy human population.
r.8"
fact of Appalachia as a region has dominated the
local economy. We are not two hundred years
Rob Messic~
Sprttig, 1991
Xat.i«ih Jouma( Pa«Je 3
�Avoiding the Passive/Helpless Approach
to Economic Development
Advocates of extractive uses of the
national forests have defined an approach to
economic development that has become widely
accepted. In fact, advocates of preservation have
largely accepted the developers' view of the
mechanism of economic development.
The approach I am concerned about might
be called the "pass.ive-helpless" approach.
According to lhis view, we and our fellow
citizens follow passively and helplessly the
geographic pattern of job creation provided by
commercial businesses. The commercial
business community, in tum, is seen as an
outSide force over which we have linle control
and of which we are not a pan except as passive
employees or consumers.
This should all sound familiar: In this
widely held view of the economy, the business
community creates jobs for us and we
lhankfuUy, even gratefully, take them. Once this
view is accepted. the primary economic question
raised by the conflict between extractive
development and the preservation of
environmental quality on national forest lands is
simply one of figuring out which businesses
create the "most" and/or the "besl" jobs. The
advocates of ongoing extraction tell us that it is
the timber or mining industries, while advocates
of preserving environmental quality insist !hat it
is me tourisr/recreation industry.
1.r:11Howeven thit•oppmnclr.mi~\arleau .,,rr
half of the economic reality. Moreover, it may
miss more than half of the political and social
reality that we ought to be trying 10 create. To
explain lhis, let me present four basic principles
or facts about the economies we live in.
First, people care about where they live.
The quality of the natural and social environment
is a dominant force in determining where people
locate. The evidence for this is all around us.
Consider the move to the suburbs. to the deserts
of the Southwest, to the Sunbelt, or to the hill
country of the South. Initially these mass
movements of millions of people represented
movements away from both jobs and
commert;ial centers. They also represented
movements from high wage areas to relatively
low wage ar~ People took significant risks
and made :.ignificruit sacrifices to obtain the
living environments they wanted.
Second, most jobs involve "taking in each
others' wash" or "scratching each others'
backs". not scratching at the Earth to extract and
make valuable lhings which are then exponed 10
the rest of the world. In recent years, 70 to 80
pen:ent of American jobs are in locally-oriented
(as opposed to export-oriented) service jobi;, no1
manufacwring. There has been a long term,
ongoing trend which constantly increases the
dominance of this type of economic activity.
The third principle is tha1 people can and
do crea1e jobs for themselves and their
neighbors by engaging in small-scale
entrepreneurial activity. In fact, this has been
one of the primary so~ of job creation in
some of the states most heavily hit by the
recessions of the 1980's. In Montana. for
instance, during the first half of the l 980's wage
and salary jobs shrank by tens of thousands
Xotiulh )ournat pO<JC 4
by Thomas Power
while total employment increased. All net new
not be available. Passive communities of
jobs were self-employment jobs. In North
helpless people who do what large corporations
Dakota. small new businesses were also the
tell them to do don't survive the inevitable
dominant source of job creation.
decline that accompanies shifting business
The final principle is that 40 10 50 percent
winds. "Company towns" are never dynamic,
prosperous places.
of all personal income flowing into our
Finally, it must be kept in mind that a
communities doesn't come in the form of
growing number of residents are "foot-loose" in
wages, salaries, or profits. It comes from return
the sense that a substantial source of income
on past investments. including pension and
follows them no matter where they choose to
retirement plans, and from transfer payments
live. Retirees are the most obvious group. Their
from government programs such as social
residential choices can be guided almost entirely
~urity. This flow of income into our local
by their preferences for natural and social
~nomies is far larger than any single industry
or combination of industries, but is NOT caused
environments. They bring with them major
0ows of income that support the economic
by current employment.
activities of others. In dollar terms, a single
This is a dramatically different picture of
retiree who chooses a panicular community as
the local economy than the one we are usually
his or her new home is worth hundreds of
given. People choose to live in places they like,
tourists streaming lhrough the community. In
where they support themselves through jobs
addition, rather than disrupting the community
they, themselves, create. These jobs primarily
as tourists do, the new resident's productive
serve the needs of their neighbors, much of
activities are likely to make a contribution 10 the
whose incomes are not tied to local jobs. Taken
vitality of the community.
together, these factS have imponant implications
Based on these ideas. T would suggest a
for how we view local economic development.
few rules for those concerned about both
For instance, maintaining and creating an
attractive social and natural environment for
preserving environmental quality and enhancing
residents is critical to the future of our
the economic well-being of their communities.
"forest-dependent" communities. Butcher the
narural environment, and we lose the qualities
Firs1, don't give away the store to
~
that draw and hold people and economic activity
outsiders, whether those outsiders be extractive
here. This iuffltical poim: we-protect the
u
' industry or tourists. That will only destroy lh~
natural environment nor for 1ouris1s and outside
things we have going for us.
r1•
recrearionalists but for us. the people who live
here. We do it so that we and others will find
Second. siop talking about tourists.
lhis an attractive place to live, work, and do
Nobody loves a touris1, no1 even tourists, and
business. The natural environmem created by
no one looks forward to cleaning up after
our forested mountains contributes to our
1ourists. We do 001 impress our fellow citizens
ecomomic well-being first and foremost by
\\ith talk about putting them to work making
being available for us to enjoy directly.
motel beds, cleaning toilets, and washing
dishes. Talk instead about ourselves. why we
If we are interested in attracting more
are here, and what is imponant 10 us.
people, we have to ask what we have to offer
that sou them California or the eastern
megalopoli do not. We clearly are not going to
Finally, as we work co protect the nationaJ.
compete by providing stripped and rdvaged
forests, Ice's take back the economic argument
from those who see our forested landscape only
mountainsides. silted streams and polluted
as a source of raw material for shipment to the
rivers, and noisy, dirty plants belching
res1 of the world. In taking back the economic
foul-smelling gases into the air. It is the general
argument. we must be careful not to buy into the
ugliness and pollution of our largest population
centers from which people are seeking to
vision of ours~lves as passive. helpless folks
completely ckpcndent upon outside forces. That
escape. Our economic development stra1egy
position is dangerous to 1he spec1acular beauty
muse be built around asking what it is that we
of our region, as well as destructive of the
have that is special and attractive. Our forested
political and social fabric of our states and our
mountains and the environmental quality they
comrnunjties.
provide cenai.nly are central 10 answering that
Instead we should view ourselves as
question.
creative entrepreneurs, contributing 10 the
There are important implications here,
economic resources and the well-being of our
100, for what a good "business climate'' is.
communities. We all have co find a living, and
Since we largely create our own jobs rather than
forest protection rather 1han forest extraction
wrutirig passively for gifts from benevolent
outside corporations, the business climate that
may be the best way for many.
~
counts is that faced by local, small
Thomas Power is professor of eco11t>mics
entrepreneurs. A productive business climate is
and chaiml(lll of the Eco,wmics Department at
not one tha1 gives outside businesses anything
the Universiry ofMomona ill Missoulo. His
they ask of the community! Rather. it is one that
recent book, The Economic Pursujt of Quality
encourages and supporlS residents as they create
(ME. Sharpe,1988) develops ill more detail rlre
economic opportunities for themselves and their
ideas presented here.
neighbors by pursuing opportunities 10 provide
goods or services to their neighbors chat
This artu:/e is reprintedfrom the Ottober 1989
otherwise would have to be imponed or would
issUL of Forest Watch, which is available from Box
3479: Eugene, OR 97403.
Spr L119, 1991
J ,i"'-'i
�,
...
WAYS TOA
REGENERATIVE
REGIONAL
ECONOMY
Nature does not require that any of its
intercomplmrmting mmrbers ·ear-n a /it,ing·.
R Buckmlnstcr FullC!I'
We all eat from the Earth, brea th from the
Earth, drink from the Earth, and exchange energy on
the way to rclurning it in augmented molecular forms
to the Earth. The movements of energy through the
many organismic forms of the biosphere creates a
kind of metabolism, a kind of economy, that is both
ancient and alive as we participate in its elaborate
ways of clean-burning combustion. Micro-organisms
first found ways to perpetuate themselves on
compounds like methane and sulfur. As different
cellular forms engulfed and rejected each other the
pattern of using solar energy emerged as a strong and
usefu I means of tapping into the flows of energy
coming to the Earth from the Sun. This
photosynthesizing ability came about through
millions of years of evolution, and the oxygen it
produced eventuaUy led to the creation of a
protective ozone layer· enabling life to lnhabil the
continents. It also came as a great shock to the
ancient anaerobic bacteria, who cannot exist in the
A Region Regen • crativc Primer. Involved in each of these basic requirements are questions about
Values and Ufostyles, which tend to tran,ccnd the mere fulfillment of material needs (•.. In nonlinear order).
presence of gaseous oxygen.
As dynamic plant forms began concentrating
their energy in fruits from pollinating flowers, and
edible (and inedible) seeds, along with developing
cellulose to incre~ lhe strength of their cell walls,
they began to take on more of an energy harvesting
role on the continents. Converting radiant energy to
chemical energy, they also began to aid In regulating
the flows of water, the contents of air, and the
distribution of some minerals. Animal cells which
thrived on the energy flow created by the existence
of plants also began to flourish and diversify into
multicellular forms. Through millenia this ever
renewing. turbulent, and resilient cycle of energy,
being used and reused through the lives and deaths
of uncountable organisms and whole species of
organisms, has continued despite the catastrophic
impacts of asteroids hurlllng in from the solar
system. The visceral movements of volcanoes and
plate-shiftings have also been a major factor In lhe
ability of this planet to mend from such great events.
Until human beings came along, there seemed
to be no multicellular form or life that could
interrupt these magnificent biotically guided cycles
or radiant and molecular energy as drastically as
meteors, volcanoos, and plate tectonics have. When
our coordination of social activity began we had
neither the numbers nor the skill to drastically
interfere with the vital regenerative nature of the
Biosphere. We simply participated in the flows of
energy that were swarming around us and inside us.
Particularly since an ice age was coming to an end,
there were other regions and habitats we and
related primates could move into and explore if need
be, to find food, shelter, and waler. We burned wood,
ate the plants and animals that were herding,
mcadowing, and foresting around us, expressed
ourselves though various languages and spiritual
practices, and found cures for some infections. Many
of these infections are due largely to the great
ancestral microbes and viruses who arc still doing
much of the most basic work of the Biosphere. Our
immune systems exist as an attempt to maintain
identity in the "sea" of microbes and viruses we live
prlng, 199 1
in.
As our social systems became more complex, and
the basis for human technology and industry began to
be discovered, we eventually eame to a critical
phase. The control of major regional energy Aows
that human beings hlld contact with were being
maintained less and less by a naturally diverse
Biosphere, and were co-opted more and more into our
own growing tribal intellect and infrastructure. Much
has come from our early inluitive grasps for wisdom.
However, these were relatively inexperienced
guesses al how natural systems work. The fine
details of recording and mapping our experiences soon
began lo open our species into realms or knowledge
thllt were as unexpected as they were at times
frightening.
As the experiences of our species with natural
systems expanded, so did our methods of control. This
was true not only of energy flows outside the core of
human culture, but also with the basic internal
relationships of gender, spirituality, and the
introducing of children to the dynamics of a Universe
at large. Conflict among various cultures (or
infragroups) within our species. over the economic
Aows of food, know-how, tools, minerals, and power
etc, soon inflamed into t he existence of hostile
sovereign states. One form of human cul lure would
try to assert its dominance over another (due perhaps
to its mihtary rrught at a given time) and a process
of intimidation would spread like a dlscase.
Delusions of a different culture being viewed as a
completely "evil other· only added to the
turbulence. Unfortunately, this kind of projection
often fails to recognize the evil that exists in all
dominator societies.
There have been m.1ny human cultures that
have exhausted the biodi verstty of lh!! ecosystems
surrounding them. A$ the life-cycle of some of these
cultures came to an end they somctimc!S paid the
price for this exhaustion with their survival. Early
ht.UlW\ hunting and agricultural practices could
deplete the carrying capacity for human beings in a
given region. This is supported by evidence from a
number of early human cultures that turned forests
into meadows and croplands, w hich in him could
become infertile deserts in some areas of the world.
The effects of sucll. practices however; extracted far
less from the whole Biosphcric Context than do
relatively fast changing industrial societies. For
much of the span of human existence there was
abundant habitat for other large multicellular
organisms lilce ourselves to con tinue in the Great
Energy Cycles of the Earth. As we extracted some
seeds and animals, domesticating and breeding them
for greater yield, a process began that infringed
further into forest, prairie, and coastal ecosystems.
By the lime some human cultures began pushing their
way into a dominating posture toward other human
cultures, and toward the uncountable millions of
species that were continuing to evolve, we were not
only losing these habitats· we were also beginning to
lose contact with deeper mysteries within ourselves.
As we found ways to use lhe petrified remains
or life from eons gone by (le; coal, oil, and ear thly
Aatult?nce) as add itional sources of fuel, the
virtu.-illy clean-burning fuel cycles of microbes, fungi,
plants, and animals were infused with a differmt
kind of pervasive combustion. The eicplosive
introduction of fossil fuel burning engines which arc
inefficient relative to the organic (or more readily
recyclable) combustion of living systems meant that
human beings were developing a potential for
by-passing many of lhe limits that existed earlier in
the Biospheric Context. Such a context, of energy
exchange bet ween organismic and molecular fonns
that created fossil fuels from marshes over vast
spans of geolog,c time, 1s now able to be *burned" by
human beings in the span of centuries. The effects of
this wave of fossilized-.?nCrgy-dcpendence and the
consequent existence of elaborate technologies and
populabon increases. has created a new kind of
threat not only to our human cultures but also to the
very existence of larger multicellular organ
communities llke ourselves.
As we release more greenhouse and ozoneOraw111g by Rob M cmclt
(cominuod on aut p1ge)
xatuah Journot
~ 5
�(continlllOd &om page S)
depleting gases than the Great Energy Cycles of the
Earth can accommodate, produce myriad synthesized
chemistries derived primaril>· from "cooking" oil in
petrochemical refineries, interrupt the now of vital
habitats, and till away topsoil at an alarming rate,
we can sec the evidence or an economy that has
strayed from the roots of its existence. It could be
said that when a species of multicellular organisms
grows too fast, outpacing the rate of energy now
created by millions of years of conflict and conflict
resolutions between the needs of a species and the
needs of the overall integrity or ecosystems in a
bioregion, then some feedback in the whole system
might seep in to correct the flow.
Perhaps we as a species will recognize in time
that "fooling around" with systems this large and
complex can lead to a partial or contagious collapse
of many types of biosystcms. By using methods of
accounting that do not regard the subtle nature of
whole systems, and their inability to susla.in
themselves when 'broken down' into incommurucable
parts, we open ourselves further to such risks.
Ignorance of these kinds of feedback processes became
evident in Katuah when disastrous floods occured as
a result or excessive rainfall after large areas of
forest were felled. The qualities of soil structure that
could move and absorb water through the work of
vegetation, earthworm, and microbe scale organisms
was lost in this method of industrial extraction.
A Regenerative Economy for human beings
would involve a recognition of some of the ancient
patterns of microbial relationships that have been
worked out over eons of geologic time. Huge
consequences have come from some of those
relatively "small" decisions or adaptations. In
developing co-operative and predatory behaviors,
biosystems have come to live within limits of scale
and tolerance that are 1mplicit to being abve in the
context of the Great Energy Flows of the l3iosphere.
It has now become an essential aim of humnn beings
to hve within the population and resource limits of
such solar initiated regenerative flows.
SACRED 0CONOMY
.,
There's a huge old apple 1ree on the fann
we live on that gave over a dozen bushels of
apples this year. The apples made good
applesauce and we put up about a hundred
quans of iL Thick, yellow and brown, sticky
sweet summer in Mason jars on the pantry
shelves. When the apples fell faster than we
could handle them, we called up Ed and Randye
and their family came over and picked up four
bushel~ to make themselves some sauce 100.
This was what the land afforded us, it was what
was freely offered and though it was a busy time
of the year, it felt like something of a sacred
duty to see that the apples were put lO good use,
to accept the offering of this place and our place
in the magic transfonnation of Sun and Rain and
Soil into Tree and into growing Human
children. The tree was planted and probably
grafted by an African-American fanner a half
century ago or more in the fertile Little River
bottomland. Its apples have become a lot of
children over the years, and I feel like we honor
the fanner as well as the place when we use
these apples.
When we lived at Travianna there were a
lot of wild grapevines that grew next to the
creeks, using the alders and willows there for a
natural arbor. Most years there would be a
couple of bushels of fragrant wild grapes for the
easy picking. Going 10 pick the grapes really
XQti&afl Jourtiai pa9e 6
Efforts such as energy conservation through
more efficient technologies that require less of the
dreaded noxious belching of fossil fuel engines will
be of great service. However, the invention and
practice of human systems that tap into regenerative
energy flows - such as solar ovens, heaters, collectors
and batteries, along with hydrogen and possibly
alcohol fuels, bioshelters, composters, wind
generators, and microhydro - will aid more clearly in
healing our relationship wilh the Sacred Flows of
the Earth. Many primal skills of living in balance
with local habitats and being able to flll many
human needs from healthy forests and mrodows
will also be important to this effon. Reforestation,
good husbandry, and soil conservation could be seen
as a form of "currency" in allowmg these potentially
heallhy ecosystems to sustain themselves. Such a
renewing economy could also explore ways or
integrating sustainable agricultural sysll.'l'T\S into
homes, offices, ponds, gardens, villages, and counties
within the Biorcgional Ptovincc.
A rcgen1?rative economy would guide us into
concentrating more on the local qualities of supply,
demand, and re-use of provisions, and less on the
push to generate more and more products without
regard to the effects on children, landfills, and
overall costs to the environment. Instead of insisting
on "continual growth" (a.k.a. greed) for the human
economy, a regenerative perspective would manifest
as more of a Steady State Economy; one in which the
now of energy and provisions would be used and
regulated for the good of the whole society and local
environments by councils of members living within a
given Shire, or county, of a Bioregion. Qualities of
durability, thrift, and attention to the needs of
systems larger than the human economy would be a
major focus of this approach.
I
The just involvement of other life forms in the
human economy would also be encburagcd. An
example or this can be found in the process of
Biorcmediation, in which microbes and other
organisms are used in specific ways to digest and
disintegrate many forms of organic and metallic
activates the hunter/gather memory banks and it
is sometimes a very good thing to do with kids.
It is sometimes a very good thing to do alone.
The chinquapins ripen about the same rime as
the grapes and we would find these and gently
pry them from their prick Iy husks and eat them
on the spot, spitting out their thin shells and
swallowing the sweet mini-chestnuts. This land
is so generous.
In our present lifestyle, the gathering of
the offerings of the wild is mostly symbolic, but
I think we long for a return 10 a more basic level
of relationship with our local environment lt is
sad I think, for the offerings of so many
blackberry thickets, grapevines, and apple trees
to go disrespected. ft is sad for busy humanity
that can no longer find the time to enjoy the
natural fruits of the place we live. r think we
kick ourselves out of Eden every morning. I
think we can walk back in any time we will. r
thank this planet and these mountains, the Little
River and an apple tree for the life they
generously and patiently afford. This place is
sacred. This place is beautiful. This place is
home.... So, how do we get to this place and
stay there? We can look at the examples of
Native People everywhere for an answer. We
see that native people are a whole lot simpler in
their lifestyles. We have become a nation of the
needy, needing all sorts of things that we would
be better off without. We can also see that we
need to cooperate with each-other more fully.
Tribes, extended families, bands and villages are
much more stable and powerful than our nuclear
contaminants in water systems. A regenerative
economy would act In ways to stop the now of such
contamin:iting agents at their source. This could be
done by using non-toxic replacement chemistries, or
bioremcdiation, or dehydrating techniques to
de-toxify or prevent some specific compounds from
being released into water, soil, biotic, or atmospheric
systems. However, the best way to stop
contamination is lo not produce it in the first place.
Better sbll, embody less of a need to use toxic agenl5
in creating proviSiqns.
Monitoring flows such as those of minerals,
nutrients, and re-usable wastes through settlements,
forests, living soil, and life-giving waters would
become a basis for this circulatory economy.
Involvement in these geological movements can
engender a kind or respect through familiarity,
similar to that which potentially exists in the
qualities of our own customs, know-how, emotions,
and mediations. Both of these living patterns are
necessary for human culture to sur,tivc.
Hopefully it will become possible for us to
envision the material form of a complexedly
regenerative human society. Perhaps it would live
and grow as a squash plant: keeping information in
the seeds and feeding them with the "meat" of our
hearts and minds; creating structures on which to
extend energy collectors with the sun, soil, waters.
and winds; diversifying enough so that each cell
phlys a specific role in contributing to the survival of
the plant, yet working together enough that.these
cells are sustained by the s tructure of the whole
plant. One thing aboul squash plants, though, is that
they need ''rich" soil. The price to be paid is
providing a kind of compost - a compost that tends
not to equate well with the way most human beings
think about and account wealth. Wealth comes from
partidpaling in lhe sustenance of the Great Cycles of
Energy of the Earth. To maim this source is to maim
the source of our own economy. One has no life
without the other.
Rob Messick
families and much better in touch with location
than our governments and bureaucracies which
can't deal with blackberry picking or anything
near that level of real. Our families arc hard
pressed to "cover all the bases" in this game we
are playing now, driving kids around and
driving ourselves around trying to earn enough
dollars to keep driving kids around. We forget
the sacredness of the place we rush through.
We let our share of Eanh's sacred gifts go 10
brown rot and yellow jackets. A tribe is seldom
this wasteful, even an extended family has
members who are free to put up food and fuel
from the local environment. Real cooperation
on a local level brings the focus of the
community home 10 here and now and
reintegrates us into the web of life. Sacred
economy is local 8conomy. This is certainly
not to imply that there is anything wrong with
trade, just that we will profit by looking closer
to home for the basic elements of our
sustenance.
A collapse of the present world economic
"order" would necessitate a return to local
economy all over the planeL We can envision
a new world 8conomic order in which
communities trade directly with each other from
aJI pans of the Eanh, assisted by a UPS, a
global, reality based 1rading system without
money or middlemen ..... These are good things
a person can dream about while making
apple.~uce.
.,,.
~
fr
- Will'Asbe 811.~on
Sprlnq, 1991
�Robin Cape and lvo Ballentine are literally
buildir,g a life for themselves from the waste
generated by our society. Tire pair mah! a living
salvaging, recycling, and finding creative uses
for "refuse'' - literally, those things t/rarsociery
/ras refused. Using mostly salvaged materials.
they restored a small, mndown lwuse near the
end of a small street in the city of As/reville,
where they live with their infant son Django.
This family is nor just surviving - they are
living well. They /rave found a richness in the
goods t/rat others have discarded: a life filled with
love, well-being, and a sense of meaning and
purpose.
As a result of their unique perspective, tl,ey
have valuable insights on our society and a clear
sense ofpriorities t/rat most people overlook in
the /rustle and bustle of accumulation.
"Money is the Lowest Form of Wealth"
An Interview with lvo Ballentine and Robin Cap e
Kat(iah : How do you go about your work?
Robin: It's just keeping our eyes open and
finding a place to put lhe things lhat come. In a
sense, it's a matter of doing what you can with
what you have. We go out and see what we can
find, and then we think of the best uses for the
things we have found. With practice. we have
gotten better at it.
Ivo: It's awo.reness, and stepping out of our
way a little bit to ask, "Hey, is that thing gonna
get thrown away?" My route is my day, and what
I come up with is whatever I find along the way.
I just look in on my streets, and it's new every
day. Somebody else has thrown something else
away that we can find a use for. that somebody
would buy, or somebody somewhere else would
want. We think of ourselves as "re-routers,"
because recycle has gotten so overused.
Robin: And recycling isn't necessarily the
best use for an item. Re-using is the best use,
because that saves the most energy, and geis
away from the idea that 1f we just throw
something away, it's somebody ebe·s job to
recycle iL We have 10 be responsible for our own
stuff. We can't just throw it away.
When we re-use an item, or we re-route it to
a person who wiU re-use it, we are saving the
object iiself and also countering the whole
concept of this thing as "trash," That action says.
"This isn't LrnSh. This still has value."
lvo: [ think everyone should start a
relationship with "the mill": che paper processing
plant. the metal processing plant, or even giving
their cans to the fire depanment.
When you take stuff to the mill, you learn
about what's going on. You start 10 think about
the transmission of the goods.
Kat(llll1: 'The mill" being the existing
reclamation system. and "transmission" meaning
moving stuff 10 where it belongs.
lvo: Yeah.
Kar1iah: Your equipment is basically a
pickup truck and some trailers.
lvo: We pull the trailers w11h an old 1929
Model A Ford, but not with the pickup. l did this
with my Model A when I didn't have a Lr.tiler,
and the Model A did fine for me.
We don't have a junkyard, so
"IT3llsmission" to us means keeping things
organiLed and keeping things moving. We have
trailers for metal, aluminum, and glass, and we
,.
Spr,-n41 ,l99 I
have to be caretul about not ovenoawiit
ourselves. We don't gather any more than we can
put right back into the system.
We don't go out of our way. either. When
we are going to the grocery store. we're looking
out for things we might be able to pick up along
!he way. We wou!9,n't hav~ a warehol§e way~ut
m the county to sllish aU this stuff, because that
would just be a waste. Our warehouse is right in
the same liule central area.
Katua/r: And stuff always turns up?
Roblll: We teamed a lot gathering the
materials 10 build our house. first, you get the
idea and make the plans. Then you have to get
out and get started on the work. By actively
looking for the things, we've found that often
what you want comes to you.
Like windows. We knew we needed $Orne
windows, and just when we needed them. we
were asked to clean up n remodeling job at a
church, and they were throwing away all these
old-style, hand-le.-idcd windows that you now see
in the house. These and man}' more. A lot had
been broken before we could reach them, and a
101 more we have sold or given away. Now we
have more windows than we could ever want.
Robin: If you make a clear enough plan in
your mind, oftentimes you are going to
materialize it. Bue then you al~ have 10 be able to
build your house or complete your plan using
whnt comes, rather than having to have
everything custom-mndc.
Looking for this propeny, we looked and
looked and looked, and I kept having the feeling
that what we were looking for was out there. The
action of looking helped us 10 clarify in our
minds what we really v.antcd to find.
Kar1iali: So being flexible helps when you
are doing n:cydmg and salvage. You get an idea.
but tl1en when you get the stufT you change the
idea. too.
Rohin: Yes. ll's t.TI;alivc.
AWtlUII. l'\JIUUlel pan OJ tnat creativity is
being able to make stuff out of things that people
have already discarded.
Robin: We have such fun making our
"Compost Cards." They are postcards that we
make using pjctw-cs from mag\\7,ines we ij.uipl
the dumpsters backco v.ith cardboard from cereal
boxes. They're not production cards. They arc
each one-of-a-kind cards.
We don't make any money on them 10 spe3.k
of. We figured out that we might make $4.00 an
hour for the time spent.
Ivo: That's lhe whole thing, though: we find
other profits. There are so many profiis other
than money. Jreally think that money is one of
the lowest forms of wealth.
With the cards, there is the fun and there is
the togetherness of doing it. beyond any money
involved. And when people see them. the cards
get everybody talking.
Robin: And I make jewelry out of old
linoleum 0ooring. It looki. very nice after il's
been refinished and hung with beads, I buy some
beads at lhe nea market, but l also make long
beads out of the insulation on electrical wires.
The jewelry sells very well in the citie.s. l call
it "composite materials," because ritzy ladies
don't like 10 think about hanging old floors from
their ears.
I used to make an. I used 10 do ceramic:!' and
weaving, and I was always buying expensive
materials trying to make my an. A lot or my worli.
was about the Earth, but at the same time I was
using energy to keep an incredibly hot kiln going
for days at a nme to produce my l>tatcments about
the Earth.
For me, it's a bcucr statement to make :irt out
of smff that ii. already here. It's fun, .and people
go, ''Ohl You made thh is from that old stuff1 l
\\Ould never have seen that."
It rcqu~ looking a1 something th:11 may
seem to have no value and then changmg it to
make it into something of beauty and worth. I
Phoio by ltodncy \\ cbb
(. ontinued oq D<,\l 1'"4")
c
D ,Wt\lpfi J o \ t ~ 7
�(conunucd from page 7)
have more fun now making linoleum jewelry than
1 had creating my art before.
Kauwh: lt is interesting what you said earlier
about "materializing," bocause our society is very
materialistic. Even though they have so much,
people are always wanting something else and
putting aside what they already have in order to
get it. It feels like you are crearing the life you
want our of the discarded fragments of the
American Dream.
Robin: From time 10 time. of course, we
have to take a load 10 the dump. We always bring
recyclables along with the garbage. That saves us
the tipping fee, and we can get in for free. Once
we're in there. we can poke a.round. We find
aluminum, copper. batteries. antiques...it's
amazing how much valuable stuff is just being
tossed away. Lately it"s been slimmer pickings,
but for awhile we'd be coming out of there with
$50 worth of stuff almost every time.
I hope that the new dump is going 10 be more
efficient. They say that they are going 10 call it a
Robin: Last year 1 picked up a book by Alan
WattS. He made the point that although we
constantly talk about America as a materialist
society, that is not what America is at all. We are
a concepmal society.
Americans in general don't take care of their
material goods. They say, "Oh if I just could
have that, then everything would be great." But
it's not actually the thing they want, h's the
striving for something. As often as not, when
!hey actually obtain an object, it goes out in the
back yard until it rusts, and then they throw it
away.
Americans don't take care of material things,
and I've come to think that really being
materialistic may not be so bad. If we were really
materialistic, we would take care of our material
things better.
We're symbolistic. The symbol of good taste
is imitation cheese. It's not the good taste. IL's the
symbol of good taste.
Kattwh: When we buy stuff, we think "I'm
,uying mushrooms," not "I'm buying
nushrooms, and I'm buying a mushroom
.ontainer." Some things are garbage even before
ve buy them.
Ka11wh: So a lot of recycling has to do with
being able to tell when something is valuable.
Ivo: To my mind, everything has value.
There is not much that is nOt worth something in
some way. We just haven't figured it out yet. The
whole process is figuring it out.
For instance, our bathroom floor is made of
solid mahogany. A lumber company in town getS
plywood from Honduras. It is packed in crates
made of mahogany wood. They take the plywood
out and throw the crates away. We picked up the
crates, took all the nails out of them, and now we
have a mahogany floor.
All that tongue-and-groove siding on the
gazebo was given to us at the lumber yard - right
on the day we needed it. It's being in those
alleyways that puts you in touch with those
goodies. That wood was going to get wasted,
even though it was very valuable. Now look at it!
Robin: We have a small warehouse where we
store things, and we find after making the rounds
of the flea markets that then: is some stuff that we
cannot seem to put back into society. It may be
because the person out there who wantS it
probably lives in Colombia, and we can't get the
stuff to the places where people would take the
time 10 take the screws out and re-use them someplace where people would see these items as
goods rather than as waste.
Ivo: When there's something in our
warehouse that we don't know what 10 do with,
we just look at it in a different way. We sec it as
pans and strip it down. Maybe there's lots of
screws or nuts and bolts in it that are perfectly
useable, or maybe there's a piece of wood that
could be used for something else. A lot of what
we do is 10 strip things down. We don't have 10
go shopping for hard wan:, for one thing. We just
go down to our bins and boxes and find ii.
"4tiulh JoumaL rm9c 8
belong. One thing we c-0uld easily live without is
~e "throwa~ay society" concept that says. "I'll
JUSt throw this away and forger the other five and
one half billion people's opinion on it."
We all need a metal pile, a glass pile, and a
paper pile, and we all need to take care of them
be talking about them, and getting stuff to whe~
it belongs. One might not make much money
from it, bur it's a mauer of tucking it in, of taking
care of the future.
The best thing would be to change our
a1ticude about things from the instant we acquire
them. We need to think, "Now I'm the steward
of this. How am I going 10 take care of this?
What am I going to do with this?" And then
follow it through.
When we buy something, do we think about
where it came from? Do we think about what it
?Ontains? Do we think ~bout what it is packaged
tn? Maybe we shouldn t buy the mushrooms in a
,tyrofoam container, for instance, unless we have
1 specific use for that styrofoam container. Even
hough the styrofoam container of mushrooms is
mly 89¢ and unbagged mushrooms are 99¢, the
ost of the container · the living cost - has to be
dded in, even if it doesn't come directly out of
,ur pockets.
Photn by Rodney Webb
"Reclamation Center." 1 hope that means that
we're not going to throw away something like
$30,000 wonh of ready recyclables per day,
which is what they say is happening now. Thar's
why someone can go in there now and find $100
wonh of stuff in one visit - and that's just ready
recyclables: metals, glass, and paper. That's not
even mentioning antiques.
lvo: Some things are garbage, and some
llings are just difficult 10 use - like aluminum
;creen doors. We get 10 of them a month at least,
all different sizes, all custom-made for different
houses. There are no real Standards. Aluminum
windows are the same way. There's very little
chance that we'd find another space that would
exactly fit them. so we strip them down and
recycle them.
We wish that someone would Stan a small
forge that would take aluminum and make some
worthwhile thing out of it. We could make a little
money selling to them, and they could save a
whole lot of money.
Kar1lah: That's a good idea: spin-off
indusrnes.
100?
Robin: The Smith and Hawken Company
sells aluminum cast benches, very small benches.
for $795. They contain maybe 50. maybe 100,
pounds of aluminum. We sell 50 pounds of
aluminum for $14. rf we could provide their
stock, we could get maybe $20 out of it, and the
company would keep a lot more of tl1at $795.
lvo: I've hauled things to the dumpster for
people, and they've said "If you see any hinges
around, I'll buy them from you." Several times
I've stripped pans off items they have given me
and sold those parts back to the same people.
Once they see stuff as "tra.Sh," they're blind 10
what might be in there.
But if we're hauling aluminum and there's a
piece of steel in there. even though 1 may not
need that piece of steel, I take it anyway and
throw it on my steel pile. which is continually
going to the scmpyard. I call the steelyard the
"the no-pay mill," because they recycle it, but
they don't pay me anything for it. In the
meantime, though, I get to use it if 1need it.
This is an example of "dumpster karma." It's
not only a mauer of making a li\'ing. It's trying to
take care of things and putting them where they
Ivo: We've been doing building salvage and
demolition clean-up work. It's really helped us
while we were working on our house, but more
and more people doing building projects an:
calling us because they need these goods, 100.
Now thnc we're finishing up our own place. I
want 10 put together a crew that's made up of
people who want wood and other building
materials to take over these jobs.
And t want 10 learn more about wood thi~
year, because people who really know wood are
telling me that the wood being thrown away i$ a
thousand times better than the wood wl! are able
to buy today. We need to save that old wood.
We are completely into the practice of cutting
down more and more trees and driving the price
up. whereas what we really need to do is to go
back and have a new understancling of wood and
Kattlah: Do you sell things from your stash,
Spri.f\9, 1991
�figure out that this is really wonh something.
These old boards remind us of our
grandparents' lives. Our grandfather might have
cut this tree. This is the tree, the wood, wood
like this doesn't grow anymore. This is
something really, really imponant
Old joists can be new furniture. It doesn't
matter what we make out of iL It just matters that
the wood's not wasted, and that it is used over
and over. It's a renewable resource, but not in a
way that we can waste it
disrurbs me that some people look at re-routers
and recyclers as n-ash, like "Oh, you're in the
dumpster? You're trash."
There are several responses when people
come on us at work. One response is, "Alright!"
and the other is, "Uggghhhh." And it huns
sometimes when people look at me and go
"Ewww, you're trash." I have to keep reminding
myself, 'Tm not" It's easy 10 buy into that when
you're climbing in and out of dumpsters.
lvo: Once I was going from one litter barrel
Robin: Several times while doing salvage,
we've run into a situation that bothers us greatly.
That's when the person in charge of a building
demands a payment to allow us 10 retrieve stuff.
That's fine as long as those people are
willing to salvage what they can, because if they
set the value on it, then they are responsible for
getting it out. But it's not right for good materials
to be wasted.
It would be better for the people in charge ro
honestly embrace the idea that a building is
coming down, get out what they can, then let go
of the rest, and be joyous about other people
going in and getting what they could.
We have to be more honest about our
commitment to our own labor. If people are not
willing to do what needs to be done, then they
need 10 move out of the way and open those
opportunities for others.
Robin: Part of it is 10 release and
acknowledge and hope that there are other people
out there who arc doing the work, too, and that
people will pick up what they can use. For awhile
we were feeling like it wasn't getting picked up,
and maybe we'd beu.cr eick ilup, so that when
someone's ready for it. it's here. Well.'wc can·1
do that for everything. Everybody has to help.
Katuah: It is kind of underground. It's a
sub-culture.
Robin: I suppose it's inevitable, but it
Sprlnq, 1991
Ivo: Or that's going to break and they're
going to throw it away'!
But moving metal the way we do. and
thinking about everything in this way, that can
get real hlll'd, too. It's not easy work. Help
would be great. To know that more people are
doing it would be real good, because we could
feel like, "OK, maybe I can't get that particular
item. but it's going to get taken care of."
lvo: It drove us nuts, because there is so
much waste and it really hurt us, seeing it.
Robin: The flea market is one. It's a great
place • kind of like an underground marketplace,
except that it's not underground - where people
rrade stuff off: "Iley, rm not using this any
more, can you use this?" ''Yeah, I can use that"
lvo: The world slows down a bit, and you
make friends with it. It's a different way.
Robin: And who wants to worlc a job 10
hours a day to get this stuff that they don't know
what they are going to do with?
Robin: For awhile we did try 10 do
everything. But we can't do everyrlting. Like one
pc11ion can't save the world. You can try but
you'd blow out in the process. We're having to
learn that. Living in the city, it's pretty
mind-blowing how much gets thrown away, and
for awhile we were just all the ume husding,
hu.srling, lmstling!
Karuah: Precisely. That's another case when
the symbol of value has come into conflict with
real value. It comes down 10 the question of
where our commitments really are.
I'd like to know if there other options for
re-routi ng items.
Robin: lt is. And a lot of people our age
disdain the flea market and look down on that
class of people. That seems funny 10 me. because
the flea market is a place where people value this
old scuff and seek it out
The flea market, the mill - they are there. and
there are real people working those places. We've
become very good friends with the people at the
metal mill in town. They give us Christmas gifts,
and they gave us baby gift~. They're our friends.
We see each other regularly; we have a
relationship with those people. They're part of
our community.
Living in a community includes alt the people
we come in contact with, whether they are our
groovy friend~ or not Living in community
involves knowing the names of I.he people in the
stores or the lumber yard we go 10 and letting
those people know who we are. If we are
friendly to those people and accept them into our
community, then they're more open to sharing
with us the stuff that would otherwise get
wasted.
Ivo: We try to be non-consumers. We try to
offset the waste in this country. We're trying to
do more with less, and use what people throw
away, and a lot of times we find that those goods
arc better than what we can buy.
Phoio by Rodney Webb
to another with my bag, and a homeless person
came to me and asked to borrow money. I just
said, "Hey, it's laying everywhere!" And he said,
"I'm not going to pick up irash."
Where did he think my money came from?!
All l do is trade my trash for money, so my
money must be rrash too.
People never seem to think of money as
being dirty. We never even think about that We
play with our money, and then we sit down to
cat.
Robin: Someone asked me one day what we
do for a living. I said that what we do is try to
keep a low overhead. That's a big pan of being in
the salvage business: keeping a low overhead.
That's sometimes hard to believe when the bills
come due. Then l am reminded that I am still
tapped into this modem-day society. But for the
most pan we do pretty well at staying out of the
monetary now.
We don't garden as much as we want to, but
we've been working on our house and preparing
the gardens.
I saw a video recently about some tribal
people in Africa. All the women do most of the
day is pound millet 10 feed their families. They
don't have much, but their needs are very small.
lt made me wish I could discover the joy in such
a simple life.
lvo: We want to change the way we can
change. The way we can change is not stopping
and staning up again. It's working slowly and in
truth and in power with what we have and what
we know, in the spirit of trying to let it occur. All
we can do is work at it. We all need 10 suut by
asking what we can do.
We hear all the rime about what's bad and
what's killing us, but people need to know about
what we can do and what ideas are working what heals.
People tend to think that they are basically
helpless and that because the world's so big that
their little pan doesn't matter. This is death. We
want 10 teach people that the little pan that we
each play is what mancrs; that those little pieces
add up in a big way. and that is all there is. It
empowers us. That's life.
lnien,iew recorded by
Rodney Webb and llenry Eckler
Robin and /vo's "Compos, Cards" and
Robin's "Collaborations" jewelry are/or sale ar
1he "What Do You \Vant?" store on Luingu,n
A~·e. m Asheville. Tlae two also have a boo1h 01
the Asheville Antique Mall at the corner of
\Valnw Sr. and lexing1on Ave. where they sell
valuable pieces that 1hey J,avefound in their
salvaging.
�THE CLARKSVILLE "MIRACLE"
by Griscom Morgan
Once we undersl.'.llld the cause of the
decline of rural communities, many
opponunities and resources are at hand for
canying out corrective action. One example is
the story of William Bailey, who was the
president of the First National Bank of
Clarksville, Tennessee during the Great
Depression of the l 930's.
Bailey made a habit of visiting local
farmers to stay in touch and to check on the
condition of their operations. During one of
these visits a local fanner named Peter Barker
spoke frankly to the b:inker saying, "I am a
good fanner and have plenty of food in
production, but I can't sell the food, because
you have all the money, inste:id of it being the
hands of the people who need to buy what I can
grow.
"You won't lend the money, except at an
in1e~t rate which is higher than the people of
lhis county can afford. Since the local people
can't afford to borrow it, you're investing your
bank's money outside the county. Because of
this. the whole economy of our coun1y is at a
Sl.'.llldsrilJ!"
William Bailey saw the point. Agricultur>!,
labor, and enterprise were quite sufficient for a
successful economy in Mon1gomery County. lie
saw the county was suffering because it had
little money in circulation. He saw that he had
been acting on a banker's first impulse, which
was 10 follow the highest interest rates and
invest where they could be found.
Bailey cared about the people in his
community, and he saw that if the county's
economic woes were 10 be solved. there would
have to be a good supply of money in continual
circulation. He knew if he offered low-interest
loans, the local people would borrow the capital
and keep it circulating. He also knew that he
could guide lhe loans to see that they were
invested where they were needed in the
community. But it would be up to the people
themselves 10 mount a campaign 10 buy locally
10 keep that money from leaving the county.
Bailey began loaning the bank's available
capital as low interest loans to the people of the
county, and borrowed money from outside the
county 10 augment 1he available capital.
He analyzed the county economy and
suggested ways to shore up the weak points, as
well as responding 10 people who came 10 him
asking for loans. Always his main emphasis
was 10 keep money circulating in the county.
Money in an economy is like the blood
circulating in the body: if it bleeds out, then the
body dies. One reason Bailey was successful
was his ability to make the local people realize
that finance was like the crucial role of the
blood, and that everybody in the community.
nor just the bankers, must feel responsible for it.
!he morale of the community was very
tmportant.
But the crux of the whole mauer was that
William Bailey was not just looking out for his
institution and for his own individual profit. Ile
saw his firs1 responsibility as being 10 the
community. His policies met with success.
Mon1gomery County rose from being one of the
10 poorest counties in Tennessee to become one
of 1he IO most prosperous counties in the state.
What happened in Montgomery County
became widely known at the time. Some thought
Xotuah JoumaL pa!JC 10
that what happened in Clarksville was close to
the miraculous. Later, William Bailey was the
first small-town banker to be chosen president
of the American Banker.; Association. He
always said, however, that he was never able to
convince American bankers or American
businessmen to accept the basic perspective of
their social responsibility as bankers.
The Clarksville "miracle" was no miracle.
It was just common sense.
What happened in Clarksville, Tennessee
was very similar to wha1 happened in a small
town in Austria at about the same rime. Austna
was aJso suffering from the Depression of the
1930's. The small mountain town of Woergl
was in economic collapse. and its people were
starving. The mayor of the town remembered
that 100 years earlier, when the town had been
without roads and was isolated from the rest of
Europe, it had been prosperous. It therefore
seemed absurd that they should be starving
when they clearly possessed the conditions
necessary for full employmenc and prosperity.
Work needed 10 be done, and they had in the
local area aJI the resources necessary to feed and
clothe themselves.
The mayor persuaded the people of his
community to exchange their Austrian currency
for a local currency, which would be subject 10
an annual tax 10 discourage people from
hoarding it out of circulation. Three monihs after
the)'. began circulating the taxed money, lhey had
full employment in the community, in
comparison 10 the desperate unemployment they
had been suffering earlier.
By the end of the yeauhe town was once
again prosperous. and the mayors of other
Austrian towns began to follow suiL But the
Bank of Austria had the government prohibit the
practice because it was driving the national
currency out of circulation.
In both these cases, although the actions
taken wen: different, the end results were
similar. When money becomes the medium of
savings instead of the medium of exchange.
people suffer, and damage is done to the whole
economy. When money migra1es from an area,
then that area sinks into depression and the
economy stagnates. Communities can take steps
lo ensure the health of their local economies.
Self-Help Credit Union
In 1980, the Center ror Communi1y Stir· Help
was founded in Durham, NC m order IO help low-income
people in !.he area gain ownership of lheir jobs and their
homes. The CCSH provided tcehnical nssislance to
worker-owned nnd othcT cooperative businesses.
In 1984. the Cemer saw need t0 start !.he
SelC-Help Crcdu Union ( SHCU) in order 10 provide
loans to these businesses nnd IO encourage the building
or low-income housing. The SHCU is a bona fuk credit
union, a regulated, fcdcrally insured depo~tory
insti1ution. The Center also. in 1984, began 1hc
Self-Help Ventures Fund, a non-profit revolving loan
Cund (RLF).
In 1988, lhe SHCU opened an office in Asheville
IO scrvc the mounuin region. This past ye.ir, the WNC
office provided more than 5700,000 in l(Xllls, including
eight business loans. fi\'e home mortgages, six 103lls
from iL\ Working Women's Fund, and one loan through
iL~ Self-Help Ventures Fund It also made 13 loans worth
over $50,000 through the NC Rural Center's
Microcnl.Ctpri~ Loon Program. In lhis program, business
spccialiru; at WarTCII Wilson College's Black Swan
Center and at McDowell, Mayland, and Isothcnnal
Communily Colleges work wilh emerging cnireprcncurs
who need small loans nnd technical assistance in ordct 10
get their businesses going. The SHCU provides the loans
from a pool or runds set up by the NC Rural Center.
Unfortun:ucly, the interest r:ue is quite high.
In the WNC area, lhe SHCU has helped finance
Stone Soup ResL1uran1, Nnntahal:i Outdoor Center,
Asheville Monicssori School, YMJ Cuhural Center,
ABC Recycling, and other small business \'Cnturcs.
Self Help Credit Union
12 1/2-A Wall Street
P. O. Box 3192
Ashe~ille, r-.c 28802
(704) 253.5251
Mountain Microtnterprise Fund
do Chris Just
701 Warren WIison Rond
Swannano:i, NC 28778
(704) 298-3325
Working Women's Fund
do nVCA Women's Re.source Center
Asheville, NC 28801
(704) 254-7209
Griscom Morgan worked closely with his
father, Arthur Morgan. the visionary engineer
and rite first director ofthe Tennes.fee \'alley
Amltoriry. At his father's request Griscom
traveled 10 The S0111/iem Appalachians to find a
location for an in1en1io11al community. Griscom
found a beautiful spot in the meadows along the
Somlt Fork of the Toe River where the Celo
Comm1111iry still prospers today.
Bur Griscom could not .Hay in the
mountains. He fell there was work to be dnne ill
/tis native town of Yellow Springs, Ohio were
he rewrneti and with his wife, Jane.founded
Community Services, Inc., a "think tank" and
resource tenter for comnuu,iry living i11 ntral
area.r.
Commiuzin· Services can be contacted tlt
Box 243; Ye/lo"; Springs, OH 4538i.,
Drawinc by Rab Meuidl:
Sprtn<J, 1991
�The Village
by Snow Bear
Tlze village lzums witlz activity, all
cenJeri11g on providing for the basic luunan and
material needs of ics inhabitants ...
A circle ofartisans, including some
childreri. sit coiling. molding, and pressing wee
gray clay into fonns offunction and beauty that
wiff later be tempered in the open fire.
Others skin and butcher the carcass of a
you11g whitetail doe that han9s from a
chokecherry, using flakes offlint picked up by
the lodge where theflintknappers sit. The
rhythmic clacking ofthe toolmakers'
Juunmerstones striking theflilll cores is as
soothing as distant drums.
In the warmth of the spring sun, deer
hides are being scraped, rubbed with mashed
brains, stretched, pulled, and then smoked over
smoldering fires until ,heir traTLeformation imo a
soft, srrong fabric is complete. Skilled hands
thenfashio11 the buckskin into moccasins and
shirts. The remnants go into the making of
po11clzes and lacing. emphasizing the
preciousness of every scrap ofthe deer's skin
a11d every moment ofthe labor that cransfom1ed
it.
One man sits spinning a carrail stalk
between his pabns,pressing it downward into
the yucca stalkfireboard a11chored beneath /us
feet. Smoke curfs II{) in a thin plume. and in a
surprisingly slwrt time, he tenderly places a
small glowing coal 011to the cauail down and
cedarbark tinder. His breath brings the glow into
flame, and a group of young men begin working
with this gift offire, /,eating and s1raigl11e11ing
rivercane into bfowg1111s. Older, patient, steady
hands fletch yellow locust darr slzafcs with
thistledown.
Nearby, a wizened grandmother, with
uncanny deftness, peels and splits riverca11efor
her double-weave basket. She internvines splits
briglzcened with the orange juice ofbloodroot
with contrasting lengths dyed dark brown with
walnut bark.
looking up, the old woman smiles at the
children pounding dark red dent corn imo meal.
They use a hickory log that has been burned and
scraped inro a 11wrcar and a hickory sapling char
has been stripped and scrapt•d into a pestle.
At the cooking fire, a growrdlwg is
smjfcd with cornbread dough. wild ginger, and
peppcroot, wrapped in wet clay 011d covered
with hot coals to bake with cornbread ashcakes.
SpriWJ, 199 I
The cooks drop hot rocks into a rawhide pot
hanging from a tripod to bail a ve11iso11 stew
comaini11g wild leeks, choran greens, and
solomon seal tubers.
In the wooded coves above the
riverbonom village, a small, quiet scouri11g parry
lopes along at wolf-trot, sca11ning the
mo11nrai11sides for the gifts of namre 1h01 supply
their people with food, medicille, and row
mmerials that defi11e a cult11re. The J,erbman wlw
leads the scowing party scops, drops t0 the
ground, looks up to the sky, and makes a prayer
to ack11owledge with thanks the awesome forces
that have united to bring healing and sustenance
u, the people. He ties together a twist of tobacco
and a lock of his own hair 1h01 he mighr make a
gift ro the world, before his people gather
anything on this journey.
The scours res11me their wolf-trot, but
stop to examine every discernible sign. the
mushrooms that have bee11 nibbled by whitefoot
mouse and box wrrle; the core of a white pi,re
cone that has been neatly stripped ofits scales
and seeds by a gray squirrel; the greenbrier
shoocs browsed by a whitetail buck; rhe
meucufously picked a11d stacked crayfish shells
011 the rock next to the deep raccoon hind-tracks
in the creek.sand.
This is a world 10 be see11, heard,
u,uched, and smelled, a gift ofthe Earth Mother
and the Spirit-/11.-All-Things. To move through it
any other way seems 1mgratef11l. The scowing
parry remrns laden with the Mother's bo1mcy:
poplar bark to be twined imo cordoge; pitch
scraped from wounded pines/or a waterproof
glue made with powdered charcoal; resinous
pine/or starting fires in wet weather; cucwnber
root, solomon's seal, and bluff mustard,
sassafras, ginger, and sweet birch: a deer skull
and mrkey feathers - bur above all, kMwledge.
Knowledge of where to/ind the freshest spring
water, where the deer have been bedding down,
wlzere the turkeys have bee11 scratching and
roosting, where the large rro,u gather under
boulders in deep, shimmering pools.
Knowledge: that the people may live ...
This picture of village life is not, as it
might seem, ancient history. These were scenes
from the daily life of the Riverc;ine Rendezvous
held at Unicoi State Park in I lelen, Georgia in
April, 1990. This rendezvous was an outgrowth
Drawing b)- Manha Tree
of the Eanhskills Workshops held in
the same riverbonom meadow each
spring and fall for the last six years.
Darry Wood, Bob Slack, Jr., and
myself have had the privilege of hosting
and instructing these workshops with the help of
talented, accomplished guest insiructo!'1>. The
The 1990 Rendezvous, however, brought
together over 15 instructors and almost 50
participanis, many of whom we have i;r!!V.1l 10
know closely over the years.
One shared perception is that these
gatherings are much more than an educational
event. The skills shared there are of the eye and
hand, but just as imponantly, of the mind and
hean: knowledge and intuiriveness
complemented by patience and detennination, a
feeling of harmony with the things we shape,
and a vision of beauty, all blended into a
balanced whole. Some aspects of che sacred
work accomplished there can be described and
communicated; some of what happens there
must be felt and experienced. One becomes pan
of a small, temporary village, but in another
sense, we become part of a more pennanent
village of the ancients of all cultures, who lived
by these ways for thousands of years.
These skills can be used 10 create a
sustainable economy at iis purest - a wealth that
will last as long as the natural world lasts, as
long as the village is sensitive 10 the rhythm and
flow of the life of the land.
A nature-based economy knows both
bounty and shonage, but nature rarely produces
true poveny. Blue tongue disease may cause a
decline in the deer population, but the wild
turkey, also feeding on white oak acorns, will
probably increase. A decline in hard mast can
reduce the number of deer, bear, and turkey, bUl
the trout and beaver will probably be unaffected.
Of course, human beings arc capable of bringing
it all 10 an end; but there is a tremendous feeling
of security in knowing tha1 when the oil runs
om, when the money-ba.--ed economy collapses
of its own weight. one possesses Lhe knowledge
10 create and sustain a rich life, full of beauty
and bounty. The essence of this life, the element
that makes it fulfilling. is the village: people of
(IXll\linuod.., pai;e 12)
'.Kattmh Journal pn9c 11
�(cootinucd from page 11)
like mind gathering to pursue common
endeavors within the comforting
security of nature.
People return 10 the Eanhskills
gatherings as much for the village
experience as for the potential to
increase their knowledge. It is a basic
human need often denied by our
individualistic, companmentalized
society. In the village created by the
EanhskiUs gatherings. we Ullce
responsibility for creating our own
material culture, music, an, stories and
legends. rather than having i1 spoon-fed
10 us by an industrial society that
refuses 10 base itself on respect for the
One Great Life. In doing so, our minds,
hearts, and spirits grow stronger. I
know of no one who has not been
touched by the plaintive cry of the
Lakota flute in the pre-&.wn mist; no
one who is not deeply enriched by the
stories absorbed while gazing into the
hean of the campfire; no one whose
heart does not know a pure joy when
they have worked the magic of calling
fire from the bow and drill. As one
whose life is controlled by the pursuit
of money, my return to this (and other)
villages is always revivifying; it feels
like I reclaim, for a shon rime, my true
place in this world.
As h~mankind develops. this will
come: a life in which our "economic"
pursuits wi.11 not deny our need for
communal contact, spiritual growth.
cultural stimulation, and artistic
endeavor.
Snow Bear is an herbalist,
n.awralist, eanhskills instructor, and
storyrcller. He is a staffteam supervisor
at tlze 0111ckxJr Tlu:rapeutic Program i11
C/e-.,eland, Georgia and co-director with
his ll'ifc Khalisa of the Pepper/and
Fann Camp.
Snow Bear can be comacted by
writing c/o Pepper/and Farm Camp; Rt.
4, Box 255-8; Murphy, NC 28906 or
calling (7{},1)494-2353.
The 1991 RnvcOM Rentfewo11s will
rake pl&e on April 16-21121 Vnu:r)I Suue Parle,
/Iden. Georgia. Pre-rcgwr=n isSl.15 and
includes campzng, instrucrion. ond two meals
per day. Chew urt PtJy,able lQ "Earrhskills
ll'orJ:sl:op." For more informmion, call or
wriu:: Bob Sloe.Ir.. Jr.: Unicoi Sratc Par.Ir.: Box
1029; lfeltn, GA 30J45 (4()4) 878-220/
(£.rt , 282).
Insrructor Darry Wood with Eva Bigwirch
"through dreams,
through magic"
she says !ihe can fly. says she can fly
feathen; and wings. bones and Lhings,
says she can fly
she says lhe eanh feels like her body
sky feels like her home
she moves out over the water
but she always goes alone
says she can fly, yeah she says she can fly
feathers and wings, bones and things
lisLen to the songs that the spirits sing
she says she can fly
well once I knew a woman
now she's more than that
she flies up lo 1he scm at night
but she keeps on coming back
i;he says she can fly, says she can fly
bones and wings, feathers and lhingr.,
listen to the songs that the spirits sing
the ~now owl guides her journey
and the hawk knows where she goes
the eagle gives her life and light
but she travels with the crows
oh she says she can fly, says she can fly
feathers and wings, bones and things
listen to the song that the dark bird ~ings
feathers and wings. bones and things.
listen to the song that the spirit sings,
the spirit sings
"-atuals Journot J'"'J0 1:i
poems by Gary Lawless
drawing by Stephen Petroff
they read their stories in our bones,
heated by flame, cracks, sharp ridges,
fingers tracing futures etched by fire.
we carry your life in our blood, the p~se of
story begins in our marrow, a deep, nch red.
you read its traces in our bones.
hands in the fire:
"for the marrow is known to be
the dwelling place of souls"
when they wish to find us
they call to us in their dreams.
we answer them through bone, through fire.
(from "Ice Tattoo•)
When the animals come to us,
asking for our help.
.
will we know what they are saymg?
When the plants speak to us
in their delicate, beautiful language,
will we be able to answer them?
When the planet herself
sings to us in our dreams,
will we be able to wake ourselves, and act?
Por:ms and drawing from the book FITTI Sight of
Land by Gary Law/us, published /9')() by 8/aclt.btrr,
Boou. Aw1ilablefor $7.50 plus shippmgfrom the
publishtr at: RJl. I, Box 228; Nobleboro. ME; Gulfof
Maint Bioregion 04555
6prln(J: 1991
�FOOD MOVERS:
Ron Ainspan and Mountain Food Products
not show up in time. Theo, although a company
may be doing a great business, at the same time
it's bouncing checks all over the place or it's
running out of funds 10 do what needs to be
done. It's in trouble
I like being small. We've sacrificed some
of the closeness that we had. Personally I think
that it makes sense 10 grow slowly, so we can
maintain the kind or environment in which people
can keep a connection with each other. We hold
staff meetings every week to involve all the
employees in the operation of the business, 10
talk about personal relationships · whatever
comes up. It's like a family; we have our
quarrels, and we try to work stuff out, either at
staff meetings or in smaller personal talks in the
course of the day's work.
For years local food growers have said that
the lack of a developed market for organic and
locally-grown produce was holding back
alrerflQ/ive agricu/mrefrom raking itS riglefu/
place in our regional economy.
Ron Ainspan was one of those growers.
Seeing the problem clearly, he built a local food
distriblllion network thaJ now stands ready 10
meet the needs of those w/w produce and those
who wish to buy wlwlesome and m11ri1io11s
nwumain-grownfruit and vegetables.
The Mow11ain Foods plan is now nwving
into its second stage. With rite network secure,
Ron is now actively helping growers to organize
and to produce the food thaJ will fill the niche the
Mouruain Food Products Company has created.
Ron is an enabler. He is one who can bring
a vision inro physical manifestation. This calling
requires special skills.· patience, dedication, a
genius/or strategic maneuvering, and a clear
sense of purpose. And, as Ron re/ls us in the
following interview, those who set out to realize
their dream must walk the narrow tightrope of
inregril)' . keeping their principles while creating
a vessel that will stay a/u)OJ in the currents of
physical reality.
Katuah: Can workers participate financially
in the company?
Ron Ainspan: We started a profiL-sharing
plan that we made up ourselves. People get a
check every three months based on how the
company is doing, and on how much they work.
Full-time workers are eligible to receive a
half-share six months after they start and a full
share after a year. Part-time workers are eligible
for a half-share after their first year. It is an
incentive for people to stick around.
Kat(Ulh How did you get the idea that
being a food distributor was a meaningful avenue
for social change?
Ron Alnspan: I've been involved in
encouraging the local agricultural market for quite
awhile. During the early '80's 1 was growing
produce to sell 10 local markets, and during that
time, I helped to set up the Tailgate Market in
Asheville, which is a growers' market now
locared on Merrimon Avenue.
It was in 1984 when a small group of local
producer:; called some meetings, and we talked
about the idea of working toge1her to distribu1e
our producL\ • bakery goods, sprou1s, tofu, and
produce. l "as finishing my gardening for the
season. so I staned 10 coordinate the whole thing
and began deliveries. Mounta.in food Products
hns been doing it ever since, although now we
focus on produce almost exclusively.
After we had been going for two or three
months. I met a woman who was working in
produce at The Fresh Market, Debbie Thomas.
We became a pannership, and stancd LO contacr
restaurants and some grocery stores 10 notify
them that we were distributing produce. The
business really took off, and we have become a
good-:;ized purveyor of produce, selling
primarily 10 restaurants, but also to some retail
stores.
Karuah : How big is the company'!
Ron Ainspan: We have 16 or 17 people
and five trucks. We sell wholesale only, making
deliveries 10 Asheville, Hendersonville, and as
far west as Bryson City. Only one truck is
refrigerated; the rest are small delivery vehicles,
from Mandard cargo vans up 10 pa.reel-type
trucks.
We do a lot of shon routes. We shuttle
food in and out of here from 6 or 6:30 in the
morning to four o'clock in the afternoon. The
little intersection out~ide the office is a traffic jam
in the mornings · with people rushing back and
forth with pallet jacks and hand ltllCkli for several
Sptit1CJ, 19!.lt
Phoco by Rodney Webb
hours. It's a scene of half-organized
confusion ...trucks going out and coming
in ... people pulling food out of the coolers.
Panicularly during the summer season, it's a
constant hustle to get the food out to the people
the way they want it. when they wan, 11. But it's
fun.
Kattiali: How many coolers are there?
Ron Ainspan: We've got two walk-in
coolers. One is 12 feet by 30 feet. and the other is
a couple of feet longer, nnd then we have dry
storage space in the rooms. We're going 10 have
10 expand the smaller cooler. tx.-causc we've been
busring the scams out ofit this year. We have had
10 buy at least one vehicle every year and do
some kind of cooler e:,.pansion every other year
since we ~tarted. It doesn't seem 10 stop.
I would like ii if our rate of growth did
slow down. If a company grows too big 100 fast,
then it has 10 incorporate systematized
relationships 10 maintain standards of quality and
10 keep clear accountability for evcl)•body's
activities. It begins to involve very bureaucratic
systems, and everybody become:. subject 10 rules
that don't make sense to anybody except the
people at the lOp. everybody else becomes a
puppet 10 to the rules.
But if a company growl> slowly. and tries,
as we've tried 10 do, 10 involve everybody in a lot
of the aspects of the business, then people can
maintain a connection 10 the whole operation,
even as it changes.
Kau,ah : The finance~ change 100. don't
they?
Ron Ainspan: Yes. Under condi1ions of
fasL-paccd growth iL':. easy Lo run up large bills
for receivables, and the necessary cash just may
K01t'loli: How is all this helping 10 build
markets for locally-grown food?
Ron Ainspan: My concept. even as we
were growing, has been 10 provide a reliable
supply 10 the customers. Because l supply the
market all year round, we are keeping a market
open for the local produce when it comes in. That
gets us outside the regional economy 10 some
extent. because to keep up a consistent supply we
have 10 make runs 10 Atlanta. There we buy
produce that comes in from everywhere, but we
also take mountain-grown bibb lettuce, shiit.'.lke
mushrooms, sprouts, and produce in season to
be sold in the city. It'~ a two-way exchange, but
overall it works out well for the local growers,
because, locally or in the city, we are always
ttying 10 move local produce.
We've been able 10 be useful to local
growers as an outlet. There arc s1x or seven
people that we deal with all the time, some of
them year-round because more people: arc getting
into greenhouse production. Two regional
growers arc cultivating hydroponic bibb lenucc,
and Ed Mills of Sunshine Makers Sprouts in
Fairview is producing organically-grown alfalfa
and mung bean sprouts.
A basic operating principle of our company
is 10 buy our stock locally whenever we can. Our
original goals when we siarted Mountain Food
Products were to suppon the local economy, to
encourage small-scale production, and to keep
things on a pen;onal level. We still keep that
commiunent.
Kat1iah: Do you emphasize organically
produced food?
Ron Ainspan: We are just getting strong
enough 10 move into that. As I said, our first
priority was moving local produce. We learned
that in order to be effective in doing that, we hod
(eontinll<d on next 114ge)
Xntilnfi Jburnn(, r1QCJIS 1
3
�(c:auinu<:d fninl page 13)
to provide produce of top quality all year. As we
built that capability, helping the local growers
actually diminished in imponance, because we
were growing so fa~1 overall. Now we sell to
over 100 different accounts, and we have enough
rumover that we can mke the time and the energy
10 seek out local growers. Now we can
confidently say, "Grow food for us and we can
sell it." We can help people ge1 going.
It's puuing 1he two together: !hose who
need the food, and those who have it
Righi now we aze helping to organize a
cooperative of local organic growers. A group of
six to 1en local growers from the area around
Asheville is meeting every iwo weeks.
Mountain Food Products bas been able to
sell all the produce that has been offered to us by
the local growers we aze working with, but we
have not been able to sell ii as "organic produce."
We have often bad 10 mix it with conventionallygrown produce and sell u at the same price. So
we are banding together 10 promote the organic
concept and reach out more to the remil market.
We are offering supermarkets a package deal
~hereby, if we can get a small "organic" section
m the produce department, we will stock it and
promote it ourselves by pmting up signs and
making a lot of personal connections. We have
seen some interest in this among the local chain
stores.
Initially the co-op is going to work through
Mountain Food Products. I don't know what will
work best in the long run, but right now we can
offer !he trucks and the cooler space.
For the last two years - especially since the
Alar scare - more organic produce has become
available. More people are handling it, and more
people are asking for it, so we have been able to
carry it. We can get supplies reliably and we have
customers who want it
We can now support organics in the same
way that we suppon conventional local produce.
q,as.c; productio~ that-it'$ difficuh_ to compete as a ,...
small gro~er with most oflhe things that_ arc
grown: Its largely a qu~snon. of economies of
scale: if you can sys1em1ze th10gs, you can
produce them more cheaply. It's not as human a
syscem. because it forces people to do very
routine, monotonous jobs without much say-so
about what they're doing, and not much control
over their working conditions. And with
transportation being fairly cheap, a company C30
economically move a product great distances
from one place to another.
There's another reason, too. As the whole
system has gonen more centralized. it has become
harder 10 break into the distribution chain.
Kan1ah: What do you think needs to
happen to get the local market going?
Ron Ainspan: It's an on-going process of
making people aware of the importance of
keeping it close 10 home. Mass media advcnising
barrages and other market forces tend to make
people expect a product that is mass-marketed It
could be anything - from Big Macs 10 cars to
electronics.
I was talking to some people about the idea
of opening a "brew pub" here, a place that
actually brews its own beers. But a venture like
that would have 10 buck Michelob and Coors and
companies of that size.
Another of those market forces is access 10
capital - somethings take a lot of money to get
started. That's certainly another aspect that tends
to propel large-scale operations, operations that
make a product one place and distribute it
everywhere.
r think that the advantages of keeping
Kamah: It sounds like the whole time
you've been building the company, you've been
thinking of developing a regional agriculture.
Ron Ainspan: My guiding philosophy has
a lot 10 do with keeping things local and
maintaining personal relationships. I don't like
the coipOrate mentality and standardi7.ed ways of
doing things. Individual initiative is very
important, and that's something that in many
cases is threatened by the way the economy
functions.
The corporate mentality is lifeless. People
need to be alive and thinking. Then, even if they
screw up, at least they're trying and putting
themselves into what they arc doing. That has
always been important to me.
Ka11wh: Why do you think that there are
not more people growing food for sale?
Ron Ainspan: It's a lot of work and n fairly
low pay-off. So much of farming is large-scale
,c.aiuah Journal plUJc 14
Kar(tah: What are some of the reasons that
local production is advantageo\lS?
Ron Ainspan: To me the most important
thing is having a personal connection 10 what }'Ou
do jn your dnily life. Too many people just put in
their work hours so that they can play when they
are not working. Our work-life is the biggest pan
of our life, and we should do something that's
innately satisfying. We need 10 be able to give
our own personal input, to put our own personal
stamp on what we do. I think that's really the
thing.
There is also the whole question of some
geographic areas taking advantage of others, and
the dollars that are lost from a local area. If your
beer is coming from Colorado, 1hen your beer
dollars are going to Colorado. 1f your produce is
coming from western Nonh Carolina, then your
money is being kepi in the local economy.
That kind of concept is in contrast to the
prevailing "trickle-down" concept that says it's
efficient to produce on a large scale somewhere
far away and distribute over a wide area, and the
wealth that is created from doing that will
evenrually work its way down to everybody.
That kind of system creates an imbalance between
the people who are very wealthy and the people
who get just a triclcle.
Karualr: The reason we are able to dunk
and act that way is because of our tremendous
(continued Cll'I page 30)
POEMS
by Jim Clark
Katuah: Secure that market and then plug
in the local goods.
Ron Ainspan: However, the growth
potential for local production is still greater than
the growth potential of the local market There's
the possibility of growing more produce in
western North Carolina than the market could
handle, at least right now.
thing! focal, small, andpel'sonal nud"to bet''~._
continually put in front of the public. People tend
to go along with whatever the trend or the lates1
marketing campaign is.
LIGHTS
i
This is the body's land at home here
or nowhere.
Through deep-welled air
the magne1 moon
orients the singing
skin's cardinal points.
ii
In cedar hung silence,
through camp smoke and wave lap,
shards of stunned brighmess
speak
a language of light
iii
As from a great distance
patterns are seen
to shiver
suddenly into focus,
so these lights
flashing at the body's perimeter
connect
and in the vibmting darkness
chart our every step.
MOUNTAIN WALKING SONGS
i
Always the ancient air
finds its home in our lungs
and goes on
ii
AJways our feet
move lightly
over the charged ea.nh
iii
Always we are walking
in the mountains
singing
Spri.n9, 1991
�Going about the Business
of Building a Regional Economy
These are profiles. shorr sketches of what
some people are doing and how they are dcing it.
These are only aJew examples showing different
facets of a possible regional economy. Many
other enterprises and projects have appeared in
the pages ofKa1uah Journal, in both the ads and
the feature sections - parricular/y in issue #7, the
first time the jo1unal touched specifically on the
question of a regional eco,wmy
COUNTRY WORKSHOPS
(Drew Langsner)
90 Mill Creek Rd
Marshall, NC 28753
(704) 656-2280
When I.hey first bought their farm in the
nonheas1em c?mer of Madison County in 1974,
Drew and LoU1Se Langsner hope.cl 10 make their
living close to the land, doing the things I.hat they
loved. Foremost among these were farming and
woodworking.
The couple was already well-versed in
traditional woodworking and other folk skills
largely as a result of a trip to Europe taken during
the early 1970's. However, they spent "four lean
years" of minimum wage work interspersed with
some magazine writing and some craft projcccs as
they gradually figured out how to put their skills
10 work.
In 1978 Drew and Louise hi l on the idea of
a woodcrafts school called Country Workshops.
The school would offer students seven-day
courses on the Langsner fann to teach some of
the skills Drew and Louise had garnered in their
travels and studies. The Langsners saw the
school as a way 10 earn income by sharing skills
they knew well and loved 10 practice.
With $500 of their personal cash, Drew
and Louise set up the first session of Country
Workshops. Enough people attended 10
encourage them 10 continue the idea, and the
workshops have happened every summer since.
It was mostly love of the work and a belief in the
potential of the idea that kept the Langsners at it
for the first years. "Only recently," said Drew,
"have the ~eip½~ shown anything appro,dmating
even a pan-nme mcome."
To round out support for their famHy,
~rew farms, producing cows and hay, and sells
his excellent ladderback and Windsor chairs on
order. The fann emphasizes Red Devon cows an
historical breed that came over 10 Plymouth with
some of the first white seulers from England.
Sprl.ng, 1991
The businesses presented here must be
viewed from two perspectives: the economy as it
is now, and the economy as it could be.for tliese
are businesses that are working within borh of
these contextS simultaneously. They are working
enterprises within 01u present economic sen'{),
b111 they are also the inspiration and the
infrasrrucnue for a new, mtJre appropriate
economy - although in some cases the operators
miglu deny that as their intent.
To fwiction within 01u present economic
system requires compromise, and the businesses
presented are evaluated honestly in terms of
Louise grows excellent vegetables in her gardens
and prepares them for their guests during the
workshop season. They are also occasional
authors. Together they wrote a book on European
craftwork, and Drew has also written three
instructional books: A logbuilder's llandbook.
Country Woodcraft, and Green Woodworking,
all well-known and well- respected in their fields.
"We're not even close to middle class,"
sars D~w, "but we've moved away from being
poised nght on the edge. Our car died a few
months ago, and I was able 10 purchase a used
car without it being the major crisis it once would
have been."
At first the workshops taught only two
courses: Scandinavian woodcarving with old
hand tools, and log cabin building. Now the
curriculum also includes Swiss coopering,
Japanese woodworking, ladderback and Windsor
chair-mnking, and basketry. Drew at first spent
muc~ ?f th~ time teaching, but recently
~dm1m~trauve tasks have been occupying an
mcreasmg percentage of his time. "Wilh seven 10
twelve people here and the needs of the students
and teachers to attend 10. it wa,; difficult and
sometim~ impossibl<:; 10 see to everything while I
was teaching as well Drew also allows up to
two students to live with their family for extended
winter tutoriaV apprenriccship programs.
The students sleep in a building on the
property and Louise prepares meals for all. "The
food is excellent, but the sleeping arrangements
are still somewhat primitive," says Drew. "Still
only a few people have minded at all."
"While we don't teach saictly Appalachian
crafts per se, I think the surroundings here are
imponant to the people and contribute a lot to
their appreciation of the experience. Many of the
people who take the courses are folks who get a
two-week vacation each year and decide 10 spend
one _w~ek of it here at a workshop. That is very
gra11fy1ng to me.
"People get more out of the experience than
just 1he skills of woodworlcing. Students write
back to say that they have learned something here
ecological a11d economic impact and
s1istain.abiliry. Their collective experience is a
report card, indicating ro /IS as a region how we
are doing at this business ofb[tilding a
land-based economy. Admiuedly, we have a long
way1ogo
Bw rhe most impanant message rha1 these
people and these projects bring UJ u.r is that there
are things we can do, tlllll we can begin now,
even if conditio,rs are not perfect, even if rite deck
is stacked against 11s in the shon nm.
Profiles compl/i,d by
Ernest Womlck and Millie Sundstrom
about what is imponant to them."
The same might be said of Drew and
Louise, two talented people who are clear about
the life they wane and have found a way to live it
Their fann and their skills are important to them.
Rather tlJaP. move;c;>.the urban marj(!!IP!ace to.sci.~ ~
ineir ~k.ills foi: me higltest price, th~y Jiav• found>n.e:>
a way to balance their abilities to provide a
satisfying life in the countryside.
BRIGHT HORIZONS,
BRIGHT MOUNTAIN BOOKS
(Eric and Cynthia Bright)
138 Springside Rd
Fairview, NC 28730
Bright Mountain Books is a publishing
house specializing in Appalachio.n regional
material. Bright Horizons is a regional book
distributor. Boch companies arc the creations and
the present passion of Eric and Cynthia Bright
Says Eric Bright, "We wanted to strut a
publishing company. but to publish books you
have to sell them, so we first began distributing
books 10 make a marketing network."
Today their first ambition is still largely
unfulfilled. Most of I.heir business and most of
their income still comes from book distribution
sa!e~. Bri~ht Mountain Books has published four
onginal ntles, however: Keep 'Em loughing by
Bob Terrell, Disorder in the C()llrt by Bob Terrell
and Marcellus Buchanan, Two on the Square by
Bob Moore, and Poper Mansions by Bob
PadgeR They have also reprinted other works
that were out of print and would have been lost,
like Moun1ai11 SpiritS and More Mountain Spirils,
well-read books about the Appalachian
moonshining culture.
The couple has jusc invesccd in new
computer equipment and a laser printer that will
be reserved strictly for publishing work. They
hope that the new tools will launch them more
deeply into the publishing side of their business.
Or.win& by Rob Missick
(conlirwed on pege 16)
Xatl'.mh Journat PCMJC 15
�(CCII\UIIUOd &om page IS)
•
create our own markeL We've done that.
'There has been a ground swell in interest
Bright Horizons is highly successful. The
in herbaceous native plants. The interest
company sold one-third more books in 1990 than
continues t0 grow, and we arc optimistic, but I
it had any other year in the pasL !he o'Yncrs,
suppose I should have done a ~arket ~e)'. I
while feeling that their comp~y lS malcing a
would have sought outside capital and Just bitten
contribution to the understanding and
.
the bullcL
appreciation of the Appalac~s and. Appalachian
~we can see clearly in hind.sight that we
culture, see some weaknesses tn their sue~.
"We are very dependent on the tounst ll'ade should have been harder-nosed businesspeople
initially. If I could start over again, l would
righi now," says Eric. "That means that we have
educate myself to good business practices
to malce concessions to the demands of the
beforehand, because that end of the operation is
market and offer some books that we may not
not anractive to either Meredith or me, yet we
particuiarty like, but which are good sellers and
can't avoid iL I would say that we are right now
are important to our retail store customers. .
"I saw a book called White Trash Coobng, making the tranSition from be~g dedica~ed
hobbyists to becoming professional busmess
and my first reaction was that I didn't want t?
people."
carry that book at all, but customers kept calling
The two are confirmed plant-lovers, and
and asking for it. and so finally I gave in and put
they started their business from a desire tO spend
it in stock. We sold 2,000 copies in the firstfour
time doing what they love to.do the most ~oth
months it was available."
are knowledgeable about nanve plants. Ed ts a
Are they living well? "No," they say. "We
professor of botany at the University of
haven't had a family vacation in ten years. We
Tennessee at Knoxville. It is hard 10 imagine two
haven't made our material goals, but we feel we
people more qualified for this work, yet Ed says.
a.re following out our p!an, and we ar~ firmly
"if we were dependent on the business for our
committed to the direcuon we are taking.
livelihood, we would be in the poor house. . .
"When we get our daughters through
We're going 10 give it a few more years, and if ll
college, we will think more about our own
doesn't become more profitable, we probably
lifestyle."
will get om of it."
They see the greatest problem wi~ ~cir
Some of the plants growing in the Native
work being that they spend much of !hCU' nme .
doing mundane chores that they don ~ n~e~y Gardens have commercial uses as herbal
medicines or botanicals. Ed would like 10 develop
enjoy, but which are necessary to maintaining
that trade because botanicals are growing in
their business at this stage. They are, however!
popularity and commerc!al harvesting in the _
wild
satisfied with their present progress toward their
would put 100 much stra.tn on the plant spec1es,
goals.
many of which are endemic or rare.
"I don't subscribe to the idea that
"Producing botanicals probably has greater
companies have to necessarily grow and grow
potential than the straight production of , . .
and grow," says Eric. "When a company gets to
wildflowers for gardening,'' Ed figures. This lS
a manageable siz.e !hat fulfills the needs of the
already a big business in the Southern_
owners, then it is quite alright t0 ease off and
Appalachians, but it is not developed m the way
maintain it at that level."
that it could be. As it stands now, a few large
And the Brights agree c~mpletely ah?ut
companies pretty much control the market. They
one thing: "People have to rcaliz.c that i:unnmg a
contt0l the price, they control w~at_ they buy: and
business takes l 50% of your efforL It is a very
the guy out there on the mounl8lns1de doesn t
demanding task."
have any choice."
Ed and Meredith are conscientious in their
work. They started out with ~ highest stan~ds
of purity. Now they use pesuc1des and fungicides
"only if we have to, or if there are legal
requirementS for them." That was another le~on
learned. "If somebody is going to g~t into this
business and thinks that they are going 10 totally
avoid chemical pesticides, they're naive," says
NATIVE GARDENS
(Meredith Bradford-Clcbsch and Ed Clebsch)
Ed.
. d al.i.n
There are other issues of concern in e g
Rt. 1, Box 494
with native plants.
Greenback.TN 37742
"We ask questions about whether the
plants we buy have been propaga~ed in th~
Native Gardens, the creation of Ed and
nursery or if they have been du~ in the w)ld. For
Meredith Bradford-Qebsch, offers herbaceous
the first four years of our operauon, we simply
plantS almost entirely of native varieties and all
didn't deal in materials that were dug from the
propagated from seed and cunings, for wholesale wild. Lately we have bought rescued plants from
and retail sale. Most of the plants are sold m
situations where their destruction is absolutely
containers, although they sell some field pl~ntS 10 certain. But we are not yet at a point where we
landscape architects. Much ~f the company s
would tum around and sell those materials
business is mail orders obtamed through
directly. We use them for propagation pufJ>?SCS.
Meredith's tastefully-designed catalog. .
"I am also concerned that we are creanng a
Personnel consists of Ed and Mered1th an~ considerable mixing of genetic material, because
two part-rime helpers and another worker, who lS we often buy plants from other pl~es '.111d grow
full-time except for the winter months.
them out 10 maturity for sale. The dilunng of
Ed and Meredith started Native Gardens
genetic purity is something that ~onccrns 11s, and
with their own money.
we think it will become an issue m the next
"If we had paid for a pre-opening market
decade."
survey, we never would have opened," said Ed.
Ed urges people not to be idealistic when
"We inruitively knew that we were on the
staning a business.
, .
beginning of what we were confident was a
"We run into people who say, fd like to
rising trend, but we knew that we would have to
do that. It looks like so much fun.' It is, if you
Xatuah Journ.at pCMJe 16
..
are willing to work 16-18 hours per ~Y"The market is there. I wouldn t
discourage anyone from getting started, but I
would encourage them 10 go into it with their
eyes open. It is an enormous amount of work,
and it takes some knowledge up fronL The .
starry-eyed ideal of growing plants and having
them sell themselves automatically is not true. If a
person has that idea, then they would do better
not to get into the business at all."
FRENCH BROAD FOOD CO-OP
(Barb Acker)
90 Biltmore Ave.
Asheville, NC 28801
The French Broad Food Co-op. the
member-owned food co-op in Asheville, NC has
made a move - a big move. Not just from ~cold
cramped quaners in the Old Chesterfield Mill on
West Haywood Street to a new address on
Biltmore Avenue, but a shift in policy that
involved borrowing $100,000 to change their
location and to expand the store, so the co-op
could serve the general public as well as the
co-op membership.
The co-op is run by a 7-person board of
directors elected by the membership at an annual
membership meeting. The board hires the store
manager and it was the board that decided to
undenak~ the $100,000 debL To raise that
capital $42 000 was borrowed from individual
mem~rs a~d another $60,000 was obtained
through the Self-Help Credit Union.
Barb Acker is the co-op manager, in charge
of supervising the day~t<Hlay OJ?Cration o~ the
store and its four full-ume and CJght pan-tune
staff people. She is encouraged by the response
to the move and feels it has revitalized the co-op.
'We are in the mainstream financial market
right now, deeply in debt., but. we fel~ that it was
necessary in order to make this leap in growth.
We are finding it to be money well-spent, and we
arc starting to pay back the loans on schedule."
"For the five years prior to November,
1990 while we were at the Chesterfield Mill, we
had a'bout 800 people from 400 families who
sustained the business. In the two and one-half
months since we've moved, our membership
base has increased to 1200."
Co-ops are different than most o~cr •
economic instirutions in that their goal 1s SCMCC
mher than profiL Co-ops depend heavily on
volunteer help; they keep a small rnar&;in of
overhead with which to run the operanon, but
they are not in the business of accumulating
wealth or making anyone rich. Co-ops generally
define their goals in terms of filling basic needs,
rather than using people's needs to reap pe!Sonal
and material benefits. Some co-ops see their
purpose as simply providing a cenain product,
but there are others that see themselves as pan of
an oo-going, overall social change.
The French Broad Food Co-op sees itself
as having a role in the changes ~at are happening
in the Asheville area and the region. Barb,
speaking of the grour 's long-range goals,
pointed out that "a trade magazine caJJ;d
.
Cooperarive Grocer ran a quote back m the spnng
Sprt.nq, 1991
�i~) l._ 't ' Jlt) :i :11 '"\) I
~ O I
t \~ If "' ..•ll
of 1990 that impressed me. (t reads, 'Food
co-ops n~ to be quality, profitable groceries,
but also pan of a larger social transformation.•
"1 think that's the essence of the
cooperative movement and also of the French
Broad Food Co-:op. Socilll change is very much a
p:ut of the C(),,()p's n1essnge in that we arc trying
to bring something different to people that is
better for all of us, beuer for the whole."
The co-op's first task is providing quality
food, but living in this world means making
choices and finding a workable balance. Barb
says, "We are providing the best physical
nourishment that we can in the food products we
offer, and we try 10 make equitable choices on
everything we buy to make sure that they have
the least environmental impact possible.
However, 95% of the food lhat we sell comes in
from outside the region.
"Produce is one area where we might be
able to change that Produce is 16% of our total
stock. Most of that presently comes from outside
the region. But it is a high priority for the co-op
to suppon local farmers, and we are now talking
with farmers to help them plan whar they plant
for the next growing season, knowing that the
co-op now is a much bigger market for them.
"We definitely do encourage our buyers to
buy locally whenever they can, but the reality of
the situation is that very little of our food is
locally-produced at this point. You just can't get
cashews from the Appalachians. One of the
realities of food distribution is 1ha1 it is
world-wide, and we have to provide what people
are u$ed to getting if we are going to stay in
business. We realize that shipping food all across
the world has a major environmental impact. But
I suppose things have to be W(;ighed in the .,
balance, and we see oun;elvcs as trying to 1
educate more people as to how they can eat bener
for less money."
The emphasis on eduC.'.lcion is another
imponant way that co-op members see their
business taking pan in social change. According
to Barb, "the next step we have to take, now that
we are settled down in our new loca1ion, and the
dust is settling from the transition, is that we have
to stan education right away. Folks are coming in
and saying. 'I want to switch from eating so
much meat, but I don't know what to do with this
tofu sruff.'
"People are more interested in eating food
that hasn't been poisoned. Even chain
supermarkets arc s1aning to carry organic food,
and it's making an impact on the everyday
person's consciousne.~s. We arc staning co see
that what we eat makes a difference in how we
feel, and how that makes a difference in the
health of the community and the health of the
world as a result People are wanting to cat
bener, and realizing tha1 eating good food fuels
the body much better."
"If we can't help people make that
transition, we aren't going to be here very long.
But the co-op staff people are qui1e ready 10 help
with that. They have been doing this work for the
last 15 years, and now they have a better
opportunity lo help 1he public learn how to use
good food.
"People are catching on about doing things
cooperatively, too. Thal':; another thing that we
have to teach. Worker-members have doubled in
number since we have moved here. Members feel
a real sense of belonging and contributing 10
some1hing: supplying decent food that they want
10 buy and are proud to offer 10 01hers.''
The co-op members arc also aware their
Sprtn(J, l 991
I
,fj
O!J
-,.//
1,11,
fl f /.., •,.t.. r)
4
J,.
business is making c.onlributions on tither levels.
"It's a physical sus1enance that we offer," says
Barb, "but it's also a social sus1cnance as well.
We want to promote a feeling of community. We
have one room that has been designated as the
community room, and we have a bench made out
of a rree that is just inside the door where people
can sit around and visit. That essence of
community is very central to the reality of the
co-op.
"We have a.water cooler, one of the
old-fashioned ceramic ones, that is filled with
spring water from up in the mountains, so the
co-op is also the watering hole."
The co-op also took a concrete step to help
people get through the recession. In line with
their policy of providing oosic foodstuffs at the
cheapest possible prices, the co-op in January cut
the mark-up on all the beans and grains in the
store to just above cost. Again, It was a question
of finding a balance.
,
"Right now in this co-op and in many
n:llural food stores and co-ops around the country
there arc a lot of packaged. fluffy foods that none
of us really need. but which we have become
used to," said Barb. "It's the fluffy alternative to
the products the supcnnarkets have. We have 10
answer that, so we stock them.
"People can choose whether or not they
want those expensive items. But the things they
need to live on will be here, and they will be
affordable."
But the co-op has also made a commitment
to quality. "Most of our produce is organic. so it
is somewhat higher-priced than produce a, the
supermarket," Bnrb explained. "We are adamant
about maintaining our support of the organic
fanning industry, so that it can c90tinue 10 grow
and flourish. To Mthdrawoursllpport ts&ause
I
conventional food is cheaper would oo 10
compromise our commitment 10 pure food.''
The co-op is moving forward. The group
is excited about the changes enabling them to
better carry out their original purposes.
tl'ltS . .ts,-it
.
GREG OLSON
211 Stoney Knob Rd.
Weaverville, NC 28787
(704) 658-0834
"In designing environmental homes, I am
basicaUy looking at three levels of impact," says
Greg Olson. "I try 10 minimize impacts on the
environment by designing homes that are
energy-efficient and rely heavily on alternative
energy sources. I try to look out for the
environment by using materials that have as linle
negative impact as possible in their production
and use. And then I pay attention to the health
impacts, which include things like electricity,
water quality, and how different spaces wi1hm
the house nre going to be used."
· Greg is an al1em:uive home designer who
is presently doing a brisk business planning and
overseeing the construction of environmentallyconscious shelters in 1he Katuah Province.
"My sole criteria for taking on work is
whether the people want an energy-efficient
home." he says. ''l don't look at the size of 1he
project, the money involved, or the building
f
"!i
,
r
•
, .....
, ~le. Jt could be an exciting project, btlt if it
looks like its not geared toward energy efficiency
I refer them 10 someone else.
'rrhe work I've been doing has varied
widely depending on the conditions of the site,
and the budget and desires of the people who arc
building the house. I have done passive solar
homes with solar water heating lhat is backed up
by power from the grid. I have done a middleground system that utilizes a solar-and-wood
system for healing and cooling. Right now I'm
working on a large house now that is completely
off the grid. All the electticity is produced by
phocovoltaic panels.
"lam constantly looking for materials that
are environmentally benign. That type of question
is constantly coming up: in doing the plumbing
should we use polybutylene or copper?
Polybucylene is a plastics product; but making
metal; whether it's siccl, a.lumitium, or copper, is
also nn intenseprocess;, •
J
J;tf
"We've dealt some \\ith the effect of
electromagnetic fields created by house wiring.
Where people want it, we've staned using
shielded cable lo neutralize that effect.
"We have also gotten to the point that we
don't use any plywood or any materials with
urethane binders unless it's absolutely nece.~sary.
"Contradictions are always coming up
between the levels of impact Insulation, for
instnnce, fulfills a very important function in the
house. But for a long time the best foams were
extruded or impregnated with air by CFC's in the
manufacturing process. Now one company has a
foam that they say is not a CFC, but which is
probably something else equally bad.
"Right now we are investigating setting up
a d~ership io the .area for air-enttaine.d.coocn::1e,
Vthicti ~s concn:te thal is,ini.vlaced.b>'.h.lvioa air
forced through it. That will llCl as a Sll'Ucrural
material and an insulating material at the same
time.
''The solar products are another example.
They are extremely helpful in their operation, but
as far as their original materials, they all have
their setbacks. Photovoltaic panels or copper
collector plates have a ttcmendous manufacturing
impact While the copper in a solar collector is
never going to return all the energy lhat was put
into it during the manufacturing process, it's still
better than just burning the energy.
"We're pursuing it all the time, but there is
also the cost factor: how much can we do on the
owners' budget?"
Greg says that there seems to be an
increasing concern about energy-efficient
building, perhaps generated by the war in the
l\1iddle F.ast. "My business all comes by word of
mouth; I don't advertise. Thar helps, because
people that seek me out are already thinking in a
certain way. It helps to filter my work out,
Nevenheless, I've been extremely busy.
"It's really picked up in the last year. We
are a culture that responds 10 crisis, and I thinlc
recent evenlS have been staning people to wonder
where their energy is going to come from."
Greg also teaches n class at UNCA called
"Environment, Design, and Solar Energy."
His business (and the rock-reggae band he
played wilb) was originally called "One Straw."
He doesn't use the name anymore, but he says
that be is still drawn to the quo1e in the book by
Masanobu Fukuoka from which lhe name
originated:
"With this single straw, I, by myself, will
begin a revolution."
.
�wltich are often indistinguishable, all are closely
clustered around the Gorge.
It is a vigorous athletic and cultural life
they share. In the same week on the Nantahrua
aaasoBElB oooosa BB BBB BeooBooooo
0
River, after wearing one's self out rafting,
c
biking, hiking, or rock-climbing, one could
spend the everting at a poetry reading, a loud rock O
Of Success and the River
c
'n roll pnrty, a modern dance workshop, a lecture ~
o
by a prominent nature writer, dining at a fancy
o
g
restawant, or .auending a friendly get-t0gether in o
The river staned it all. When Horace
c
one of the Center's private cabins.
gHolden bought the isolated motel on the
c
ln Payson's view of that enlightened
o Nantahala Falls, it had no profits and no future, g
community, it would be unfair to the Staff and the o only a good location on the river. Holden and
c
company alike to have anytlting less than full
Payson Kennedy provided the vision the location c
participation - economic and political, as well as o needed; they turned the location into a thriving g
professional and social. He first proposed the
o business and the NOC into a recreation industry o
employee stock ownership plan at a staff meeting g legend.
c
in January, 1987. The plan was at first rejected o
The best tribute to success is imitation, and g
by the employees.
"'I now 15 rafting companies crowd the banks of the o
0
Why would workers initially cum down a g Nantnhala. There would be more if the Forest
share in the profits and policy management of
o Service bnd not stepped in to limit the burgeoning g
their company and a greater measure of control of o whitewater industry on the river.
~
their day-to-day lives? The answer lies to a great ~
Whereas a total of 1.200 people rode the g
extent in the nature of the NOC and its staff.
o river in the NOCs first season, now more than 0
The raft-guiding and recreational work in o 6,000 people run the Nantahala on one good
o
which the Outdoor Center specializes requires
Saturday. In the 1990 season over 200,000
great expertise that comes from rigorous training o people took the river trip. The Nantahala is
g
and long practice - especially at the NOC. which o known as the most crowded rafting river in the o
rakes great pride in the excellence of its
gcountry.
o
programs. Thus. many of the Outdoor Center
o
The river continues to now along,
g
employees are highly skilled athletes, who could o seemingly unpenurbcd by all this uproar. But the o
easily find a job in other pans of the country.
g high rate of traffic is affecting the river. John
and often do. Recreational work is seasonal and o Burton, the president of the Nanw.hala Ourdoor g
is traditionally low-paying. Those who are
c; Center, says, "Up until five or six years ago,
c
attracted to it are willing to accept the lower
g resource degradation wasn't a serious concern in
wages because of their love for the work and the o my mind, but now it is. Human traffic along the
free-wheeling lifestyle it affords. Although the
o banks has been degrading the banks and wearing o
Outdoor Center is fortunate in having a strong
them away. People are trampling vegetanon that
core group of more than 70 people who have
o is needed to st0p erosion and exposing the roots 0
been on the staff for more than JO of the
c of trees. And there is the inevitable liner from the o
crowd and the cars that pass by on the two-lane
company's 18-year history (an unusual
percentage in that demanding business), many of o road that runs alongside the river."
0
0
the NOC employees are young and transient,
And surely the constant disturbance caused c
coming for one summer or only during cenain
by the high rate of river traffic is affecting the
times of the year. Even of the employees wbo
o aquatic habitat
0
consider the Nantahala area t!ieir ho~. a good . g
. c
number rake several months m the winter to "ski O
Ten years ago the NOC, aware of their
g
bum" or cravel.
o effect on the river, tried unilaterally to limit their c
O company's growth.
As a result, many of the Nantahala staff did
o
not want to risk their small salaries on stock
"All we did," said John Burton, "was to
investment and were wary of the long-tellll
o put a couple of competitors in business real fast, o
commitment and responsibility to the company
and we didn't do anything to limit the growth of a
that ownership requires. They were completely O the rafting business. Therefore, we felt we were g
happy to do what they did best and leave the
o undermining our own purposes, and we haven't c
hassles of management to the businesspeople
g tried that again."
o
hired for that job.
Being such a mnjor player, the NOC
g
0
Company president John Bunoo said, ''To o cannot suggest overall limitations on river us~ it o
many of these people, 'commitment' meant doing ~ would seem as if they were trying to monopolize c
the best job possible while they were here. To
O their own strong position on the river. Control is
Payson, it meant a long-term commitment 10 the o left up to the Forest Service, which limits only o
company. That was essentially the gap I h:id to
g the number of companies that can operate on the o
bridge."
0 river each season and mruces no attempt to
Burton was fonnerly a securities analyst
o regulate the size of those companies.
o
for the Philadelphia National Bank, as well as a g
"It's not the number of people who use the o
dedicated canoeist and one-time member of the
O river," said Ranger Bill Lea, ''it's the kind of
US Olympic canoe team. He understood the
o people who use the river that makes the
o
g difference."
o
problem from both sides. The KSOP
compi:omise was ms ~rainchild. 1ne plan's mix O
But o~ summer Sarurdays, the rafts come g
!)f opt!onaJ membership, and the handsome
o down, one nght after the other. River rafts are o
mcennve offered, seems to have met the needs of g not as deadly as dioxin, but the "invisible hand" 0
the NOC staff; 70% of those eligible are now
g
O of free enterprise is slowly choking the
member stockholders.
o NantahaJa.
o
O
Because of the closeness of the
a
community, the Outdoor Center's KSOP plan is
necessarily a social experiment as well. The NOC au sos uo oeeaeeeonooo Bes noooooa
is more like a rambunctious tribe than a
corporation, but in practical tenns that means that
g
THENANTAHALAOUTDOOR
CENTER
41 US Highway 19 West
Bryson City, NC 28713
(704) 488-6737
Rural Swain County is an unlikely place
for a phenomenon. But it is here, beside a low
waterfall on the Nantahala River, that a wildly
diverse crew runs the Nantahala Outdoor Center
(NOC), purveyor of rafting and outing
adventures and the corporate headquarters for an
operation that grossed $8 million in 1990.
The NOC is well-known in business
circles as a recreation-business success story. In
1972 when Payson and Aurelia Kennedy first
started the operation, everyone was waslting
dishes, and Saturday's profitS were spent
Monday morning for new paddles or life
preservers. The Center now comprises a
sprawling complex of three restal!Illnts, cabins,
an outfitter's store, and a fleet of buses, plus
outposts on four other rivers in the region. The
NOC employs 350 staff people at the height of
the summer rafting season and even sends
voyagers to exotic places such as Nepal, the
Grand Canyon, and New 2.ealand on an
Adventure Travel tour program.
But one of the most outstanding features of
the NOC is not noticeable 10 visitors coming 10
ride the river: the company is in the process of
transferring ownership into t.he bands of an
association of its workers.
It is a difficult process, and NOC staff
people are candid in speaking of its benefits and
t~ drawbacks. On paper what is happening is
this: the employees of the company are carrying
out a gradual and friendly buy-out of the outside
investors' interest in the NOC. An Employee
Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) now owns 50%
of the shares of the company stock. Workers are
gradually buying into the plan through what is
called a "40l(k) provision," which gives them the
opuon of deferring 5 to 8% of their salary 10 buy
stock. Whatever they set aside, the company will
match at a rate of 50 ccntS on the dollar for stock
purchase. Because of the 40 I(k) provision, the
NOC employees cal1 their hybrid stock
ownership plan a "KSOP." According to the
plan, the KSOP will have vinually complete
control of the company by 1998.
The KSOP is a compromise plan, the result
of several years of often intense discussions. The
idea that the Outdoor Center should be
employee-owned came first from founder Payson
Kennedy. From the beginning, Payson conceived
the ~antahala Outdoor Center, not solely as a
~usme;,s venture, but as a community of
like-mmded people. That community is alive and
~ppeniog _in once-isolated Swain County.
River-running and the outdoor life are the
community's Stock in trade, but more
i!flponantly, they are the foundation of a way of
life that the Outdoor Center shares with its paying
guests.
The staff live closely together. More than
100 NOC employees consider the environs of the
NantahaJa River as home, and the Cen1cr
provides ~bin space for the summer employees,
so that durmg both working and leisure times,
xawah Journm J>CUJC 18
g
g
g
°
°
°
g
g
g
g
g
g
g
g
g
5
g
g
g
g
g
(continuod on psgc 19)
8pri.tUJ, 1991
�the KSOP member/staff have to hve with the
results of their decisions as a company day in and
day OUI.
The NOC executive officers worked hard
10 be sure that the decision for cooperative
ownership was made by consensus. But the idea
came from the top and the transition is being
managed by the company officers.
The plan is 10 gradually tum political as
well as financial control over 10 the KSOP
members.
"We want it to mean that the KSOP
members on the staff are actively involved in
policy decisions, big picture kinds of decisions,
directional decisions... " said John Bunon.
The KSOP's power to vote in board of
directors' elections is allocated democratically on
the basis of "one member. one vote" (rather than
on the economic basis of one vote per share). The
KSOP controls half of the company's 16,000
shares of stock. That block of 8,000 shares is
voted proportionally according to the wishes of
the people in the KSOP.
"We seek consensus at every tum, if we
can. We take it as far as possible in that
direction," said John. "What the people in the
KSOP are learning is that it is in their interest to
be unanimous. lf they act as a unit they can
control the board of directors. We have board
~ectio~s every year. The politics are getting very
interesnng."
But beyond participation in the election of
the Board of Direccors, the traditional function of
stockholders in any corporation, the KSOP is not
set up to participate in policy decisions. The
group has no structure and no independent
leadership. Meetings are still called by the
top-level management in the company hieran:hy.
With characteristic candor, John said, "It's
up to the leaders of the company to nunure the
leadership of the KSOP, whether that means
putting together a social council or actively calling
meetings that are run by different folks.
"The lesson we've learned this first year is
that it takes active effort to get this KSOP group
involvcd...lt takes someone 10 call the meeting. If
the meeting doesn'c get called, then the issue
doesn't get discussed. It's a demanding process,
and we have a lot 10 learn about how to do iL"
The Nantahala Outdoor Center is a
dynamic place, and the transition to worker
ownership is dynamic as well. It is closely
scrutinized and widely discussed in very practical
and non-idealistic terms, signs of a healthy
democracy. John Bunon thinks that the KSOP
will be able to develop its own identiry and rise to
the challenges of leadership.
"If for no other reason," he said, "the
employees are beginning to come around to it
beca~se they are wondering why they have been
working as hard as they have for someone else's
profit."
GREEN SPIRITS:
KATUAH PROVINCE VEGETABLE PLANTING CALENDAR
Developed by Lee Barnes (1/10/91)
Based on an a"crnge 160day frost-free period a~ adapled from Jeavons et aL 1983, NCAES 1978 and others.
For high elevation or shoner frost-free period, start two to three weeks later for spring planting
and two to three weeks earlier for late plantings.
START INDOORS
February I
Cool season plants - broccoli, cabbage,
cauliflower, kale
Wann season plants - tomato, pepper, eggplant
SEED IN GROUND
TRANSPLANT TO SOIL
Win~er Chores - Soil ccsc, lime, prune trees and berries, 1urn compost,
IUm in cover crops one month prior to planting.
March 1
Most annual herbs, spinach, annual flowers.
mosc perennial seeds
April 1
<or when ground tl'mpernturcs are greater than
40-45° F. at 4 inches in depth)
Cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, squash, leaf INtuce
Beets, chard, po1a1oes, peas, turnips, radishes,
lenuce, bare-root fruit trees and berries
Broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, mustard,
spinach, onions
Beans, carrots, corn, potatoes, radishes, beets,
turnips, squash, Cucumbers, Swiss chard
(Best after soil temperature is 65° F. at four
inchesdup)
Cucumbers, eggplant, melons, okra, peppers,
squash, tomatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkins
Beans, corn, field peas, potatoes, New Zealand
spinach, radishes, cucumbers
Cucumbers, melons, squash, tomatoes
Beans carrots, corn, potatoes. squash,
cucumbers, collard greens
Cucumbers, late t0ID3tocs
May 1
'(or when ground temperatures are greater than 60"
F. at 4 inches in depth)
(wail for soil lo warm, tra11splants require 2-6
weeks to grow to s11fficic11t siu)
June 1
July 1
Brussels sproutS
July 15
Broccoli, spinach, cabbage, cauliflower, kale,
Mustard
August IS
Fall greens, radishes, lenuce, turnips, rutabagas
Radishes, letruce
Fall cover crops - winier rye, clover, buckwheat
Broccoli. Brussels sprouts,
cauliflower, leuuce, kale, mustard
cabbage,
Fall _Chores - Soil 1es1, plant clover crops. remove and compost garden refuse, lime (if needed),
tum m phosphorous and rock phospha1e/granitc sands.
Spn!UJ, 1991
Jeatu(lf1 Journnt J>G9C 19
�(These nre the wolds oC n tt:ldition:il Cherokee medicine person.)
"Vll,LAGE ECONOMY"
It was like the whole tribe was the torso of
the body of the people, and the clans were like
the extremities. The extremities did everything
they could to suppon the torso. :That was their
purpose. If the Wolf Oan was like the right
hand, !he Twisted Hairs would be the left hand
But the purpose of each of them was to suppon. 1
the torso, and the torso's purpose as a collective
body was to suppon the Grea1 Life.
The old pe0ple saw themselves as
caretakers. They used to say that they were the
first people on the Earth, and they were plnced
here to be caretakers - to keep the spiritual,
natural balance. We have the abiliry with our
~onsciousness to hook into the Great One, which
1s...l don't know what it is, maybe it's the spirits
of _all living things put together...and 1hey felt that
being caretakers was pan of our purpose, Like a
bcar's purpose is one thing, a deer's purpose is
another, and an oak tree's purpose is another
~ch_ thing is put here for a purpose. The Gre~t
Llf~ IS made up of trillion.s of beings, great treesl
• tu,tmy oolls, fllld; the .function of encll of those
individual llves.isto suppontheUfe:\lach in its!
own way.
. . The human way of supporting the Great
Life JS through our spiritual consciousness. We
were spiritually conscious of other living spirits
Like ~imals_. birds, and trees. No1 all the people'
were lake this, of course, bu1 people in general
were, and the people who weren't, understood it.
We we~n't domestica1ed by individualism and all
those things that are pan of the dominant culture
today. '!bat's why this society has a problem. It's
so mulu-<:ultured, that people don't have the same
h~ and the same mind. Everybody's doing
thetr own damn thing.
I
During those times, life was village life and
everyone saw lhe people they lived with every
day. ~hen visitors came through, they would
stay tn the town-house, and there would be a big
pot of food out there. Everybody would
contnbute to ?1at pot of food, so that strangers or
anybody connng through could have something
to eat. That was the people's attitude: their culture
was an extended family.
Generally, anybody in the tribe could go
alone out in the woods and take care of
themselves. The younger ones might have some
tr0uble, bur most people could. The women were
exi><:n at gathering; they probably were beuer
survtvors than the men.
And then a family, an extended family
would also take care of itself. The old peopte'
who raised the children. The uncles taught the
children. And while the old ones and maybe
some of the n:iother's clan ~le were taking
cnre _of the _c~ildrert, th~ mamed couple would be
making a livmg, fanning and hunting.
They had individual gardens, also clan
Xatuah ,aurnaL pnge 20
gardens, and there was a community garden.
They had storage places in the village to keep
food for those who needed it. Some of the
storage bins were built up on poles. Another kind
~ a small pole log structure that was sealed
~th mud to keep the rodents out. Com was put
10 there, and people were assigned 10 check it
~m. time to time to see if the critters were getting
IOIO ll
The white man Henry Timberlake when
he first came into the village of Echota the early
1700's! estimated a population of close to 2,000,
and said there w_ere something like 6(). to 70,000
bushels of com 1n storage. That was his estimate.
That was western attitude. Even if it wasn't that
much, it obviously was considerable.
i;
Most o_f th~ time every pan of the tribe, as
well as the mbe ttself, was self-sufficient But if
a family got in trouble, if they had their crops
washed out by a flood or something, 1hey would
first appeal 10 their clan for help, and then other
clans would ju~t naturally volu~teer to help,
beca~se the philosophy at that ume, which has
drasnc/¾P.-.r,pb,qn'i¢. w~ ~U)~ 'YI;~, !,!le helpless.
1,1µ1d !he ~1a firsi.. -l3ack,qi.c11 spjlii11g e.ni:I .giviµg
sniff' away was well 1ooked upon. Those people
who were the most generous showed their
commi~ment to the tribe and were given power.
The chief was the poorest person in the tribe, but
the smanest. However, that doesn't exist any
more. In today's society hoarding sruff and
amassing wealth is well looked upon. The old
way was son of nice, but it doesn't deal very
well with capitalism.
Food wasn't bought or sold inside the
tribe. Food or hides may have been offered in
exchange to people who could make beautiful
craflS or weapon-makers who knew how to make
really good arrows or blow guns, but no one had
10 buy food to keep from going hungry.
~ei:i. someone ,creates something, they put
power mto ll. h doesn t mancr what ii is. At the
very lcas1, one puts in their life/time. U someone
makes a flu1e, their intent is for the flme to play
and to free you up inside. You may not get that
out of the flute, but at the very least you get six
hours of their life • they put that much of the11
power into t~t object. They have put their full
10tent, all their experience, everything. into that
flute. Thar flute has power, and we recogni:ze
that.
. . We put power into everything we do. If we
do _11 _10 a bad heart, then .ii has bad power If we
do 11 1~ a good hean and 1n a loving way. maybe
say a httl~ prayer, then the power is a good thing.
If~ are Just neutral, if we just do it without
pumng anything into it, then it's not a craft it's
not a skill, it's just a repetitive motion.
'
. . Bae¥ then people saw that giving a gift was
g1v10g their power, so they didn't wait around for
admiration. They'd drop off a flute at someone's
front door, and that would be it. It was obvious
when a gift was given.
Some people were more skilled than
others, and it was a fine thing to get a gift from
someone who was very skilled. But the gift that
was the best was one into which some person
~ad put all their ~can. It _di~'t have to be good,
tf they put all their heart 10to u, then it was a
highly prized gift and would probably miss the
gambling exchange.
Betting and gambling was a wonderful
way of exchange. The men would play the
chunky game. It was definitely a macho game
probably the only macho game we had. One '
person would roll a round chunky stone and two
other men would be standing on either side with
spears with little red marks on them. They would
throw the spears underhanded and sec who could
ger the red mark closest to the stone. It required a
Lot of skill.
They would play right in the village
~uarc, big old males strun.ing around downtown
in front of the court.house. It was kind of like the
pool haIJ where the men could get 10gether and
talk rough.
They wouldn't bet food, just possessions:
crafts, weapons, things that they had taken from
other Indians, or trade goods. They would stand
there and throw down their bows and arrows
their loincloths. They would stand there naked
betting, and then try to calk a guy into betting ~o
or three days work in the cornfield. They would
always pay off, 100, because back then a
person's word was everything.
In lhe tribe auention was most important.
~e. cullu:e was built that way. Our way of
ra.1smg children wasn't to hit them, but to praise
~em when ther did well, and lO ignore them or
give them nothmg when they did wrong. So if
you were good in the chunky game or were a
" w81l}ol'1and did ~ t deeds, tllen you we~
admiicd lf you were a good fanm:r then you
~ere admired. But if you messed up, you were
ignored. The worst punishment was to be thrown
out of the tribe. Many people committed suicide
when that happened to them, when they lost that
connection with the tribe.
Although the tribe was self-sufficient, the
Chero~ees loved 10 trade. Some people think of
the Indian tribes as being isolated. but that isn't
true. The Cherokees could trade with anybody
from New York all the way to Florida and all
along the Mississippi and all the way along the
coast Everybody spoke the same trade language.
h was ~I~ the Choctaw trade language, and it
was a p1dgm version of Choctaw. All tl1e Indians
spoke it instead of using a sign language.
The P,crokee never actually used a
~ncy, like money. Everything was done
stnctly by baner. They used to make a lot of trips
to the coast to get "black drink" (a decoction
made from the leaves of yaupon holly - ed.),
shells, feathers and items like that, but what they
really loved was the dried root of the Venus
fly-trap, because it was considered an incredible
fishing chann, and all the fishermen would use it.
And then maybe they'd bent up a few Tuscaroras
on the way back from the beach, because that's
just the way the Cherokees were.
We had good flint deposits over in
Tennessee. and we may have carried that for
trade. We might have done some business with
soapsrone. We had soapstone here to trade. We
would trade mica to ihe northern Indians.
The Cherokee might have gouen turquoise
and stuff like that from the Chociaws and the
Chickasaws to the west. We traded horses with
the Chickasaws, who lived along the Mississippi
Sprtm.,, I 991
�On Eco-economics
by David Haenke
Instead of endwing a meaningless job to gei the
money IO buy necessities, real work should involve our
efliciClll production or bllSIC needs, or our dilcct
involvement in their procurement - e.g., by J)311icipaling
as wor.ting members or cooperatives. In an ccocconomy, the formal "work weclc" wherein we labor for
money might drop IO 20 hours or less.
The ec:o-«onomy would run as much as possible
on solar energy, just IIS cco-sysu:ms run entirdy on solar
gain. Jt would mnke judicious use of "capital" ~ources.
such as fossil fuels, which are used according 10 lhcir
most efficient application as in Ille "soft energy path.•
Basic cco-«onomics means doing the following
10 the giealCSl extent possible:
River around Memphis, because the Chickasaws
were lhe great eastern horsepeople - like the
Sioux or the Plains Inruans. They were
absolutely incredible horsemen, and 11\~y w~re
great allies of the Cherokee. The two tnbes Just
loved each other, God knows why. A whole
village of Cherokees would move over and live
by a Chickasaw village for a year. Then 11\e
Cherokees would go back home, and the next
year the Chickasaws would show up and live by
the Olerokee village for a year.
ArchaeologistS have discovered things in
Cherokee mcdjcine bundles that were found only
in South America. That shows 1he extent of their
trade and their communication. They weren't
isolated from one anoilier.
When 11\e white people moved in and
m.fluenced the Cherokee, they staned trading for
productS. They would trade bushels of com,
He jusL didn't fit in.
The couple left for two weeks. While they
were gone, their house burned down, a.nd it was
rumored that someone had done it on purpose to
get nd of him. They came back, and his wife was
so sad 1ha1 they had lost their house, that the
community got together and built them a new one
nnd just put up with the man.
That's an old Labor Brigade story.
The tribe was self-sufficient in every way.
The tribe satisfied the basic needs of human
beings. One of those needs is community. We
have a need for community that comes from
tribalism. On the intimate level people filled that
need through the extended family; on another
level, it was fulfilled through communal
ecrcmony, which was one of the foundations of
their culture.
dried pumpkin, deerskins, probably chestnuts,
They had feast days or holy days at
and ginseng to the western people, and 11\ey got
important times during the year. The feast days
teehnology in return. The clan system gradually
were held to celebrate the blessing of the com or
turned into a capitalistic system, but they sill!
ceremonial occasions Like lighting the fire or
maintained the community gardens for a long
putting the fire out, bu1 they were also a
time, until (Chief John) Ross created an elaborate connection people made with each other. The
central government that could tell someone what
people would get together, there would be betting
to do, and the government started a tribal fund and gambling, the exchange of goods. and people
money, y'know. IL son of worked its way over
would undoubtedly share some genes around at
from the baner system to capitalism, but at the
those big gatherings, and at the same time they
same time the Cherokees have always felt loyal to shared the spirit around the tribe.
"the torso," the body of the tribe, although
It was the cement that held the culture
·occasionally it's been pretty sick. Today the
together. When that started crumbling, it was real
tribe's like everything else in the world tough. But remnan1s of it still exist. You can still
everything's got cancer.
see it here and there: the Labor Brigades, people
The Cherokee Labor Brigade, which was
helping each other out, or sometime you might
going strong up into this generation, was a
hear somebody talking ihe old way. things like
remnant of the time when everybody lived in the
that.
village, and the clans were like the extremities of
Today we have less ceremony in our lives.
the body supponing the torso. The people of the
We need certain kinds of ceremonies. If we don't
Labor Brigade would get together on Saturdays
have them. we create them, because ceremonies
and go to the house of somebody who needed
are very imponant to human beings.
help, like an old person who needed firewood
Everything's a fonnula. When you're
split or someone who needed their roof fixed.
making a little cake. you go by the formula. You
they would all pitch in nnd do the job and then
need some flour from the field, eggs from a
have a big pot-luck. Nowadays it's only some of
chicken, some honey, and then the last thing is
the older men who still do it, but it's a part of that' some heat, which makes it change from five
culture, maybe it'll come back.
different things into this one sweet little brown
J beard a story once. There was a
thing, a cake. It's no longer an egg and some
half-breed married to a full-blooded woman.
flour - but it is. h 's made up of a!J those partS.
They lived in Birdtown a long time ago, like in
Everything's formulistic. There is a
my grandfather's time. He was a drunk and lived
fonnula for our way of living. We need the com,
in this community where nobody drank. Whether
we need the honey, we need the ceremonies, they
they were Baptist or traditional or what, they
are all the raw materials. The fire is our
didn't believe in his drinking. They thought it
spirituality, which heats il and makes our cultuIC
was a bad thing. He was a rowdy person, too.
the way it is.
~
'
Sprtng, 1991
.....
Drawing by Rob Lcvcrcu
•Participate In, invest in, and support local,
ecologically responsible production by locally owned.
opcralCd, and con1.rol1ed entctprises.
•Buy, trade, and consume locally/ regionally
produced goods and services.
•Keep resources, capital, and energy at home;
plug leaks.
•Use solar energy and other •renewable" energies
and resources..
•Be radically efficient in the use or nonrenewable
resources.
•Practice intense cooscrvat.ion and efficiency in oil
sectors.
•Do full-scale -- 90 to 1ooi.. -- recycling,
utilitiog local/regional enlelpriscs.
•Pay true. CCQlogically audited costs: intemalizc
"externalities". It may hurt now. but it will pay off lalu.
•Wodt coward a fonnol or informal local/n:giona1
trading sy~tem o.r cumney.
•Support a humane and socially responsible
economy.
•Do not support businesses that pollute Ot destroy
the cnvironmcnl.
•Wherever humanly possible. do not buy from
national or multinational corporations or their
subsidiaries.
Each localily, region, biorcgion oc stnte should
have an up-to-daie dat.nbase on what is being sold and the
ownership of the company selling, within its bounds.
This infonnation should be furnished IO the public so
lhat people can choose a tocallrcgional allCmlllive where
possible. Development of economic altem:uivcs 10
national and l18nSrultional companies should be a focus oC
each regioru
Lee every economic act be ecologically conscious.
�THOUGHTS ON WORK, PRODUCTIVITY, AND
DEVELOPMENT:
UNRAYELLING THE MYTH OF 'THE FREE MARKET"
The refrain has become all too familiar.
environmental proiection means loss of jobs. we are told,
and if we would only let the corporate "£tee market"
[unction without interference. lhen everylhing would
magically work out for lite best. The "invistble band" of
lhe market •aulOJ'llatically" mainlllins economic balance,
we arc assured, and competition keeps prices low and
SWldards high, as well as providing mucb·occdcd "jobs."
Our economic difficulties :uc lhcrefore lhe result of lOO
much regulation, not 100 liu!c; we are simply not letting
the system function properly...
Of course, !hero is some trulh to lhese assertions but not very much. If "mnrlcet fon:es• are reaUy th:11
benevolent, lhen why are lhey (we) creating many
lecllnologics and coosumption pauems which are bolh
socially and ecologically destructive. Why is energy
conservation seen as somehow benealh us? Why is our
society fallmg apan at lhe seams? (Wasn·1 it largely lhe
DE-regulation of lhc 80's lhat led to outrageous financial
excesses of every description - !he • gxced is good"
memality which, we're now learning, we're going to be
P3ying for over seveml dcc:ldes?) Why do most peoples'
"jobs" consist of boring, unfulfiUing work which, more
often Lhan 1101, has a dctrirnenlal effect . ranging from
slight to tremendous - on our world and our lives? We
need onJr /l)Fk ~l.!!Jc,P.:_9Jl:l~.w01"Jna in ~Pll!l~
indUSlry, Or ~..
"!9rkiria \lfilh~Jhcu U~_.,_, JU\j I J
"military-industrial complex· and ilS off!hoots, or all !he
common household products - solvenlS, painis, delClgel\b,
aerosols, polishes, etc. - whose creation simulUlllcou.~ly
createS a multitude of toxic industrial by-products, and
which are oflCII luu:ardous or toxic themselves...
Oearly, theie is something very wrong with a
socio-economic system which rapidly undermines social
cohesiveness ond destroys the very resources upon which
our supposed "prospctity" depends! The manic. or
mMliacal - functioning of our present economy reminds
meofthoseold canoons III which lhc "hero" is silting on
a high tree branch nnd is vigorously sawing lhrough it on lhe side closer to the trceJ Or lhttc's the classic
comedy routine in which the "hero" is sawing a circle
wound hunsclf in the !loor and soon completes it - only to
fall through to the !loor below. In both c:iscs, lhc end
result of all that hard work is 1111 unforsocn disaster though anyone eV\:11 remotely aware of reality could !rive
forcsccn iL These comedy routines arc funny precisely
because !he coming dis:ister IS so complctcly obvious yet when we promoo:: an economy that is leading 10
immincm social ond ecological disasw. we seem
oblivious to !he danger. Laughably, not only is it NOT
obvious 10 us, but most of u.~ mightily defend our "right"
10continue on the same "prolil:lblc" palh! But here we
should learn something from lhe C3rl00ns • or we will
continue sawing away until we and our environment are
dcsu'Oyai.
9f
···········
All around our nation and !he world, the struggle
10 save our environment and our societies is moving into
high ge3r • and the issue of'jobi' and ·productivity'
occupies a central pl.ice m this S11Uggle. In the Pacific
Nonhwes1, environmentlllists rue desperately trying to
save 111e spoucd owl and its habitat, lhe rcmnantS of
once-huge old-growth foresb, while angry loggers cloim
lh:u TIIEY are now •an endangered species", and logging
Xatuan JoumaL page 22
I
II
comp:inies claim to be patriotically serving vital
socio-economic needs. And in Norlh Carolina and many
other stales, obsessive road-building and "development" are
Cervenlly supponed by businessmen, cconom,stS, and
politicians (and, of course. !he developers}, on the
assumption lhat economic prosperity and job availability
depend on more roads and more rapid "growlh.• This trend
continues unsb:ued despirestrong evidence that lhc
prosperity thus gained is very shon-lived, if tndced the
•standard of living' for the locals - the actual inhabitants
- ever DOES rise appreciably.
The reality behind the dream of qu,ck, bsung
prosperity 1s this: once lhe p~pcrity boom
accomp:1nying !he initial devel0pmcnt and eonsuuclion is
o~r. the local inhabitanlS IISUa.lly tl1ld up getting shafted.
Most of lhc big money - from mnnufoc1uriog, rCJuals,
chain depatunent sl.OreS and superm:irkcls, and lhe glut of
fast-food rcslllUl'8lllS - is funnelled out of lhe kx:aJ area and
into lhe bank accoun1S oC distant corporations and
developers, while "!he locals" are left to race the tong-term
prospect of menial "setVice jobs" and socially and
ocologicatly disrupted lives.
TREND #1: Dcspitc intensive "development" and
an influx of new tcehnologics and induslrics over lhc Jr.ISi
IS yc.ars, Lhe "standard of livmg" of lhc average American
has ran,n durin9 that,J,lmc pi:\iOd, and feal income has
been steadily faJliog. ~p.y.is iltis l)CCwril)g?
TRF.ND 112: During' th,s same period lhe richest
(and smallest) segment of the American populllcc has
go11C11 much richer, while lhe middle class and the poor
have goucn poorer. 11 ,swell.known lhat lhe reign of
"Frcc.-markct Rc:lg:inomics" (and its sequel,
"Bushonomics") has created more millionaires lhan any
previous "growlh decade.· The trouble is. II also created
mounlllins of debt. a horrendous banking crisis, many
more families and children living in povcny, and legions
or homeless and hopclc.ss pcoplc... lhc grim "dart. side" of
lhe supposedly unbiased, accessible. and
soctally-rcsponsive "free markcL •
QUESTION: Is the market rc3Uy "value- free." as
us proponents claim. and docs it really encourage
dcmocrauc paruc,pation and bcallhy socio-economic
divcr~i1y . or does its implicit value-prefcscnce for proli1 ;it
any price drhc the market (panicula.rly 111duj;Uy} to be
free of ethical considerations and compassion,
free to abusr the public lrUJ,I, and rree to
lgnort as many !IOCiRI and ecological
consequences :is po5.<>ible?
QUESTION: b it po:;s1ble I.hat the TRUTII
underlying lhe "free marke1" is I.hat it suppons a very
small. scff.3ppo1n1ed elite in ransacking our environment,
exploiting oilier people. and raking in vastly
disproportion:ue monetary rewaril'i? Docli our society
actually reward those who can most convincingly con
lite public 1010 bclieviog th!lt all lhi$ cxplo1tation :ind
"development" 15 for lheirown good and lhc good of lhe
country?
......•••.•.•....•••..•.......
The qucsuon or cnYIJ'Ollmenl:1.1 prcscrvauon vs.
"development" and jobs is without doubl a thorny one and it IS made even lhom,cr hy a multitude of dangCl'OU$
and unquc:suoned assumptions about the n31ure oC our
economic/ ecological re31ily. Such assumptions include:
I) lhc belief lhat environmellllll prot.ection IS the
prilll3J'}' factor behind job loss in industries such as lhc
by Richaro Lowenthal
wood produclS indllSlry, clcij>ite lhc fact that lhc true
culprits in MOST job loss are managerial greed and
callousness. industrial automation, corporate
"strcamliniog." and poor "resource managcmcnL •
2) !he belief th:lt endless extraction and
consumption of resoun:es is good for jobs and lhe local
economy, despite lhe fact th:lt when these resources are
dcple1ed !here me then NO rc1alCd jobs left m that area and the exuactors simply move on, leaving behind a
legacy or heightened monetaty ~tations and the
bitterness of a 'boom-tumcd-busL'
3} lhc belief lhat wori( and productivity must be
~ SOL.ELY hy amounts of Dlllterials e:ctraeted,
~ . and sold, and NEVER in terms of conscrvar.ion
or restoration of vital h:lbil:us. Due to lhis belief, we are
still reluctant to commit ourselves • and our money - to
ecologically-sound economic practices, and we stubbornly
refuse to fac10r into our economic accountmg lhe true
social and ecological cosu of our vaunted "free mar1ce1•
system.
4} lltebclieflhat pcoplearedcpendcnton the
"gcnerosil}'" of industry fa their jobs, :ind not on
themselves. the value of their own labor, or personal
involvement in lhcir communities.
S) the belief that del>-pite meaningless and
mcchanic:ll work. worker's "productivity" cnn be increased
solely by mtre3Slng 'll'agcs, WlTHOUT anyfac- in
workers' intete..u. involvcmcn1. or sntisfacuon.
......•.•................
The deeper problem th.at we a.re just beginning 10
confront is lhat we have crcrucd a 'cuhwc" based on mass
consumption and "!he consumer mentality.' When
maximum profit and consumption are our highest goals.
we of course seek only SHORT-TERM "efficiency" in our
extraction, production. and dlslribulion processes.. Under
lhe prime direcuvo or maximum profit and consumpuon,
·emcicm productivi1y• MUST mean producing the
grcaics1 amount of good.~ m lhe least possible time ot the
least possible cost • and lhen selling lhem al lhe gn:atcsl
price lhc market will bear, This kind of "productivity"
would more approprinlcly be called "dC5tructivity"; it
ignores long-term consequences. create.~ "needs" where
there were oonc, and trc.ats both naLUre and human beings
as objocL~ to be e:cptoilcd, u.,;cd up, and !hen forgo1tcn.
For most worlccrs, lhis ovat cxploillltion is 111en
·compensated" via insulllngly low monetary rewn.rds.
which nevcnheless enable~ to consume more goods·
which requires 111at we produce more, of course. The end
resuh • our REAL •gross 113lional product" - is a vic:ious
downw:ird spirnl of producc-scll-consume-lhrow away,
produce-sell-ronsumc-lhrow nway.• and n never-ending
"need" toc~ploit ond "develop" new areas once the old
ones :ue ei1haustcd or become "unproliwhle" in lhc eyes of
our Glorious God. the marketplace.
But now we have nowhere to move on 10, and our
113bnual ·rron1.1er· mcnlali1y no longer makes even
economic sense (ii NEVER mode sense ecologically).
The biosphere we live m is suddenly changmg - ,n our
human awareness - from a lim,tlc.s~ collection or
exploi1abte ·resources· 10 a fragile and endangered ecosystem w1lh limited "resource avnilabtlny." So now
something has 10 give, somclhing has to change in our
way of RELATING to lhe Earlh and all her divctSC
hfc.forms.
(conlinued on pegc 30)
Spr tng, 199 1
�..
• • t .
\ t
,!:\~
.
"
.. , &
••
... '
APPEAL HELPS BEE TREE
OUTSTANDING RESOURCE
WATERS
Nawn! World Ne..-. Service
Nanni World News Sc,vicc
The NC Division of Environmental
Management has reclassified 14 bodies of water
in the mountain region as OutStanding Resource
Waters (0RW). putting them under special
protection to maintain their high water quality.
The newly-listed 0RW's are:
South Toe River (Yancey County), Gipp
Creek (Cherokee County). Fires Creek (Clay
County), Cacaloochee Oeek (Haywood
County). Upper Nantahala River (Swain
County). Chattooga River (Macon County),
Henry Fork (Burke County). the Mitchell River
(Surrey County), Elk Creek (Watauga County),
the upper South Fork of lhe Mills River
(Henderson County). Wilson Creek (Avery and
Caldwell Counties). Jacob Fork (Burke
County). Upper Creek (Burke County), and
Steels Creek (Burke County).
Nominated for possible future 0RW
designation are Bearwallow Creek (Transylvania
County). the New River and its South Fork
(Waiauga and Ashe Counties), Panthertown
Creek (Jackson County), Garden Creek (Wilkes
County), and Bullhead Oeek (Wilkes County).
After a bitter fight, Alarka Creek (Swain
County) has been classified as a High Quality
Water (HQW), a body of water that is somewhat
protected. allhough not as stringently as the
0RW's (see KaJuah Journal #26). Toe Nonh
Fork of the Catawba River (McDowell County)
has been nominated for future inclusion as a
HQW.
Although 0RW status is supposed to be
strictly a matter of biological criteria, experience
has shown that designations are often swayed
by political considerations, so it would help
classification of creeks nominated for 0RW
status if interested people would write letters on
the behalf of the water bodies.
Any state resident can also request
reclassification of a water body as an 0RW or
HQW. The Division of Environmental
Management requires a detailed description of
the area suggested. an indication of the water's
quality, and a list of the special resources that
need prorection. The agency will send a list of
.the standards and regulations on request. Call or
write Suzanne Keene at the NC Division of
Environmental Management: Box 27687;
Raleigh, NC 276ll (919) 733-5083.
"SOMETHING STINKS"
N,nnl World New, Savice
Development is the first priority for the
town government of Highlands, NC. And if the
town government gets its way, Highlands will
spur development with a 500,000 gallon-pcrlU!Y sewage treatment plant along the Cullasaja
River.
Spri.n9, 1991
The Cullasaja is a Class B trout stream
and a spectacular scenic attraction. Toe river and
its unique attributes would be th.reatened by
presence of the plant. Presently a treatment plant
half the size of the proposed plant is dumping
effiuent into lakes below Highlands. Toe lakes
help somewhat to maintain the river, but the
quality of the Cullasaja is srill deteriorating,
according to aquatic biologist Dr. William
Mclarney. Toe new $5 million plant would
discharge below the lake druns and would
severely compromise the water quality
downstream.
The town of Highlands is cager to install
the plant - so cager that they were ready to begin
construction without an environmental
assessment or an environmental iropacr
statement. They publicized the project with
notices in the local Highlands paper and the
Asheville paper, but not in the Franklin Press
which might be read by county residents
downstream who would be affected by the
plant. Highlands Mayor John Cleaveland
explained their actions, saying that Highlands
has been paying more than its share of the
county taxes, and they should get to do what
they want with the river.
The NC Division of Environmental
Management (DEM) seemed to be abening the
move to rush construction of the plant: they
refused to hold a public hearing on the matter
until confronted by a petition bearing 2,082
signatures collected by county residents
organi7.cd by Peg Jones of CuJlasaja
Community.
Resident Lee Hollins summed up the
community's feelings about the way they had
been treated when he said, "Sewage stinks, but
in this case I smell something a lot worse, and
that's rotten politics."
The new treatment plant is much larger
than the present needs of the town of Highlands
require. Residents downstream know that a new
treatment plant would be an open door to more
development in the reson town. They arc not
willing to let the Cullasaja be polluted for the
sake of mon: condos, second homes, and golf
courses.
Those who want to speak out on behalf of
the Cullasaja River can write to the DEM at: Boit
27687; Raleigh, NC 27611.
To help the river preservation effon or
offer support, call Peg Jones of Save Our
Rivers, Inc. at: (704) 369-7877
In response to an administrative appeal by
the WeStcm Nonh Carolina Alliance (WNCA),
Regional Forester John Alcock of the US Forest
Service ruled that the proposed Bee Tree timber
sale in the Pisgah National Forest was in
violation of the Endangered Species Act and
ordered the Ranger district to make a complete
biological evaluation of the area.
The appeal victory will delay cutting on
Bee Tree and, the Alliance hopes. will compel
the Forest Service to gather complete
information about stands slated to be cut before
beginning logging.
The Regional Forester, however. denied
other arguments the Alliance tiad with the sale:
that the Forest Service was not considering a full
range of cutting alternatives, that they had not
made a complete analysis of the true cost of the
timber sale. that they were not ensuring safe use
of herbicides, and that the sale plan did not
follow the principles of sustainable
management
MAKING STUMPAGE
Nanni World News Savice
The US Forest Service National ForestS
in Nonh Carolina has announced that it is
raising its timber targets 18% for 1991 - from 63
million board feet to 75 million board feet for the
year.
This announcement came shortly after a
much-publicized declaration from the same
office to the effect that there would be less
clearcutting in the National Forests. When asked
how the Forest Service planned to cut back on
clcarcutting while simulatancously raising timber
targets, Forest Service environmental planner
Pat Cook said, "we will try to maintain our trend
towards less clcarcuning in proportion to the
total harvest."
Translated into ignorant (they hope) lay
people's terms, Cook's statement reads, "we're
not going to to do any less clca.rcutting, but we
are going to keep raising quotas so that it seems
like we'll be doing less clcarcutting."
Any other questions?
Onwlnc by Jim HOUS('r
A(atuah Journn! JXl9C 23
�SMOKEY EATS APPEAL
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Nawnl World News Se,,,icc
HEARINGS
1990 TIMBER LOSSES
REPORTED
Nanni World NcWJ Scrvlce
After a four year wait US Forest Service
Chief Dale Robenson finally responded to
objections lodged by the Wilderness Society to
the Land and Resource Management Plan
(LRMP} for the Cherokee National Forest. The
LRMP is supposed co guide agency management
practices for a 15 year period.
The objections were pr~ntcd as an.
administrative appeal. The Wtldemess Society
stated that the Forest Service was not fulfilling
its responsibility to maintain biological diversity
the Cherokee Nauonal Forest, was selling
timber below cost, and was not providing visual
beauty.
Under the National Forest Management
Act of 1976 the Forest Service is charged with
maintaining populations of native ~ies in .the
national forests. Many of these species reqUlre
old growth habitat. Forest Service plans to log
58 percent of the cove forest habitat in the
Cherokee would drastically reduce the amount
of old growth remaining and would also cut into
the supply of acorn mast that is vital to the
survival of many species of wildlife.
The Wilderness Society appeal also
pointed to the fact that below-cost timber sales
amounted to a public subsidy of the
deforestation of the Cherokee forestlands.
Tennessee senators Albert Gore and Jim Sasser
supported the point, saying in a Jetter to
Robertson that, "It makes little sense to
subsidize timber production on public lands in
the Southeast when the private lands provide far
and away the vast bulk of the timber used in the
region."
The Wilderness Society plans to pursue
its objections to the Cherokee Forest plan in
coun, as a civil lawsuit.
Narunl World News Service
What would you say if the government
asked you if you wanted nuclear weapons?
Well, for the first time in history, they're
asking...kind of.
The Department of Energy (DOE) is
sponsoring hearings to gather opinions on their
plans for building nuclear wenpons in the 21st
century. However. they are disguising the
hearings as "Programmntic Environmental Impact
Statement Scoping Hearings on the
Reconfiguration of the Nuclear Weapons
Complex." And, although the hearings are
supposed co be open to the public, the DOE is not
disclosing the dates.
But sometime between March 20 and July
31 hearings will be held in the 13 locations
where nuclear weapons are produced, including
Oak Ridge, TN. They will constitute the first
national referendum on nuclear weapons
production, and it is imponant that. despite the
obstacles, people make themselves heard.
For more infonnation and updates on the
times and locations of the hearings, write or call
Ralph Hutchison of the Oak Ridge
Environmental and Peace Alliance: Box l 101;
Knoxville, TN 37901 (615) 524-4771.
The US Forest Service (USFS) has
reponed the 1990 losses from its timber
extraction program in the Southern
Appalachians. As well as destr0ying the
old-growth forest habitat, the timber sales
accually cost the agency more money to set up
and carry out than they recoup from the price of
the stumpage. The difference is paid br t~e
taxpayers in what amounts to a roadbwlding and
habitat desttuction subsidy for the limber
industry.
In the national forests in North Carolina
the Forest SeTVice reponcd a loss of $2.0 I
million for the year. Georgia's national forests
came out slightly in the black, bringing in a total
profit of $233 thousand in the state, due to profit
made on the Ocoee National Forest. The
Chattahoochee National forest lost money.
However, in North Carolina and Georgia the
Forest Service keeps its tallies on a state-wide
basis and refuses to disclose totals for the
individual forests, so that the more profitable
national forests in the piedmont cancel out
somewhat the losses in the Appalachian national
forests.
In 1990 the USFS timber program in
Tennessee's Cherokee National Forest cost
taxpayers $654 thousand, and in Virginia's
Jefferson National Forest the timber program
lost $969 thousand last year.
"YOUR GOOSE IS COOKED"
...Then there are the hot geese of Oak
Ridge. According to the August (1990)
Scientific American, geese on the 35,000-acre
Oak Ridge Reservation have been detected wuh
up 103,950 picocuries of cesium-137 per gram
of breast meat. "In tenns of Christmas dinner,
just one pound would deliver almost 100
millircms, which is the generally accepted
standard for nnnual exposure."
Rrprinirdfrom IM Watrrn ,Vu.-tlt Carolina Alttatlt!c Acc:mt.
Foll.l9'm.
FI:'\E WITH ~lE
Nmir•I World Jl:ewi Sef\'1cc
Draw111g by Rodney Webb
The J.L. Todd Auction C.Ompany, a
Georgia-b;tSed lnnd developer, has nccn fined
S206.400 for violations of the NC
Scd1men1a1ion Pollution Control Act.
"lbi~ is a landmark penalty, the biggest
sedimentation pollution line in the history of
North Carolina, " said Don Follner of the :-;c
Depanmen1 of Environment, I lealth, and
Natural Resources (DEHNR).
The company was fined $103,200 for
violating the sedimentation act on a site in
Jackson County five miles north of the Qualia
Bound.iry on Route 19, and J.L. Todd, as
owner of the property and director of the
company was assessed an additional $103,200.
According lhe state DEHNR officials, the
violations occurred \\hen Todd built access
roads on a 10 acre tract (part of 1,000 acres he
owns in the area) that had been ;1uc1ioned off in
small parcels for residential development.
Richard Phillips of the DEi INR office in
Asheville said, "h's fairly serious due to the
large tract involved and the proximity Lo
!itrcams."
"I DON'T WANT TO SEE
NO ORV"
The US Forest Service (USFS) is
proposing a five-mile extension to an Off-R_oad
Vehicle (ORV) trail in the Nolichucky D1stnct of
the Cherokee National Forest near Greeneville,
TN. The extension would tie the area into an
"extensive net\,ork." of ORV trails, according to
a USFS spokesperson.
Other forest users feel that there is already
entirely too much ORV traffic in the area and
that the noisy vehicles are a grave thrc:u to
habitat. There have nlready been c.ornplaints
about the OR V's from hikers on the Appalachian
Trail and residents of the Shelton Laurel area
.
just over the Slate line.
As planned, the extension w~ld pas~
between two bear preserves, greatly increasing
access and rcsulting disturbance: in an atCfi .
where building up the black bear populauon is
supposedly a t0p priority. Bears ~hy away from
human intrusion.
The Tennessee Wildlife Resources
Agency has already voiced objections to the
proposed trail. ·,:·he more activity ~nd the more
access you have m there, the less likely you are
to have a good bear population," said Ron
Saunders, a biologist with the agency.
C.Omments on the potential threat of
ORV's 10 wild habitat in the Cherokee National
Forest can be addressed to the forest
headquarters at: Box 2010; Oeveland, TN
37320.
Contpil,:d 111por1frqm a rcp(JII III lhe A!hc•illc C,ti1en.
Spn119. 1991
�SHELTON LAUREL
Natural World News
SPECIAL REPORT
"The trees are so high so the legend goes
They grow all the way to the sky.
And they were here before you were born
And they'll be here the day that you die."
Waltzing with the Mountains
Shelton Laurel is situated in nonhem
Madison county, near the Nonh
Carolina-Tennessee state line. Shaped by the
high ridges and cascading slopes, gently
forested and filled with the sounds of rumbling
branches and streams, it is a beautiful and rich
land, special to the people of the community.
Things have come a long way since the
first white settler in the Shelton Laurel area lived
in a hollowed-out poplar for a season until he
got his cabin built. The forests have changed:
the people, the streami;, the wildlife, the way of
life have all undergone tremendous change. But
it is still evidem that there are people living here
who love these mountains and don't want to see
things change too fast or change for the worse.
There a.re recreational areas used for
fishing, and hunting as well as rugged wild
places in the portion of the Shelton Laurel
watershed that is overseen by the US Forest
Service (USPS). Although these areas seem
serene, they are the subject of controversy· a
controversy between two different interest
groups: those who want to extract the wealth of
the forest and those who a.re interested in having
it remain whole.
This difference of interests goes back
many years, and it currently centers on the
evolving role of the Forest Service. The Forest
Service once was seen as the protector of the
woods. Now it is now seen as an agency
protecting a financial invesanent A life-long
resident of Shelton Laurel, Haze Landers,
remembers a time when the Forest Service
wouldn't let anyone take so much as a single
tree for firewood . "I thought they were set up to
protect the forest.", Haze said. Now, after years
of poor logging pmctices and below-cost sales,
he sees the Forest Service in a different light:
"They don't love these mountains. If they did,
they wouldn't treat 'em this a'way."
The folks in Shelton Laurel have plenty of
other reasons besides poor timbering practices 10
dislke the Forc:.t Service. Back in the late
l 970's, when the RARE !I surveys were being
conducted, residents were told by Forest Service
employees that if the national forest in their area
were designated as "wilderness." they would no
longer be allowed 10 hunt, fish, or camp on the
land.
However, this is patently untrue. and
some of the folks in Shelton Laurel wish they
could have another opponunity to designate the
area as a wilderness, because now the forest
faces clearcuning. roadbuilding. and herbicide
poisoning - all the atroeities that accompany
timber harvesting.
-Sp ri.t,9·, t9 9 l
A CONSTITUENT'S LETTER
~anuary 24, 199·
Representative Charles Taylor Dear Mr. Taylor:
I hate roadbuilding on Federal Forest
Service land.
I hate clearcutting.
I hate below-cost timber sales.
I want all of these things to stop.
Yours truly,
Haze Landers
Marshall, NC
On January 24th the community held a
meeting in L'\urel School to discuss concerns
about preliminary plans for four timber sale
projects in Shelton Laurel. The meeting was
hosted by the French Broad Forest Walch
(FBFW). a citizens' group established two years
ago to panicipate in dialogue with the Forest
Service and make suggestions for the
management of the French Broad Ranger
District rn attendance that evening were about
50 people from the community, Forest Service
personnel, and Congressional aides.
Mary Kelly, Phd., ecologist, coordinator
for the Western Nonh Carolina Alliance, a
member of the FBFW, and a Shelton Laurel
resident. explained the four proposed timber
sales in Brigman Hollow, Little Prong,
Sugarloaf, and White Oak Flats in plaiin terms.
The Forest Service plans to cut 11 million board
feet of timber and build 6.8 miles of new road.
As the primary method of "harvest" would be
clcarcutting, that would translate into 805 acres
of cleared and roaded land in Shelton Laurel in
the course of the next three years.
The new District Ranger for the French
Broad District, Kimberly Brandel, said that she
is interested in listening to the concerns of the
people and is planning to do an "area analysis"
to look at the entire area as a whole instead of as
separate timber sales. She also stated that "no
decisions" had been made and thal the four sales
in question are "not even being considered at
this time." Meanwhile, the figures still reflect
the board feet quotas, the survey tape still flaps
in the breeze from the trees, and long-rime
residents remember, "We've been lied to by the
Forest Service before."
Pat Cook. a planner for the Forest
Service. tried for more than half an hour to
explain the need for management in the forest
and how the Forest Service is presently revising
and re-evaluating their views of timbering
methods such as clearcutting.
But Mary Kelly pointed out that the
projected ASQ (Allowable Sale Quantity for
timber) for the French Broad District for fiscal
year 1991 is expected to be 6.5 million board
feet (mbO. This is up from 5 mbf in 1990. And
now more recent infonnation indicates that lhe
ASQ for the French Broad could go as high as
8.5 mbf.
One local farmer spoke out saying, ''If
she's got to tum out six and a half million feet,
that seems to be it." But Ranger Brandel
answered that no matter what her ASQ, she was
first and foremost "committed 10 stewardship"
and that she W3S \'\1lling to "listen to what the
people want."
At that point, one member of the FBFW
called for a show of hands.
"How mnny people want to see Shelton
Laurel preserved the way it is?" The response
was almost unanimous.
"Well, that ought 10 tell you what we, the
people of this community, want."
Obviously the folks of Shelton Lautcl are
not interested in seeing the forest health
"restored" through resource management They
prefer seeing the land in its present healthy state.
As Haze Landers secs it, ''They say it'll grow
back to its original state in 250 years. So why
wait? It'll stay ihat way for the next 250 years if
they don't cut it down. We got generations of
kids between now and then who'll never know
what it was like if they cul it down."
The citizens making up the French
Broad Forest Watch can be proud of their effons
in staying ahead of the game with the Forest
SCIVice and infonning the community of what is
to come in their ranger district They are
definitely setting a precedent for what needs to
happen throughout the entire bioregion.
Their neighbors in the Cherokee National
Forest could learn much about the type of
recreation and forest activities that are
life-sustaining and non-desbllctive. Just over
the ridge, across the state line. in the Cherokee
National Forest, roads and ORV (off-road
vehicle) trails are being cxccnded deeper into the
bean of the forest. This is a matter of concern to
FBFW members, as they see the ecosystem as a
whole, and do not wish to see the habitat
disturbed.
When people in communities such as
Shelton Laurel take a stand and hold their
ground, it is like a breath of fresh mountain air
in the polluted wind.,; of change. Such effons
will take hard work. the kind of work that
people of the mountains know well. But the
effons to save these mountains do not go
unrewarded. As Haze put it, "There ain'
nothin', nothin' nowhei:c. that the Lord ever
created, I don't think, that can beat the looks of
these mountains...with the water in the streams
a'comin down betwixt 'em. I don't think He
built anything any better. Honestly, Tdon't
believe He cou1d'vc. I figure Ile thought we'd
be so poor, He'd have to give us somethin'."
- by Rodney Webb
�(H20). and carbon dioxide (CO2). This is why
t
OFF THE GRID
REGIONAL FUELS
by Jim Houser
- In Nownber and December I logged abo111 50 milts
driving my van around Boone on ethanol. -
Last issue, I said I would delve deeper into
the question of water power. Since !hat time,
however, there have been certain major tragic
events which pcnain directly to our dependence
on grid energy, in this case oil.
Seventy percent of all the oil used in this
country is used by the transportation sector, as
anyone, who has had the misfortune of driving a
car in downtown Boone on Friday afternoon, is
probably aware. We all depend a great deal on
our automobiles. They are essentially a necessity
if we want to get to and from work everyday,
especially in this region where mass transit is so
scarce.
The consequences of this dependence are
now painfully obvious. As a nation, a people, we
in the United States like to think we are in control
of our own destiny. But now, if you believe our
leaders. the actions of a single individual (and his
anny). left us with absolutely no alternative but
to fight an extremely costly and deadly war.
Docs this have 10 be so? Do we in lhc Katuah
region have recourse 10 other fuels besides
gasoline to drive our vehicles? Is it possible for
us to develop a regional supply of fuel which
would suengthen our regional economy while at
the same time free us from being economically
dependent on a bunch of countries many of us
would have been hard pre.~sed to find on a map
just a few monrhs ago?
The leader in the use of alternatives to
gasoline in this area is the Rural Public
Transponation Authority (otherwise known as
AppalCART}, headquancrcd in Boone, NC.
According to Chris Turner, director of
AppalCART,
In and of itself, public 1111nsponation, even when 11
uses gasoline. is a way to reduce our dependence on
foreign oil. A bus carrying 50 people uses a lot less gas
than 50 separate catS, as well as reducing traffic congestion
and air pollution, two problems which Boone i.~ beginning
to ex pcricncc.
AppalCART carries the conservative role of
public 1ranspona1ion one step funher by actively
experimenting with fuel aJtcma1ives. They have
eight vehicles which use propane as a fuel.
Being a fossil fuel like gasoline, propane is
also a grid fuel delivered to this area from Texas.
via a single pipeline. Nevenhclcss, it is a much
cleaner burning fuel than gasoline, due to 1he fact
lha1 it enters the engine as a true gas. ralher than
an atomii.ed liquid like gasoline. Liquids bum
(instead of exploding like gases), leaving behind
carbon deposits which foul oil and lead 10 the
deterioration of an engine. The complete
combustion of a hydrocarbon gas like propane
(C2H6) produces nothing more than water
Xntunfl Journot pmic 26
vehicles which must operate indoors. like
forklifts. use propane as a fuel.
Propane, however, is still a fossil fuel and,
clean as it may be, the carbon dioxide its
combustion produces adds to the Greenhouse
Effect, underscoring the reason why all fossil
fuel use must eventually be cunailed.
Propane would be a good vehicle fuel for the
coming transition period when we will have ro
switch to a non-fossil fuel trnnsponation system.
Its use would reduce smog, and it would
introduce society at large to the concept that
vehicles do run on something else besides
gasoline. In addition. a propane fuel system
could easily be modified 10 accept melhanc (since
they are both gases), and methane is a tested
vehicle fuel. The East Ohio Gas Company of
Nonh-East Ohio runs an of their company
vehicles on natural gas. The advamoge of
methane is that it can be of non-fossil fuel origin.
Methane (CH4), more commonly known as
natural gas, comes from oil wells, but it is also
found in swamps (swamp gas), septic tanks,
landfills, and biogas digesters (technology
specifically designed 10 harvest methane).
Actually, it is found anywhere organic matter has
been cut-off from oxygen. Bacteria which can
only live in the absence of oxygen (anaerobic),
consume the organic matter and "breath" Cll4,
instead of CO2 like oxygen (aerobic) organisms.
Non-fossil methane can be made in a few
weeks in a biogas digester or landfill. Biogas
digesters are very common in some countries.
China has an estimated 7 million diges1ers.
Communities are already required to vent
their landfills in order to prevent methane
explosions. Enlightened communities are
capturing and using that gas.
Bio-fuel, like non-fossil methane, is energy
harvested from a currently active and ongoing
biological process. Therefore, as long as there are
there are plants growing to replace the ones
harvested for fuel, the combustion of biofucls
does no1 add to the Greenhouse Effecr.
Another common biofuel is ethanol or ethyl
alcohol (com squeezens). Ethanol is harvested
from the fermentation cycle (yeast consuming
glucose and excreting alcohol). We can utilize lhe
energy in alcohol by completing the combustion
process begun by the yeast - turning alcohol into
carbon dioxide and water.
This process does not necessarily destroy the
food cycle, as many people contend The organic
remains left in the fermentation 1ank (stillagc) arc
a high protein foodstuff. Essentially all the com
grown in this nation's "com belt," goes through
the fermentation cycle at large industrial plants
(Archer Daniel Midland, and Staley). The alcohol
is sold to oil companies, the carbon dioxide to
soda companies, and the stillagc to livestoek
owners.
Dunng the 1980's AppalCART was actively
producing and using ethanol, thonks to a
Department of Energy grant from the Caner
administration's Alternative Energy Small Grants
program.
They have on-site a working still capable of
producing I0,000 gallons of ethanol fuel ( 180
proof) per year.
The program is not currently active for a
number of political reasons. and because they had
difficulty converting a vehicle to run satisfactorily
on their alcohol. 1l1is docs not mean that alcohol
is not a good fuel. Over half the vehicles in brazil
run on pure ethanol harvested from sugar cane,
and their vehicles are ma.de by the Ford Motor
Company and Volkswagen. In this country
manufacturl!rs are just beginning to introduce
flexible fuel vehicles which will run on a variety
of liquid fuels, including alcohol.
Since AppalCART experienced some
difficulties converting vehicles. I decided to srudy
up and do a conversion of my own. so that I
could beuer understand the difficulties they
encountered_
Fonunately, Talready had an old 1966 Ford
Econoline Supervan with a 240, in-line six
cylinder engine, which, luckily enough, was
essentially the same kind of engine AppalCART
had worked with.
l found that, as fuels, the essential difference
between alcohol and gasoline is that gasoline
requires a 15/1 air-to-fuel ratio for good
combustion while alcohol only requires a 9/1
air-to-fuel ratio. This ratio can be changed in the
carburetor by adding more fuel or decreasing the
air. For a number of reasons, the main one being
simplicity, I chose the air restriction method.
Appa!CART. and most conversions in the
literature. pursued the route of adding more fuel.
Mother Earth's 1979 Mother's Alcolwl Fu.el
Seminar is probably one of the best explanations
of this conversion scheme. However, a manual
from the State Fair Community College in
Sedalia, Missouri (816/826-7100 ext 220)
entitled Conversion of Gasoline Engines to Use
Ethanol as rhe Sole Fu.el points out that the liquid
systems in a carburetor arc precisely calibrat~
and independent of the operator. while the arr
flow, through the use of a manual choke. is
under the control of the driver and can be varied
for a wide range of speed and load requirements.
They install a metal sleeve in the carburetor
venturi to reduce the amount of air.
So I spliced a five gallon plastic gas can into
my fuel line before the fuel pump (plastic is
necessary because alcohol will rust metal). With
the simple rum of a valve r could switch from gas
to alcohol. This way l could start on gasoline (1he
way all Brazilian cars do). and then switch to
alcohol when 1he engine got hot. At the end of
my trip I would switch back to gasoline in
preparation for my next stan.
Even without the addition of a venturi sleeve
this system worked quite well. By simply closing
my choke a bit l was able to drive all over Boone.
My only real problem was speed on _lhe big hills,
which might be alleviated by advancmg the
timing and adding lhe venturi sleeve.
The best thing about the 50 miles J drove on
alcohol was they were relatively clean. With the
help of Bob Chandler who runs the power lab. r
checked my emmissions on an exhaust gas
analyzer at Watauga lligh School. On alcohol my
carbon monoxide emissions were reduced to
0.2% from the 6.5% of gasoline. Hydrocarbons
were reduced from 100 ppm 10 27 ppm. These
alcohol exhaust emissions are well within the
current guidelines.
The possibility or small farms generating .
their own fuel for on-fann purposes could easily
be a reality. This combined with the use of
subsidized energy crops for public transponation
could be the beginning of a truly regional energy
economy, helping 10 bring meaningful work and
economic security to our local communiti1/
A.nyoN 1nttrated"' a,,.,,,, "' <kpth look at the
A.ppalCA.RT a/£olwlf~I protram ~"" smd SS.00 to, OFF 11/E
GRID. Rt I , Bux J OO. 8/u,w,g Rod , NC 28605 f<>r a ror, of
my rrport A.ppalCART Alrohol ,..u~l l'rogrom
,hu~•mrnl Mis 20,0()() word rq,ort tlioroughly ro,·,rs tliL:
ph) ,u:aJ and admirustrotrw a.<per:u cf the program as "ell as the
baclrwnd rcwvdt I did an vehick ~on··~rstnrt Spn tUJ , I !l9 I
�LETS
What is LETS?
LETS Network 1s a Locru Economic Trading System
which helps people trade their goods and services so they
can get what they need without using cash. LETS is an
information exchange which through a computer or
bookkeeping keeps track of account holdcts' trading
ll1lllsactions.
The benefits of LETS arc:
I) Encourages sclf-confid;:ncc and initiative among its
u~. People who have previously valued themselves on
lhe employment market discover Ihm they ha,·e olher
skills and ways in which they earn money
2) Stimulates local trading activity, as the currency Clln
only circulate locally. In order to cam "emcmld dollars"
(the community currency), people must tr.we with local
p:ople
3) Transactions strengthen personal relationships and
goodwill w11hin a community, as trading always involves
a personru one.10-onc arrangement.
How did LETS begin?
LETS was established in 1983 by Michael Lin1on, who
was concerned about the high unemployment rat.e in
Vancouver, BC. He observed that while many local people
had ~kills and products to offer, their lack of money
prevcnt.ed them from trading with each other. By 1987, e
do,en LETSystems were opcr:uing in Canadn.
Who can join LETS?
AU members or the community can join. LETS docs not
discriminate on lhe basis of r.ice. sex, nationruity. age,
sexual preference, lilUlllcial staws, or political orientation.
RESOURCES
Books
•Berry. Thomas The Dream of the Earth (Sierra
Club Books, San Francisco, 1989)
•Berry, Wendell /Jome Economics (North Point
Press. San Francisco. 1987)
•Daly. Herman and John Cobb For lhe Common
Good. Redirecting the Economy Toward
Community, the Environmenl, and a Sustainable
Furure (Beacon Press, Boston. 1989)
How is LETS organized?
LETS Network has a Membership directory which lisLS
311 its members alphabetically. as well as their goods C1nd
services. Members needing goods or scr.·1ccs conLXt other
members who offer what they netd. Aftcr a tr.msac1ion has
been agreed upon and complcccd, :1 roccipt su11ing the
amount u-ansact.ed 1s scm 10 lhe LETS Network. The
network keeps track of lhe tmnsactions. Traansactions are
accounted for in ·emerald dolm" (the community
currency) which equals cash • dollar for dollat. Exchanges
can occur in a combination of emeralds or cash. Members
choose who they wish ID trnllsac1 with and for what
amounts.
How does LETS work?
The account holders of LETSysLCm lis1 what their wan&s
are and what they have 10 offer in a directory. for eimmple:
068-·StMPLE CAR MECHANIC
Rosie ~53773
069-·LA WN MOWINO
Dave 339-990S
07S··BUJLDING WORK
Andrew 442-9878
086-FRESH VEGETABLES
Jtll 776·2024
•Morrison, Roy Building the Road as We Travel:
Mondragon's CooperaJivt Society (New Society
Publishers, 1990)
•Power, Thomas The EcofllJmic Pursuit of Quality
(M.E. Shnrpc, 1988)
•de Romana. Alfredo, Tht Autonomous Economy:
An Emuging A/Juna1ive to Industrial Society
(Monchanin Cross-Cultural Centre, 4917. Rue St.
Urbain, Monucal. Quebec, C:tnada H2T 2\VI;
1989)
•Schumacher, E.F. Small is Beautiful: Economics
as if People Ma11ered (Harper and Row, New York,
1989)
•Eller, Ronald Mintrs. Mil/hands, and Mountaineers
(University of Tennessee Press. 1982)
•Elgm, Duane. Voluntary Simplicity: An
Ecological liftsryle tha1 Promotts Personal and
Social Renewal (Ban&am, 1982)
•Hacnke, David. Ecological Politics and
Bioregionalism. (The Biorcgional Projccr, New Life
Farm, Box 3, Brixey. MO 65618)
•Hau de no sau nee Nation, A Basic Call 10
Consciousness (Akwcsasnc Not.es. Mohawk Nation,
Periodicals
•Catalyst. Investing in Sot:ial Change P.O. Box
364; Worcest.er, VT 0S682
•In Busintss Box 323; Emmaus, PA 18049
•Katuah Journal (particularly Issue 7; Spring, 1985)
Audio Tape
Rooscvch., NY 13683; 1978)
•Philosophy and Economics in the Ecozoic Era
Conftrence with Al/rt.do dt Romana and Tlwmas
Berry, Tapes available from: Center for Reflection
•Hawken, Paul, Tht Nut EcofllJmy
on the Second Law: 8420 Camellia Dnvc; Raleigh.
NC 27612.
•Henderson, Hale! 11:e Policies of the Solar Agt'
•McRobic, Ocorgc, Small is Po.rsible
Projects & Organi,.ations
•Morgan, Oriscom I/ope for tht Future
(Community Setvicc, Box 243. Yellow Springs,
OH 4S387; 1987)
•Allernathe Economic Development Idea~,
MCED; University o( MO (628 Clark Hall);
Columbia, MO 6S21 I. Strategics. tools, case
studies for communily-ba.'iCd planning.
Spnm,J, 1991
++means "to offer" and - means "Wlllllcd.•
People get in touch with each other and negotiate a Lradt.
Rosie agr~ to pay Bob SO emerald dollar.; for five hours
of car mcchrulics, so Bob's emerald account goes up by
SSO and Rosie's account goes clown by SS0. No money is
exchanged. Bob sends a receipt to LETS which is
rcgi!;tcrcd in lhe books. The sum total or "acdits" in !he
system always balances ei,;actly lhe sum iolal of the
"debits." Account holders am take out "I0311S" simply by
spending cmemld dolllll'$ and running up a debit accounL If
a member leaves town. the sys1.em as a whole absorbs the
loss, ns shareholders and customers do with normal
banking losses. (This has never happened.) The more
account-holders there ore, the grcau:r the variety of tmde ts
possible. The LETSyst.em is a non-profit system. No
int.crest is charged on "ovcitlrafts.• and no interest given on
pos1 li vc account balances.
This inform111wn was exurptedfrom 1he "LE'fSNEWS~
article by Sarah F1111Sle.r itr News Crom Aprovocho.
Drawing by Rob M_,..jck
· Coalition for J obs and the F.m ironment
Working ror environmental quality and economic
ju.slice in NE Tennessee and SW Virginia.
• Bi-monthly newsleucr from CJE: 114 Court Street;
P.O. Box 64S; Abingdon, VA 24210 (703)
628-8996.
• E. F. Schumacher Society
Box 76, RD 3: Great Barrington. MA 01230
lnformauon on SHARE (Sclf·Hclp Association for
a Regional Economy) end "berksharcs•, an
alternative regionru currency.
•lnstilutl' ror Community Eco nomics
ISi Montague City Road; Greenfield, l\fA 01301 A
wealth of ideas and information including The
Community Loan Fund Manual and revolving loan
funds.
•Institu te ror Local SeJf.Reliance
242S l8lh Street NW: Washington, DC 20009;
(202) 232-4108. Provides ~ h , information, and
direct I.C(hnieal essisuince 10 citie.~ and towns.
V:iricty of pubbshcd papers available.
• LETS (Local Em p loyme n t Trad ing
System) Find out about lhis dynamic approach 10
regional currency. LETS; 37S Johnson Avenue;
Coutc03y, BC V9N 2Y2 Canada
•Rcgtneration Project
Rodalc Press; 33 E. Minor Street; Emmaw.. PA
18049, Promotes community regeneration,
particularly in the area of health, ctonomy. and
agriculture. Also publi.•,hes Regmeration magazine.
•School or LMng
RD I, Boit 1508 AA: Spring Orovc, PA 17362.
r-ocuscs on al1cma1ivc economic sy~1cms and
concepts: publi.~hcli Grun Revolution ncwslcucr.
Xaumr, Jo\&nmt
paqe z:,
�..
We must come to Ille understanding that the
amount of production possible is limited, llS the canh is
lim1ted in the amount of rcsowtes it is able to yield. We
should not treat Ille earth os a commodity, bul rather as a
community.
Adam Smith's concept oC the "Invisible Hand,•
which he claimed wiU guide our selftSh pursuiis of
supply and derrumd lO a 1111wral economic order, is (lawed.
As World Baok economist HetmM D31y says:
ShD11Td tltue IIO/ al lm1' be a mini"""" ,t~a,dsJ11p of
DRUMMI N G
To &he EditorS of KOJ@h Journal 1 read wilh inlCrCSt your Summer, 1990 number
oo "Canying Cap:lcity.• Very inlCrCSting matcrilll lhcrc,
and some very powerful ideas.
I was particularly intrigued by the graph oC
population coordinated wilh thc evcnJS or regional
history. Thal graph lod me into an interesting uain of
lhought.
Once iribal societies that lived off lhe land
regulated their populotions to what lhcir defined
ICl'ritories could provide. The economy of each group was
relaled to the available n:sowccs of !heir regioos. and
because lhe balance of population was aucial to survival,
it was a tnbal maucr, not a question of individual
preference. Things were very clear back lhen.
As was pointed out in lhe "Carrying Capacity•
issue, !he bioregion is sliU the n:uuml unil or human
hJbiution, however much we may au.empt to conceal
that by victimizing workers in other regions. importing
scarce resources, etc. tr we over-strcsS our bioregioru,
then that stress will only be passed on to other regions,
until lhe whole planet feels the suain. as is happening
now. Like those LribaJ people of yore, we once again
have to live within the economic limits of our
bioregion.~. The humM population still has to be
balanced to the re1,'10n's ability to provide,~ it was then,
which makc.s popufation conlli)I an ecological question
as well as a quc;;tion oS individual choice. It is up to lhe
people of each region to n:cognize how many people
!heir region could mainiain wuh external suppons, and
then accept !hat level as a goal to approach - gradually.
Bccnusc we over-consume so much, every
irutividual in this country counts for more in tenns of
rc,,()W'CCS, TI!en:fore, llS well as reducing our
consumption, wc must be very responsible about
keeping our number.. under control. Regional population
goots clccided by the people of the 111gion based on lhe
limiis of their regional economies seem like a necessary
ecological policy, b111 also one lhlll would grc:uly
11lCJ'C3Se the prosperity and wdl-bcing of the people or
each biorcgion. Thanks co Ka1uah Journal for the insight!
Sincerely,
Hoyt Wilhelm
N. Wilkesboro. NC
Dc.irKatUDh,
It is with sadness that l inform you that my
husband. Jack Combes, died of ()3llCre®C cancer in
Tampa, Florida on May 2 ISi, 1990. The world has lost n
long time dediaucd informed environmcnraliSI.
Jack supported your programs and your
publication, bu1 now you may n:move his name from
your mailing lisL
Wishing you continued WCCC.51;
Sancerely,
Nina C.Ombcs
De.Ir Ka1uah,
I read in the last issue that Ka1@h is going
lhrough difficult times. I wi.~h you all well - Ille jOurnal
is a bright $J)Ol in my life.
1M land. raJJiu tlian ltaving 1M •invisib/1/o«• nu, by theprofil
tJo, only t:onlrolling /1JC1or.
The invisible fooc in this case would be the
aftermath of poorly managed land. Daly poinlS out the
sukiJit "111vulbk liands", k
Dear Friends,
The Unil.Cd Swc.s oC America has a unique and
amazing culuue. It has provided a great many things 10
large numbers of ilS pOpublion. M:lss production has
produced not only large quMtiues of J¥0(lucts, but has
done so cheaply, due in pan 10 11 readily available soun:e
of cheap fuel, namely oil. What is our rcutionship 10
Ille production of oil? Clearly we are dcpcndem on ii,
but 10 what extcnt? With oil we run our ua111,-ponauon
sySICms, communications, heating and electricity. Oil
and its products enable us to produce linoleum tiles, latex
and acrylic paints, clothes, dyes, plnstic bottle.\ toys,
etc. Needless lO say, oil and ourculwre arc ine~tricably
in tenwined.
Problems arose when we bcgM 10 131c.e llus
resource for granlCd, conducting business as though there
were a constant and readily available supply. Oil is a
finite resource, and we arc using u at a ru1e fa.~tcr lhlln
natw-c is able to produce iL Evenwally we are going to
run out of it. and we are going to have to SUJ'l thinking
about 1C11ewablc fuels. Our society has become addicted
to instant gratification and Ille quiclc fut, plummeting
headlong into the fuaure wit.bout much forcthooght or
plnnning. Many of us have not truly considered Ille fact
1h31 the cycle of rcnewability with oil is hundreds of
millions of years. Oil dates back m time to a period 300
million 10 S00 million years ogo. As Jim Houser wri!Cl;
m l\fom~ntwn, I do not wnnt to sec our society, "Bum
as brightly as the sun
only 10 fmd lhat we "[grew)
while the growing was good, wid oow must die as Ille
dying is proved.· As Ille laws or lhetmodynamics Leach
us, "The star which burns twice as brightly only bums
half as long."
Due 10 our dependency on 011, wc have lost toUCh
with ourselves, our culture and the earth cycles which
ultimately suppon us. No longer have we an
understanding of the mechanisms, l.bcories and soences
which have produced our cultural anifaas, and we begin
to ta.kc !hem for grunted. We rely almost entirely on oil
to run our "Cree mnrkct" economy.
This "Cree mnrtct• ecooomy leads to an
overproduciton of goods. In ordct to com()CIC and still
mainiain a profit, priCC$ must drop and sales must
increase along with an maeasc Ill production.
C.Omp:inies are look.ing for low wage wortcers. which
help add lO their overall profits. A company may even
threaten 10 take ils business elsewhere (pcrtiaps to o lhinl
world country where the wages arc really low), unless
union concessions arc made. The employed worker must
worlc longer hours to make Lhe same amount of money
and maintain the same standard of living. Nevcrthelcs.~.
leisure ume and quality of life is sacrific:c:d, as wdl as an
understanding of the eanh S}'Slcrns which would
ultimately bring them security. We would be well
advised to listen 10 the word.~ of David Brandon in the
book Zt.ia in the Art of Helping, wherein ll is stal.Cd:
can:
COSl to our environment:
MUJtw•fortM .~ of1<nl11niudincreasuofwclJllll
and pop11/a,ion, atirpal, great """'1¥n ofsp«w ofrar, p/anls
and onimals and resources.
When wW our psychic incomes be satisfied?
Perhaps never. We an: IOO caught up in Ille economic
paradigm to be able to see past our.;clvcs.
Rachel Summas
Boone.NC
Fnends-
After reading more about tl1e matriarchal Ooddess
religions in The GrcOJ Cosmic Mothu of All, lltis sacred
symbol came lO me. I was thinldng how all the art and
symbols of pre-history were in honor of the
Mother-female-woman's body. While I am in reverence of
that, l also felt a lack of powerful male symbols in
reverence of lhnt aspect of mutu31 creation. C.Ombining
the spiral of life, often associated wilh women/birlh,
wilh the pointed arrow (obviously Phallic), lhis symbol
came to me and felt powerfully whole. When I showed it
to my lover, he immediately said, "Tum ii around."
Suddenly it was a sacred female symbol complete wilh
fallopian tube spiral, birth canal, and VI - a mirror image
• in balance - inner and outer - so different, yet so much
alike. It seemed appropriate, in this ca~. 1h31 the female
would see the male fertility in the symbol, and mnle
would see the female, honoring each other through o
unique humnlriarchlll symbol.
C.SacRcd
Only""""' who Is IIO/ itr.pr~d by IM Wbthl of his
po1.susions, and Jd not pcs~,sed wuli 1h• Med cQfllilwo,,sly 10
fwl.food and s~/1u ow, tu.l:oNJ live°"' vnporuw qlJtstibM
'11'1,o"'" 11 ll'Jiae""' I IOUlt? \\'hat u IM ll<JJIVC of life?'
Erika Schneider
Xatuafi JoumaC page 28
Spring, 1991
�Dc:itK01riah,
Enclosed is my check for S10.00 to renew my
subscription for anolhcr year.
I have debated and waited 10 renew wilh a reason.
For most of its publication lifetime, I have bought
Ka11ioh Journal over the counter. and subscribed when I
moved west a year and a hlllf ago.
It saddens me !hat Katuah Cor some 1.1me has
spoken wilh G voice increasingly shrill. I do not want
anolhcr cnvironmcntnl activist news organ-I have access
to many or lhese. What I want IO read more of in Katuah
Journal are aniclc..~ on the people, the h&Storie.~, !he
Native Ameriellns, spirituality (eitpecially NMive
Amenc:m and alternative), humor. poetry, music, nature,
self-sufficiency. rural living, cooking and n:cipcs, special
(and obscure) pl3ccs and events. the uniqueness. the
peculiarities, the gentleness, the quiet goodness, !he
sense of family and community so common 10 my kin in
Kauiah Province. To me, there's plenty of "diversity" in
!he abo\'C, both "natural and social" and intenclatcd.
Through !he years Kauiah has often l.OUChed my soul ,n
small ways, and to me !hat's the best kind of "education·_
Having lived in Kauiah Province for 47 years
before depaning, and with family "rOOIS" going b.1ck to
!he t 700's there in my Christian relations and even
longer in my ChocUlw relations, my heart remains in
K:miah as surely as my body will return 10 join it when
my Sedona sorjoum is completed- Now that I'm away
Crom "home." those words above speak of wh:ll I miss
most of all.
If Kauiah is headed toward a more angry.
confronUllional tone, or more "what's wrong• instead of
"what's right.• just send my check back, please.
Thanks for !cuing me have my say.
Judy Elizabeth Love
All of the elements /Ml you mention which rn.tJU
Ka1uah a bl'auliful and unique place, we all hold dear and
will conrinue 10 write about because they are a part of
our Ifft, bur so is the habitat which makes /his way of
life possible, and it is thrcattn.cd.
We live in the midst of the greatest evolurionary
catasrropl~ since the end of the Cretauou.t Period. 65
•million years ago. For those of u.s who liw: in and cart
Qbout Ka11ioh it would be irrespormble not to say
somcllWlg. Yt'/. we are aware tlwl when you livfl in the
midst of rhe .wciery largely resp0nsible/or the
catastrophe, whar you Junv: 10 say probably will ,wl
sound plcasa111 10 their cars.
• The Editors
Dc.itKatua/1,
Encl~ please find S40.00 for !he complete set
or b.xl.: issues. Also, please lind an addi1io113J S10.00 for
a foture subscription (after thi.~ one expucs).
We love you. The Kattiah Journal is a work or
spirit and artt I trust we'll answer your uppcal with
enough v!gor to give you new Ufe.
Warmly,
Ste\·e Qubcck
Or.wing by Rob Levcmt
Dear Ka1uah,
I love your journal and always look forward 10 it.
then treasure it until the neitL I really think it's
exceptional in many wayi;, but for me, thc spirituality or
!he Joumal 10uches my heart so deeply.
I hope you continue forever; and if you would
ever need assistance from someone outside !he Province
physically but lhcrc in spirit every day, I hope you will
let me know.
Bless each or yoo.
Nancy LignilZ
DcarKa1uah,
Thank you for sending issues of Katuah Journal
IO me, we've found them very interesting and informative
with beautiful art and open accessible layout. I'm so glad
we've discovered you! I'm including a check to cover a
subscription, but rn give you !he mailing information
'below so I do noc have to cut up the b.xlc: of one of my
issues.
David and Cindy Ort
To Katuah Journal:
Dear People.
I am a member of a Sydney-based group that until
recently was bioregional repn:sentative in an Australian
bio-rcgional network lcnown as Austtulian Association
for Sus1ainable Communities (AASC).
Though this network is no longer formally alive,
the groups of rural and urb.,n communities the
bio-regional mtsS11ge "stained" after cuuings Crom such
publications as Planet Drum Review and Akwas:isnc
Notes were circulated (via an AASC press cuuing
network) around thc countryside. are numerous and
mostly all locally active.
Recently in Sydney l met with Peter Berg and
friend Judy. Judy showed us many CJtamples or
bio-regionally inspired publications and pnnted creations,
one of which was your Mag37.inc Kotuah JourllOJ.
l was very unpressed wilh the breadlh in one
article or the Spring 1989 Edition by David Morris.
Could you please send me a copy of that edition or that
article if the.re arc none left? Or word of where I might
get a copy locally if my failure to enclose/forward any
money with this no1c discourages you? I would be
happy to send you wluucver the cost is in rc1um ma.ii if
you can get me a copy.
I look forward to hearing from your pan or the
plancL Over here il is (once again) mysteriously 100 hot,
and then just as mysteriously coo abruptly cold, then
again jUSt ~ radically windy without v.aming. Too
much change, 100 many extremes. all too often, to feel
comfonablc talking about !he wcalher - and the sun huns
your eyes and neck.
Right now it's I !pm night. and well away from
banks and money currency exchange venues, so I hope
you can bill me in the rewm mml.
Hope thi:. !cu.er finds Someone...
Regards,
Sieve Ward
.
Sprim.,, 190 I
'.J((lfuofl Journal J)O(JC 29
�(coruinued limn page 14)
fossil fuel draw. We may not be able to think that
way for tOO much longer. As the oil supplies
diminish, the gas is going to be getting more and
more expensive and it's going 10 be less and less
efficient to produce everything in one place and
ship it all over the world. Our assumption that the
fossil fuel supply is infinite dislons the price of
what is being made.
DW: What do you think the next step is for
local agrlouhlil'e? What's some of the stuff that
wt need to work on?
Ron Alnspan: We need to work together,
suppon each other, and promote the idea of the
regional economy. This involves on-going
education of the public. I don't think I have any
ideas that haven't been said before, but it's
imponam 10 raise the issue to the people, to make
the public conscious of the cosLS of gerring things
from far away. That way people can pull each
other up and build suppon for one another, so
they have the stamina 10 carry on.
My attitude about social change is summed
up in the idea that "you do what you can." I don't
know that ·we can ever expect to overcome all the
mon:: regressive or more reactionary forces, but
ic's imponant for everybody to live by their
principles and do what they can. Whenever we
win a battle, we can feel good about it, but then
we go_ on and continue the struggle. It's an
on-going proctl>s.
/
Ron Ainspan: If we were acting slI'ictly
from of our consciousness of global issues.
Mountain Food Products might not carry
products like Mexican tomatoes or O.ilcan
raspbenies in the wintertime because that
encourages the long-distance production and
disaibution system.
Kantah: That would definitely hurt your
business.
Ron Ainspan: Even though cantaloupes.
for instance. cost $30 a case in the wintertime,
whereas they go for $6 or $7 a case when they
are in season during the summer, people have
this seemingly insane need to be able to buy
anything they want whenever they want iL I
don't know what causes that, but it flies in the
face of efficient use of the world's resources.
For our pan, we push local produce and
try to raise the issues whenever we can, but we
try co be practical • I guess that would be the
word • and do what's necessary 10 be successful
and hope that we are getting some of our
principles across to our customers while
maintaining our own integrity.
(ca,linu':iS ~ 113i• 27}
lnttrvitw recorded and tdittd
by David Whulu
Photo by Rodney Webb
~
.
Growers or retailers who are interested in
?anicipating in the organic produce co-op can call
Wountain Food Producis at (704 J 255-7630, or
.1isit their location in rite Old Chesterfield Mill at
121 Wesr Haywood Street; Asheville, NC.
.
truer toilay. We do indeed need. despcrn1cly . to "step back
Yet our economic system is structured to pro1CC1 big
Md have a new look" at the world we are~ busily creating
business more than Individuals, so it's quilC likely that
• and the world we are destroying. But here's the rub: In
lllXJ)ayers will soon be asked - or ruther, told • 10 f00t the
order to ~,, cnvironmcntaVsocial preservation as
bill, as is already occurring wilh the mushrooming S&L
"productive work." we must stop relating producuvity
SC:lndal and other looming socio-economic disasters. If we,
only to shon-tcrm profits nnd mruumal consumption. The
the worl.crs, lllllpayers, and citizens wish to a"oid this fate,
ideA of "production for sale and con~umption" must be
we must rccogniz.e that a suong environmental sunax for
augmented by the vision of "productive prcscmumn for a
these nnd similar mdustrics is both necc.'IS.lry and jusL This
sUSUlinablc FUTURE."
nx:ognition must in tum be followed by social action, if 11
What will such a shift m emphasis mCM? In
is to have any effect • und then we'll face the long and
pr:ictical terms. it means that we mu.~l cre:itc new criteria
arduous UISk of bringing industry into line with ecological
for producuvity. and will have to pay people to preserve our and economic reality. Aficr all, the money to pay for
environment evtn though their work does not
long-term productivity and prc_~ervation hos 10 come from
create,, a "product" for imminent sate, and thus
some\\ h,re • :ind it should come from those who profit
brin~s in NO money In the short term. On this
the most from the rape of lhc Eartll. Equally imparuint,
most pracllcal level, it's obvious that the money needed to
our concept of ·work" simply HAS 10 shift into a more
IXIY these people will have to be justified by an cntin:ly
future-oriented and truly produclhe mode, a mode in
diflcrent rnuonale lhan that usually subscribed to by
which our finMci3J sul'\'i\'OI no longer depends on
industry ond by ~om1sts. This type of wort will have
personally, socially, and planet.1nly deadening "JObs." or on
to be e,•alumed and ,·ntued differently tlun work producing
incomes deriving directly or indirectly from ecological and
imrned1.1tc n:sults and profiis, and the woflcCl"S' P3Y will
social destruction.
ha,·e 10 come from olhcr public or private :,ource,-, since
their wurk involves on outlay of funds rJthcr 1h1111
producing immcduic income.
The logic:il source of such funds is the corporations
We now have the opportunity to refrnme our
and businesses which have been profiwng the most from
economy and our society so that they can be a
the cxploitntion and/or destruction of our environment •
source of pride and fulfillment ins1ead of shame
e,;pocmlly such COtJ)Ol'ate giants a, the trans-national 01I,
and despair... so that we can regain a sense of
banking, chemical, pla.5tics, beef, and wood products
identity beyond our roles as exploitive "consumindustries. THEY should be the ones 10 pay for
In I977, on the day before his de:uh, E.F
ers" and profiteers. There is so much more 10 the
cnv,ronmenUll prouXtion, not the beleaguered W<JXl)'Cl'S,
Schumacher h:ld this to :..iy ubow Wcstem lnduslrial
"American Dream" 1han we·ve been seeing, so
suicc nlOst of lhcse corporatioM have been allowed to •get
society: "Narurc canllOl Sl!lnd 1t, the resource cndowm~t or a11,-ay with (ecological) murder" for decades - in return r«
much we've apparently forgotten. The time has
the 11,orJd cannot stand it, and lhc human being c:innot sland the m30y ·benefits" they suPJX)Se(lly bring us. As
come to revi1alize that dream, 10 renew the vision
iL,.. lt 1, a kind of fruud. And so it c; necessary for us 10
Schumochcr put 11. we've boughL into •3 kind of fr.iud." and of a truly just and humane society... and to create a
step baclc and ha,e a new look_"
livable, sus1ainable future. Let's "seize the day"!
have been conned into supporting 3 fraudulent and
It is now 199 I, :ind Shunm,hcr'~ wool.~ nng even
disastrous economic systcm, This has got to stop; we
simply HA VE to redesign our economy if we wi~h to
~urvivc.
X.nti1ofi JounmC poqc30
n t '"- J1 ,1u, r ,1u. •nx
Oar response to this need for change has been
slow, but we arc sUll'ting to REDEFINE productivity to
Ulcludc lhe pr~rvation/ rtstoration of ecological
sysiems and "n:rourccs; since such prcser"auon alone c.in
guarnmoe a contmuing supply of valu:ible "products• (as
well as a functioning planet!). Eventu:llly, we will have
to recogniz.c lhat pro1CCting and n:smring nmurul
ecosySICms is ·productive work" wonhy of great financi:11
"COJnpcnsruion.• Thi~ essential mind-shift CIIII Blreooy be
o;cen in action in progr.ims such as the Federal
ConSCNntion Reserve Program, which pays furmen; to
NOT plant crops on eroded fields, and to pLlnt uces and
grow a forest iru.t.C3d. Th= farmers ·are paid to take the
land out of producuon fo,- IO years," and though the IJ'CCS
can be "han·ested" afier that time, "90% or the acres
planted m trees under the ooil bank programs of the SO's
and 60's have remained fore:;tcd • .Similar illCCllll, c
progrnmi nre being utiliz.cd m lhe SIJ"Usglc to save the nun
forests: for example, the SO<lllled "dcbt-for-ll3tUIC swap~· .
in which C011strvat.ion groups or governmental ugencies
·buy' pan of a trOpical ll3tion's debt food in exchange for
the preservation of a s«:tion of rmn forest.
These programs, and Olhcrs hke lhem, ~nainly
desctvc IO be viewed :is "productive." Indeed, lhe work.
they provide could be called the MOST producUvc work,
for u cn::itcs ecological health and economic
SU"'31nability, Md is NOT based on the economic.~ of
profit through ~pto,1a11on and destruction.
•••••••••••
···········
,
�EARTH ENERGIES
The Great Lover
by Charlotte Homsher
~
/~
' ~•
A t the deepest level we are all lovers of the
eanh and we are here on this planet to discover
this love relationship. It is like walking through
the woods, feeling the rhythm, feeling tuned in
'
~ and stepping lightly on the leaf cover, then
~
c:;
,J~
Drawing b)' Susan Adam
suddenly kneeling down and picking _up a leaf to
discover the marvelous, previously hidden world
underneath. The first time I recall feeling the eanh
energy as a distinct sensation, which literalJy
entered my body, was three years ago in the
Joyce Kilmer MemoriaJ Forest. I have aJways
loved big trees and I have attempted to
communicate with trees for years. Some of my
experiences with trees have included seeing
flashes of colored lightS and hearing sounds
within trees which I suppose to be the tree
elementals. Sometimes I received "messages"
from treeS. Any time interspecies con_imunication
is happening via words, thoughts or images,
there is translation going on. The tree doesn't use
words to experience life, therefore the energy of
the tree must be transformed into a cerebraJ
energy which we can understand.
At Joyce Kilmer, I chose the biggest, oldest
poplar I couJd find, grounded myself firmly and
put my paJms on the tree. 1did not expect
anything in particular except that I wanted 10
express affection and gratitude for the life of the
tree. I quickJy became aware of the tree as a very
powerful being. The energy came up the roots of
the tree from the eanh and emered my body just
as though I were attached to the tree as a sucker
root. The energy entered through the soles of my
feet. traveled up both legs, up my back on either
side of the spine and into my head. At the same
time it entered from where my paJms touched the
bark, traveling up my arms. The sensation was
pleasurable to say the least, and riveting. For that
quiet moment I was part of an ancient tree; I
knew cxactJy what it was like to be alive as a
poplar hundreds of years old. I stayed with the
experience as long as I could I noticed that the
energy which came form the canh into the roots
of the tree and into my rootS (my feet), came in
surges or waves of energy. Others have called
this energy pulses, or even feeling the rhythm of
the breath of the earth. In India, visceral energy,
when it travels up the spine, is called kundalini.
In any case, the knowledge of earth energy as
VJSCeral and real, a force to be reckoned with, is a
worldwide, if arcane, study. Witness the
worldwide distribution of sacred sites. Someone
or ones had co recognize the places of power and
then understand what effect these special energy
places would have on the people. One theory
now in vogue and mentioned in the book~
flaw by James A. Swan, is that the sacred sites
correlate to the chalaa system of man. For
instance, we go to a heart chalaa place and our
heart is heaJed or opened as our vibratory energy
harmonizes with the energy in that place.
I nearly always recognize vortexes as .
vibrations in visceral rushes of energy Wlthin my
own body. The intensity of energy might vary
with the power of the vortex or wilh my ability or
inability 10 be receptive at the time. For me. the
receiving of the energy, which of course is really
an energy exchange, is reason enough 10 pursue
the study of earth energy; it proves to me that our
relationship to the earth is not a static thing, but
creative and sensuaJ.
Many of the most powerfuJ vonexes in
Karuah are on public access. We flock en massc
to these places of pristine beauty ignorant of why
we feel so invigorated, why we wish to return
again and again. When you consider the
awesome power of the earth compared 10 the
puny life energy of a single human being. you
may wonder why the earth would bother to
respond to us at aJl The :t-nswer to t~is, in m_y_
opinion, is 1ha1 the earth 1s a lover with exqu1s11e
sensitivity.
~
GIRL'S SUMMER CAMP
'TURTLE ISLAND IS LOOKING
FOR A FEW TOUCH GIRLS"
NATIONAL
lNDlAN
FESTIVAL
JULY 7-13 1991
ACES 11-17
If you enjoy the challenge of
adventure then Turtle Island
ls the place for you,
100¾ Cotton Futons & Covers
No Rain Forest Wood Used
(615) 929-8622
Batik Clothing, Jewelry, Artwork ...
414 s . Roan St, Downtown Johnson City. TN 37601
For mon: infonnation write; Turtle 1'1.Jnd Pre..erve. Rt. I
Box 249-8 Deep Cap, NC 28618 (704) 265-2267
"CELEBRATING OUR
MOTI-IER EARTH"
MAY 17, 18, 19 1991
Highlights of Events:
• Native American Dancers
• Floyd Westerman ("Dances with Wolves")
• Thomas Banyacya - Hopi Elder
• Javier Alarcon - Aztec Fire Dancer
• Native American Flute Music Concert
• Demonstrations
• Native American Crafts & Skills
• Traditional Indian Foods
Thi$ cvl?J\t will be the l.lrg~ of its kind to date in
the Southeastern Unit-cd States! Camping is available
for the public al Chcllilw Parle Albany, ~rgla. $4.()() •
adults - S3.00 children. For More information call Velaric
Spratlin - Festival Coordinator, (704) 265- 1063.
Spri.ntJ, 1991
Union Acres
An Alternative
i
- - Acrtagt for Salt - Smoky Mounlmn Liuing
with o focus on spiritlllll 011d
ecologiall wluts
For more information:
Contact C. Grant at
Routt 1. Box 61]
WhiHitr, NC 28789
(704) 497-4964
Progrorrw to enco1.Xoge
sell aid Earth O\N0r808$$.
celetxol1on. klmhlp and hope.
• Yovfl Cempl • School ProgfWl!s
• Femily CemP* • Toachet Trumg
• Commurwty Progren,1
•~Stell Tr1lMQ
• Outdoot Prog111m Consulting
NATURAL MARKET
P0. 8al 1306
823 Blow,ng Roel<. Rd .
Gannwo. Teme- 3n3a
615-436-6203
265-2700
Boone. NC 28607
�----------------,
Floyd Co. Envitonmental Council
The Aoyd County Environmental Council
was formed out of a successful struggle to
prevent the county's participation in a potentially
expensive and dangerous regional landfill.
It is currently involved in trying to prcvent
massive clean:utting in an environmentallysensitive area of the county known as "The Free
State," where many people believe that cougars
survive.
People who want to get in touch with the
Floyd County Environmental Council or help in
their efforts can contact them via Donna
Whitmarsh at (703) 651-4747.
Staging a Bioregional Event:
The Piedmont's Haw River Festival
Beginning on April 19 and running for
four weeks, a volunteer crew of educa10rs,
performers, and river lovers will travel the
length of the Haw River, stopping 10 meet with
school children in each of the five counties the
river connects. At approximately seven different
riverfront sites, the festival crew will put on a
colorful learning celebration that will look at the
river from the perspectives of science, nature.
history, and fun.
A main goal for the Festival is to give
children a direct, hands-on experience that will
leave them with a greater awareness of the place
where they live, and how human choices affect
the natural world. Also along the way, the
festival will involve many other citizens within
the Haw River basin through scheduled events
in riverside towns. In all, approximately 3000
srudentS are expected to participate,
accompanied by 300 parents and teachers.
When children arrive at the site, they will
be clustered into small groups, which will rotate
among these teaching stations: Animals, People
Along the River, Good Allematives, Riverwalk,
Music & Stories, and Games. The Animals
Station, for example, will feature live animals
from the river and riverbanks and let the children
get to know these finned, furry, and scaly
neighbors - their relationship to each other
(food chains), to the place (habi1a1). and to us
(environmental issues).
To contact the Festival, write Haw River
Assembly; P.O. Box 187; Bynum, NC 27228
or call Louise Kessel at (919) 542-5599.
., '
RECEIVED
Elwiro~n1al Ad'IIOCacy: Concepis, Issues, and
Dilemmas by Bunyan Bryant (Caddo Gap Press, Ann
Arbor. MJ, 1990)
Communitits 1n Economic Crisis: Appalachia and tht
Sowh edilcd by John Gaventa, Barbara Ellen Smith, and
Alex Willingham (Temple University Press,
Philadelphia. 1990)
Audio Tape
Light ,n tht Wind a cappella chanis and circle songs by
Bob Avery.(irubel and lhe Celcbnuion Singers (Tribuia,y
Records, Aoyd. VA, 1990) - Spirited songs for holi<bys.
campfires, swcais. or whenever lho CltClc gathers.
REVIEW
From Walden Pond to Muir Woods:
Alternative Way.r Aero.rs America
Mary Dymond Davis (1990);
Foreword by Ernest Callenbach
Order from: ASPI Publications; Rt. 5, Box 423:
Livingston, KY 40445
For those who travel, Mary Davis' book
From \Vaiden Pond u, Muir Woods is an
ecological ttavel guide. For those who stay at
home, it is a local resource listing. Mary Davis
has compiled descriptions of a variety of
ecological loci throughout the continen1 that
would be worthwhile for a traveler to visit or for
a potential local activist to link up with.
Her descriptions cover a broad spectrum
of interests: groups and communities promoting
alternative and ecological ways of living, natural
areas, environmental education, recreation spots
and suppliers, and transponation help. Her
profiles are infonnative and her introductory
explanations show clearly the pan each caiegory
plays in the ongoing process of ecological
recovery on Tunle Island.
This is a book 10 have and to pass around,
a great resource for alternative folk or those who
want to find out "where it's at" on Turtle Island.
.ow
PLANTING CHESTNUTS
A very detennined woman, Dorothy
Dickson, has a vision of establishing an
American chestnut tree seed farm that could
supply viable seed to someday re-establish the
American chestnut in the wild. She is looking
for land and money to help with the idea.
Write her at: 113 Autumn Lane;
Harrisburg, NC 28075, or call (704) 455-1027.
Paul Gallimore of The Long Branch
Environmental F.ducation Center has initiated a
project to plant hybrid American-Oriental
chestnut seedlings in the wild to provide a
short-term hard mast source for black bears and
other creatures who will soon face mast
shonages from the oak tree decline and the
imminent depredations of the gypsy moth.
Membership in the project, including two hybrid
trees for planting, costS $25 to Paul Gallimo~;
RL 2, Box 132; Leicester, NC 28748
NATIVE FLUTES
Two styles made of cedar or walnut
woods in the traditional manner
Hawk Littlejohn
Sourwood Farm
RL 1, Box 172-L
Prospect Hill, NC 27314
(919) 562·3073
r/ r:rf.u
~ Saru}JMush
Htrb Nurse_y
,
WHOLE FOODS
VITAMINS
ORGANIC PRODUCE
160 Broadway
Asheville, North Carolina
Open 7 Days a Week
Monday - Friday 9 am - 8 pm
Saturday 9 am - 6:30 pm
Sunday 12 pm - 5 pm
WREATHS • POTPOURRI
• HERBS • TOPIARY
Complete Herb CataliJg - $4
Describes more tlum 800 plants from
Aloe to Yam,w
Rt 2, Surrett Cove Road
Leicester, North Carolina 28748
P1ione for appointment to visit
A.I.A., Resource Information Analysis
Neil Thomas and Andy Feinstein
(704) 683-2014
305 Westover, Asheville, NC
(704) 252-6816
Sprl.ng. 1991
�MARCH
20
"Oh, the May, the jolly, jolly May;
The leaves they spring so green."
SPRING EQUINOX
:8:ELT~:E
SWANNANOA, NC
Baba Olatunji Drum & Dance
Weekend. Spuitual teacher and cultural diplomat from
West Africa via the drum. Performance 8 pm, 3/22,
Kinn:dgc Auditorium, Wanen Wilson College, S 10.
Call 004) 645-391 I for mon: info. Sponsored by
Rhythm Alive!
22-24
and
APRIL
Katuah Spring Gathering
at Morningstar Fann on the Tanasi Ridge
5-7
AS II EVILLE, NC
Seminar on solar technology and a
tour of solar homes sponsored by the Buncombe
County Solar Communities Program. More info,
004) 255-5522.
30
FULL MOON - PASSOVER
30
WESSER, NC
"Cheoah Council" to talk
stm1.egies and tactics for the defense of the
Cheoah Bald area, the largest unprotected
roaclless area in the region, now threatened by
logging and roadbuilding. Bring food and
camping gear, be prepared to walk in along
the Appalachian Trail. For more info, write
SouthPAW; Box 3141; Asheville. NC 28802
or call (704) 586-3146.
April 26-28
5-7
22-23
Bring camping gear and food for yourselves and to share.
The site is at high clevnlion, so be prepared for changeable
weather. Bring colorful dress, musicm insuuments, toys,
mask matcn:ils, and other celcbl1\lory tools.
• .• t
11, I ,
NEW MARKET, TN
ST? (Stop the Poisoning! or Save the
Planet!) environmental acuon school at the Highlander
Center. Call or write for mfo: 1959 HighlMdcr Way:
New Market, 1N 37820 (615) 933-3443.
VALl,.Ef llEAD, AL
,
"Masculinity: Native Tcachmgs. Earth
consciousne.ss• workshop. Cieorgc Goodstrikcr
(Blackfoot elder), An Hom, Tarwater. Pn:-rcgisier.
S I75, includes 4 meals and camping. Hawkwind Earth
Renewal Cooperative: Box 11: Valleyhcad, AL 35989.
ASHEVILLE, NC
"Re-Thinking Democracy: Citizenship
in the Age of Mass Media," A Symposium for
Tcac.hcrs, PurcnlS, and Concerned CitiJ.cns. Speakers
include: Walter Trucu Anderson. Kathleen Hall
Jrunieson, Marie Crispin Miller. Free. University of
North Carolina at AsheV1Uc. For more mfonnation,
(704) 251-6526.
1 ••
,
n,
~
.(
•,
This is a bcnef4 celebration IO help ~ve sacri!d land:
SS d0113tion per pcison requesled
For 1r1vd din,clio115 and more info.rmJJlcm,
call (704)293-7013 or (70,1) SU-3146
11-13
28
FULL MOON
MAY
13
NEW MOON
NEW MARKET. TN
STP environmenl:ll action school for
young people! at the Highlander Center. See 4/5-7.
24-26
31
EASTER
13
SWANNANOA, NC
Dedication of the World ~ u n d
Oiamber ru. the Earth CcnlCI led by Beautiful Painl.Cd
Arrow (Josoph Rael). 30'1 Old Pdlo10sl11j, Rd.\• ,, •,110-x
24-27
14
NEW MOON
Spiritual Hcaltll." lnteyal yoga taught by Swami'
Vidynnanda. $145. Southern Dharmn Rcueat Center.
Sec 4/19-21.
28
Home! A Bioregional Reader
llome! A Bioregional Rt.adt.r, just published by
New Society Publishers, offers ·an CJtciting vision and
~tn11egy for creating ccologicmly suswinable
communities and cultures in h:umony with the limits and
regenerative powers of the Earth.· It has gathered articles,
stories. and poems of over forty writers and activists who
hnve comribuled both to defining bioregionalism as a
political philosophy and to lhc practice or "living in
place.• Contributor.. include: G4ry Snyder, Peter Berg.
Caroline Estes, Wendell Berry, as well as Mamie Muller
of the Kmuah Journal. Graphics in lhc book include the
worlt of Kmuah'.r Rob M~ick:.
The book Is a large-format paperback with 192
pages. including resources and a reading lisL Copies are
available by mail for $15.70 from: RM Designs: Box
UiOt: Boone, NC 28007. Pri~ of Rob Mcssick's
illustrations from the book are also available from the
same address.
Sprt ng, 1991
''"'.
jZ
16-21 HELEN, GA
Rive~ane Rendel.Yous with
Snow Bear, Darry Wood, and Bob Slack. Jr.
plus visiting instructors. "Ancient arts and
skills for the mind, hean, and hand..."
including fire by friction, making stone and
bone tools, tanning buckskin, plant
identification and use, basketry. blowguns,
and more. Pre-register: $135, includes
camping and two meals per day. For more
info, contact: Bob Slack. Jr.; Unicoi State
Parle; Box 1029; Helen. GA 30545 (404)
878-2201 (Ext. 282?· . \.,
HOT SllRINGS,rN<:'. h.'11~:Ktx·, am ~lri'I ,UI?.
........~~:M~~~.f9r ~1!,Yi;ic:il. Meot;i!J\~ •.., __
Sw:11\MnOa, NC .28nS.c31l.(704) 2!l8Tl!l3S. ~
FULL MOON
JUNE
11-15
JOHNSON CITY, TN
Changes, a play by The Road
Company at Down Home. Tickets 58.00 during week,
$10.00 weekend. For details call (615) 926-TI26.
19-21
HOT SPRrNGS, NC
"Hca\'en on the Mountain: Nine at !he
Top," divinauon with lhe I Ching taught by Jay
Dunbar. 'Through subtle movement and discussion we
will excn:isc the intuition and explore the language of
energy.• S75. Southern Dharma Re1Ica1 Center; RL I,
Box 34-H; Hot Springs. NC 28743 (7~) 622-7112.
21
25-26
EART H OAY CELfBRATIONS
II ENDERSONVlLLE, NC
Into the Heart of Healing" IC\'etsing hcan discas.c wilh vegetarian dict, cxe.tt:ise
and su-cs:; m.lllngement taught by Steven Oreer. MD
Md Lynn DcLuca. Shambala Institute. For more info,
write 118 Cumberland Ave: Asheville, NC 28801 or
call (704) 25.3-0509.
NATURAL
ALTERNATIVES
FOR HEALTHFUL
LIVING
p.o. box 1092 • winery square
gatlinburg, tenne.,sce 37738
615-436-6967
X.Otiw:lh Journot pa«Je a3
l ~ lQn,uor t Q.UnJl
�BUSINESS PAR1NER WANTED· Must have some
cspiLill IO help CSUlblish nn herb, orgnnic foods, and
0
possibly ecological and solar equipment business. Large
new building, half ac.re, in Ellijay Mt'ns. area. Please call
(~) 635-7009 or wri1e io: Wall Klimowiez; Rt. 5, Box
30-t: Ellijay. GA 30540.
omusu~ !:~ ~
challenge, of advenuue, lhe beauty and inspiration or
nature, the fellow~ip and sharing of lcindered spirilll, lhcn
Turtle Island is the pince for youl This one week camp is
open 10 gills 11-17, and runs from July 71h IO July 13th.
Tow cost iS $300.00. For information and application
call (704) 265-2267, or write: Valarie SpraUin c/o Tun le
lsl!lnd Pre:;ctve; RL I, Box 249-B: Deep Gap (near
Boone), NC 28618.
LAND FOR SALB • 32 acics, all or pan. 3 private coves;
2 large organic fields; sm311 solar ~lrUCture; 1906 rustic
fannhouse: barn. If interested, please wnic: Vicki Baker
and Tom Graves; Rt. 2, Box 108-A: Whittier, NC 28789
or call (704) 586-8221.
PIEDMONT BIOREGIONAL INSTITIJTE • For those
who live in the Piedmont ruca, lherc's a bioregional effon
well underway. Join us! We would appreciate any donation
or time or money to help mcel operating c:Jtpcnses. For a
gift of $2.5 or more. we will send you a copy of John
Lawson's joumru. A New Voyagt' 10 Carolina. Also, come
find out about the Lawson ProjecL PBI; 412 W.
Rosemary Strcci; Chapel Hill, NC 27516; Uwharria
Province. (919) 942-2581.
1WO FAMll.IES seeking neighborly folks 10 buy inco
130 acres of bcautlful mountru11S1de bnd near
Weavcsville, N.C. We are involved in org:inic gnnlening,
homeschooling, n:11.uml healing and spiritu:ility. 20 acre
share for $24,000. eau (704) 658-2676 or 645-7954.
LOO CABIN BUILDING CAMP· a three week.
hands-on, edueational retreat building a log house. Live as
an American pioneer and learn the ways of wood.
Magnificcnl involvement wilh hi.5tory and self· sufficiency
in na~ Towly hand-built Crom U'OCS cut on lhe sice in
the beautiful wilderness setting ofTunle Island Presesve.
A uniqueopp0nuni1y. June 23- July 13, 1991. For more
information call (704) 265-2267. or wrice Turtle Island
Prescrvo; RL I Box 249-B; Deep Gop (near Boone), NC
28618.
HAWKWIND EARTH RENEW AL CO-OPERATIVE is
an 87 acre primitive l'CU'Cal. and wocking community farm.
Located in the Northern Alabama mountruns, just 115
miles northwest of Allan ta. Classes on a!J.ernative
lifestyles and Native American philosophies rue available
on a regular basis. For inforrruuion or callllog of Native
crafts & products, call (1.0S)63S-6304.
MUSIC BY BOB AVERY.ORUBa available on lhrec
cassew:s. Treasures in the Stream and Circles Re1urni11g
a recent release of original chan1s
and songs. Ughl i11 the \Vind, is a cappella. Lyric sheets
included. Send $10 for each cape or S26 for o.ll lhlee co
Bob Avery-Grubel; RL I, Box 735; Floyd, VA 24091,
aie folk/roclt-jazz. and
GOOD STEW ARDS WAN"ffiD for rcmoce land. Approx.
IS acres for sale w/ house (2 bdrm., I bath). Organic3lly
fanned for 1.0 years, gravity feed spring water. High on
Tanasi Ridge, views. Raven and ~ Walker, Box 23:
Lake Toxaway, NC 28747 (704} 293-7013.
MOCCASINS, handcmfl.ed of clkhlde in the traditlonal
Plains Indian style. WaJet rcsisUlnt. rcsolable, and rugged great for hiking! Children's and infant sizes available.
Write: Eanh Dance Moccasins; RL 5. Box 341-B,
Burnsville, NC 28714 or call 675-594 I.
WICKER WORKER • Wicker fumitW"e reslortd. Cane.
rusb, lllld reed SC3IS woven - basJcets rcp:wcd. Expcricnced
scat weavu. "lf you ean'L we cane.· Andita Cwkc; 27
Mrut SL; Asheville, NC 28801 (704)2.53-6241.
SKYLAND • log on co the computer bulletin board of the
Smokies. Networking, plus news on lhe environment.
natwe phocography, games, computer utilities, much
more. Con1.aet Michael Havclin, sysop, (704} 2.54-6700.
HlGHLANDER CEN1eR • is a community-based
cducalional organization whose purpose is co provide space
for people co learn from each other, and co develop
solutions co environmcmal problems based on their own
values, experiences and aspirations. They also put OUl a
quarterly newslcucr, Hlghlandu Reporu. For more
infonnation contact Highlander Cci11er; 1959 Highbnder
Way; New Market.. 1N 37820 (615) 933-3443.
ADULT CAMP· a nawra1 living experience 1eJ1Cbing
primitive Eanh Skills and rughterung participants spirilU3l
awareness lllrough riwal This renewal rwe:11 olTers five
days of living in a teepee at Tunle Tsland Preserve wilh
master woodsman nnd &eaehu Eustace Conway. June 8 12. 1991 or Scpiember I • 5 arc the dates. For more
information call (704) 265-2267, or write TurUe Island
Preserve; RL I, Box 249-B: Deep Gap (near Boone). NC
28618.
EARTH SKILLS, NATURE AW ARE1''ESS
WORKSHOP • Reconoo:t wtlh the Earth • bow drill fire,
cordage, shelters, lOOlmaking. medicinal and edible plants.
nature observation, and much more. See and fed the Eanh
duough primal C)CS and primal :.kills Write: Dr. Guy
Jaconis; RL 4, Box 92: Beaufon. NC 28516 (9 I9)
728-2959.
BODY RIIYTJJMS from Pbnetary Molhcrs - a beautiful
and practical calendar for women 10 chart lhcir ·moonlhly"
cycles. Send S3.00 plus S 1.00 p0stagc 10: Planetary
Modicn Collective (c/oNancie Yonker): 5231 Riverwood
Ave.; Sarasot:i. A. 3423 I.
WISE WOMAN TRADmON APPRENTICE WEEKwith Whitewolf, near Asheville. July 25-31 (Weekend
opuon, 26-28). Foraging, wildcrafting, communicating
wilh plants, herb gardening. llllditional remedies,
Eanhkccping, woman's heallh care. women's wisdom
circles, Moonlodge, mllSSllgc, movement. and music.
Donation or work Exchange. Comfortable dorm, camping,
meals. Concacl Lcivan; Box 576; Asheville. NC 28802.
1990/91 DIRECTORY OF IN1'ENTIONAL
COMMUNfTIP.S • Just released, over 2 y~ in the
making. Names, addresses. phone nwnbets, and
descriptions of31.0 Norlh American communities, and
over 250 rcsourcc groups, plus 40 nniclcs. Maps,
cross-reference chruts, fully indexed. $13.50 postpaid from
Sandhill Fann; ROUIC I, Box 155-R: Rutledge. MO
63563. 40% discount available on orders o! 10 or more.
I am looking for land suitable for small scale farming
wilh a good source of war.er, preferably northwest
Rulherfocd or soulhW$ McDowell Counties. I am also
open to ocher areas within 45 min. of Asheville. Also
looking for people who would like IO develop a rural
community in lhc Kan1ah region wilh intereslS in org1111ic
gardening, environmental issues, lllld education. Contact
Frank Holzman: 537 Seminole Avenue; Atlanlll, GA
30307 (404} 688-4016.
RECYCLED PAPER! • Dll'CCtory of products sources for
the Southcas1. Suggested donation S 1.00
to Western Norlh Carolina Alliance; PO Box 18087:
Asheville, NC 28814 (704) 2.58-8737.
• 1Vebworkil1g hasclumgt>df There is nowafuof S2.50
per entry of50 words or less. Send 10: Rob Messick;
P.O. Boz 2601; BooM, NC 28f,/)7.
"The area's oldc,;t
and largest natural
food< grorery"
811fk Herbs, Spices, & Grains
Vitamins & Supplements
Wheat, Salt & Yeast-Free Foods
Dairy S11~titutes
Hair & Skin Care Products
Beer & Wi11e Mnki11g S11pplies
200 W. King St, Boone, ~C 28607
• PrCll'ulmg I fealll:y Food Sitree 1975 •
COMMITTED
To COMMUNITY AND Gooo Fooo
255-7650
~
90 Biltmore Avenue Asheville, :-.:c
2 Blocks South of Dov,mtown
(70,l) 26-t-5220
Sprlt19, 1991
�BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH JOURNAL AVAILABLE
ISSUE THIRTEEN • FALi.. 1986
Cenn:r FOT Awakening - Elizabclh Callari - A Gentle
Dcmh • Hospice - Emes1 Morgan • Dealing Creatively
wilh Death • Home Burial Box • The Wake • The Raven
Moelter. Woodslore and Wildwoods Wisdom· Good
Medicine: The Sweat Lodge
ISSUE THREE • SPRING 1984
Susminable Agriculture - Sunflowers - Human Impact on
lhe Foe-est - Childrcns· Edu01tion • Veronicn Nicholas:
Woman in Politics - Lillie People - Medicine Allies
ISSUE FOUR • SUMMER 1984
Walef Drum • Waier Quali1y • Kudzu - Solar Eclipse •
Oca.«:ulling - Trou1 - Going to Waier • Ram Pumps·
J\.1icrohydro - Poems: Bennie Lte Sinclair. Jim Wayne
Miller
ISSUE TWENTY-TWO -WINTER '88-89
Global Wanning. Fire This Time· Thomas Berry on
"Bioregions" • Earth Exercise - Kort Loy McWhirter - An
Abundance of Emptiness - LETS - Chronicles of Floyd Darry Wood • The Bear Clan
ISSUE FIVE • FAU.. 1984
Harvest. Old Ways in Cherokee. Ginseng - Nuclcor
Waste - Our Ccluc Hcrimgc • Biorcgionalism: Past.
Prcscn1, and Fu1ure - John WUno1y - Healing Darkness·
Politics of Participauon
ISSUE TWENTY-THREE - SPRING 1989
Pisgah Village - Plane1 An - Green City • Poplor Appeal •
"Clear Sky". "A New Earth" • Black Swan • Wild Lovely
Days • Reviews: Sacred Land Sacred Su, Ice Age • Poem:
"Sudden Tendrils"
ISSUE SIX • WINTER 1984-85
Winter Solstice Enrlh Ceremony • HorsepaslurC3 River Coming of the Ligh1 • Log Cabin Root • Mouniain
Agricuhure: The Righi Crop - William Taylor· The
Future of I.he Forest
ISSUE SEVEN • SPRING 1985
Susl3.i0llble Economics· Ho1 Springs - Worker Ownership
• The G~1 Economy - Self Help Credit Union - Wild
Turkey. Responsible Investing. Working in lhe Web of
Life
ISSUE EIGHT- SUMMER 1985
Celebrauon: A Way of Life - Katuah 18.000 Years AgoSacred Si1es - Folk Arts in the Schools - Sun Cycle/Moon
Cycle - Poems: Hild.:! Downer • Cherokee Heri1age Cemcr
• Who Owns Appalachia?
ISSUE NINE • PALI.. 1985
The Waldcc Foccs1 - The Trees Speak. Migraung Forests ·
Horse Logging • Slorting a Tree Crop - Urban Trees •
Acom Bread - Myth Time
ISSUE TEN • WINTER 1985-86
Ka1e Rogers - Circles of S1one - Internal Mylhmaking Holistic Healing on Trial - Poems: Steve Knauth • Mythic
Places • The Uktcna·s Tale - CrySUIJ Magic "Drcamspcaking•
ISSUE ELEVEN- SPRING 1986
Communi1y Planning - Cities and lhe Biorcgional Vision
- Recycling - Community Gardening- Floyd Coomy. VA·
Gasohol • Two Bioregionnl Views • Nuclear Supplcmenl •
Foxrll'C Games - Good Medicine: Visions
ISSUE 1WENTY-ONE • FALi.. 1988
Chestnuts: A Nalwal His10ry - Restoring !he Chestnut "Poem or Preservation and Praise" - COlllinuing lhe Qucs1
- Forests and Wildlife - ChCSllluts in Regional Diel •
Chestnu1 Resources • Herb N01e - Good Medicine:
"Changes lO Come•. Review: Where Ltgends Li-.e
ISSUE FOURTEEN • WINTER 1986-87
Lloyd Corl Owle - Boogcrs and Mummers - All Species
Day • Cabin Fever Universi1y • Homeless in Kaubh •
Romcmade Hot Water - Stovemaker's Narrative • Good
Medicine: Interspecies Communication
ISSUE FIFTEEN • SPRJNG 1987
Coverlets . Woman Forester· Susie McMahan: Midwife •
Alternative Contraception - Biosexuali1y - Bioregionalism
and Women - Good J\,tcdicine: Malriarchal Culture - Pearl
ISSUE SIXTEEN • SUMMER 1987
Hcfon Waiie. Poem: Visions in a Garden - Vision Quest·
F°l!SI Flow - µti1iation - Lc;iming in !he W i t ~ "Cherokee Challenge. "Valuing Trees"
ISSUE EIGHTEEN • WINTER 1987·88
Vernacular ArchilCCturc - D~s in Wood and Stone Mountrun Home - Eanh Energies - Eanh-Shellcred Living
• Membrane Houses - Brush Shcl1cr - Poems: October
Dusk - Good Medicine: "ShellCr"
ISSUE NINETEEN • SPRING 1988
Pcrclandra Garden • Spring Tonics - Blueberries Wildflower Gardens - Granny Herbalist • Flower Essences
- "The Origin or lhe Animals:" S1ory • Good Medicine:
"Power" - Be A Tree
ISSUE TWENTY • SUMMER 1988
Preserve Appalachian Wilderness - Highlands or Roan •
Cclo Communi1y - Land Trust· Arlhur Morgan School Z.Oning Issue - "The Ridge" - Farmers and !he Fann Btu·
Good Medicine: "Land" - Acid Rain - Ouke·s Power Play·
Cherokee Microhydro Projec1
ISSUE TWENTY·FOUR • SUMMER •39
Deep Listening • Ufc in AlOmic City - Direc1 Action! Tree of Peace - Communily Building· Peacemakers·
Elhnic Survival - Pairing Project - "Bnnlcsong• Growing Peace in Culwn:s - Review: The Chalice and the
Blode
fSSUE TWENTY-SIX • WINTER, 1989·'90
Coming of Age in lhe Ecozoic Era - Kids Saving
Rainfores1 - Kids Treecycling Company· ConOic1
Resolution. Developing lhe Creative Spirit - Birth Power
• Birth Bonding • The Magic of Puppetry - Home
Schooling - Naming Ceremony - Molher Eanh•s
Classroom - Gardening for Children
ISSUE TWENTY-SEVEN • SPRING. 1990
Transformation • Healing Power - Peace to Their Ashes Healing in Katuah • Poem: "When Left to Grow· - Poems:
Stephen Wing • The Belly • Food from lhe Ancient Forest
ISSUE 'TWENTY·EIGHT - SUMMER 1990
Carrying Capaci1y • Selling LimitS IO Growth - What is
Ovcrpopulntion? • The Road Gnng • The Highway to
Nowhere. The J.26 Project - "Curing Capacity" - Poople
and Habillll • Designing lhe Whole Life Community Steady Staie - Poems: Will Ashe Bason Ttansporte.rnativcs - Review: Cohausing
ISSUE TWENTY -NINE • FALL/WINTER 1990
From the Mounlains lO lhe Sea • Profile of The Lillie
Tennessee River - Headwaters Ecology and High Quali1y
Habitat - "l1 All Comes Down lO WBJN Quality· Wa1er
Power. Action for Aquatic HabilatS - Dawn Waichcrs •
Good Medicine: The Long Human Being • The North
Shore Road • Kalliah Sells Ou1 • W81erShed Map of lhe
Kalllah Province
- - -- - - - - - - - - -- - - --- - - - - - --- -- - - - ~UAt1 JOURNAL
Issue 30
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Katuah Province
For more info: call Rob Messick at (704) 754-6097
Name
Regular Membership........ $10/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.
Address
City
Area Code
Sprlnq, 1991
Stale
Phone Number
Zip
Enclosed is$_ __ to give
this ejfon an exrra boos/
I can be a local contact
person for my area
28748
Back Issues
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $ _ _
Issue# __@ $2.50 = $_ _
Issue H_ _@ $2.50 - $ _ _
Issue# __@ $2.50 = $_ _
Complete Set (3-11, 13-16,
18-24, 2~29)
@ $40.00 = $_ _
posiage paid
(
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, Issue 30, Spring 1991
Description
An account of the resource
The thirtieth issue of the<em> Katúah Journal</em> focuses on regional economics, development, and ecology. Authors and artists in this issue include: David Wheeler, Thomas Power, Rob Messick, Will Ashe Bason, Rodney Webb, Henry Eckler, Griscom Morgan, Snow Bear, Gary Lawless, Jim Clark, Ernest Womick, Millie Sundstrom, Lee Barnes, David Haenke, Richard Lowenthal, Rodney Web, Jim Houser, Charlotte Homsher, Martha Tree, Stephen Petroff, and Rob Leverett. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
Economy/Ecology by David Wheeler.......1<br /><br />Avoiding the Passive/Helpless Approach to Economic Development by Thomas Power.......4<br /><br />Ways to a Regenerative Economy by Rob Messick.......5<br /><br />Sacred Oconomy by Will Ashe Bason.......6<br /><br />"Money Is the Lowest Form of Wealth": Interview with Ivo Ballentine and Robin Cape by Rodney Webb and Henry Eckler.......7<br /><br />The Clarksville "Miracle" by Griscom Morgan.......10<br /><br />Self-Help Credit Union.......10<br /><br />The Village by Snow Bear.......11<br /><br />"through dreams, through magic": Poems by Gary Lawless.......12<br /><br />Food Movers by David Wheeler.......13<br /><br />Poems by Jim Clark.......14<br /><br />LifeWork by Ernest Womick and Millie Sandstrom.......15<br /><br />Green Spirits: "Katúah Planting Calendar" by Lee Barnes.......19<br /><br />Good Medicine: "Village Economy".......20<br /><br />On Eco-economics by David Haenke.......21<br /><br />Thoughts on Work, Productivity, and Development by Richard Lowenthal.......22<br /><br />Natural World News.......23<br /><br />Shelton Laurel by Rodney Webb.......25<br /><br />Off the Grid: "Regional Fuels" by Jim Houser.......26<br /><br />LETS........27<br /><br />Resources........27<br /><br />Drumming.......28<br /><br />Earth Energies: "The Great Lover" by Charlotte Homsher.......31<br /><br />Events.......33<br /><br />Webworking.......34<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, printed by The <em>Waynesville Mountaineer</em> Press
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Economic development--Environmental aspects
Mixed economy--Appalachian Region, Southern
Regional economics
Ecology--Economic aspects--Appalachian Region, Southern
Salvage (Waste, etc.)--North Carolina--Asheville
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1990s
Agriculture
Alternative Energy
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Definitions
Community
Earth Energies
Economic Alternatives
Education
Forest Issues
Good Medicine
Habitat
Katúah
Poems
Politics
Radioactive Waste
Reading Resources
Recycling
Stories
Turtle Island
Villages
Water Quality
Western North Carolina Alliance
Wilderness
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/c5ee330c977312a17d828d214a7916e6.pdf
05640bd372243437e62e080e13bbb8ac
PDF Text
Text
ISSUE 32 FALL 1991
$1.50
�Drawina by Rob M~siclt
~UAHJOURNAL
PO Bo:,,. 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 28748
Printed on recycled paper
Postage Paid
Bulk Mail
Permit #18
Leicester, NC
28748
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
�CONTENTS
Bringing Back !he Fire................. .
by David Wheeler
A Bil of Mountain Levity.................
by Barbara Wickersham
5
Climax Never Came.......................
by Henry Wender
7
ls the Southern Appalachian
Ecosystem Endangered?..................
by John A. Freeman
9
'Talking Leaves": Sequoyah............ 10
by Tom Underwood
Green Spirits: Seed Saving .............
by lee Barnes
12
Walking Dis1a11ce.........................
by Will Ashe Bason
13
Angle: Environment......................
by lvo Ballentine
13
Good Medicine: ..........................
14
Poem: "A Rotting Log"..................
by Brownie Newman
15
THEGRANOLAJOURNAL..........
16
Livin' By Their Wits
recorded by Rob Messick
An Old Family Tale
by Bess Harbison
BRINGING BACK THE FIRE
The Slide
by Rob Messick
Recorded by David Wheeler
How Can You Lose Anything as Big
as This Ego?
by Maxim Didge,
Paintings: "Mountain Stories".......... 18
by Robert Johnson
Natural World News.....................
20
Dying Soils, Dying Waters.............
by Emmelt Greendigger
22
Songs in lhe Wilderness.................
by Char/011e Homsher
24
500 Years of Resistance!................
by Emmell Greendigger
25
Save James Bay..........................
25
Drumming.................................
26
Off the Grid: Solar Ovens... ,...........
by Dennis Scanlin
29
Events.....................................
32
\Vcbworklng..............................
34
Ka11fah Konfusion.......................
35
foff, 1991
While Walker Calhoun is II/JI the only
person working ro keep alive the old
Cherokee practices and values, he is
definitely one of the people most dedicated to
restoring the traditional ways. When he
speaks of "the Fire," he means the spark of
life irself. and also the spirit behind the
Cherokee spiriwal life • so strong in this
region until even JOO years ago. But, like the
Cherokee white flour corn that was
cross-fertilized with the white people's
Yellow Dent \•aricty, Walker's spiriwal way
also shows traces of the white people's
Christian religion.
\Vhen I drove 11p 10 Walker's house, he
was sitting by a small fire in the side yard.
He had a ra1: wrapped around one pa111/eg,
and he was Ito/ding lo11g pieces ofriver ca11e
over rite blaze until tltcy became pliable. then
s1raigluenin1: them across his leg to make
blowgu11s.
lie stood to greet me. He was a slight
111011 with a ready smile that showed the worn
nubs of a few teeth.
"let's sit 011 the porch," he said. "It's
too hnt to work around this fire anymore."
I showed him a copy of rite Kattiah
Journal and, ofter consideri11g it a mmure.
without further prompting he began talking ..
Walker Calhoun: Katuah - that's the
name of the tribe. We're not the Cherokee.
When lhey wrote a history, they called us the
Cherokee, but really we're the Katuah tribe.
They've got the Katuah Band in Oklahoma,
and lhe Katuah Medicine Society out there.
That's our religion· lhe Cherokee religion·
the Katuah Society.
I'm supposed 10 put the sign up at our
stomp grounds we have just a.cross the river
up here in Big Cove... the name is the Raven
Rock Nighthawk Ceremonial Grounds ·
Katuah Society. We have dance there every
month on the last Saturday. In August we
have a big celebration • a Green Com
Celebration. We have a big time.
I was chosen to bring lhe Everlasting
Fire back here to the Eastern band. The
reason they picked me was because I was the
only one keeping our culture and heritage
from disappearing. That's why they chose
me to bring the Fire back where ii belongs.
I didn't know much about the Fire until
three or four years ago. Two men from
Oklahoma came and told me. We were sining
right here, and these two men came. They
mentioned Katunh. One asked me about it,
but I didn't know what he meant. It was later
when I learned what they were t.1llcing about.
Now, the Fire... people misunderstand
the Fire. At the ceremonial grounds we've
got a mound where the spirit is. We build a
Drawing by Rob Messick
(con11nucd on page 3)
X,ntunf, Journo(
pn9c
I
�~
LJAHJOURNAL
A BAD CASE OF EDITORTALSTAPH:
Susan Adam
Jim Houser
Lee Barnes
Anomal..ee
Heather Blair
Rob Messick
Emmett Greendigger
Mamie ~lullcr
Charloue Homsher
David Wheeler
EDlTORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Chris Green
Scou Bird
and Li'I Matthew...
Mountain Gardens Family
COVER: by Rob Messick
©1991
PUBLTSHED BY: Kart'iah Journal
PRTNTED BY: The Waynesville Mowitaineer Press
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
EDITORIAL OFFlCE THIS ISSUE: The Globe Valley
WRITE US AT: Kat(iah Journal
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Katuah Province 28748
TELE Pl IONE:
(704) 754-6097
Divcrsi1y is an imponam clcmcm of biorcgaonal ecology, both nntural
and social. In accord with !his principle Katuah Journal Irie.~ to serve as n
forum for lhe discussion of regional issues. Signed :iruclcs expross only lite
opinion of lite aulhors and arc no1 ncccss:irily 1he opinions of lhc Katuah
Journal editors or stllT.
The Internal Revenue Service hns dcclnred K01uah Joivnol a non-profi1
organizntion under sccuon 50l(c)(3) or lhe lnicmal Revenue Code. All
contributions to Ka,uoh Journal an: deductible from pcrson3l income l:lll.
Aniclcs appearing m Ka1uah Journal may be rcprimcd m 01hcr
publications wilh permis.~1on Crom lhe Ka1uah Journal slllff. ConUlCl lite
journal in writing or coll (701) 754-6097.
CORRECTION: m our las1 isssuc (Summer, 1991) lhcrc was an
error in lite article •Jack-o-Lanicms, Acid Ram, and the Elcctncal Life of lite
Earth." Brown Mountain is aclllally IOC3lcd in Burke and Caldwell Counues
of North Carolina.
Wltat would the world be, once bereft
Of wet and of wilderness? Let them be left,
0 let them be left, wildness and wet;
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet.
Here,
in the Katuah Province
of these ancient Appalachian mountains
where once the Cherokee Nation lived in freedom
between the Tennessee River Valley and the Eastern Piedmont
between the Valley of the Roanoke and the Southern Plain
on this Tun le Island continent of Mother Ela, the Eanh
I lcrc,
In this place we dedicate ourselves to remembering our deep
connection LO the spirit of the land.
We bring this connection into the being and the doing of
our daily lives
When the land speaks, we listen and we act
We tune our lives 10 the changes, to the seasons
We respect the limits of the land
We preserve, defend, and restore the land
We give thanks for all that is good
Hannony with the land is no longer an ideal; it is an imperative.
The land is a living being. She is sacred.
As the land lives, so do we.
As the spirit of the land is diminished,
our spirits are diminished as well.
Ka11iah Journal sends a voice...
with articles, stories, poems, and anwork
we speak to the spirit of all the living, breathing
inhabitants of these mountains
in hopes that we, the human beings,
may find our place in this Great Life.
The Editors
- Gerard Manley Hopkins
KATUAH JOURNAL wanes ro communicare your thouglus and
feelings ro the 01/zer people in the bioregional province. Send them ro tlS
as lerrers, poems, stories, articles, drawings, or photographs, ere. Please
send your contribwions ro us at: Katuah Journal; P. 0. Box 638;
Leicesrer, NC; Kar(ltlh Province 28748.
OUR NEX:r ISSUE is concerned with the role of the element Fire in
the life of the mountains...forest Fire, how humans changed the
landscape with Fuc, Fire in the heanh, Fire as tool, Fire of the spirit.
Please submit all material by October 30, 1991.
JC.ati!Qn )ournat pa«Jc 2
THE SPRING, 1992 JSSUE will be concerned wilh "Sustainable
Agriculture and Regional Diet." We need your input on topics including:
sustainable agriculture (alternative ag., low input, appropriate ag.,
pennaculturc, biodynamics, etc.); seed-saving techniques; wild-foods
and medicinals; regionaVcommunity food production and marketing;
seasonal diet and recipes; food preservation; green manures and
composting; agroforestry; and especially recommended resources,
guides, and contacts.
Please send material to Lee Barnes; Box 1303; Waynesville, NC
28786. (704) 452-5716.
Ta(t, 1991
�(con1inucd !'tom page I)
fire on top. A lot of people misunderstand it they think that we worship the fire. That's
not it. The spirit of Fire is in that mound. The
Oklahoma people fixed it (put it there). They
said that was !he sll'Ongest Fire they had ever
fixed.
It came from the Redbird Community in
Oklahoma. That's the original Fire. They've
got some more at other stomp grounds, but
they get the spirit from the main one, at
Redbird, !he same one that this came from.
We've got the seven clans of the
Cherokee. We've got seven arbors around
the fire, each clan sits in their own arbor, and
when we start dancing, each clan comes from
their own arbor, and when they quit, they go
back to their own arbor.
We went a lot of different places to get
that place fixed. We went up to Clingman's
Dome to get a piece of dirt to put over here.
That's where the wisest medicine men of the
Cherokee had their meetings. I guess they
would go all the way to Clingman's Dome to
talk with God.
People forget about their culture and
heritage, they're going with the rest of the
world. The Green Com Dance has been
handed down from our forefathers, but it
almost went out of existence. It was going
down slow. They hadn't done it for about 50
years, until last year.
I was just a young boy when they did
the lllSl one 50 yean. ugo. 1 remember how
they danced.
The women would be dancing away
from the men, while the menfolks were doing
the Green Com Dance. When the men got
through, the women came over, and they
would stan doing the stomp dance, and then
the women would join in.
When the menfolk were dancing, they
would carry shotguns - each one would have
seven shots. They would go around a singer,
I believe they'd go around seven times first,
just walk it, and then on the eighth round,
they'd Stan singing, they'd go completely
around, and the second time 'round, at each
side the men, they'd shoot, each one. That's
the way we did it.
When we dance, that's the prayer co
God. We've got the Fire on top - smoke
takes what we're saying up to God. What
we're saying, God is the only One who can
understand it. We can't understand it
ourselves.
Sometimes in Oklahoma they dance all
night. That's when there's some reason, like
the Green Com Celebration or the Fire's
birthday. There was one time at the stomp
dancing in Oklahoma, it was broad daylight,
it was still going. They ran out of songs, they
started singing "Old MacDonald."
0L:J.l:J~
f'n{t. I 99 1
The leader sang, "Old MacDonald had a
fann."
They answered, "Hee yi, hee yi!"
I tell you, when they get warmed up,
tlleY_'re airing th~ Fire as they dance, making
mouons. They sing songs about God while
they're dancing, how they appreciate God.
Our Fire's birthday is September 29.
That's when it was lit, September 29. The
man who lit it, his name was Hickory Star.
He was the one who wanted the fire brought
back here, he said that this is where it
belongs. He just barely made iL He lit tlle
fire, went back home - he died there last
February. He brought the fire back, and tllen
he died.
Karuah JourMI: Do you sing old songs
at the stomp dance?
WC: Yeh. I don't know how old. This
was done before white men came to America
- way before. That was the way they
worshipped.
Kl: I'm glad you are starting it back
again. It would be a tcnible thing if we lost
that.
WC: Yeah. They've got a lot ofit back
now. Some of it they have in Oklahoma.
They know more about it tllan us, of course.
The Eastern Band, we just came from the few
who escaped and hid in the mountains. When
they came back. they didn't have nothing.
They took the Fire with tllem out west.
The Fire, that was their religion. That's the
spirit - it was within 'em. They carried the
Fire of the spirit.
They staned back doing it. To begin
with they did it in secret, because the
government didn't allow tllem to do that. But
they kept it up. Then the government passed
a low about freedom of religion (Native
American Religious Freedom Act), and then
they came out with it.
When I was a boy, I guess about 12 or
14 years old, I always heard my motlier and
some of the older people talking about the
Fire - the Fire in Oklahoma. l thought tllat
they had taken the name of the real fire with
them when they lefL That's tlle way a lot of
people believe yet.
Up at the Mountainside Theater (in
Cherokee where the drama Unro These Hills
is performed), they've got a name burning,
that they bum by gas, I guess, so that's the
not the Eternal Flame, for when they want to
clean it, they put the fire out. That's a
commercinl fire.
When they brought it back from
Oklahoma they actually carried the fire back.
I don't know exactly how they carried it,
somehow they kept it burning until they got it
to Cherokee. They called on a man in
~
Oklahoma to give them the Eternal Fire. He
didn't know what to do. They wanted the
Fire, so he gave them a name to bring baclc.
He didn't know what to tel1 them.
There's a lot of people interested in
Indian religion, I don't know why. I guess
that they think that they (tlle native people)
might be more right The Indians respect the
Mother Earth. They respect just about
everything in nature. You don't hear of any
Indians inventing something to kill people
with. They don't even talce part in inventing
everything. 1 guess they're thinking it's not
right. I believe it's not right, the way white
people use their inventions. The first thing
!hey do with an invention is they make it into
a war material. That ain't right. The Indians,
they're not involved in that. Maybe tllat's the
reason (white) people think that they (the
native people) might be more right.
God didn't intend it for that way, when
He created Man and the Eartll. We were
supposed to share the Earth and get along equally.
Everything that the Indian goes by, it
makes sense, even the legends. It makes
sense, all of it.
There's a lot to it. Back when I was a
kid, it seemed like they kept everytlling. They
kept the culture and the herirage, but it
gradually went down. When I found out, I
had to decide to bring it back. Nobody was
trying.
YJ: It's important to save whatever you
know.
WC: We are trying to keep the
ll'llditional way. We don't allow alcohol at the
stomp dance - no alcohol, no drugs, and a
woman that makes her period (who is having
her period) can't take part.
KJ: Now why is that?
WC: That's just traditional. They can't
eat with the rest of the family. they have to
have their own plate. And a married couple,
staying in the family way, they can't take part
in the dancing, either one of them.
KJ: Is that the way you do in your
house?
. WC: No. Like I said, it's going out of
ex1Stence.
The old-timers said that kept a lot of
sickness away. I believe it, because Indian
people were bigger people than they are now.
Now you see a lot of shon, fat Indians, they
used 10 be tall - tall people. So 1 believe that.
You don't hardly see a big Indian man
anymore.
(continued on pa,., 4)
�(c:ontinucd from page 3)
KJ: Will it help the young people in the
tribe to bring back the old traditions?
WC: We can't drag 'em. The drunks
know that they can't go there (lo the
ceremonial grounds) unless they're sober. I
believe that's going 10 work out slow.
They'll be wanting to go there, but they can't
go unless they're sober. I think that's the
way it's going to work.
J know that there are a lot of 'cm
peeping around there. They've been
drinking. You can see them way out in the
weeds, peeping out. They can't come in,
though. Within four days, if they've been
drinking, they can't go.
KJ: It's good work you're doing,
Walker.
WC: The first 11me I went 10 Oklahoma,
the head man explained 10 me all about how
that Fire was kept. While he was explaining
it, he said, "As long as you are doing God's
wiU. that's all that's required."
Well, that's all that's required for
anybody anyway. As long as you are doing
God's will and believe in Jesus Chris1.
KJ: How about the white people,
Walker? The Ind fan people have been hcrc a
long time, and they have old traditions that
they can get back in touch with. But the white
people haven't bt-cn here so long, and they
don't have such old traditions. ls there
anything they can do 10 get back in touch?
Cartersville and Albany. Georgia. Instead of
having Fire, they had a bale of hay.
KJ: That takes the power out of i1. ll's
hard to think about in the same way after it's
been commercialized.
WC: There's another thing: we can't
build the Fire unless we use a spark out of a
rock. My son's a fueman, he builds fires. A
man gave him a striker, it makes a big spark.
You can·t use a match or a cigarette lighter.
KJ: Do you ever use a bow and drill?
WC: No. This man said it wouldn't be
right. That's somebody's invention. The
spark was 1he real tradiLional thing.
KJ: Are you teaching somebody to
come after you?
WC I don't have to. The spirit's there
forever. If I die, 1ha1 won't bother i1. The
spirit 1s still there. they know 1he spirit is
there, so I don't have 10 Lc:11 1hem how i1's
done. lt's the Everlasting Fire.
KJ; What else are you trying 10 ,~ach
people?
(remedies). I'm not a medicine man. A lot of
people call me medicine man, but the
Medicine Man is down in Cherokee (referring
to the Medicine Man Gift Shop). 0aughs)
KJ: So these are plant medicines. You
don't do any conjuring.
WC: No. I don't go for that, it's against
my religion ConJuring and religion don't go
together. Just like alcohol.
KJ: llow did you learn the remedies
that you know.
WC: From my mother, she taught me.
Someone can teach you the different
medicines, but even if you understand what
kind of medicine a person gets, and you just
went and got that same kind of medicine for
everybody, it wouldn't be any good.
We've got to put our Creator first,
because we ain't got power ourselves unless
we put God in front. Then we can do it.
Thc medicine is just a point of contact.
Goel is the One who heals you. I understand
that. The medicine is just something 10 get
you closer 10 God. If you don't believe in the
medicine· no good, it won't do it. You've
got to have faith in the medicine, too.
/
WC: I'm trying to teach medicine, "hat
little mcdidnc I know. I ju$t know a few
WC: Well. I don't know. They're
supposed 10 keep up their tradition. their
culture, of whatever they arc. Each
nationality should keep their own.
KJ: It's hard for white people because
they have been away from 1he land for so
long. h's been hundreds of years.
WC: Thar's like these two men who
came from Pennsylvania. They were curious
about what l was doing.
"Our people ain't got nothin'," 1hey
said. "We're just here, that's all."
KJ: I think that's why a lot of white
people are interested in the native religion,
because that's how they feel. It's imponant
for everybody tha1 you keep the old customs,
the s1
omp dance and all of 1ha1.
WC: That's a religious dance, and we
can't do Lha1 dance away from the ceremonial
ground. The only place is down around the
Fire.
We can do the other dances 10 honor the
animals, the Bear Dance, the Beaver Dance
the Quail Dance. But the stomp dances we '
have to do around the Frre.
There's one big bunch from the Creek
tribe that has commercialized theirs. I saw
them do their stomp dance down at
Xatuah Journat page 4
WrUTEPATII
Moving in10 my solitude,
he wrestles me from stolen moments of peace
among the grand green pines, golden poplars,
and brawny. brown oaks
or rides a <1uie1, sure-footed mount along 1he ml.ii
that conscience leaves
into my sleep ChiefWhitepath moving his people from Georgia.
I le doesn't speak, but I can hear others weeping,
and often there's a scream of death
that deepens his frown.
ln his eyes I can read the desperate question
"How can so many people rest on the carcasses
of murdered souls, and not be thought
savage?"
· Dtborah J~s
ran, 1991
�A Bit E)f Mo~ntain Levity
"Laugh and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the sad old eanh must borrow its minh,
But has trouble enough of its own."
Ella Wheeler Wilcox
In the minds of each of us, there are
worlds which no longer exist and which we
can visit only in memory and in i;haring with
others. We cnn not walk the same trail twice.
It has been my good fortune, however, to
have some of the people of Roan Mountain
share their hidden worlds of yesterday with
me, especially those of the Depression era. I
discovered therein a fascinating culture of
isolation, independence, and great good
humor.
They refer to the Depression years as
"hard times but good times" and their
wonderful sense of humor seems to have
been the glue that kept heads on straight and
held families together during those "hard
times." Banter, affectionate teasing, story
telling, and practical jokes were a way of life
. .. and still are.
I remember one day when I became
hopelessly lost in my ramblings around Roon
Mountain. I stopped at an isolated country
store. A porch rnn the full length of the small
building lllld held a number of ladder-backed
chairs. In one of these, tilted precariously
against the wall on its two hind legs, sat a
very old man eyeing me a bit suspiciously. I
C:lrCfully explained my predicament and
asked for directions. Without changing
expression, he surmized "You can't get there
from here." He paused, looked very stem,
then a big grin broke his face. A little levity
goes a long way toward turning problems
into laughter. I must have seemed really
uptight.
The language of their stories is filled with
subtle and not so subtle humor, sometimes
even a bit caustic, sometimes it bruised a bit
but served as a gentle reminder of what path
was allowed. Admonitions such as "Do
something, if it ain't nothin' but carry water
out of the branch and put it in the creek. It'll
keep from wearing the rocks out," indicating
that laziness was simply not allowed. For
children too young to work in the fields but
not out playing, "You're as lazy as a pet pig.
If your breathin' didn't come and go by
itself, you'd be to0 lazy to breathe." At the
table you might bear "Let your vittles stop
your mouth" when children got a bit too
rambunctious. About someone who got up
"feelin' poorly," "He got up cranky and
hasn't gotten over it." Then there's "You
look like the hind wheels of hard times" and
"You sure took your time. You'd a-been a
good hand to send for the doctor if the devil
was sick."
Oaildren were the target of much good
natured teasing, a son of initiation rite. Jim
Street tells of one such incident when he and
his brother Aoyd were on the receiving end
of a bit of "funnin'." Will Garland, a close
friend of the family, had brought Sam
Brinkley to talk with the boy's father about
:Foff, 1991
buying some property. Now Sam Brinkley
was famous for his long beard that reached to
the ground and which he kept carefully stored
in a pillowcase tucked inside his shin. The
boys, aged four and eight, had never
experienced that beard. "We were playing
head and beard. h skeerd us so bad we run
and jumped in the hog pen with the hogs. We
couldn't find no place else to hide. Daddy
then came and got us out and said Will, quit
skeering these boys: they're already crazy
enough.' Garland was always aggravating
and making cornstalk horses," Jim said.
us, telJing us these big stories about what
was going to catch us and everything. Ever
time I seen Brinkley auer that, he'd laugh,
but Floyd never did like him much."
Floyd was a born prankster himself. Hear
this one: Visiting preachers, especially during
camp mecrin's, wen: regular visitors at the
Street family table. One day when there
see~ 10 be an especially large number of
them and the children were having to wait
second table, the fried chicken seemed to be
disappearing at an alarming rate. Young
Floyd peered around the dining room door
and called to his mother, "Don't let 'em eat all
the chicken, Mom!" Turning, he ran out into
"We'd cut off a long piece and make his head
and we'd use a little stick or a slip off that
comswllc and make his neck and stick it on
that and then put on his legs and tail and his
mane and everything and we'd have cornstalk
horses. That's what we were busy a-doing
and we didn't think they was anybody
around. So Will Garland talked Brinkley into
sticking his beard around an apple tree and
a-scarin' us. We didn't know they was
anybody in a mile. He was about maybe fifty
feet away. We didn't sec him and he stuck
his head around that tree and Garland said
'Oh yes, I've got you this time' and he was
hid and all we could sec was the old man's
(COlllllluod on page 6)
Xnti1af1 Journat page S
�(coounucd l'rom piigc .S)
the night. 1 don't know if he go, a~y chicken
or not!
Humor was not always up front, and as
Malone Young so aptly put it, "Old time lying
wasn't really a vice. Land Sakes! Life would
have been dull as a froe if people didn't
stretch the truth," Storytelling was a real an.
Old men would sit around the country store
and see who could top the next one or swap
stories at bean stringin's or com i;huckin's.
During interviews, I was not always sure if
the story I was hearing was true or not. One
day I asked, "Is this really a true 5tory?" The
answer came quickly "Honey. if I'm a-I yin'.
I'll tell you." He didn't say when.
Sometimes the story would be quite true,
such as this one told by Howard Shell, but in
order to make them interesting they might end
with a funny questionable twist. Howard was
sining in the swing on his front porch when
I askc-0 him about witches. Ile immediately
got a mischievous linlt: twinkle in his eye and
10ld me his mother was a great believer in
witches. The story goes that she was having
difficulty geuing the milk to chum and
decided chat her cow was bewitched. She and
her son built a big bonfire. Then she went to
the woods and got two haw branches.
stripping the thorns to make a good handhold
but leaving them on the ends. She put her
daughter on one side of the fire and her :;on
on the other. As she poured the milk into the
fire. they beat it with the haw br.inches and
the cow wa.,; cured. Then he told me their
chickens became sick nnd his mother decided
they were bewitched. Again she built the big
bonfire, put one of the sick chickens into a
bag and threw it onto the fire alive. I waited
expectantly for the rest of the story which
didn't come. Finally I asked warily, "Well.
did they get un-bewi1ched?" "I don't
remember," he replied wilh a sly grin.
One charming lady has taken practical
joking 10 a long-running high. We'll call her
Anna 10 pro1ec1 the innocent. Anna is married
10 a very serious, reserved, channing
holiness preacher. bm ,his did not deter her
yen for fun. Let's call her husband Joe.
Every year, come April Fool's Day, Anna
auempted 10 play a joke on Joe and much 10
his chagrin, she always succeeded. Joe
logged and farmed, was generally hardworking and steady as you go. His horses
were of much value and importance to him
and were greatly cherished. Early one April
ls1. Anna slipped ou1 of bed early,ju~t :11
daylight. went outside and came rushing back
into the bedroom screaming that the horses
were tangled in the barbed wire and were
cuuing themselves badly. Joe, who slept only
in his wherewithals, rushed out into the
frosty. cloud-heavy morning, only 10 find
1ha1 he had been taken again.
The next year he threatened 10 whip the
children if they helped their mother play her
linle game. Anna had been after Joe 10 move
a hig pile of logs stacked in !he yard because
she was afraid the children would get hun
playing on 1h·em. but 10 no avail. There they
were. stacked 100 high for safety. Before
anyone else was up. she wen, 0111 into the
yard. pushed 1he logs over so they rolled in
every direction. then carefully maneuvered
herself under two of them in a way 10 appear
badly hun. When one of the children peered
out the window and saw her, he screamed for
his father. When Joe saw what he- thought
had happened, he leaped through the window
10 run 10 her rescue. only 10 have her sit up
when he go! there and say "April Fool!"
Could you live with a woman like that? He
has for some 60 years!
Another one of her delightful stories
in\·olved "siuing up with the body." The
custom was when a person died, the body
was kept a1 the home until it w~ interred.
During 1ha1 time. even a, night, friends and
relatives "sat up." One such night Anna was a
bit bored and she looked around for some
mischief needing to be done. She saw two
very pious women sining in straight chairs
leaning against the wall - sound ash:ep! She
took some soo1 from the chimney, mixed in a
The air is fine
for it gives me
what J need to live
••
.~·
$'
~:
:::
.•.
\
·
The water is my mother
for it holds me
as she would in dream
~
.•
Fire is my pride and foe
for when it snaps it says
it will overtake me
...
.•.
·• .
.•.
And stone, stone is my best friend
for it shows me the hardness of the world
-1.smanl Cirino
JI I
I h
•,.
.
-~.
•
Hard Scrabble
.!.
the ground I stand on
I
by Barbara Wickersham
.• ! .
as it prepares
I
The judge could no! solve ii and the man
went free. It was later solved: 1-Ie had killed
his wife, dug a hole 10 put her in, and his
name was Fox.
And then chere's the story about the man
who had 100 much moonshine anti killed his
cat ... bu1 we'll save that for another time!
They still remember, these people of 1he
mountain~ and they laugh and share their
funny stories. I love 10 laugh and r did so
enjoy listening - hope you did 100.
/
•
••
.•·
The earth is good
t 1 \'
Riddle 10 my riddle to my right,
Guess where I srayed las, Friday night.
The wind did blow and my hean did ache
To see what a hole that fox did make.
.. ·· ·· · . ....
.•..~·......-.:•:•:•:•:•:•:·........·•..•....
..·•·
....•.
...
The Elements
Xotimf, Jou1 nnC pn9c 6
little water, and painted their faces lndian
style No one would betray the culprit v. ho
had done the dastardly deed! Recently Anna
1old me she asked one of the women if !hey
wanioo 10 know who did it. The lady replied
"No, not now. I might get angry all over
again." So Anna didn't tell - and her secret is
cenainly safe wi1h me.
Long hours of plowing. hoeing com,
chopping wood, washing, cooking, etc. se1
these very bright people of devious minds to
crca1ing riddles. An nnicle about their humor
would be incomplete without a, least shanng
one nddle with you. Here is my favori1e
story of riddles shared (supposedly a true
story). The wife of a man who lived back in
the deep woods had disappeared without a
1rnce. Her family became concerned and there
was an investigation. The man was brought
before a judge and accused ofkilling his
wife. Apparently the judge musr no, have
been ahoie1her sure of his guih and he 10ld
the man if he could make a riddle tha1 the
judge could not solve. he could go free. Here
is the riddle:
·•
.•..•.
...
............
·•·
•
·~
•
Appalachian mountainside,
more rocks than grass.
Three cows graze sideways round,
short legs up hill, long legs down.
Farmer says there's green enough
to put milk in their faucets,
and maybe there'll be milk enough
to put green in his pockets.
{
._.
:::
~:
}
•.
~
•.
.•·
..
·•·
..
.....
·•·
-Mlba Barr.
e
.
.......·-•:•:•:•:•:•:•·.........,;.•·
.
•·
.• • ·
•
..
rnff., ,.19!1 I
1 . '1
�CLIMAX
NEVER
CAME
have ever been in an old-growth forest thm
contains tulip trees, you can see that they
have a Iarger crown than other species, Like
hemlock, sugar maple, or beech. And as tulip
trees fall over. they create an open patch that
is bigger than a gap left by one of the other
tree species. Intermediately tolerant or even
intolerant ttecs that wouldn't come up in the
space left by a sugar maple or a beech, come
up in the gap made by a fallen tulip tree. So
even in an old-growth forest you can have a
(OMlinncd on~· 8)
by Henry Wender
The idea of a "climaxfores1" has been
an appealing one w sciemists interested in
validating the idea of a 1111mral order in the
world. It has also been a term usedfrequelll/y
in the pages of the Katuah Journal to describe
the old-growth hardwoodfore.\'l.
Now it appears that n111ybe there has
never been a climax forest in the Southern
Appalachians, that the theory is too restrictive
to accurately describe the dynamic processes
of na111re in the mowuain highlands. JIere is a
report on the controversy
Scientists looking back at the
magnificent hnrdwood forest that once
covered the Southern Appalachian Mountains
felt a sense of awe at the splendor of the big
trees. The old forest had a feeling of
permanence and "rightness" I.hat was justified
by the observation of "succession" among
forest plants: after a disturbance smaller,
fast-growing plants repaired ecological
damage and prepared the site for larger tree
species and their accompanying understory
vegetation. The dominant uces and the plants
associated with them were termed the "climax
forest," for these trees were shade-tolerant 10
some degree and succeeded themselves in the
forest canopy. It seemed that unless an
outside disturbance threw the forest back into
an earlier stage of succession that the
dominance of ccnain tree sP-CCies was
inevitable. Certain species appeared 10 be
ideally adapted 10 the conditions of the region
and. unless interrupted, could maintain their
reign perpetually (or at lea.st until the
conditions of the cnvironml!nt changed).
Succession, the scientists said, always
reached a climax: "a self-reproducing 1cm1ina
community."
As with almost any abwlute statement
in science, contradictions began 10 appl!ar
within the idea of the climax forest. During
the 1970's, scientific questioning turned into
open revolt. One of the leaders of the
rebellion was Dr. Peter S. White, then a
researcher for the National Park Service at th
Uplands Field Research Laboratory ,n the
Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
White is now the director of the Nonh
C-irolina Botanical Gardens maintained bv th,
University of Nonh Carolina at Chapel I iill.
In a conversation in his office. he spok,
about how his observations clashed with the
climax theory:
" 11tey (the climax thcorhts) would
pn.-dict that in time a cenain cove site would
become a hemlock forest or a beech forest.
But th:it ~ocs nor happen everywhere without
interruption.
"Fire is an example in many
ecosystems. but 10 use an even subtler
example, tulip trees (locally known as yellow
poplar) are shade-intolerant, early
successionaJ trees. They colonize where there
is on abundance of resources and nutrients
and light and water.
'Tulip trees have a large crown. If you
:ft1CC. 1991
Phoio by Rob Meutck
Xatum, Journot PCIIJe
7
�of climax. They_
inU'Qduced "Polycli~cs," a
mosaic ot different climax situations across
the same landscape, and even "dis-climaxes,"
climax situations based on recurrent patterns
of disturbance. Others referred to climax as
an ideal situation that was valid for an
(ainunucd frum pqc 7)
persistent succcssional tree, just because of
their great size.
"So the ultimate progression towards
climax would occur only in some rare
situations. It docs happen. In a deep ravine, it
CARIHEAN ISLANDS
GIJ'
MOOE LS
,-,.......
$MALL
WATERSHEDS
DOMINICA
CUBA
' '
r--"---,
RECREATIONAL FOREST IN
SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS
1
.. 111*
C
C
w
~
•
C
~
,,. ----,\
1010
C
,r,
0
OIUIIRICANES
HITTING
CIRCULAR
ISLANDS
I
/
\
EFHCTIVELY
NONEOUILtlRIUM
LANOSCAl'ES
E
. . -1"----
\
--
/
I
""'
C
10•
}
AUSTRALIAN
~REST
FIRES FIIQM
1954 ,.,,
IIY YEAR
.
__ ...,
}
}
)
IJ''ALACHIAN
WILDFIRES
AREA IN THE 11.tlNGES OF
COMMERCIAL A\ISTIIALIAN
~IYSl'ECIES
Sc.le of dinurbonce and ICale of bnclscapcs for •umple ecosyslefflS. The hne between lhc
dTcctive.ly nonequihliriwn and 111c quai-eqwlibri1m 1.-,d,apcs is based 011 a SO: I ratio of landsape
cn:a to diJllllt)enu au. Cornbina&ions of disn.wbance and laidscape scales illu.waied uc: (a) Trerfalls
Oii imall W111Cn!w,ds; (b) W'llcl!n, on ama11 walaShcds; (c) WildfiRS on reaeaiioml foruu: (d)
AIISlnliln Corua ms on I.be nmie of Auslnlli111 £colyp1i,s specie$; and (c) Hurtian<s OC1 Carribc:m
hllnds. (from A Theory of Forest Oynamies by Herman H.Shup.rt)
might just be shady enough that hemlock is
able to exclude any intolerant plants
eventually, providing there is freedom from
fire or hurricanes. So in a cenain sense there
could be dominance by a few of the most
shade-tolerant species. But in most other
cases, I think thar that end-point of
succession was still a mixed forest which
never quite got to climax."
Key to the idea of climax was the
qualification "unless interrupted... " In climax
theory, disturbance, even natural disturbance,
was looked on as "endogenous," something
that came from outside the system and
interrupted the "normal" progression 10 a
stable climax. White and his scientific allies
maintained that disturbance was a natural
occurrence in the life of most forests and
needed to be included in any theory of forest
dynamics.
'There was a certain sense that
evolution creatcS ctiversity," White said,
"There is a reason why early-succession
plantS such as birch, pin cherry, or
blaclcberrics evolve in a system. and that
reason is that there is periodic disturbance, so
it felt that 10 look only at the end-point was
the wrong focus."
In nature, it is said, "change is the only
constant," and trying 10 deny disturbance an
integral role in the forest ecosystem seemed
10 be setting up a Static model lhat left out the
clement of change.
Scientists defending climax recognized
this, and they began to redefine the concept
Xawan Journat
- • , J. ".
h. t
P™Je 8
environment whether it actually occurred or
nOL
There came to be so many "climaxes"
that, in the eyes of White and his cohons, the
concept lost its meaning. "Every species is
climax in that it evolved within some
environmental setting and is extant within that
setting," he wrote in 1979 (emphasis added).
A nonhem hardwood forest setting
provides an example. The dominant species,
such as beech or sugar maple, depend on a
shady, liner-covered forest floor to germinate
their seeds. They are slow colonizers but are
very tolerant of shade and play a waiting
game. sitting as small saplings in the
understory until an opening appears, when
they use their height advantage and leap 10 fill
it.
While these species arc clearly
dominant, other early-succession species
persiSt. Yellow birch has light seeds which it
disperses widely, starting many seedlings on
I.be forest floor. But these seedlings arc
completely eliminated, except for those which
manage to take root on disturbed soil or on
moss mats covering rotting logs or rocks
from which they drop trailing roots 10 the
forest floor.
The fire cherry has persistant seeds that
live a long lime in the soil, waiting for a
ctisturbancc 10 open a gap in the upper
canopy. By such strategics, these
"early-succession" species, although never
dominant, keep their place in the the northern
hardwood forest. When larger gaps open up,
the "climax species" arc out-competed by
stands of the fas1-growing, light-loving trees.
Rather than a linear model always
approaching the goal of a final climax, 1his
appears to be a shifting balance of different
species competing amid a constantly
changing set of conditions.
"Dynamic equilibrium" or "patch
dynamic equilibrium" is how White describes
this continuing process. He mentions the
work of Herman Shugan, a professor at the
University of Virginia. ln his book A Theory
of Foresr Dynamics, Shugan modeled a
forest with disturbance patch size (maybe a
burned area plus the gaps opened by fallen
trees) on one axis and the total landscape siz.c
on the other axis.
If the total siz.e of the disrurbanccs was
one-fiftieth of the size of the forest, Shugan
said that the forest was in a state of
"quasi-equilibrium." If the disturbance area
included more than one-fiftieth of the forest,
Shugart said that the forest was in
"disequilibrium."
Shugart also drew some conclusions
about habitat ctiversity by examining patch
sizes on a landscape over time. ln his model,
maximum ctivcrsity was obtained when
one-fiftieth of the landscape was stirred up by
small, concurrent disturbances. On the other
band, a single massive disturbance, like a
hurricane or a large fire, would not produce
that same diversity of habitats, because the
character of the whole forest would be
altered.
This analysis is more relativistic and
flexible than the traditional climax model
because it incorpocatcs disturbance as pan of
the picture rather than trying to exclude the
influence of change. It can also give a picture
of relative stability. While there is constant
change and constant activity happening at the
local level, seen from a wider viewpoint a
forest's rate of food production, the average
amount of biomass, or the average size of
animal populations may bold steady over an
extended period of time.
'That equilibrium." says Peter White,
"since it has changclessncss within change,
could be seen as a climax landscape. It's a
big landscape with lots of inctividual local
dynamics, but they're all canceling out over
the whole. One could call that climax.
"Historically, the tenn 'climax' would
not have been applied 10 the patch dynamics
equilibrium, but given freedom from people,
and a constant equilibrium on a larger scale,
there is a stable landscape configuration that
could develop."
Change is constant The key is balance.
This viewpoint frees our minds from a linear
and goal-oriented perspective. lt integrates
the forest species and the forces that influence
them together into a larger whole. In this
view of evolution, the cycles of successfon
yield stability in its time while providing
necessary diversity to meet the challenge of
unceasing change.
Thuw to Or. Peter White for I.he infonnation ror this
arti<;lc. For more in-depth infonnalion. - his article
-Pattern. Process. and Natural Diswrbancc in Vcgctation" in
The Botanical Rrv~. Vol. 4S, No. 3 (Swnmcr. 1979) and
TM &oleo ofNOlrval Distrvbana and Pasch Dyll(tlflia.
edited by S. T.A. Piclcca and Peter While (Academic Press,
1985).
f"n(L, 1991
�..
1
IS THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN
ECOSYSTEM ENDANGERED?
by John A. Freeman
The Southern Appalachian area is one
of the beauty-spots of Earth. Yet there are
signs that this ecosystem is in trouble, that it
is breaking down, perhaps much more
rapidly than we are used to thinking
ecosystems can.
There is ample evidence that
ecosystems break down quite rapidly due to
stresses from overuse or abuse. Ln early
classical Greece, trees were so abundant that
the land was basically forest with isolated
clearings. Yet within two centuries trees were
uncommon enough that travelers mentioned
individual trees or small groves as guidepost~
along their routes
ln the American West 130 years ago,
travelers described the grasses as reaching
halfway up 1he sides of their horses. Today,
some of these areas seldom have grasses
more than a few inches tall and the carrying
capacity forcanle has been reduced by
perhaps 98 percent.
But surely our beautiful area wi1h its
forests is not on tha1 slippery slope,. Or is ii?
Fifty years ago, as a graduate student at
Chapel Hill, I chose 10 use three common
aquatic snails in a research project. One basis
for the choices was that they were readily
availnble in nearby srreams - I could collec1
1he seveml dozen of e;ich that l neede.c;I in a
matter of minu1es. Fifteen years later, in.
Piedmont ponds two of the snails were
common. The third, always found in small
streams and pi:eviously common throughout
these mountains, was rare. In 1956 r saw the
last one I have seen in this area. Six or seven
years later, the pond snails had almost
disappeared from the ponds where 1 once
collected them in large numbers.
By 1he mid-'60's, even superficial
observation showed that stoneflies and
mayflies were much reduced in the areas r
visited. Except for fishermen, most people
would not be concerned about the decimation
of these insects. However, the fact that they
are major sources of food for trout gives
them significance. Their loss has been
responsible for the need of frequent stocking
of trout streams 10 enable tr0u1 fishing in
most of the area. Other small creatures nre
rare in many areas wbere they were once
common. Some that come 10 mind are snakes
and other reptiles, and a wide range of
amphibians (frogs, toads, and salamanders)
which, as a whole, I estimate have been
reduced in numbers by perhaps 99 percent.
Many songbirds are also much reduced in
recent years.
Taking a longer historical perspective,
the top predators were reduced 10 only token
levels many years ago. Wolves, for example,
were once important in the balance among
animals in our area. Now, in an effort to
restore some semblance of balance. red
wolves are being reintroduced. The predatory
birds (eagles, hawks, owls, etc.) were once
reduced to small populations but fonunately
with some suppon by humans are makmg
comebacks.
:fa(£, 1991
In recent years, among the most
conspicuous changes have been among trees,
especially Fraser firs and spruces at higher
elevations, such as Mount Mitchell. As yet
less dramatically affected arc various oaks,
pines, dogwoods and 01her trees extending
thing of the past, possibly within decades and
almost surely within a century.
What can be done, if anything, 10 get
our beloved area off the slippery slope?
Unfortunately, about the only rhing we
can do locally is 10 apply as many "bandaids"
down into the valleys. That we have some
explanations - or tentative explanations - of
the changes we sec docs no1 reduce the fact
or significance of the.c;e changes.
Based on my own per;onal, though not
systematic, observations, I conclude that our
Appalachian ccosys1ems are under attack.
Once the slippery slope of ecosystem
degeneration i.~ reached, ecosystem
breakdown can be rapid. It leads 10 a nc:w
and different system that develops rapidly
unless remedial steps are taken promp!ly and
vigorously. The new ecosystem has a lower
tot.ill life suppon capacity than the original
from which it developed.
My conclusion is qualitative, not
quantitative: based on my observntions over a
lifetime in the Appalachian and nearby areas,
our ecosystems are already onto tha1 slippery
slope leading to dramatic changes, including
towered productivily. Just when sharp and
dramatic changes will come is unccnain, as it
is uncertain just whru the changes will be.
Unless dramatic steps are taken soon, the
ecosystems we know and enjoy will be a
as possible, for the basic causes of the
problem are much more widespread. Any
steps which lower the pollutants known as
acid rain or acid precipitation will help.
Global wanning and the depletion of
stratospheric ozone are widespread problems
1hat require more than local actions.
Fonunately, there is developing wide intereSt
in this country, especially at
non-governmenllll levels, in these problems.
Accords and bws mandating changes are
ei1hcr already in effect or arc being
developed.
Grassroots activists instinctively ask a
crucial question: "What is there for me 10
do?" Fonunately, there.arc several
overlapping areas in which we can be
effective.
Foremost, in my opinion, is increasing
awareness on the pan of the public and of
government officials that the mauer i~ critical
and that we cann0t afford to wait until all is
kTiown about such matters as what causes
damaged vegellltion.
Drawing by Rob Messick
(COIIIIIIUed on page 24)
1Gatuah Jo1..rnn£ PCMJC 9
�uTalking Leaves"··
1
,,,
The Life and Influence of Sequoyah
based on an interview with
Tom Underwood
Sequoyah was unquestionably a
genius. He developed an 86-character
syllabary of the Cherokee language that
enabled his tribe to become the only one of
the North American Indian tribes 10 become
literate. Sequoyah's invention allowed the
Cherokees to publish a tribal newspaper and
preserve many of their old teachings and
beliefs in written form. He is the only man in
recorded history known to have devised a
system of writing without knowing how to
read or write in any language.
Sequoyah was born in eastern
Tennessee sometime around 1776, the
half-breed son of a while man named
Nathaniel Gist and a daughter of one of the
Cherokee chiefs at the village of Echota.
There has been much discussion among
historians about his parentage, but today
there is little doubt that Gist, the son of a
prominent Virginia family, was Sequoyah's
true father.
Gist was a friend of George
Washington, and it is said that he was
working secretly for Washington, looking for
purchasable land in Tennessee. He lived with
the Indians for quite some time at the Echota
village. He did not leave there until the
Revolutionary War, when there was
discussion in the Virginia legislature of
d~laring him a traitor because he was living
with the Cherokee who were actively aiding
the British.
Gist traveled to Virginia and presented
himself before the legislature. He told them
that he was not a British sympathizer and that
he would recruit Cherokee to the colonial
cause. He brought 14 Indians to fight for the
colonists, but he did not return with them to
E~hota. After the independence was declared,
Gist settled in Ohio, and his family became
respected leaders of their time - one was a
congressman, another became a well-known
innkeeper in Washington.
After Sequoyah had invented the
syllabary and was on business in
Washington, he visited the Gist family on
one occasion, evidently at their invitation,
and was accepted by them as Nathaniel's
son, George Gist.
Some of the best written information on
Sequoyah is included in an odd collection of
documentS on the Cherokees compiled by a
white man named John Howard Payne.
Payne was a contemporary of Sequoyah and
transcribed first-hand n:collcctions of the
man.
"The Payne manuscript," as it is
known, says that Sequoyah's family on his
mother's side "was of high rank in the
nation. The famous John Waus was one of
them. Two of his uncles were men of great
distinction - one of the two was named
Tah-lon-tee-skee (the overthrower), and the
other Kahn-yah-tah-hee (the first to lcill).
"Kahn-yah-tah-bee was the principal
X.Otuah Journal
pac.,s 10
chief of Old Echota, the ancient town of
refuge, over which he presided, He was
called The Beloved Chief of All the People.'
1t was his exclusive duty and delight 10 be a
peace preserver.
"During some public assembly, there
was an onset of the whites, notwithstanding
it was a time of profound peace, and all the
Tndians fled, excepting Kahn-yah-tah-hee and
another chief, of whom there was some
distrust in the nation. They were both in the
square where the ceremonial had been gone
through. Kahn-yah-tah-hce arose from his
scat, and with a white flag waving, met the
marauders as they broke into the square.
Both chiefs were murdered brutally on the
spot.
"Some days subsequently, the invaders
having withdrawn, the people returned.
Carrion birds had devoured the body of the
one chief, but that of the other,
Kahn-yah-tah-hee, the Beloved of All, was
untouched, and unchanged even in death. His
hand still grasped the violated Flag of Peace,
and upon his dead lips lingered a benignant
(sic) smile."
Se.quoyah grew up a Cherokee and
identified with his tribal heritage. He never
learned to speak English. He had no wish 10
learn the white people's language. Even after
~eh~ invented the ~yllabary and was being
interviewed for a sencs of newspaper articles
!n Washington. he spoke through an
interpreter.
The boy and his mother lived at Echota
until he was 11 years old and then moved
down to Wills Town, in nonheas1ern
Alabama.
He never showed signs of his genius
when he was a child. He was 100 busy
helping his mother find a means of survival.
She ran a small trading post and outfitted fur
trappers on credit. Young Sequoyah would
go out in the forest 10 pick up the furs owed
to her for payment. He was alone much of
the time. He learned self-reliance and
supplemented the family's meager larder by
hunting.
When he was older, he learned several
trades. He was a silversmith for a time. The
Cherokee loved 10 decorate themselves with
fine jewelry - ear and nose rings, armbands,
bracelets, gorgets, and chains, and Sequoyah
became proficient at creating these ornaments
out of silver. He prevailed upon a white man
10 write his name in English and engraved his
signature on each piece of his work. He also
began 10 draw and was highly regarded
among the tribespcople on this account. He
latertumed to blacksmithing. But he was
never much of a farmer; he never could get
interested in hoeing com.
It was also said of Sequoyah that he
was "greatly considered among all the
handsome women." The Payne manuscript
tells us:
"...when he discovered that he was so
greatly considered among the handsome
women, he began to pay less attention to his
employment He neglected his silver worlc
and his drawing and went about visiting one
and another, and every day he had more and
more friends. The young men were always
pleased to see him coming where they were.
When he would arrive at any place where a
number of them were assembled around their
boule, they would call out to him, 'My
friend, my friend, let us drink whiskey
together... '
"But at that time he drank only water;
though he would. when thus invited, always
go fetch a quart bonlc of whiskey. and give it
10 his friends and then wait and let them drink
it by themselves. He went on thus for a long
while, but was at length tempted now and
then to taste a little with his friends - and
soon, a little more: until at last. he would
often get tipsey (sic) with his friends:
whereupon his friends increased upon him so
fast, that instead of a bottle, he would have to
bring a three gallon keg for their supply, and
he would make them all drink with him, until
the keg was empty."
One night Sequoyah and a couple of his
friends went to a Bible reading. They
listened, and going home that night they
talked about how wonderful were the "talki.ng
leaves," as the Cherokee described pages of
paper. To them the pages of a book sounded
like leaves rustling in the wind.
Sequoyah's friends said, "This is a
wonderful gift of the Great One to the white
man. We could never have this."
He said, "1 could do this."
They laughed at him. "No, you
couldn't do that," they said.
He said, "I can do it I can find a way
to make the talking leaves speak in Cherokee.
They laughed again and said, 'You're
crazy.'''
That set him off. Sequoyah went to
work. He first tried 10 devise symbols to
make sentences, then symbols to make
words. Everything wound up too
compli_cated. He started over again trying 10
figure It all out. From when he began, until it
was completed, Sequoyah worked off and on
creating his syllabary for over 20 years. He
eventually broke the Cherokee language
down into 86 basic sounds and assigned a
symbol for each.
He could not devise enough signs 10
designate the different sounds. so one day
when he found a discarded newspaper, he
picked symbols from the pages and adopted
them into his own system. That is why some
of the characters in the Cherokee syllabary
appear familiar to English-speaking people.
Sequoyah would become absorbed in
his work and retire to a small outbuilding on
his propeny to ponder on the syllabary for
long periods of time. He abandoned his farm
fields completely and left the raising of crops
and family entirely to his wife. She became
infuriated about this project that was taking
her husband away from his responsibilities.
One day, when his work was almost
completed, she burned his little building with
all his notes while he was away from home.
But he would not quit He staned over.
No one else in the tribe believed in his work.
The other members of his community
disrrusted his long periods of solitary labor.
The word began to go around that Sequoyah
was engaging in witchcraft He was losing
the respect that he had gained in the
community. Finally one day a friend named
fo(t, 1991
�tribal council, Sequoyah received wide
recognition. Now a famous man, he
remained quiet and withdrawn. The Payne
manuscript described him as follows:
"His manners were never forward and
are now become somewhat reserved. lt can
be seen that his mind is always busy within
him, and, especially when smoking, he
seems absorbed in thought. He is thin and
above the middle heighL 1n dress he :idheres
10 the old costume of the nation, but without
ornament; wears the turuc and robe, leggings
Tunle Fields came ro visit Sequoyah. The
Payne manuscript recounts what to0k place:
"'My friend,' Turtle Fields said to him,
'my friend, there are a great many remarks
made upon this employment which you have
taken up. Our people are much concerned
abour you. They think you are wasting your
life. They think, my friend, that you arc
making a fool of yourself, and will be no
longer respected.'
"Gist replied, 'Lt is not our people who
Cherokee Syllabary
Da
-$-ga t ho
'Vha
W,a
,/"ma
Re
l"ee
T.
rhl'
.oh,
f ,e
Ctme
f ,,
H m,
0 n l.hnaGnah J\.n
a
e
Yii,
Iln,
Q Que
'fqu,
l::fsa OUs
4 ,e
h s,
W,..
d1a .Ct1d
i
G,.a
G.wa
tDva
~ mo
J'mu
,,,. . , 4 nu
O'nv
quo le}quu f; quv
½$0 If'$, Rs.,
Z no
~ qua
t da
.
Ou J..,
A eo J gu .Egv
J.lho r hu &-hv
G,o M,u 4 1
v
o)o
I
Sde't1e .,L ] ,, Vdo Sdu I ~ do
L ,,p C,11
,J ,,o -'i'P 11u P 11v
lr,s,
K ,so cJ,su C ,sv
'J',se
/Jwu 6w
v
4£JWL'
J3ve nv fi vo Gvu Bvv
have advised me to this, and it is not
therefore our people who can be blamed if 1
nm wrong. What 1 have done I have done
from myself. If our people think lam making
a fool of myself, you may tell our people that
what ram doing will nOl make fools of them.
They did not cause me to begin and they shall
not cause me to give up. If I am no longer
respected, what l am doing will not make our
people the less respected, either by
themselves or others; and so I shall go on,
and so you may tel1 our people."'
We sometimes call Sequoyah's
symbols an alphabet, but 11 is actually a
syllabary, which correctly describes a system
of signs for the sy11ables of a language.
lf one knows Cherokee. it is fairly
simple to learn Sequoyah's symbols and
write the words of the language. Not many
go 10 the trouble 10 do it anymore, but the
fin;t person Sequoyah taught was his six year
old daughter. She was the one who
demonstrated his system to the governing
council of the Cherokee nation.
When Sequoyah t0ok his syllabary to
the council, the members refused 10 believe
it. It was 100 complicated, they said. There
were too many sounds. They would never
learn it.
He said, "h's so simple 1ha1 that I have
taught my six-year old daughter to use it."
They put him to the test. She wrote
down what they said while he was out of the
room, and when he came back, he read ii.
After the syllabary was accepted by the
rnrt, 1991
~
WI
~ WO
sometimes of buckskin, sometimes of blue
cloth - moccasins instead of shoes - and a
turban."
By this time there was intense pressure
on the Cherokee from white people who
wanted their land. Sequoyah left Alabama
with a group led by Chief John Jolly and
settled in Arkansas. He worked some salt
springs and taught the written language 10 the
Cherokees there. At one time, there were
more literate Otcrokees than there were
literate white people in Arkansas!
When the first Cherokees forced to
travel The Trail of Tears arrived out west m
1839, there was much resentment among the
earlier settlers because "the newcomers" were
talcing up the land. There was violent
dissension that threatened 10 destroy the tribe.
and Sequoyah turned his talents and
reputation toward the causes of peace and
tribal unity.
The tribal leaders met and decided 10
write a constitution that all factions could
abide by Sequoyah was elected president of
the group, and if not for his presence, there
probably would have been much more
trouble, because he was a man who did not
take sides and did not harbor grudges. He
was a leader and a man of peace, and it
turned out that he had great powers of
diplomacy.
When the constitution was negotiated,
the Cherokee moved all their belongings 10
Oklahoma.
Scquoyah's final trip was a mission to
Mexico undenakcn when he was about 67.
He journeyed the<e to bring a whole village
of Cherokee people back to Oklahoma.. The
group had starte.d west without a guide
during the Removal, and had wandered down
the wrong river and ended up across the
border. ln seeking for them, Sequoyah died
in the small town of San Fernando, Mexico
in 1843.
•••
Words become only insO'Umencs,
expressions. The written syllabary
significantly changed the world of the
Cherokees, but it is difficult even now to give
a definitive analysis of the impact that
Sequoyah, singlehandedly, had on his tribe. I
think that will have to wait for future
historians.
But one thing is clear: Sequoyah
wanted his people to be able to read and write
like the Europeans, and through his genius
and his efforts he allowed the Cherokees 10
have their own written language. It gave them
a chance to read, and many Cherokees
became better informed than their own white
neighbors. They took pride in that. and they
took pride in the fact that it was their
tribesman Sequoyah who had made ic
possible.
Once the syllabary was widely
circulated, the tribe installed a printing press
in a log cabin office at the tribal capital at
New Echota. It was set with specially cast
type and printed documents and a bilingual
tribal newspaper. TIie Cherokee Phoenix.
There followed translations of the Bible,
hymnals, and prayer books in10 Cherokee.
After the Removal, literate Cherokees sent
leners back and forth between Oklahoma and
the Eas1. Directly or indin:ctly, the printed
word broadened the horizons of every
member of the Cherokee tribe.
It gave the Cherokee a significant
advantage over other Native American aibcs.
Because they could read their own language,
they were able to become acculturated ro
white society easier than the other native
people. That gave them a better chance of
survival in the world they had to face.
Of course, this acculturation had its
negative effecL~. 100. In some areas the new
literacy increased the jealousy of some of the
Cherokees' white neighbors. And at the same
time that it was increasing the Cherokees'
pride and sense of tribal accomplishment,
literacy was also helping to destroy traditional
foundations of tribal society. lndividual
Cherokees became confused about who they
were and turned their back on their native
heritage. As the Cherokee Bibles and prayer
books helped to gain convcns to the Olristian
religion, the power of the medicine people
was eroded and the ages-old spiritual life
withered away.
But because ethnologiSt James Mooney
found small journals in which Cherokee
medicine people had ~ e d their magical
formulas, he was able to preserve a written
record of ancient lore that was lost to many of
the other tribes. Other valuable information
wrincn in Cherokee was preserved as well.
There are medicine chants written by Bird
Partridge in the Museum of the Cherokee
Indian that were written in the native
language, and I am sure I.hat there were other
items of the same natuTC.
(0l>lllinlled <lll P-'CC 24)
1'ati1 fl Jour nd.
a
po(JC
11
�GREEN SPIRITS:
Human societies, cultures, and cuisines
originally developed around the ecological
cycles of plant growth and dormancy. seed
set and tuber development in their regions.
Today it is still highly desirable for each
bioregion to be more self-sufficient in its own
food production. Diet should become more
regionally localized and more seasonable,
with different foods available at different
harvelit periods. Produce .,,. hich is storable
or dryable (potatoes, winter squash, etc.)
would come to be of greater imponance in the
regional diet.
Regional food production (especially
production utilizing low-input organic
methods) would act 10 stabilize regional
economics by decreasing our dependance on
foreign inputs, especially oil and
pem:x:hemicals. Any region can become
more self-sufficient in its food production,
distribution, and marketing.
Critical to the successful development
of regional agricultural economies is the
preservation of the dwindling amount of
remaining world-wide plant genetic diversity.
Thousands of locally selected vegetable and
fruit varieties have been lost in the last
century due to the change from growing
predominantly local, open-pollinated varieties
to the almost exclusive use of F1 hybrid
varieties. Modern hybrid plant varieties have
been developed for characteristics such as
high yield, case of production and uniform
harvest, but not for the generic diversity
which serves as biological insurance against
disease or insect attack.
Hybrid crop varieties have the
disadvantages of (1) genetic uniformity, and
susceptibility to major insect and disease
attack; (2) seeds produced from hybrid plants
cannot be saved and replanted, since their
offspring would not produce a uniform or
stable crop; and (3) hybrid crops require
massive amounts of outside inputs, such as
fenilizers and pesticides, to achieve high
levels of yield. With the loss of genetic
diversity in our food crops, we are losing the
diversity which has developed over millions
of yea.rs, the same genetic differences which
allow plant populations to survive climatic
changes.
PlanLc; which have diverse genetic
backgrounds are generally termed
"opcn-pollinnted" varieties (also called
"non-hybrid," "standard," "heirloom," or
"old•timey" varieties ). Open-pollinated
varieties are more or Jess, randomly
pollinated from genetically diverse parents,
resulting in unique offspring with a wide
range of physical and biochemical genetic
expressions Seeds from open-pollinated
plants contain a great deal of genetic diversity
from which agriculturists can select for
features such as taste, disease resistance, and
suitability of use. By selecting parents with
desirable characteristics. and by crossing
them in selected combinations. improved
varieties, which are more adapted to local
climates, soils etc., can be isolated. Another
major advantage of open-pollinated varieties
is that they retain their genetic diversity,
preserving genes which may be more
:Kcit.i'.w h Jo1.m mt pQCJe 12
Seed Saving to Preserve Biodi:ver~sty,
adaptable to changing environments. II is of
grem practical value to be able to produce and
save one's own seed. 1hereby being able to
gradually selec1 for desired improvements
and bcner local adaptability (i.e. better gene
combinations for a panicular climate or soil).
while retaining genetic diversity.
SEED SA Vl~G REFEREI\CFS
Robm Johnson. Jr. 1983. Growing Garden
Seetlr: A Manual/or Gardeners and Small
Farms. Inexpensive and easy to understand.
Available from Johnny's Selected Seeds;
Albion. Maine 04910. $1.95
Peter Donelan. 1986. Growing ro Seed. A
more detailied presentation. Ecology Action,
Self-Teaching Mini-series# 13. Order from
Ecology Action: 5798 Ridgewood Road:
Willeis, CA, 95490 $3.50.
Suzanne Ashworth. 1990. Seed ro Seed
Seed-saving techniques for over 160
vegetable crops. 240 pp., $20.00 ppd. Order
from Seed Savers Exchange (sec address
below).
SEED SA VJNG ORGANlZATIONS
The Flower & Herb Exchange (FHE)
Rt. 3. Box 239
Decorah Iowa 5210 I
($5.00 annual membership)
Fonunately, there is a growing number
of individuals and developing organizations
which recogni1.e the imponance of preserving
natural genetic diversity in agricultural crops.
The most widely known is the Iowa-based
Seed Savers Exchange, which is a loose
organization of people committed to seed
saving and exchange. The Seed Savers
Exchange believes that the best way to
preserve historical varieties is by propagating
them and distributing them to a widely
scattered number of seed savers. The group
publishes lists of available varieties and
addresses of members with panicular
varieties for exchange or sale. By keeping
open-pollinated plant varieties in the public
domain, the Seed Savers Exchange ensures
that they will be widely propagated and
distributed.
We highly encourage Kan1ah plant
caretakers to identify and promote the
preservation, propagation, and distribution of
local "follc-roce" varieties of vegetables,
ornamentals, and fruits. Local county fairs
can be better orgnnized to identify local
varieties still grown by the old-timers. Talk
with dedicated seed-savers to identify their
favorite varieties and then offer to purchase
or trade for seeds when they arc available.
Multiply these varieties and be sure to further
distribute and "spread the wealth" to help
prevent the loss of these natural treasures.
Secondly, interested gardeners should
seek out open-pollinated varieties and
encourage their use and distribution. Try
growing these varieties and selecting for
plants with improved qualitic:;.
Lastly. plant caretakers need to produce
extra seeds to pass along to other seed-savers
to encourage their increase and serve as
insumnce against the loss of these
irreplaceable heirlooms.
Seed saving can be a simple and
economical hobby. General and specific
information on saving vegetable varieties can
be gained from the books listed below.
Seed Savers Exchange
Rural Route 3, Box 239
Decorah Iowa 52I01
($25.00 annual dues, with reduced
r01esfor "reduced income" membership),
specializing in plant listing ofvegetables and
fruits.
Native Scc<VSEARCH
3950 West New York Drive
Tucson, Arizona
Specializing in S011tllwest
indigenous crops, such as peppers, beans,
dye plants, etc. Dues $10.00 per year.
COMPANIES SPECIALIZING IN
OPEN-POLLINATEO/HEIRLOOM SEEDS
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Box 158-N
Nonh Garden, VA 22959
Caralog $3 .00, credited to first
order.
Redwood City Seed Company
PO Box 361
Redwood City, CA 94064
Caralog $/ .00
Bountiful Gardens (Ecology Action)
5798 Ridgewood Rd.
WilliL~. CA 95490
Abundant Life Seed Foundation
Box 772
Pon Townsend, WA 98368
Seeds Blum
Idaho City Stage
Boise, Idaho 83706
Caralog $3.00.
Johnny's Selected Seeds
Albion, Maine04910
Dr•wmg by Rob Mc.nick
- by Lee Barnes
1'nrt, 1991
�Walking Distance
Our transpotation addiction is
responsible for massive ecological and social
damage. Our society is built around the use
of Lhe automobile. It is now necessary for
most people to use a car or bus to get to
work, school, to buy groceries or see most of
our friends. This is a very expensive situation
in currency oflife, money, environmental
qualiLy and in social disruption. Our highest
priority should be to establish villages and
re-establish neighborhoods in which the day
to day needs of the people can be met within
walking distance.
A pattern of local self sufficiency would
have many good effects on our lives and on
the environmenL Fuel use and polluLion
would be cu1 dramatically and people would
save a 101 of money. People be/long in a
walking based society. Children grow up m
greater sccuri ty, and oldt:r folks can live
longer in their own homes when supported
by a caring community. In local economy we
empower each other as we disempower huge
political and industrial cartels. Wal.king and
biking as means of rransponation reintegraLc
people with their environment while
providing a moderate and appropriate
execrcise schedule. People would live longer
and be happier. Inter actions with actual
people would tend Lo replace video reality.
We live in a world designed for cars instead
of people. In a world designed for people,
kids can find enough other kids for a
ballgame any day with decent wcaLher, and
adults can either have the solitude of the
woods or the compt1ny of friends within
walking distance.
Native peoples the world over have
almost always chosen to live in villages.
Synergy is the reason for this. a village is
more than che sum of its pans. In a village
there is more protection from wild animals
and violent people, cooperation in labor, the
sharing of resources such as ox and plow,
GASOLJtlE
JS A
DAJ\JGEHOUS
CHE},JJCA!.
ADDJc·r JON.
and there is the possibility of specializing for
greater efficiency. Even as rteenily as the
1960's most of the people of che world lived
in agricultural villages with forest and field
out the back door and friends and neighbors
out the fronL
One of the reasons people moved to
cities was that the rural villages were cultural
backwaters. This has changed in an era of
satellite communications and U.P.S .. Now
the ideas and goods of the world are readily
available in the wilds of anywhere.
ANGLE: ENVIRONMENT
Fifteen years ago I wrote in my journal
that l had three jobs. The first was for money
so I could keep a roof over my head, eat. and
function in society \\ith a grasp on
self-reliance. Having been a Boy Scout and
raised with respect for nature and a vision of
caring for it, I wanted my job 10 be a pan of
an ecological wlution and not more of the
problem. 8111 I remember thinking at the
same time that "Job One is for money 10 pay
my bills." 1 had to begin wi1h my
self-reliance and forge my conscious ideas in
the marketplace as l went along.
Working as a mechanic. I sometimes
wondered if cars weren't one of our major
problems. Eventually realizing that it was
true, I also had 10 keep in mind that I had
learned to make them run more efliciemly. So
I was able to organi:r.e my thoughts and ideas
with the security my paycheck gave me to
work on Job Two.
For Job Two I recycll!d cars. This was
more of a hobby than a job-type job. I did not
do tt for money, bu1 for the environment. If I
made money that was line, but I figured tha1 I
would do this job as part of a solution. It was
a feeling l kept in my private heart, but I
knew my work muse feed it. If I wns to grow
and strengthen and become a man in the
business world, I had to help in designing
that world for health. I was looking for my
own true man rather than the businessman and trying to keep the roof over my head. So
roff. 1991
ii was my goal not to let this work tax the
environment in nny way, but to engage me in
part of the cleanup. My own system of Earth
first.
In the college town where I lived,
students abandoned cars everywhere. It
didn't seem to mailer how simply they might
be fixed, with their own studies and
graduation on their minds. and maybe sights
set on soon buying a new car, off into the
field the old cars went. I fixed cars man>'
times by putting in a new bauery. Other times
I took two cars and made one good
one...feeding them back into the
:,ystcm... seeing that no good pans were
wasted.
Though technology might give belier
fuel economy from year to year, we must
consider the "Bic Clic" mentality in the
throwaway car industry, keeping in mind the
horsepower it takes and the 1ax on our
environment to keep up the new car cycle.
Seeing the rate at which so many of these
'"dead" cars got crushed, only 10 create a
demand for another ne\\ one, made Job Two
feel very good environmentally. It seemed 10
go out and out. if only in my own thinking,
towards my goals.
My third job was solely for the
environment. 1 would not use fuel nor
generate money: I picked up trash.
II felt so good when money was not my
motivating force. People around me thought I
Photovoltaics can give electricity to the most
remote community. A modem rural
community is an atttactive idea in a time
when cities offer more in the way of crime
and less in the way of cultural attractions. It
is now possible to have the best of
civilization and the best of rural life. The
village is an idea whose time has come again.
The industrial revolution has brought us
great progress in many areas but the pattern
of social disintegration and ecological
degradation that it has fostered must be
changed. Consumerism must be replaced
with a more broad minded philosophy that
cares about the welfare of the entire system.
In a localil.ed economy there are
micro-<:conomic niches for pan time bakers,
appliance repair people, haircuucrs, chicken
keepers, cow milkers, etc. The industrial
revolution separated and scheduled life, work
came to mean job, education came to mean
school, and all of society came to revolve like
a gear around the needs of industry. People's
lives took on the same scheduled and
sequenced rhythms as the assembly line.
Extended families shrank into nuclear
families and then to one parent families.
Prosperity came to mean economic growth
instead of a state of well-being.
Now there are other trends at work, and
these will eventually produce an age of
self-sufficient villages that produce much of
their own power and food and at the same
time can choose co be active members of a
global civilization. The world needs models
for this new generation of rural community.
/
by Will Bason
Drawing by Rob MC$~ock
must have really tlipped. And though a1 fir..1,
1admit, ii did feel a little crazy, I had begun
to realize "new profits" and decided 1hnl
linering was indeed crazier.
I also pickl!d up aluminum. There were
liuer baJTCls up and down both sides of the
street from my home all the way across town.
So every day after work r walked and picked
up paper and cans. The barrels came up like
clockwork, and in them I found an aluminum
mme. There was a can buyer along my route,
so that was my "bank" right on my path. If I
thrcatencd anyone's sensibilities, f soon
didn't care. Because of the social nature of
the work, I was discovering more of what
mnde what tick.
Before long I added up what it was
costing me to go to Job One, and realized I
couldn"t afford ii anymore. Since that time
I've found that I cannot afford 10 work for
money as my chief motivaung force. The
things I do, I do for different reason5. I get a
strong feeling that a lot of the problem~ in the
world, the ones we inherited and the on~ \\e
perpetuate, began and continue because we
have been so busy making money. And as
we start 10 find the things that rc3lly can
s:uisfy us. we also find we don·t need so
much money anymore.
I've learned that sclf-n:liance actually
begins with me - and not with the roof ove~
myhead.
,P'
by lvo Ballentine
x.ai.urui Joun\OL
page 13
�SERYING TI IE OREAT LIFE
These are the words of a traduionaJ Cherokee
medicint ptrson:
1 have said that there are three levels of
conjuring: the personal levt>I, the level of
knowledge, and the spiritual level. (See
Kartfoh Journal #27.)
The first fonn of conjuring is the ways
we know to persuade acquainmnces or people
we are intimate with - every day sort of smff.
The next level is conjuring by
understanding how things work. what I call
the laws of nmurc. The more knowledge one
has at this level, the more ability one has to
conjure.
The highest form is the spiritual fonn or
conjuring. This level requires more than
lenming 10 accomplish it. One can learn how
to do 11, one can completely understand how
it works, and still not have the ability to
make it work. The reason a person may not
be able to do it is because his or her
individual self is in the way.
The whole key to working the higher
fonm of conjuring is to get one's self out of
the way. That's the hard pan. To be a
conjuror requires a personality that 1s strong.
willful, and persistent. Tt takes super courage
10 confront one's own self. That's the biggest
enemy. the biggest monster that ever existed:
our own ego.
The equation for conjuring is One.
There is One Spirit that flows through us all trees, plants, animals, the Eanh. That is our
connection to all things. Getting our
individualistic self out of the way allows us
to hook into that One SP.irit. which is moving
all the time. It is very difficult to get one's
self out of the way, but someone who can
accomplish that may use the spiritual power
for conjuring.
Conjuring, as I know it, corresponds
most closely to the western concept of
"manipulation." And in the dominant culture,
manipulation has bad connotations, because
people don't like to feel like they have been
manipulated, when actually we arc
manipulated all the time. We are manipulated
by our culture. The German people were
manipulated in World War Il. Americans are
manipulated by capitalism and glittery,
materialistic things. Many of the Jewish
people a.re very tied in to their own culture
and their history as a people. We arc aJI
constantly being manipulated.
In a world in which we a.re manipulated
all the time, conjuring can be very useful.
The conjuror can heal people. The conjw-or
can heal people who might otherwise be
dead. The conjuror can interfere with their
fate.
For instance, in this culture it's
absolutely terrifying 10 be told, "You have
Xotuan Journal p!MJC 14
cancer." Cancer is known to be so bad and
usually fatal. When a doctor tells a patient he
or she has cancer, it's devastating. ln some
cases people stan dying right away. They
surrender and relinquish them~elves to the
disense. The will dies.
Doctors can't usually do much about
cancer. But the mind and the spirit together
are so powerful that somerimes they can
make a cure. Sometimes they can provoke the
spirit of the Physician Within to heal a
person, And one does that through conjuring.
If a conjuror is successful, it's amazing
what can happen. Sometimes conjuring on
the third level produces results that seem
impossible 10 people who arc looking at it
from an conventional viewpoint. What they
see cannot be explained in a rational, linear
way.
''Magic comes when all doubt is cleared
from the mind." I don't see events th:11 occur
on the spiritual levels as magic. I see them as
facts - events that can happen all the time.
They only seem extraordinary to people who
are caught up in the physicaJ, materialistic,
self-oriented culture.
Healing may appear to be magic and
mystical, but it isn't. It's a law of nature.
Everyone has the capacity and the ability to
do this if they can get their own self out of
the way.
A conjuror can also do terrible things.
He or she can do absolutely hideous, horrible
things to other people. The same energy that
can heal someone can be used 10 make
another person to sick - just by reversing the
process. But in my experience of watching
people who had the ability to use that power,
the majority of them never did horrible or
terrible things. The simple reason was: the
consequences. There is karma, and it affects
one's spirit. Misusing spiritual power is one
way to destroy the spirit, kill it. How could
that not affect someone spiritually?
Sending a sickness used to be called
"spoiling the saliva." The old peoRle believed
that the spit was the secret way to a person's
spirit. They believed that by spoiling the
saliva they could make a person's spiri1 sick,
and then, since everything is connected, the
biological or emotional being would also
become sick.
The conjuror used to concentrate on the
saliva. using it as the focus point for a strong
meditation. When a conjuror is using a
spiritual form of conjuring, he sees himself,
his real self. He then visualizes the Whole,
and sees himself dissipate into the Whole.
The thought that he takes with him is of the
saliva of the person he is conjuring. When he
rerums with the saliva spoiled, he sends it
back 10 the person, and the person gets sick.
Using the spiritual fonn of conjuring is
definitely interfering with fate. It is the fate of
all of us to die, yet 1 know people who were
healed from their cancer after being given up
for lost by the western physicians. That's
interfering with fa1e. There are consequences
10 interfering with fate, and the consequences
could be positive, or they could be negative.
Conjurors don't feel that the spiritual
burden of interfering in someone's life rests
on thcm. When they are asked to do things,
they do just what somebody asks them. The
person who requests the conjuring is the one
who picks up on the good or bad
consequences of the act, not the conjuror that's our reality. Conjurors consider
themselves to be like the pistol in a murder,
and, by asking chem, their diem pulls the
trigger. h's not the pistol that goes on trial,
it's the trigger-puller who goes on trial.
In tribal times the conjuror was
honor-bound to carry out any fequest. The
tribe used to set apart people to be good
hunters, chippers of arrowheads, or com ~
planters. That was their task in life. A
medicine per.;on was set apart 10 conjure, LO
be a healer, or to be a priest - and there could
be no personal limits set on ii.
The only request a conjuror could
refuse was one lhat would require him or her
to hurt the Great Life, the Whole. lf someone
asked me to conjure the State of Nonh
Carolina to let them dump their toxic waste
along the highway or 10 poison the river, I
would be injuring the Great Life. I could
refuse. Otherwise. a conjuror relinquished
his responsibility.
Still, there were ways to get out of
conjunng acts that one considered distasteful.
One way was 10 get the client to participate in
the conjuring as much as possible. A
conjuror could drag it out for several days to
test their will. Often a person would change
their mind in two or three days.
Or the conjuror could have the person
do some things that didn't absolutely
necessary need to h:lppen.
"Get me a cenain plant up on
Clingman's Dome. There's a li1t1e rock up
under there with some moss that grows on it.
You have to be there in two hours, and you
have 10 hop in from the north on one leg,"
and when they brought that, he would say, "I
need this one other thing. You need to wade
across the river and..." There were always
means 10 slow people down and make them
think about their actions.
As a lasl reson a conjuror could say,
"My will is not going to be into this, and I
don't know how effective this is going to be.
I suggest you go sec another medicine
person."
Because conjuring is manipulation, the
'Fn(l., 199\
�11
idea seems negative and threatening LO many
people of Lhe western culture. But who is 10
tell what is positive and what is negative?
One would have to have a seer in order 10
know before the fact.
As an example, neighbors often do
Lhings against neighbors when they have bad
feelings and resenonems. A medicine person
could do mild fonns of conjuring which
would relieve them of their bad feelings
toward their neighbor, because they felt that
they'd taken action. In the long run, it could
possibly be more positive to do some
superficial conjuring than to let those people
sit around with their resenunents festering
and their bad feelings gening stronger and
stronger. It's a psychological and emotional
pressure release. It's hard to try to justify that
to western people.
It could conceivably be a positive action
to cause somebody 10 get sick. In the culture
that we live in, there is no excuse to
relinquish responsibility to go out and smell
the flowers and just be. Sickness is the only
valid excuse. And sometimes there's so much
stress and pain in the lives of people involved
with the dominant culture that they will create
a sickness just 10 meet that need to relinquish
responsibility.
A good healer shouldn't limit him or
herself to biological matters; a good healer
shouldn't limit him or herself to social
matters. A good healer should understand
that there isn't anything in this culture that
will let us relinquish responsibility but being
sick. He or she is a priest A healer should be
able 10 say, "Listen, take a week off. Go to
the beach, do what you like 10 do."
Conjunng • manipulation - is good
when it serves the Great Life. That's the
governing principle. Through the whole
process, the conjuror has 10 keep the ego out.
Of course, it is true that "Where I go, ego."
There's a very fine balance there. I am
constantly asking myself the question, "Who
does this serve? Who does this serve?"
Because if l felt I was acting just to serve
myself and my ego, I would stop
immediately.
Conjuring puts one in a position of
power, but it has to be done without a sense
of power. Working on the spiritual level is
powerful, bul if the conjuror is receiving a
sense of power, rhen he is manipulating the
situation for his own individualistic intereSt
One of the ways you can tcU a good
healer or a good priest is that they just act
They do n0t think that ii might be benefiting
them. They accept it as pan of their individual
spiritual path. Things just keep happening.
Each incident could be a challenge, a test. a
blessing, a joy, or ail of these things.
Myself, rm not special. rm a human
being, trapped in a body that eats, shits,
suffers, and die~ just like everyone else.
And sometimes it's a curse and sometimes
it's a blessing, but that's just the way it is. I
accept iL
This role of medicine person has been
something that I needed spiritually. It's been
an ego challenge for me. There have been
times in my life when I've wanted 10
manipulate people for my own gain - and
known that I could have done it. Without the
slighiest bit of doubt, l knew I could get what
I wanted from these people simply because I
understood things that they didn't
understand. But I felt that doing that would
damage me in some way. It wasn't worth the
immediate gratification. It just wasn't worth
it.
People who are conscious, really
conscious, cannot be conjured or manipulated
in any way. But most people can be conjured
because their mind is someplace else constantly.
I have yeL to run across one person
whom l couldn't conjure 111 some time in their
lives. I have met gurus and ail other sons of
people, and at some point each of them
would slip into self, or imponance, or "my
trip," or some other negative state.
Yes, it would be wonderful ro live in a
world where people were so clear that they
could n0t be manipulated or conjured. That
would be the ultimate goal. But we are going
to have to be more advanced than we are,
much more advanced. I hope that we can
reach that point. It's one of those things that
are possible for the future.
Things wiU be different when people
stan seeing that we are pan of a living
/
organism, the Great Life.
A Rotting Log
Call ii a waste. Call it a shame.
And you are numb to this other life.
1lusoldoak
has barely had lime to die.
Alre.idy mushrooms grow through mosses
against hues of amber, brown, and gold.
A snake is rurll!tl up in a hole
beneath her weight.
A bear will winter ,n the heart
twelve feet h11,h
where lhe trunk broke off from the bottom.
To build a ncsl
a woodrat crawls into the ca,,ty.
To her life and dl'alh smell the same.
And arthropods th:it h\'c nowhcN! else
arc mo\'ing through the 50h wood,
laying eggs.
Thl'Y too arc dymg.
Ra,pt,crrics ,ind gr.ire:, grow up around
for slw ha!> falkn
hgh1 1s ll't into the for<.'SI.
Four years from now t"-o nroms
will fall to grow
on this rothng log
I win trees c,f the same mothc-r.
This de.ith 1s so ferule.
The fc,rcst keeps its promises.
PholO by Rob Mcss,cl.
rnrr.
1'191
J(ntunh Jou111n[ pnlJC 15
�i., , ..
• vJ -,,..f...,.,.
..i.:J •• . J - \ ,
•
••
•1 . ,, •--1r, .,~;..,,
._
... .
•••\,,11,io.., .. .... ... ;., . . . . . . .
,
•
"
..
/2,. .....,.,.~')·. .·," :, ·'·' r.
.,,,. -:J.l·
.
'
•
f
~
CT
••
..
'
~
~1/8 , \
. ~ ..'!:,.•jl':t'tt._-t:.
.1•
..
.,,.
•
,..
.·, ...
4'J,-·~,. I.. • t.'·..1 r 1
•r
•
RANOL~f}tu>URNAL
·:·t· ,,. ·~• 4J,.
G
.... .
·-~~
.
,.......
,/'I
;,.~···"'",.
BIOREGIONAL BURNABLE OF THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS
Livin' By Their Wits
It sure is a stitch watchin' all these
"back-to-the-land" people and the tourists
come to the mountains lookin' for serenity
and a good life. Those poor young folks
come here with these notions of raisin' a
family and havin' a piece of land 10 work.
while at the some time they're in need of a
high payin' job to get the land and the house.
Why the prices those tourists can afford are
enough to drive anybody whose been here a
while right through the roof!
Not only do they come with these high
minded ideas about doin' everything the
organic way. like that was some kind of
religion or somethin'. half the time they don't
even know the basics of tendin' a place and
they st:ut belly•achin' cause the works too
hard, or the bugs are drivin' um crazy, or
they can't get things happenin' the way they
wan't um 10 in the first couple years.
I know dern well we can't go back to
the old subsistance days like they were when
my folks grew up here. I guess I have to give
some of these young people a little credit for
tryin' to find a good way 10 live with the
land. But they always seem to be squablin'
amongst themselves about somthin' or
another. One wants to live on a piece of land
with a bunch of other people. while another
is satisfied to stick it out where they are.
Most of um can't figure out where they want
their kids raised either. and there's hardly a
school they feel is fiuin' 10 send um to.
h seems like when I was raised it was a
little clearer where a person stood. Livin' by
your wits wasn't just some nice thing to do
on the weekends, it was your bread and
butter. Usually it was our of necessity that
cenain people did ccnain things so a family
could survive. Nowadays theres all these
splinteriud groups like feminislS,
environmentalistS, pro-business factions, and
government people tryin' 10 tell everybody
what they think is besL I think they're all too
big for their britches if you ask me. Men sum
beho.vin' like women and women start
behavin' like men; the timber people and
these self-appointed environmental rescue
squads go at each other; these dem franchises
come in and pay people next 10 nothin' while
the money moves off to far away places; and
college trained officials from down in the
piedmont come and show off the version of
zoning 1ha1 seems to suit um best.
It all seems like some big jumbled mess
to me. As long as everybody is in it for
themselves I don't see how we are ever goin'
to conduct ourselves in such a way that
families survive, and schools can be places of
leamin', and govemmenlS don't have their
hands in everybody's business. It's like
there's too many vultures buzz.in' around
these mountians and not enough decent folk
to talce care of um and protect um.
1(.Qtuar~)ou.rna1 p09e 10
Some of these back-to-the-lander types
are more than a linle spoiled 100. They come
from cities where things seemed to be fed to
um all the time. They kinda remind me of
tourists thar hang around a little longer till the
money dries up. or their kids move away, or
they get tired of it and they leave. rew of um
have the backbone 10 make it through hard
times, but some of um learn how 10 li<aen to
the mountainside and how it can provide
medicines, food, warer. and materials for
shelter if they don't me~s around 100 much
with its own state. There's a lot of leamin' in
store for um if they take a likin' to it, but
most of um get huffy and impatient.
l just hope that if the cities start havin'
more problems and geuin' more congested
that they all don't keep comin' here thinkin'
there's some easy life just waitin' for um.
Maybe its good that mountain life is hard.
But that ain't goin' 10 stop um from comin' 10
have a look. that is as long as the price of gas
holds out.
recorded by Rob Messick
An Old Family Tale
My mother's youngest brother, James
Francis Dresenbury. came 10 Conway, SC 10
visit his sisters and brothers when I was a
linle girl. One day he gathered all his nieces
and nephews together and told this tale of a
happening when he was a little boy.
He began by praising his mother for her
thrift and saving ways. made necessary by
the ume just after the War Between the
States. Then he told us it wa.,; the time of year
when cherries were ripe. The trees had a
bumper crop and a bushel or more had been
seeded and made into cherry preserves. The
seeds had been left on the back porch for
several days. One morning my grandmother
told a little helper boy 10 empty these seeds
into the chicken ya.rd.
The next time anyone noticed the
chickens they were all lying prone around the
yard. Grandmother was not only sorry to
lose her prized chickens. but since she did
not know what had kilkd them. she could
make no use of the meat. But she decided she
would not have 10 lose the feathers too • so
they brought the chickens in and plucked the
feathers to use in pillows and feather beds.
The chickens were thrown our into the
yard to be buried later. About an hour after
that, someone exclaimed, "Look at the
chickens!'' They were gawking and walking
around stark naked. Their little tipsy spell had
worn off! The sun was beaming hotly and 10
keep them from getting sunburned, the girls
took some calico and made clothes for them.
by Bess Hwbison
The Slide
lt was a hot day in nonheastern
Tennessee. Leslie had been bugging her
parents for hours 10 take her and her little
brother to a campsite with a water slide. After
driving for hours, the family finally found
one and pulled in. Leslie's dad paid the fee
and made some small talk with the rotund
female auendant.
After they chose a spot and got the
camp ready for the night Leslie's mom let her
get her swimming suit on. At long last she
took her younger brother by the hand and
\\Cnl over to the big double tunneled water
slide that emptied into a cool pool. Her
brother wus more than a little scared at the
idea of whizzing around in these coiled
slippery runnels. so Leslie 1old him to stay at
the pool while she went to the top where au
the action got staned. She saw the water
gushing out of the pipe when she got to the
top. and the excitement was growing inside
her. The man watching the entry instructed
her 10 lean into the curves and off she went.
She squealed with excitement around
the first bank. Then aU the sudden the people
at the pool noticed a distinct change in the
pitch of her squeals. They had transformed
into blood curdling yells, as her brother and
some other grown-ups watched her come 10
the end of the ride twirling a large copperhead
above her head like a wild laso rope. As she
hit the water her grip on the snake loosened
and it was flung into the woods, where
presumably it got away unharmed. That
water slide has been closed ever since.
by Rob Messick
How Can You Lose
Anything as Big
as This Ego?
Back in my formative years. Actually a
little after what is considered the normal
formative years in terms of physical maturity.
but 001 in mental maturity, or emotional or
spiritual or whatever you want to call that
other pan of us that isn't the meat. Of course,
I'm still in my formative years for that other
thing. or stuff, and probably always will be.
Hopefully. a1 least. I wonder how many
parenthetical thoughts you're allowed 10 hnve
in a row? Sometimes I think all of my
thoughts are parenthetical. And so on.
Anyway, back in my formative years
during college, when r became exposed to a
world of ideas and the evolution or revolu110n
of the human being.
Being human.
f vowed 10 become a better person. By
God, or nature. or whatever, I was' going to
become a near perfect human being!
raft. 199 1
�No one is perfect.
The fust step on that evolurion, I
learned, was to lose your ego. r should have
seen it coming. The idea of striving to be
perfect and at the same time losing your ego
is, to put it lightly, a quagmire. Perhaps the
contradiction is obvious. The closer you feel
(your ego feels) that you (your ego) is
corning closer 10 perfection, the beuer your
ego feels. In fact, it's damn pround of itself.
And the bigger it grows.
I suppose that is the pitfall the mystics
always talk abouL 111ey always warn amid
their other mumbo jumbo that all of this
mumbo jumbo, and ego losing, can be
dangerous. I never understood that. Sitting,
contemplating one's navel, or chakras, or
marimbas or whatever. Never seemed very
threatening to me. It now occurs to me, that
what is really dangerous, and what they were
probably talking about, is thinking, or
suffering from the delusion, that one is
actually losing their ego. That's because,
while you think you're losing your ego, it's
actually growing. And your life becomes a
hypocrisy. In other worlds, you think you're
o ne thing but you 're actually 1he
opposite. Which leads 10 lots of embarrassing
moments when you're suddenly acting unlike
the perfec1 person you arc supposed tO be. As
a matter of fact you're acting like a perfect
asshole, but you're ego's so big that it's in
control and won't let you blame it. As a
ma uer of fact, it's telling you that it doesn't
even exist. A clever subterfuge to keep the
rest of your meat ignorant of the fact that
everything it's doing is to feed this ego that's
grown so large it needs constant nourishment
to keep from collupsing into a stinking rotten
heap that can be smelled by anyone within
visual distance.
So it blames others. It couldn't be
because you're selfish. Only people with
egos are selfish. You don't have an ego so it
must be them. It couldn't be because you're
not envious. Only people with egos are
envious. You don't have an ego. So they
must be assholes. Eventually. everybody
becomes an asshole, except yourself, of
course, and the world no longer deserves
your unselfish administrn1ions of good
works. Actually, 1he whole damn world can
go to hell in a handbasket, for all you care.
because you have your own world which is
your ego, which by now has grown 10 the
size of a small plane1oid. I measured mine
recen1ly, when arter ten years I found i1
hiding behing the nas1y remarks I was
making 10 my wife in order, I have since
learned, 10 make pillars for my enormous ego
10 rest on since it had grown so large that
even in the airy netherworld of egos, it could
no longer suppon its own weight. It is
currenly the size of Pluto.
How did all this come abou1?
rnnocently enough, at least if you were 10 ask
FausL It was initiated by a commendable
desire. I wanted 10 become an enlightened
individual who would nunure the
splendorous miracle of life and make it reveal
its most beau1iful aspects 10 me and those
around me, and eventually the whole damn
world. Yes. l was going to improve the
general lot of humankind through the exercise
of my perfec1ed egolcss will. Of course, it
would take me a few years to reach this state.
The method by which I would reach it was
meditation and aceticism. Hedonism,
raCC., 1991
ac.rually. We!I, a[rcr all, I wasn't going 10
nuss out on hfe JUSt because of this ego crap.
And soon.
Actually, just pure naked experience
was my goal, and women. I was actually the
product of a damaged ego. Damaged by
was doing. Of course, it probably assumed
from past experience that if l did know I
would have stepped in somehow and
screwed up the whole process. Which I think
is the whole point of meditation - gcniog
yourself out of the way so that you can just
constant female reJection during those
aforementioned formative years, meat and
01herwise. So I strutted my naked experience
among the dregs of society. Playing wi1h
1hem. parrying with them, but always (of
course) somehow feeling above it all.
Superior.
Each day expanding my awareness
through mcdiiation ... consciousness
expansion (i.e. ego expansion). Whal is ;1
human being without ego? Whom am I,
anyhow? A boneless chicken. And so on.
All throughout my stru1 I was doing
great acts. Or so I thought. Trying to s1op
nuclear weapons by having a conference of
six hippie college students in West Virginia,
and sleeping with the best looking one after
she played wilh my knee under the.: table.
Didn't do much to stop nuclear weapons, but
it did wonders for my ego. More fuel for the
fire Very linle effect on world peace.
But a great person (i.e. perfect human
being. Don'1 forget, that was my destination)
must do great things. Or at least things with
the stamp of greatness to feed 1hnt giant ego
which I was supposed to be losing. What I
was losing, was my meat. I staned 10 gel
quite thin. This ou1sized ego, which I had
convinced myself. was diminishing, drove
me 10 do all kinds of ~trnnge things. II used
my intellect to r.itionaliz.e every ego foeding
acl as a philanthropic act. It used my meal 10
take it places where it could feed . But it
didn't feed on organisms, ii fed on ~piri1s.
As I said, I now realized 1hat this was,
all along. the pl:in of a severely damaged ego
(an ego which had been victimized and
punished again and again for no apparent
reason, by a very confused piece or meat), to
save icself. First, confuse the meat with all
types of inscrutJble mysuc mumbo jumbo
and convince it that you are leaving entirely.
Next, make the meat go into self-induced
comas periodically so it won't be aware of
you as you sneak back in and take con1rol of
nerve central. Then make the meat go ou1 and
do all kinds of things with the veneer of
goodness. no matter how ineffcetual the acts
are. Make the meat think it is on a Godly
mission, maybe even a messenger or disciple
of God, so that it's willing to put up with all
kinds of nasty physical deprivations, while
the ego feeds, and feeds, and feeds.
Now don't get me wrong, I'm not
saying this is all bad. My ego did need
fixing. I just wish it had let me know what it
take over. But now it really has gotten om of
hand. My ego has grown much to large and
has become an independent agent which
seems 10 care little, if a1 all, for myself, and
only keeps my meal around so tha1 it can
have corporality.
But I chink its beginning to be
confused. For instance, it can't understand
why world leaders haven'! noticed its
magnimity and come to it for advice. Of
course it probably has something 10 do with
the fact that it has ignored its meat to the point
that it has got it working in a sewer plant.
Maybe tha1 is all pan of its mas1cr plan. It
stuck me in a sewer plant shoveling shit, and
gave me a beautiful little boy and wife, to
show me, finally, that it really isn't gone, but
is actually the.: size of Pluto. Really much too
big 10 ever be s:uisfied. It needs to trim itself
down. Get back to fighting weight. Big egos
are seldom happy. They're always hungry.
Maybe I really can lose it this time.
Maybe the stink of the plant will drive it
away. Maybe I need to meditate, not on my
connection 10 the cosmos. but on the true
insignificance or my acts 10 the world at
large. and the very real significance of my
acts 10 one very litulc boy and one very
~pccial woman. The only good things my ego
ever did for me.
Actually working at a sewer plant has
probably done more to help me lose my ego
1h.in all the meditation and good acts could
ever do. Not JUSI because of the work, but
because of the male bonding of 1he work
crew, which consists of the mutual
destruction of self-wonh. Maybe it's due 10
an inherent understanding 1hey have of the
immensi1y o( the male ego, and they practice
this form of humiliaton 10 keep it in check.
While we of the enlightened new age SIJ'Oke
each others ego. until they devour our very
relationships.
In any evem, my ego is now shrieking.
Ifs starved, and it has revealed itself. It can
no longer hide (amazing that something as
big as Pluto could hide all that time).
Though, actually, I think everyone else could
see it. Everytime I looked around, however,
10 see what they were looking at. it ducked
··
out of the way.
Preuy nimble for such a big fellow'/'
/J!f
by Maxim Didgct
�..
,J.''',•
' ,
....
-
Mountair
t
.u
Near Todd at a bend on the New
Rh·er there is a spot b-.nown as Peggy's
Hole. It was named that because of an
incident that occured there at the
beginning of the 1800's. An elderly
woman named Peggy Clauson \Vas
going to church on Sunday morning
when she saw a dog run a bear off a cliff
at that spot. The bear landed in the
water and was stunned. Peggy waded
in, grabbed the bear by the ears and held
its head under the water until the bear
was drowned .
~ .... T..-.i. ,.,; .. ~ ... 'lb. 11- .-11... ... ... ~ . _
- p"'!!:'I,> !>..lo li-.,.._......1:Do.t..,__.,_-,..:,:-».t~
°" ~-----' r~ :.,_....,
.. """ ,._ .. ~...
... ~ c!-i<iDo1t..,.t11.i-'l....w
-.i-.J f-m
p,....z11oo.~.jt>.-..
-
.....-i,;1:)-i, - ~ ~ ... -
i.. • - - - ~
:u. ..... L\~ .... .....l ~J.l. a.;.~-..
.,.J:;,.. ....:;r..l,1>.i..o.....-.i..-...J.
~tJfl..-
...i..t
I,.. -~
•
An old lady near Canton told me
her grandfather was hiking near
Shining Rock when he was a young
man. A panther started following him.
I Ie started running and the panther
sped up. To slow him do""'ll, lhe man
took off his shirt and threw it down.
The panthc>r stopped long enough to
rip it to shreds, then started chasing
him again. The man kept throwing his
clothes down as he ran down the
mountain. By the time he got home, he
was completely naked.
This series of paintings came about while 1 was hiking and drawing in remote
areas of the mountains of Western North Carolina. There I met mosUy older people
who had grown up in the Southern Appalachians. Many of these people were very
friendly and once a conversation started, they would communicate their knowledge
of an area by telling stories.
These paintings are not meant to be illustrations of the stories, but a freer form
that incorporates commentary, associations, my own subjeclive reactions, and
elaboration on the images provided by the story and its place of origin. I'm attempting
to develop a fonn between illustration and pure painting.
As each day passes, we tend to lose our intimate connection to the Earth, and also
�n Stories
..",
,
I
1,
by Robert Johnson
At Cranberry when the old folks
there ~ere young, the parents used to
tell them that the pools of water in the
iron mines didn't have a bottom. If
they ever became unstopped, all the
water would go rushing out and take
the children, all the people and the
whole town of Cranberry with it.
I asked a young man how Standing
Indian Mountain got its name. He said.
"1 don't know. I guess an Indian just
stood there."
I asked a middle-aged man. He said,
"During the Civil War a band of
Cherokee Indians fought bravely here
and stood up to the enemy."
I asked an old man. He said, "Before
white men came here, Lhere was a
monster who lived on Lhe mountain
and would carry off people. So the tribe
posted a brave up on the mountain to
keep watch. The thunder spirit saw Lhe
monster creeping up on the brave and
sent down a bolt of lightening,
shattering rocks, destroying the
monster, and turning the brave to
stone. Today one can see shattered
rocks and a stone Indian on top of the
mountain."
stories like these that come from the pre-industrial culture of the Southern
Appalachians. These simple but powerful stories have an almost mythical quality,
and they embody a connection between the land and oral knowledge of the land,
which is a culture that is dying out. This project is my attempt to get to know Lhese
stories and to keep them alive a while longer.
Robert Johnson's paintings of ''Mountain Stories" are on display until September
27th 1991 at the Blue Spiral I Gallery; 38 Biltmore Avenue; AshevilJe, NC 28801 (704)
251-0202. The paintings will later be shown in the six counties from which the stories
came: Yancey, Macon, Haywood, Ashe, Avery and Rutherford.
�, ~~TER~HEQ.JWI..J?.S" ,,,.,.,t.
NIIIUnl World News Service
In 1989 the Water Supply Watershed
Protection Act sailed through the Nonh
Carolina legislature. The bill w~ passed
unanimously in the Senat~ and 1ll .~e House
there were only six votes ~ opposmo~. !he
legislation enacted protecnons for mumCJpal
drinking water supplies so that n~w .
development did not endanger Lhts basic
resource.
. ,
In August, 1991 North Carolinas
Deparnnent of Environmental Management
(DEM) held public hearings across the Slate
on the implementation of the new water
regulations. Public reaction was
.
unprecedented. Across the state the heanngs
were long and stormy. Each of the eight
meetings drew more than l.~ people. The
hearings in Asheville and Hickory were
anended by more than 1,500 people each.
The state was completely unprepared for the
surge of public interesL In Hickorx, the .
meeting site was changed 10 ~ locan~n with a
larger capacity, but after heaTlllg tesumon~
for one full day the speaking roster ~s soil
only one-half completed and the heanng had
10 be continued at a later date.
There was clearly-defined, and
sometimes biller, controversy at the
watershed protection hearings. The theory of
the Watershed Protection Act is that
development must be contr0lled in
.
watersheds that provide drinking water in .
order to protect the purity of the supply. This
raised the boogie of land use management,
the "Z word - zoning," in the mind of many
traditionally conservative landowners and
farmers. Some saw the bill as a direct threat
10 their property rights. Others saw it as the
first step in an insidious government plan to
gradually enact a full set ofland use
management contr0ls. As ~'lolly Di~gins of
the state Sierra Club orgamzauon said,
"Where locru governmcntc; should be seeing
'protection,' many are seeing only
'restriction."'
Development interests played on these
fears with a concencd public outreach
campaign, and aroused a strong opposition to
the w:uer protection measures. These . .
interests see a loss of profil in any rcstncuon
of development
The opposing pole at the public
hearings were environmentalists who
supponed the protective regulations and
protested that they were not strong enough.
Agricultural and silvicultural opcr.itions
should be regulated as strictly as
construction, they said. Presently the rules
provide water bodies only a IO foot buffer
against agricultural activities, which often _arc
major sources of erosion and wnter polluuon,
whereas buildings have to be outside a 100
foot buffer around protected streams.
There was also concern that
"grandfather" clauses. under which existing
buildings and projects would be exeml)t from
the provisions of the watershed protecuon
measures, would weaken the regulations to
the point of uselessness.
Also supporting the regulations were
town residents who did not take a supply of
pure drinking water for granted and wanted
10 ensure protection of their !Own wa_ter
supplies in the face of ever-encroaching
X.Otuof, Journal'. poge 20
development.
This round of the drinking water
protection fight is not yet over. ln light of the
controversy generated by the regulations, the
DEM has extended the public comment
period on the watershed protection
regulations until October 31. It is particularly
imponant that the DEM hears from the people
of the mountain region.
Direct co=nt.f 10:
Sttvt Zoufaly
Division of Environ~IUQI Management
8ox29535
Raleigh. NC 27626.
YES MORE WILDERNESS!
N1111r.il World Nev-s Sa-vice
Saturday, July 6, one of the bu~iest
rafting days of the year, there mystenously
appeared across the Nantahala River a long
banner saying "Yes More Wilderness! Save
Cheoah Baldi"
Rafters taking out downstream were
met by activists from the organi1ation
SouthPA W requesting responses for a
"Forest Service Evaluation Sheet."
.
"Did you know that the Forest Service
is planning a timber sale only 1/2 mile above
the Nantahala and within sight of the river?"
More than 95% did not know
"Do you think that the Cheooh Bald .
area, the: largest unprotected roadies.~ area in
the Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests should
be allowed to return 10 old growth?"
99% thought it should.
"Do you think that the Forest Service
should stop logging in the national forests?"
98% thought they should.
South PAW struck again at Forest
Service credibility at the agency's Reanalysis
Checkpoint meeting concerning the
re-evaluation of the Land and Resource
Management Plan for the Nantahala-Pisgah
National Forests. South PAW calJed for a
boycou of the meeting, saying that the Forest
Service refused lO consider the relevant
ecological issues in its planning.
The meeting was billed as a scoping
meeting, but a SouthPAW handout said
"Wrong End of the Scopel" declaring that
the Forest Service had its priorities reversed,
since it seemed to be more interested in
sellin-g,tirpbgr:,tJw!,pwJe:C~Jlll~~// i,
diversity o( the forest. In the flier the group
reiterated their position that the national
forcstS in the Kaninh Province should be
habitat areas free from roads and commercial
exploitation.
There were about equal numbers of
people inside and outside the Owen
Conference Center at the University of Nonh
Carolina Asheville where the Forest Service
meeting was held. But in C<?n~st _10 the
restrained and orderly mcenng ms1de the
building, those out on the lawn boisterously
chanted, laughed, and played drums and
kazoos.
At lunch time the activists congregated
at the student open forum in the lobby of lhe
university center to hear Buddy Newman
read lhe alternative forest protection plan he
authored for SouthPAW. Nantahala-Pisgah
Forest Supervisor Bjorn Dahl was among the
audience listening 10 the proposal and later
invited South PAW representatives to a
meeting with Forest Service personne! to
discuss 10 their ideas for the Appalachian
forests.
To take action on behalf oftlu: Appalachian
forest habitat. write:
SouthPAW
Ba:d/41
Aslu:ville, NC 28802
KILLING Lm'LE FISH
NIIUnll Wodd News Scrv,cc
A series of five different spills over a
seven month period last year that dumped
untreated wastewntcr, oils, and concentrated
foams into the Pigeon River will cost the
Champion International paper mill in Canton,
NC $60,000. These are the first fines ever
levied against the company by the
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)..
According to Champion .~pokespe:Son David
Craft the mishaps were the first m recent
mem~ry" at the plant. The ftrst spill, of an
unknown quantity of untreate~ wast~":'ater,
was evidently the most damaging, killing,
according 10 Craft, "270 little fish." Croft_
maintained th:u neither the foam nor the oils
were hazardous to human or aquatic life.
Champion had originally faced a
$125,000 fine from the EPA;the m~imu~
allowed by law. However, after meeung wuh
mill officials last February and March, t11e
agency downgraded the fine. The company
representatives maintained that Champion
should not be assessed the full fine because
the spills were caused by malfunctioning
equipment and not by human error or
deliberate neglect The EPA seemed to agree.
Craft said that another reason for the reduced
fine was evidence that "Champion has taken
steps 10 mitigate the damage," from
skimming escaped oil off the nvcr banks to
closing the malfunctioning valves that
Champion maintains caused four of !he
spills. However, the EPA also penalized
Champion for failing to file a formal repon of
one of the spills within the required five
days, an oversight Craft blamed on an
"administration problem."
Oaft said that Champion would
probably not appeal the fin 7 "~e.~o bel!eve
that the amount of the fine 1s fair, he said,
calling the accidentS "a series of unintentional
and unrelated failures within the mill."
1'c:afL, t99l
�NEW PERSPECTI•VES 0N TRE "~'·
CHATTOOGA ..
Natural World News Sctvice
EnvironmcntaJ groups from three states
and three national forest administrative areas
have combined 10 form the Chanooga River
Watershed Coalition (CRWC).
The Chatto0ga is a beautiful river, one
of the most popular recreational rivers in the
Karuah Province. Pan of itS length has been
designated a Wild and Scenic River, and a
large tract in its headwaters area beneath
Devil's Courthouse near Highlands, NC was
recently bought by the Trust for Public Land
and transferred to the US Forest Service 10
preserve its pristine character.
The CRWC has wriuen an alternative
Land and Resource Management Plan for the
watershed which they are requesting the US
Forest Service 10 adopt. The plan is
important, first of all, because it proposes a
unified forest management program based on
watershed boundaries, rather than along state
or national forest tines. At present, the
Chauooga watershed is managed under three
different, and somerimes conflicting, national
forest management plans.
"A landscape with natural ecological
integrity is the desired future condition of the
watershed," says the CRWC proposal. The
coalition suggests a new, standardized
management unit, the Ecosystem
Management Area, 1hat would base
management on complete forest habitats
rather than on timber sale companmems.
The CRWC is requesting a meeting
with Forest Service supervisors and regional
and national personnel to discuss
implementing their plan in the Chattooga
watershed.
interest. the DO.Ii e11ct&fup with nver four
days of testimony which they scheduled
concurrently in auditoriums in two different
locations over a two-day period. ("Divide and
conquer," said one activist. "It's an old
tactic.")
Attendance at the hearings ,vas about
equally divided between opponems of the
plan and workers from Oak Ridge nuclear
facilities bussed to the hearing from work.
Although the workers, wearing T-shirts
saying "Complex 21" superimposed over n
map of Tennessee. made their presence felt,
of the 376 speakers more than 68% were
opposed to the pluronium plant, in the
estimate of the Oalr. Ridger newspaper.
The testimony was sometimes brilliant,
always heartfelt. Speakers talked about
cancer risks. damage 10 the environment, the
possibility of nuclear accidents, and the need
for disarmament now that the primary
adversary had dropped out of the game.
In the afternoon of the second day
srudents from Oak Ridge schools testified a1
the hearings. One student presented a petition
with 65 names of students against Complex
21 in Oak Ridge or anywhere else on Eanh.
Several high school students also testified at
the hearings, all opposed to the planL
The DOE will ruei~t written comme111s 011
tht Rocky Flats pluto11ium plant rdocatio11 until
Ocrotn~r 30. Mail r.omme111s to the Dtpartmi!fll of
Energy. clo:
Oak Ridgt E11vira11111t11tal and Ptace Alliance
Box 1101
KnoX\/ille. TN 37901
T~ Chattooga Riw!r Wattrs~d Coalitio11
Box368
Clayton, GA 30525
PLUTONIUM OR. .. NO!
Narun! World Ne..,, Service
"Please let me introduce myself. I am
Plutonium, the God of unnatural death and
suffering."
The black-robed figure with the grisly
skcleial face stood before the impassive
bureaucrats presiding at the "Reconfiguration
of the Nuclear Weapons Complex" hearings
in Oak Ridge, Tennessee. At issue was the
future of the nation's nuclear weapons
program, specifically the plutonium
processing facilities at Rocky Flati.,
Colorado. The plant has contaminated its site
in Colorado and has to move. The DOE is
considering locating it either at Oak Ridge or
the Pantex plant near Amarillo, Texas.
For the first rime ever, the Depanment
of Energy (DOE) had called for public input
on the future of the program. The agency
scheduled 15 hearings around the country.
TheorericaJly, they would listen 10 what was
said and consider the opinions offered in their
program and policy decisions.
People responded, aroused through the
effons of area peace groups spearheaded by
the Oak Ridge Environmenuu and Peace
Alliance. The hearings were scheduled to last
one day. Because of the outpouring of public
Tai(, 199 1
"WE DON'T BUY YOUR LINE"
The Appalachian Power Company
wants to build a 765,000 volt power line
through southern Wes1 Virginia and
southwestern Virginia. The tine is ostensibly
10 provide extra power in Richmond and 1he
eastern pan of the state of Virginia.
To sell their idea, the ucility company
se1 up a series of hearings along the line's
proposed route. They met with solid
opposition aJI along the way.
The company came to the meetings
well-prepared. They brought a 30 page
handout, coinplett Willi ~li~.'gl-Jphs:'~d
maps. They also distributed a report. "Faces
on EMF' (electromagnetic fields) to dispute
scientific evidence that high volrage Lines
cause genetic damage and degenerative
disease.
But the people were not buying it More
than 50 people opposed to the power line
showed up at the meeting in Giles County,
VA and 300 people attended the meeting in
New Castle, VA. Another meeting in Hinton,
WV also brought out strong opposition to the
line. A meeting in Monroe County, WV was
canceled because hearing officers feared
violence. The meeting was rescheduled,
however, and 300 people peacefully declared
their strong opposition 10 the power line.
As well as health concerns, people
attending the hearings feared that herbicide
spraying would contaminate their water
supplies, and that the power lines would mar
the scenic beauty of their area, which they
considered an imponant asset. Critics also
questioned the value of the plan, saying that
the new power line would encourage higher
levels of energy consumption and sidetrack
attempts to promote energy conservation.
Baud 011 a report ill the New River Free Pre,;.,;,
available from Box 846: Blacksburg. VA 24063.
1165 MEGAWATTS OF
POLLUTION
Nawn.I World New. ScMc:e
The Blue Ridge Environmental Defense
League (BREDL) is warning thar Duke
Power Company is planning to build a 1165
megawau electric generating plant in
Lowesville, NC in the piedmont county of
Lincoln. The plant would be fined to operate
on either diesel fuel or natural gas, but the
primary fuel source would be diesel. When
running on diesel fuel, the plant would tum
out 4,278 pounds of sulfur dioxide per hour,
according to BREDL director Janet Hoyle.
Sulfur dio,ude is a main component of the
complex of pollutants that produces acid rain.
The plant is proposed as a peak power
generating plant. meaning that it would only
operate at times of peak power demand when
electricity is most profitable. Duke originally
asked that the plant be allowed to operate
3,500 hours per year, but later reduced their
request 10 2,000 hours per year.
The proposed site for the plant is 56
miles southeast of the Linville Gorge
Wildeme:.s .Arca. Data collecred by Duke
Power and the NC Department of
Environmental Management (DEM) show
that prevailing wind patterns would bring the
acidifying pollution directly into the Class I
wilderness area. In their initial application.
Duke admitted that operating at 3,500 hours
per year, the plant would inetcase acid
deposition in Linville Gorge 400-500%.
Even at the scaled-back operating time, acid
pollution from the plant would be
considerable. The US Fore.st Service will
have the right to review the plant to see if it
would adversely affect the air quality of the
gorge.
For mare information·
Bl~ Ridgt E,wironmenra/ Dtfe11St uag~
Box8JJ
Gltndalt Spr111gs. NC 28906
�DYING SOILS, DYING WATERS:
Natural World r-iews
SPECIAL REPORT
Pollution, Collusion, and the Future of the Eastern Forests
by Emmett Greendigger
The 1990 Clean Air Acl seemed to
many citizens to be a sign that lhe federal
government would finally begin to rectify a
decade of willful neglect of envirorunenlal
issues. Now, however, little more than a year
after the act's passage, scientists are
beginning to conclude that the reductions in
atmospheric emissions mandated by the bill
will not be sufficient to protect sensitive
forest areas or mountain streams.
Resean:hers are discovering alarming
damage to forests and streams, damage that
to a great extent was ignored or soft-pedaled
by the government studies that led to the
Qean Air Act, and many scientists and
environmentalists charge that the research on
the effects of acid precipitation carried on by
the Reagan and Bush administrations was full
of design flaws, done in collusion with
industry, and guided by politics more than by
objective science. They charge that the
research was, in effect, rigged in favor of
"business as usual," rigged to such an extent
that many feel that the Oean Air Act is merely
a baby-step toward protection of the natural
landscape.
Scientific srudies of atmospheric
deposition began in earnest in the late l 970's
when the governments of US President
Jimmy Carter and Canadian Prime Minister
Pierre Trudeau initialed cooperative research
of the freshwater acidification that was
beginning to appear in eastern Canada and the
Adirondack Mountains of upper New York
State. The bilateral rcseareh was carried out
with the understanding that by 1980 an
agreement to reduce sulfur emissions by 50%
would be in place in ordec to protect
freshwater bodies in eastern Tunic Island.
But the regressive environmental policies of
the Reagan administration delayed nnd diluted
the bilaternl rese~. and several imponam
US researchers were fired from the study and
replaced by scientists who were willing to
tolerate the new administration's stalling.
Throughout the I 980's, to deflect crittcism,
Reagan's people pointed to the $570 million
National Acid Precipitation AsS¢ssment
Program (NAPAP) established by Congress
in 1980.
By 1982, the US-Canada project had
been terminated. [n its place was I\APAP.
whose smted purpose was to gather a
database of information about the effects of
atmospheric deposition to guide Congre~s
through the rewriting of the Clean Air Act.
llowevcr. throughout NAPAP's history,
scientisis of both the public and priv:11c
sectors ha~·e tried to \\1lm environmentalist,
of collusion between government and
indwmy on the study. Funds from electric
unlity companic~ and the papc-nnaldng
industry - obviously not dis1nten.:stcd
observers - backed large portions of the
study, ,, hteh intlucnccd the condusions
brought in by the NAP AP research. These
charges are based in part on the otherwise
inexplicable w:iy that NAPAP nam)\\t!d thc
Xn111nf1 )0111110{
ne:::
==
scope and range of acid-induced forest
decline studies. Vermont's camel's Hump
and Hubbard Brook in New Hampshire were
omitted as study sites, despite the fact that
these rwo eastern sites have the longest
record of soil changes related to acid rain.
Until 1986 forests in the Ohio River Valley the source of many of the pollutants that
cause acid rain - were not studied, simply
because there had been no papers published
in scientific journals suggesting that there
was a problem in the region.
Scientists also assen that the results of
the research were manipulated by a design
flaw: NAPAP's forest studies were limited to
a single measurement of the nuaieru content
of the soils at study sites, rather than a
methodology developed in Europe which
measures the rate of change in values over
time. Again, it is difficult to figure out why
NAPAP researchers chose the older method.
when a study of true rates of change would
have been far more useful to Congress.
Not until 1985, halfway through the
research period, when William Ruckelshaus
replaced Anoe Gorsuch Burford as
administrator of the EPA, did serious
research into forests and soils begin in
eamesL But by then it was too late. There
was little time for the imponant "reality
checks," field work, or the peer review and
publication required by NAPAP of all its
researchers. Consequently the Clean Air Act
was rewriuen while important new findings
about acid-induced forest decline were still
being evaluated.
Nonh Carolina State University
pathologist Roben Bruck received NAPAP
funding for seven years lOstudy forest
decline in Kalllah's high-altitude spruce-ftr
forests. I !is findings were largely omitted
from NAPAP's final repon to Congress
(despite the fac t that they were completed,
tested, nnd reviewed as specified by
NAPAP).
The final repon asserted that an
invasion of aphids was responsible for
spruce-fir deaths on some of Kaufah's
highest peaks. According 10 Bruck, this flies
in the face of the research he submitted 10
NAPAP, which showed that only 35% of the
dead trees at such sites as Mount Mitchell,
Grandfather Mountain. and the Grc:u Smokv
Mountains National Parl.. were infested with
aphids. What Bruck found were soil pH
levels as low as 2.7 and 2.8 and rampant
aluminum toxicity levels in the forest soils.
(See Kattialt /()11mal #9). This kind of data,
for obviou~ reasons, is not pleasing to
electric utilitr and paper companic~. and
evidently the .government shan.:s the corporate
distaste for emissions reductions. a~ it chose
rather to blame nature for fon:M decline in
Katuah.
Bruck and other scientist~ now tlclie,e
that one of the m:ij(.)r cause~ of fir die-back
and forest decline in eastern Turtle lslnnd 1s
the change m soil nutnents that occurs a~ lhl"
soil becomes increasingly acidic. Nurogcn
compounds found in acid min an: 1hought to
be a primary culpri1. Levels of nitrogen
exceeding by 20 to 40 times the wnounts that
soil could assimilate have been found in
declining forests all over the East. These
findings correspond to research results in
Germany, too, where nitrogen deposition is
thought to be a primary factor in the
catastrophic waldsrerben ("forest death") in
the Black ForesL Recent European findings
also indicate that in order to halt the damage,
nitrogen emissions must be brought down as
close as possible to the levels found in
unaffected soil communities.
Despite all this, NAPAP still seems
determined to understate the problem. In a
position paper published last summer,
NAPAP officials stated that Eastern forests
do not show any "widespread problems," a
position that seems unforrunatcly consistent
with their apparent lack of concern about
forest decline. Already, the much-ballyhooed
Clean Air Act begins to look like nothing
more than a "first step" toward reversing the
acid-induced damage to the forests. Scientists
now believe that nitrogen emissions must be
reduced by 75% (rather than the 15-25%
required by the Clean Air Act) to halt the
damage from atmospheric pollution.
In contrast, the NAPAP repon to
Congress stated that fonnerly "nitrogen
deficient" soils in commercial pine forests in
the South were being "enriched" by nitrogen
deposition, and its comments about the
effects of nitrogen compounds on other forest
types is so rife with qualifying phrases like
"might ...could...potentially" that it seems
bent on dismissing or discounting the
findings of many of its own researchers.
It seems that it will be quite some time
before we will see any tightening of the Clean
Air Act's controls on nitrogen emissions.
Meanwhile, concerned researchers believe
that eastern forests will collapse within fifty
years, as undernourished and weakened trees
give in to insects and disease, not to men1ion
a newer nemesis: lhe stress from climate
changes associated with the "greenhouse
effect."
As if the sl)\.-Clre of forests thinning,
browning, and dying were not enough, it
also appears chat Kauiah's seemingly pristine
mountain stream.\ are also extrJordinarily
vulnerable to the effects of acid pn.-cipitation,
A spate or recently released studies shows
thc11 extensive damage has already been done
to manr headwmcrs and streams in the
Central and Southern Appal,1chians,
including heavy losses to native brook trout
popula1i(.)ns. Like the forest rescar\:h, these
studies indica1e that the emissions reductions
mandated by the Clean Air Act \\ill barely
begin 10 solve 1hc problem. 111c dire
condi1ion of Appaktchi,1n mountain \\aters
has been rnost thorough!)' documentL'<l by Dr.
James Gallov.uy of the Environnk'nt:il
Sciences Dcpanmcnt at the University of
Virginia. who since the mid-1970\ h~s
published widely nbom Lhe many ,1spccts of
the acid precipitation problem. In 1979,
rnrr.
1
in9c 22
-
1991
�Galloway and a research team began the
Shenandoah Watershed Study (SWAS), a
;om1 project undenaken by the University of
Virginia and the National Park Service 10
"understand the processes that govern
b1ogeochemical cycles'' in the streams of
Shenandoah National Park (SNP). Since the
SNP receives the highest sulfur deposition
load of any national park. the SW AS turned
out to be a far-sighted study of the potential
effects of acidification in freshwater aquatic
ecosystems in the Southern Appalachians.
After a decade of research, the final SWAS
repon indicated "a poor prognosis for aquatic
watcrsystcms in Shenandoah National Park,
due to a combination of watershed sensitivity
and elevated acidic deposition."
The Galloway team concluded that 1hc
dcposi1ion of sulfur, hydrogen, and nitrogen
had increased as much as tenfold from
preinduslrial levels. The SW AS process of
sampling streams on a weekly basis over the
ten years of its research enabled it to make
three primary conclusions: "1) that a large
number of SNP streams were poorly
buffered against acidification; 2) that the
acidification process was being temporarily
delayed by sulfate re1en1ion in v.a1ershcd
soils: and 3) that the acidification of SNP
streams was an ongoing process.''
SW AS researchers predict that some
38% of 1he streams will end up with pl I
level~ below 6.0, the "biologically critical"
level for such streams, while the pH levels of
25o/i: or the streams will decline 10 a pl I level
of 4.7, near-total acidity.
In 1987, 10 broaden his study area,
Galloway and his researchers and a crew of
volunteers from Virgioiu's Trout Unlimited
organization began to monitor 350 streams in
Virginia's mountains. Preliminary repons
were alarming. The researchers found that
93% of the streams were sensi1ive to acid
deposition, and that some 49% of those were
extremely sensitive. Only 7% were found to
be adequately buffered by watershed soils.
Additionally, 10% of rhc streams were
already found to be acidic; in a natural s1ate
3% or less would be normal.
Galloway then chose 65 of those
streams for further monitoring. In June 1989
his research team reponed its findings,
concluding tha1 in spite of the fac1 that the
state's mountain streams drain "relatively
TnCt, 1991
pristine catchments proteeted from direc1
man-m.'lde impacts," they were ''receiving
heavy loads of sulfur from man-made
sources." They predic1ed that, assuming
l 990 deposition levels, at least 32% and
possibly as muny of 88% of the states 450
native trout s1reams will become acidic, with
pH levels 100 low 10 support the forage fish.
trout, amphibians, and aquatic insects who
presently live in and around these streams.
We can expect to see che same here in
Kaufoh, and soon. The Great Smoky
Mountains National Park receives the second
highest level of acidic precipitation of any
region of the eas1~rn United Srntcs. While the
lower deposition levels in Katuah have
delayed the kinds of effects seen in Virginia,
as early as 1978, NacionaJ Park Service
researchers had no1ed 1he poor buffering
capabilities of the streams in the park\ higher
elevations. And in 1984, EPA researchers
found the Davidson River near Brevard in the
French Broad River watershed had a pH level
of 6.55, dangerously near the biological
threshold of 6.0, placing it in 1hc "extremely
sensiuve" range.
According to scientists. this rrcnd will
worsen with 1ime. Among them, conscrva1ive
estimates hold that sensitive streams in
Kattiah's watersheds will undergo coipplete
alkalinity loss within 40 to 50 years. Since
levels of acid deposition follow a nonh-south
gr.tdient along the Appalachian chain, we can
look to moun1ain s1reams farther nonh to
predict our own future. In the Pennsylvania
highlands, researchers found no living trour
in 20%.ofthe
headwater streams
and concluded that
"the streams having
no fish as a group
had significantly
lower pl-I and
alkalinity and higher
dissolved aluminum
than those with
fish."
More ominous
evidence comes
from West Virginia.
According to Don
Gasper, a fisheries
biologist with the
Wes1 Virginia
Department of
Natural Resources,
the Cranberry River
rqrinllXI rrorn TMG/acu,J E.rr01ic
in the south-central
pan of the stale is
already "lost." Fish
population data for the Cranberry have been
kept since 1957. making it one of the few
eastern rivers for which historical change can
be documented. Over the past 30 years, fish
biomass in the Cranberry has decreased from
15 pounds per acre to less than five pounds
per acre, and 1he number of fish species in
the river has declined from 15 to eight. Since
the Oanberry drains one of the largest
wilderness areas in the East, Gasper believes
that "the only disturbance in that watershed is
that acid rain has been falling on it for 40
years."
The higher deposition levels in the
north account for the rapid changes and
drastic losses, but Katuah's lower acid
deposition levels do not mean that we will not
see similar effec1s. In fact, the reduced pH
and alkalinity levels found now in our
streams are familiar 10 chose who have becm
tracking the nonhem streams for the pasr
decade. According to Mark Hudy, a fisheries
biologist who studied the St. Mary's River in
Virginia as it died from acidification, "The St
Mary's may be a precursor of things to come,
what we'll all be looking at in 10 years...the
water quality on the St. Mary's when I
sampled the river 10 yean; ago was like what
we have now on rivers farther south."
Whal can be done 10 reverse the
acidification of Katuah's streams? Can we
learn anything from the damage to northern
streams? Most scientists arc pessimistic.
They lament that the region's streams were
neglected during the I980's as the Reagan
and Bush ndministra1ions stalled essential
environmental research. And, like their
colle,igues in soils and fores1 research, the
freshwater biologists do not feel l_ha1 the
reduc1ions mandated by the Clean Air Act
will be able to reverse the damage done. They
believe that a 70-80% redui;tion in emissions
might begin 10 restore acidifying streams.
According to Rick Webb. professor of
Environmental Sciences at the Universi1y of
Virginia, the n:quired 50% reduction in sulfur
emissions will mean that "only a small
number of the strea,n~ will incrca-.e in
:ilkalinity; most will still decline."
The state of West Virginia and the US
Forest Service are trying mitigation measures
- adding limestone to streams and lakes to
bolster their alkalinity - to reduce lhe damage
done by acid precipitation. But this method is
costly and strictly temporary. It is not a
means of rcs1oration for mountain streams.
Most biologists feel that the the money and
effon devoted to mnigation would be better
spent on funher research, and they believe
that only one thing will begin 10 save
freshwater ecosys1ems in the East: drastic
reductions of acidic emissions.
Political analy~ts think it unlikely that
there will be any funhcr emissions control
measures from Washington for at leas, a
decade. They point out chat even the Clean
Air Act levels represent a compromise, that
allies of the coal and u1ili1y industries
auempted to drive sulfur emissions
reductions as low as si:it million tons, from
the original call for a 12 million ton
reduction, and did succeed in having the
number sliced to 10 million ions in the finnl
version of the net.
This does not leave many scientislS
optimistic about the future of forests and
streams in the East Aske.cl if he 1hough1 that
Southern Appalachian streams would ever
recover, Jim Galloway replied, ''Some will
recover," he said, .. but not most"
It appears that after the long twilight of
environmental neglect in the 1980's, the
Clean Air Act is a case of "roo little. too late"
- a political pacifier too rife with compromise
and collusion to address in any honest,
meaningful way the damage already done by
acid min and atmospheric deposition - not to
mention the damage not yet e1,ident and the
damage still occurring.
An old maxim says tha1 politics is the
an of compromise. But unless politics can be
put aside, dead forests and dead streams will
bear out another U\lth: nature bas its own
bottom line. And nature bats last. /
X.Otuaf, )ournn( poCJC 23
�SONGS IN THE WILDERNESS
From the time I was two years of age J
spent most or my childhood summers on my
grandparent's farm in nonhem Colorado. In
the small town where I lived I was
surrounded by a warm extended family.
There was plenty of activity and always
another child to play with. But on the farm
the days dragged on. l can remember walking
up the dirt road away from the farm, acutely
aware of my loneliness, feeling overwhelmed
by the vastness of the rolling hills and
endless grasslands that extended for miles in
every direction. It seemed that I moved
aimlessly through a landscape which had
nothing to do with me. In this
self-consciousness of monality I became
aware of myself as separate from nature. It
was a moment of primal loneliness such as
everyone must face.
This modem human condition is not
that far removed from the tribal legacy. We
still require a personal initiation, a way for
each person to make peace with the natural
world. We have separated ourselves by our
ability to create worlds outside the cycles of
nature, yet ii is our creauve abilities that offer
us ways back in - into wholeness, communication and love. The pathways, the links, the
mediations, the magic needs to be made at a
personal level. We must ovcreome our animal
fear of isolation and death, and reach out with
our consciousness if we are to mature as
human beings. IL was at this moment of acute
loneliness that I first began to sing to the
Eanh and the sky.
I found that the ttan~fonnative power
of song was miraculous. From that day on,
there was a connection for me between the
Earth and my walking on the Earth and the
song. I remember walking down that same
din road in a state of bliss, singing my heart
out in thanksgiving for yet another spectacular sunset I found that when I sang, the
world seemed 10 light up and lighten up.
Phenomena that was of n transitory nature,
such as a cloud shadow passing over a
rolling hill, was suddenly revealed to me in
breath-catching splendor. Sometimes I sang
loud, sometimes soft. Sometimes r skipped
and sang, or danced and sang at the same
time. Special evencs, such as the bright
crispness after a summer thunderstorm called
for celebration songs. There were songs
waiting for me everywhere; songs in the elm
grove in the pasnm: and dJffcrcnt songs
down by the river.
Singing is a great protection. It sets up
vibration which cuts through time and space.
With our voices we extend the boundaries of
our bodies. In metaphysical terms, singing
causes the aura to radiate, which strengthens
the body.
In ancient primitive societies, everyone
danced and sang their feelings about the
inevnable passages of life. There were min
dances and war dances and songs to help rhe
com grow. There is evidence that the use of
music as transforming was much more
sophisticated than the simple melody, lyrics,
and rhythm format that we use today. ror
instance, at many ancient sacred sites the
acoustics arc very unusual. Circular walls
and passages can warp, bend, and amplify
sound. ln such a place, a single voice could
have created modulations, ovenoncs, and
vibratos. Add on the possibility of a chorus
with echoes, a drum or two, and a flute, and
the sound must have been magnificent. What
these sounds were used for, whether for
healing, initiation rites, or simply for the
sheer joy of creation, we no longer know.
The Peace Chamber being built by
Joseph Rael, at the Earth Center in
Swannanoa, NC and scheduled for
completion this fall, is a modem example of a
Native American sound chamber. Joseph's
vision of an oval shaped sound chamber has
resulted in the construction of 17 of these
chambers worldwide. The purpose of each is
to amplify chants for world peace. I visited
the roofless building at the Earth Center in
spring. Even without a roof, and possibly
because of the circular walls, the acoustics
were already unusual. Also worth noting is
that the chamber is on a very potent earth
energy site. The combination of sound, eanh
energy, and architecrual design should pack
some real power into songs for peace.
Looking back at my childhood songs
from the adult perspective, I realize that the
singing put me into an extended altered state,
that it was magic at its height. ft pulled me
completely out of the depression of loneliness
and gave me practical tools for survival. It
taught me to appreciate solitude. It is only in
solitude that songs come to me again. If there
is a song waiting for me, J try 10 leave my
adult cares behind and enter into the woods
with the innocence of a child. I make no
judgement about the quality of my voice or
how ridiculous I might sound if someone
should happen to hear me. There is a great
joy and freedom in this.
by Charlotte Homsher
Dnawmg by Rob Mcs,ick
/
(<ontin~ rram l"'i• 9)
We must convince the public and our
officials that a healthy environment is an
absolute requirement for a healthy economy
and not the other way around. The measure
of what should be done 10 protect the
environment is nor a mailer of good
"business as usual" economics.
We must work ar the local level to do
whatever is possible to move toward a
society that protects its ecosystems.
We must lower as quickly a.\ we can the
strains society places on our ecosystems.
This includes land use practices, development
of less damaging and less energy intensive
transponation, protection of enough critical
area 10 suppon all native species, and
controlling our population within geographic
areas so that the carrying capacity of the area
is not exceeded or is balanced within a larger
regional complex.
Finally, we must lead in an accelerated
movement to lower the environmental impact
of human habitation on Eanh. This involves
limiting the numbers of of humans Earth is
.
JCnt.i'mfi Journnl pQ(Jc 24
asked 10 suppon, making marked
improvcmcnis in our use of natural
resources, and bnnging human activities
down within a safety buffer set by the rates
of geological, geochemical. and biological
processes.
John Freeman is 1he chair of the Pisgah
Group of the Sierra Club. lie was a
profcs.'ior of billlogy at Wimltrop College fnr
30 years. He is al.w uwhor of 1he b()<J/c
Survival Gardening, which he and lu"s 11'ife
Grace self-published. The Freemaris are
presemly retired in Brevard, NC i11 the
headwaters of the French Broad River
waterslted.
This article 11-as reprimedfrom
Foor notes. the 11cws/e1ter of the North
Carolina Clwp1er ofthe Siella Club. The
11ewsletfer is al'ailable to Sierra Club
members ill the Stale For membership
i11fonnatio11, write the Sierra Club, 530 Bush
St ; San Francisco, CA 94108.
(conllnucd from P"te 11)
Overall, I think it was Sequoyah
himself who best evaluated thi: impact of his
\\1'lting sy:acm: ''What I am doing will not
make our people the less respected."
- r«orded by OW
Tom Undi'rwood. a liftlong rt.<id,·nt of the
Qua/la Boundary Rt.<en•aJion has always been
rnlt!rtsred ,n tht Clu:rol.Lt! cultural and arti.<tic
traditions. lie 1s a con1tnuing .rouru of knowledge on
the old wuys oftht tribe (stt Kn1tfah Journal 115) as
wdl as be1n11 a mo1or suppoNu of conttmporary
Indian arnsu.
1'om had ,.,;urn a manuscript for a hworical
booklet on tk lift qf St!quo>·ah which was,,, his
Mt:d1cint: Man Craft Shep the night tht! building was
thstroycd byjirt!in 19..~Z. llt: has since bun
rebwlding hisf/lt!s on the nativt! gcmus. llt! is ._·ell
acquaintt!d With thl' life of ti~ man who brought 1k
Chuoktt 1ht ,.,illt!n "'ord
:Fa(f., 199 I
�S00YEARS OF
RESISTANCE!
In October of 1492, as we all learned in
grammar school, Christopher Columbus
sailed the ocean blue and landed in the
Antilles to become the first European to
record his encounter with the land and people
of the Tunle Island conrinent.
Of the land he found, Columbus wrote:
"Large and very green trees, and great
lagoons, around which the trees stand in
marvelous groves. Flocks of parrots darken
the sun and there is a marvelous variety of
large and small birds, very different from our
own; the trees arc of many kinds, each with
its own fruit, and all have a marvelous
scent."
Of the native people he met in the
Antilles, who later were named the Taino,
Columbus wrote: "They are so affectionate
and have so little greed and are in all ways so
amenable that there is in my opinion no better
people and no better land in the world. They
love their neighbors as themselves and their
way of speaking is the sweetes1 in the world,
always gentle and smiling."
Within a year of Columbus' landfall,
the "miraculous groves" were gone, cleared
to make way for the rancheros and
plantations that would make the large
contingent of Spanish seulers wealthy, and
mining had spoiled the "great lagoons," not
to mention rivers, mountains, and native
farmlands. Within that year too, several
thousand Taino were shipped 10 Europe as
slaves, marking the beginnings of the slave
trade. Those who remained fell victim to
European diseases against which they had no
resistance, and to the barbarism and tyranny
of the colonists.
Thus was set the pattern of ecocide and
genocide which has been the dominant force
in the modem history of the Americas. As the
500th anniversary of Columbus' "discovery"
of the "New World" approaches, it appears
unlikely !hat the myriad official festivities
sponsored by governments of Europe and the
Americas will expose the darker legacy of
~uropean conquest. What they will offer
instead is a "QuincenteMial Jubilee" marked
by all the hoopla, pride, and patriotism that
modem technology can stir up.
fo!C, 199 1
r However. a grcA1nd weft qf publi{ ,
opposition. led by moigendus groups in
Nonh and South America, is gathering force
to assure that the celebrations do more than
glorify the ecocide and genocide wrought by
Columbus and the other colonists and
missionaries who followed him. In July of
1990 representatives of 120 indigenous
nations, tribes, and organizations met for the
first time in Quito. Ecuador to discuss their
peoples' slruggles for self-de1ermination and
10 organi1..e a unified lndi:tn response to the
official 1992 Jubilee celebrations. Their plans
call for alternative gatherings 10 celebrate 1he
resistance chat has enabled Indians 10 survive
the centuries of genocide and opprei.sion chat
1hey have suffered at the hands of the
Euro-Americans.
The coali1ion is also recalling that many
myths and prophecies of native peoples
throughout Turtle Island say 1ha1 chis period
of oppression would la.~t for 500 years, when
it would be replaced by a period of change
("Pachakutek'.) that will lead ro a better life
for the people, a life lived once again in
harmony with Molher Eanh.
At a time when the Euro-American way
of life is threatening lhe survival of all
peoples and of the planet itself, we all would
do well to listen and 10 follow lhe example set
by the indigenous people of a more
harmonious way of being.
It is up to us to make 1992 the first year
of Pachakutek, not the 501st year of
colonialism.
Resource pacuis for those inttrtsted in
organiting local alttrna1i11ts to the official/ts1111i11ts
art availablt from the following:
- Scarborough Fortign l,fiS$ion; 2685
Kingston Rd.; Scarborough. 0111ario. Canada MI M
IM4. Jnclude a nwney donotion 10 CO\ltr prillting ONJ
postagt.
- Cltrgy ONJ Lairy Concerned; Box /91J7;
Decatur, G~ 3003/ for $5.00 postpaid
The Sowh and Mtso-American Jndim,
Information Ctnttr. which strvts as a liason betwun
Indian people of the sowhcrn and the northern
con1intn1s. Is a good sourct of1nforma1io11 aboUJ the
alttrnativt ac1ivi11es plan11td throughow the
Americas. Write to SAJJC: Box 7550, Berktlty, CA
94707.
1/'Jf)U art illltresttd in helping 10 organiu
ahernativt 1992 t~nlS in Kataiah, write Jeff Smith at
207 Coxt A~.: Ashevillt NC 28801 or call (704)
259-5333.
- by cmmtll Grundiggu
Save James Bay
Stop Hydro-Quebec!
Ancestral lands of the Cree and Inuit
cultures as well as the entire James Bay
ecosystem are being threatened by a
mega-hydroelectric project known as the
James Bay Project James Bay, a shallow salt
water bay which forms the southern tip of
Hudson Bay in Canada, is the largest
nonhcrn river drainage system for Tunic
Island. Fresh water from vinually every
major river in the hean of 1he continent flows
into James Bay where it mixes with the Bay's
snit w:lter over marshy tidal flats to create a
vast and diverse ecosystem.
'These rivers make the Bay a rich
ecosystem teeming with caribou, moose,
:i: ~;wer as wellbearseals.1he manyl3cluga
as
walrus,
whales, polar
and
anadromous
fish that return from the ocean 10 spawn in
the fresh water rivers of James Bay. This is
also the nesting and s1aging ground for the
'central flyway' for most migratory birds
from geese and ducks to some shore birds
who may carry ou1 a migrncion that brings
them as far south as Tierra del
Fuego.....(Thc land around James Bay) has a
dclica1e ecology of coastal mmhes, muskeg
and pinelands that provide a rich garden in
which the animals and Native people have
lived for tens of thousands of years."
(Winona l..aDuke)
The fames Bay Project is a
mega proJect of Hydro-Quebec. Quebec's
Premier, Robert Bourassa. sees 1he entire
province as "a vase hydro·elcctrie plant in the
bud... ". Phase I (1971-1985) of the Project
has already destroyed a great deal of habiUlt
and lands. Phase II and Phase lll are even
more massive undertakings. Phase II would
impact an area greater than New York State
and New England combined and would
destroy 15 major rivers.
However, Phase III is the most
extravagant. h is a $JOO billion scheme to
build a 100 mile dike across the mouth of
James Bay so that freshwater from 1he Bay
can be pumped (possibly by nuclear pumps)
to the Great Lakes, and then to the Midwest
and Southwest United States!
This project if completed would cause
devastation of the entire James Bay
ecosystem which is the hean of the largest
remaining wilderness in Tunic Island as well
the cultural genocide of the native people
who would lose their traditional means of
subsistance through hunting, trnpping and
fishing.
Already ten thousand migrating caribou
have drowned crossing the Caniapiscau River
during a 1984 Hydro-Quebec water release.
If all the dams proposed by Hydro-Quebec
arc built, 350,000 square kilometers will be
directly impacted, Over 25,000 ~uare
kilometers \I.ill be flooded. Countless lakes,
ponds and temporary ponds will be
drowned. Critical wildlife habitat will be
fragmented and migration routes destroyed.
Destruction of chis habicat will doom
thousands of migratory bird~.
In September of 1990. the Canadian
National Energy Board approved the expon
of Hydro-Quebec electrici1y 10 the US. There
are formal efforts in Maine. Vermont, and
New Yorlc to call for the cancellation of any
contrnc1s with Hydro-Quebec. lndividuals
and organizations around North America art'
joining the fight to save James Bay.
For more informa1ion. contacr:
Northeast Alliance to Protect James Bav
139 Anrrim Street
/
Cambridge, MA 02139
..
(617) 491-553 I
•
X.Ot uc:ih Journot J>CIIJC 25
�. ",
DRUMMING
LETTERS TO KA TUAH
Dear Kmualt,
This kulwie says that idle hands arc the devil's
wockshop when iJs preuy damn obvious IO anyone
who sits down and thinks about it that idle hands nrc
definitely not a workshop and that the devil's
worbhop has m1111y many busy busy hands. Ovec
achiever type A workaholics with hyperactive
thyroids have predictably lllken over at the throUle of
neatly everything and ate proceeding to make the
world a miserable place to be for anyone who likes to
go fishing or read a boolt or simply to do her pan in
the effort to conserve energy by silLing down and
bcmg quiet.
Motorboats chum our lakes into oily froth.
AirpLllles arc aJmo:.t always whining in our cars. All
terrain vehicles defile the America others pass by.
shnttcring silence and leaving ruts that open into
gullies lhat are geo logical re minders of the passing
of some busy idiot who wos out SpiMing his wheels
and wasting all sorts of resow-ces when he should
have been home playing with his luds or l:lying in a
hammock.
Poople in general and rncD m particular QJ'C
taught that Ill order to be respected we should make
our mark on a world. The world is nlrcady llWkcd up
with graffitti-like doings of the do-do culture and what
we now need 10 learn moSt is s10pping. Don't just do
something, Slalld there.
Will Ashe Boson
Floyd, VA
DcarKmuoh.
Vour article about dowsing slruck an
inu:rcsting chord with me. I have been fortunate 10
get to hike with a group of Retired Citi,..cns or
Gatlinburg over the past sevcml months, and because
of that have met some very fascinating people not the
least or whom is a man named Herb Oabo, a real
mountain man who gi-ew up in the Roaring Fork
section of what is now the Great Smoky Mountnins
National Park:. He now lives in that same area about
two houses from the Park bouod:IJ'y. He still climbs
the mowitnins and walks the ridges almost every day.
At 80 he is still ahead of the pack except when he
siops IO share a bit of history or a talc of sons. It i.~
one of t!lcse talcs that came tO mind when I read your
article. Herb can divine for bodies! • and find them.
The rods arc held loosely in the hands and when he
comes IO the grave. they tum in. I have watched him
do this and it is exuemely fascinating.
The Parle Service asked him and Frank Cart.er,
another dowser. 10 help them with a cemetery in the
Roaring Forlc section which had been badly damaged
by tourists - roc:ks which were really old grave
m:utcrs had been knocklxl over and some even canicd
out of the cemetery. With 1he1r dowsing rods, Hcrb
and Frank were able to rcnlign the graves, replace the
m:IJ'kcrs, and arc now c:nrrying fill din to cover the
IOOlS and ftll in washouts caused by the he.Ivy lrllff'ic
of many feet. For the umc being. the ccmelCI)' is
fenced off and will be unul the n:pciiring and =ding
arc compleled. In that ccrnclct)'. thctc iS a grave for a
leg. A man lost his leg in a logging occident and
Xnti1af1 JounmC p119c 26
insisted on having it buried with a formnl funeral.
Herb u:11s another inlelCsting story about
finding the grave of Jasper Mellinger. Years ago
Jasper had "l:ud-by" his com crop and was going to
Nonh Carolina 10 work a few days tn a blacksmith's
shop. Instead of walking the long way around, he
took the "nigh" way through the hills. Art Huskey
had a bear uap set and Jasper got caught m 11. On
finding him there. it is alleged, Art or his son
knocked poor Jasper in the head with a pine knot and
buried him m a shallow grave. Herb was detenmncd
to find lhnt grave. long since heavily overgrown. He
walked the hills for about a year bcfo,e he loaltcd the
grave only 10 discover there were four bodies buried in
the =e area. He ha.~ cleaned out lllOUlld the graves
• and a path lending 10 them and 1s now placing
mnriccrs for t!lcse people. He has deccnnincd who
three or the bodies arc and will mark the other
"unknown: Hero is a real storehouse of knowledge
and mountnin lore.
Barbara Wickersham
DcarK01111Jh,
I read with great in~t the interview with
Tom Hendricks, "The Responsibilities of Dowsing,·
in the Summer "91 issue of Kmu.o.lt JournLJI.
Hoving recently writu:n IO the Amctic:ln
Society of Dowsers expressing concern at the
non-holiSllc actions of some dowsers, I found Tom's
comments cncoumging. I have been dowsing for a
number of YeaA, mostly locating with L-rods. More
recently I hnvc been conccntroting on trying to
undcrslll.nd Eanh energies. I rend, and dowse., and find,
but feel the need to work with someone who really
knows what they arc doing. Look forward to hearing
from you.
Yours sincerely,
Joy Doheny
DeatKmuah,
s
Something a wrong with the U.S. Forest
Service le:idcrship. They can't 11\llnage our forests
properly due to a spurious pl31l they adoJ)led 25 years
ago. h can be likened 10 a disease in its effccL Call 11
"clcarcuHLtS." Ever since they've been obsessed with
denuding our forestS. They promoted the spread of
this infection to colleges and univen;iucs th.It prcp:ire
future foresters. Certain limber interests, long
affiicu:d with th IS dlSCaSC. have wdcd and supponcd
the Fore.st Service leadership m iL~ addiction and arc
confusing us with a SS0,000.000 misinformation
campain. Their purpose: 10 cut the 5~ left of our
ancient forests at huge profits to them.,;elves within
the neitl 5 to 10 years using the befuddled Fo~
Service leadership to gnm their end.
Once it was the people and the Forest Service
versus timbcrers. Now it is umbcrcrs and the Forest
Service versus the people. A tide of public concern is
rising IO stem this disease in its devnsiation with
powerful mcdicruion to be pn:scribcd by Congress.
Previous prescriptions have failed because the Forcst
Servioc leadership refuses 10 swallow the medicine
that would return it to its fonner stnte ofhc:llth. The
"Santa Claus syndrome." of practically giving away
our trees hntvesu:d at our expense. is also of gi-eat
concern to people.
tn lodinnn 120,000 people signed petitiOns and
wrote thousands of leuets, including congressmen and
lhe governor, ealling for protection of biological
diversity and regeneration of old growth. A poll of
voiers 31'0und the Hoosier National Forest showed
69% are so upset they want to bnn all logging. The
entire congressional delcgnuon or fllinois is
demanding the Forest Service Stop being Sania Claus
with below-cost sales. Arl<ansas and Texas have asked
for a halt 10 clearcutting. South Carolina people arc
asking for a ch411ge m mn~cment. In North
Carolina over 16,000 people and over a thousand
businesses signed pctiuons in a shon period of time
10 halt clearculting. A number of Forest Service
employees and supervisors, not willing to allow this
disease to reach epidemic proportions. are organizing
and asking thru the infected leadership accept
prescribed congressional medication so that the Forest
Service can survive.
I must add that a number of private forest
growers with large and small forc.~ts arc not infccu:d
with "clenrcu1-1tis." They arc surviving low prices
caused by Rnst Service leadership direction. These
forests are a JOY 10 visit compared with the shambles
pre.sent m our ll3tionaJ forests. These many growers
arc not liqu1d3tors. They believe in a tomonow for
themselves and their children. Why can't this be true
for the nntional forests?
Grandfather and Grandmother, we have the
time. We love this land and want 10 leave it beucr for
our children and grandchildren. We've seen the umber
locuslS consume our forest before. It doesn't have to
happen to the Inst gr.md trecS standing. Th.rec bills in
commitu:c need support; HR 2S01, HR 1969, and
HR 842 to help k.ill the infoction. Three congressmen
10 reach arc Harold Volkmer. Eda la Gana, Goorge
Miller (House of Rcprcscntativcs, Wnshington. DC
20015). There arc also three senators; D.ile Bum~,
Pntricl; Leahy, and Wyche Fowler (Scn.,tc Office
Building. Washington, DC 20010). Even though our
hands arc tired and weary, \YOn't you pick up a pen
and write? Let's inspire them in Washington.
Bob Gerry
Franklin, NC
Drawing by Rob Messick
rnrc., 1991
�Dear Ka1uah.
A friend gave me his copy or your Summer'!) I
Ka1uah Journal. nnd I am impressed by lhe imcgri1y
of lhe journal. One of my grcn1-grnndmothcrs wns a
full-blooded Cherokee, plus my family hns roois in
1he Miami Nation. Sadly, I never paid any heed to
this heritage until the last yenr or so. though I have
always been an enrth person. ever drawn 10 nature fascinated by forcsis, ~ueruns, wild Iire, lightning. I
rc.ili:u: that this is pan of my being, and am
beginning 10 look more closely at the wisdom of
thOl,e who came before me.
I would hkc 10 know if a publicauon s1m1lar
10 your; cxisis in the Indiana region. I would be
interested in lellming more about my foreflnhcrs, but
I'm n0t too sure where 10 start. Thank you for :iny
help you can offer. and 1100k forward 10 hearing from
you soon.
Since my return home I have fell myself often
"losing focus· with nil the technology nnd
matcriohstic vibrations that surround me. I h3ve
found th3l one thing I can do 1s make my way to a
stnnd of treeS very ncnr here and allow myself 10
recapture lhc feeling of the Smokies, the •me·
I am working with the Appalachian Women's
Guild on the Monteagle Mountain ~lion of the
Cumberland Platc3u. It seems lO me, thot this
mountain could be an exemplary bioregional
devclopmen1 - it cou.kl become self-sufftcienL ll is at
this lime extrcmdy depressed economically which
Respectfully,
Jeff Zaclulry
Dcar Ka1uah.
IC I h:id closed my eyes and envisioned the
perfect. most harmonious appro:ich 10 life in the
Soulhem Appalachians I could not have crentcd :i
more beautiful image than lhc people who conlribute
10 your journal and those who arc the rtal members of
the Katu:ih Province. I think I hove found my venue,
and my only regret is that Tdid not have the courage
10 head such a wonderful movement myself.
I'm a graduate student at Appalnchian State
University in Boone, NC studying and working lO
preserve the biodiversity and ecology of these great
mounlllins. I have struggled with 10lerance of the
modern, dcvelopmcn1-00nsumcd elite of this town and
this region. I am so happy 10 find the power in your
numbers.
Please let me know more about your cause.
your people, and your apparent passions 10 prcscrvc
the way of the conscious man and womnn. I wnnt 10
be a part of the movement, and be counted among
you.
God Bless,
J1mmy Bnrbcc
-=----
Dear KaJuah,
I was recently introduced 10 your wonderful
publication and would like 10 know more about
K01uah and how I can become involved.
In the past it seems I made less lime for myself
10 read or enjoy the beauty or life nround me.
However, due 10 a recent car occident I've found
myself with the time lO do anything and the physical
ability 10 do almost nOthing.
So I n::id.
I probably never would have come 10 know my
world, or Katuah, if it were not for the accident and a
special man in Lake Toxaway who lOOk the time 10
talk 10 me about life, healing, and Ka1uah. For th:11 I
am very thank:ful.
I thank God as I grow physically and spiritually
stronger everyday, and look forward 10 living as I
never have.
Seize the Dayl
Paula Flanks
Dear K01uah,
I live in a very popul:itcd, "built-up· pan of
Florida. and decided in June to e,;plore the Smoky
Mounuiin.~ with my friend 10 Slill, nnd re-center
myself. We had a wonderful, amazing, and
lr.lnsforming lime • and while there I discovcrcd your
publication.
Tm!, 1991
Paintina by S\1$111 Adam
rediscovered there. The Olhcr is 10 open Ka,uoli
Journal lO any page and begin IO~. The
commitment :ind dedication to Life of your writcts.
people like myself - puts me back on my chosen
pnth. Thank you for sharing and afrummg.
Yours in light,
Susan Rueter
To the Editors:
I was given a copy or lhe Kaiuah Journal.
Spring, 1991. by a friend, Cicio Myc1~k. I have just
this morning read II and am moved to find such an
enlightened group ru work. II IS like finding a pan
of your family that had been ml$mg. r want to
connect with you as projects in which 1 am im,ol ved
p:irnllcl yours in this issue.
I include my story which r have JUSt wriuen
for the Episcopal Chwch. (see excerpt below) The
opposition to a hazardous waste incinerator (three
limes the size of any existing facility which promised
to take haw-dous waste from at k:asl 20 sta.ics)
which I organized, changed my whole life. I now
work full lime on establishing a true grassroots
environmental nerwork m Tennessee that will connect
with other similar networks nationwide. (Thank God I
hnve a husband who C113bled me lO give up my
gainful employment in order 10 do this volw:uecr
work.)
I attended the Episcopal Church Envaronmenlal
Conference ,n Kanuga. NC in April llihcte I met
Jeremy Rifkin, president of the Grecnho~ Crisis
Foundation in Washing10n. He invited me to auend n
conference in Wa.mington at the end or Scp!Clllbcr
lhnt will plan a grassroots Conunental Congress for
May of 1992. I Ulke great hope that this Con tinenlal
Congress will have sufficient impact on the political
paities to change the t.otal disrcgrud for the
environment (my opmjon) that both parties have been
exhibiting.
gives llS fcrtilc ground for movmg in lhc direction of
interdependent living.
I also work with a group which ,s creating a
vision of community when: physicnlly and mentally
handicapped and non-physically handicapilcd can live
in an interdependent relationship where the arts and
celcbrauon oflife you spcalc of will be an integral
part of our circular community. We will have a
biodynnmic farm, a gteenhou~. woodworking shop,
Appalach1311 cmfis, design and making of allcmative
clOthing for the physically challenged, a printing
operation. and opportunities and encouragement for
all 10 develop their individual spirituality in an
atmosphere or love.
In fighting the evil of the inciDCnllOr, people
were brought together who have the underlilanding and
cnprabililics or making the Biorcgional Economy or
the whole mountain IOP work along with the special
community.
I celebrate your enthusiasm, your dedication,
and your Being.
Light and Love 10 all of you,
Marilyn Williams
Chau.anooga. TN
~rpttdfrom Marily11 Williams' story:
Morion County LS an economically depressed,
rural county comprised of a long valley swrounded by
mounlllins, indented wilh coves traversed by the
Tennessee River. This topogniphy results in a
phenomenon cnlled thermal invCTsion. Very often,
tempcroturc changes will force the air down and hold
it against the floor of the valley so that it cannot
escape over the mount2ins. Any kind of smoke-t;toct
indu.«ry would be unusually bad ror the area. I blcr
lcamcd that lhcnna1 invcnion was ·no problem· for
those who warued to site a haz:lJ'dous wastt
incineralor on lhe TenllCS5CC River in our county.
(c:auinued on I"'&" 28)
JC.Qtuah 1oumnl
J)(IQe
27
�(continued from pa,:c 27)
I alt.ended a meeting of our County
Commission and heard lhe president of a commen:i:il
hllzardous was1C incinerator COfflJXUlY IC.Jl lhe
commission and all present he did nOl care whwier
we voted to have him there or nol; he certainly
wouldn't icll us he wouldn't be the.re. We later le:uned
the same group had been defeated in four olhct
counhcs through use of the Local Veto Option which
we voled to hnve him there or not; he ccnainly
wouldn't tell us he wouldn't be there. We lat.er learned
the same group had been defeated in four olhcr
•
counties through use of the Locnl Vct0 Opuon which
was a Tennessee law. We knew quiic well that our
legislature had jus1 removed this law that gave
citizens ~ right to protect their property ond lhe
health and welfare of lhcir children. This 1s a
constituuonnl nght bom of n Ocmocmcy.
I C:lmC from Ilic rooeting angry. I was angry
tlmt in a land where freedom was supposed IO nng
from every mounlllln IOp, a man could siand before us
and arrogantly icll u.~ he 11o us - in so many words •
gomg 10 force on us something that we knew would
dcsll'Oy our property values and endanger our
children., lives - and for what? For profit
• My anger 1ncrenscd with the rcalm1tion that
the citizens of this Staie have every right to expect
thc,r elcc!Cd, paid official\ to make laws to protect Ilic
Jives and property of lhe people of their Staie, I snw
ourselves in the posiuon of bemg forced to do the JOb
for ourselves.
I called a meeting or friends to organv.e n
protesL I sent announcements 10 both the
newspapers, but they did not print 1hcm, We had IS
people ai the rll'St meeting. We each IOOk
rcspons1bili1y or getting others at the next mccung,
and we prepared notices to be ID.ken to the papers. At
the ncxt meeting we h.ld 26 people to plan a town
meeting to discuss the opposition to the incinerator.
At that meeting we had press from lhe city of
ChatUlnooga and 400 orderly people. After that we
had the attention of the clcclcd offici.l!s and the loca.1
press and radio stations.
Two months later, at 7 AM over 3,000 finn,
but orderly, infonned people gathered in the .square at
South PilL~burgh to confront the rcprcsentauves of
FTI who came with armed Pinkenon gu:ll'ds, The
people with their children wore T-shirts reading,
"Two, Four. Six, Eight; WE WILL NOT
INCINERATE." Cars had bumper stickers saying
"DANGER - NO INCINERATOR." Posters staung
firm opposiuon were held high. Many wore gas
mask.~. A-:. representatives of the incinerator company
Milked into the building where they had come to
conclude the mlc or the propsed incinerator site, m on
orderly fashion. the crowd began to chant, "Two,
Four, Si~. Eight - WE WILL NOT INCINERATE!"
The day b.:forc the mlly a UPl reporter who
knew the area, called me and a.,ked me how mony
people J thought we would have a1 the rally. I said
that if--.c did 001 have 01 lcai.t 2,000 I would be
sorely disappointed. He laughed, saying, "If you ha\'c
2,000 people in Marion County come out for
anything, I'll be greatly surprised. Those people luve
never been togcthcr on anything."
When I arrived m South Piu.sburgh shortly
be~ 7:0Q that morning on June 14. 1990, I lil!w
people coming "in droves; as we say. They were
commg from all over in large numbers, and icars
rolled down my race because I knew m my hcal1 that
weh3d won.
Four d.lys laicr, F11 announced they would
not build in Marion County or "any of the
surrounding area."
... I saw interesting and miraculous things
happen in this united effort. I saw shy young mo°'.crs
come forward and tell me, "l"ve never done an),1hmg
like this before. I just Silly home and talce care of my
family, but I'm not Slllying there and watching this
Juppcn."
I saw them transformed into outSpOken,
tireless worker.; who conducted meetings in their
communities to get the word ouL Some or them
called me and cried at the heanless roccplion they
encountered sometimes in the bcgiMmg when they
called on bu.'ilnesspcople to put petition~ in stores or
to tallc at city council meetings; but they never guve
up. They went right back, and !hey bccnme StrOngcr.
as they were empowered b)' the love lhey had for thi:,r
children. It occurred to me at lhc time, if the Earth i.s
10 be saved, 11 will be by mothers and those who
share the feelings or mothers.
I saw children become awurc of somctl11ng
they hlld always Uken for gmntcd. School chil.drcn
made posters and wrote letters 10 elcclCd officials.
ng
They bccrunc int.:rc.,tcd in recycling. I saw a bondi_
of people joined by a common cuus.e. I sow a commg
together of people who would prohably never have
come 10 know each other. I sa--. a ri'i<! in the
consciousnCSli of people. Then: was an elevation of
sclf-e:;1ocm. Th.:se was a knowledge gamed thm one
person can still make a dilTerencc if the)' take the hand
of their brother/sister and slalld up for whal they
believe is righL Since the mc.mcmtor fight, I have
seen others tnke the mniaiive 10 sl:llld again.st other
1njustic.!s in their communit.lc.s. •
The People are Angry! A Monual on \Va.tre
llauvdou...t to tht Ilea/th of our Cllildren in itMetsu
i.s available from Tcnne:.scc Grassroois
EnvironmenUll Network; Boll 15038: Chaunnooga,
TN3741S
Get a set of 10 assorted
folding cards with
artwork you see in
I<atuah Journal.
• You1h Camps - ~ P,ogrem1
• Family Camps· Teach0< Tra.,,ng
• Communuy Programs
• Camp Slaff Training
• Outdo« Pn,gram Consulting
(Envelopes included.)
by Rob lJlessick
Send $11.25 postage paid
to:
RM DESIGNS
r.o. aox 2601
ProgomJ to encouoge
end Earth OWOl8'l8$$.
celebrol1on. ldn&Hp and hope
$611
PO 8oK 1306
Galltnt>,,,g, terY10lSee 3n38
615-436-6203
BOONE, NC 28607
whole earth
grocery
NATIVE FLUTES
Two styles mode of cedar or walnut
woods in the traditional manner
Hawk Littlejohn
Sourwood Farm
Rt. 1, Box 172-L
Prospect Hill, NC 27314
(919) 562-3073
•
NATURAL
ALTERNATIVES
FOR HEALTHFUL
LIVING
446 c p;arkw•y craft ~ntcr • •uilc 11
gatlinburg, tcnn~ 3n38
6 15-436-6967
Xat(iah Jou r not pn9c 28
'
,,
Union Acres
A,r Alternative
-
•
Acrt.agtforSale - Smoky Moun/111n Lrving
wilh II focus on spiri/114/ 11nd
«ologit:Jll valuts
For more informalron;
Contact C. Gran/ al
RDult 1. Box 61/
Whittier, NC 28789
(704) 4974964
NATURAL MARKET
WHOLE FOODS • OULK
FOODS • VITAMINES • HERDS
• FAT FREE FOODS • TAKE
OlTTFOODS • SNACKS • NO
SALT, NO CHOLESTEROL
265-2700
823 Blow,ng Rock Rd
lloonc. NC 28607
:fnfL 1991
�,
-
0FFTHEGRID
SOLAR OVENS
by Dr. lnnnis Scanlin
This issue's 01/The Grid 1ues1 collUMis1
is Dr. Dtnnis Scan/ill, Proftssor ofApproprialt
Ttchnoloo at AppalacNIJJI State University;,.
Boone, North Carollna. Dennis is cwrrently working
on a project sponsored ITy the Su.sklinablt
Dtvtlopmelll Center of ASU to bring so/Ju ove11
ttCM()/olJ to the rural pu,plt ofGllllUma/a. Solar
o - ttcM()loo is pani&ularly appropriJJu in Ct111ral
America wlttn thert is a lot of s1111 and a probltm
with defortSiaJilJ11 as ptoplt u.sc rht forests to prqvide
woodfor cooki/11.
So/Ju ovens could, obviDu.sly. N>t ~ u.scd as
freqUUlll)I hut in Katwolt as ill Ca1ral Amtrica, bu/
rhty could ctrtamly su,,e as All OMXillary tltUf1
source IO ~ wed whutevtr possible to / - , ow
demands 011 wood, proflOM, oU ONl/or tltcrricity.
DtfortSIJJ/k,11 is IU)t cwu11tly a probkm lwre (~sides
timber sales), bUI It col/Jd ~CO/fflt OM if rht opdollS
of oil, propane and/or tltcrricily _,., too expensive
or IINIWlilabk, as is Ille t.aU ill rwol CcfllrtJJ
America. As Dr. Scanli11 lius IO poilll 0111, "lhtre is
"" silltlt tMTlJ fXIIUIUO.. 1ht suslDiJsabh t11tro of
our fwurt will come from a ~ f J ofsourcu. Solar
OVtftS w{J/ be OM of IN>U. •
·td.JimHou.su
Solar Cookers have been receiving a lot
of attention recently in both the developing
and developed regions of the world. This
attention is well deserved because these
ovens are a truly appropriate technology.
First of all, they really work. They are
also cheap enough to be accessible to
virtually everyon~ easy to construct with
locally available materials; simple to
understand and operate; utilize renewable
energy; and reduce our dependence on
centrally supplied energy or, in the
developing world, diminishing supplies of
increasingly expensive fuelwood, wi1hout
having any adverse impacts on the
environment They can be a pan of the
solution ro the many problems facing our
world.
There are two basic types of solar
cookers. The first is the direct or focusing
parabolic dish cookers, which are usually
about 4 feet in diameter and reflect all the
solar energy striking them onto a focal point
which is usually about 18 inches above the
center of the dish. A pot of food would be
supponed at this focal point. Their
performance can be very impressive,
achieving temperatures over 600° F;
however, they can onJy heat one pot of food
at a rime, can be difficult to construct, need to
be focused every 15 to 30 minutes and don't
work very well on panly cloudy days.
Effons 10 market these cookers have
largely failed because of their tempennentnl
nature and because people don't like standing
out in the sun while cooking. The whole
TaU, 1991
SOLAR OVEN
Drawing by DoMis Scanlin
process of cooking with these cookers is too
different from traditional methods.
The indirect or box ovens have been the
focus of most of the recent interest in solar
cooking. An indirect or box oven is simply
an insulated box with a glass or plastic cover,
and one or more reflectors to increase the
amount of sunshine entering the box. Food is
usually placed in dark colored pots with
covers. The pots full of food are then placed
in the solar oven and absorb the solar energy
entering the oven. These ovens reach
temperatures between 250 and 450° F, can
cook several pots of food at the same time,
work on partly cloudy days. aod are simple
and inexpensive to construct
Many indirect or solar box ovens have
been designed over the last few years;
however, most fall into one of two
categories: single reflecror or multiple
reflector.
The single reflector type is the least
complicated variety. It is an insulated
rectangular box with a shoe box type lid and
a single reflec1or attached to the lid. It was
first developed in 1976 by Barbara Kerr and
Sherry Cole of Tempe, Arizona and is the
design presently being promoted by Solar
Box Cooker International, 1724 11th Street,
Sacramento, CA 95814. They have plans
available for $3.00.
Plans are also available from Kerr
Enterprises, Inc., P.O. Box 27417, Tempe,
AZ 85282, (602) 968-3068. They also have
complete kits for a well designed cardbo:ud
oven for about $55.
Kits are also available from Basic
Solar, Harvard Square Suite 67, 1430 Mass.
Ave.. Cambridge. MA 02138.
Kits or plans are not really necessary,
however, as one could easily be constructed
with either cardboard or wood. One good
source of cardboard boxes is Xerox paper
boxes found in schools and businesses.
Banana or apple boxes found in the local
grocery store are also quite sturdy, as are
cardboard file boxes which can be purchased
for about $3.00 at an office supply store.
These boxes could be covered with contaa
paper or painted for increased water
resistance.
The box could also be constructed from
large sheets of cardboard or with peices of
wood. Plywood and lxlO's or lxl2's have
been used. There may be undesirable gases
emitted from the plywood, which would
contaminate your food, but I'm not sure
about this potential problem.
The box should be large enough to
contain the desired size of pots which will be
used. but not much larger. The inside
dimensions of the Kerr/Cole cooker
mentioned earlier arel8"x22"x7". This size
can hold 3-4 pots of food and can cook a
meal for 4-6 people easily.
Insulation on the sides and boaom of
the oven wiU help it attain higher
temperatures by reducing heat loss. The
easiest is Thc.rmax foil faced insulation
secured with foil rape (not duct tape). There
may be hannful gases given off by this and
(continued on page 30)
Xatuah 1ourna! om1e ? Q
�(coniinutd from page 29)
01hers have objected to its use; however I
have not noticed any strange odors or tastes
in food cooked in an oven insulated with this
material, and when I called the manufacturer,
I was told there have been no problems
associated with ils use.
Another insulation scheme is 10 use a
smaller box inside the outer one and put
crumbled newspapers or fiberglass insulation
between the two boxes. Still another is to
fold cardboard so that trapped air pockets are
fonned and put these peices into the bottom
and on the sides of the box. With !he last two
Home Power Inc., POB 275. Ashland, OR
97520; and The Solar Coo~ry Book, Beth
and Dan Halacy, Peace Press 3828 Wilat
Avenue, Culver City, California 90230.
A variety of foods including soups,
stews, bread, chicken, cakes, rice, potatoes,
lasagna, and a variety of other vegetables can
be cooked in a solar oven. However, it does
involve some behavioral modification. One
needs to check the weather report for the day,
plan the day's dinner in the morning, put it
together and in the oven by around 10 or 11
and point the oven towards the south.
Obviously some foods will cook faster than
others. Baked beans and hot dogs can be
heated up in about I hour. Lentils, brown
rice, and soy beans will take substantially
longer. But just about anything can be
cooked in one good sunny day, or even a
panly cloudy day, if placed in the oven in the
morning and if the oven is reoriented towards
the sun a few times during the day. Around
noon is the ideal rime for solar cooking
because that is when we are receiving the
greatest amount of solar radiation.
There is no worry about burning foods.
Dark enamel, glass or ceramic pots work
well. TI1e dark-colored pots absorb more
radiation. Most cooking should be done in
convered pois.
Several solar cookbooks are available,
including Eleanor's Solar Cookbook, Eleanor
Shimcall. Cemese Publishers, 7028 Leesburg
Place, Stockton CA 95207 and Favorite
Recipes From Solar Cooks, Solar Box ,;,!!II'
Cooker International.
schemes the junction between the inside and
outside of the oven needs to be covered.
The reflector can be consmicted from
cardboard with a reflective material such as
aluminum foil, reflective mylar or a glass
mirror glued to it. Glass, plastic cooking
bags (available in grocery stores), or teflon
can be used for the glazings. Multiple layers
of glazing will result in better performance.
The glazing can be attached wilh aluminum
tape, wooden strips and nails for a wooden
box, and/or caulk. Multiple reflector designs
(fig. I) achieve higher temperature.\ (300-450°
F) but are more complicated to construct.
These cookers usually have a door on
the back side, but can also be constructed
with a shoebox type lid so the whole oven,
withou1 a bottom, fits over a shallow pan,
which would hold the pots of food.
Plans are available for $10 from Our
Sol.tr Systems, Box 55891. Tucson, AZ
85703. Two books with plans are also
available: Heave11s· Flame. A Guidebook 10
Solar Cookers, By Joseph Radabaugh,$ IO,
Complete ovens can also be purchased
from Clevlab ($15 - $275), POB 2647,
Liuleton, Colorado, 80161 and from Sunlight
Energy Corporation ($179), 441 lW. Echo
Lane, Glendale, AZ 85302 (602) 943,6492.
Figure 2 shows an exploded view of a smnll
p
muhiple reflector oven similarly inspired by
the Clevlab $15 Sunspot Solar Oven. This
same basic construction can be expanded for
a larger slant face type mulliple rcflcct0r
oven.
FRENCH BROAD
FOOD CO-OP
•• • Co05Umcr0wncd Since 1975 • ••
We Sell Food that Nourishes
I Iumans and Sustains the Earth
OPEN TO T l IE PUBLIC
Mond,,y· FriJay 8:30 AM to 8:00 r:--1
Saturdav 9:00 AM to 7:00 PM
SundJ)' I :(l(J P\I 10 6:00 PM
(704) 255-7650
Home! A Bioregional Reader
1/o,,u:! A Biorcgional Rtader, juit publi.\hcd hy
New Society Publi$hcrs, offcrs· nn c,ciung vision :uid
slOltcgy for creaung ('.enlogic.ii ly su~btn~htc
communnics and culture., rn hannony v. ilh the limiL~ nnd
rcgcncrauve powers or the £2th." It ha.~ gathered a.niclcs,
stories. and potnL~ of O\'Cr forty writer~ and acuvm.~who
have contnbu!Cd both co ddining biortgionalism a.~ a
J)Olitic;il philosophy and to the pracuce of "living rn
place.· Comnbutors mcluJ.:: Gary Snylkr, Pttcr Berg.
Caroline Estc,, Wendell Rcrry, a, well as Mnmie Muller
of the Karunlt l<mrnnl. Gr:ipl11cs in the book include the.•
\\Ort of Katuah's Rob Mcsskl..
The book is a large-format r;ipcrhack with 192
pages. includrni; resources and a reading list. Copies arc
available by mnil for S15.70 from RM Designs: Boi
Tnlhng Lto,~.s i~ • mor11hly
JOWMI nf ~ ecoloay, in.<rircd
p,,rwoaJ 11e11,·i= rooted UJ CNtheo
~piri11111iiy. Pu1 i"'-<;ues bnc
!car~ ani,lcs by Gary Soy<kr.
St.Vba"'k, John Sec:J, Joa.nna
Macy, B111 Dc\'all. Looc Wolf
Circle!'. Barhara Mor, etc.
Tnlki11g uo1n SJICU~ for the
narural "''-'"d and for the rdcinJliog
ot our own 'l-11d 51>in1.
Suh5COpUon~ an, S 15.00 on.)Ut/$18.000U1,1dc U.S. S25.00
two yc.tn/S36.00 ouwdc U.S .
~nd ch«k or M 0 . 10 :
Tnlkwg Lto,·a
1430 W1llamcuc #36 7
Eugene. OR 97401
503/342-2974
90 8i11m11rc Avcnul! A,hevallc, NC
2 Blocks South ol Downtown
rrutoNSETc:1
+.
•
0
~
I
.
.
- tl1c new al tcnmt.h·c
•
i
to tJ1c sleeper sofa
wiil1 OYcr 4,000 vcars of
customer ~atisfacH~n built in.
--
2601: Boone, NC 28007. Print,,, or Rob Mcssick's
illustrations from the book are also avnilablc from the
same llddn=
Taff, 1991
�The Bell: A Call to Peace
'The Bell
publishes
commentary and
news about peace
events and
resources. We digest
the best an1clcs
questioning war as a
solution 10 conflict
and exploring
peaceful alternatives
of foresight and reason. We continue to cover
the aftermath or the Gulf War, the policies that
brought us to that war, and the effect of
militarism on our country. our environment,
and our world.
"We accept contributions in the way of
writings, p<>cms, artwork, etc. The Bell is an
all-volunteer project that is dependent on
donations."
Issue #6 of The Bell, which contains an
interview with a woman who has maintained a
ten year, 2·1-hour-a-day peace vigil across the
srrcet from the White House, is currently
available.
TI1c Bell is published by Col/ten Redt1w11 and
Ah,yn Moss. To rrceivt The Bell, send a donmion to
Box 634; Floyd. VA 24091.
Permaculture Conference
The 6th Annual Eastern North America
Pennaculture Conference will be held
October 11-13 at the Standing Stone State
Park, near the town of Livingston m
nonhcast Tennessee.
Friday, October 11 • Field Day at Earth
Advocates Research Facility with an
inrroduction 10 Pcrmaculture.
Presentations on Saturday and Sunday,
October 12-13 - Keyline; Pcrn1aculturc and
Spirituality; Solar Power; Bio:.helters;
Low-income Community Development/Land
Tnms,
Monday, October 14 - Tours of nearby
Hidden Springs and Long Hungry Creek
Nurseries.
Costs are: Field Day - $20, Conference
registration (sliding scale) - $50-75 single,
$75-100 family. includt!s dorm lodging and
meals. Tours are free.
For directions and additional
infonnation, write: Eanh Advocates; Rt. 3,
Box 624; Livingston, TN 38570.
•
TURTLE ISLAND
BIOREGIONAL
CONGRESS
Mark the date!
The fifth
Turtle Island
Bioregional Congress
wm be held
MAY 17-24
at
Camp Stewart
Kerrville, Texas
(northwest of San Antonio)
Rl'g1strahon fet.-s hav<.> not b<.>cn set, but lhcn~
will bc r1.-dured rat<.>S for those who apply
bcfore0cccmbcr31, 1991
For funhcr infonnation on fees and
arrangements, contact the
Turtle Island Office
Box 140826
Dallas, TX 75214
(214) 324-4629
Bioregional Congresses
01.ark Area
The Twelfth Annual Ozark Area Community Congress, OACC
(pronounced 'oak") XII, will meet September 20, 21, & 22, 1991 at
Hammond Mill Camp in West Plains, Missouri. OACC has met for 12
years as a working congress (not merely a conforcnce) developing a
vision for the Ozark region based on nature's ecological rrinciples. They
focus on a range of issues including forestry, water, sustainable
agriculture. education. health, community economics, etc. This year's
congress includes a number of workshops as well as a barter fair. For
more infonnation. contact OACC, Box 3, Brixey, Missouri 65618. (417)
679- 4773.
Great Lakes Area
The Great Lakes Bioregional Congress will meet October 4, 5, &
6, 1991 in Hell (no joke), Michigan. The Congress promises to be a
celebratory, educational, fun weekend. Zones of discussion will include:
Water/Air (repon from International Joint Commission meeting, Great
Lakes Beach Sweep, toxic issues, aquatic intelligence); Eanh ( organic
farming, land use, restoration, tenure); Justice (social justice, people of
color, 500 years of resistance with dignity); Culture (alternative
economics, children, bioregional education, art, sacred sites); Habitat
(co-housing. sustainability); Nature (biodiversity, wilderness, forestry,
land defense). Scholarships available. Contact: Bearrice Briggs, % Wild
Onion Alliance, 3432 N. Boswonh, Chicago. IL 60657. (312) 929-5565.
Ohio River Watershed
The Ohio River Watershed Bioregionnl FestivaVCongress will be
held October 11-14, 1991. Entitled "Coming I Jome: Spirituality and
Ecology of our Region", the Congress is "open to all who desire to create
ways of life which are in harmony with the natural patterns and cycles of
the bioregion." All attendees are asked to panicipate in storytelling,
camping, sharing homegrown entenainment, produce, and seeds. The
Congress will be held at the fann of the Sisters of St Fmncis outside of
Oldenburg in southeast Indiana. $ I0/individual; $25/family. For more
information, contact: John Gibson, 3038 FalJ Creek Parkway,
Indianapolis, IN 46205; (317) 925-9297.
rnrc. ,.,
t!l!Jl
REGIONAL RADIO
Featuring Crossroads music, NPR news and music
p rograms, regional news and information
concerning health, education, government,
recreation, and the environment.
WNCW • FM P.O. Box 8().1
Spind,11~, NC 28160
(704) 287-8000
Xotimh Journot pn')C ~ I
�27-29
GREAT SMOKIES PARK
"Ecological Spintuafity.• exploring our
spiritual relationship to nmure. Topics will co~cr
theology or nature, 1'a1ivc American spir11uality,
stewardship responsibility. Pre-register: SSO. For info
about this and other programs. conUICt Great Smoky
Mountains Institute at Tremont; GSMNP: Townsend.
TN 37882. (615) 448-6709.
SEPTEMBER
11- 13
llLACK '>tOUNTAlN, NC
Black Mountain Mu~ic ~1ival, featuring
HorseOics, Metropolitan Blues Alls1ars, Dnv1d
Wilcox, Dr. Bubba and Ille O.K, Bayou Bnnd, and
other traditional and contemporary mu~icions. Will
also include African Drum Festival with Darrell
Rose. Cont:itl the Black Mountain FcsLi val Office.
PO Box 216, Black Mountain. NC 28711. (704)
669-4546.
Ongoing CIIEROKEF., r-;c
Exhibit: "The Beu in Cherokee Cultucc."
Cherokee Hcri1age Museum and Gallery, Hwy. 441
and Big Cove Rd.: Cherokee, NC 28719. (704)
497-321 I.
CULLOWHEE, NC
Mountam Heritage Day. n cclcbrauon or the
music, dance, crofL~. nnd folklife or Katunh. Cherokee
songs, shape,note singing, gospel, clogging. Life
skills dcmon.s1r.1tions and more. Mountrun Hcniage
Center, Western Carolina University. Cullowhce, NC
28723. (704) 227-7129.
SW ANNANOA, NC
Wnllace Black Elk, Lako1:1 Sioux mcd1cmc
mon. will lecture and conduct h<mling ceremomics 31
the Earth Center. Friday night: S25. Weekend: S150.
The Earth Center: 302 Old Fellowship Road:
Swannanoa, NC 28778. (704) 298-3935.
21
29
11-13
ASHEVILLE, NC
2nd Annual Organic Gro.,.crs Murkct Day
Organic produce, fruit, and growing ~upplics on sale.
8-4. WNC Farmers' Market; 570 Brevard Rd. For
more info, cnll Jim Smith (704) 252-4414.
20-22
HIGIILANDS, NC
"Cclebnumg Gay Spint Visions·
conference for gay and bisexual men. Spc.ikcrs include
poet James Broughton and author/healer Andrew
R:imer. Workshops on chakra b:ilancing, life ma.~k
making. n,e Warrior, and more. Music and artists'
m:irkcL ?re-register: S169 includes food and lodging
at The Mount:iin Retreat Center. For info, contact
Conference: 104 Trouer Place: Asheville. NC
28806. (704) 252-0634.
22
DUNCOM tlE COUNTY, NC
12th annu31 French Broad River Rafting
Cleanup. Tidy up the river from shore or from a mrt:
call Quality Forward a1 (704) 254-1776 for meeting
places and space on a rofL
WESTERN NOR1 H CAROLINA
North Cnrolino Fu-s1 Citizens Big Sweep
will coordinmc river cleanup~ in 18 WNC counties.
For events on your tribul3ry, com.act Pat Brinkley at
WNC Development Associn11on, (704) 252-4783.
28
ASHEVILLE, NC
Ellen O'Grady will speak about her
expcnenccs among Palestinians and lsrnclis during ten
months spent on o Middle East Witness delegauon.
Unitarian Universnlist Church, 2 pm, sponsored by
Rural Souihem Voice for Peace. For more info,
contact RSVP: 1898 Hannah Branch Road;
Burn.svdle, NC 28714. (704) 675-5933.
OCTOBER
Ongomg CHER OKEE, NC
Exhibit: "Coowccskoowcc (Chief John
Ross)" Cherokee Heritage Museum ond Gallery. Sec
"Ongoing" • Sept
1-5
CII EROKEE,
Cherokee Fall Festival 31 the Ceremonial
Grounds. Traditional dancing and costumes. dunce
competitions, weapons dcmonsu:uions. Chcrol.;cc
HcritJgC An Show running concurrently in the
Museum. For info. coll (704) 497 9195 or (800)
438-1601.
22
23
AUTUMN EQUINOX,
FULL MOON
4-6
JONESBORO, NC
l9ch Annual National Storytelling
Festival will feature yarn-spinners from all
over, including some of Appalachia's best.
For info, call the National Association for the
Preservation and Perpetuation of Storytelling
(NAPPS) at (615) 753-2171.
11-13
VALLEY HEAD, AL
Brooke Medicine Eagle at Hawk wind. (See
"Wcbworking" page.)
11-13
11,EW MARKET, TN
"Building Bridges 13c{woon Community o.nd
Educational lnstitulions" workshop. Designed to
show community activists how to make good use of
university and college resources. The Highlan~ r
Center. Sec 9/13-15.
I 1-20
HOT SPRI NGS, 1'C
"The Buddhist Prcccp1s for Daily Living"
silent rc1.rea1. guided by Cheri Huber. The 16
Bhodisatvn prcceplS as guidelines for deepening one's
spiritual practice. Pre-register: S325 includes vegan
meals and shared room . For information on 1hi5 and
other rc1rcat.s and workshops. contact Southern
Dharma Rc1rca1 Center: RI. I, Box 34-H; Hot
Springs, r-;c 28743. (704) 622-7112.
ASHEVILLE, 1'C
"The Solar Wisdom or the Incas· wilh
Willaru Chasqu1 from the Peruvian Andes. Gnosuc
wisdom of the central sun, imerplnnctary mission of
the E.T.'s, revolution in consciousness, universal
community, and the lnc:in calendar. 7:30 pm at
Jubilee, 45 Wall SL Free - love offerings accepted.
For more info. contact Valerie Naiman (704)
645-5110.
12
17-20 UNICOI STATE PARK, GA
25-29 ASHEVILLE, NC
"Kituwah" - an imenribal Native
American cultural celebration. Included will
be lifestyle ans demonstrations, competitive
dancing, juried fine arts show, traditional
crafts sale, and dramatic performances. All
events will be at the Asheville Civic Center.
Admission $2-7. For info, contact Kituwah,
46 Haywood St., Asheville, NC 28801.
(704) 252-3880.
HIGHLANDS, NC
WNC Alliance Annual Membership
Meeting al The Mountain. Open 10 the public.
Worlcshops, nature walks, lcgislntivc upda1e. Keynocc
speaker: James Blomquisl. head of the Public Londs
Program for the Siem Club. Workshops on
biOJcgions, mcdj:Juon, environmental effectiveness,
and lhe timber sale appeals. ConlJICt WNC Alliance:
B011 18087: A~heville. NC 28814. (704) 258-8737.
7
NEW MOON
10-13
NORRIS, TN
12th Annual Tennessee Fall Homecoming.
a cctebralion or lrlldmonal mountain cullure at the
Museum of Appalachia. Music, crafts,
demonstrations of rural life skills, in addition to the
Museum's regular cxhJbits. For info, call the
Museum of Appalachia at (615) 494-7680.
FnJI Ennhskills Workshop will offer
serious instruc1ion in the ans and lifeways of
indigenous people. Skills include making fire
by friction, plant identification, tanning
buckskin, stone and bone tools, stalking and
tracking, native drums and rattles.
Instructors: Darry Wood, Snow Bear, Scott
Jones. For info. contact Bob Slack, Jr.;
Unicoi State Park; Helen, GA 30545. (404)
878-2201.
18-20
27-29
ll-14
LIVINGSTON, TN
6th Annual Eastern Nonh American
Pennacuhurc Conference. Field day, nursery
tours, workshops: keyline, pennaculture and
spirituality, solar power, bioshelters, land
truSlS, more. Pre-register: Weekend - $50-75
(sliding scale), Field Day - $20 additional, to
Eanh Advocates; Rt 3, Box 624, Livingston,
TN 38570
SWANNANOA, NC
Dance, drumming, and teaching with
Brooke Medicine Eagle, healer and licensed counselor,
al the Earth Cen1er. S11ong emph3s1s oo women's
ways, but bolh men and women are welcome. Friday
night: $25. Weekend· SISO. See IWl l-13.
18-20
VALLEY HEAD, AL
"Women's Ceremonial Intensive" at
Hawkwind. (Sec "Webworking" p:1gc.)
Ta([, 1991
J
�SWAl'\ r-. ANOA, NC
"Rcncwmg Worship" Conference spon.sorcd
by Asheville Jubilee Community examinmg
Crcauon SpmlU3hLy through Lhc works of Ma11hew
Fo~. S250 1u11,on + S200 lodging. Jubilee: 46 W311
S1.: Asheville, NC 28801 (704) 252-5335.
NOVEl\IDER
21-25
23
F ULL MOON
NEW M ARK ET, T N
Appalachian Writers Workshop a1 1he
HighlMdet Center. Sec 9/13-15.
25-27
25-27
HI GHLANDS, NC
"Fall Landscape Workshop" with
photographer Sam Wang. Pre-register: $250 includes
lodging. For information about this and other
photography workshops, contact Appalachian
Environmental Ans Center; Box 580: Highlands, NC
2874 I. (704) 526-2602.
26
SWANNANOA, NC
Sweat lodge at th.: Earth Center Sec
10/11-13.
HALLOWE'l-:N (SAM ll AIN)
31
6
23
SWANNANOA. NC
Sweat lodge al the Earth Center. Sec
10/11-13.
NFW 1\100"1
7-9
G REENV ILL E, NC
6th Annu:il Altcma1ivc Farm Field Days.
Tours. seminars: aquaculture. markeung. compostmg,
cover crops, f>C$t mMagement, more. For info. write
Caroli no Farm Stewordsh1p A~sociation; Box 511;
Pittsboro. NC 27312 or call Jim Smith m Asheville
4.
at (704) 252-44 1
28-30
WAYNESV ILLE, NC
"Steps 10 Pc:icc" workshop with Sanderson
Beck. Inner ond outer pc:ice nnd the principles which
bring about peace. h3llllony, jusuce, and respect for
freedom. S60 includes vegetarian meals Md lodging.
For info on this and other program5, contact
Sul-Light Retreat Center; RI. I, Box 326;
Waynesville, NC 28786. (7~) 452-4569.
8-10
VA LLEY HEA D, AL
"A Weekend lnicns1vc on Lakota Ways• at
Howkwind. (Sec Wcbworking" page.)
9-10
SWANNANOA, NC
Dhyani Ywahoo 111 Lhc Eanh Ccmcr.
"Dhyani calls on u.~ 10 become Pcacckccpcr; in our
hearts and in the world." S200. Sec 10/11-13.
16-17
VA LLE Y II EAO, AL
Healing Arts Weekend al lillwkwind. (Sec
'Webworking" page.)
20-24
HOT SPRI NGS, NC
"Tam,ng the Monkey Mind" mcdit.ition
rctrc.it guided by Ven. Thubten Chodton, M ,\mericM
Tibetan BuddhlSI nun. Southern Dharma Retreat
Center. Prc-rcgi~tL-r: $170. Sec 10/11-20.
21
DECEMBER
5
NEW MOON
7-8
GREAT SMO KIF.S PARK
Winter llighcountry C.1mping. For info on
this and other field school comses. conlllct Smoky
Mounmin Field School: 600 Henley SL (Suite 105);
Univ. or TN; Knoxville, lN J7902. (615) 974-0150
or (800) 284-8885.
DO YOU ll'ANT YOUR IIAPPENINGS US-TED IN
HIE KATUMI EVENTS CALENDAR? listings arc
free. Mail tl~m to 1/rother 8/uir; JOO Webb Cove
Rd: A.fhtvilfe, NC 28804. l.isltngs for Issue 1133
must bt submilltd by Nov. 15.
FULL MOON
22-24
NF.W MARKET, TN
An11-Env1mnmcnt:il llaras.,mcm work.shop
at the fl1ghlandcr Center, Environmental ac1h·1sts
will learn how 10 dc0ccl harn,smcnt from the
polltic,1Vcorpor.i1e power st.nJCturc. Sec 9/13-15.
"The an!,.l°s oldest
.lnd l.ugcs1 natural
ioodsgnx.:,ry"
811/k l lcrbs, Spices, & Grains
Vitamins & Supplements
Y.'11eat, Salt & Yeast-Free Foods
Dniry S11bstit11trs
Hair & Skin Cart' Products
Beer & Wi11c Makiug Supplies
200 W. King St, Boonr, :-:c 2S607
(70-l) 26-1-5220
l)r4wing by Rob Me;s.,d,
rJ
tJf.u
~ Sand_y Mush
Herb N ursery
WH OLE FOODS
VITAMINS
ORGANI C PRODUCE
WREATHS • POTPOURRI
• HERBS • TOPIARY
Complete Herb Catalog - $4
Describes more thn11 800 pla11ts from
Aloe to Yarrow
160 Broadway
Asheville, North Carolina
Open 7 Days a Week
Monday - Friday 9 am - 8 pm
Saturday 9 am - 6:30 pm
Sunday 12 pm - 5 pm
Tal.t, 199 1
A.I.A., Resource Information Analysis
Neil Thomas and Andy Feinstein
3 05 Westover, Asheville, NC
(704) 252-6816
Rt 2, Surrett Cove Road
Leicester, North Carolina 28748
Pltone for appointment to visit
(704) 683-2014
�0
•bwo~ ~,! ~
We
'
a fee of $2 .50 (pre-paid) per enrry offifty
words or less.
Submit entries for Issue 1133 by Nov. I5,
1991 to: Rob Messick; Box 2601; Boone,
NC 28607. (704) 754-6097.
Tl-IE MOUNTAINS - arc calling me home. I'll be
there in Spring of 1992. Nuds: {I) a place 10 put
a tipior s111411 camper (nc:ir a wruer source). (2) a
babysiucr between home and Asheville or
Swannanoa (ttansfering 10 school lhete), and (3 J a
JOb. Skills: (I J Organic Gardener {2) Vegetnri.an
Cook ( 3) Herbal Prcparatioos. Contact me ac
Kathleen Ashley; 1302 Two NO<Ch Road #17:
Lcitingt011, SC 29072.
MUSIC BY BOB AVERY-GRUBELavailJlbleoo three
casseues.. Treasures iii the Stream and Circles
Returning are folk/roclc-jaiz, and a JCCcnt release of
original chants and songs, Light iii tht Wind. is a
cap~ll.a. Lyric sheets included.. Send SI0 for each
tape or$26 for all thrce 10 Bob Avery-Grubel: RL I,
Box 735; Floyd, VA 24091.
'69 FORD VAN, high·l0P, very good condition. $900.
Call (704) 488-9347 (doc10r's office - leave message).
Kllty StOkely.
HlGflLANDER CEN"leR • is a community-based
cducaLion:11 orgnni:wion whose purpose is to provide
space for people to lcam from e.ich Olhcr, and to
develc,pc solutions to environmental problems based
on their values, CJtpcricnces, and aspirations. They
also put out a quarterly ncwsteucrcalled llishlander
R1:por1s. For more infoml!UJOII contact Highlander
Centu. 1959 Highlnndcr Way; New Mank.ct, TN
37820 (615) 933-3443
RAW CHEMICAL-FREE HONEY • Tulip Poplar,
Sourwood, and Wild0owcr honey rrom the forests of
Pauiclc County, VA. No chemicals. no white sugar,
no heal ever. Sunincd through chccsccloth and p:ickcd
in glass. Limited qU31ltities. Call or wnte for prices
& availability. Wade B11tkholls • Bull Mountllin
Beekeepers: RD 2, Boit I 516; Stunrt. VA 24171
(703) 694-4571.
WISE WOMAN TRADmON. Fall RooLWOtk
Wed.end with Wh1tcwolf. November 8-10. For
women and men. Dig roots, mnke medicine, I.cam
Eanhwisc healing through Joumeymg, drumming,
and dreaming. Wann donn and hearty vcgclllrian
meals. One hour from Asheville. Donation SISO 100. some worlt exchange avnilablc. Wh11ewolf; PO
Box 576; Asheville. NC 28802.
LAND FOR SALE: 10 actc privlllC cove. Large organic
field. rustic: farmhouse with spring fed water nnd liOlar
symm. SITl411 solar ,1ruc:wre. SS0.000. Call (104)
649-9266 for Tom.
NATIVE AMERJCAN CEREMONIAL HERBS • we
offer a large variety of sages. IIWCCI grass. natural
resins, and everything ncccssary for smudging. Native
smoking mixtures, flute mu.,ic, pow-wow mpcs. and
ocn:monial songs. Essential oils. and mccnscs
speciflcally made for prayer. offering. and mcdiuilion.
For catalog call or write: Essencial Drcnms: Rt 3.
Box 285: Eagle Forlt, Hayesville, NC 2890-I (104)
389-9898.
Xatimfl Journot pt19c 34
PlEDMONT BIOREGIONAL INSTITUTE • For those
who live in the Piedmont area, there's a bioregional
effort well underway. Jom Us! We would npprecillle
any donation of time or money to help meet
operating expenses. For a gift of S2S.OO or more. we
will send you a copy of John Lawson's journal, A
New Vo.)12ge 10 Carolina. Also come find out about
the Lawson Pro.,ect. PB!; 412 WRoscmnry Street;
Chapel Hill, NC27516: Uwharria Province. (919)
942-2581.
BODY R11n-,1MS from Pl311Clllly Mothers· a
beautiful and paraclical calendar for women to ch:irl
their "moonthly" cycles. Send $3.00 plus S1.00
poSUlge 10: Planclllly Mothers Collcctivc(c/o Nancie
Yonker); 5231 Riverwood Avenue; Saraso111, Fl.
34231.
FAMILIES LEARNlNG TOGETHER·
Homeschooling families organization. Discuss
issues, give mutual support. shllre ideas and
resources, and gnther for family activities. Write
Doug Woodward; 68 Lakey Creek; Franklin, NC
28734 for infonnation.
LOCAL RECYCLING CO-OP • crunched by glass
price cuts! rr you have any interest in the recent cut in
glim prices by the Owens-Brockway Company, and
would hkc to help do something about the flawed
economics of recycling, or just shale information,
please write BretNelson; 1578 Bow Hill Road;
Christiansburg, VA 24073.
THE LOVING WELL COMPANY • is a group of
people wooong together to suppon and promote what
worb 111 health and education. We arc building a
communuy dcdicrucd to pence and 10 livmg in a
healthy relationship with one allOlher. For more
infonnauon write Naomi Ross; 1433 Woodland HIiis
Drive NE: AllanUI. GA 30324-4627.
"BLOW YOUR MlND" • with the celestial sootlung
music of "Medicine Wind" by George TOCtorClli. Also
c.xouc fine-tuned bamboo nutcs in many keys nnd
modes. For more information send LO'. George
Tortorelli; 86 NW 55th Street; Gainesville, Fl.
32601. (904} 373-1837
LAND FOR SALE • Magnificent view with small
house m beautiful Spring Creek. NC. Ten miles
south of Hot Springs. NC (o!T Route 209), and one
hour west of Asheville. S25.000 f01 I.Ind and house.
Perfect for the sctr sufficient life. CaU Landa Deyo at:
(704) 675-9575.
NATJVE AMERICAN Fl.UTE MUSIC· Richard
Roberts, a well lcnown west TN new age nutist (ab
Zero Ohms), is now 3V3il~blc an the Ea!i! TN/NC
area. For rclaitiog and uplifting pcrfOrmMCC$ or UIJJCS
conlllCC Richard Robcns; Box 821; Noms, TN 37&2g
(61S)494-8828orRL I.Box 136RD;Lamar,MS
3~2 (601) 252-4283.
WE NEED. three families to complete our five family
community/neighborhood. Private south facing cove
with streams, sprangs. and views 1n Weaverville. NC
area. You get 5 to 10 acres for your home nnd equal
intueSt in I 10 acres of common land. S2S,000 to
30.000 depending on house site. Call (704) 658-2676
ror more infonnntlon.
~~
,"l' ~
HAWKWIND
Eanh Renewal Cooperative - invitcs you to
pan.icipate ma season ofctnsscs and gruhcrlngs to
tnke pince a1 our lush, 70 acre wilderness rctm1L
Ccnttally locnlCd to Georgia and Tennessee in the
Northern Alabama Mountains, our campground and
focilitics arc ava.ilablc to members, public gnthcrings
and private organizational use. Monthly prog,ams
range from Organic G:u-de'1ing, Native and Eanh
Philosophies, IO the Environment, Healing
Programs, Self Reliance, Women m Transition and
much more. Safe Family Camping. Send SI.SO for
oewslctu:r ond schedule of events to: 1-!Qwkwind; PO
Box 11; Valley Head, AL 35989. (205) 635-6304
BROOKE MEDICINE EAGLE • join this very special
Elllthlceepcr, healer. and teaehcr who has dedicated her
life 10 the people. Raised on the Crow Rescvailon in
Montana, she is a licensed counselor, and has been a
moving force behind the movement to ruum 10 the
traditional ways of honoring the Earth. Broolce will
shatc with us her lmditions, songs. dance and
drumming as well as her strong insight into the
"women's ways.• October I l-13th, $160 for the
wcelccnd intensive. For reservations & details contact
Hawlcwind at (205) 635-6304 (evenings best).
A WEEKENDINTENSIVEONLAKOTA WAYS·
Morning Star and Gilbert Wallcing Bull provide
ttaditional Lakota ceremonies 10 their community.
They teach Lakota tradiuons: the ceremony oflhc
Stone People's lodge, the S:icred c:honupa , lhe vision
qllC:il and the Sun Dance prcpru-ation. November
8-I0th, $160 for ru11 weekend. includes Clll11ping.
Ceremonies open will\ no fee. ConUICt Hawlcwind at:
(205) 635-6304 (evenings bcsl).
WOMEN'S CEREMONIAL INTENSIVE· The
Hawkwoman Cucle mvi1.es you to gather for a
wcelcend of song, dance, drumming. and ritual
ceremony for purification and crcat.ion of cen:mooiru
Loots. Together we will explore the many roles of the
Earth Women, and the ways that ceremony can be
used in everyday living. October 18-20, camping fees
and o love offering to cover materials and teacher
costs. Contnct Hawkwind nc (205) 635-6304.
HEALING ARTS WEEKEND· Hawkwmd brings :i
scncs of nawnil hc;iling systems together. Joan
professional mass3ge therapists, herbal healers, body
workers :ind join m purificntion ntU31s to remove !he
dis~ and bring the body m10 b31ancc. No,-cmbcr
16-17, S80 for lhe whole ...,eekcnd. Conuict
Hawlcwmd ac (205) 635-6304 (evenings best).
NEW MOON & SOLSTICE GATHERINGS •
Hawkwmd honors the Earth People and !he Natural
Native Rituals of clc.insing and renewal. We come
togcll1cr in lodge ocrcmony, singing, drumming,
dancing, and sea:;onal mcd1ui11ons. Native philosophy
classc~ and women's circle meet on Sunday.
Novcmb,;r 9/10, December 7/8, December 21/22 Pot
luck meals, camping fees. :ind love offering IO
suppon resource ccmcr dcvclopcmcm. ConlllCt
HawkwinJ ac (205) 635-6304 (evenings best).
rnct, 1991
�l'cl \i~e -to \We in "
5ociet_-J that )sn· -t
aysf.,nct1ona1
BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH JOURNAL AVAILABLE
ISSUE TIIREE- SPRING 1984
Sustainable Agricuhure • Sunnowcrs • 1lumnn
Impact on the Forest - Childrcns' Educauon •
Veronica Nicholas: Woman in Politics - Little
People - Medicine Allies
ISSUE FOUR· SUMMER 1984
Water Drum • Water Quality - Kudzu - Solar Eclipse
• Clearcutting - Trout - Going to Water· Ram
Pumps. Microhydro - Poems: Bennie Lee Sinclair,
Jim Wayne Miller
ISSUE FIVE· FALL 1984
Harvest. Old Ways in Cherokee· Ginseng· Nuclear
Waste. Our Celtic Heritage - Bioregionalism: Past,
Present, and Future · John Wilnoty - Healing
D:lrlcncss • Politics or Participation
lSSUE SIX - WINTER 1984-85
Wmter Solstice Eanh Ceremony • Horscpasturca
River. Coming of tile Light· Log Cabin Root·
Mountain Agriculture: The Right Crop • William
Taylor • The Future or the Forest
ISSUE SEVEN· SPRING 1985
Sustainable Economics - Hot Springs • Worker
Ownership. The Great Economy· Self Help Credit
Union • Wild Turkey. Responsible Investing·
Working in the Web or Life
ISSUE EIGHT· SUMMER 1985
Celebration: A Way or Lire - K81uah 18.000 YCD.rS
Ago • Sacred Sues - Folk Ans in the Schools • Sun
Cycle/Moon Cycle· Poems: Hilda Downer _
Cherokee Heritage Ccntcr • Who Owns Appalachia?
ISSUE NINE · FALL 1985
The Waldee Forest • The Trees Speruc • Mlgral.ing
Forests • Horse Logging • Starting a Tree Crop •
Urban Trees· Acom Bread· Myth Time
ISSUE TEN - WINTER 1985-86
Kate Rogers • Cin:lcs or SlOlle - Internal
Mythmnking • Holistic Healing on Trial • Poems:
Sieve Knauth - Mythic Ploccs - The Uktcna's Tale CryslOI Magic - "Drc:imspcaking"
ISSUE THIRTEEN · FALL 1986
Center For Awakening - Eliulbcth Callari · A
Gentle Death • Hospice - Ernest Morgan • Dealing
Creatively with Death - Home Burial Box • The
Wake. The Raven Mocker - Woodslorc and
Wildwoods Wisdom • Good Medicine; The Sweat
ISSUE FOURTEEN· WINTER 1986·87
Lloyd Carl Owle - Boogcrs and Mummers· All
Species Day • Cabin Fever Univcrsi1y • Ilomelcss
in Kauiah • Homemade Hot Water· Stovcmnkcr's
Nrumtivc - Good Medicine: lntcr.,pccacs
Communication
ISSUE FIFTEEN • SPRING 1987
Coverlets • Woman Fores1cr • Susie McMahon:
Midwife - Ahemative Contraception • Bioscxuality •
Bioregionalism and Women· Good Medicine:
Mmriarchal Cuhure • Pearl
ISSUE SIXTEEN - SUMMER 1987
Helen Waite. Poem: Visions in a Garden - Vision
Quest. First Aow - lnitinuon - Leaming m the
Wilderness. Cherokee Challenge · "Valuing Trees"
ISSUE EIGHTEEN· WlNTER 1987-88
Vernacular An:hitccture - Dreams in Wood and Stone
. Mount.ain Home - Earth Energies - Eanh-Shchcred
Laving - Mcmbrone Houses · Brush Shelter·
Poems: October Dusk. Good Mcdicino: "Sheltcrff
ISSUE NINETEEN· SPR£NG 1988
Pcrclandra Garden. Spring Ton,cs • Blueberries Wildnower Gardens - Granny Herbalist • Aowcr
Essences . "The Origin or the Animals:" Story •
Good Medicine; "Power" • Be A Tree
ISSUE TWENTY· SUMMER 1988
Preserve Appalachian Wilderness - Highlands or
Roan • Cclo Community • Land Trust· Anhur
Morgan School - 1.oning Issue· "The Ridge" •
•
Farmers and the Farm Ball • Good Medicine: "Land
• Acid Rnin • Duke's Power Play - Cherokee
Microhydro Project
ISSUE TWENTY-TWO· WINTER 1988-89
GIObal Warming - Fire ThlS Time • Thomas Berry
on "Bioregions" - Earth Exercise· Kort Loy
McWhirtcr • An Abundance of Empuncss • LETS •
Chronicles or Floyd - Darry Wood • The Bear Clan
ISSUE 1WENTY-THREE • SPRING 1989
Pisgah Village • Planet An • Green City - Poplar
Appeal • "Clear Sky" • •A New Earth" - Black Swan
• Wild Lovely Day.f • Reviews: Sacred Land Sacrt!d
Su, Jee Age • Poem· "Sudden Tendrils"
Lodge
32
,
~
UA~OURNAL
PO Box 638 Leicester. NC Katuah Province 28748
For more info: call Rob Messick at (704) 754-6097
Regular Membership........ $10/yr.
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.
Name
Address
Enclosed is $_ _".'""".'.'T":""'. ro give
this effort an extra boost
City
Ya!L, 199 1
State
Phone Number
Zip
I can be a local contact
person for my area
ISSUE TWENTY-FOUR • SUW.1ER 1989
Deep ListCning - Life in Atomic City· Direct
Acuon! - Tree or Peace - Community Building·
Pc:iccmakets - Ethnic Survival - Pairing Project·
"B:utlesong" • Growing Peace m Cultures - Review:
Tiu! Cha/iu and ihL Blade
lSSVE TWENTY-SIX • WINTER. 1989-90
Coming or Age in the Eco7.oic Era • Kids Saving
Rainforest • Kids Trcccycl mg Company • Connie,
Resoluuon. Developing the Creative Spirit· Birth
Power • Birth Bonding - The Magic or Puppetry •
Home Schooling - Naming Ceremony • Mother
Earth's Cl3S.$l'OOl!l - Gnrdcning for Children
ISSUE TWENTY ·SEVEN· SPRING, 1990
Transformauon. Healing Power· Pcoce 10 Their
Ashes. Healing in Katuah - Poem: "When Left 10
Grow". Poems: Stephen Wing - The Belly· Food
from the Ancient Forest
ISSUE TWENTY-EIGIIT • SUMMER 1990
Carrying Capacity - Setting Limits to Growth •
What is Overpopulation? • The Rood Gang • The
Highway to Nowhere - The 1·26 Project· "Caring
Capacity" • People and Habit.at - Design mg the
Whole Life Community • Steady State· Poems:
Will Ashe Bason • Tran$p0f!Crnativcs • Review:
Cohousing
ISSUE TWENTY·NINE • FAl.l./WlNTER 1990
From the Mount.ains 10 the Sea - Prolile of The
Little Tennessee River· Heodwatcrs Ecology· "It
All Comes Down to Water Quallty" - W:ucr Power.
Action for Aquatic Habitats - Dawn W:nchcrs • Good
Medicine: The Long Human Being • The North
Shore Rood - K:uuah Sells Out - Watershed Map of
the Kawah Provance
ISSUE THIRTY • SPRING I99 I
Economy/Eeology - Ways to a Regenerative
Economy • "Money as the Lowest Form or Wealth"
• Clarksville Mimcle - The Village· Food Movers·
Lifework. Good Medicine: "Village Economy··
Sheltoo Laurel • LETS
ISSUE THIRTY-ONE· SUMMER 1991
Dowsing • Responsibilities or Dowsing · Electrical
Life of the Enrth • Katuah and the Earth Gnd • Coll
of the Ancient Ones - Good Medicine: "On
Aggression" • Time to T:ike the Time to Take the
Time. Whole Science. Tuning In
Back Issues
Issue # __@ $2.50 = $._ __
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $._ __
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $._ __
Issue# _ _@ $2.50 = $._ __
Issue# __@ $2.50 = $._ __
postage paid $_ __
Complete Set
(3-10, 13-16, 18-20, 22-24, 26-31)
postage paid@ $50.00 =$_ __
:K.at ucih Journot. pa9e 35
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, Issue 32, Fall 1991
Description
An account of the resource
The thirty-second issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> is a call for humans to return to a simpler way of life, following in the ways of the Cherokee, or Katúah, tribe. Authors and artists in this issue include: David Wheeler, Barbara Wickersham, Henry Wender, John A. Freeman, Tom Underwood, Lee Barnes, Will Ashe Bason, Ivo Ballentine, Brownie Newman, Robert Johnson, Rob Messick, Bess Harbison, Maxim Didget, Robert Johnson, Emmett Greendigger, Dr. Dennis Scanlin, Deborah James, Leonard Cirino, Melba Bari, and Charlotte Homsher. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1991
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
<p>Bringing Back the Fire by David Wheeler.......1<br /><br />A Bit of Mountain Levity by Barbara Wickersham.......5<br /><br />Climax Never Came by Henry Wender.......7<br /><br />Is the Southern Appalachian Ecosystem Endangered? by John A. Freeman.......9<br /><br />"Talking Leaves": Sequoyah by Tom Underwood.......10<br /><br />Green Spirits: Seed Saving by Lee Barnes.......12<br /><br />Walking Distance by Will Ashe Bason.......13<br /><br />Angle: Environment by Ivo Ballentine.......13<br /><br />Good Medicine.......14<br /><br />Poem: "A Rotting Log" by Brownie Newman.......15<br /><br />THE GRANOLA JOURNAL.......16<br />Livin' By Their Wits, recorded by Rob Messick<br />An Old Family Tale by Bess Harbison<br />The Slide by Rob Messick<br />How Can You Lose Anything as Big as This Ego? by Maxim Didget<br /><br />Paintings: "Mountain Stories" by Robert Johnson.......18<br /><br />Natural World News.......20<br /><br />Dying Soils, Dying Waters by Emmett Greendigger.......22<br /><br />Songs in the Wilderness by Charlotte Homsher.......24<br /><br />Save James Bay.......25<br /><br />Drumming.......26<br /><br />Off the Grid: Solar Ovens by Dennis Scanlin.......29<br /><br />Events........32<br /><br />Webworking........34<br /><br />Katúah Konfusion.......35<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em></p>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, printed by The <em>Waynesville Mountaineer</em> Press
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Cherokee Indians--Social life and customs
Sequoyah, 1770?-1843
Appalachians (People)--Social life and customs
Ecosystem health--Appalachian Region, Southern
Acid Rain--Appalachian Region, Southern
Solar ovens
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1990s
Acid Deposition
Agriculture
Alternative Energy
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Cherokees
Community
Earth Energies
Ecological Peril
Economic Alternatives
Electric Power Companies
Fire
Folklore and Ceremony
Forest Issues
Good Medicine
Habitat
Katúah
Permaculture
Pigeon River
Plants and Herbs
Poems
Radioactive Waste
Reading Resources
Recycling
South PAW (Preserve Appalachian Wilderness)
Stories
Transportation Issues
Turtle Island
Villages
Water Quality
Wilderness
-
https://omeka-test.library.appstate.edu/files/original/5ac6c68fc9a4ef339c7624f779acbcb4.pdf
d9ea21ad706d54448902d9872b20ba5c
PDF Text
Text
ISSUE 34 SPRING 1992
$2.00
�•·······.•.
..........
..............
\.
....
'····:
'•\
i
!
....../
_..i
...
;
.........
..···•·
....··
......··•··
.. ··~ ..... ;..-····
~UAlrljOURNAL
PO Box 638
Leicester, NC
Katuah Province 287 48
G}
C,
Q:-
,.·..··
..··.··
•'
.....·
Drawing by Rob Mcssiclc
Postage Paid
Bulk Mail
Permit #18
Leicester, NC
28748
¢
...
(\
Printed on recycled paper
ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED
�Paradise Gardening....................
3
by Joe Hollis
Community Sponsored Agriculture..5
by Hugh love/
"lfYouDidn'tGrowlt... "...........
by Ralph Garrett
7
Eating Close to Home.................
by Peter Bane
9
Silas McDowell's Vision............
by Perry Eury
11
Poems..................................
by Allison C. Surherland
12
Native Foods..........................
by Bear with Runs
13
Cover Crops..........................
by Mark Schonbeclr.
15
Plant For Tomorrow: Hemp........
by John Ingress
17
Katuah Cultivars......................
by Lee Barnes
18
Blowing in the Wind.................
by Charlotte Homsher
19
The Web of Life:
A Katuah Almanac...................
by Lee Barnes
and Rob Messick
20
Good Medicine.......................
22
Natural World News.................
24
"Whose Rules?"......................
by David Wheeler
26
Big fvy.................................
by Emmett Greendigger
and David Wheeler
27
Drumming.......... ..................
28
Saving Wild Seeds...................
by Lee Barnes
29
Resources.............................
31
Review:
"Apple Pie in Your Face" .............. 34
Webworking..........................
37
Events..................................
38
Sprl.nq , 1992
Sustainable Agriculture and Regional Diet
It is rrom the atoms of our bioregion's
soil, water and air that our cells are
constructed and renewed. Within many
unique webs of life, we become our physical
selves and thus must share responsibility for
our impact on the delicate systems which
allow us life.
Bioregions need to become more
self-sustaining, self-governing, and
self-healing. An imponant step in obt.aining
this goal is the development of regional
sustainable agriculture and greater utiliz.ation
of seasonal diet.
Agriculture must be more ecologically
sustainable and regionally specific, since each
bioregion is unique in its combination of
climate, soils, and adaptable plants for food,
fibers and fuels. Within each bioregion:
• Cultivaled crops should be
ecologically produced in harmony with the
Earth's gifts of sunshine, frost-free growing
season, am renewable cycles of soil fertility.
• Sustainable agriculture teehniques
must maximize soil regeneration and nutrition
produced per acre, rather than simply
maximizing yields.
• All materials and energies must be
more efficiently recycled within the biaregion
that produced them. We must blanket our
soils wilh greater gifts of cover-crops and
green manures .
• We must reduce our total dependency
on a dangerously narrow base of major food
crops and monoculture techniques, and
diversify our use of currently recognized and
potentially usable wild-food plants.
• Preservation of remaining genetic
diversity is critical to prevent the final loss of
irreplaceable gene combinations. We need 10
renew the use of genetically diverse,
open-pollinated seeds to retain variability in
our fields to insure protection from
catastrophic crop loss due to genetic
uniformity. Local seed-saving could allow
independence from extra-regional seed
sources.
• Most imponanlly, humans in each
bioregion must accept total responsibility for
their region's ecological health and
self-sufficiency in food production.
A regional diet should be nuaitious and
healthy; pleasant to eat; consumed more "in
sync" with regiona.V seasonal cycles of
production; and involve foods which can be
preserved using, low-technology food
preservation techniques, such as solar
drying, smoking, salt preservation and
pickling.
We need to review each region's
traditional diets, as guides to efficient,
non-destructive food production, and
carefully learn from each region's own
unique seasonal production of abundant
crops such as fruits (berries, etc.), nuts
(chestnuts, acoms,etc.), and wild seeds
(grains).
"Getting back to the garden," as Joe
Hollis tells us, will be no easy taSk.. We must
embra.ce the best featureS of current and
developing techniques and philosophies for a
sustainable future.
In this issue, we address the potential
for regional, sustainable agriculture and
regional diet by reviewing Katuah's historical
foods and agricultural cycles. We explore
new ideas for food production and marketing
systems, and provide some specific
information on wild plant seed-saving,
recommended vegetable varieties, and cover
crops.
We hope this issue will "seed" further
investigations into sustainable agriculture,
regional autonomy, and self-healing. We are
what we eat, and are ultimately responsible
for the heallh of ourselves and "all our
relations."
May we be more receptive to our
planet's council, and our mutual future.
Dr""'Ul8 by Pcgi
- Lee Barnes
�~JAH JOURNAL
EDITORIAL SLASH:
Maria Abbruzzi
Lee Barnes
Chris Davis
Charlone Homsher
John Ingress
James Rhea
Susan Adam
Heather Blair
Emmen Grecndigger
Jim Houser
Rob Messick
David Wheeler
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE:
Sherman Bamford
Jesse Jones
Bill Melanson
Pegi
Breeze Bums
Richard Lowenthal
Mamie Muller
Donna Stringer
Thanks 10 Celo Community and RSVP for hosting Xa,uah lhis time.
Special thanks to l<Alherme Adam and Staff of ATIRA
COVER: by Rhea Rose Ormond
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
PUBLISHED BY: Karuah Journal
Here,
in the Katuah Province
of these ancient Appalachian mountains
where once the Cherokee Nation lived in freedom
between the Tennessee River Valley and the Eastern Piedmont
between the Valley of the Roanoke and the Southern Plain
on this Turtle lsland continent of Mother Ela, the Eanh
PRTNTED BY: The Waynesville Mouniaineer Press
EDITORIAL OFFICE THIS ISSUE: Billy Home and Gardens.
WRITE US AT: Kaniah Journal
Asheville
Box 638; Leicester, NC; Kaniah Province 28748
TELEPHONE:
(704) 754-6097
Diversity is an imponant clement of bioregional ecology, both narural
and social. In accord with this principle Katuah Journal tries to serve a.s n
forum for lhe discussion of regional issues. Signed articles e.xpress only the
opinion of lhe authors and are no, necessarily the opinions of the Katunh
Journal editors or staff.
The Internal Revenue Service has declared Ka1uoh Journal a non-profit
orgnnization under section 501 (cX3) of the Internal Revenue Code. All
contributions to Ka1uah Journal are deductible from ))Cl'SOlllll income c.ax.
Articles appearing in Katuah Journal may be reprinted in other
publications with permission from the Katuoh Journal stnlT. Contact the
journal in writing or call (704) 754-6097.
tNVOCATLON
The Greatest Friend I have in life
Has brought me here to dwell
Awhile among these green, green hills
And by the watery well.
The water from that wondrous well
Has made my eyes to see
And loosed my tongue to sing with joy
That such a Friend could be.
Here,
In this place we dedicate ourselves to remembering our deep
connection to the spirit of the land.
We bring lhis connection into the being and the doing of
our daily lives
When the land speaks, we listen and we act
We tune our lives to the changes, to the seasons
We respect the limits of the land
We preserve, defend, and restore the land
We give thanks for all that is good
Harmony with 1he land is no longer an ideal; it is an imperative.
The land is a living being. She is sacred.
As 1he land lives, so do we.
As the spirit of the land is diminished,
our spirits are diminished as welL
Kacuah Journal sends a voice...
with articles, stories, poems, and anwork
we speak 10 the spirit of all the living, breathing
inhabitants of these mountains
in hopes that we, the human beings,
may find our place in this Great Life.
The Edit.ors
j
• The Incredible String BQ/ld
Bonier by Jason Tueller
KATUAH JOURNAL wanrs to communicate your rhoug/,rs and
feelings to the other people in the bioregional province. Send
them t.o us as leuers,poems, stories, articles, drawings, or
photographs, etc. Please send your coruributions to us at:
Karuah Journal; P. 0. Box 638; Leicester, NC; Katua/1 Province
28748.
OUR NEXT ISSUE will be involved with the continually
controversial topic of Councils, and how to create more viable
methods of decision-making in the future. Possible topics
include: Native American sovereignty, the State of Franklin,
JCQtuah Journat page 2
Town Meetings, Council of All Beings, Regional Rainbow
Gatherings, Grassroots Groups, Conflict Resolution, and more?
Submit all material by April 30th, 1992.
THE FALL, 1992 ISSUE will be about the role of wood in
the life of the mountains. Please send articles evaluating the
present timber industry, logging stories, and visions of ecological
and sustainable ways to cut and use wood. Please also send
pictures and drawings of wood and woodworkers. Deadline is
July 30, 1992.
Spri.ng, l 992
�PARADISE GARDENING
by Joe Hollis
W c wam 10 save the world, and we
want 10 save ourselves. It's the same thing.
The problems confronting us arc enormous
and at every level: personal, social, planetary.
l will spare you a list. My aim is 10 suggest
that they are all symptoms of one problem,
and to propose a solution.
The problem: 10 find a way to live on
Earth which promotes our health and
happiness, conducive to the full development
of our innate potential, and, a1 the same time,
is "democratic," that is, available to all, not
using more than our share, and harmonious
with the biosphere's evident drive toward
increasing diversity, complexity, and
stability.
Our world is being destroyed, in the
final analysis, by an extremely misguided
notion of what constitutes a successful
human life. Materialism is running mmpant
and WILL CONSUME EVERY11iING,
because its hunger will never be sated by its
consumption. Human life has become a
cancer on the planet, gobbling up all the
flows of matter and energy, poisoning them
with our waste. What can stop this monster?
Nothing. Just lhis: walk away from iL
It is time, indeed time is running out, to
abandon the entire edifice of "civilization/the
State/ the Economy" and walk (don't run!) to
a bener place: home, to Paradise.
J
•••
1) Paradfae is, first of all, a garden. A
garden in which everything we need is there
for the taking.
2) And Paradise Gardening is a way or
life which serves to maintain the garden, and
is in turn maintained by it. Ecologist Eugene
Odum calls this being the 'ecosystem
manager:' "an organism that utilizes a small
frac tion of the total energy budget and in
return provides a service which aids the
system in its funclion and continued
survival." (This concept "illustrates the ideal
which man should imitate in his auempts 10
manage a natural ecosystem.") Genesis, with
the characteristic compression of myth, says
we were put into the garden "10 dress it and
keep it." Same thing.
3) Parndise Gardening is not work.
Work is a subjective concept: one person's
play may be another person's work. h has
nothing to do with effon: tennis, for
example, is usually "play" (unless you're a
"pro"), sitting at a computer terminal is
frequently "work." Work is whatever you are
doing when you'd rather be doing something
else. Paradise Gardening is "not work" in the
same sense that what a bear does all day is
"not work." This distinction is the same as
that which the Taoists make between "doing"
and "not-doing." Genesis refers to the same
matter in saying that only outside the garden
do we have 10 earn our living "by the sweat
of our brow."
4) Paradise Gardening is not
agriculture. From chemical to organic
sprLr19, t992
agriculture is a step in the right direction, but
only the first step. Agriculrure itself is, after
alI, half of the one-two punch that knocked
us out of Paradise in the first place. Good
farmers, to be sure, love nature; but they love
her in the context of plowing her up every
year and deciding what to grow next. Our
addiction 10 annual species and disturbed
habitats has put us at odds with the main
thrust of the biosphere (and with ourselves).
Oh, Eanlt is patient and Earth is old
And a mother of Gods, but he breaks lier,
To-ing.fro-ing, wit!, tlte plow teams going,
Tearing the soil of her, year by year
Sophocles, Antigone
Every spring, nature begins again 10
clothe the Earth in beauty. It is the process of
succession, the initial strands of the intricate
web, the rebirth of the Tree of Life. And
every autumn we scrape it off, rake it into
barns, take it to market: we increase human
diversity and complexity (butcher, baker,
candlestick-maker ...) by appropriating to
ourselves processes which are meant to
benefit all
•••
Drawina by Rob Messick
Paradise is a habitat and a niche. Mircca
Eliade refers to the universal "yearning for
Paradise": Memories coded into our genes of
our place, our fit. How, after all, does a bird,
for example, select a place to build a nes1? So
many factors to consider (and such a small
brain!). It simply picks the most beautiful
spot available. It was born with a "template"
of paradise.
Concerning this the Book ofOdes
says, "The twittering yellow bird, the bright
silky warbler, comes to its rest in the hollow
corner of the hill." and Confucius commented
"Comes to rest, alights, knows what its rest
is, what its ease is. Is man, for all his wit,
less wise than this bird of yellow plumage
that he should no, know his resting place or
fix the point of his aim?"
Like any other creature, we are our
niche. By our physiology and behavioral
programming we arc born to live a ccnain
kind of life. Paradise is our birthright and our
duty,
Now, instead, we take up a niche in
civilization. The premise of civilization is that
if everyone is a less than complete human
being (''1'11 be the brains, you be the back"),
ii will be beuer for all of us. This insulting
premise has guided us for so long that many
of us are unaware of an alternative. We
(cnnunucd on next page)
Xotl'.wf, )ourlfflt pcu_,e 3
�(COlllinucd from page 3)
equate "making a living" with "making
money." Thus we spend the best hours of
our lives pursuing our careers, being pan of
the cancer.
But everything needful to be
completely human is available to us close by
in our environment - the garden and the
ocighborhod. We can rely on the truth of this
because "human-ncss" is a creation of the
environment, the most recent manifestation of
a coevolution between our genes and all the
other genes in the world that has been going
on since the beginning of life on eanh. Much
chancier is the possibility that everything we
need to be completely human is available to
us in the city, or through money.
population level, live and coexist as foragers
(ecosystem managers)? "Caught in the devil's
bargain " how can we "get ourselves back to
the garden"? (Joni Mitchell, "Woods1ock")
The strategy here proposed, Paradise
Gardening, may be described as :'in1ensified
foraging." David Harris, in a scnes of
papers has explored "alternative pathways to
agricul'ture." Particular!~ valuable is ~s .
distinction between "agncultural mampulaaon
and transfonnatfon ... agricultural utilization
•••
The last time we lived in paradise it was
as "foragers": hunters and gatherers,
omnivorous, opponunistic exploiters of a
variety of environments. Specialists, not of
disturbance but of diversity.
This lifestyle has attracted much
attention recently (at the very time that the last
vestiges of it~ being eradicated). Toe view
that foraging is an adaptation superior to
agriculture is now well established in
academia and the same theme appears in
popular literature (e.g. Bruce Chatwin, Tl~
Song/Ines and Vargas Llosa, The Storyteller,
both inspiring).
A revolution in the study of the human
niche was prompted by the realization that
foragers, far from living on the brink of
starvation, as previously imagined, actually
had more leisure than anyone else since (Lee
and deVore, Man the Hunter).
Boserup (The Conditions ofAgricultural Growth) suggests that there have
never been any "agricultural revolutions," in
the sense of a sudden invention of a great
new way 10 produce food; but rather that
increases in food production always come at
the cost of even greater increases in labor (or
fossil fuel) input, that the techniques were
always well known to the producers, but
resisted until finally demanded by rising
population (or the demands of the upper
classes for a surplus, a 'cash crop').
"Agriculture permits denser food
growth supponing denser population and
larger social units but at the cost of reduced
dietary quality [less diversity to choose
from), reduced reliability of harvest [eggs in
less baskets], and equal or probably greater
labor per unit of food ... agricuhure is not a
difficult concept but one readily available to
hunting and gathering groups ... " (Mark
Cohen, The Food Crisis in Prehistory).
Agriculture, in rum, allowed population
to expand more rapidly. Any attempt to live a
foraging life in the modem world would
seem to be onJy an interesting but ultimately
imlcvant exercise of the "historic village"
variety. That "there is no going back" is
merely a truism. What those who recite it
mean to say is that there is no changing
direction, progress can be only a straight line
- from an original home in natw-c 10 a world
eventually completely human, domesticated,
fanned.
At this point, I would rephrase the
"problem" with which this essay began: How
can we, with our contemporary tastes and
Xatuafl Jou~ P~. 4
"better" future. "No act is good unless its
goodness is seen in the innnediacy of the act.
An act which justifies itself by appealing to a
later good ... all appeals to reason,
expediency, and necessity, are appeals to the
very forces that wreck all ideals. One must
have courage and be willing to take risks."
(William Thompson, Evil and World Order)
Ecology teaches that a "pioneer"
(disturbed) environment favors life forms that
are fast-growing but shon lived,
wide-spreading, ''greedy" - designed 10
capture the maximum of sunlight and
unoccupied soil. But eventually they are
succeeded by the trees, which, because they
invest energy in making wood, grow more
slowly at first, but are more stable,
longer-lived, and finally faster growing,
more influential, the "dominant species,"
towering above.
We have spread ourselves over the
Eanh, and used or burned just about
everything that is easy to get The age of the
greedy ones draws to a close. (They don't
know it yet.) At last, we may hope, the
'competitive advantage' passes to the
practitioners of permanence, rootedness,
slow growth and steady accumulation, the
vertical expansion of the human spirit into
realms unchanecl, or long forgotten. A tree
derives its satisfaction from the view
achieved.
•••
may - and, if sufficiently intensive, usually
does - lead to the IJ'llnsformation of a natural
into a largely artificial ecosystem: lhe
replacement of a tropical forest by plantation,
of temperate woodland by whcatfields ...
But agriculture may also proceed by a
process of manipulation which involves the
alteration of selected components of the
natural system rather than its wholesale
replacement - a method of cultivation which
involves substituting certain preferred
domesticated species for wild species in
equivalent ecological niches and so simulates
1he structure and functional dynamics of the
natural ecosystem."
Harris has recently edited a collection of
papers (From Foraging to Fanning) which
further explores the emerging realization that
many "non-agricultural" peoples were in fact
engaged in intensive and sophisticated plant
exploitation, previously unrecognized
because their plant management practices did
not fit our idea of agricuhure.
•••
Our goal is to "naturalize" ourselves
in lhe environment. This will involve
changing ourselves and changing the
environment: convergence toward "lit"
Perfect fit means the free and easy flowing of
matter and energy between ourselves and our
environment: life lived as a complete gift from the garden to us, from us to the garden.
But that is in the future; what we need
now is a process, leading to that goal, which
is justified on its own terms. Focus on the
ideal Paradise Garden wilJ tempt us to ta.Ice
shoncuts, perpetuating the same old panem
of selling out the present for some imagined
The process of Paradise Gardening
involves:
- Extricating our life-support system
from civilization/the Economy (bluntly,
money), and reattaching it to the natural
world of garden and neighborhood. This will
be a gradual process requiring a real analysis
of our needs and expenditures.
Thus, for example, cars and gasoline
arc nor needs but only the means to the
satisfaction of needs. The solution is not
gasohol but reducing the reason for travelling
(usually the getting and spending of money).
Concerning this the TM Te Ching says, 'The
country over the border might be so near that
one could hear the cocks crowing and the
dogs barking in it, but the people would .
grow old and die without ever once troubhng
to go there." (sec Joseph Needham, Science
and Civilization in China, vol. D, ch. 80) for
a discussion of ''the political program of the
Taoists: the return to cooperative
primitivity. ")
The key 10 the self-justifying nature of
the process is this: things made or done .by
professionals or machines may be technically
superior to one's own efforts, but are
generally lacking in a quality which,
following Carlos Castenada, I will call
"hean.
0
Satisfaction from things bought usually
peaks at the moment of purchase and declines
rapidly. Needs which a.re met by the
interaction of ourselves and nature are more
deeply mer.. and there are wonderful surprises
along the way. The truth of this will be
evident to anyone who has ever made
anything "from scratch." What seldom occurs
to us (someone doesn't want it to occur to us)
is that an entire life can be constructed on 1h1s
basis.
(c:on11nuod on page J2)
Drawing by Mkhacl Thompson
SprLt1-9, !9!12
�.,,..
.
..
It ,
•
'
#
'
••••••
,
''•
,.,.
COMMUNITY SPONSORED AGRICULTURE
As lhe end of the century nears,
several things must be faced. Tho food
supply is not only tainted. it is devitaliz.ed. In
particular, foods lack nourishment for
integrity, uprightness and willingness. These
qualities depend upon individual attitudes,
but they require nutritional support
Things could get worse, and probably
they will. But, here and there people are
looking at their options and choosing 10 make
a difference. They want to suppon endeavors
that remedy the problems caused by lhe
bigger-is-better mindset. One of the worst
concerns is the loss of more than seventy
percent of the world's topsoil in the last
hundred and fifty years. Instinctively people
sense a need to encourage sound agriculture.
At the same time they want 10 buy food that
not only is free of pollution, but has an inner,
vital impulse toward life. The..-.e and related
faclOI'S motivate a trend toward agriculturally
based producer/consumer communities that
regenerate the land which feeds them.
The acronym CSA stands for
Consumer Supported Agriculture,
Community Sponsored Agriculture, or
Community Supponed Agriculture,
depending on whom you are talking 10. In all
cases it indicates a vertically integrated
agricultural operation.
However it may be done, the CSA
group provides what is necessary to grow
their food. Fortunately, not everyone has the
same things 10 contribute. Usually fanners
who can work the land successfully are in the
shortest supply. But, from these farmers'
points of view, consumers are in shon
supply <>r laborers are hard 10 find at crucial
times. The CSA is not functional until
farmer, farmland, labor, operating capital and
consumers arc lined up in cooperation.
CSA fanns vary. Some are located in or
near metropolitan areas where consumer
interest is high. Olhers involve more distance
between the land and consumers. Many sell
"shares" in advance of their year's
production. Others require an advance
deposit, refundable in everything from
produce, canned goods, eggs, honey and
cheese, to meat, flowers, herbs, firewood or
wool. Tn some cases consumers come 10 the
farm to get their food. In others, weekly
deliveries to distribution points may be
necessary. One CSA may have monthly
potluck dinners, developing strong core
groups and dividing up tasks between
mothers, accountants, farm apprentices,
lawyers, fixers, and fanners; while others
may be seat-of-the-pants operations stripped
to the bare essentials.
CSA's have several things in common.
[n one way or another they all encourage
farmers and consumers 10 understand and
suppon each other. They enable participants
to invest their resources in the land and ilS
beuennenL 1be means of production belongs
to both producers and consumer.;, as they
contribute skill, labor and capital, and take
responsibility for leaving the land better off
for their use of it. Nevenheless, in some
cases the land is owned privately while in
Spnnq, l992
by Hugh Lovel
others the CSA is organized as a cooperative,
a land trust or a research and training
institute.
Besides nutritious food and a healthier
environment there are many subsidiary
benefil!i. By having the moral and financial
expenses. In 1985 I was laid off as a bridge
carpenter in Atlanta, and in 19861 tried to
farm full time, selling produce to stores and
in pl!lking lolS. It was hardly a way 10 make
ends meet. I knew there had to be a better
way. The Biodynamic Association quarterly,
support of a community, the farmer has
backing for experimentation. Members may
want exotic items like Chinese cabbage,
Annenian cucumbers. Roquefon cheese or
Louisiana hot sauce, and the fanner has 10
learn how to produce these items.
The CSA can also be an educational
opportunity for young adults interested in
becoming farmers. By apprenticing on a CSA
farm they experience growing and preparing
a wide variety of products. Moreover,
members and their children learn how their
food is produced, and there .ue therapeutic
benefits in this especially for those growing
or convalescing. Lastly, the farm is a haven
from the vicissitudes of city life. Conceivably
it will provide alternatives 10 employment in
economic hard times.
The idea h that consumers support the
farm and the farm supports the consumers.
Biodynamics, ran an anicle on CSA's. I
drew up a prospectus with a copy of the
ruticle and distributed it to a few people in the
Atlanta area. They told friends, and for the
first season l had twenty-eight members sign
up.
r did not want to promise 100 much, so
I only offered breads, honey. pollen, eggs,
yogurt. and vegetables in season. I asked for
$100 deposits, refundnble in groceries. This
money got me through February, March, and
April when I planted but had nothing 10 sen.
A1 the end of April I had my first
delivery of spinach, lettuce, and seasonal
herbs. The season went on to green onions,
garlic, English and sugar snap peas, yellow
onions, potatoes, cabbage, beans, com,
summer squash, tomatoes, okra, beets,
collards, leeks, winter squash, turnips and
Chinese radishes. The garden was finished
by mid-November, though I made one last
delivery of pork after Thanksgiving.
Because che fann, Union Agricultural
lnsutute, Blairsville, Georgia, was 125 miles
from Atlanta, I made a Saturday run 10 three
Since the only CSA I can re.tlly
describe is the one I founded, I should tell
how it was set up.
During the 1980s I directed a fledgling
founccn acre biodynamic research and
training farm, working off the farm to pay
(QOl\linued on nut page)
Drawing by Pcgi
X.awah Journot pc:a(Je 5
�(OOlllinuod &om pegoS)
drop-<>ff points. Members received a weekly
newsletter and order fonn that 100k me rwo
hours a week at the typewriter and copy
machine. Bookkeeping was on index cards
with names, addresses, dates, and sums.
Mostly I concentrated on running 1he fann,
picking the number one vegetables, recycling
the residual vegetation through forty
chickens., twenty rabbits, and 1wo pigs for
fertilizer, and n:planting with the next crop in
the rotation. Although I kept bees, the honey
and millc for yogun came from nearby farms.
1brought in organica!Jy grown wheat and rye
for bread.
Out of26 weekly deliveries, I counted
on members to order at leas1 half the time
with average orders of twenty dollars, a
gross of $7,280. I believe I took in a littJe
more than that, but my bookkeeping did not
prove it. J realize lhis may not seem like
much, but my expenses were low enough 10
make ends meet All I had was the land and a
small pic_!cup truck, rototiller. lawnmower.
scythe, pitchfork, axe, scuffle hoe, claw
cuJtivator, wheel hoe, push planter, and
seeds bred for response 10 my methods. It
was a start.
Consumer int.crest was strong simply
from word of mouth. I could expand, but a
larger investment was required. The fann
needed woods, barns, fences, greenhouses.
pastures, orehards, and fields all in good
measure. none at the expense of the others. I
did not have to hurry things. The land
consisted of mixed forest slopes and
bottomland with good water bur not
especially good sun. There was plenty of
brush clearing, rock picking and hay planting
to be done. And there were only three or four
acres that could be added to the truck garden
no mancr how I adapted 10 having more help
and machinery.
At my organii.ationaJ meetings in
February and Man:h of 1988 I asked for a
S33 membership fee as a capital invesuncn1 in
the fann, plus the hundred dollar deposit.
Again bookkeeping was only sufficient to
show how much was paid and how much
was delivered. Picking, bnlcing, and packing
orders were changed from Fridays 10
Saturdays, and deliveries were changed to
Sundays. This allowed members 10 visit the
farm and panicipa1e in picking on Saturdays,
while I caught the least city traffic on
Sundays and still picked up organic grains
and supplies for the farm
An apprentice, Matthew Persico, cut
intensive beds into three acres of sod with the
rototiUcr. We planted a fourth of it in
potatoes, for which we had compost In the
rest we inu:rplanted com with soybeans for a
modest fodder crop. We built a smaJI barn
with three sta!Js, hay storage, and an
apprentice's apartment. I bought two calves
to raise in the small barn yard, and phased
out rabbits since the cows made more
compost and were easier to feed on a large
scale.
For fcrtiliu:r I brought in hay, com,
and soy meal for the animaJs while J cleared
~ I _pastures, arch~. and hay fields. The
m~bon was to achieve self-sufficiency,
WJth the £arm producing its own feeds,
s~, and ttansplants, breeding its own
livestock:, and producing its own compost
Starting its fifth year in 1992, this
Xatiloh Jouf'nQ( PQ«Je 6
CSA, UAI Coop, can service 80 households.
We have a reconditioned 35 year old tractor,
three or four apprentices, six aCICs of row
crops, cheesemaking, three bovines, eigh1y
chicke_ns, two pigs, and a smaJI transplant
operanon.
. O_u1side_ of i1s soil: the farm is 001 ye1 a
capuaJ mtenswe operauon, despite a $16,000
gross in 1991. Dynamics and momentum arc
a large part of the operation. Herc are some
derails:
Peas must be planted as early as
possible. In Union County, Georgia 1hat is
lat~ February or early March. Lenuce,
spmach, and onions may aJso be planted
from early March on. Lettuce, cabbage and
collards should be planted under row
coverings for transplanting as it warms up.
The early plantings are better able to stay
ahead of the weeds, though frequent
cultivation - weather pennitting - is advisable.
It helps considerably to have pennanent sod
around cultivated beds.
In winter and early spring the cows are
eating hay in the barn and every so often it
can be mucked out to make a compost pile.
With spring warmth, the rye and clover
covers on the beds shoot up and are cut for
fresh feed or for hay. The stubble is
cultivated two or three times over a three
week period, so that it is digested and mellow
before planting.
. I set out my cabbages and potatoes in
Apnl; followed by com, beans, and cucurbits
in May; and tomatoes, peppers and okra in
June. Garlic is planted early the preceding
October, so that it and yellow onions are
harvested in June and followed with bush
beans. Crops like spinach, lettuce, com and
beans can be staggered to produce a moderate
but steady flow of each vegetable, extending
the season. Compost is given especially to
the greens, while root crops like carrots,
radishes, and turnips do much better
following behind without compost.
Since my grassy borders around beds
an: level with the beds, both borders and
beds can be mowed simultaneously for the
cows, pigs or chickens. In May 1here is so
much to cut that haystacks must be made, 10
be fed in the winter when all the summer's
com stover is gone.
During the growing season the chickens
are fenced in a long, hillside coop containing
a thick stand of bamboo and a nesting house.
At the top of 1he coop, sawmill bark,
sprin.kJed with dust from the locaJ granite
quarry, is added for bedding. My
lawnmower has a rear bagging feature, and
every day I give the chickens a heaping
wheelbarrow load of grass, clover, and herb
clippings from around the beds, which I
mow on a monthly schedule. This keeps the
egg yolks yellow while adding to the deep
litter in the coop. Every so often this is made
into a compost pile.
I use a biodynnmic planting calendar for
working crops according to 1heir root, fruit,
flower, or leaf characteristics. For example,
while potatoes are actually a swollen stem
formation, they are plamed as though they
were roots because the roo1-like characteristic
is being emphasized. Likewise, cauliflower
and broccoli, although 1hey an: flowers, are
plan1cd as leaf crops because they have to be
held back to 1he leafy stage of development.
They an: eaten only as buds, not flowers.
l also apply biodynamic preparations,
which have profound nutritionaJ significance.
And I grow speciaJ crops that do not
contribute income but contribute to the overall
balance and heaJth of the farm. Finally. I
avoid faulty practices. Planting the whole
fann in cucumbers or semng off all the
compost, 1 would never do.
One of the goals of crop rotation is to
allow for a healthy nitrogen cycle while
cropping. Compost is given liberally to leafy
crops that need plenty of nitrogen, such as
lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and collards. It
may be given more sparingly to fruiting crops
which follow the greens, such as com,
squash, tomatoes, and okra. It is withheld
entirely from the roots, such as carrots,
radishes, and turnips, which follow the
fruits. Then I plan1 legumes such as beans,
peas and lentils to draw in new nitrogen and
produce rich compost as their vines are
digested by the farm animals. Then the cycle
begins again wi1h compost to the greens.
Another goal of crop rotation is 10 vary
as much as possible the kinds of plan1s
grown. Thus it may be a good idea to follow
lettuce with carrots, or collards with onions,
but it is a bad idea 10 follow le1wce with
spinach or carrots with parsnips.
There is aJso interplanting. Planting
com with soybeans, spinach wi1h garlic,
tomatoes with sweet basil, dill with cabbages
su_mmer squash with popcorn, and pumpkins
with field com, makes for a lively variety.
Nature has ways to create abundance.
Perhaps most imponantJy, the
pennanent grass and clover walking strips
between and around the beds keep the soil
fauna heaJthy and erosion to 1he minimum
regartlless of the weather. We need to think
abou1 these things.
Not so long ago all farms produced
food out of soil, water, air, and warmth
because there was life. Nature charged
nothing for her pan.
Orawu,g by Rob Mcuid<
(continued on p. 32)
Sprl.mj, 1992
�"IF YOU DIDN'T GROW IT,
YOU DIDN'T EAT IT"
Food Production on a Self-Sufficient Mountain Homestead
as told by Ralph Garrett
Way back when Twas a boy, I lived at
my grandma's and grandpa's up above the
Lown of Sylva in Jackson County, NC. My
grandpa was a farmer and a brick mason, and
he also made bricks.
I grew up during the Depression. IL was
a little worse than it is right now, but it's
going 10 get worser than this, I'm afraid.
My grandpa and grandma owned about
three and one-half acres around their house,
but we tended a 12 or 15 acre bottom that
was up in Addie where the band mill is now.
We also planted 10 or 12 acres up on Fisher
Creek in com and different things. It was
about 25 or 30 acres all told. We grew
enough for everybody in our family, some 10
sell besides, and enough 10 feed the animals,
too.
We raised cows, chickens, and pigs to
eat, and we had horses, mules, and oxen 10
help us with the work. With them we plowed
and planted com, beans, field peas, Irish
'taters, sweet 'taters, sorghum for molasses,
and all different kinds of cornfield crops.
And grains. We'd sow a great big thing of
wheal for our flour, as well as winter oais 10
feed the horses while we were workin' 'em
in the summer time.
Then in the garden we had carrots.
radishes, parsnips, rumips, and different
kinds of greens - leuuce, onions, collard
greens, and all those.
We also had peach u-ees. I got a
whuppin' many a time for getting in the Blue
Goose peaches - big, fine, pretty peaches.
They'd get to tumin' a little bit, and us liule
boys, we'd slip around and try 10 get us one.
J remember how we used to eat. The
usual thing of a morning when we got up,
we'd have side beef or ham - fried good and
brickle · brown-eye gravy, some eggs, and
some biscuits.
Some days we'd have homemade
applesauce for breakfasL We'd heat it up and
have some hot biscuits and butter, and put the
butter and some sugar in the fruit, and you
had a good break.fast.
We'd also cut com off the cob, and
have it fried with biscuits and homemnde
molasses. That's what we had a whole lot of
mornings.
Our big meal was at dinner time, 12
noon. Supper was the evening meal. Al
dinner we'd have cornbread, hog meat or
maybe beef stew with vegetables. You can
get beef stew now in a can in the store, but
we had big pois of it, homemade, with two
or three vegetables in it, and some vegetables
on the side, too. Or we'd have great big pots
of homemade vegetable soup. We'd make the
soup with okry (olcr.1), tomaters, beans, and
onions. We put every kind of vegetable in
there.
In the summerumc for supper we'd
usually have com on the cob, new 'taters,
green beans, cornbread, and biscuits.
Sometimes we'd eat supper without meal, but
Sprtng, 1992
usually we had meat at the table three times a
day, whether it was beef, pork, or chicken.
We didn't have desserts every meal,
like they want now. Dcssens came mostly on
Sunday or Saturday when there was family
coming. We'd have plain ca.Ices with
down there 10 get some flour, some salt,
sody (baking soda), balcing powder, coffee,
and sugar. We just bought small amounts of
sugar, until it come canning time. Then we
would buy whatevercanningjars and lids
that we needed and 50 and 100 pound bags
of sugar to put up jellies and jam. We
young'uns liked LO get old-time candy, like
wax candy, horehound candy, and all kinds
of stick candy at the store. But we never had
money to buy very much there.
A year on the farm went like this:
Winter was kinda slow. We'd be cutrin'
firewood, sittin' by the fire, and relax.in'.
DrawiJI& by J.,,.,. Rhea
applesauce spiced up and pu1 in between the
layers. They called that old-time fruit cake.
They'd pile four or five of them up in a
straight pack with the applesauce in between
each layer, then applesauce down over the;
top ofic. Now, that was a dessen! Today if
someone gets two layers of cake, they think
that that's 100 much, but we had.five layers
of cake! We ate what we wanted, because it
was simple.
Or maybe they'd make a cherry pie.
What they call a cherry pie now is just a little
ol' thing. What we called a cherry pie was a
big bread pan full of cherries with dough
through 'cm. They call 'em cobblers now,
but we called 'em cherry pie.
Grandma also used 10 make sweet
potato custards and sweet potato pie and put
sweetening on it - marshmallows or brown
sugar, good things like that.
If we didn't grow it, we didn't cat it.
That's right. There wasn't no supermarkets,
there was only an old country store. We'd go
We'd spend time a-shuckin' com and
thrashin' out the peas, Crowder peas and clay
peas, through the bad days.
We also had 10 get our harness and
equipment fixed up and in first-class shape.
We had to be ready. so that when the ground
got right we could go right to work.
We didn't use no fertilize (fertilizer).
We used compost, and we gathered that in
the winter, too. We'd clean out the horse
stalls and the cow stalls. We'd throw it in a
bin that was outside the winder (window),
and we'd mix leaves in with iL That would
cause it to heat in the bin. In the spring we
wouW haul out that compost. spread it on the
field, and plow it in. That enriched our land
and made our crops do better.
We staned plowtn' in February and
March, what we didn't already have plowed.
The first crop we put out was the
different kinds of greens - cabbage. collard
greens, you could do them early. Usually,
(canlinucd on nai pqe)
Xatuah Journal POCJI'- 7
�(cullinucd from page 7)
people around here would sow a bed of
turnips or rutabagas, too.
Irish pouuoes were planted next during
the dark of the moon in Man:h, and maybe
we'd put some green peas out in the garden.
Radishes, onions, and parsnips were early
crops, we could get an early start on them,
100.
We would s1an our own S\l,'CCt pouuo
sets. We'd get them bedded down between
April 10 - 15. Then they'd be a-comin' up in
May. Sweet potatoes was a big crop. We
used to plant big fields of 'em.
Around April 15 - 20, we'd plant the
first corn. It would grow up a linle bit, but
not enough that a frost would hurt it bad.
Unless there come an ex try unusual hard
freeze, com would grow on though.
Flour com, popcorn, and com for the
livestock: those were the main kinds of com
we planted. We also had a liule of what we
called llim com. When it got hard, it was
hard as a rock, but it made real good roasting
ears. When sweet com came along, we
started planting sweet com in the garden.
Now people plant fields of sweet com.
The biggest thing was to rotate the com
plantings so that they would come in slowly,
so we could harvest them and take care of
them, instead of having all the com oome in
at once. We would plant some com on April
15, some the first of May, and then again at
the last of May.Hit's not a dry year, you can
plant com in June. It's starting to get dry
then, but sometimes a crop'll make. It's a
short season up here in these mountains, but
some years I've bad three different spaces of
com comin' in.
We always figlftd the last frost would
come around the tenth of May. 1bcn we'd set
out OUT garden vegetables. Any kind of plant
that the frost would affect - like peppers and
tomatcrs - we'd wait 'ril after the tenth of
May, after the frost line.
The cornfield peas, we'd plant them
after we worked (cultivated) the com for the
first time. I'd wait until the com was up
around my throat, and then l'd plant the peas
in between the com. We did the cornfield
beans, like the White McCaslan bean or the
Kentucky Wonder, the same way. l would
plant big com where I was going to plant the
cornfield beans. Then the com would support
'em and shade 'em. Shade is what keeps the
insects away better than any of this spray that
we can buy today.
We'd harvest the wheat when the heads
bowed and tumed yeller. The timing
depended on what kind of wheat we had. and
when we had planted it in the fall. We
harvested it by hand with a cradle. We didn't
have combines like those that cut the wheat
now. We had to do it with a cradle.
At the end of June, we'd finish up with
the wheat and we'd sun our first mowing of
hay. We mowed the hay with a mowing plate
and raked it up with a pitchfork. We'd shock
it • put it in shocks or round piles - and then
we'd come through with the wagon or the
sled, and load it 10 the barn. and put it in the
barn loft We'd pct up great barns full, and
then we'd put up big stacks of hay around
stackpolcs. We'd sUtCk com tops and fodder
the same way around the Stackpole at the
XatuQf1-Journat PCUJe 8
barnyard, where we could jusr go get it to
feed the cows and the horses.
All summer, we were mostly hoeing. It
kept us busy. We'd start work as soon as it
got light enough to sec what we was a-doin',
and we worked 'til dark.
Now at dinnertime, right at the heat of
the day, we gave them horses a good full
hour to two hours to be at rest. And we done
the same thing. We ate, we rested, and then,
when we went back 10 work, we worked 'til
dinner.
ln July when the blackberries and the
raspberries came in, we'd pick berries. We
would take a wagon up on Fisher Creek, and
we'd pick washtubs full of blackberries!
w11.i)
J'"J~
Everybody went, everybody picked,
everybody washed - everybody helped with
canning berries for a few weeks. Some of the
men might be off working on a job
somewhere, but everybody up at the house
just flew in and got busy.
Pretty soon the com would start coming
in, and we'd stan getting roasting cars with
our dinner. And we'd start canning
vegetables. too. We'd can all kinds of
vegetables. We canned beans, 'matcrs,
peaches, fresh ok:ry (okra), fresh com - all
different kinds of food out of the garden.
In the fall of the year, we'd be pectin'
the apples, and pcelln' peaches. Them Blue
Goose peaches came in about the same time
as apples. We'd boil the fruit down and make
apple and peach bu11er.
We had an apple peeler. You just stuck
the apple on and tumcd the handle, and ii
peeled the apple and took the core out of iL
Then we just cut it and made bleached fruit.
Or we mashed it up, cooked it, and made
applesauce.
Bleached fruit is made by burning
sulfur. We'd put the fruit on a rack, cover it
with a cloth, light the sulfur in a sulfur
burner, and leave it all night The action of
the sulfur makes the fruit stay white, it
doesn't tum brown, and it will keep all
winter. Then we would put it in big 60-gnllon
oak barrels, and we'd put up so many barrels
of bleached fruit.
We also P.l!t up ~ I s ofp\cld~
beans. Wr:!d !\ii up big barrels of beans
broke up and washed, put water in there and
add salt to sour 'cm and make 'em pick!~.
The same way about roasting CaJ'S. That was
our pickling stuff.
At canning time we also fixed a lot of
jellies and jams. We'd make apple jelly and
grape jelly. And we'd make peach preserves:
we'd peel sweet, cooked peaches like we
were going to can 'em, and put sugar in there
and cook it down until it come clown like
makin' candy, and 1ha1 was good preserves.
Around that same time we'd also be
cuttin' the com and puuin' it up in the com
crib. We'd cut the tops, and pull the fodder,
and put that up to feed the cows and horses.
We didn't leave nolhin' in that field that a
cow could eat. We kept the com in the com
crib, and we kept the peas in big bags inside
in the house where they'd be getting drier and
drier from the heat, so they'd shell easier.
Whenever we got that done, it was
coming to frost, and we had 10 get them
sweet potatoes out before it frosted. If it
frosted on the vines, we had LO get the vines
off right quick before it rained. so that the
frost wouldn't run into the sweet potaroes
and ruin ·cm. When we got 'em up, we'd
wash 'cm, and take 'cm to town to sell them,
anywhere from a gallon to five bushels,
whatever people wanted.
After the frost was the time to cut the
sorghum and make molasses. We had to strip
the cane down. cut all the blades off it. and
cut all the tops off. Then we'd haul all those
cane stallcs to lhe cane mill and put 'em
through the crusher. The juice would run out
into a vat. and we'd cook it off in what. they
called an evap<ntor until it came out syrup.
Several families made sorghum. Some
had bees. We didn't have no bees, but we
had some people who had bees. We'd just
get some stands of honey from them.
We also used to go into the woods and
gather up chestnuts. I'd go bacJc yonder and
gather up a 75 pound short sack. all the
chestnutS I could carry, and bring 'em home,
and we'd eat on them. I also used to like to
get pawpaws and persimmons. Now I'm
tcllin' you, them old persimmons make a
good pie.
And there were always some bear
hunters who would bring in some bear meat.
l know I ate a IOl of bear meat. Back when I
was a boy, bears were just as common as a
milk cow. It was nothin' to see a bear down
at the settlement. But they just got to bang,
bang, bangin', killin' 'em all they wanted, 'tit
there was a 101 of waste.
Right at the first of November, we'd
have to go back into the fields and clean the
'tater patches off. The usually thing was that
there was late roasting cars and some late
beans in the 'tater patch, and after we
gathered them, we cleaned all that off, weeds
and all, so we could plow our 'taters out
After they dried good, we'd put 'em in the
root cellar. Everybody had a root cellar. Lots
of them were dugouts in the bank, but they
were still root cellars where we'd keep the
bleached fruit, the potatoes, and the lcrnut
Everybody also bad a smokehouse
where they'd smoke their meat. and they'd
(ainunlllld on page 33)
Ornwing by Miehkl Thompson
Spri.ng, 1992
�~, ... .. w ...
EATiNG · LbsE ro HOME
c
by Peter Bane
The Logistics of a Permanent Culture
Consider your next meal: It's
mid-winter and what can be found to eat
nearby? The supermarket offers Iowa beef
and Idaho potatoes, Cnlifomia rice and
broccoli, Mexican lettuce and tomatoes, salad
oil from Brazil or Dakota, Aorida citrus,
Washington apples. The Standard American
Qiet is a marvel of technical complexity and a
sad reflection of cultural banality. Divorced
from place and season, available nationwide
and year round, itS cosmetic perfection and
shiny packaging are a glamour concealing
enonnous unmarked costs and catastrophic
instabilities.
Lurking behind the plastic sheen are the
collapse of rural communities, bankruptcy of
farm families, loss of topsoil (an average 20
tons per ton of grain produced), poisoning of
farm-workers, toxic residues in food, air,
soil, and water, cruelty to animals,
destruction of wildlife habitat, deforestation,
and the cultivation of plagues and diseases
heretofore unknown.
Most of the food we presently eat is
seriously denatured (lacking in nutrient value)
by chemical destruction of soil life and is
funher degraded by transport over long
distance. Our diet, combined with poor air
and water quality and compounded by the
stresses of crowded and hwried lives has led
directly to an epidemic of degenerative
diseases: heart attack, cancer, diabetes,
hypertension, leukemia, AIDS.
Worse than all of this, if that is
possible, our food now requires from 10 to
50 times the energy to produce and deli vet to
the table as it returns to the eater as calories of
nourishmenL We couldn't continue this way
without a huge subsidy of fossil fuels. We
are literally eating oil. And when it runs out as we know it will in 30 to 40 years - we will
starve. Of course, long before that
eventuality, our agriculture will have
collapsed from a host of other problems: the
shortage of water, excess UV radiation,
susceptibility of our genetically-narrow
monocultural staples (com, wheat, rice, and
potatoes) to insectS, diseases, climate shifts,
war, and revolution disrupting trade. The
production offiber and timber is similarly
vulnerable and destructive.
If the Standard American Diel is insane
and bound for collapse, then how should we
grow and eat our food? Imagine, if you will,
the life of our predecessors in this land. The
Cherokee, the Iroquois. and other Eastern
forest dwellers cultivated com, beans. and
squnsh; hunted deer. turkey, and small game
which were abundam in the woods; gathered
wild berries, nuts and greens. They caught
fish in lhe streams and collected mushrooms
from the forest floor. Around their
seu.lemcnts they selected and planted fruit
trees. berry bushes, and other useful
perennials.
The world of global IT3de, of oil W:lJ"S
and industrial production is a world of
artificial surpluses and scarcities, of unjust
expropriations and moral decadence. Yet we
have a vision of living in Katuah with natural
abundance, and a dedication to libeny and
1
SprLng, 1992
Drawing by Rob Messick
justice for all. How then can we move from
this disturbed and troubled world into one In
which all our true needs and wants are met
without despoiling the earth and robbing
from our grandchildren and our neighbors in
other countries?
aim of producing the greatest sum of yields in
the least practical area for the murunl benefil
of all creatures. He was certain thal small
areas dedicated to human needs could provide
net surpluses of food, fibre, and energy
while augmenting both genetic diversity and
We need a new way of thin.Icing and
seeing and new tools for problem-solving.
And we need to address fundamental human
needs: clean air, water, and food in sufficient
quantity, shelter appropriate lO climate,
satisfying and useful work, meaningful
human contact, and immersion in a natural
world.
This search for a new paradigm in the
built environment and our interaction with
nature emerged as a response to industrialism
and gradually merged into the science of
ecology. Frederick Law Olmstead, the great
I9th-century American landscape architect.
realized that the growth of cities and of
industrial work threatened the natural
foundation of human sanity. He sought to
ameliorate the effects of both by renewing
vistas of nature in urban parks and
greenways. ln this century, Lewis Mumford
extended these considerations of human scale
and sanity 10 the choices we make about
technology, and Ian McHarg and his
associates projected a concept of design
based on intrinsic capabilities of landscape.
Aui.1rlllian ecologi~t Bill Mollison
transformed his own studies of
environmental psychology imo a practice of
landscape design and coined the term
"permaculture" from "~nent agrioonm:."
or "pem1anent culture" to describe a proce,;s
of assembling artificial ecologies of crop
plants and animals to mimic nature with the
wildlife and resource conservation.
Toe understanding and application of
permaculture design over the past fifteen
years has taken several main forms: the
restoration of degraded landscapes; the
creation of naturalized food foreslS as a locus
for human habitation; the building and
retrofitting of strueturtS to incorporate
climatically appropriate energy and water
harvesting, and to suppon food production;
and the design of economic and
communication structures appropriate to local
production and trading. The work may be
found on American homesteads, in European
municipalities, and among African villages.
New towns have been created in Australia.
and long-term economic decline reversed in
regions of Nepal and India using
pennaculrure principles.
Pcrmaculrurc draws 1tS models from
patterns in nature and embraces many
integrative disciplines: agricultural ecology,
urban planning. landscape architecture.
decent:ralist economics. and shamanism.
among other.. Key insights which apply to
all living )ystems include the following
principles:
I) Design by Relative Location place all elements {house. pond, road, plants)
so as to maximize beneficial relationships and
minimize antagonisms.
2) Select clemcntS to perform \lultiple
Funclions.
(contmual on nc,1 page)
Xotuah JounlO! page 9
t
�!'
)
(001Uinuod &om pegc 9)
3) Suppon every important function
with Multiple Elements.
4) Efficient energy planning through
analysis by zones of access and Sectors of
outSidc influence.
5) Use Biological Resources favor perennials.
6) Recycle Energy on site.
7) Use and accelerate Natural
Succession to establish favorable sites and
soils. Integrate animals, plants, humans, and
StruCt\Jl'CS.
8) Polyculture & Diversity of
beneficial species to promote productive,
stable, interactive systems.
9) Pay attention to Edges & Natural
Patterns.
Pcnnaculture rcstS on an ethical
foundation of care for the earth, including all
living and non-living things; of care/or
people, so that all people everywhere may
have their basic needs met; and the
contribution of surplus time, money, and
energy to achieve the aims of earth and
people care. Permaculture also has a Life
ethic, valui.ng life and all ilS multiplicity for
its own sake. Cooperation, not competition is
the key.
How then might a permanent culture
take shape in Katuah? We can begin at our
doomeps by cultivating a diet appropriate to
our region - one based on the planlS and
animals which grow here naturally and which
have acclimated following introduction - and
extend that process into gardening and
fanning those same species regeneratively.
We can learn to eat seasonally even as we
take advantage of other cultural IJ'ad.itions to
Xatuah Journot pQ(J& l 0
enrich our diet.
Anyone can fimd space for a few leafy
greens and herbs, vegetables which
pound-for-pound afford more nutrition than
any other food category. Grown within a few
steps of the back door in mulched soils, they
will survive almost year round if given a bit
of care against summer drought and winter
frost. Even apartment dwellers in the city can
grow in containers on a balcony or in a
windowbox. Cold frames against a south
wall, a small greenhouse, or even movable
cloches can supply a steady stream of salad
which didn't have to cross the Continental
Divide to grace our table. The familiar
European and Medilerranean vegetables:
lettuce, celery, carrot, onions, broccoli, and
many others, are adapted to cold climates and
may with protection, overwinter in the
ground. Root crops and brassicas (cabbage,
kale...) are especially well-suited to this
method. These same vegetables don't grow
best in our summer heat, but that is the
season when the tropical American and
Indian plants - tomato, corn, beans, squash,
melons, eggplant, peppers, and okra
flourish.
We arc blessed throughout Katuah with
generous forests whose dominant members
include excellent nut trees: walnut, chestnut,
oak, hickory, and pecan. We should
recognize these allies for the food resources
which they offer. Let us plant them in our
yards and parks; conserve and catalog elite
trees where they Stand; and take care in
harvesting to leave the best, tallest,
straightest, healthiest, most vigorous, and
most fecund trees for seed, and tnk:ing only
the lesser examples for timber and fuel wood.
Fruit trees too should be planted in
every yard, along roadways, in parks, and in
neglected spaces in lhe cities. Besides the
traditional apple, pear, peach, plum, cherry,
and apricot, many areas arc suited to ugs. We
have the native pawpaw, the maypop vine,
and the persimmon which holds itS fruit on
the tree well into winter. And the mulberry,
which is one of the earliest fruits in spring, is
hardy, easy-to-grow. and prolific. Members
of the Eleagnus family - autumn olive and itS
cousins, provide not only a shower of tasty
fruit, but improve soils by fixing nitrogen at
their roots, as docs the
juncberry/serviceberry/saskatoon tribe
(Amtlanchiet spp. ).
~~
By inrerpianting and stacking vertical
layers into the garden, we can achieve greater
total yields than is possible with single crops.
Our naturally forested region provides the
model for a productive food forest with crops
grown at the canopy, mid-level, understory,
shrub, herb, and root layers, and on vines
running throughouL These food forests
prpvide abundant wildlife habitat and make
excellent forage systems both for humans and
for domestic poultry, sheep, and pigs where
access can be controlled. In very small
spaces, even in the city, bees, rabbitS, and
pigeons can be tended co augment food
production and household income.
Even more important than the
establishment of food forests everywhere is
the organizing of food markelS. We need to
connect capable growers throughout the
region with networks of town and city
consumers to support the development of
healthy fanns and to increase urban-rural
exchanges. These community-supponcd
farms stand a much better chance of
implementing the diverse cropping strategics
needed for ecological restoration than isolated
fanners trying to outwit the commodity
traders. Subscription farming is a way to
create new jobs in agriculture and offer
alternatives to existing farmers.
Strengthening the farm economy;
marketing food locally; and cultivating our
natural suengths in uee crops, fisheries,
berry and bulb production, can provide the
basis for many new, locally manufactured
hand tools, farm implements, craft- and
housewares. These burgeoning local
economies need methods to augment local
trading, and to retain and recycle wealth
wilhm the community. Local currency and
baner systems work well. The L.E.T.S., or
Local Employment & Trading System, is one
such example. (Further infonnacion from the
Institute for Community Economics,
Somerville, MA.).
If we ask again about sustainable
agriculture and pennanent culture, "What is
to be done?", the answer becomes clearer.
1) Eat what you grow and what is
available locally and in season.
2) Grow things that you like that arc
adapted to the area, and which do not travel
well.
3) Plant and tend food forests
everywhere people live, especially in cities,
using public as well as private space.
4) Conserve genetic diversity and
excellence by nurturing elite specimens and
by exchanging heirloom seed and
scionwood.
5) Trade sw-pluses locally. You needn't
grow everything, or even anything, if you're
a good plumber, teacher, baker, or
candlestick maker.
6) Organize food production to suppon
responsible growers.
7) Make direct market links wherever
possible. Know ~here your food come~
from and where u goes.
,,P'
Peter Bane publishu The Pcnnaculturc
Activist. a fUJlional quarttrly journalfor North
A=rico Born in Illinois, M now lives with his
family in Middle TtnnLSst.t w~re Mis putting his
itkas inJo practice. For m«e information please
contact him at Route I, Bo:i 38; Primm Springs TN
38476
· Drawing by Dawn Shiner
Sprt119, t 992
�I,
Silas McDowell's Vision Of
Mountain Agriculture
by Perry Eury
"Amongsr rhe valleys of the somhern
Alleg/UJllit!$ somerimes winter is succeeded
by wann wearlzer, which, cominuing through
the months of March and April, brings out
vegetarian rapidly, and clothes theforests in
an early verdure. This pleasant spring
wearher is renninated by a few days rain, and
the clearing up is followed by cold, raking
winds from the ,wrrhwest, leaving rhe
atmosphere of a pure indigo tint, though
which wink bright stars, bur ,ftlte wind
subsides at nig/11, the succeeding nwrning
shQws a heavy hoar frost,· vegetation is
unerly killed, including all manner offruit
germs, and the la11dscape clothed in verdure
the day before ,ww looks dark and dreary."
- Silas McDowell
On the morning of April 28, 1858,
Silas McDowell encountered this bleak scene
when he went out to inspect his fann. The
Macon Coumy fruit grower hnd spent almost
thirty years establishing his orchard of 600
apple LreCS near the banks of the Cullasaja
River. However, this late spring freeze
"made nearly a clean sweep from mountain
valleys in Western North Carolina of lhe
richest promise of a fruit crop that we have
ever had." For anyone else, the incident
would have been a crushing disappointment.
For McDowell, it was another opportunity to
examine nature's mysteries and to find a
bener way of fanning in the mountains
McDowell had deliberately selected a
shehered valley for his orchard. Only a settler
too poor to buy bouom land would have tried
to grow fruit hiJh on the mountainsides. And
yet, on this Apnl morning, McDowell
realized his mistake. While his own aces
"seemed as if clothed in a black pall," he
observed on the mountains looming over his
orchard a broad horizontal band of vegetation
left unscathed by the freeze.
Around 1780, Thomas Jefferson had
witnessed similar temperature inversions in
the Shenandoah Mountains of Vtrginia. He
reported, "I have known frosts so severe to
kill the hiccory trees round Monticello, and
yet not injure the tender fruit blossoms then at
bloom oo the t. p and higher parts of the
o
mountain."
Silas McDowell understood that this
was more than a quirk of topography and
climate. He suspected that thermal belts could
be the secret to successful fruit production in
mountainous areas. By the summer of 1858
he wrote that "all description of fruit trees
which have the good fortune to be located in
this vernal region, are now bending beneath a
heavy crop of fruit." He began to promote the
value of this zone for fruit growers and
contributed a repon to the United States
Agricu/cural Reports Jor 1861.
In his articles on the "belt of no frost"
McDowell explained, "The beautiful
phenomena of the 'Verdant Zone' or
Thennal Belt' exhibits itself upon our
mountainsides, commencing about three
hundred feet vertical height above the valleys,
SprLng, 1992
and traversing them in a perfectly horiz.ontal
line throughout their entire length like a vast
green ribbon upon a black ground."
Born in South Carolina in 1795,
McDowell moved to Asheville in his youth
for training as a tailor. He practiced his trade
in Charleston and Morganton before settling
in Macon County's Cullasaja Valley, where
he gained renown as a fruil grower, amateur
Silas McDowt/1
naturalist and story teller. His articles on the
mountains were published in popular
magazines and caught the auention of leading
botanists, who sought his help in finding rare
plants of the Southern Appalachians. When a
visiting scientist asked which college he had
auended, McDowell pointed to the hills
surrounding his farm and replied, "These
wild mountains are the only college at which
my name has ever been entered as a sruden1!"
In a tribute to Silas McDowell, T.F.
Glenn remembered him as modest and
unassuming, and also "intuitive, impulsive
and passionate. His companionship with
nature was a marked feature to the most
trivial objects of beauty and sublimity. By a
native force of genius, by dint of fiery energy
of will, by persistent application, he
sunnounted obstacles."
McDowell's tenacious efforts to raise
winter keeping apples had earned him a
reputation among southern fruit growers even
before the thennal belt episode. When
McDowell and his bride, Elizabeth, moved to
Macon County in 1830 they brought a baby's
cradle filled with small apple trees from her
grandfather's orchard near Asheville. Being
especially fond of winier apples, McDowell
chose varieties recommended by northern
pomologists. His results were like those of
other southern growers. "I made a complete
failure," he confessed, "for when my trees
began to bear fruit, it matured and fell from
the tree long before the proper time, and
though they were an excellent collection of
Aurumn Apples, there was n0t a good Winter
keeper amongst them."
For fifteen years, McDowell struggled
to raise winter keepers. Then, the editor of a
farm paper in Athens, Georgia, suggested
that he lake grafts from native seedling
apples. McDowell followed James
Cannack's advice and searched the hills
around his home for fruit stock. His quest
was successful.
"Amongst old Oterokee seedling Apple
trees - as well as other Southern seedlings, I
have succeeded in conferring on Southern
Pomology a llist of names of Winter Apples,
which both as to their highly aromatic taste,
as well as late winter keeping qualities,
cannot be excelled by as many varieties of
Winter Apples in the United States." His
catalog of new apples featured the Carmack,
Nickajack, Bullasage, Mavereck Winter
Sweet, Royal Pearman, Hoover, Golden
Pippin, Buff, Kingrussen, and Neverfail.
"None but late keepers in the list," McDowell
n01ed with delight.
ln 1870, William Saunders with the
Agriculture Department concluded, 'There is
not a doubt about it, the fmest winter apples
in America arc grown on th.ese mountain
lands." McDowell could take much of the
crediL
McDowell, always concerned with the
region's economy, believed that vineyards
established within the thennal belt could be a
mainstay of mountain agriculture. 'The
Grape," McDowell predicted, "will never fail
to yield to the husbandman a rich and
abundant crop of its luscious and
hean-cheering fruit; and had the vine
locomotion, corporal and mental sense, I
would bid it to 'Tarry not in all the plains; but
flee to the mountains for its life,' and take
refuge under the protection of lhe Thermal
Stratum!"
Much as he had in his quest for winter
apples, McDowell explored the mountains to
find superior varieties of grapes. He
speculated on the potential of hybridizing
some of the specimens, "W e cannot well
command our risibles when, in fancy, we
anticipate the aspect of that monster Grape
that will be produced by the hybridal cross
betwixt the Hon. A.G. Semmes's eight
pound bunches and the Mammoth Grape
Prof. C. D. Smith and ourself measured
yesterday, the single berries of which gined
three and a quaner inches around."
Afler the Civil War, McDowell
continued to write on agricultural topics,
presided over the Fruit Growers Association
and pleaded for extension of the Western
Nonh Carolina Railroad. He was constantly
learning more - from natural phenomena, the
culrure of the Oterokees and the latest farm
journals. In his judgement, the climate and
the terrain of the mountains did not have to be
obstacles to successful farming. Instead, the
unique character of the mountains could
suppon a distinctive form of agriculture.
Diversity was one aspect of the
mountain agriculture he envisioned.
"Dairying, grape culture, bee culture, sheep
(continued on page 34)
�Mountain People
The grey winter sky hovers over the village,
threatening to swoop down with nightfall.
A woman carries burdensome logs to her cabin
and feeds them to the wilting flames in the heanh.
She wraps a moth-eaten quilt
tightly about her sinewy frame,
to shut out the icy strands of December
squeezing through chinks in the walls.
Her hands are weathered with time like the mountain, the palms
grooved like the tire tracks frozen into the eanhen road.
These are hands that once held warm lovers,
brought orphaned raccoons in from a storm,
angry, caring hands that spanked naughty children,
and comfoned them when frightened by distant coyotes,
and scratched their backs until they found the itch,
and opened the tightest jars of jam...
The people of the mountain are quiet,
one with themselves, one with the mountain,
but in the lines on their faces, in their strong hands,
in their calm way,
they tell how they work and breathe,
and brim with life,
like the woman rocking before the fire
in that small cabin on the hill,
her heart a smoldering ember,
warm despite the howling wind outside,
whipping through the firs on the mountainside.
- Allison C. Swherland
Quintessence
Never have I seen the sun like one winter's afternoon
late last February. The wannth was drenched into those
hills of the Blue Ridge, into the stalks of yellow and orange,
rolling back finally to the dark mountains, and the still
darker clouds.
We ourselves were engulfed in shadow, steadily
approaching that sunlit stretch of road before us, that
splash of quin1essen1 light.
A gentle warmth touched !he back of my neck.
and I turned, 10 see but a sliver of silvery white light
at the horizon, light which eked out from under the stormy
tumul t of blue-black clouds.
And soon we were immersed in it, bathed in Ught,
the light of spring, or almost summer. It glinted through
the strands of hair in my eyes, and I squinted to keep looking.
So I closed my eyes and breathed, and let it seep into my
veins, and warm my forehead and my cheeks and my shoulders.
And suddenly it was gone. We were in darkness. among the
mountains, and then just shadow. We meandered through those
hills of greenblack forests like a mountain brook in early
evening, now and again coming upon a splash of sunwashed
hills, searching for that light, until the sun went down.
- Allison C. Swherland
J(Qtu.!Jh Journal
p09e 12
Drawings by Mictu,,,I Thompson
Spri-119, 1992
�NATIVE FOODS
I was brought up in the remote
reaches of the Cherokee Indian
Reservation. My family were "a-aditionals."
That means that they stuek to the old ways
of the lncJjan people, believing them 10 be
the beSL We did some things in exactly the
same way they were done by our people
before contact with the white man. As a
boy, I used to go into the woods and hunt
squirrels with a blowgun, for instance. In
other ways, our life, while not exactly
similar 10 the ways of the anc~stors, echoed
the manner in which they lived and gave a
clue to how it was done before.
In the earliest times, our people lived
off the land. They hunted their meat and
gathered plant foods in the foresL Later,
agriculture became their base, that's when
their culture really blossomed, because they
spent Jess time in gathering food.
Agriculture was a stable way of
surviving, but they also hunted and foraged
food from the wild. A srnple food in times
past was chestnut bread. This represented
the Cherokee's mixed food supply: com
from the fields and chestnuts from the wild.
An abundance of both. And if one source
failed, they could fall back on the other to
carry them through.
I heard that a professor said that a.bout
the time the white man came here the
Cherokees were spending about three days
a week for survival. Most of my life in
modern society l couldn't make a living
working seven days.
In my life. I've spent a lot of time in
the woods, and l lcamed that the secret of
survival in the forest is to puc no limits on
what you eaL Like a bear, see everything as
a potential meal. Everything! Game and
fish, of course, but also crawdads, frogs.
bugs, worms, grubs in the logs. Hornet
larva popped on a hot rock are very good.
It used to be a kid's job to sit under a
holly tree with a blowgun stuck up between
the branches to shoot at the cardinals.
robins, or any other little songbirds that
came. People say. "How did you pluck
them?" but we never plucked them. We just
threw them into the fire and rolled them
around until the feathers had all been singed
off. We treated all the little birds and small
animals like that. We never skinned a
squirrel.
I remember one time I was out, and I
ate tent caterpillars that were feeding on a
wild cherry tree. I roasted them. The fire
singed the hair off - most of it. They
swelled up into little puffy morsels. They
did have a queer taSte, but I was hungry
and I ate all of them I could find.
But we did not have 10 eat insects
except in famine and songbirds were more
hunting trophies for the young. Larger
game was plentiful. In the older rimes the
people ate woods bison, deer. birds like
passenger pigeon and grouse, and
groundhogs.
Drawing by James Rhea
But they would not eat possums. The
Cherokees thought the possum was the
lowliest creature on the Eanh. When
DeSoto came th.rough, one of his company.
a man called The Gentleman of Elvas,
wrote that when they SlOpped at the village
that was near the present ciry of Asheville,
they demanded food for their travel-s from
the natives. He recorded that they were
given "several hundred dead dogs without
any hair on their tails." He did not realize
how the Cherokees despised the possum as
a food sourt:c and what a political sutement
this was.
Plant food was plentiful as well. The
people would gather berries in the
summenime, chestnuts in the fall. When
the che~tnut trees were alive. there was a
large chesmut harvest every year • bushels
and bushels of chestnuts. Properly dried
and stored, they would last all winter.
The people also ate chinkapins.
Chinkapins are related to chestnuts. The
by Bear W ith Runs
tree looks very similar 10 a chestnut tree.
The nuts were a little bit smaller than
chestnuts - somewhat larger than a beech
nut.
Acorns were imponanl, too. They
leached them in water to get out the tannic
acid and then ground them into flour or
roasted them in the fire. They probably
preferred the white oak acorns, because
those have !he least tannie acid.
My grandmother used 10 make little
cakes out of white oak acorn nour, com
meal, and honey. She would also add
persimmons, if we had them. Those cakes
were good! They were a heavy food • a
little bit went a long way
In the old limes. the people would eat
a lot of ,mnas, the wild potatoes that grow
:llong the creeks. And in the spring. ramps
and wild greens, like branch lettuce,
s/10-1011 (or so-chan, green conenower •
ed.). Indian cucumber, and nettles, arc
(cxmlinucd on nnt page)
:KAtuan Journot ~ 13
�(continued
rrom page 13)
plentiful. Mushrooms are good, if you
know what you are looking for, but they
aren't very filling.
It's interesting. One person can
forage really well alone, while foraging for
two people is difficulL But with three
people it becomes easier, because two can
forage and the other one can prepare the
food.
When the Cherokees smned planting,
they added some new foods to their dieL
Com, of course, was a staple, beans, and
"punkins," as they called them in my
family, meaning any lcind of squash.
We ate green com as "roastin' ears,"
dried corn was ground into flour and eaten
as cornbread. Everybody grew their own
corn, and everybody thought their own was
better than everybody else's.
The com we would keep in a com
crib. We put the beans in sacks and hung
them up in the barn or under the dogtrot
(roofed, but open air passageway between
two separate sections of a building - ed.) at
the house.
The early people built very neat,
efficient com cribs. They were raised off
the ground on poles, bad a tight thatched
roof, and walls made of panels woven of
bark or wood splits that were daubed with
clay or mud to keep varmints out. The com
was stored in there on the cob.
Mother trimmed the com husks and
packed them to save for cooking chestnut
bread, bean bread, or com dumplings. The
traditional way was to wrap them in com
husks and boil them. When the corn shucks
ran out, Mother would wrap them in green
oak leaves. That would tum the com blue.
Mother ground com a litlle bit at a
time as she needed it. She never ground
very much because weevils would get in
into ground meal very quickly.
Back long ago, before they had ovens
to bake in, they made mealcakes that were
either boiled or roasted. We used to do !hat
when l was young. We would call !hem
hoecakes. We always carried com meal
when we were traveling. To prepare the
cakes, we would mix the meal with boiling
water to "kill the com." Killing the com
causes the dough to stick together. Then we
would flatten them out, lay them on a flat
rock, and let them roast as brown as lhey
could be.
In the old days, lhc warriors would
carry parched com in a long bag by their
side when they were on the trail. They
parched shelled com by throwing it into a
hot fire and leaving it until it got brown (or
more likely black), and then grinding it into
powder.
On the trail, they would trot from
dayUght to dark, heading for Iroquois
country. When they saw a stream up ahead,
they would pour some of the powder into
their hand while they were running. As
they crossed over the stn:am, they would
bend down while they were still moving
and grab a handful of water and keep
trotting. That was the only food that they
would take alo11g their route.
Beans were important to us, too. The
elderi; told me that the originnl bean was red
and white, and it came from the south.
Xatuah J~rnoL pf.UJC 14
Pinto beans were my family's
favorite, and we must have raised one-half
acre of pinto beans every year. A visitor
could come into our house any day of the
week and find a pot of pinto beans on the
stove and bread in the warmer on top of th~
stove - cornbread, and later when l was
growing up there were occasionally flour
biscuits, but lhat was not often.
We had meals only once or twice a
day, but we ate whenever we got hungry.
That was the way I was raised. If 1 got
hungry in the middle of the day, l'd just
run in, take a bowl of beans, grab some
bread, and eat up.
When people found that
domesticating livestock was easier lhan
hunting, they began raising animals as well
as growing crops. My grandfather said that
the turkey was the first animal to be
domesticated, and it domesdcated itSClf.
When the Cherokees began raising com,
they would build litllc racks in the cornfield
and assign the kids to keep watch to scare
off the crows and wildlife. The turkeys
loved the com so much they just wouldn't
scare, so the people just penned up the
turkeys and fed them com in the pen to
keep !hem out of lhe fields.
The Cherokees ate turkey, but !hey so
prized the turkeys' feathers for making
ornaments and beautiful capes, lhat my
grandfather said, "We used to care more
about 'em for their feathers than for the
meaL"
Because we ate what was provided
locally, lhe diet of the Cherokee fndians
changed with the seasons of the year.
In the green com season, when the
first com turned ripe enough tO eat, besides
the roasting cars we would cat squash and
other vegetables, fish, and chicken. But we
never ate game in the summenime, because
we were afraid of a parasite we called
"weevils" or "foxes." (insect larvae, also
called "warbles" by white people - ed.)
This was a big wonn that got into squirrels,
rabbits. and deer. You could often see two
or three of them sticking out of an animal in
the late summer and early fall. IL was large
and black, pointed on one end. It would
bore into the skin and live off the moisture
and the blood of the animal.
We never ate game at all until the
worms were killed by the first frost. There
were taboos about killing animals until after
the weevils were gone.
But we ate chickens. And we caught
fish all summer long. The old way to catch
trout was with trout baskets. They built up
weirs in the stream made out of rocks.
They piled up rocks forcing the fish into a
narrow channel that flowed into the trout
basket. As kids, we used to build weirs in
Lhe stream, too.
We also ate frogs and any turlles we
came upon during the summer season - if
we came across a mud turtle, that was just a
didn't have any lard on them at all. But they
tasted really good. We fed them some
garbage 10 keep them around, and they ate
bugs and snakes, but we would kill them
right after the acorn crop was down, and
that's when they would be their nicest.
Hogs raised on acorns and com taste totally
different than the meat you buy today. Fall
was the fat time for everything that lived in
the forest - including the Indians.
Father smoked meat, and Mother
would can trout and other kinds of meat in
jars. She would boil them outside in a big
washtub that would hold 30 or 40 cans. We
ate a lot of meat in the fall and early winter,
and then we ate dried food until the spring.
ln the old days people would put
dried food in clay pots and carry them up 10
the asi, their dugout winter shelter. The
food would store there until the wintertime
when the people arrived and would live in
the asi surrounded by their food supply.
My Mother would dry berries,
persimmons, squash, any kinds of food we
could get. We had a tray about lhe size of a
screen door made of honeysuckle vines
woven into a mat. h was hung it over the
wood stove. We would lower it, she would
lay out all the slices, and then we would
help her pull it back up. When it wasn't in
use. we just pulled it up against the ceiling.
It always stayed over the wood stove.
I like to think that is how they did it in
the old times: hung a mat over lhe central
fire in the house under the smoke hole.
We had chestnuts, and we had com,
so no one really went hungry. The diet may
not have been nutritionally stable all year,
but we had enough.
The hardest time of year was late
February and early spring. By then we
were craving greens. Tobacco helped with
the hunger. Tobacco depresses the appetite.
But we were doggin' for vegetables. In the
meantime we drank teas: sassafras tea,
birch tea, pine needle tea, which had a lot
of vitamin C, and spicebush tea.
My mother used to make cough
medicine for me, anyway l think it was for
me, but Grandpa would drink a lot of it.
She'd catch him at it, and he'd go "Hunh.
hunh, hunh (like he was coughing)." It was
wild cherry bark and pine need.Jes. They
were boiled down and after all the needles
and bark were taken out of it. she added
honey until it was really !hick, and then she
cooked it down some more. It was nice. It
was really nice. It was good and sweet.
Then, a little later in the spring, the
sho-tan came in. Everyone would have a lot
of that. get the shits, and clean out their
bodies. My grandmother would also make
us a tonic from a gray lichen called
"turkey's tail." Later the ramps would be
ready, the growing things would be getting
green, and everything would balance out
/
again.
treat.
We were meat eaters in the fall, for
sure. We never did have any cows. 1 didn't
eat beef until l was 2 l or 22 years old. But
we did have some old skinny hogs. They
were as lean as they could be. l remember
my father complaining about how lhey
In spilt ofth.t: droll nomt he has odopttd/or
this articlt, Btc.r With Runs IJ a full-blooded
Chtroku Indian. lit livl.S in quiet anonJmity ofl
tht Cherolctt India/I Rt.str.•ation
Drawing by Pcgi
Sprl..™3, 1992
�COVER CROPS
On-farm, Solar-powered Soil Building
by Mark Schon beck
During my four years as an agricultural
researcher at the New Alchemy Institute, I
chose to focus on cover crops because they
perform so many different functions on the
farm, utilizing primarily solar energy. The
only off-farm input is the seed - a few
pounds to one hundred pounds per acre,
from which thousands of pounds of organic
matter arc accumulated through
photosynthesis. In contraSt, most soil
amendments entail imponing hundredweights
or tons of materials for each acre.
A cover crop is a crop grown not for
harvest. but to protect, maintain or enrich the
soil A green mallW'e is any crop (but usually
a cover crop and/or natural weed growth)
which is tilled into the soil to add organic
matter and feed the soil biota. Cover crops
and green manures protect soil against wind
and water erosion, suppress weeds, provide
habitat for beneficial insecis, add organic
maucr, add nitrogen (legumes only), and
make other nuoients more available to the
next crop. Most cover crops can also be
grown for grain (e.g., rye, buckwheat)
and/or livestock forage (e.J/ ., clover, annual
ryegrass, alfalfa).
Cover cropping is a cornerstone of
sustainable agricultural systems in most
bioregions, and this is cenainly true for
Kawah. Why do I make this claim? I'll Stan
with a brief digression into soil ecology...
In both natural and agricultural
ecosystems, plant growth depends on the
organic matter cycle in the soil. Soil
organisms continually break down soil
humus, thereby releasing nitrogen,
phosphorus, potassium, and other nutrients
for plant roots to absorb.
The carbon from the organic matter
appears in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide.
Plants convert carbon dioxide b:ick into
organic compounds in photosynthesis. In
natural ecosystems, leaves, other plant
residues and animal dung thar fall to the
ground feed earthworms and other soil
organisms. These creatures change the
residues into humus, thus replenishing
organic matter reserves. Most of the nucrients
can cycle back and forth between soil and
plant almost indefinitely, except when intense
rains wash some of them away.
Nitrogen is more volatile, and some of
ii inevitably slips away into the atmosphere or
groundwater. Fortunately, there arc
numerous species ofbac1eria and blue-green
algae in the soil that can fix (convert)
atmoSpheriC nitrogen back into forms that
plants and soil organisms can use. The most
effective nitrogen-fixing bacteria, the
rhizobia, form a symbiosis with the roots of
leguminous plants such as clovers, beans and
black locust trees.
Sprl.fflJ, 1992
Agriculture disrupts this
nutrient/organic matter cycle in three ways.
First, clearing the natural vegetation exposes
the soil surface to sun, wind and rain.
Because humus is a lightweight and
finely-divided material, a disproportionate
amount of humus is lost when soil erodes.
Extreme temperature and moisture
fluctuations at the soil surface can also bum
up the humus and deter biological activity,
leaving a son of "dead zone" in the top inch
or so. Second, tillage accelerates the r(lle at
which soil organic manerdecomposes. This
happens because soil disturbance brings
additional oxygen into the topsoil, thus
speeding bacterial action. Initially, the
resulting burst of nucrient release promotes
heavy crop yields, but the soil wears out
unless the organic mauer is replenished from
other sources. Third, harvest removes
nuoients, and these must be replaced
regularly. Because synthetic chemical
fertilizers do not feed the soil life and tend to
upset the soil's balance, biological farmers
use organic and natural mineral fcnilizers,
such as compost, leaf mold and ground
limestone.
Organic fanning often entails adding
large amounts of organic amendments to the
soil. lf these materials are brought in from
off-fann sources, this is not sustainable
farming, as this removes materials from the
organic matter cycle on someone else's land.
Also, iransporting bulky amendments from
their point of origin 10 the farm consumes a
lot of fossil fuel. Composting manure and
crop residues produced on the farm is more
ecologically sustainable, but may be quite
labor·intensive. Often, the amount of
residues produced on the farm docs not meet
all the land's organic matter needs.
Cover crops use sunlight to produce
organic matter in place, and, in the case of
legumes, to fix nitrogen. In contrast,
manufacture of synthetic nitrogen fertilizer
uses a tremendous amount of fossil fuel.
Once a cover crop is established, its l"OO(S
bind the soil together, significantly reducing
erosion even before the foliage fully covers
the ground. As the cover crop canopy closes,
it effectively stops erosion.
Cover crops such as buckwheat
suppress weeds by growing rapidly and
casting dense shade, whereas winter rye, oats
and sudan grass release natural substances
that suppress weed seedlings (this
phenomenon is called allelopathy).
Legume cover crops often add 50 to
150 pounds of nitrogen per acre in a single
season, thus replacing the nitr0gen harvested
in most vegetable and grain crops.
Buckwheat, lupines and sweet clover have
roots that can absorb relatively insoluble
fonns of phosphorus that other crops cannot
access. When the cover crop is tilled in, the
phosphorus is released to the next crop.
Some cover crops and deep-rooted weeds can
extract potassium, calcium, or ccnain
micronurrients from the subsoil or from
insoluble minerals.
A mixed gra:.s/legume cover crop (e.g.,
clover/timothy, or winter rye/hairy vetch) can
produce three to four tons of dry organic
matter per acre in a year, and the proportion
of nitrogen to carbon in such a mixture is
often ideal for humus formation. A three ton
cover crop provides about as much organic
matter and nitrogen as a 10 to 15 ton manure
application, and the cover crop does not need
10 be hauled into the field, but simply mowed
or tilled in.
The biggest challenge in using cover
crops is allowing them enough time to reach a
good size without sacrificing a whole season
of vegetable or grain production. The
simplest approach is to plant the cover crop
immediately after harvest, but this is often in
fall, leaving the cover crop little time before
winter.
One altenullive is overseeding, or
planting the cover crop while the production
crop is still growing. In moist, fine•texturcd
soils, small-seeded cover crops like clover,
alfalfa and ryegrass can be broadcast on the
soil surface between rows of com. squash,
1oma1oes. broccoli or other widely-spaced
crops. Jn coarser soils or drier conditions. the
se.ed can be incorporated by light hoeing or
cultivation. The cover crop grows slowly
beneath the esmblished vegetable. then spuns
ahead after the lauer is harvested and cleared.
Another method is to plant a slowstaning cover crop such a.\ clover~ the same
time as a grain is planted. After gram harvest,
the clover is grown until the following
spring, then tilled in. Clover plus grain
(ciontinucd an p1gc 16)
Ora..,ing by Rob Musick
�stubble give excellent wintertime erosion
conuol, and provide a lot of organic matter
with a good c:irbon-nitrogen balance.
When a green manure is ,tilled into the
soil, a burst of biological activity occurs
which can be detrimental to crop seedlings
for a shon rime. Thus it is a good idea 10 wait
two or three weeks after turning the crop
under before direct-seeding vegetables,
especially small seeds like lettuce and carrots.
An alternative method is to mow the
aboveground pan of the cover crop, and
gather the clippings to mulch another bed or
build a compost heap. 11 is much easier to
spade or plow up the crop stubble withou1 all
that shoot biomass there, and the waiting
period needed before direct-seeding should
also be shoncr. Some cover crops can be
killed by mowing at the nght ume. Their
clippings can be left in place and vigorous
crop seedlings (e.g., cabbage, 1oma10)
lnlnSplanted through the mulch without
tillage. Success with this varies because the
mulch cools the soil and can aurac1 slugs.
Clearing an eight to twelve inch diameter area
around each seedling reduces these problems.
Different cover crops arc suited to
different purposes. A few specific examples
follow. The first six are non-legumes and do
not add nitrogen, the rest are legumes that can
fix niuogen.
Winter rye is very hardy, overwintering
as far north as zone 3a (annual minimum -35
10 -40 degrees F). In the Katt.iah bioregion,
rye planted by early October will protect the
soil and suppress weeds effectively. Rye
planted in early November will do well and
produce lots of organic matter in spring, but
there is a risk of winter erosion, as the cover
will be thin.
Rye is useful for talcing up and
conserving any soluble soil nitrogen left over
from the growing season. The crop can be
difficult to manage in the spring because it
rapidly gets very tall and tough. When grown
alone, it can also ccmporarily 1ie up soil
nitrogen and release allelopathic substances
that can inhibit growth of the nex1 crop. If ii
gets away from you, mow-kill the rye after
the heads have emerged and begun shedding
pollen. Or let the rye go to maturity and reap
some nice grain and/or seeds for next year's
cover crop. Seeding rate is 90-150 lb/acre
(note: one pound per 1,000 square feet equals
about 44 lb/acre). using the higher rates for
later plantings.
Win~r wheOJ can be used similarly 10
rye, though it is a little less hardy, somewhat
shorccr and later to mature. It may also be
easier to manage in the spring. Sow 90-120
lb/acre.
OOJS, another small grain, is much less
frost-hardy, and is generally killed the first
time the temperature drops to 15 or 20
degrees F.. Oats can be planted in early
spring and mowed or turned under in early
summer. They can also be planted in August
or early September and allowed to grow until
killed by hard freezes. This leaves a thick
protective mulch that is easier 10 manage in
spring than a live rye crop. though the
~um of organic matter will be less. Sow
90-120 lb/acre..
Annual ryegrass is marginally
winter-hardy in zone 6b (annual minimum -5
to 0 degrees F), and can either be planted in
early spring or in August-early September.
Ryegrass fonns an unusually dense root
sysiem that gives excellent erosion
protcccion, fosters good soil strUcture and
"mops-up" leftover soil nutrients so they
don't wash away. Unlike the three preceding
crops, ryegrass ca11not be mow-killed, and
must be spaded or tilled in. Rye and rycgrass
are often confused, bu1 they arc easy 10 tell
apart. Rye has the edible, wheat-berry sized
seeds, while ryegrass has fme, fluffy seeds
that look a lot like lawn grass seed. Sow
20-50 lb/acre.
Sudan grass is a fast-growing,
fros1-sensitive summer annual that can
produce a tremendous nmount of biomass. le
requires warm, fertile soil, and is well suited
to planting after harvest of early spring
vegetables like lettuce or peas. It suppresses
weeds through both competition and
allelopathy, and can be cut twice for mulch
(prized by strawberry growers), compost
mmerial or fodder (cawion: let it grow a1 least
24 inches tall, preferably more, before
feeding to livestock, as young sudan grass
contains toxic amounts of cyanide). The
stubble may be subl.tantial enough 10 hold the
soil over winter and add a li1tle organic matter
when turned under in spring. Sow 20-50
lb/acre.
Buckwheat is a mos1 useful green
manure for shon fallow periods in vegetable
culture. It can be planted any time after the
las1 frost, up to the middle of August.
Buckwheat emerges and shades the ground
rapidly, choking out weeds. It reaches 2 to 4
feet and begins 10 flower about 30 days after
planting, and should be mowed or turned
under at most 45 days after planting 10
prevent self-seeding. Two or three successive
plantings of buckwheat, followed by winter
rye, with each crop tilled under, reduces
populations of stubborn perennial weeds like
quackgrass. Buckwheat is also excellent bee
forage, and is good for mobilizing the
phosphorus in a rock phosphate applica1ion.
Sow 50-100 lb/acre.
Clovers are small-seeded legumes that
Stan slowly, but can fix 50 to 100 pounds of
nitrogen if allowed to grow a full year.
White clover is a low-growing (4-18
inches, depending on variety), long-lived
perennial, and is suited to "living mulch"
applications (be sure you don't confuse it
with white sweetclover which can reach five
to 10/eet).
Red clover is taller (18-30 inches),
faster-growing, shorter lived and very shade
tolerant. ll is we11 suited to overseeding into
established vegetables in August if moisture
is adequate.
Alsike clover is intennediate between
white and red clovers, and is more tolerant of
clayey, wet or acid soils. Unlike the 01hers,
crimson clover is an annual, which can be
planted in August or early September and wi11
overwinter in the milder pans of Kaniah (it's
risky here in zone 6b). h can also be planted
in early spring. ln addition to fixing nitrogen
and producing 3 t0ns/acre of organic matter,
crimson clover has spectacular deep red
blooms. Sow clovers in early spring or late
summer, 4-8 lb/acre for white clover, 8-15
lb/acre for red or alsike, and I5-25 lb/acre for
crimson. Clover seedlings don't like ho1 sun,
so it helps to plant oats at 35-50 lb/acre with
the clover to provide light shade, then mow
the oats at heading. Crimson clover can be
mow-killed just after 0owering, while the
other clovers cannot.
Hairy vetch is a legume which has
recently enjoyed a resurgence of interest. h is
a winter annual vine with small purple
flowers and can fix 100 to 250 pounds of
nitrogen per acre. Vetch is hardy to zone Sa
(annual minimum -15 to -20 degrees),
although frost-heaving can be a problem if
harsh freezes alternate wilh !haws. It can be
planted in September, either alone or with
rye, wheat or oats, at 20-30 pounds of vetch
plus 50 pounds of grain per acre. Vetch/rye is
an excellent combination because the rye is
strong enough tO support the vetch vines in
spring, 1he rye roots help prevent frost
heaving, and the combination is more
effective than either crop alone in stopping
erosion, suppressing weeds and building
humus. Also, vetch can be mow-kilJed once
it has begun to flower, which happens about
the same rime that rye sheds pollen. Other
vetches include bigflower vetch (hardy in
most of Katt.iah), common vetch and purple
vetch, both of which are winterlcilled at 10 to
20 degrees F. Their residues release nitr0gen
in the spring, thus these vetches may be
valuable planted in August ahead of the next
year's early spring greens.
Sweet clovers are biennial legumes with
very deep taproots that open the soil and
bring up nutrients. White sweetclover likes
rich, moist, somewhat clayey soil, and gets
very large in the second season, while ye11ow
sweetclover tolerates droughty, sandy soils
and is somewhat smaller, about 4 LO 6 feet
tall. Hubam sweetclover is an annual white
variety that produces lots of organic maner in
a short time, but may self-seed and become a
nuisance weed. Sow sweetclovers in April or
August at 12-18 lblacre. alone or wilh 35-50
lb oats/acre.
Alfalfa, the "queen of forages" can also
make a heavy nitr0gen-fixing cover crop and
provide a highly nutritive mulch. Alfalfa is
somewhat finicky, requiring deep, rich,
nonacid soils high in phosphorus, potassium,
and calcium. Under good conditions, it is a
long-lived percMial lhot can be cut for
several years for mulch, compost or forage.
Sow a1 15-20 lb/acre, pn:fembly with oats at
35-50 lb/acre and/or timothy or other
perennial forage gross at half its normal
seeding rate.
Mark Schon/Jeck Ph.D.•formuly a rcscarckr
with Ntw t\lchtmy. is now inll()/vtd with tht
fnstitutt for Sustainable Living. Wind.n..-ept Farm;
Rt. I, Box 35: Chtck, VA 24072 which products
{JII uctlltnt ncwsltlltr, TcJtinh.
Sprlll<J, 1992
�Plant for Tomorrow:
HEMP
by John Ingress
"Whal is c/wJ uncercainflush low on
the ground, tlwt irresistible rush of
mulci111di,w1LS green ? Aformigl,t later, and
the field is brown no longer. Overflowing ir,
burying it out ofsight, is the shallow tidal sea
of the hemp, ever rippling. With that in
view, all ocher shades in namre seem dead
and coUIII for nothing. Far reflected,
conspicuous, brilliant, strange; masses of
living emerald, saturated wirlt blazing
sunlight."
•from The Reign of Law; A Talc or lhc Kentucky
Hemp Fields by l=s Allen Lane (1900)
Although the Earth has always had
"environmentalists" - people and entire
cultures who respect the forces of Nature and
who try 10 learn from and work wirll those
forces - our industrial/scientific society is
coming 1ownrds environmentalism from the
opposite pole: by discovering how pollution
has disrupted the web of life.
The thread that binds these issues is
1he non-sustainable nature of our dependence
on fossil fuels (and u-ees, because forest
habitats cannot be replenished a1 the rate at
which treeS rue being cut). To dismiss hemp
as a possible solution because ii is of the
genus Camwbis with "marijuana" ( a
pejorative misnomer) is akin to dismissing
Galileo because "the world is flat." For the
moment, let's consider only those varieties of
cannabis referred to as "headache weed,"
containing little psychoactive THC.
Hemp is one of humanity's oldest
cultivated crops. The weaving of hemp fiber
as an industry began 10,000 years ago (see
Jack Herer, The Emperor Wears No Cloches,
1990). By the 27th century BC. the Chinese
cultivated hemp for fiber, medicine, and
herbal use. Since that time, cannabis has been
continuously incorporated into virtually all
the cultures of the Middle East, Asia Minor,
India, China, Japan, Europe, and Africa, and
its uses for oil, food, and relaxation were
developed.
The first laws governing hemp in 1he
Americas were those requiring colonial
Virginia fanners to grow hemp. Violators
could be imprisoned. Washington grew i1,
Jefferson smuggled Chinese seed at great
peril; the first drafts of the US Constitution
were written on hemp paper. The Census of
1850 counted 8,327 hemp plantations of
2000 acres or more, mostly in the South.
In 1916, USDA Bulletin No. 404
reponed that one acre of cannabis hemp, in
annual rotation over a 20 year period, \\0Uld
produce as much pulp for paper as 4.1 acres
of trees, requiring no polluting chemicals.
The hemp pulp technology wa~ invented by
USDA scientists in 1916, but awaited the
mvcntion of dcconica1ing and harvesting
machinery. These arrived in the mid-10-la1e
1930's. at the same time as the DuPont
Company was patenting processes 10 make
plastics from oil and coal, as well as new
Spn119, 1992
sulfate/sulfite processes to make paper from
wood pulp.
Coincidentally - some say
conspiratorially - the Marijuana Tax Act of
1937 effectively outlawed the entire cannabis
plant family on the basis of it's "reefer
madness" properties. No1 only DuPont
profits, but those of large timber holdings,
were wriuen into law. (William Randolph
Hearst, whose "yellow journalism" was
instrumental in the marijuana scare, owne-0
hundreds of thousands of acres of timber,
destined for newsprint).
A working definition of sustainable
agriculture might be those practices that
assure the means of survival - food. fuel,
fiber, and medicine. The mining and use of
fossil fuels. unless absolutely necessary. is
only "economical" in 1cnns of shon cerm
profits. As Buckminis1er Fuller poinis ou1 in
1he book Critical Patl1, it took millions or
years of pho1osyn1hesis, decay, and
accumulation of organic material 10 produce
the oil and coal we use today. By determining
replacement values. he calculates gasoline to
be wonh $2.'i million dollars per gallon! One
might say it's priceless. Or. since burning it
is killing the planet. one could say it has
negative value when removed from the
ground for applications for which a
renewable, sustainable resource, such :is
hemp. is available.
The cannabis hemp seed is a
complete source of vegetable protein, :ind the
USDA food comparisons found hempsecd
lower in saturated fats than any other cooking
oil. including soy and cnnola.The byproduct
of pressing hemp seed for its oil is a high
protein seed cake.
Hemp fiber makes fabrics that are
stronger. more insulating, more absorbent,
and tonger lasting than cotton. More than
half the textiles we use today are imponed,
due to environmental concerns and labor
costs. Hemp requires little fertilizer, and no
pesticides. Local industry could revive.
Hemp is the world's most prolific
source of plam cellulose, which is the basic
raw material used for plastics, fabrication
material, chipboard, fibelboard and other
construction boards.
For more than 3,500 years, cannabis
has been, depending on the culture or nation,
either the moi;1 used or one of the most
widely used plants for medicines. If legal, i1
would immediately replace an estimated lO to
20 percent of all pharmaceutical prescription
medicines and could be added, as extracts, 10
another 20 to 30 percent. From 1842 10 1900
ii made up half of all medicines sold, with
vinually no fear of its "high."
In 1937, the AMA and drug
companies testified against the Marijuana Tax
Ac1, because cannabis was known to have so
much medical potential and has never caused
any observable addictions or death by
overdose. It is known to be helpful in ca.~s
of asthma, glaucoma. tumors, nause:i
resulting from chemotherapy or AIDS,
epilepsy, back pain, and stress among its 100
or so kno\\ n applications.
If we would let it. cannabis hemp
could have a bright future providing
humankind with food, fuel, fiber, an~~
medicine.
fr
For addiuonol informaJu,n on w u.ses of
rhe MIii/i plan/, wme 10: Fnendsofllemp: Bo;(98/:
Mars /lilt, NC 28754,
x.cituah Journal. JJCllF t 7
�KATUAH CULTIVARS
Cultivated Varieties of Vegetable and Fruits
Recommended for Ka mah Bioregion
We received a handful of Kaniah
gardeners' lis1s of favorite fruil and
vegetables varieties. The resulting list is a
chefs' cornucopia. and generally includes
personn.l favorites for productivity, taste,
nuaition, and relative freedom from
problems. Codes for seed sources for the
more difficult-to-find varieties (when known)
are included at the end of the article. Happy
Gardening!
We invite Katuah readers to send us
your favorite varieties (esp. Open Pollinated
{O.P.) or non-hybrid varieties) and your
list of not-so-m:ommendcd varieties (this is
also imponant info!) for developing a more
comprehensive regional listing. Thanks for
your giving...
Perry Eury (Kalmia Center, Sylva, NC)
-rates Red Jewel sweet poiato as a
favorite! He continues to have problems
with disease on legumes. but has had good
luck with a crowder pea, Purple
Knucklehull (SH). He highly recommends
the recovered "Cherokee" Com, a delicious
white com with pinkish blush-- makes lhe
BEST cornbread! (from Cherokee Boys
Club).
Hueh Love! ( Union Agricultural
Instirute, Blairsville, GA) -- Hugh is a CSA
Producer, dedicated to regenerative,
biodynamic agriculture. He loves the English
green pea. Little Marvel which does not
require staking in his intensive, three rows
per wide bed spacings. Sugar Snap edible
pod peas are a favorite with his cus1omers.
He recommends Blue Lake Pole and
Yellow Wax Bean, as productive, but
recommends choosing "rust" disease
rcsistanL varieties. He recommended
Purple Top Tumips (greens and root multicrop!) and rape greens (Vates).
Cherry Belle radishe~ are recommended
for quick maturing spring radishes, and for
Fall planting, Chjna Rose radish.
Touchon is a great coreless carrot, and
Bloomsdale Spinach is recommended as a
standard. Hugh notes that spinach will last
longer in the spring (nor "bolt") if you grow
spinach with low levels of nuaients (esp.
nitrogen).
G}en Hubel (Certified Organic Grower.
Waynesville, NC) has done well with edible
podded pea Snowflake and Sugar
Daddy, and the english pea Knight. He
suggests the beans Easy Pie and the Yellow
Wax bean, Gold Crop. He likes the shon
season tomato Russian, but has had much
"Blight" disease problems with his tomato
varieties. His best crop is his potato crop
including Kennebec, Purple Peruvians,
Red Pontiac, Yellow Finn (SB) and
rates Butte average. He recommend!. agains1
Yukon Gold because of potato bug
problems (lururtm, might be a "trap-crop"! ).
He has had good yields with Black soybeans
and the edible at green-stage Butterbean
soybean. His best crops are his lenuces,
:IC4Nan JO\lf'nat PCUJe 18
recommending Red Oakleaf, Sangria,
Lolla Rossa, and Red Romaine
(SHP).
Will Ashe Bason (Floyd Co.• south.of
Blacksburg, VA) especially likes Lutz
Greenleaf Keeper (SESE) bee!li, as the
~ I keeping. sweetest and mos1 render. He
grows white, yellow and red po1a1oes, but
has had worst "Scab" disease on reds which
do 001 keep as well. He likes his yellow
poiatoes best! He notes broccoli and cabbage
do well. but need to be treated with the
biological insecricide, Dipel (B1). He
advises to plant fall varieties of cole crops
and plant these seeds in late spring. He has
found Sunroofs (the native sunflower,
Jerusalem Artichoke) easy 10 grow and s1ores
well in the l!:r0und over winter. He
recommends blueberries as a fruit crop which
tolerates warm early spells and l:11e frosts, but
recommends additional peal or organic matter
in the planting hole. Will states that Shiitake
mushrooms are relanvely easy 10 inoculate
int0 chestnut oak logs, but may require a year
to get going, but then may "fruit " for years.
He is especially happy with Scarlet
Runner Beans, which are best in flavor,
and make a ''preny good" dried bean. These
are most easily shelled when ''perfectly" dry.
He grows his beans in the garden space left
available after the spring crop of snap peas
(although this may eventually lead to disease
problems in time- ed.)
Mark Schonbeck (Instiru1e for
Sustainable Agriculture, Windswept Farm,
Check. VA) shares his favorite varieties of
"non-hybrid, good flavored, nuaitious, with
good keeping qualities, resistance to pests
and diseases, and ease of haJvest and
processing." (Whew! What criteria!)
Windswept Farm gardeners were
impressed by the grain sorghum.
Mennonite (SESE), yielding over 7 lbs. of
grain from a 100 square foot plot . The
cooked grain iasted somewhat between wheat
berries and brown rice (but had 10 be leached
of the tannins from the grain by boiling and
changing the cooking waters). Hickory
King white flour com, although it grew 10
feet tall, survived thunderstorms, showed
little earwonn damage, and had little mold or
maggot problems. They no1ed that Purple
Peruvian and Saginaw Gold potatoes had
less potato beetle problems than other
varieties. They had problems growing carrots
in their poor soil but Danvers U6 carrot
grew well withou1 becoming woody, and bad
little weed problem. They especially favored
Long Standing Bloo~dale spinach,
with its excellent flavor and winter hardiness.
They recommend several beans including
Chinese Red (SESE) azuki beans
(yielding equivalent 10 2500 lbsJacre), which
grew without any Mexican bean beetle attack!
Swedish Brown common bean had lower
yields (eqiv. 1500 lbs/A.) but have an
unusually good flavor. A local adapted
pinio-type October Bean, obtained from a
neighbor, yielded well and had slightly less
bean beetle damage than other varieties. A
Redkloud Kidney (SESE) bean was
badly chewed by beetles, but managed to
yield as much as the azulcis.
Barbara Duncan (Herb Enthusiast,
Franklin, NC) -- recommends her favorite
perennial Greek Oregano (SHP) which
she prefers for its ease-of-culture (although
hard 10 genninate) and strong, distinctive
taste.
Lee Barnes (Plantsman, Waynesville,
NC) - I've had repeatable success with
Peruvian Purple potatoes tender,
finger-sized and beautiful mixed with yellow
or white potatoes in Potato Salad! Early
Jersey Wakefield cabbage is more tender
and sweeter than other varieties. Celery
(Golden Self-Blanching and Giant
Red(actually pinkish) (SB) does well if
seeds are sown indoors early (60 - 90 days
prior to transplanting). Favorite superhot
peppers are Thai and Habanero (RCS)
(great for hot vinegars, too (()() hot to eat!),
which do best if transplan1ed after mid-May,
or when soil 1empera1ures are greater than 00°
F. My favorite eggplant is the tender
"finger-shaped" Japanese varieties, and I'm
currently addicted to the hybrid eggplant
"khiban". Can anyone recommend an O.P.
variety? Purple Top turnips are favorites!,
while ruUlbagas and kohlrobi do very wcJI if
sown 2-3 weeks earlier than for turnips.
SESE • Southern Exposure Seed
Exchange, P.O. Box 158, North Garden,
VA22959
SH - R.11. Schumway. P.O. Box
I, Graniteville, SC 29829
HA - Hastjng.s. P.O. Box 115535,
Atlanta, GA 30310
SB -Seeds Blum, Idaho City Stage,
Boise, ID 97333
SUP- Shephard's Garden Seeds,
6116 Highway 9, Felton, CA 95018
RCS- Redwood City Seed Co.,
P.O. Box 361, Redwood City, CA 94064
(See KJ # 32 Fall 1991 or master
Resource List for additional seed sources.).
By Lee Barnes
Drawing by Rob Messick
Spr\n4), 1992
�..
--BLOWING IN THE WIND
by Charlone Homsher
When 1 was growing up in
southeastern Colorado, my family hnd a
Sunday afternoon ritual. Every Sunday we
drove to the wheal fields south of town lo
check the moisture content of the soil.
There were usually live or six children;
sisters, brothers and cousins who piled out
of the pickup. My father knelt on the
ground and dug into 1he soil with his bare
hands as we surrounded him waiting
breathlessly. If the subsoil was moist Lhcn
he held up his handful of din, triumphant.
If it was dry, then the eanh sifted Lhrough
his fingers. We all goL a chance to look at
lhis little piece of eanh, wrenched up :IIld
turned over by the sweat of man, the inner
eanh which in some mysterious way would
either give us an ample crop or wither the
grain on the stalk.
This memory of my father, first
digging and than holding the soil in his
palm in a gesture of triumph, is stlU vivid in
my mind. More than anything else it
symbolizes to me the ambivalent
relationship he had to the eanh and 10 his
inherited occupation of farmer.
Before the Homestead Act of 1862
brought white seulers in hordes, there were
no towns or setdements on the prairies. The
Cheyenne and other Plains Indians were
nomadic hunters and gatherers. They found
an ample supply of wildlife sheltered in the
tal1 prairie grasses that grew as high as a
man's chest. By the I 930's the virgin
prairie grasses had been plowed under.
Everyone knew the plowing was out of
contr0l but no one could stop it. There was
always a new wave of homesteaders
detennined 10 farm. One of the excuses
used for plowing up the prairies was I.hat
the grasses were just weeds, after all; and
like weeds everywhere, they would thrive
on their own. Unfonunately the grasses
never returned. What did grow back was a
scraggly grass, euphemistically called
buffalo grass, only a few inches high, nor
high enough 10 sprout under the layers of
sill deposited by the high winds.
Not many people realize I.hat I.he
dusrbowl didn't stop with the depression
era. Even in the fifties, the fields were still
blowing. A dustsronn that would lai;L for
days could be sianed by one farmer. If a
fanner plowed his field in a dry spell and
the farmer next door happened to plow his
at the same time, it could stan a chain
reaction. The lifegiving topsoil from one
field could blow overnight into the next
county suffocating all vegetation in its path
and causing the hair 10 fall off the backs of
grazing animals.
Once 1he prairies were plowed there
was never a settled farm life. The eanh
simply could not sustain the population.
The first mass migration off the prairies
were the Okies of the dus1bowl era who
abandoned their small holdings for
California. The postwar era continued the
cons1an1 trickle of fanners into the cities.
SprtncJ, 1992
Since the land was no longer fenile and
intact as it was as a prairie, ii was the
evolution of fann pracrioe LO acquire larger
properties in order to make a profit This
me.int depending on ever more
sophisticated farm equipment LO handle all
that land, and borrowed financing to pay
for the whole operation. The foreclosures
and farm auctions of the seventies and
eighties where a result of the farmers'
inability 10 repay their massive loans.
Postwar govemment policies
encouraged expansion, as did the ever
burgeoning agribusiness industries. One of
the biggest hoaxes ever perpetrated on the
American fanner was the postwar sentiment
that the American fanner was responsible
for feeding the world. This grandiose
responsibility with its heavy psychological
load, was just more fuel for the
expansionist fodder of big crops at any
cost. Politicians stressed the imponance of
the fanncr in protecting democracy, a
responsibility that reached beyond national
borders. (Empty bellies not only cause
suffering but foment revolution.) The
postwar farmer had a mission and a duty.
Fanning is a pan of the myth of
creation. The farmer is supposed to
understand things 1ha1 other people don't.
He works in cooperation with nature. He
knows when to plant and when 10 harvest.
The farmer feeds everyone. A land without
its local farmers soon shrivels up and dies.
or so the myth goes. Or at the very least the
food prices escalate. The farmer as
supposed to be the sail of the eanh, the real
backbone of America, the man who keeps ii
all going while the rest of the country runs
amuck in the cities. At the same time he is
expected 10 remain isolated, cut off from
the mainstTCam of society, a laborer whose
opinions are considered wonhless. The
fnnner is dealing with some heavy
propaganda from without and expectations
from within. The fanners of the fifties ond
sixties were nearly frantic in their push to
mtiinstream fanning into the standnrd of
living of the while middle class. Fanners
wanted cash in the pocket, brick ranch
houses and college education for their
children. The very idea of making fanning
a respectable profession is a historically
brazen tissurnption. ln every civilized
society the farmer is the low caste, the
ignorant, humble servant of the soil.
Here is another sticky contraclictlon.
Farmers were forced off the fa.nm that they
said they wanted 10 keep and lost a way of
life that they professed 10 Jove, yet they
pushed their children into learning skills
that would be of use only in the cities, thus
assuring that the way of life could not
possibly be handed on. This could be seen
as either a foresighted concern for future
generations or a disinheritance. I never did
find an easy answer 10 Lha1 one. When I
was about fifteen my father drove me to lhe
original family homes11:ad. We walked 10
the middle of the field behind the rock
house between Lhe apple ort:hard and !he
sandy banks of the dry creekbed. I hadn't
been 10 that field in years.
Dad pointed ar the bare eanh under
the stubble of lhe last crop. With great
solemnity, he told me that he had hired a
water witcher (a dowser) who had said that
there was enough wa1er in that panicul:!r
spot for a well. The drilling crew was
arriving the next day and he wanted me 10
know how things really stood. If they hit
water, I would get to go Lo college. If
no1 ... well ...1here was nothing worse for a
young girl than lO rot in some dying farm
town.
I Ils arrirude was typical of the worry,
fear, and despair of fann fathers of that era.
In contrast to this dreary scenario, I am
reminded of the description of small scale
farmers in Japan in the wonderful
philosophical treatise on nature and
fanning, The One Straw Revolution. In
that book, Masanobu Fukuoka describes
how fanners of old Japan, before
mechanization and before life got so
frenetic, took off for a three month holiday
in the winter 10 hunt rabbits in the
mountains. They also wrote Haiku poetry.
Fukuoka claims that there was even a time
when fanning was considered a sacred
work.
In my family, of all the children who
knell with my father in the fields and got
that first lesson of the harshness of the
Eanh and its potential fertility, lam the
only one who still owns land and I do not
own fannland. In an ironic cwist of fare it
was the sudden, unexpected sale of my
grandfather's ranch that paid for my piece
of mountain.
Over the years, l occasionallv run into
one of the ex-fannboys with whom I grew
up. Meeting them is very similar 10 how I
have heard Vietnam veterans de..~be
encounters \loith each other. Looking into
each other's eyes we recognize the vast
expanses of psychic space between our past
and our present, the bridges that we have
had 10 bum to travel such distances
00Cllinuod on page 32
Draw111g by Rob Messick
Xatuah Jo\4rnm pQ()e 19
�~
5
E
p
T
E
M
B
E
A
0
11th
• ~fore C.1ting wild
edibles, be sure or their com!Ct
Identity and proper preparation.
Times may vary in your area.
Native and naturaliud plant
listings rcncct average beginning of
�- .-
0
18th
~
-
C
r
�"MEDICINE TRAINING"
These are the words ofa traditional
Cherokee medi'cine person:
My grandfather was one of those who
believe that everything has a spirit - the
stones, the grass, Lhe soil, everything. To
him, it was apparent that anybody could
communicate and work with these beings.
He believed that no one was any more
magical than any other person. It was just a
pan of being human, and civilization
domesticated that part of ourselves, and
turned everybody's reality around to
whatever white man's reality is. Everybody
had to have the same reality.
As soon as I was born, he saw physical
signs on my body thOt told him that I was
destined 10 be a medicine man. One of the
biological signs that he noticed were simian
creases (sharply-defined creases extending
from between the thumb and forefinger
across the palm - ed.). I have two of them.
When a baby is born in the hospital,
western doctors look at it to see if it's eyes,
teeth, nose, mouth, etc., are all in order,
and then they check for simian creases,
because they are a sign of Down's
syndrome. Eight out of ten babies who
have a simian crease have Down's
syndrome. I had one on each hand.
Now my grandfather had no idea what
simian creases were or what Down's
syndrome was. But he did notice that they
were an unusual physical occum:nce on my
body. There were other physical signs, but
I don't know what they all were.
He took the matter up with other old
people that he talked with, and they all
agreed with his interpretation of the signs.
After that, r was preordained by my
grandfather 10 be a medicine person and
blessed by the elders.
They gave me a naming ceremony.
They held me up and called in all of
Creation from all the directions and
introduced me. Then they offered my spirit
to the Creation, saying, "This is your
relative. This is how he will be known."
When I was a child, I would "make
things happen." 1t was like fantasizing. 1
would see something happening in my
mind, and it would occur. I could make
somebody come over to my house. r could
find something in the woods. Little things,
but r was encouraged 10 exercise that
ability.
I was also encouraged in things that the
white culture would consider foolish. If I
came home and said that I saw some Little
People in the woods, the adultS would said,
"Well, that's great! What were they doing?
How were they doing it?"
In while society parents would say,
"You're a fool," "Don't do thaL Act like an
adult," or, if they were very liberal, "Ooh,
he's got an imaginary play friend."
Most of culture is just habits. If things
don't work for you, over and over, then
you drop them. If something works, over
and over, then gradually it becomes part of
your reality and then pan or your identity.
And as a child the fact that r had certain
abilities just became a fact of my life. I was
encouraged in special ways 10 follow a
certain direction.
For instance, one of the very first
memories I cnn remember was seeing a
baby push out of a woman. Kids were nol
normally allowed to be present for that sort
of thing. But the elders thought that I was
good luck, juSt by being the. '".~ause
people thought that I was special, they
reinforced it b) IJ>"..ating me that way. Of
course, it didn'l take much to convince me
that I was special! Everybody thinks that
they have a special destiny. That's
unders1andable, and it's true to a certain
extent, but it very seldom comes oue in the
way that we would like it 10.
That was the way they began my
training. It was the most natural thing in the
world. A lot of it was just being raised by
my grandparents and being around old
people a lot of the time.
Most of the kids my age grew up
around fathers who had been in World War
ll. My grandfather wns 69 years old when l
was born. And as a boy he had lived with
his grandfather, who had fought at
Horseshoe Bend with Andrew Jackson.
Through my grandfather, l had a direcl
connection to those times. In my childhood
adventure games I pretended 1 was hiding
in the mountains during the Removal,
eating grubs and bugs, and running from
white soldiers with tall hatS.
I lived in a world that in many ways
was quite archaic. The Cherokee language
that my grandfather spoke was an archaic
version of the language they speak today.
Growing up among these elders, pan of my
thinking was archaic. I don't know if it was
because of the way that I was raised, but I
was more marurc than most males my age.
r also had a sense of being content to be
with myself. When I think of my
childhood, r think of myself as being alone
much of the time. That leaves a mark upon
you. For one thing, it made me more
peaceful being with myself. I never seem to
need entenainment. l don't need diversion.
My mind is all the diversion I need.
My early training was just spending
time with those old people. We might be
out collecting sho-un or ramps, and we
would run across a woman whose specialty
was birthing. She would point out a plant
and say, "This is good for teeth, cutting
teeth, cutting teeth," she'd say. Or "Sore
mouth," or "This is good for white
tongue," (thrush). Another time we would
meet somebody who had a lot of
knowledge in another area. That was the
way I teamed. lt was structured, but it
wasn't a structure. It was spontaneous. Yee
I had a sense that it was importanL
The only les.wns r learned by rote were
hem were long, but
the formulas. Some of 1
they all have basic Structures and themes
that run through them that make them
simple to remember once you catch the
pattern.
The formulas were in a special
ceremonial mode of the Cherokee language
that was symbolic in its meaning and older
even than the speech my grandparents
used. A modem-day speaker would not be
able to understand it. When you say, "Way
up on high where the four black ravens
rest, r call you down here, and r ask you 10
pull the black smoke all over this," what
does that mean to a modern Cherokee? It
doesn't mean a thing. But II is incredibly
meaningful to me.
Sprt.119, 1992
�Most of my training was learning how
to learn. Leaming how to use my mind.
They taught me by giving me the answers
to questions· questions I hadn't even asked
ye1. I had the answers; I had to find om
what the questions were. h's a good way 10
learn. It talces a lot of patience.
1 might be walking with my gr.indfather
or one of his friends, and we would sit
down and build a fire, cook a little
some1hing, and, as we were sitting there,
he might say, "Ginseng." Or he might say,
"lt's inside yourself." Or he might say, "It
comes when all doubt is cleared from the
mind." Just out of the blue. It would have
no reference to any1hing that we were
doing. The first few times, l started to ask
questions, but after awhile I stopped asking
qucs1ions.
My grandfather would say, "You may
not understand now, but you will
understand. You're not ready for it. But
lis1en. Pay attention to everything."
"Don't trot around knowledge," he
would say. "Knowledge without
understanding is worse than tits on a boar
bog, so wail Ir will come to you."
And it has come to me. I have been
caught up in new experiences, when I did
not know what to do, and, all at once, the
answer would be there, clear as a bell. I'd
had the answer all along, and I had finally
ran into the question.
People talk to me about their life
problems. Often they are going through a
Jot of suffering. SomeLimes I feel like a
third person sitting there watching myself
talk to them and helping to solve their
problems. rm not egotistical. I know
where it's corning from. Still, T feel
absolutely amazed. rm not me any more!
That's the way my whole life has been:
I've had the answers, but I haven't had 1he
questions. fve been running into the
questions throughout my whole life. In that
sense, it has made my life easier. I don't
know if I have run into all the questions
yet. I'm still looking. though, because
sometimes the answers will fit many
questions.
•
canvas bag. He kept everything · absolutely
everything • in this bag.
I would be walking down the trail past
a clump of bushes or a blackberry thicket,
and all of a sudden he would sL,nd up in it.
He scared me every time. He \\Ould just
appear. And he'd grin. A1 that most people,
even those who knew him, would run. But
he was a boyhood friend of my
grandfather, and I think my grandfather
was his only friend. He never manied,
and, when my grandfather died. in his own
way he took responsibility for me for
awhile. This wasn·t much, because he was
very seldom around. But he always
appeared when I needed him · every time r
needed him.
Owl did magical things. He was the one
who taught me how to eliminate doubt in
my mind. And that's the best gifL he ever
gave me.
Eliminating doubt makes magic happen.
I was brought up with no limits as to what
my mind could do. but then, as I got older
and exposed to other people, they put doubt
in my mind. Owl taught me how to remove
that doubt.
He did not give me a set of simple
instructions like, ~stick your nose in your
ear, and this will all go away." It was a
combination of things. He said that 10 clear
the doubt out of my mind I had to go
through a rational, linear process. It was
something that one had 10 be taught over a
period of time. And with my formal
experience of magic, it didn't talce me very
long to learn it.
Talso learned how to focus. If I can
visualii.e something, and see it in my mind,
and hold it in my mind, and do it in my
mind • and drop it! - it never fails. When I
was a child, I could do it easily. But as I
grew to be an adult and developed doubt. I
had a more difficult time. The fonnulas
would help me to keep my focus, son of
like daydreaming.
*
One of the old men was a special
person to me. He was a medicine person.
People came to him for conjuring and
docroring, and he was good at it. I always
referred to him as Owl, but that wasn't his
name.
He was probably six foot four, if you
straightened him out, but as a child his leg
had been broken and badly set, and he
leaned over to the left. He also had an eye
that hnd been damaged, so that although he
could see ouc of it, it was puckered up into
a fearsome squint. He was a fierce,
mean-looking old man, but he was as
gentle, caring, and loving as he was
scary-looking.
He always had a long World War I
overcoat with him. I can remember Lhe big
brass buuons that went all the way down
the front. When he wasn't wearing his
coat, he would roll it up, tie strings around
it, and carry it over one shoulder. On his
other shoulder he would carry a funky old
1
I remember a scene that happened
repeatedly. Owl and I would be walking
down a trail, and I would be talking to him,
when suddenly he would grab me by my
shirt and pull me into the bushes.
"Stand still and be quiet," he would
say.
We would stand there, sometimes for
ten minutes. Then 1 would hear somebody
coming down the trail and look up. It
would invariably be somebody that Owl
didn't want to see.
After the person was gone, I would
say, "How did you know he was coming?"
Re would say, "You know it, 100! You
know it, tool But you're so goddamn busy
chattering and talking. Busy! Give yourself
a break."
He would say, "You know
everything."
faery time I would ask Owl weighty,
involved questions looking for profound
answers, he would just look at me and
shake his head.
He'd say, "You kMw I.he answer," and
I.hen "Goddamn it, you don't need no
teachers."
And it's true. That's the big lesson. The
minute we become leaders or followers, we
have lost our power.
Owl also taught me the imponant
principle that most things don't maucr, and
I don't have any place to go anyhow. When
1 somehow indicated that I had learned this,
he was delighted.
"You got it!" he said." That's
absolutely wonderful! lf I've never done
anything else in my life, this is the greatest
thing I have ever done!" /..;:.!Ill"
He was great.
p-
End of PART I
)
Drawings by Troy Scwa
Sprt.mJ, Hl92
C
�., ~
PROTECTING THE PARK AND THE BIOREGION
Nanni World News Service
Since itS dedication in 1940, the Great
Smoley Mountains National Parle has been the
crown jewel of the Southern Appalachian
ecosystem. The Park is protected as a de
facw wilderness throughou1 much of ilS
550,000 acres and is the keystone of the
natural habitat in the southern mountains. The
Parle occupies a cemral location in the region
and acts as a preserve for rcmnanlS of the
original old growth forest and many rare and
endemic species of plant and animal life. It is
a natural habitat large enough to accept
~introductions of wide-ranging mammals
like the red wolf and the ouer. It is a dispersal
poim from which species can migrate to
replenish the the three million acres of less
protected national forests that sWTOund its
borders. Eoologically, the Great Smoky
Mountains National Park is of great
importance as a stabilizing factor 10 the
natural life community of the Southern
Appalachian Mountains.
The Great Smokies Parle also stands as
the ecological standard by which we judge
the health of the rest of the forest. But
although the Park is pro1ec1ed on the ground
throughout most of its area, the Park
ecosy~tem is deteriorating from pervasive
polluuon that drops from the skies. Because
of the high altitude of 1he Park's highest
ridges, clouds carrying contaminants gather
a1 their creslS and drop their deadly burdens.
Thus, atm0spheric pollution that affects the
w~ole re~on tends to be concentrated at high
alntude s11es such as those in the Great
Smoky Mountains Na1ional Parle. The Park
acts as a barometer for the ecological health
of the region as a whole.
1:"10.w the Park is also sailing fonh as a
flagship in the defense of the regional
ecosystem. Under the provisions of the Clean
Air Act, most national parlcs and some of the
larger wilderness areas are defined as Class r
meaning that no significant deterioration of '
the air quality in those areas is 10 be
permiued. Yet continued indusaial
d~elopment constantly increases the already
senous pollution that is undem1ining the
ecological health of the Park and the
mountain forests.
Thus, in the fall of 1991 James M.
Ridenour, Direc1or of 1he National Park
Service ~S) of the federal Deparunem of
the lmenor issued a statement declaring that
proposed developments near the Great
Smoky Mountains National Park and the
Shenandoah National Park in Virginia would
have an adverse ecological impact and were
unacceptable under the tenns of the law.
ln Tennessee, Ridenour's s1mement
referred specifically to a proposed expansion
b%" me Eastman Chemicals Company in
Kmgspon that would include construction of
a new$ I00 million coal-fired boiler that
woul~ spew 1,542 tons of nirrogcn oxide per
year mto the atmosphere.
Ni~gen oxide is a precursor of
atmosphenc 01.0ne. Resource specialis1s in
the Park have already identified 95 plant
species that show signs of damage from
~mne contamination, indicating that pollution
m the Park already is extensive.
NPS researchers also point out that
since 1950 visibility in the Park has declined
40%, and the famous blue haze from which
the Great Smoley Mountains derived their
name has turned into a siclcly gray or a
poisonous-looking yellowish white pall
depending on the season.
'
Because of aonospheric contmination
"Soil and water resources are at serious risk "
wrote NPS Regional Director James Col~
in a letter 10 the State of Tennessee
expressing the Service's opposition to the
Eastman expansion project The NPS holds
that any debilitating influences within a circle
tha1 extends 120 miles around the Park in all
directions would adversely affect the air
quality of the protected area.
LICENSE TO DUMP
Nanni World News Service
. ~n E~vir?nroental Protection Agency
adm1mscranve Judge on February 12 struck
~own challenges.to the discharge permit
ISsued to Champion lmemational Co.
allowing them 10 put was1es from its Canton
papermaking plant in10 1he Pigeon River.
The primary objections came from the
Dead Pigeon River Council, an organization
of downstream residents. The group's ma.in
complaint is that dioxin produced in the plant
is affecting 1heir health and the health of the
environment below the mill. They are also
concerned about the color and odor of 1he
river\ "':'hich are evidence of the heavy waste
load It 1s forced to carry and are hurting the
economies of the towns below the Canton
plant
The five-year discharge pem1i1 has been
stalled in coun since 1989. Confident of
victory, the company has proceeded with a
$250 million modernization plan for the
antiquated paper mill, installing new,
non-chlorine bleaching lines and water
mwcrs for recycling water that may cu1 river
use by one-third. The company hopes 10
approach a 50-unit color limit that during the
~nnit c~ntt;?versy ~our years ago i1 &aid was
1mposs1ble 10 attain and would force
closure of the plant.
The Dead Pigeon River Council is
deciding whether 10 appeal the judge's rulmg.
ECOTAGE,
Nanni World.Newt Service
''
In what might be another case of
"ecotage" in Karuah, over $50,000 wonh of
damage was done to various pieces of
logging equipment in the Buck Creek and
Rich Mountain Areas of Macon County on
February 2, 1992. lnves1igators claim that the
incident is the worst recent example of
apparen1 ecotage directed at the timber
industry in western Nonh Carolina, stating
that virtually every piece of equipment on the
rwo sites was affected. The saboteurs
punctured truck and skidder tires, cut
elecaical wires on bulldozers, cut hydraulic
and air lines on other equipment, and placed
tacks on roads leading to the sites. According
to officials of Hennessee hardwood, one of
the timber companies hit, new skidder tires
will cost $1025 each, and the hydraulic lines
will cost from $60 to $400 apiece to replace.
Hilton C3bc. an independent logger whose
equipment was damaged, said he has no
insurance 10 repair or replace his equipment,
and Jack Hennessee, Jr. stated that the
deductible is so high on his insW'ance that
damage suffered by his equipment would not
be recovered.
No individual or group has come
forward to take responsibility for the action,
but the loggers are certain the sabotage was a
protest against logging in the national forcs1s.
"(lbe ecotage) is against the timber
industry," logging contractor Lloyd Cook,
also of Macon coun1y. told the Asheville
Citizen-Times. "They've started a war. 11
looks like we are going to have to defend
ourselves. They are not playing fair."
The Hennessee company plans to hire
security persoMel to guard their logging
sites. "They brought it to me," said
Hennessee to the Citizen-Times. "I didn't
take it to them."
Forest Service investigators and Macon
County law enforcement officers reported
that they bad found foot and tire prints at the
sites. On February 6 the Macon Coun1y
Chapter of the Western North Carolina
Alliance posted a $200 reward for
"infonnation leading to the arrest and
conviction" of the perpetrators. However, at
press ume no progress had been made in the
investigation.
CUB KILLERS ARRESTED
Naunl Wnrld N""'• Scr,,,cc
A mother bear and her three newborn
cubs were killed by poachers on January 3,
J992. Michael Lee Correll of Black
Moun1ain, NC was arrested and charged wi1h
the slaying. Another man and two women,
also from Black Mountain, were charged
with transponing a bear out of season.
The crimes are all misdemeanors and
carry a fine of at lea.,t $2,000 per offense
plus a restitution cos1 of $1,035 for 1hc bear.
The two men said that they were
raccoon hunting when their dogs roused the
mother bear. Apparently the mother bear was
denning on the ground and was awakened
and frigh1ened by the hun1er~. She died, nm
only a vicLim of poachers, bur also of a lack
of mature den rrees in which she could hide
during her winter dormancy.
Spr1.t19, 19!12
�RADIOACTIVE SURPRISE
Narunl World News Service
A congressional hearing held before
Rep. George Miller's Interior Committee
heard evidence that barrels of hazardous
materials sent from Oak Ridge Tennessee
came with a free surprise in every barrel radioactive waste!
The hearing was caJled after journalist
Peter Schenkel of the Stare-Times Moming
Advocate in Baton Rouge, LA collected
irrefutable evidence that the Martin Marietta
Company, contractor 10 the Department of
Energy (DOE) at the Oak Ridge, TN nuclear
weapons complex, had been mismanaging
radioactive waste. Since 1980 the company
has sent about 10,000 tons of hazardous
wastes containing small amounts of
radioactive materials to 16 commercial
incinerators not licensed to handle such
substances.
The company knew it was violating
regulations. All references to uranium were
whited out from shipping orders. Clyde
Hopkins, the president of Martin Marietta,
told the congressional committee that the
documents were altered for "national security
reasons."
Leo Duffy, specialist in waste handling
for the DOE, disavowed any DOE
responsibility, saying that if Martin Marieua
thought that changing documents was a
proper interpretation of DOE regulations, the
company was very wrong.
Martin Marieua's actions were not only
inappropriate, but also clearly illegal, in
violation of Nuclear Regulatory Commission,
Environmental Protection Agency, and state
regulations. However, no criminal
investigations have yet been begun in the
case.
Ralph Hutchison, of the Oak Ridge
Environmental and Peace Alliance (OREPA),
said, "What happened was that Martin
Marietta unilaterally decided that there was
not enough radiation in the wastes to worry
about Although the toxic substances
contained more radiation than they were
allowed 10 bum in their own incinerator, they
still sent the shipments on to other private
facilities. The company in effect established
its own private BRC (below regulatory
concern) levels."
Journalist Schenkel was investigating
Rollins Environmental Services, a large
hazardous waste processing facility in Baton
Rouge, in January of 1991 when he
discovered documents indicating that they
may have received waste materials from
Martin Marietta Energy Systems that were
contaminated with radioactivity. As Schenkel
probed deeper, he began to run into the kind
of roadblocks that suggested that he was onto
a story that was bigger than he had expected.
llis persistence uncovered the Martin Marietta
activities. Fearing a scandal, the company
stopped all off-site shipments of hazardous
wastes during the summer of 1991.
Shenckel is not content that the full
implications Martin Marietta's actions have
been revealed. He was quoted in the OREPA
newsletter as saying, "I am not convinced by
any degree that they know the full extent of
radioactive material released."
Sprlf\9, 1992
He said that papers recently procured
from Oak Ridge give chemical analyses of the
shipments. They show the presence of
cobalt, strontium. and yttruim, which can
occur naturally but often arc radioactive
isotopes. The chemical analyses give no clue
as to their isotopic form. When Schenkel
asked, "Were any of these radioactive
isotopes?", company representatives admitted
that they did not know and no longer had any
way of finding out.
What is clear is the nature of Martin
Marietta management. Ralph Hutchison says,
"Martin Marietta took over (as the major
contractor in Oak Ridge) in 1983 after Union
Carbide was caught with mercury on their
hands, and Martin Marietta has supposedly
been doing everything right. Now in the last
month we find out that they have been doing
the same old stuff."
"A PATTERN OF ABUSE"
Natural World l',cws Savsu
The firing of Karin Heiman (see Karuah
Jour110l #31) as a US Forest Service botanist
was not an random incidence of arbitrary
authority. Repression against employees who
arrive at conclusions contrary to agency
policy has been a common occurrence in the
Forest Service.
This was uncovered in hearings held by
the Howse of Representatives Civil Service
subcommiuee, chaired by Rep. Gerry
Sikorski (0-MN). The comnunee found that
the Forest Service offered harsh punishment
to whistleblowers, even when they were
pointing out illegalities in Forest Service
activities.
At the close of the hearings on January
23. Rep. Sikorski said, "This needs to 1,c
investigated by the Depanment of Justice.
There is a pattern of abuse. There is a pattern
of ignorance. There is a pattern of delay and
retaliation."
NATURAL WORLD NEWS BRIEFS
NO RADIA TION...THIS TIME
The truck was wheeling down I-26 on
February 27 when just outside of Asheville,
NC flame spouted out from one of the
wheels. A Buncombe County sheriffs
deputy pulled the truck over and Sgt. N. K.
Goering of the State Highway Patrol
appeared on the scene. It was just another
breakdown.
"It appears that it was a just a truck that
broke down and this particular truck
happened to be carrying a radioactive
product."
What?! Yes, radioactive waste, going
from Northern State Power Co. in
Monticello, MN to the Barnwell Waste
Management Facility in Barnwell, SC.
"Until I obtained all my readings, I was
concerned," said Sgt. Goering. State troopers
carry geiger counters in their vehicles?
Apparently the possibility of a nculear
accident has become accepted as a
probability.
"You never know what kind of wreck
you might be called to," said Goering,
"because you never know who is going up
and down the highways."
Maybe this is something we need to
know.
The fire m the radioactive waste truck
was contained. No radiation was released. It
was just another day on the highway...this
time.
tnforma1ion from ,~ Asheville Ci1i1.cn-T1mca or
'1.mfn.
"Warh.tod WatcMrs" art o,-ganizing to monitor
move=nt of truck comY>ys carrying nuclear weapons
maJcriaJs on 1-40 and 1-26 /OWdl'd tht Trilknl
Submarine base in St. Mary's. GA. For in/ormolion
on becoming a Warhead Watcher, call Amy Mozingo
(704) 253-3854.
• To protect imperiled aquatic species
and their habitats, the NC Wildlife Resources
Commission has submitted a proposal to the
state Environmental Management
Commission asking that portions of 33
watersheds in IO of the state's river basins be
protected as High Quality Waters. Included
are portions of the New, the Watauga, the
Tuckasegee, the Linville. and the Little
Tennessee Rivers.
• The "Ballenger bill," proposed by
conservative Rep. Cass Ballenger, a
Republican from North Carolina's 10th
District, has passed the House and awaits
action by the Senate. The bill would protect
the Lost Cove and Harper Creek areas in the
Posgah National Forest.
Sen. Terry Sanford (D-NC) has
introduced a companion bill in support of
Ballcnger's legislation.
• Charles Taylor is the best friend the
local timber industry has in Washingt0n. It's
true - he said so himself before a meeting of
the Multiple Use Council, a timber lobbying
group.
• A Superior Coun judge in Wake
County ruled that the town of Highlands
needs no environmental impact statement 10
build a sewage treatment plant that would
dwnp 500,000 gallons of treated sewage a
day in the Cullasnja River. The citizens group
Save Our Rivers immediately appealed the
judge's ruling and asked for a restraining
order 10 stop work on the project until the
appeal is heard
• Ten otters were reintroduced into
streams arounci the Great Smoky Mountains
National Park last February. Six were
released into Cataloochec Creek and two
more pairs were released into Hazel Creek
and the Little River. Three of the Otters
released in Cataloochee were pregnant
females expected to bear young this spring.
NII/IJroJ World N~ws I, rdilrd •,
e-m Crundit,:rr.
�WHOSE RULES?
The Drinking Water Protection Controversy in North Carolina
"ll's the biggest cave-in in the history
of the Environmental Management
Commission. lt's remarkable that big money
overpowered science and public suppon."
This was the conclusion of Bill
Holman, environmental lobbyist in the Nonh
Carolina state legisl.nrure, about the change in
the watershed protection rules proposed by
the state's Environmental Management
joined the campaign after it got going, but the
finances and the strategy came largely from
big urban developers in the three metropolitan
areas.
The development consortium had paid
little attention to the 1990 public hearings. In
1991 they turned up the heat. They called up
association. Carla DuPuy was formerly a
eouniy commissioner in Mecklenburg
County.
Barnes is from Wilson, NC and Brady
is a lawyer from Lenoir.
. . ~Wc~s~ ~~~-~:f~~i~~f~:~
, . 'liearings on regulations adopted in 1990.
The original regulations, created in
1990 under a mandate from the Water Supply
Watershed Protection Act passed by the state
legisl:uure in 1989, were designed to protect
sources of pure drinking water for towns and
cnies across the stale. They basically set up
two areas around a lake or an intake point
from a river from which drinking water was
drawn: a critical area, one mile around the
water supply point, and a protected area, five
miles around the water supply point.
Watershed iypcs were graded according to
the amount and iype of development that
would be allowed within the critical areas.
A WS-1 watershed was the highest
grade. in which the entire area was essentially
publicly owned and development was not
allowed. Residential developmenr was limited
from one house per every two acres in a
WS-Il area 10 one house per acre in a
watershed graded WS-IV.
Industrial and large commercial
development, like large shopping malls, were
prohibited in the critical areas or WS-Il and
WS-ITI watersheds, which were designated
as primarily residential or agricultural areas.
These restrictions raised the ire of
well-monied and powerful developers. ln the
words of the Charlotre News and Observer,
''The developers realii.ed that the standards
the commission approved in 1990 were real
con1rols. They actually would protect the
water permanently - and thus could threaten
the making of forrunes of the quicker, dirtier
son."
The developers argued thru the EMC
had substantially changed the rules since the
public hearing, and therefore the commission
should hold more hearings.
Leadcrniip for the eonsonium came
from a development project in Durham called
Treybum. The two developers of that project
are Clay Hamner and Terry Sanford. Jr..
Also involved were the North Carolina
Homebuilders Associntion; Duke Power's
Crescent Land and Timber Company; John
Crosland, an intluential homebuilder in
Chnrloue; the Cornwallis Development
Company, which is a subsidiary of Coon
Mills textile company; the backers of an0ther
project called Watt Creek Park, an industrial
development in the City of Burlington's
watershed; and prominent developers in
Guilford County.
Most of the energy for this effort came
from the Piedmont. Some of the smaller
developers in the mountains, and some of the
agricultural interests - like the Fann Bureau :KatilM Journm pO<Jf 26
connections, pulled strings, and contacted
local builders and real estate companies
across the state to pack the local hearings. As
a result the hearings were divided · often
bincrly (sec Koruah Journal #32). Because of
the public interest, the EMC extended the
comment period. They received 2,652 leuers,
the most comment the commission had seen
on any issue except hazardous waste. Ninety
percent of the tellers were in favor of
retaining the stricter watershed conirols.
But apparently hearing rooms are not
where government policy is formed. The
developers pulled strings W1Lh the EMC and
organized a campaign to frighten local
officials about watershed regulation. lf the
watershed protection regulations were kept in
place, they maintained, economic
development in the Stale of North Carolina
would cease entirely. The members of 1he
EMC wilted under the heal. They repudiated
1he1r fonner conclusions and offeted up a
watered-down version of their own
proposals.
Of a panel of six hearing officers, four
supported weakening the rules. and two were
opposed. The four supporters were Virgil
McBnde, Doug Boykin, Robert Griffith,
Carla DuPuy, while Cllnrlic Brady and
Michael Barnes opposed the changes.
Boykin and Griffith are developers
themselves. Virgil McBride was fom1crly a
lobbyist. Although he never lobbied for
development intercsis directly, he worked for
industries closely connecting to development
and construction, primarily the trucking
Orawu,g by Midu,el Thompson
In the end, by a vo1e of 11-5 the EMC
cul the size of the critical area in half, from
one mile to one-half mile in radius. The new
rules doubled the amount of residential
development allowed in WS-JI and WS-UJ
areas, to one house per acre in WS-n areas
and one house per one-half acre in WS-m
areas. Under the new regulations industrial
development and shopping malls are allowed
in the WS-ll and WS-lll areas (only landfills
are prohibited), if they do not discharge
wastes directly into the streams and lakes
from which people will be obtaining their
drinking water. In a WS-IV area industrial
discharge is allowed directly into the scream.
The new, weakened regulations do not
go mto effect until 1994, so developers have
two years to begin projects that would not
come under the junsdiction of any watershed
protection rules.
Bill Holman's assessment is that, ''The
hearings were only for show. Big money
working behind the scenes gulled the rules."
Whereas the earlier watershed
protection regulations were drafted with
assistance from environmentalists, business
people, local governments, and scientists,
'"There was no technical basis in the hearing
record for the changes that were made.
There's nothing in the hearing record that
said it was alright to double tl1e density of
development in protected watersheds. There_
was n01hing in the hearing records that said u
was alright to have indusoial developmenL
The changes were totally political. h was
government behind the scenes," Holman
Sprl.nq, 1992
said.
�Observations by commission mem~r
Barnes seem to verify Holman's conclus10n.
"I never saw any facts and figures 10 change
what we passed in 1990 10 what we have
here today," Barnes Lold the Asheville
Citizen-Times.
Holman said that conservation groups
are going to appeal the EMC vote on the
watershed protection regulations and that they
are going back to the State legislature to ~sk
for more specific drinking water protecnons
10 be enacted inLo law.
The threat to people's health and
well-being resulting from inadequate
protection of drinking water supplies is real
indeed. However, the drinking water
controversy also brings to light broad
questions about how decisions are made in
Nonh Carolina.
The Environmental Management
Commission is the policy-making board for
the Deparunent of Environmental
Management (DEM), part of the Depanment
of Health, Environment. and Resources.
Many of the s1affo~the pEM have.scientific
credentials, but their acnons are gwded by the
EMC, which consists of lay people, chosen
for their influence and political orientations
more than their expertise. And chosen not by
the people of the state, but by !h~ go,vernor,
who appoints 13 of the comm1ss1on s 17
members, and by the lieutenant governo~ and
the speaker of the house, who each appoint
two.
The Environmental Management
Commission makes important decisions, as
the present controversy shows. These
appointed members of a government
commission have great power over sia~e
policy the future of the land, and the hves of
many people. Yet the~ 3:e insulated ~ro.m
informed scientific opinion and pubhc input.
rn effect they constitute a ruling elite,
ostensibly legal and aboveboard, duly
.
constituted by state law, yet more responsible
10 powerful special interest groups a_nd state
power brokers than to any democrauc
institutions or interest in the natural
environment.
The actions of commissions like the
EMC are shielded from public panicipation
and control, and are carried out largely
unnoticed except in cases such as the
drinking water proteetion controversy. The
public does not often get to see the degree of
power wielded by the members of _th:
Enviromental Management Comnuss10~ and
the others like them, much less to be pnvy to
the directives coming from the high officials
who appointed them. l~ their ~c~ons ~ere
more visible, the resulung pohc1es rrught be
quite different.
People need clean drinking water.
Aquatic habitats need protection from
development. And the power of "government
behind the scenes" must be broken.
- by David Wheeler
BIG IVY
The hiker moves quietly, in awe of the
great trees beneath which she walks: u_ntil she
is brought up short by a splash ofbnlban1
color on the forest floor. A small cluster of
the rare Gray's lily shine in the dim forest
light. A short way down the the trail her eye
is drawn by the bright yellow of broadleaf
coropsis, and, there! - t~e pale be~uty of~
bleeding heart plant. This clearly 1s a special
place. This is Big Ivy.
.
Located in the Black Mountains beneath
the much-visited Craggy Gardens, the Big
rvy area is less well-known but. in its own
way, equally as beautiful and scientifically
perhaps much greater in importance than the
popular scenic attraction above.
Big Ivy contains large areas of
old-growth forest and a long list of rare plant
and animal species. Thirty-two rare plants
(including 18 listed as "rare" in the State of
North Carolina and 14 species that are
"watch-listed" in the state) and eight rare
animal species inhabit the area.
The large patches of old-growth
forests, a disappearing habitnt in the Sou.thern
Appalachians, account in part for the vanety
of unique species in Big Ivy. But an unusual
geological formation has given to the area
soils that are "circumneutral," nearly neutral
in pH, compared to ~e aci<l;ic soils gene~ly
found in the mountains. This has resulted 10 a
number of plants and plant as~iati~>ns n?t
found in other areas of the Katuah b1oregion.
Big Ivy is critical to the overall biodiversity
of the Southern Appalachians.
But all is not idyllic in Big Ivy. Because
of its diversity, the area has c_ome under
much scientific study, and sc1enus1s feel that
conditions in Big Ivy are declining largely
due to timber sates, which have caused loss
of endangered habitats and rare species as
well as fragmentation of the irreplaceable old
growth forest. The area is at a critical
Drawing by Mich11el Thomp,on
Spri.NJ, 1992
moment: there are healthy habitats and
populations yet in Big Ivy, but each
succeeding activity in the forest m~es new
inroads into already-threatened habitat areas
and further tips the balance toward
irrevocable destruction.
The big trees, however, offer an
irresistable lure co loggers and the US Forest
Service which concrols the area. In July of
1991 th~ Toecane Ranger District rel~ a
draft environmental assessment for a nmber
sale in Sugarhouse Cove. The assessment
designated approximately 2,3~ acres of
timber in the project area as ''swtable f~r
cutting." Mentioned in the plan altem~nves
was the construction of about four miles of
new road into a previously undisturbed area.
The response from area scientists and
environmentalists has been blunt and
passionate. Local biologists and botanists in
particular, have offered Lhe USFS the
benefits of their research and learned
opinions about how a logging ope~tion.
would affect the rich diversity of this unique
area.
Among them is Jim Patrenka, a
.
biologist at the University ofNonh Carolina
Asheville, who in a scoping letter.to the
USFS informed the agency that his research
indicates that every acre that is clearc~t in
Sugarhouse Cove will mean the derruse of
some 3 200 salamanders, including members
of rare ~d threatened species. This is a death
rate, according 10 Patrenka, that will ~ a
chronic depression of salamander populanons
in the area.
Biologists in other specialties share
Patrenka's concerns. In the past, accord!ng to
local activist Haywood Greer, planned umber
sales in the Big Ivy area hav~ caused. some
friction between Forest Service officials and
scientist.s working with the Nonh Carolina
Wildlife Resources Commission, who
objected to the damage that would be done by
the logging activities. Other i:e~hers have
found lhm p1m timber upc:niu~~~ in the area
have decimated local commumues of
sensitive plant species, such as goldenseal,
whose recovery has been very slow, if the
species is recovering at all.
Right now the proposed lo~ing in
Sugarhouse Cove is on hold.~n~ng further
studies of the plant commumn~,; 10 tJ:ie
planned sales units. These s1ud1es will be
carried out this spring. Hopefully they,
combined with the weight of scientific_
opinion, will dissuade the Forest Se~1ce .
from carrying out their plans to cut umber m
Sugarhouse Cove.
AnOLher action being considered by the
Forest Service is the construction of riding
trails through Big Ivy for the benefit ~fa
nearby commercial riding stable. While.some
people would be able to have pleasant rides
through the old growth f~st areas, they
would unwittingly be cau~m~ severe effects
10 the forest they were enJoying.
Big Ivy does not need 10 be logged or
suffer rides-for-pay 10 be of value. The area
is of greater value as it is: This val_ue can be
maintained by only one sunple acnon: to
leave it alone. Big Ivy is just too special to
end up being just another timber sale.
• by Emmm Grw1djgger ond David W~elcr
~
�Wblz Wisdom (01' the Two Uggeds
DRUMMING
DearKatuah,
I found your anicles on the past
history and possible future desirability of
human use of fire to influence Southern
Appalachian ecology t0 be most interesting,
and l believe that fire could be a valuable tool
for ecosystem management At pxescnt we
have 100 much early successional habitat in
Kauiah, and we should, for now, lay down
the tools (such as fire) that reverse
succession.
Organic matter is a critical element in
the regeneration of new forest soil. The soil
organic mauer harbors the life of the soil. It is
where microorganisms live, grabbing
nutrientS and cycling them back into plant
growth, instead of losing them to erosion or
leaching. Microorganism.~ also attack rock
particles, breaking them down 10 create new
soil.
Organic mauer also keeps I.he soil
cool and moist, protecting plants' fine root
hairs and giving I.hem a fertile medium in
which 10 grow, thus keeping up plant growth
and production.
Burning destroys organic mancr, and
we should be encouraging and conserving it
to nourish the next generation of I.he forest
There is also I.he possibility that the
greenhouse effect will result in massive fires.
We need to protect the forest against that as
well.
Since the arrival of the white man,
cool, moist habitatS have been greatly
decreased, and xeric, hot sites have been
greatly increased throughout the region as a
whole. There arc plenty of overgrazed slopes
near human habitations which would suppon
pines and oaks. If we want pines, let's plant
them on overgrazed hillsides. If we want
oaks, let them invade our pines.
Cool, moist, habitats are under auack
in Katuah, while hot, dry ones are all too
abundant Don't play with fire.
Sincerely,
Jesse Jones
Asheville.
Swannanoa River Watershed
Dear Ka11lal1 staff,
What I'd like 10 know is this: how
do you do it?! lime after time you people
keep coming up with inspiring themes and
relevant materials and then laying it all out in
visually inviting spreads which seem to get
beucr and better all the time?
David Wheeler's anicles in the recent
Fire issue, as is usual with his work, speaks
so clearly and comprehensively. Rob
Mes~ick's excellent organic artwork produce
depth and flow. I can't imagine the
tremendous amount of work, much I'm sure
donated, going into the production of each
Katuah! What a sense of pride it must be for
all involved when it finally slides together
and goes to print.
Being an "outsider" from over in the
Ohio ruvcr Bioregion, I find the journal none
the less relevant and immediluely meaningful.
At our Solstice gathering l passed the latest
issue around and many jotted down your
address, so expect to hear from Lhem soon.
(Raves on Rob's tunle on the back cover).
Hoping the coming seasons bring all
of you much peace and contentment,
inspirations and joy.
Sincerely,
Dave Ort
Phoc,, councsy or lhc Mounl.lDI Hcriiqc Center
Dear Editors,
l discovered Ka111ah Journal at
Mountain Crossings in Blairsville, GA last
summer. That well worn issue has been
re-read on many occasions - its time 10
subscribe!
While I currently don't reside in
Katuah, this summer I'll be moving closer 10 Cherokee County, GA. r wani to rap into
the Kauiah spirit and become aware of the
environmental issues and concerned people
of the area. The Appalachians have always
been like home for me, maybe because I
spent my childhood summers there.
Keep up the good work and positive
efforts.
Piss not into the water,
nor on any mother, child, or father.
Water is not the proper medium
to relieve repeated bladder tedium.
Piss off the walk, path, pavement, or road,
piss not on flowers, birds, or toads.
Piss near, never on, the plants and trees
where no one cares, hears, or secs.
To kill poison ivy or athletes feet
join Latinos: peace on cet.
Never piss in the same spot twice,
not anywhere that h's not nice,
nor within the sight of prigs or wardens.
Piss near borders, hedges, gardens.
Piss on national, state,
jurisdictionnl boundaries
on conventional and nuclear weapons
foundaries.
Follow wolf and coyote
10 the reaches of your domain.
Piss on dogturds and cowpies,
mountain and plain.
Piss not on the trail, campflIC,
bed, or nursery,
nor writing cursive, cursorial, or cursory.
Piss not on any creature, especially fishes,
nor hasty love, slow rage, good wishes.
Piss not on tools, machines,
electrical devices,
electric fences, antennae,
nor ho1wire splices,
not TV sets nor video games,
tho' temptation may be great.
Piss on prejudice, injustice, hate.
Piss on all oil spills and spillers.
Piss on dream-, plant-, or animal killers.
Piss on soil and compost heaps,
never on sailers, flyers, or creeps.
Piss on dirtied or painted stones
on sca1tered or unburied bones.
Put piss little by little where it belongs,
nor in sink, creek, spring, or ponds.
Give proper pisscrs privacy and honor.
Piss on llfe-pissers, messers, conners.
Piss on anyone caught on fire
with anything less than true desire.
Piss not intO Lhe wind nor in the water
but on the idea that it doesn't mauer.
- version read at Coifee House one night,
Fall,1990
by Erbin Crow.from his legacy
SPRJNG
Sincerely,
Nancy Moreland
Kasuah Peoples,
Another tender, angry, beautiful, and
compelling year of Kamalr Journal! This last
year's writings and illustrations were
exceptionally insuuctive and reverent. In
what other publication does lhis combination
of an, education, acnvism, and prayer exist?
1 love you very much,
Nancy Ligni12.
Old winter has retreated
10 the nonh, her snowy remnants
wasting into pools that feed
the swelling bulbs and heave
life fonh • all bursting cells
and swarming molecules.
· Caroline Rowe Marrens
�SAVING WILD SEEDS
by Lee Barnes
Individuals should sttive to collect,
preserve and increase their bioregions'
remaining wild and cultivated plant genetic
diversity. (See "Seed Saving to Preserve
Biodiversity," Ka11,ah Journal# 32). While
the best means of protecting a region's
genetic heritage is by preservation of large
areas of natural ecosystems, we can collect
seeds and cuttings of useful wild plants and
further increase these plants in our gardens
and backyards. The most valuable,
irreplaceable, and exportable resource of a
region arc copies (seeds, cuttings, etc.) of its
unique genetic heritage, the value of which
far exceeds any mineral or energy wealth
which could be exponed. Talce care not to
collect over a quarter of an individual plant's
seeds, leaving plenty for wild animals and
natural seed disaibution and renewal.
Wild-plant seed collection and
germination techniques vary greatly from
those commonly used with normally
cultivated fruit and vegetables. Our cultivated
varieties have long been genetically selected
and modified over historical times by
gardeners who selected for ease of harvest
and unifonn germination. It is preferable to
collect seeds of wild-plants which grow
within one degree of latitude (about 70 miles)
and from similar elevations to which they are
to be grown. This is to maximize the
favorable selection of locally adapted genetic
traits which will result in winter hardiness,
and other adaptations to local growing season
and regional micro-climate.
Wild seeds commonly mature and are
released over periods of several weeks.
These seeds are genetically programmed 10 be
released, remain donnant through winter, and
then germinate irregularly over long periods
of time. This trait serves as generic insurance
by preventing all seeds from sprouting at one
time and perhaps be lost to a major natural
catastrophe, such as major drought or fire.
The simplest seeds for the wild
seed-saver to collect and save a.re the "dry"
fruit seeds (nuts, dry legumes, sunflower,
cattail, grasses, etc.). These dry-fruits mature
and release relatively "clean'' seeds which can
be collected and stored with a minimum of
cleaning and processing. Most seeds need 10
be cleaned of any remaining fruit pans (chafl)
to reduce disease and insect damage during
storage and germination. Most "dfy" seeds
need to be dried to six 10 ten percent
moisture, then stored at low temperatures and
low humidities. Plant seeds which are usually
"dry-processed" include apple, pine, spruce,
fir, sumac, and grapes.
The most important factors affecting
seed life are humidity changes and storage
temperatures. Seeds for planting should be
stored in moisture-proof (also insect and
animal-proof) containers. Save only "sound"
and firm seeds and nuts. Some seed-savers
place a bay leaf in their storage containers to
repel bugs. (Anyone know of local herbs for
~is purpose?). Storage in wide-mouth glass
Jars with rubber gaskets is ideal. Preferably,
store these at low temperarures between
Drawing by Rob Messick
Spri.nq, 1992
40-32° F. - each 9° F. decrease in storage
temperature below 80° F. (to 32°) will
commonly double seed longevity.
Plants which produce "fleshy" fruits,
(such as persimmons, berries,
jack-in-the-pulpit, etc.) require additional
cleaning and processing. Aeshy fruits
encourage natural disaibution by being
"tasty" to animals and humans. These seeds
often require additional processing by being
passed through an animal's acidic gut, or by
natural fermentation by microbes to remove
the fleshy fruit tissues. Fleshy fruits
(especially members of the Solanaceae plant
family) can be processed by a honicultural
process called "fennentation," whereby
mashed-up fruits nre allowed to fennent to
destroy pathogens and chemicals that inhibit
germination. Then the seeds arc separated
from the pulp, washed, dried, then stored.
Another technique to separate small
seeds from their fruit is called "floatation."
Small fruits are "mashed" and soaked in
water for several days, so that
microorganisms can Stan 10 soften and digest
the fruit pulp. This partially digested fruit
pulp is then mixed with additional water and
processed by being agitated in a blender
using short "pulses" (or by rapid whipping
with a whisk). Healthy small seeds then settle
to the bottom where they can easily be
collected by pouring off the floating "pulp"
(some plants have seeds which normally float
- look for whole, uniformly shaped and
colored seeds). For better results, replace the
steel blender blades with a shon piece of tire
rubber so as to cause less damage to the
seeds. This technique is successful with
fruits of dogwood, strawberries, persimmon,
holly, juniper, magnolia, and sassafras.
Most wild seeds of temperate zone
crops require additional handling to duplicate
the natural conditions of cold winters. These
seeds require a cold, moist "stratification"
period to overcome genetic and
environmental blocks to germination.
Temperate wne plantS have biological means
of counting time ("internal clocks"), and
measuring day-length and "chilling"
temperatures. These seeds will not grow until
their internal clocks are satisfied with a
sufficient number of genetically detennined
hours of effective chilling (for example,
requiring a minimum number of hours
exposure - hundreds to possibly thousands of
hours of temperatures between 4S O and 3S 0 ).
Examples of plant seeds requiring moist
stratification include beech, walnut, many
oalcs, and filbens. It is especially imponam if
you collect wild nut trees to be sure to collect
seeds from areas which have similar numbers
of chilling-hours as the location where you
plan to grow them.
Another factor to consider when
choosing to grow plants from seeds is the
mnturation period of many long-lived
perennial plants (esp. fruit and nut trees).
Perennial trees and shrubs must grow
through a genetically influenced maturation
period before they begin to flower and bear
fruit (a son of transition from juvenile to
sexually mature, adult phase). These plants
are usually propagated by asexual means (not
involving seeds, but by cuttings or grafting).
Most of these plants produce seeds by
cross-pollination, and do not reproduce
"true-to-type" (the offspring are not
necessarily similar to their parent-plants)
from seeds, and may hove long maturation
periods. By asexually propagating fruiting
trees (cuttings, budding, etc.), one can select
superior plants (such as with larger fruit, or
tolerance to pests) and produce genetically
identical rooted planrs. These rooted cuttings
from marure trees will usually produce fruit
in just a few years, thus skipping the I ~20
years (or more!) before fruiting if grown
from seeds.
Seed longevity (defined as the average
period during which seeds can survive and
then grow) falls into three categories slum-lived (need to be sewn immediately or
within days/weeks of collection, and never
allowed to completely dry out); medium-lived
(months to S-10 + years); and /011g-lived
seeds (which may remain viable IS to 100
years, and arc able to survive until
environmental conditions are favorable for
germination.
Shon-lived varieties (spring-seeded
maples, serviceberry, paw paw, persimmon,
and sumac) - must not be allowed to totally
dry or they will die. Some seeds must be
sown immediately upon release from mature
fruits to prevent funher development of
growth-inhibiting chemicals which affect
their ability to grow. This group includes
Franklinia, trillium and many
difficult-to-germinate seeds.
Most medium-lived temperate wne
plant seeds (most K.aruah native plants)
require cold, moist stratification, whereby
seeds are stored in moist conditions (in moist
peat or sand) at 32-40° F. for two 10 three
months to overcome internal blocks to
(continued on p. 30)
Xatuah
Journot
P°'J& 29
�germination. Ao easy way to treat these
species is by mixing cleaned seeds with i:qual
pans of moist sphagnum moss or coarse sand
(in a medium that is moist, but not too wet squeeze out excess water!) in moisture
retaining conrainers (zip-lock bags work
well) stored at normal refrigerator
1emperarurcs (40-45° F). Many long-lived
seeds (thick-seeded legumes, water lilies,
morning glories) require physical thinning of
thick seed coats by microorganisms, or
hastened by partially filing, or nicking
partially through the impervious seed coats to
allow passage of gases and moisture to the
donnant embryo.
Saving wild seeds for home
germination is the first step in establishing
wild-food gardens in your back yard. (avoid
trying to transplant mature plants from the
"wild" - this is rarely successful due to
massive root-damage, and also saips the
natural habitats of productive wildlife foods
and new plants). Native agriculturists first
cultivated wild plants which natu:rally
established themselves from seeds and
discarded roots thrown onto their trash-heaps
(original "compost" piles!) and disturbed
areas (fire cleared areas, etc.). ff one can
provide the proper growing conditions, the
low-input culture of these planiS will allow
easier plant gathering without excessive
demands on the diminishing wild
populations.
Earing wild and "semi-wild/
semi-cultivated" plants in "season" will
provide one with fresh, nutritious foods and
a "reunion" with the cycles of nature.
Eat weU and give thanks for 1he tasty
gifts of our Green Spirits!
C.S. Schopmeyer. 1974. Suds of Woody
Plants in tM United States Fon:st Service, USDA
Agriculture Hnndboolc No. 450. USDA. 883 pp. •
TIIE reference for seed handling and gcrmin3tlon of
188 genera of woody plants ruuive or IUIIW'lll'faed in
the U.S. Very detailed with additional rcfcn:nccs.
fbrry Phillips. 198S. Growing and
Propagating Wild Flowers. U.N.C. Press, 331 pp.
$14.95 • especially well-written !llld beautifully
illustraled rcforencc on seed nnd spore p~tion or
native NC plants. Includes calendar of blooming d:ues
and commercial plant production timetable. &ccllentl
BURNING BUSHES
Azaleas, with mouths aflame,
Plant Propagation References
Ignite the mountainside each spring:
Hudson Hanmann and D. Kester. 197S. Plant
Propagation: Principles and Practicer. 3rd Ed.
Prwlic:c-Hall, 662 pp.• the defmilive text-book on
plant propagation l The-Ory and practlcal inro.
cry out In tongues no man can claim,
lheir ancient message siuling.
Michael Dirr and C. Heuser. 1987. Tiu!
Reference Manual of Woody Plant Propagation: From
Sud to Tisiue Culture. A Practical Working Guide to
the Propagation of Over I 100 Spt1cies, Varietit!f and
Cultivars. Varsity Press, 239 pp. - TIIE guide 10
propagatlon or woody plants used in Nonh America.
Includes prcfcmd l)l'Oll0gation ICChniques (seed,
cuttings, cu:.}, as well as. seed treatmc,us and specific
rooting percentages, etc.
Caroline Rowe Martens
ddu of the Big Cove dance
tpeak• of traditions and tinp tb.c
Booger Danu,
Com
Dance and • dotCJI 01hcrt with
drum and ranle.
c...,.n
WHERE TIIE
Get a set of 10 assorted
folding cards with
artwork you see in
Katuah Journal.
(Envelopes included.)
byRobW~ck
Send $11.25 postage paid
to:
Rob Messick
P.O. BOX 2(,()1
BOONE, NC 28607
RA YENS ROOST
~
Chcrolcce traditional
tonp of Wallcc:r Calhoun
__,._...,...,
CA.11111'1 ANO IOC*UT
It WAIL Sil
....,..
ATTil&c:e,ru$JO
MOI/NTAJN tlurrAGl ~
Wll'l'Ul< CAIIOUl'IA Utll\llllSITY
Cuu.ow11D, NC l87ll
(704)227-7129
Spring, 1992
�I•:.,,.
tt•· r ,.
9
Sustainable Agriculture and Regional Diet:
Annotated Resources
These l'CS0W'0CS were nx:ommendcd by KJlumh
ConlribulOl'S as their favorites. Price estimates are
included for reference and may not be currcnL Most
are in print or available from Inter-Library loans. A
more complete liSt ( 11 pps. w/ 117 resowces) is
available from Lee Barnes (P.O. Box 1303:
Waynesville, NC 28786) for S2.50 ppd. or send five
or more annOla!Cd resources for a liee copy. Ho!
Sustaioab(c Agrirollocc
Trauger M. Groh and S.S.H. McFadden. 1990.
Farms ofTomorrow: Communiry Supporttd Farms;
Farm Supported Communities. Biodynamic Farming
and Gardening Associalion. Inc. 169 pp. About
$12.00 - begins with several essays on the
philosophical underpinnings of CSA's (Community
Sponsored Agriculture), then describes 7 successful
farms, and concludes with practical info on slllrting
and managing a CSA. Valuable to both CSA
growers and sharers.
Jeavons et al.1983. The BacJcyard llomuttad
Mini-Farm. & Garden I.A)g Book. 10 Speed Press.
196 pp., 58.95 • gives economic data about intensive
gatdening income profits.
Eliot Coleman. 1989. The New Organic
Grower. Chelsea Green. 269 pp., $19.95. excellent
guide 10 beginning mlltket gardeners, stressing the
8-ycar crop rotnlion developed by Coleman,
including inlClScedcd green manure crops, etc.
Robert Rodale. 1971. The Basic BOQk of
Organic Gardening. Rodalc Press. 377 pp•• a classic
(and inexpensive) inlrO to organic gardening
principles and techniques. If you buy only one Rodale
Book, buy this one!
Sustaioabtc Piel t FQQd PcrsccvaOoo
Cherokee, 19th, and 20th Century recipes used by
sculcr; on Hazel Creek, in Ille Cire.u Smoky
Mounmins. Includes information on historical
cooking Lechniqucs uulizing mostly regionally
produced foods.
Jerry Conner. 1991. Eats From IM Peaks
Carolina Mountmn lleritage Cookvy. Ridgetop
Assoc. Pubt.. 111 pp.• $14.95 - modern adap!Otions
of trndilional recipes by n mastcr cheri Delicious!
Mary Ulmer. 1951. Cherolc4!t Coolclore.
Self-publ. 71 pp.· tradilional Cherokee recipes. Great
mush!
Stephen Facciola. 1990. Cornucopia: A Souru
Book ofEdible Plants. Kam pong Pub!. 677 pp.
$35.00 • i.ncrcdibte botanically arranged guide to
edible plnnts, the best of its kind! Describes over
3000 edible plants Md lheir commercial .sources.
Extensive review of cultivars of over 100 major food
planlS. LislS 52 pages of domestic. foreign and
commercial sowces for these plants. Exten~ive
Bibliography and appendices. Chcclc It out!
Lee Peterson. 1977. A Field Guide to Edible
Wild Plants of Easttrn and Ctntral North America.
330 pp. $9.95 · illustrated with plant grouped by
habitat where they can be found.
Paul Hlltnel and Mary Chiltoskey. 1975.
Cherout Plants and Their Use.s • a 400 Ytar 1/istory
. Self-publ.. 65 pp•• reference to 450 plants used by
the Cherokee, including botanical names and uses.
Noc illustrntcd.
Tom Brown, Jc. 1985. Tom Brown's Gui.de to
\Vild Edible and Medicinal Plan1s. Berk.Icy Books.
241 pp. S7 .95 • another in a series of spiritually
sensitive guides to co-surviving with wildness.
H.ighly recommended!
Stanley Schuler and E. Schuler. 1973.
Preserving the Fruits of tht Earth; How to 'Put Up'
Almost Evuy Food Grown in the United States in
Almost Everyway. Galahad Books.· 234 pp.·
general chapters on methods or food pre.wvation
(drying. smoking. brining, etc.) followed by a most
complete encyclopedia of foods and tl1eir common
preservation methods.
USDA. 1977. Canning, Freaing, Storing
Garden Product. USDA Agric. Info. Bull 410.86
pp. Free· Excerpt from 1977 Yearbook of
Agriculture. Gardening/or Food and Fun. Ovczview
or canning and drying techniques • This is
representative of nU/ll(l'()us free publications available
through your Agricultural Extensioa Service. Be sure
to chock out other tax-paid resoun:es available.
Bcginnnl Cookbooks t wna-PJ;int Eocai:1011
John Freeman. 1985. Survival Gardening and
Survival Gardening Coolcbook. John's Press, 102
pp., $10.95 ea. · excellent guides 10 sustaimtblc.
healthy food growing and pre~n. Thorough
coverage of human nulriti011:1.I needs and how to meet
these using foods from the garden.
DW1J1C Oliver. 1990. Cooking on /laze/ Creek:
Tlit Best of Southern Mountain Cooking.
Sclr-publishcd. 261 pp., $13.95 • ll'lldiLionaJ
Spri.tuJ, 1992
Deborah Lee. 1989. Exploring Nature's
Uncultiva~d Garden. Havelin Pub!. 195 pp. $14.50 •
extmotdinary guide to wild foraging which deals with
eastern and west.em philosophy and sensitivity to
plants. Very highly recommended!
Nccessruy Trading Company: Box 305; New
Olstlc, VA 24127. offers wide vllricty of organic
glltdcning supplies, naturnl pest controls, cover crop
~.etc.
Sandy Mush Herb Nursery; RL 2, Surreu
Cove Rd.: Leicester, NC 28748 (704) 683-2014 •
extensive Iisling of herb plants, unusual perennials,
CIC. (Cat. $4.00)
Edible Landscaping; Box Tl; Arion, VA
22920 • specializing in locally-adaptCd, pest-resistant
varieties of common and unusual fruits.
Qcenoizatioos t Nmslcuccs t blaeazioes
The Mountain GardtfU!r Ntwslt!Jtu from
Organic Gardening Cooperative; Rt. 3, Box 409-N:
Sylva, NC 28779 (ncw/monlhly). sponsors
monthly moctings (3rd Wed.ncsdoy, 7:00 pm) at
Jackson Co. Library (Sylva).
Appropriate Technology Tranefu to Rural
Areas. ATTRA 1991. ATTRA l-800-346-9140 -a
fedemlly-funded resource organization aimed at tnilarcd
information-search for assisling commercial and
production-level clients (their funding limits their
ability 10 help backyard, individual growers). Have
helpful Resource LiSIS. "Videol:/Slides/Tapcs oo
Sustainable Agriculuue• (18 pp). "Sustainable
Agriculture Organizations and Publication LiSt (24
pp.), etc •• Also produce lnformation Packages on
diverse info such as "Green Crops and Gtccn
Mllnurcs; "Direct Marteting." CIC. Excellent
resource! Writennd thnnlc your officials forconlinued
funding of this experienced, J'eSOW'Ceful, enlhuswtic,
and dedicated group.
The Virginia Association for Biological
Farming; Box '252; Flint Hlll, VA 22627 •
non-profit organizalion, co-ocdimucs organic
cenificalion, seminars, Flltm Held D3ys, and
farmer-to-farmer networking. S25.00 year.
Carolina Frum Stewardship Association; Box
511; PillSboro, NC 27312 -organic ccnification for
both Carolinas. Involved in LISA grnnts, on-farm
demos, and annual Farm F'ield Days.
The U.S. Dispen.flltory. (any editioo prior
1930.) • invaluable info on plants, their makeup and
how olficially used at the tum of the century (avail.
for SS0-100 from used boolc dealets).
Tennessee Alternative Growers Association;
Rt. 2, Box 46-A-1; Indian Mound, lN 37079
Bceioool Sctd aoa r1001 Spoo(i«:cs
Georgia Organic Growers Association: 1185
Bend Creek Trail; Suwanee, GA 30174
Southern Exposure Seed EJtchange; Box 158;
North Garden, VA 22959 (804-973-4703) •
specializes in heirloom varieties adapted to the
Central Virginia Mountains. Recently founded "Seed
Shares TM: The Gardener's Seed Bank", a project 10
distribute extremely rare plant Cultivars. Also sells
Seed Saving Supplies. (OIL $3)
~
R.H. Shumway; Box I; Gmniteville, SC
29829 (C:u. $1.00) • dependable, well established
(since 1870) seed house specializing in traditional
varieties. Also southern ad:lpted fruit and nut
variclies.
Kalmia Farms: Box 3881: Chnrlotlc.sville, VA
22903 • spccialiJ.CS in multiplier onions. shallolS and
garlic,
)C.Qtuafl Journot J)O()C 31
�Parld~ Gardens
(con:linocd Crom p. 4)
- The (re)integration of needs: not to lhe
market for food, the spa for exercise, the
doctor for healing, theatre for entertainment,
school for learning, studio 10 create, church
for inspiration, etc., but to lhe garden for all
these ar the same rime.
- Enriching the garden with useful and
beautiful species and learning to incocporate
them into our lives. We begin, of course,
with the present and potential natural
vege1ation, to which may be added species
introductions from similar areas worldwide;
then sUgh1 modifications of the environment micro-habitat enhancement - and lhe resultant
possibilities for new species: a paleue of
plants, a Cornucopia• never available 10
previous generations.
- Hand labor. We all have two hands,
one lifetime, 24 hours in every day. These
are "democratic" factors. Working by hand
on a small piece of land we can create a
Paradise with relevance for all. Money, and
machines can not get us there any faster, in
fact can't get us !here at all. They only lead us
astray.
•••
We live during a narrow window of
opponuoity. Having come, at lase, to lhe
realization that a revolutionary shift of
consciousness and lifestyle is required, we
find that we have only a few generations in
which to complete the changes, before it will
be too late to make a ttansition (environment
degraded, resources depleted, species cxtinc1,
soils eroded/polluted, population doubled ...).
Our enemy is a paper tiger because it
cannot deliver the goods. The world waits for
examples: to be shown, llOI told, a better
way. Paradise Gardening is vastly more
meaningful than the 'biodomc' experiment,
and anyone can play.
We have been putting thls off for too
many lifetimes now.
Commuaity Sp(IIISC)ttd Agriculture
(continued from p. 6)
Blowing In the Wind
Now we arc told that modem farm
inputs make unprecedented levels of
production possible. Without heavy spending
on inputs lhe world supposedly could not
suppon all its people. We have absurd
quantities of petroleum and natural gas going
into food production, leaving an eroded,
salty, toxic wasteland behind. We should
know beuer, no matter what our twin "big
brothers" of government and industry say.
The most basic rule is balance. We
want balance between opposite polarities,
heaven and canh, silica and Lime, grass and
clover, bee and canhworm, give and take.
This also means balance between people,
plants, animals, microbes, and minerals.
With balanced crops and livestock, rhythms
and activities build up momentum within the
fann organism. This rule implies that the
greater the diversi1y the greater the health and
stability of the farm. That is something to
think abouL
In the past five years hundreds of
CSA's have sprung into being across lhe
continenL It is an idea whose time has come.
It is catching on. A few bits of land here and
there arc being turned into healthy farms
again. Wealth made at the expense of the
countryside is seeking its return. In half a
century we may no longer see com to the
horizon in a toxic cloud.
On lhe one hand we face slavery and
ruin due to our own hypocrisy and moral
poverty - giving ourselves up to the good old
new world order. On the other hand more
and more people are taking responsibility for
their own Lives by way of home birthing,
home schooling, alternative medicine,
recycling, edible landscaping, and building
energy smart, non-toxic homes. CSA's are a
natural developmenL We have a choice.
geographically and emotionally. Instantly
we recognize in each other a shared
experience that is purely American. intense,
evocative, and yet of which very few
people can speak.
In !heir eyes I sec bitterness, guilt,
denial and nos1algia all at the same time.
Many of these ex-farmboys are very
successful by city stanclards. They have no
more tie to the land than a vague frustration
of being tom without emotional healing
from their roots. I have often thought that
the way we, as a society, raise farmers is a
very good way to raise the kind of farmer
who so thoroughly hates the land that he
would wish to wreak vengeance upon il for
not giving him the life he wanted or was
told 10 wanL At the very least these
fannboys are suffering from heavy psychic
wounds.
War is a good analogy for what we
have done to ourselves and our land.
Clcarcuts and plowed prairies are
devastated, barren places. Modem,
environmental warfare, which threatens the
fertility of the land, extends the acts of
aggression to furure generations.
Some of us have begun to sec the
Earlh as sncrcd ground. We realize that
whatever our occupation, farmer or not, we
are sustained by lhe fruits of the Earth. The
real challenge of Earth stewardship is not to
rcrum 10 some slavish peasantry, wiling
relentlessly upon the soil, but to sec the
way (The Tao) in which the rhythms of the
needs of man, can fit into the rhythms of
nature.
My vision of the future farmers of
America is men and women who are able to
combine the very best of themselves with
the cultivation of the Earth. r would like to
see farmers celebrate the fenility of the
land. I would like to sec the balance
between the needs of an individual and the
getting of nourishment. I would like to see
the plowing of a field done with grace, as
an act oflove, quietly waiting for the right
moment, then turning the earth gently,,., #
reverently.
fr
llqh lo\lCI is a biodynamic and CSA/ar~r
maruting in the Atlanta. GA ar~ At his/arm, Unu,n
Agricu/11ua/ Institute; Rt. 4, Box"63S: Blairsvilk,
GA 30512, llugh restarchn rtgtntrarive ogricult1Uc
and is tk\lC/oping local cu/ti vars of ltafy g r ~
(continued from p. 19)
"You see the beauty of my proposal is
Jr needn't wait on general revolution
I bid you ro a one-man revolution
The only revolution tlUJJ is coming"
(Robert Frost, "Build Soil")
• Corn11COf11a. S. Facciola. Kampong Pub.,
1870 Sunnse Dr., V1SU1, CA 92084. Astounding new
pubhQltion. Three lhousand edible species, many
more lhousnnds of culliva,s, sourocs of supply .ind
infonnation for c.ich entry
ltH /loll,s mttnds 10 product anothtr amclt
dtalmg mL>rt wtth local practice. /It is also
dn<tlopmg a ~,.sfe11u b) and/or fJ<fJOnJ, engaged ,n
t!M! rtaliuuu,n cf Parodi~ os a gartkn PltOJt stnd
,a-nts. and sugg6tions UJ him at 3020 Wht1t
Oai. Cruk Rd : Burn.rvtllt.NC 287/4
l'ho4o COUJ1eSy of Ille Mo11n1ain Hcn1.1sc Ccnll!r
:>i:A\hmh Journot JXUJe 32
Spnng, 1992
�o.
(continued from page 8)
I
J
!4'1 ,
•ft -,
.,.
just keep the meat out in the smokehouse. It
was nothing to kill two or three yearlings to
make the beef. My grandfather, he know'd
how to blister beef and hang it up. He'd bum
hickory wood to where it would just be
a-making the smoke. We would cure hog
meat and smoke that as well.
We'd cook a piece of that ham down,
and it would naturally-born have brown
gravy. Yeah! Not guessed at. I know by
experience.
We'd always make sure to have greens
in the spring, greens in the fall. In August,
when we was plowin' the com for the last
time, we sowed late greens in amongst the
com. We'd sow turnips and rutabagas
mostly.
As soon as everything was put up, we
started fall plowin'. We didn't have these fast
tractors that can plow everything in a day or
two, so we'd plow whenever we got the
chance. We tried to get as much done in the
fall as we could. And we plowed in the
winter, if we were able. I've plowed many a
day and it was snowing.
It was a lot of work, back then,
growing all our own food. But everybody
did it. If anyone wanted to go out and do that
now, I'd have only one thing to say ro them:
"Get busy!"
Halph Garrell is 71 years old, still
working as a mason, and still living in his
hometown · Sylva, NC in the Tuckasegee
Rivu watershed.
This article was excerpted from a
conversation with Ralph recorded by David
Wheeler and Avram Friedman on Jarwary 29,
/992.
Painting by Susan Adam
Kalmia Center, Inc.
Sylva, NC
(704) 293-3015
Custom tilling, organic fe:rtilli:ers, kelp meal,
colloidal phosphate & many more products
and services for abundant gardening and
healthful living.
f'~.~11<\
"I
told
the
Talking ua,-es isa mon1hly
JOUfDA) of d~ ecology, inspired
pm;onaJ aeriv1sm roo1ed Ill earthen
sp,nruali1y. Pa.'il tSSUeS have
fea1ured articles by Gary Snyder,
Slarbawk, Jobn s-i, Joanna
Macy, Bill Devall, Lone Wolf
Circle!>, Barbara Mor, ecc.
Ta/Jcj11g ua,-es ,peaks for the
oarural world and for the rekindling
of our oWD wild spmt.
Subscriptions arc SI 8.00 one
year/ S24.00 outSide U.S.
Talking UOl't'S
1430 Willamette 11367
Eugene, OR 97401
503/342-2974
,prl.n9, 1992
I.lo~. you "' 1n lfflc1 ul!ol9 me lo bllp UI
tlluncll II ptOpitOOWIIUlnldol\1Alld I'm ""' ff I OIi lullw lllem I woutan I
•Ill IO QIIN'CU!t II 111W datllls f«91' 11
TIii ll\S- IS IIO , - no!''
_.....,,..._'"'-
Don't Pay Taxes for War
,fc,tlT'I It
I\ 11'\d '"•
0
I! l
National War Tex Resistance
Coordinating Committee
REGIONAL RADIO
Featuring Crossroads music, NPR news and music
programs, regional news and information
concerning health, education, government,
recreation, and the environment.
PO Box 774 Monroe, ME 04951
WNCW- FM r.O. Box804 Spindale, NC 28160
12071525-7774
(704) 287-8000
�Si.las ~tcDowen -~n1inucd from p. II ,
,
husbandry supplemented by a woolen cloth
fac1ory. Are these the only iu:ms of new
indusuies our moumain section is capable
of?"
He went on 10 suggest one more. "I
have recently learned tha1 a man studied Fish
culture, constructed him a lhree-acre pond
near the city of Atlanta, Ga., and then from
Florida procured a can of eggs of the Scaly
Trout species." After hatching lhe eggs and
raising lhe fish to marwity, lhe man realized
an income of fifteen lhousand dollars in one
year.
Wanting to anempt a similar venlUie
with mountain trout, McDowell had a small
pond build amid a grove of oaks near his
home. ',Oeir feed will consist of lhe waste
from the kitchen and table, with all small
animals tha1 come my way, chopped up fine,
supplemented by a lazy ca1, in an emergency.
1bere is nOlhing but lhe lack of a pure srream
and vim to hinder any man having a mountain
fann, to do the same thing, and have fat trout
for breakfast every day lbe year lbrough."
McDowell lived long enough to see lhe
impact of extractive industries on the
mountain environment. When Western North
Carolina's first corundum mine opened near
McDowell's farm in 1871, he turned a
disaster into a blessing.
Thiny years before, a flood had swept
across the best portion of his farm, "a fertile
bonom field of about 50 acres." McDowell
described the damage, " I found !hat field, on
which I expected to make forty bushels of
com to the acre, to be a miniature Sahara of
white sand, and would no longer pay lhe
expense of resetting and keeping up the
fences." The field had remained in !his
condition until the coming of the corundum
mine, which was polluting the Cullasaja
River. "As the mine was worked by means of
a hose-pipe, a red stream of clay and water
came running down the mountain's side
defiling our beautiful river and Cb8$ing away
lhe fish."
•"
• ·,•
ft occurred to McDowell that he could
protect the river and reclaim his field at lhc
same time. ',Oanks to Sir Samuel Baker for
his suggestions in relation 10 redeeming some
of the African desens by silting chem with the
muddy watc.rs of the Nile. And I forthwilh
applied to Col Jenks, who controlled the
mine, for leave to run a ditch down the
mountain from lhc mine to my sands - a
distance of three-fourths of a mile. The next
thing I did, was to throw up a dike on the
river side off the bottom, 10 hold on lhe sands
the muddy waters until they are absorbed - a
thing not hard 10 do, as the sands swallow
them up very fast and 'thirst for more.' The
water of my ditch performs the carrying
service of ten dump cans, and does the thing
for nothing and we may add, loads itself.
This enterprise I view as my last act in life's
drama, and I feel ambitious to do the lbing
well, and make my bes! bow to my
fellow-farmers as the curtain drops."
Silas McDowell died in 1879. His life
work, promoting agricultural practices
appropriate to the region, endures. McDowell
brought curiosity, ingenuity, perseverance
and humor 10 the task, qualities that would
enhance any effons to renew mountain
agriculture as we approach the 21st century.
01992
Perry Eury and his wife, Laurel, are the
founders of Kalrrua Center, Inc.. an org011iwtion
devoted 10 Sfl!Will'dship of the land in •die,u;e to
God Kalmia Center is a ,wn-profit organiu11ion
ojferiflg sv.ices and produasfor abundant gardening
and healthful living.
Perry is completing a btx,i, entitled
Appalachian Arcadia: Mouniain Fnrms and the _~
ProvidcnceofN31Un:.
~
HAWK'S HOOPS
A unique experience in
Designing, Creating, and
Learning to Play
your own Earth Instruments.
SPfCIALIZING IN
• OE.t}HS
0.:1oqon.,t .,nd Round
• f.ATTLE5 Gouto .ind l!••h""'
• ftUTE5 I!,,..,, am, and s.,mooo
• t.AINHAKEIS c. 11,_1~ Sound l'l.lkm
ttJWflUv,,t
Rt l So• 2411
O.q,G•, NC 28fila
'7041 26:11401
Jenti1ah Journal Pt196 34
REVIEW:
"APPLE PIE IN YOUR FACE"
as American as you
a cassette by Robert Hoyl
To paraphrase Edward Abbey, "lf
you're going to fight for your country, you
have to take on the government."
Roben Hoyt remembers one moment
that had a profound effect on bis life. He was
leaving nonhem California after combatting
corporate power and FBI harrassment as pan
of the effon to save the old growth forest
during Redwood Summer, 1990. A friend
met during lhe action gave him a hug and
said, "Roben, you're a good American."
This insight crystalliz.ed in Roben's mind,
and when he arrived back home in Georgia
he wrote it down as a song:
"All you good Americans
read between the lines
Help your siblings everywhere
w open up closed minds
Stand up to those who are ro blame
For crimes commi11ed in our name,
All you good Americans
Things can't stay the same."
Roben Hoyt "grew up a child of the
military complex," moving from base to
base. Yet somewhere along the way he found
a vision of hope for a different kind of
"American." His vision includes act.ion for
peace, racial equality, and the environment; it
involves compassion for animals and his
fellow human beings. lt also involves outrage
that lhe dreamkillers have a comer on the
national vision. Roben has launched a
personal crusade to assign a new meaning to
the word "American."
Robcn's original, guitar-driven music
is about that struggle against the powers both internal and outside - that want to kill lhc
world and stifle the human spirit. His
newly-released cassette, as American as you,
is a musical treat. The acoustic folk sound
provided by Robcn, David Ormsby (bassist),
and friends is fast-moving and crisp.
Roben's unique singing voice is elecll'ic,
charged with intensity and truth. His lyrics,
too, are charged particles !hat do not abide a
stagnant complacency, and if one harbors
secre1 staShes of illusion, prejudice, or
selfishness, they can sting. Yet to those
whose hearts arc open to the world, the
songs of Roben Hoyt arc energizing nnd
enlightening.
. The S~uth has a new regional pocL
W1th his guuar, a paraplegic cat, and a lot to
say, Roben is staning to travel more beyond
his home city of Atlant3. Lisicn fOr him!
We1I be hearing more from Roben Hoyt.
-DW
'as American as you" is available on
cassette/or $JO postpaid from Folk-the-Boat,
8 ox 2355; Decatur, GA 3003 I
Spri-n9, 1992
�Emergency Appeal for
European Seed-Saving Groups
Political changes in Europe have not
only upset govemmems. but have threatened
the survival of over a dozen grassroot
seed-saving and rare animal pre~rvation
organizations. Nancy Arrowsmith, a
well-published seed-saving promoter ~ow
living in Austtia, repons that the resulung
chaos threatens the survival of numerous
non-governmental organizations (NGO's)
involved in seed-saving projects and the
potential loss of irreplaceable varieties of
vegetables, grains and rare animal breeds.
In her article, "Emergency Appeal For
European Seed-Saving Groups"(l 991,
Harvest Issue, Seed Savers Exchange), she
outlines the activities of over a dozen
organizations and provides contact addresses
to which donations may be sent. These
groups are solely responsible for the
preservation and dissemination of
open-pollinated, non-hybrid plants and rare
animal breeds.
For more information contact Nancy
Arrowsmith, clo Noah's Arie; Postfach 139: A-3500
KreMU/ Donau, Austria. (DonaJions should bt! by
checks made out in U.S. Currency).
For a photocopy of the article men1ioned, write
to Lu Barnes: P.O. Bo:;c 1303: Waynesville, NC.
28786.
"The arc.i's old~
and larg~t natural
foods grocery •
Bulk Herbs, Spices, & Grains
Vitamins & Supplements
Wlieat, Salt & Yeast-Free Foods
Dairy Substitutes
Hair & Skill Care Products
Beer & Wine Making Supplies
200 W. King St, Boone, NC 28607
(70-1) 264-5220
Listening to the Military
"Save Our Rivers":
The Armed Forces Listening Project,
created by the Rural Southern Voice for
Peace based in the Celo Community,
Burnsville NC is looking for "a few good
men and women" to survey active-duty
soldiers at miJitary bases throughout the
world.
The Listening Project (see Kanlllh
Journal #24) is an open-ended survey
designed to involve both the listener and the
speaker in a joint vemure of discovery. The
Anned Forces Ustening Project is designed
to stimulate nationaJ discussion about
alternatives to violence, bridge ideological
boundaries, and stimulate discussion about
issues of personal responsibility and national
ethics.
Topics for this Listening Project will
vary depending somewhat on the location,
but will include: solving intemationaJ
conflicts without violence; solutions to racial,
religious, and ethnic strife, civilian-based
defense, and especially questions generated
by previous Armed Forces Listening
Projects.
The Arnled Forces Listening Project
was begun at the US Marine base Camp
LeJeune, where conscientious objectors
to the Persian Gulf war were being
court-manialed The Project subsequently
traveled to naval bases at Norfolk, VA and
St. Marys, GA. The Listeners found
that sailors displayed "a strong streak of
pragmatism." They were surprised that half
the sailors interviewed were in disagreement
with the Gulf War. HaJf the speakers also
voiced suppon for nonviolent solutions to
international conflict But as important as the
stanling answers that they heard, were the
effects on the interviewers of personal
contacts with military personnel. Volunteer
Lois Miller said, "The Listening Project was
a revelation to me. I had no idea that I would
encounter such depth of feeling from big,
tough Marines."
To take pan in future chapters of the
Armed Forces Listening Project, write: Rural
Southern Voice for Peace; 1898 Hannah
Branch Rd.; Burnsville, NC 28714 or call
{704) 675-5933.
The Cassette Tape
The Town of Highlands, NC_ h!IS
obtained a permit to dump half a million
gallons of wastewater per day int~ the scenic
Cullasaja River. Appeals, both neighborly
and legal, have so far proved futile.
This river has always been used for
recreation. Since ancient times it has been
used for the Cherokee Indian ritual of Going
to Water. Since 1837 local churches have
held baptisms in lhe river.
Local musicians have rallied and
produced a tape containing original songs by
Barbara Duncan and gospel runes sung by the
Foxfire Boys. Barbara sings "Save Our
Rivers," the group's theme song; "You Don't
Miss Your Water Til Your Well Runs Dry,"
written years ago but unfonunately still
timely; "Go Fishin'," "the only real love song
she has ever written," according 10 her
husband; and the beautiful ''Rainbow
Springs."
The Foxfire Boys were recorded live in
a concen in Clayton, GA. The churches of
Macon County, panicularly the Baptisis,
have united in the effon to protect the
Cullasaja.
The tape "Save Our Rivers" is available
for $10.00 postpaid from Save Our Rivers;
Box. 122; Franklin, NC 28734.
FUTONS ETC. ~~
... the new al temative
to the sleeper sofa
with over 4,000 years of
customer satisfaction built in.
~
,.
r/ 'Thu
~ S aru!JMush
Htrb Nur-se,y
WREATHS • POTPOURRI
NATIVE FLUTES
• HERBS • TOPIARY
Complete I ferb Catalog - $4
Describes more titan 800 plants from
Aloe to Yarraw
Rt 2, Surrett Cove Road
Leicester, North Carolina 28748
Plione for appointment to visit
(704) 683-2014
Sprin<J, 1992
Two styles made of cedar or walnut
woods in the traditional manner
WHOLE FOODS
VITAMINS
ORGANI C P RODUCE
160 Broadway
Hawk Littlejohn
Sourwood Farm
Asheville, North Carolina
Rt 1, Box 172-l
Open 7 Days a Week
Monday - Friday 9 am - 8 pm
Saturday 9 am - 6:30 pm
Sunday 12 pm - 5 pm
Prospect Hill, NC 27314
(919) 562-3073
)(.ati&an Joumm poge 35
�The Katuah Tapes
TURTLE ISLAND
BIOREGIONAL CONGRESS V
POPULATION EXPLOSION
"ln the next seven years the population
of Nonh Carolina will explode. Are you
ready?
'The August issue of MaIUTiry Market
Perspectives predicted Nonh Carolina will be
fifth in the nation as a retirement choice. This
is in addition to the regular population
movement from Florida to North Carolina.
"Seeking to escape from a nightmare of
pollution, high crime, water shonages, and
traffic congestion, these re-retirees are
heading north ..."
This is not a warning to county
commissioners and planners to have their
1.0ning ordinances in place. This is a call to
action for developers and real estate investors
from Green Watch, an environmental
newsleuer for the real estate indusuy.
(Environmental? Yes, "the financial
environment of real estate." as the paper's
masthead proclaims in green ink.)
Another word of environmental
wisdom from Green W01ch; "Remember,
they aren't making any more Nonh
Carolina."
- - life's nec1:Ssitiesfarlas - -
Tara Clayton, a long-time friend of the
Kat1wh Journal from Rougemont., NC, is
May 17-24
Camp Stewart, Kerrville,
near San Antonio, Texas
Every two years people gather from all
the bioregions of the Turtle lsland continent
10 communicate and celebrate the bioregional
movement at the Continental Bioregional
Congress. This year the event is being held in
south central Texas.
The focus of the 1992 Congress is on
Circles of Change. These are levels of work
ar the gathering and in people's home
bioregions:
- Mapping and Organizing
- Links of Communication
- The BioregionaJ Story
- Living at Home, and
- Ecosystem Conservation and
Restoration
There will also be time devoted to
sharing biorcgional cultures, men's and
women's gatherings, and young people's
activities.
Admission will be by preregistration
only and all registrations must be received
before May l. Registration is $225-300 for
adults, $100 per child aged 3- 11. All food
and lodging are included for the entire week
of the Congress. Checks should be made
paynble to "Realistic Living· TIBC V."
now recording the contents of each issue of
the journal on cassette Ulpes "for the purpose
of reaching elderly Native Americans in the
Veterans Administration Hospital in Durham
and for nursing homes as well."
Others who are interested in procuring
recorded versions of the Katuall Journal may
be able to purchase tapes from Tara.
Anyone who would like 10 send n
donation to help this idea along is encouraged
10 do so, as funding for the project is limited.
ConlOCt:
TaraClayr.on
Box461
Ballama, NC 27503
Mail to: Realistic Living; Box 140826;
Dallas, TX 75214.
FRENCH BROAD Fooo Co,oP
90 Bn.TMOR£ A ~
~ AsKEvu.LE
(704)255-7650
your community
grr,«ry•tou
....,.,....,...... 10,_.. ....,....... ,,..
....................
EARTH KIN
Programs to 81'1COU'oge
58lf and Earth oworeoess.
celetl<allon. kl~p and hope
O~<::?Jto
c\....., S c ~ s
l'\UI\"\..$
to""°'itlG- t.ool(.S
CA.~~s
~086~ 1804
~-\)~'l, M.c.
Q.871$-
• You1h Camp& • School Program,
• Fam,ly Camp& • Teacher Tnalning
• CommUOlly
Union Acres
Programs
• Camp Slal1 Tra,n,ng
• Ou1door Prog,.m Conl\Jllong
An Alternative
j
PO 800C 130C>
Gottinbl.fg. Teme~ 37738
61 S-43o-6203
NATURf\L MARKET
WHOLE FOODS • BI.Jl..K
FOODS • VITAMINES • HERBS
• FAT FREE FOODS• TAKE
OlJT FOODS • SNACKS • NO
SALT, NO CHOLESTEROL
265 2700
823 Blow,ng Rock Rd
Boone, NC 28607
Acrolgtfur Salt - Smoky Mountain living
with• focus on spiritlllll and
«ologiclll tlQ/ues
For more information:
Contact C. Grant at
Routt 1. &x 61/
Whittier, NC 28789
(704) 497-4964
whole earth
grocery
•
NATURAL
ALTERNATIVES
FOR HEALTHFUL
LIVING
-146 c J>.lrkway cr~ft center • suite 11
g;,tlinburg. tcnn~
37738
615-436-6967
�ECHOES OF AVERY • a cassellC recording or songs
writlen and performed by Avery Q>uniy, NC
elementary school Sllldcnts with artis1 in residence
Thad Beach. Historical songs with II regional
flavor, lyric reciiaLion and singing. Casscuc liner
includes lyrics. Send $4 .95 (includes posiage} io:
Thad Beach; RL 2, Box 422, Waynesville. NC
28786.
THE RJVER CANE RENDEZVOUS 1992 • is on
April 28th - May 3rd a1 Unicoi Staie Park an
Georgia featuring in-depth canhskills training,
tools & techniques for living in the natural world.
Over a dozen top.ranked instructors including Snow
Bear, Dany Wood, Doug Elliot, Tammy Beane,
Jim Riggs, John & Geri McPherson. Scott Jones,
Sieve Wa:us and Oierolcee elders Walker Calhoun,
Eva Bigwiteh and Eddie Bushyhead. $145.00
regisualion includes meals. For more info eontac1
Bob Slack c/o Unicoi SLalC Park; Helen, GA 30545
(404) 878-2201.
BEGINNING CHEROKEE LANGUAGE BOOK·
supplemenled with two casseues. Slll:Sses alphabet
& proper pronunciation. The first textbook wriuen
for use in IC8Cbing and learning the Cherokee
language. (346 pages) S39.95 plus $5.00 shipping.
Catalog also available with ca.~ . books. pipes,
dance slicks, drums, feathers, furs, buffalo products
and more. Craft supplies also available. (plcaso
specify). Send $2.00 to the Muskrat Trader; P.O.
Box 20033; Roanoke. VA 24018.
HIGHLANDER CENTER - is a community-based
educational organization whose purpose is to
provide space for people to learn from each other.
and to develop solutions to environmenlal
problems based on their values. experiences. and
aspirations. They also publish a quarterly
newsletier called Highlander Reports. For more info
contact Highlander Cerucr; 1959 Highlander Way:
New Mankel, 1N 37820 (615) 933-3443
PCEDMOm' BIOREGlONAL INSTITIJTE · For
those who Ii vc in the Piedmont area, there's a
biorcg.ional effon well undc.way. Join Us! We
would appreciate any dooalion or Lime or money to
help meet opcra1ing expenses. For a gif1 of $25.00
or morc, we will send you a copy oCJohn Lawson's
journal, A New Voyage to Carolina. Also come
find ou1abou1 the Lawson Project PBI; 412 W
Rosemary S1ree1; Chapel Hill, NC 27516;
Uwharria Province. (919) 942-2581.
EARN $200-$500 • wcclcly mailing travel brochures.
For informal.ion send a siampcd 3ddn:.sscd envelope
to: Galaxy Travel, lnc.; P.O. Box 13106; Silver
Springs, MD 20911.
I WV£ TH£ EARTH - a casseue recording of
environmental songs by the GrcaJ Smoky
Mo110U1ins JnsLi1u1c at Tremont in celebration of
the 20th anniversary of Eanh Day. Includes "SCAT
rap," "Tho Garbage Blues; and morc. S9.95 plus
$2.50 shipping for each tasSellC. Mail Otder plus
check to Grea1 Smoky Mountains N&1uml History
Associauon: 115 Park HcadqWlltCrs Rd.:
G11Llinburg, TN 37738.
NATIVE AMERICAN CEREMONIALS Hnndcrafled Native American Ceremonial supplies,
include Drums. Cus1om Pipes. Medicine B3gs,
Swcctgnw, Sage, Feathers, Rawhide R:ur.Jes,
Tobaccos. Pipe Bags, Native AuteS, and more! For
free catalogue write: P.O. Box 1062-K Cherokee,
NC28719.
• Spf1,n9, J992
NATIVE AMERICAN CEREMONIAL HERBS • we
offer a lllrge variety of sages, sweet gross, natural
resins, and evcsything necessary for smudging.
Native smoking mix1urcs, 0ute music, pow-wow
tapes, and ceremonial songs. EssentW oils. and
incenses specifically made for prayer, offering, and
meditation. For catalog call or write: Essencial
Dreams; Rt 3, Box 285; Eagle Fork; Hayesville,
NC 28904 (704) 389-9898.
SUMMER APPRENTICE WEEK JULY 3·9 Weekend opt.ion, July 3·5. Wtth Wise Woman
Tradition leacher Whitewolf. Workshops, weed
walks, harvesting medicinal hetbs, Moonlodge,
Women's Spiri1uali1y. Beautiful location one bouJ
from Asheville. Cornfonable dorm or tenting:
vegelari3n meals included. Sljding scale.
work-exchange avai.lable. Write: Wolf, P.O. Box
576; Asheville, NC 28802.
THE ALTERNATIVE READING ROOM· is an
unconvenlional library, free and open to lhe public.
Our collection interests include lhc envll'Ollllleni.
social and poliLical issues, lhe media and peace. We
have over 200 magazine suMCripLions. The book
and video collections also emphasize the
environmcot and political concems. Books and
VCR's can be checked OUI. A VCR player is
available for watehing films in lhc reading room.
Located 812 Wall St #114: Asheville, NC 28801
(704) 252-2501. Mon/Wed/Fri 6-Spm • Tues/Thur
1-8pm • Sat/Sun l-6pm
COHOUSING COMMUNITY BEING FORMED·
in lhe Asheville area Residenis organize, plan, and
design a cooperative community where individual
homes cluster around a common hoUS8 with shm.d
facilities- laundry, workshops, children's room,
dining room, cu:. Opponunitles for energy
efficient, ecologically sound land use. Inquiries
invited. Contact: John Senechal; P.O. Box 1176;
Weaverville, NC287&7 (704) 658-3740.
A VIDEO ABOUT LAND TRUSTS • has been
produced by lhe Land Trust Alliance to explain in
layman's tcnns what a land trust is. 2.7 million
acres of land have been saved by nonproli1 land
trust organizations in America, This video
documents this movement's successes. Cos1 is
S2l.00 for individuals and $14.SO for LTA
members (include $4.SO for J)OSl3gc). Contact: The
Land Trust Alliance; 900 17th SI. NW Suite 410:
Washington, DC 20006 (202) 785-1410.
HAWKWIND EARTH RENEWAL COOPERATIVE
- is o 77 acre wilderness reucot locatcd on Lookout
Mountain Parkway in norlhcm Alobama. Easy
access, safe family camping, year round weekend
programs fealUring Nalive American elders and
earth teachers from around lhc world. Strong
spiritual foundation with Earth Renewal emphasis,
membership discoun1 co-op. There is no charge for
Native American ceremonies; rescrvali.ons rcqu.irod
for all visits please. Childcare often available.
Wriie: P.O. Box I I; Valley Head, AL 35989 (205)
635-6304. For quancrly ncwslcuer 1111d program
updlucs send S10.00.
TURTLE ISLAND PRESERVE· Summer Youth
Camps nre a unique cnvironmcnlal education
experience_ Learn primitive living skills,
Appalachian Mountain living skills. ond Eanh
awareness.
• Boys Camp (ages 11-17) June 28 -July 11.
•GirlsCamp(ages 11- 17)July 12-July 18.
• Junior Youth Camp (ages 7-10) June 14 • 20.
For more info conlaCt: EuslllCC Conway; RL I.
Box 249-B; Deep Gap, NC 28618 (704) 265-2267.
LIFETIMES & AGES - a new release from Bob
Avery-Grubel full of new age vocal music
~ploring lhe mystery or life - lyrics included.
Available on casseuc for SI0.00 plus :SJ.00
shipping, and oo CD for S 15.00 plus $1 .00
shipping. Send to: Bob Avery Grubel; Rt. I, Box
735; Floyd, VA 24-091.
DAVID & CATifY BROWN • known by lheir
friends as Ahwi & Wohali arc looking 10 network
wilh people who live in lhe Katuah area and who
wan1 to form o community along tradilional
Cherokee lines as closely as possible. They are
both of Cherokee-Scots hcricage. They have lhree
home-schooled boys who would like some pen
)'31s. If you are inierestcd in ne1WOrking conlllCt:
Ahwi & WohaU Brown: 1915 Buckley Sireet;
Chattanooga. TN; Chickamaugan D1striel 37404.
• Webworking costs! T~re is now a charge ofS2.JO
(pre-paid) per entry of50 words or lus. Submit
entries for Issue #35 by May 15th 199210: Rob
Messick; Box 2(,(JJ; Boone.NC 28607. (704)
754-«>97.
Alternatives ...
The Diuctory of ln1tntio11al Conumu1111e., is lhe product or 1wo years of intensive rcscarcil, and is lhe mosl
comprehensive and accuraic dirccLOry a,ailable. II documcnis the vi~ion nnd the daily hfc of more than 350
communi1ies in Nol'lh America, and more than 50 on
other continenL~. Each community\ listing includes
name, address, phone, and a dcscnJ)tlon of lhe group.
Ex1CDs1vc cross-rclercnc mg and imkxmg makes the information =y 10 access for a wide vanc1y of users. Includes mnps, over 250 addiuonal Resource listings. and
40 rel3tcd a.rucles.
32!1 P3gcs
8-1/]:,.l l
Perfectbound
Ocwbcr 1990
ISBt,; Number:
0-9602714-1-4
$16.00
Adil S2.00 postage
& h3Jldling for first
book. S.50 for each
additional; 40%
discount on orders
of 10 or more.
Alpha Fann. Deadwood, OR
(503J964--5l02
...
�18
GIU".AT SMOKU:S PARK
·Gourmc1 Gnvin' in Ille Great Smolucs·
class will le:leh edible pl.int ID and preparation
Pre-register S30. For mfo on this and other field
courses, comact Smoky Mounlain Field School,
Un1v~1y of Tcmiesscc, Non-Credit Programs,
600
Henley St.. Suite IOS, Knoxville, TN 37902.
(800) 284-8885.
21
ASHEVILLE/CLEVELAND
National Day of Outtage Against
the US Forest Service. Let the forests live!!
Demonstrations wiU be held at 11 am al
Forest Service offices in Asheville, NC and
Cleveland, TN. For infonnation about the
Asheville action, call (704) 299-0860 or
(704) 586-3146. For information about the
Cleveland action, call (615) 524-4771.
GREAT SMOKIES PARK
Spring WildOowcr Pilgrimage. G u,ded
walks to the bcs1 wlldOowcr Siu:.s in the Parle.
lntcipretative prcscnllllions each evening. Conl3CL
23-25
evencs
SWANNANOA, NC
Annual Western North Carolina
Environmental Summit will be hosted by
Warren Wilson College and include
infonnation on current issues, workshops
and a legislative update. Pre-register:
contaet WNC Alliance; Box 18087;
Asheville, NC 28814. (704) 258-8737.
BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC
"Facing the Automobile Crisis" cransportation issues conference will
examine NC's ttansponation priorities and
feasible alternatives. Man:ia Lowe, senior
researcher with Worldwatch institute,
keynote speaker. Workshops, panels. Ar
Camp Rockmont. Pre-register: $75-125
includes meals and lodging. Contact WNC
Alliance (704) 258-8737 or (704)
689-5988.
4
28-5/3
MARCH
4
18
FULL MOON/ WORM MOON
21
SPRING EQUINOX
21
SWANNANOA,NC
Foll Moon Sweat Lodge beg.ins at
noon. Fat info about participaiing, and dau:.s of
GSMNP; Gatlinburg, TN 37738. (61S)
436-1262.
24-26
Oilier monthly full moon lodge ccn:monies, con1a0t
The Earth Cenlcr, 302 Old Fellowship Rd.,
Swannanoa, NC 28n8. (704) 298-3935.
27-29
BOONE, NC
African Drumming Workshop, presented
by Rhythm Alivcl at H1l11Dp Haven Rctrc3t Center.
Prc-rcgi5uauon rcqwred: drums available eo rent for
lbe woricshop with advllllCC notice. Coniac1 Akal
Der Shatonnc 01 (704) 264-1384. for info on Olher
dlUmming workshops and events, con111e1 Rhythm
Alive!; Box 3331; Asheville, NC 28802. (704)
255-8020.
KNOXVILLE, TN
River Rescue - cleaning up the
fLTSt 50 miles of the Tennessee River. Help
the Clean Water Project clean up the river!
For infonnation, call the Center for Global
Sustainability at (615) 524-4771.
9
18-29
VALLEY HEAD, AL
ASHEVILLF.., NC
Forestry Commission Forum w1U
Seventh generation Cherokee herbalist,
Medicine Bear (D. Walt Burchcu) will :Juw
knowledge abou1 lhc use or plants during a 1wo diay
workshop. Pre-rcgisier: $125. For info on lhlS and
n~~.ct WOllcshops, comact Hawkw,nd Eartb Renewal
Cooperative; Box 11; Valley Head, AL 35989.
inv11e di5cussion of forest use and wildlands
preservation. Co-Sl)OnSOl'Cd by Sierra Club and
other group~. Contact Nick Stcfanou at (704)
685-3881.
(20S) 635-6304.
Environmental and Earth Skills Famil)•
Gruhcring, with Hawk and Ayal HW1'1. Fire by
friction, uacl:ing and $Ulll<1ng, sptnt animal
journeys, plant and medicine walks, llinllulapping,
cordage nnd hide 13ruling. Adults: $80, chi~:
S70. Contac:1 Long Bl'OIICh Environmcnwl
Education Center: RL 2, Box 132; Lc1ces1cr, NC
28748. (704) 683-3662.
APRIL
3-5
SWANNANOA,NC
ApprcntJce cias:; with Morgan Eaglcbcar
will e.tpl~ IJlc proper use of herbs and other
'1calmg tools from the Native American
perspective. First clllS.~ in a four-pan series. For
info on Lhii and other classes, con1ae1 The Eanh
Ccnlet. Sec 3/21.
Xouiah JournaL p~ 38
'
10-12
17
LEICESTER, NC
HELEN, GA
''Rivercane Rendezvous" is
Eanhskills !raining, tools, and techniques
for living in the natural world. Instructors
include Snow Bear, Drury Wood, Doug
Elliott, Tammy Beane, Jim Riggs, and
Cherokee elders Walker Calhoun, Eva
Bigwitch and Eddie Bushyhead.
Pre-register: $145 includes meals. Contact
Bob Slack, Jr., Unicoi State Park, Helen,
GA 30545. (404) 878-2201.
MAY
1-3
TANASr RIDGE
Bchane (May Day) Gatbc:ring BJ
Morningstar Farm. May pole, song, dancing.
Celebrate High Spnng! For informntion and
uavcl directions, call (704) 586-3146.
1-3
ROAN MOUNTAJN, TN
34th Annual Roan Moun111m
WildOowcr Tours and Birdwalks. Con111e1 Ro:in
Moun111in Sl3le Park at (615) 7n-3303.
Fl;LL MOON /PTNK MOOS
Drawing by Rob Mel.Sick
Spr~»9. 1992
�··:KATUAH
2
WFSTF.RN NORTH CAROLINA
Clean SIJ'Callls Day will involve
coordinated clean.up in Buncombe, Madison,
Henderson and Transylvania counties. For info
and lrnShbags, contac1 Quality Forward. Soc 4/6.
MARSHALL, NC
Spoon Carving WOl'kshop is an
introduction 10 lmditional woodworking IOOls and
rcchniqoes, iaughl by Drew Langsner.
Pre-regis1cr: SISO includes meals and camping
(dormilory also available). For info on this and
other woodworking classes. conU1C1 Country
Workshops, 90 Mill Creek Road, Marshall, NC
28753. (704) 656-2280.
KONFUSION =·
Rob Messic\<.
coniact Great Smoky Mount:1ins lnslltulc at
Tremoni; Rt I, Box 700; Townsend, TN
37882.
(615) 448-6709.
JUNE
HOT SPRINGS, NC
"Taoist Medilation for Beginners" will
include instruction, group mcdiuuion, and periods
or silence. Led by Linda Gooding Md Sllaron Reif.
Pre-register: S145 includes vegan meals Md
lodging. For info on this and other retreats, conLaC1
Southern Dhnrma Rctre31 Center. RL I, Box
34-H,: H01 Springs, NC 28743. (704)622-7112.
5.7
16
FULL MOON / FLOWER
MOON
2·3
9-10
VALLEY HEAD, AL
Earth Slcills workshop with Darry
Wood. "Wilh a knife. on axe, and a saw, I can
mnke a life in lhe woods.· R~l and
undcrsianding are what allow us lO live ligh1ly
on lhe land. Hawkwind Earth Renewal
Cooperative. See 3/28-29.
14-18 CHEROKEE NF
Sou!hPAW Spring Council. Join
the region's biocentric environmental
group to plan forest rescue and !he
Kan1ah evolutionary preserve. USFS
appeals, paving moratorium, Earth skills,
non-violence training for direct action,
and more. At Jennings Creek area. For
travel directions and info, caJI (615)
543-5107 or (704) 299-0860.
GREAT SMOKIES PARK
Spring Naturalis1 Wccl(cnd is a chance
lO lewn about the natural hisiory oflhc park
Crom local cxpertS. lnstruciors will include Dr.
Mike PellOn, Dr. Fred Alsop, and Dr. Ed
Clebsch. Pre-register: S75 includes meals Md
lodging. For info on lhis and other progrnms,
15-17
KERRSVILLE, TX
The Fifth Tunic Island Biorcgional
Congress. Bioregional people from across the
continent will gather 10 celebrate and sll':llCgi1.e
an ecoccnlric way of living. Pre-register:
$225-300 includes meals and lodging. ConlllCt:
Realistic Living; Box 140826; Dallns, TX
75214. (903) 583-8252.
17-21
The Black Mountain Festival.
Four days of great music with Goose
Creek Symphony, Norman and Nancy
Blake, Ada Korey, The Chicken Wire
Gang, Brooks Williams, songs and
stories for children wiLh Bob Rosentahl,
Ian Bruce from Scot.land, Steelorama
reggae, the Flying Mice, other
performers, and more dancers than ever
before! $65 for the duration. For more
info, call (704) 669-2456.
CHEROKEE, NC
Sieve Moon, shell engravings. and Joel
Queen, s10ne sculplUl'C and pouery, in a
two-person show at lhe Musewn of lhc Cherokee
Indian.
30
WAYNESVILLE, NC
Bead Weaving workshop: me peyote
stilCh for medicine or spirit bag weaving.
Pre-register. $30 plus materials. For info on this
and olhcr programs, conl3Ct Sl.il-Ligh1
Theosophical Retreat Center; RL I, Box 326;
Waynesville, NC 28786. (704) 452-456
/,
-
Spr~. 1992
-
'
Kaluah Province 28748
For more info: call Rob Messick a1 (704) 754-6097
PO Box 638 Leicester, NC
Regular Membership ........$10/yr.
Address
Sponsor.........................$20/yr.
Contributor.....................$50/yr.
State
Zip
FULL MOON
20
SUMMER SOLSTICE
AMONG THE TREES
Katunh Rainbow Tribe Solstice
Gathering. Somewhere in lhe national forest brothas
and sisters will gather 10 create a magical village or
love and lighL Location Md exact dates 10 be
annoWlCed. For information wriie lO HO! Newsle11er,
Box 5455; Allania. GA 30307, or call Allanta
Rainbow Light Line, (404) 662-6112.
17(?)-21
Enclosed is $::----- to give
!his effort an extra boost
12-14
MASSANETT A SPGS., VA
6th Annual National Forest
Refonn Pow Wow will include group
discussions, workshops and field trips 10
view several forest management
techniques. Pre-register: $76-122 includes
meals and lodging or campsite. Contact
Forest Reform Network; 5934 Royal Lane
(Suite 223); Dallas, TX. 75230. (214)
368-1791.
3-10, 13-16, 18-20, 22-24, 26-27, 29-33
- - - - - - -- - - - - - - - -
Ke°UA~OURNAL
Name
15
23-24
- -- -- - -- -- - - -- -- - --- - --- -- - --
City
JOHNSON CITY, TN
"Places and the Displaced" is drama
inspired by lhe quinccntcnninl of Columbus's
voyage, written and performed by The Road
Company. Box 5278, Johnson City, 1N 37603.
(615)926-7726.
22-25 BLACK MO UNTAIN, NC
BACK ISSUFS OFKATUAH JOURNALAVAILABLE
34
9-13
----
Back Issues;
Issue# __@ $2.50 = s.--Jssue # __@ $2.50 = $•--Issue# __@ $2.50 = s.--lssue # __@ $2.50 = $____
Issue# __@ $2.50 = $_ __
postage paid $_ __
Complete Set:
(3-10, 13-16, 18-20, 22-24, 26-32)
postage paid @ $50.00 = $_ __
Phone Number
XA~ JournaL page 39
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records
Description
An account of the resource
<em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. <br /><br /><span>The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, </span><em>Katúah</em><span>, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant. </span><br /><span><br />The <em>Katúah Journal</em> was co-founded by Marnie Muller, David Wheeler, Thomas Rain Crowe, Martha Tree and others who served as co-publishers and co-editors. Other key team members included Chip Smith, David Reed, Jay Mackey, Rob Messick and many others.</span><br /><br />This digital collection is only a portion of the <em>Katúah</em>-related materials in the W.L. Eury Appalachian Collection in Special Collections at Appalachian State University. The items in AC.870 Katúah Journal records cover the production history of the <em>Katúah Journal</em>. Contained within the records are correspondence, publication information, article submissions, and financial information. The editorial layouts for issues 12 through 39 are included as are a full run of the Journal spanning nearly a decade. Also included are photographs of events related to the Journal and a film on the publication.
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
This resource is part of the <em>Katúah Journal Records </em>collection. For a description of the entire collection, see <a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah Journal Records (AC. 870)</a>.
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
The images and information in this collection are protected by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U. S. C.) and are intended only for personal, non-commercial, and educational purposes, provided proper citation is used – i.e., Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Records, 1980-2013 (AC.870), W. L. Eury Appalachian Collection, Special Collections, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC. Researchers are responsible for securing permissions from the copyright holder for any reproduction, publication, or commercial use of these materials.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1983-1993
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
journals (periodicals)
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, Issue 34, Spring 1992
Description
An account of the resource
The thirty-fourth issue of the <em>Katúah Journal</em> focuses on sustainable agriculture and regional diet. Authors and artists in this issue include: Joe Hollis, Hugh Lovel, Ralph Garrett, Peter Bane, Perry Eury, Allison C. Sutherland, Bear With Runs, Mark Schonbeck, John Ingress, Lee Barnes, Charlotte Homsher, Rob Messick, David Wheeler, Emmett Greendigger, Michael Thompson, James Rhea, Dawn Shiner, Troy Setzler, Erbin Crow, Caroline Rowe Martens, and Susan Adam. <br><br><em>Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</em>, later simplified to <em>Katúah Journal</em>, was published from 1983 to 1993. A quarterly publication, it was focused on the bioregion of former Cherokee land in Appalachia. The early issues of the journal explain the meaning of the Cherokee name, Katúah, and why the editors wanted to view the world through a bioregional lens, rather than political boundaries. A volunteer production, the editors took a holistic view in tackling social, environmental, mental, spiritual, and emotional topics of the day, many of which are still relevant.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
1992
Table Of Contents
A list of subunits of the resource.
Paradise Gardening by Joe Hollis.......3<br /><br />Community Sponsored Agriculture by Hugh Lovel.......5<br /><br />"If You Didn't Grow It..." by Ralph Garrett.......7<br /><br />Eating Close to Home by Peter Bane.......9<br /><br />Silas McDowell's Vision by Perry Eury.......11<br /><br />Poems by Allison C. Sutherland.......12<br /><br />Native Foods by Bear with Runs.......13<br /><br />Cover Crops by Mark Schonbeck.......15<br /><br />Plan for Tomorrow: Hemp by John Ingress.......17<br /><br />Katúah Cultivars by Lee Barnes.......18<br /><br />Blowing in the Wind by Charlotte Homsher.......19<br /><br />The Web of Life: A Katúah Almanac by Lee Barnes and Rob Messick.......20<br /><br />Good Medicine.......22<br /><br />Natural World News.......24<br /><br />"Whose Rules?" by David Wheeler.......26<br /><br />Big Ivy by Emmett Greendigger and David Wheeler.......27<br /><br />Drumming.......28<br /><br />Saving Wild Seeds by Lee Barnes.......29<br /><br />Resources.......31<br /><br />Review: "Apple Pie in Your Face".......34<br /><br />Webworking.......37<br /><br />Events.......38<br /><br /><em>Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer.</em>
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
<em>Katúah Journal</em>, printed by The <em>Waynesville Mountaineer</em> Press
Subject
The topic of the resource
Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern
Sustainable agriculture--Appalachian Region, Southern
Appalachians (People)--Social life and customs--History
Community-supported agriculture--Appalachian Region, Southern
Cherokee Indians--Social life and customs--History
Cover crops--Appalachian Region, Southern
Permaculture--Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina, Western
Blue Ridge Mountains
Appalachian Region, Southern
North Carolina--Periodicals
Language
A language of the resource
English
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
<a href="https://appstate-speccoll.lyrasistechnology.org/repositories/2/resources/937"> AC.870 Katúah Journal records</a>
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a title="In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted" href="https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/?language=en 8" target="_blank"> In Copyright – Educational Use Permitted </a>
Coverage
The spatial or temporal topic of the resource, the spatial applicability of the resource, or the jurisdiction under which the resource is relevant
Appalachian Region, Southern
Is Part Of
A related resource in which the described resource is physically or logically included.
<a title="Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians" href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/collections/show/79" target="_blank"> Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians </a>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
PDF
Journals (Periodicals)
Temporal Coverage
Temporal characteristics of the resource.
1990s
Agriculture
Appalachian History
Appalachian Mountains
Appalachian Studies
Bioregional Congress
Black Bears
Book Reviews
Cherokees
Community
Ecological Peril
Economic Alternatives
Folklore and Ceremony
Forest Issues
Good Medicine
Habitat
Health
Katúah
Permaculture
Pigeon River
Plants and Herbs
Poems
Radioactive Waste
Reading Resources
Stories
Turtle Island
Water Quality
Western North Carolina Alliance
Wilderness