1 50 9 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 Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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.  The Katúah Journal 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. This digital collection is only a portion of the Katúah-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 Katúah Journal. 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 Katúah Journal Records 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 Katúah Journal Index, 1983-1993 Description An account of the resource This document is a topical index to all 38 issues of <a href="https://omeka.library.appstate.edu/items/browse?collection=79" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians</a>.   Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians,  later simplified to  Katúah 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. 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/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 Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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.  The Katúah Journal 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. This digital collection is only a portion of the Katúah-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 Katúah Journal. 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 Katúah Journal Records 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 Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, Issue 4, Summer 1984 Description An account of the resource The fourth issue of the Katúah Journal 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. Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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. 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 Living Trout: Living Water.......3 Trout An Article by Jerry West.......4 Streamwatch.......6 The Annular Eclipse of the Sun.......8 "Lord of Springs" poetry by Bennie L. Sinclair.......9 Waterpower.......10 Homemade Electricity.......11 Clearcutting Part II by Robert Zahner.......12 Living with Kudzu.......14 "Shapes" by Jim Wayne Miller.......16 Good Medicine: Going to Water.......18 Voice of the Turtle: N.A.B.C. Report.......20 Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer. 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/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 Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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.  The Katúah Journal 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. This digital collection is only a portion of the Katúah-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 Katúah Journal. 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 Katúah Journal Records 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 Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, Issue 11, Spring 1986 Description An account of the resource The eleventh issue of the Katúah Journal 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. Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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. 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 Digging In: A Model.......2 Cities and the Bioregional Vision.......6 Recycling: Garbage in Transition.......7 Community Gardening.......9 The World Village: A Poem.......10 Seeing the Future Village.......10 Floyd County, VA.......12 Gasohol.......14 Two Bioregional Views.......15 Earthquake: The Nuclear Supplement Natural World News.......18 Good Medicine: Visions.......20 The Children's Page.......21 Review: Foxfire Games.......23 Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer. 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/c5f08e481824615d18c6f5c6bd8ddef8.pdf ab8164d46d387f7db9c40c17d5a6eb35 PDF Text Text --~ ATUAH $JOO ISSUE XIV WINTER 1986-87 Wintertimef Dreamtime �i, g ci N u G: z <o ... w A. .... - w ~~ igN ~f t:: Ct> • w_, OZA.:;) 11. 0 u z CONTENTS ("') N ,.... co N ~ LLOYD CARL OWLE...........................................................................1 8()()(3ERS AND MUMMERS...............................................................3 ALL SPECIES DAY .............................................................................6 POEM BY WILL ASHE BASON.........................................................9 GOOD MEDICINE..............................................................................10 CABIN FEVER UNIVERSITY.........................................................12 POEMS BY OLIVER LOVEDAY ......................................................13 KEEPING WARM: HOMELESS IN KATUAH ................................ 14 HOMEMADE HOTWATER...............................................................18 A STOVEMAKER'S NARRATIVE. ................................................19 NATURAL WORLD NEWS..............................................................20 H ,..l 0 0 i5 a: en Ul ::> ~ u 0 :z: .. tll fZJ ~ ,..l s u ... ("') ,.... co II< i ~ 0 ~ z 0 ; 0:: 8 Cl) ~ 0 0 < �1111111111 ,.~:.u 1 1~tfl .1'!••@.:1!. .!:1~,11•·••:a~:1a1rn ISSUE XIV WlNTER 1986-87 ART AND SURVIVAL Lloyd Carl Owle is a Cherokee Indian, a descendent of Yonaguska. He is field director of the Save the Children Federation program for the southeastern Indian nations, but he is best known for his powerful and expressive stone carvings. His works are on display at the Qualia Craft Co·op and the "Miz-Chief' store in Cherokee. NC. Su 'The Work ofUoJd Ctul Owlt~ pp. 16-17 There is an old legend that says there are two people inside of us. One is young, and the other is old. These two figures of the legend represent two different viewpoints: the young one th:u does not discriminate, that sees the world as a whole; and the old one that is linear, that picks the world apart and focusses on only one thing at a time. This is 1rue for us. Kids have to be trained to think in a linear way. They take to the other way naturally. When I was a kid in school, I enjoyed looking at a Little bug with all its intricacy and detail more than doing English or math. Even now I have 600 things in my mind at any one time. As I'm working on one carving l have a lot of other things going on at the same time. They are all pictured individually in my head, but I can only put a part of what I see into any one piece. Even so, when I'm doing something with maybe ten ants and six people, it gets very intticate and complex. I have to keep it all in my mind at the same nme. I have to see a piece from several different sides at once. Either a person can see in that way or they can't. Size has always been strange to me, too. 1 play with that. Neutrons, atoms, planets.....all arc equally important to the functioning of the universe. So in my carvings a little ant can be as big as a person's face, or a snake will be larger than a person's body. When I'm working in my shed at two or three o'clock in the morning, I feel tuned in to a different time. h is a time or a place in my mind that is very primitive. My carvings reflect this. One might say that this "primitive" art comes from a place of deeper vision. From this place the activities of life have more meaning than they do to a person of the modem culture. This is because these things arc seen as being connected. Life is viewed as a whole, rather than "my life", "your Life", "their Life". This is a special way to see Lhe world. This power of mind is a gift that only some people have. Medicine men have this power, but they don't "make" it, it's already within them. In the same way, art is a part of a person. h's in their DNA, or their life-soul, however it is called. It is less an ability to consciously make something happen than to let something work through us. Sometimes I have the feeling l'm just watching my hands do something on their own. I just let them go. Often, afcer working late at night, I have to look at a piece again in the morning and re-identify with it. It seems sLrange and foreign, not like something I did myself. And, in a way, that is true, because a good angel came through and helped me. This reminds me of the legend of "the little people'; The "little people" represent the different dimensions of the mind. All the dimensions are here, and sometimes we slip into another time or another phase of the mind, and we find ourselves seeing things in a different way. It feels SLrange to us only because we have become separated from ourselves. The 'little people' are a sense that has been given us to help us survive and protect ourselves. Native American people have always listened to that other voice. It is something that has helped us to survive. Call it ESP, call it good judgement, or intuition-it is a way of thinking, but also a way of communicating. The basic power of the native medicine person was the ability to bring up the thought in someone else's mind that they were going to ge1 well. The medicine person would not do this by putting a thought from the outside into another person's mind. They helped their patients communicate with themselves and the Creator so they would be well. If their mind was not whole, they lYm sick! Some people might say, "Why is he talking about things like that in these modern times?" But this deep communicauon still works for us, because on thac level of the mind everything is connected. We are simuhaneously tuned into different times in the history of this world, faraway civilizations of long ago, different people living in differenc places, or even inco space. In dreams I've seen bowls with arrowheads and similar designs on them that are still buried in the ground. I know someday they'll be found, not only in this country, but in South America, and even in Egypt in places along the Nile. I've seen visions of a sculpture of a head with an elongated face that they'll dig out along the Nile someday. l put that face in a carving I did. Someday they may try to relate that carving back to the ancient Egyptian culture, to the art I do, or even to similar carvings from South America. ART AS LANGUAGE Masks, myth, music, art--anything that arises from that deep place is a language. Whether it's "Indians" from North America, Indians from lndia, or any other people, we can communicate through that language. In that deep place we are already connected. People have to protect themselves and the ways they have learned and survived. The Cherokee tribe protects itself, its customs, and its beliefs. The Hopi and the people in India do the same. But art cotcrs people's minds through the back door. Something pleasing to the eye relaxes people. It releases them, whether they are creating it or looking at it. People of any race or any culture in the world can see a piece of art, and, simply because they love and appreciate the beauty of it, they are taken to that place where they experience the same thoughts or feelings the artist bad when be or she created it. By seeing it or touching it, they can grasp that thought in a way no one could explain with words. And they also grasp that thought in a way that doesn't threaten their beliefs. Art is a way to communicate the differences between people. I'm not a doom-crier, but we need to communicate -- blacks, whites, Indians, Russians -· all of us. Our beliefs may be - continued on page 25 KATUAH-page 1 Winter 1986-87 �& )lATlii-a )• ... :1111il!ul!11m 1•1+11111wi111•1: 1 . 111:1amli'JP!li" •'"' "'"'•,.__ . 111 . EDITORIAL STAFF THlS ISSUE: Scott Bird Sylvia Fox Judith Hallock Rob Messick Mamie Muller Manha Overlock Michael Red Fox Chip Smith Brad Stanback Manha Tree David Wheeler EDITQRIAL ASSISTANCE: Tom Hendricks Mark Kelly Brooks Michael Jeff Fobes Sara Jane Thomas Julie Gaunt EDITOR CAL OEACE THIS ISSUE: Asheville, NC PRTNIEQBY: Sylva furalQ Publishing Co. Sylva, NC WRITE US AT: Katiiah Box 873 Cullowhee, NC 28723 TELEPHONE: (704) 252-9167 COVER: "Primitive Fear" by Lloyd Carl Qwle The ln1cmal Revenue Service hu declared .K.a.W&h a non-pr organization under section SOl(c)(3) of lhc Internal Revenue Code. All con1nbu1ions 10 K.ni!Jh arc deductible from personal income y WI. .K!n1lb wishes 10 thank lhc Salisbury Community Foundation for lheiT generous cran1 in suppon of our work. JRV0CllTJ0R Enter within The cave ckep dark :Below mountains IVhere ln slup tjona, 9reat black bear And we to9ether clream New patterns of existence New futu res for the world Green, blue, and white Lcoki~back From w£thin infinite ni9ht Our souls m~fe :Bri9ht amo~ the crystal stars KATUAH - page 2 Here in the sowhem-most heartland of the Appalachian mountains, the oldest mou111ai11 range on 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 na11ual scale and balance ofuniversal sys rems and laws. We begin by invoking the Cherokee name "Karuali" 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 specijicafly to this area, and to foster the awareness thal the land is a living being deserving of oiu love and respect. Living in tlris manner is the only way to ensure the sustainability of our biosphere and a lasting place for ourselves in its continuir1g evol11tior1ary process. We seem to have reached thefulcrtvn poim ofa "do or die" situation in terms of a cominued quality standard oflife on this planet. It is the aim of 1/ris journal to drJ its part in the re-inhabitation and re-cultura1ion of the Ka1Uilh province of the Southern Appalachians. This province is indicated by its natural boundaries: the New River vicinity to the north; tlie foothills oftlie piedmont area to tlie east; Yona Mountain and the Georgia hills to the south; and tlie Tennessee River Valley to the west. Humbly, as self-appointed stewards with sacred instructions as "new natives" to protect and preserve i1s sacredness. we advocate a centered approach to tlie cor1cep1 of decentralization and hope to become a support system/or 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 Kmlttlh wilf grow to serve the best imerests of this region and all its living, breatlUngfamily members. - The Editors Winter 1986-87 �BOOGEAS AND MUMMEAS While collecting material for his book Cherokee Dance and Drama, Frank G. Speck, on January 2, 1935, observed a performance of the "Booger Dance" during a social gathering at the house of Will Pheasant in the Big Cove community on the Cherokee Indian reservation. He described the dancers as being "a company of four to ten or more masked men, occasionally with a couple of women companions, representing people from far away or across the water - Germans, French, Chinese, Negroes.....Each masked dancer has a personal name, usually obscene, which is given upon request to the host of the house party.... Europeans show exaggerations of features--bushy eyebrows, moustaches. chin whiskers, red cheeks, big noses, ghastly white pallor, and bald heads. Animal masks are occasionally worn by the boogers when they desire to represent themselves as hunters and then they carry guns, bows, or clubs. Other equipment of the boogers may be a dead chicken to represent a wild rurkey, a dead lamb, or the skull of a cow or a horse. Boogers may distort their figures by stuffing abdomen, buttocks, or shins. Some carry an imitation phallus of gourd neck or wrapped cloth concealed beneath a quilt of sheet, which they expose when dashing toward women and girls. Sometimes the gourd phallus contains water, which is released, adding to the burlesque." The dancers would enter the house acting at the same time clownishly and violently--falling on the floor, swinging at the men, and making rushes at the women and girls. When questioned by the host of the party, who acted as master of KA TUAH - page 3 ceremonies, they said they wanted "Girls!" and they wanted "to fight", but they were mollified and introduced themselves with a song and a dance solo by each member of the cast. The host then invited the group to dance. Customarily, the boogers would do one of the "winter dances", the Bear Dance or the Eagle Dance. During the second round of the dance, women from the audience joined as the boogers' partners in the dancing. The boogers then left as boisterously as they had come, some dashing into the crowd of women and clumsily trying to carry off struggling victims, amid screams and laughter. The Mummers In lrcland, within living memory, it was the custom for companies of young men, called ''The Mummers" to go from house to house during the nights after ChristmaS wearing costumes and tall masks of plaited rushes, performing a ritualized drama of death and rebirth. The play was ostensibly to raise money for a large community dance, The Mummers' Ball, that took place early in January, but the roots of the custom go back into antiquity. The mummers were led by a captain who acted as master of ceremonies and was responsible for the conduct of his tr0upe in the kitchens of the community. In recent years, the company consisted more or less of eight basic characters: the Captain, Beelzebub, Prince George (of England), Oliver Cromwell, Saint Patrick, the Doctor, Big Head (a musician), and Miss Funny (the treasurer). The captain requested entrance into the house, and if it were granted, he strode into the kitchen, proclaiming: "Here comes/, Captain Mummer, And all me men. Room, room, gallant boys, Give us room to rhyme. We'll show you some diversion Around these Chrisrmas times." One after another the members of the cast came into the lighted kitchen, declaring in rhyme, and each introducing the next, until the character of SL Patrick entered: "Here Comes/, St. Patrick, And tile reason I came I'm in search ofthat bully Prince George is his name. And if I do find him, I'll tell you no lie, I'll hack him to pieces as small as a fly." Prince George and St. Patrick then had an altercation that ended when Prince George drew his rapier (stick) and ran his opponent through. The Doctor was called for and entered, bearing "...a wee bottle here in the waistband ofme trousers. Tlzey call it Hokey pokey halicumpain. Rise 11p dead man and jighi again." the Doctor would say as he revived the patient, and he would then call for Big Head, who entered and played music for two dancers to relieve the dramatic tension of the perfonnance. Miss Funny would then come in and ask for money, "All silver and no brass." At this point the show became more - continued on next page Wrnter 1986-87 �- continued ijfonnal, and members of the household were enco uraged to request songs and <Wices, or to step in for a dance with Miss Funny. At the conclusion of the event it was customary for the people of the house to try to guess the identity of the mummers, and if there were girls in the house bold enough, they might attempt to maneuver a position where they could knock the mask off one of the performers. The mummers would defend their fellow by pushfog and tickling, which frequently led to much squealing and giggling. Then with a farewell and good wishes the mummers would depan into the night In these days when people nightly invite murder and violence into their homes via their TV sets, the mummers' play may seem bland and unconvincing. But it was not as often seen in those days, and it was a live performance: "Rhyme and action render it all humorous, but the words are clear. There are many young men, armed with sticks, standing around your kitchen who would like you to give them some money," wrote Henry Glassie in his book on the mumming tradition, All Silver and No Brass, Common T hreads The two performances, boogers and mummers, from disparate cultures on opposite sides of the ocean, vary greatly due to the differences in geography and culture. Yet, even in such a superficial presentation of traditions that had evolved through centuries, certain srrong similarities stand out. First, the masks. These were the core of the presentation. They lent a compelling sense of presence to the dramas, and plunged the audience, the familiar household, and the players into a different reality. This was a visitation from the spirit world. T he masks were frightening, but they could also amaze and delight. The masked players were from outside the bounds of convention. They could talk and act in a way not permi11ed in ordinary community life. They could speak of things usually left unspoken. They could talce deep tensions and transfonn them through humor, song, and dance. The second similarity was the time of year. Both of these plays were done at night as part of the winter season celebration. Hayes Lossiah, who danced the Booger Dance in Big Cove, said, "We'd do it in the winter. It'd snow two, three days, mebbe, after the dance." "It was the performance of the season," said Peter Flanagan of County Ferman agh, Ireland of the Christmas mumming shows. ' KATUAH-page4 a• - ~-«¥ • I t:llltec.,... ...._...,-.,.IT The Booger Dance was sometimes origins a nd the original purpose o f the used by medicine men in the healing of the Booger Dance-, for the Iroquois marked the sick. These appearances would, of course, transitidn between the old and new years happen in any season needed, but: "In its with <t winter celebration called the "festival earliest form, the Booger Oilflce, 'strong in of dreall'.IS~, which is. described by James Frazer in bis book The Golden Boui:h: magic', was undoubtedly ti mi ted to win ter performance. since its association with 'The whole cel'cmonies lasted several days, or even weeks, and formed a kind of 'ghosts', those of aliens, is believed to bring killi ng frosts," said Speck. saturnalia. Men and women, variously The connectipn with healing shows disguised. went from wigwnm to wigwam smashing and throwing down whatever they the original spiritual nature of the masks, and should make us look closer to find the came across. It was a time of general purpose in the buffoonery of the winter license; the people were supposed to be out of their senses, and therefore not to be Booger Dance. The character and conduct of the responsible for what they did ....On one day mummers and th·e boogers is another of the festival the ceremony of driving away evil spiriis from the village took place. Men similarity. In both performances the casts showed highly exaggerated characteristics clothed in the skins of wild beasts, their of aggressiveness and clownishness. The faces covered with hideous masks, and their interplay bet ween the audience and the hands with the shell of the tortoise, wem performers contained an clement of the from hut to hut making frightful noises; in risque in both of the dramas, but it was every hut they took the fuel from 1he fire and scattered the embers and ashes about the more highly ,exaggerated and exploited by the boogers. floor with their hands. The general It is bold indeed to speculate on the confession of sins which preceded the origins of these two events of folk theatre, festival was probably a preparation for the when little p recise information is known public expulsion of evil influences; it was a about either. But the structure of the way of stripping the people of their moral mummers' play strongly reflects the old burdens, that these might be collected and cast out" myth of the god of the new year killing the god of the old that dates back to earliest Clearly the booger masks of the history in Europe and the British Isles. In Iroquois were aiding in the exorcism of other areas of Britain the same story is demons - the pent-up emotions of the winter enacted by the "wranboys" during the same and the stale energies of the old year. This could have been the original purpose of the days after Christmas, who hunt and kill a ~n. the deity of the year past, in the name Cherokee masks, as well, but as the of "Cock Robin", who represents the Christian missionaries inhibited the old coming cycle of regrowth. spiritual forms, and as European oppression The Doctor of the mummers and his anacked the Indians and their way of life, "wee bottle" of "hokey pokey halicumpain" the whites could have been given the also provides a death and resurrection theme principal role of devil-demon scapegoat to act out and carry away the year's negative symbolic of the regeneration of the year. A solstice play would have had an energies. important role in an early agricultural If we can accept, or even consider, these intuitive conclusions as to the origins community to teach the young and remind of the mask dramas, we see that these two the old that the changes of the year, while cultures approached the challenges of the dramatic and threatening, were a normal pan of the yearly cycle. winter season in very different ways: one in The influence of the Christian church an active, volatile way, and the other by internalizing the energies of the season by would have caused the substitution of St. Patrick as the main protagonist, as it did in re-enacting them as a story. But although so many other holidays and rituals. But very different from each other in their original form, the two events seem to spring then, as secular concerns became more immediate, SL Patrick and St. George could from a deep, common, spiritual matrix: the need to maintain the community, first in the have come to represent the relations between Ireland and England, which had so much changing flow of time, then of history. bearing on the life of the poor Irish farmers. That required that conventional social This was of special significance in the barriers be temporarily broken down to find a new and basic starting point from which divided communities of northern Ireland the people could move together into the new where those: tensions have continued at a slow, smoldering bum for centuries. year. It required exaggeration of the human capacities for violence and foolishness, that Wild Dreams we normally do not wish to acknowledge, that by laughter, movement, and song The booger masks, it is currently people could accept and come to terms with thought, came to the Cherokee from the their negativity and weakness. Iroquoian culture of the northeastern woodland tribes. This lends a hint as to the u Winter 1986-87 �rim : . Al look • mask plays ..., ippc.r IO have bcea ~and iUJICiaiaiola4 pno..-doa1,;anachronisms from a primiliwi put. Bus lookinJ one misfit sec a IOpbisaiCaled psycbolo&IW lbcnpy IO beal . ,- ..... *'ai"' ~DNA daal ~beck the QDIDIDunity and ttansform the inner demons that take shape in the world duriri1 the dadt winter months. We could extend Land Roots gradually faded away. THE BOOGER D ANCE as witnessed by Tom Underwood Tom Underwood is the proprietor of the Medicine Man Craft Shop in Cherokee, a long-time meeting-place for those interested in Cherokee Indian artwork and culture. Tom had tire rare privilege, although he did not realize it at tlte time, of being one of tlte few white people to see tlte Booger Dance performed/or healing ..... I grew up in lhe Birdtown section of the Cherokee Indian reservation. When I was growing up, my dad had the only automobile in that pan of the reservation, so he was often called upon to be ambulance, laxi, or messenger. I remember one day an urgent message came for Bird Panridge, a medicine man and a fine old fellow. I was a boy, 12 or 13 at lhe time, but I can remember it was getting dusky dark when we neared old man Partridge's house. My dad spoke a few words to a woman at the door, and she motioned up the hill behind the house. We walked up a rough sled road through the woods. It was a pretty good little climb, and when we got up there we could hear people talking and chants a'going on. We followed a trail to a clearing 40-50 feet in diameter . There was a circle of people around the perimeter of the KATUAH - page 5 dwup time from the deaceadanta o r die Henry Glassie's statement that. "The mummers (and the boogus) attacked the forces that keep people ap:m." The Cherokees and the subsistence farmers of lhe Irish countryside shared the heritage of a land-based small village culture. Both groups came under the dominance of the prevailing European industrial culture. As their societies came under auack, the conditions of life were changed, and their cultures were changed as well. The critical alteration was that, in both cases, the strong, enduring ties to the land that had nourished their people for centuries were forcibly broken by the invading culture. This was the crucial link. and when it was severed, the masks, which represented the spirits of the land, were doomed. Oppression became the primary demon that haunted these peoples, and the message of the masks changed. They spoke about the invader. They spoke about life and death in tenns the people could understand. They were so strongly rooted in the lives of the people, it took the maskings 200 years to die, but once their lifeline to the land was cut, their vitality . \'ct.dle~-lhe---. aiecblc.S . . . . . . . . tlcllC . ' ia ~ . . . two eul1*'CS meet. n. qirk ~ die .m1 •nmcn' .p1ay1 bas 4:0lne acroa IM Waler oa the ·toa1 1trands".o( And so, unfonunately, the last item that these two traditions share in common is that both are, for all practical purposes, extinguished as meaningful communication among the people. Although there are elders alive who have done lhe Booger Dance and the mummers' show, apparently the dramas are no longer in use. So it is relevant to question, "Why even write about these traditions from two culrures t hat are so distant from and so unlike each other? Why pay so much attention to old traditions that have already passed away?" It is tr ue. To study the mask traditions, the kachjnas of the Hopi Indians, which have been brought vinually intact through the time barrier of modern civilization, offer a much better subject for study. There the myth stories of the land and the e lemental beings still live in the wbite-llci.nftcd immigrantS 10 lhcir anceslOR in Europe. The booger spirits, too, lie dormant in the mountain shadows. their native home - sleeping, waiting to be aroused once again. The masks are looking for ne w fonns, for new meanings, and for a new generdtion to bring them alive . It would require only that some of lhe hu mans reconnect the vital link between themselves and the land, and the masks and the spirits they represenl would be resurrecled to chant and dance and amaze the people in the community circle once again. They are old, litera.lly "as old as the hills'', yet when lhe people call upon the masks, they will arise and come, bringing powers of invocation, communication, liberation, and delight. Resource Reading: All Silver and No Brass: Henry Glassie (Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN) 1975 Cherokee Dance and Drama: Frank G. Speck and Leonard Broom (University of California Press, Berkeley, CA) 1951 yearly cycle of mask celebrations. clearing. In the center was a fire, and by the fire lay a person all wrapped up, obviously sick, and over him hovered another, the medicine man. I didn't see it, but I suppose the medicine man had given the pat.ient some medicine. Around this pair at the center were about 15-18 people with masks of many differenl kinds. Every one of them was covered up with blankets or old raggedy clothes, so no one could tell who they were at all. They wore all kinds of scarey masks. One was a hornets' nest - it was an old hornets' nest with the eyeholes and a breathing hole cul out. Most of the masks were faces cut out of wood. The m:tsked figures were dancing in a circle around the medicine man and the sick person at the fire. All of them were chanting. I knew the medicine man was old Bird Panridge, even though a mask covered his entire face. That went on for a little while, until a few of them noticed us, and then every bit of it just quit. My daddy stated his business and said that someone had an emergency. maybe it was a death in the family, and that he would carry the person back down. The people in the circle never moved another peg until we got out of lhe clearing and over the hill. As we walked down the hill, I could hear them taking up the chanl again. That was the only time I ever actually saw the Booger Dance performed in sincerity like it was done a long time ago. I was just a boy, but I remember it very vividly. My interest in it at the time was very casual, but later l became much more interested as I began to read and talk with other people. Masks were used in other ceremonies as well, but the booger masks were usually thought of as scarey masks. I have one at home I've had for 50 years. My father acquired it. It is very, very scarey-looking. ~ 100-year-otd mask by famed Cherokee mask-maker Will West Long Winter 1986-87 �. ~LL SPtC~tS DAY by Marnie Muller Ahead of the pageant, each person is asked to choose a plant or animal that they feel closest to, that they would like to represent at the celebration. Then there are mask-making sessions with a great deal of storytelling going on during this time about how individual creatures have helped the Earth and how many indigenous peoples have regarded the Eanh as the sacred being that it is. There are also stories of the interdependence of all life. "For more than 99 percent of human history, the world was enchanted and [humans] saw (themselves] as an integra l part of it. The complete reversal or this perception in a mere four hundred years or so has destroyed the continuity of the huma n experience and the integrity of the human psyche. It has ver y nearly wrecked the planet as well. The only hope, or so it seems to me, lies in a reenchantment of the world. Morris Berman In his book The Reenchantment of the World, Morris Berman explores the possibility of reawakening the integral or participating consciousness of the human psyche through a rich, sensual, ecological perspective of the world around us. This visceral, int.ellcctual, full re-understanding of the human connection with all life allows a deeper, more ttuthful perception of our "place" in the universe and in the specific place we inhabit An exciting educational project which nurtures this sense of "reenchantment" rooted in an ecological base is The All Species Day Project. Successful as a school curriculum activily or as a full-blown community pageant , All Species Day has provided both children and adults with an opportunity to celebrate and become the myriad species of plants and animal that co-inhabit _the place where we live. A_n All Species Day event usually Ulcludes a parade, dramanc presentations, storytelling, displays and a 'Creature Congress'. The Congress is a rime when each person who has represented a species can speak for or perform on behalf of that species. During this time, species may dialogue with each other in improvisational ways and can make requests or pleas, for example to humans. The Congress is a rime for all the species to convene and share a common vision of the world with each other and to speak to each other about the region they inhabit They can speak of its beauty and wealth but they can also speak of problems they as a species may face. All Species Day may also include a potluck picnic and music and games as well. With mask-making, movement and sound as well as storytelling, drama and dance, the many plants and animals and lifeforms that inhabit our world are able to "visit" and share with us their stories and visions. The bear, the hawk. the rainbow trout.... the cougar, the chickadee, the tunle... the ginseng, the willow, the chestnuL..all can come join in the festivities. KATUAH ·page 6 "All Species Day offers an educational fest ival in which ecological r eality is brought to life through a n organic, animistic celebration wher e the ancient, mimetic sense of identifying with plants and a nimals is playfully enacted in mask-making, parade, storytelling and drama." -Amy Hannon The mask-making itself is full of fun and creativity..and ingenuity. Some masks are made out of "found" materials such as bark... while others are fashioned from wood or gourd...and others from baling wire and paper mache..or cloth or clay. Some paint their masks very "realistically" while others superimpose images onto the face of the mask of things that remind one of the creature.. .for example, the trout mask may have a rushing stream pass across its face. Also, costumes may be made ...and the same motif may be used ... with clouds painted on the back of the eagle. Each person is given the opportunity to become Winter 1986-87 �familiar with the sounds, movements and feelings of the lifeform they are to represenL They are encouraged to caw as a crow or sway as a willow or chauer as a jay. It is suggested that their dreams at night may be helpful in getting them more in rune with their choice. In terms of originally selecting which animal or plant they want to be, it is always helpful to first go on a field trip... to a wild place... .leuing everyone "slow down" and take a deep breath...and listen to the sounds around them. Lemng them close their eyes and relax ...and settle in to the place where you are helps to encourage a time for daydreaming or reverie. It is in this kind of 'slowed down ' time that a choosing of "who to represent/ who to be" can best happen. After each person selects their totem animal or plant or lifeform, it is helpful, then, to consider the species' relationship with the place where you are...the water, the air, the wind, the sun, the night, the other plants and animals. If it seems appropriate, everyone may be ready to "practice" becoming/being their lifeform....through sounds, movement, and imagination. Afler masks and costumes are made and time is spent getting prepared, it is then time for the celebration. It can be a one-classroom event, a whole school event or an entire city pageant. It can be splashy with full media coverage...or it can be more intimate and less fuss. All Species Day celebrations began in the early l 970's and are now beginning to crop up in communities around Turtle Island (Nonh America). The All Species Project, located in Santa Fe, NM, assists groups and communities in setting up an AU Species Day in their locale. This non-profit, educational corporation offers several packets of materials and information: Packet #I (sample press release, sample poster, calendar listing, public service announcement, and mayor's proclamation) cost: $7 ; Packet #2 (suggested songs, some bibliography, short theater pieces, and information on sets, materials.and costume making) cost: $10 ; Packet #3 ( Newsletter/poster of recent events) cost: $5. The address /telephone: The AU Species Project 1349 Cerro Gordo Santa Fe, NM 87501 (505) 982-2768 About All Species Day "We have to bring back the animals and plants, and we have to do it through the children. I've been looking for this for a while." - Roberta Blackgoat Big Mountain Navajo Elder • cononucd on next page KATUAH - page 7 �~LL Sf£C~tS D~Y in Greenville NC " Self-unfolding, self-educating for the sheer joy of it ...The students were inspiring the teachers with enthusiasm. 'This is what teaching is au about', a teacher told me." -Amy Hannon All Species Day Coordinator for Greenville, NC All Species Day 1985 Greenville, NC Site: Sadie Sa ulter Elementa ry School, Green ville,NC Scale: School-wide Inspired by the Santa Fe, NM All Species Project , Amy Hannon, a parent of three, initiated this effort at her children's school in Greenville, NC. The event was endorsed by the school principal, the Enrichment Program director and the school librarian as well as others. It was a day-long, school-wide celebration. Each student chose 10 be a plant or animal and studied itS habitat, behavior and ecological relationships. Several classes focused on the sea and others on lhe coastal plain as a habitat. In the hallways and classrooms, there were 16 "centers" set up for students to visit School projects included murals, models, poems, displays, dioramas, and puppet show s. There were games, including tbe Food Web game, as well as storytelling. Students dressed in their plant and animal masks and costumes paraded around the school, singing. ALL All Species Day 1986 Greenville, NC Site: River Park North, G reem ille, NC Scale: Are:a-wide Enthused by the wonderful reception of "All Species" at Sadie Saulter Elcmenmry School, Amy Hannon felt that it would be good 10 expand All Sp ecies Day imo a communiiy-wide event. She contacted the director of Greenville Parks & Recreation who liked the idea very much and offered River Parle North. In addition, she gained the support of the Pamlico-Tar River Foundation, and the local chapters of the Sierra Club and The League of Women Voters. By applying to the NC Humanities Commiuee, Amy was able to procure a SP£Ct£S D..ty In a ll the world or living creatures (birds a nd fish, mammals and insects, algae and fungi, trees & flowers, etc.) AC'J'LV'L'TY grant to fund storytelling, mask-making and drama activities for the Day. She also contacted a number of school and community organizations working with youth groups who might like 10 set up displays. etc. The result: A tremendous success! All S pecies Day 1986 took place on Saturday, May 3rd. Many species themselves attended the festival: Carolina Raptor Center brough t a Golden Eagle, Barn Owl, Great Homed Owl, Red-tailed Hawk and Kestrel; the River Park's nature center had a community of tunics living in the touch tank including Spotted Turtle, Painted Turtle, Musk Tunle and Yellowbelly Slider; the NC Museum of Na tural History's outreach program brought a variety of snakes; a display prepared by a representative of the US Soil Conservation Service included a dozen perennial grasses. The trees and wildlife of the Park were also present . The day was filled with narure walks, storytelling, displays, and games as well as the celebration itself. There was a parade with the sound of drum beat and flute ...and then an improvisational drama, "The Parliament of Critters". Amy describes the day: " Animals and their powers came to light in stories told to small groups all day long under the shade of a large Loblolly Pine. Tunic. Whale, Rabbit, Fox, Crow and Mouse spoke through the mouths of s1orytellers ...Each story invited the humans present to entertain the world from a bird's eye view, as it were, or perhaps a whale's. "The next step in the magic of A ll S p ecies Day was to move from the enchantment of hearing stories to actively assuming the perspective of a non-human species by wearing masks or face and body paint, representing the creatures. In preliterate societies it is serious busrncss to discover the animals in one's soul. Elaborate ceremonies and endurance-testing vision quests prepare the way before one can wear the symbol of Eagle or Bear, Salmon or Wolf. At All Species Day it was largely a children's game save for some mature humans who would not have all playfulness relegated only to children." - continued on page 22 1J01UGSK££'J 3) How long has your species lived on Ea rth? choose one you would like to represent for AU Species Day. My choice is:_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ (common name) (scientific name) 4) Describe your acti vities as the seasons cha nge from spring to s ummer, fa ll and winter. (If your life s pan is shorter than a year, describe your life cycle.) belonging to the _ ..pl...,.a... l......... nt.., a n jm,....a!...__ kingdom. (circlt ont) For the rest of this worksheet play the game: " If I were a " using the plant or anima l you have chosen, and tell about yourself. 5) What is your place in the food web? (What food do you eat? Who eats you?) 6) Is your species in danger of ex tinction? If so, tell why: 1) Describe yourself. (Your colors, your size, your s pecial features, your voice, etc.) 2) Where do you live? (Continent, geographical region, habitat.) 4 KATUAH ·page 8 - 7) When all the other plants a nd anima ls, including the humans, gather at the Parliament of Critters on All Species Day to talk to one another, what would you like to say or do? - - ; " ' ' .. Winter 1986-87 �catkin, hair, scarab, pear, redwood, ragweed, lousewort, bear, willow, leek, ear and cheek, euglena, spirolina, talon and beak, raven, hemlocks, ginseng, volvox, stinkbug, rosebud, black widow, hollyhocks, bluegill and kiwi vine, chestnut and pinion pine, dolphin, sunflower, chinquapin and human kind, sagebrush, endosperm, nectarine, arctic tern, onions, grunions, date palm, bracken fern, orchid, grouse, sumac, mouse, rhubarb, baobab, lotus, louse, lupine, lizard, fin and gizzard, phylum, xylem , trout and wizard, wolf and whale, nettle, quail, earthworm, sycamore, nutmeg, nightingale, elephant's eye, comfrey, rye, hawk's wing, trillium, thistle, thigh, gland, goose, bark, spruce, panther, anther, apple, moose, buzzard, knee, navel, pea, goat's horn, amaranth, beaver, bumblebee, mushroom, fig, termite, pig, oyster, violet, pigeon, maple twig, joe pye weed, alder seed, coyote, bluejay, parsley and river reed, cannabis, petiole, oak tree, blue cheese mold, salamander, rattlesnake, blackgum and oriole, large-mouth bass and lemongrass, coral, laurel, sorrel, and sassafrass Everyone who lives and breathes With hide or feathers, scales or leaves We invoke ourcellves in total range To bring about the needed change Poem by Will Ashe Bason KATUAH - page 9 Winter 1986-87 �A Katuah Conversation with a Cherokee native. Here a re his words about getting in touch with each other, our world, and our own selves: It seems to me that human beings probably do the worst job of communicating of all other species on the planet. We can't even communicate with one another. We still have wars and such..... People who are sensitive and conscious of the environment want to develop some kind of communication with plants and animals. Since they're so stuck in the mode of~. they try to communicate with plants and talk with plants on that level. Our relationship with the rest of the planet, though, is~ in most cases, and so the communication has to come through .thnl level, not a verbal sort of thing. The human inability to communicate well with other plants and animals comes from the fact that many of us have separated ourselves from the very environment that provides for us, living instead in an artificial, controlled environment. We ~ in houses instead of using housing just as shelter. When people are so completely self-oriented and out of touch with themselves, it's hard to communicate with plants and animals. I had an experience when l was about founccn. There weren't very many roads around where I lived. I was visiting a friend who lived two mountains over. There was a well-used trail going over there. Everybody had traveled it for years and years; it was like a super-highway of trails. I'd crossed this trail a hundred times - it was real familiar to me. One time, it was dusk, "long shadow time", and coming down the trail, all of a sudden I started to feel cold chills. I was feeling something. The farther l went down the trail, the more scared I got. All my instincts said to me: "Don't go any farther, there's something down there that's going to hurt you, don't go any farther." I ttied to push it a little bit more, but then I just turned before I panicked. I walked away very quickly, and it seemed that the farther I got away from that place, the better I got. By the time I had come down the trail a couple of hundred yards, I felt just fine. Then my rational mind came over and said: "You're just imagining all this." And I turned around and started back. The same thing happened to me again. So this time I went back and took another trail and everything was just fine. Later on that night I came back through the traiL It was dark, but nothing happened. I never again had that experience, that fceling ...and I was looking for it when I came back through. Well, when I got back home. I sat down and talked to my grandfather about il, and he said that the plants had been ta!Jdng to me. They had been communicating with me in a spiritual sort of sense. He said that when we're KATUAH- page 10 in harmony with things and meeting our responsibiltties as human beings towards the other things, that the other forms of life would be in communication with us all the time. Things are coming to us all the time, but if we are so self-indulgent within ourselves, focussing only on our own ideas and thoughts, we block out everything else. He said it all goes back to the separation ...our original sin is separation ....and that the more people can hook into the Great Life, the more control they will have over their lives, and the more ability they will have, not only to communicate, but also to listen. That was one of my first experiences communicating with green things. Since then, throughout my life, things like that have happened to me. I have walked in the woods at night and have stopped and had something reach out and touch me and I'd look behind me and there would be nothing there. Then something would touch me again, and I would look around and sec that it was a limb from a tree. Now, my rationalization would say that the wind had blown it and knocked it down ..... Leaming to Communicate My grandfather said every child should have a dog, and I said, "Why, just because they're neat? " And he said, "No, it's a way for a young child to learn to communicate without talking." Even though dogs can't talk, they'll let their needs be known, and so children can learn how to communicate with them without talking. Winter 1986-87 �When we communicare, it's imponant to pay attention, to listen and to be conscious of aJl the communicating that is going on. It takes practice. In this culture, communication isn't valid unless it's words. Someone may be communicating a message with all their being, but when somebody else begins to act upon that communication, the first person starts dropping back and denying that they said that. It creates mixed messages. It happens all the time, because we don't see that wider kind of communication as reliable, trustworthy, and valid. Animals like the dog species all communicate with their noses. Everything's coming in that way. I was watching a herd of deer the other day. They use their noses and their eyes...and they use signals. The female of the species flags, throws her tail up and waves it up and down, and no one even considers discussing it, you know, like "what'd you see?". They all leap and are gone, right now. Signals..... As a boy I used to huni squirrels with a blow gun. The nice thing about the blow gun is you could miss a squirrel two or three times and it would not even know you were shooting at i1. My hair was always long then, and when they'd catch me or see me, I would make a chattering noise with my lips and grab my pony tail and shake it up and down, flipping it. Their response might have been fear at first when they saw me, but I did the right signals, and they stopped and we just went back and forth at one another. hollering and waving our tails. It would get to the point where I couldn't even shoot the animal because we'd developed this communication, this relationship--even if it was a little hostile on his pan because he wanted me to get the heck out of his territory. All of our hunting skills are from observation and imitation of animals who are good hunters. That's where it all starts. We've probably learned more from animals than we have from each other. Imitation, though, is not a very well-accepted thing in the dominanc culture. Everybody wants to be original, and they won't admit that they admire or wish to take on certain traits. The Plant Spirits It's our custom when we collect plants 10 give thanks and 10 wait 'til the fourth one before we pick the species we're looking for. And if it's a medicine plant, we circle it. Someone can have lived in the mountains all bis life and never found ginseng, although he has looked for it lots of times. Then, finally, one day he may find it. My people say it was hiding from him. One time I went into the mountains with some people that I was to show herbs to, and I wasn't doing it in the right way. I should have stopped and explained how to collect them. They were interested in ginseng, so I took them to this particular place, because I had found ginseng there lots of times - an incredible amount of times. It was like my "sure" place to find it. r went there, and we walked up and down that whole mountainside and never found ~plant. Well, three days later my daughter came to me and said, "I wane to find some ginseng, I've never found any". So we did all the right things that we should do, and then we went out to the same place, and ginseng was everywhere. It was a sunny, fall day, warm and beautiful, but suddenly there was a wild crack of thunder. I was still overwhelmed by that when my daughter said, "Dad, here's a ginseng plan1." And that was her first one. I think attitude is important. If you go into the mountains or the woods or the forest and you have a "grabs-all" type attitude, where you're there to exploit and there's no feeling, you may find some stuff, but you ~ will be successful. And if you're using it for medicine, it may not work for you. You know what I mean. The problem sometimes is tha1 people close themselves off. They have c lear, defined lines of what reality is within !hemselves. Some people are so strong about that, they inflict u on other people as rules and such. So when 1hey hear soo:icthing that is outside of their ordinary "reality", ii doesn't register. The western philosophy is almost desi~ned to separate a p~rson from their environment. II is a war against the environment. Look at what's happened since industrialization. Western culture has changed the whole face of the Earth, and it is destroying many of the plants and animals. With that atcitude, it's hard to communicate with plants .and animal~. The crux of the whole thing is separauon. And until someone can come back and get in couch with what's around them, it will be difficult to have a right attitude. The whole thing all comes down to the fact that there's only one equation and that's ONE. There's only ONE. And we're all pan of that ONE. We're not separated from it. People suffer from intellectual separation - they're not Wl1J.x separated, but they have a strong~ that they're separated. The artitude of 'individualism' puts one at war against their environment. So, it starts again. Everything starts from where you're at. And so to get in touch with the environment, you've got to get 2lll there, first of all. You've got to start wilh yourself. And you've got to start serving, being a servant You've got to help your own species in what ways you can. All these things will chip away that 'individualism'. Trust, absolute trust, is what's needed. Y'know, I've extended myself a lot in my life and been whupped down, crushed, and badly hun. Well, there was a point when I said, "I'm not going to do that anymore." ~n~ ~o I t?~ that tactic a while. I started becoming more 10d1v1dualisnc, and then I sraned to get more self-oriented. I just didn't like the way all those things felt; I felt an emptiness and a loneliness that I had never felt before. Then I sat down and thought, "Well, it's better to extend myself and be hurt than to feel this emptiness." So what I'm saying in a simple way is: first of all, stan extending yourself...not in a suicidal son of way, though. When your flags go up, when lhe bushes say "Get the heck out of here" - listen. Or pull back to a point where you can see that you're safe. and then act. But it all starts with "self" and trust - and getting out there and looking at plants and bushes and animals and seeing how they live their lives. Start looking at your fellow humans. Stan listening to what they say. And then stan ruyfilg. And then, all of a sudden, a plant is going to reach out and snatch you, stretch out it's limbs and wrap them around you or something. Or you may go for walk in the woods and ~et lost, and confounded •. when all of a sudden something Jerks you and drags you nghc ou1. Then you will know that the Earth has spoken to you. Because the Earth is not dead· it's alive. Everything is alive. / KATUAH - page 11 vi Winter 1986-87 1lAv 11\A =>(!i>q • �(.1l131N What do horse logging, learning disabilities, and the Sweetie Pie Bake-off all have in common? Answer: They are all classes and evencs offered as part of Cabin Fever University. Cabin Fever You is dedicated to the proposition "that all seasons were not created equal and that wQJ1llth and light gin be found in mid-winter". If you are looking to find that warmth and light....read on! The idea for Cabin Fever University came from Dick Kennedy, a resident of the Cclo Community near Burnsville, NC. Dick had participated in a similar project in Detroit, Ml called "Open City". The basic principle in both organizations is to facilitate neighbors coming together to share skills, ideas, laughs, philosophies, food, and music. All the courses at Cabin Fever U. are free unless someone's professional skills and/or materials are needed. One of the many positive benefits of the program is that it promotes a feeling of unity within the community during the winter months when it is needed most Seven years ago when Dick Kennedy staned CFU, he bad to work hard to get 20 or 30 listings for that year. Now that most people in the Celo area and others throughout Yancey and Mitchell counties know about the program, the work is much easier, and the catalog has 80-90 listings each year. To organize the Cabin Fever curriculum now, volunteers begin in November to gather the listings from their KATIJAH- page 12 DNIV€~SICY neighbors and to print the catalog. Peggy Tibbits, John Pence, Miki Rolett, Douie Morgan, and Joanne Hodshon call all the people who held classes last year and ask them what they would like to offer this year. Any new families who have moved into the area are asked to panicipate also. Each person making calls is responsible for scheduling a two week period of time. Once all the calling has been completed, the schedule is checked for conflicts. The catalog is then copied on Dick Kennedy's copying machine. The entire job of producing the catalog - including calling, typing, layout, copying, and collating - can be completed within a total time of 25 hours. They are sold for $0.75 each. Jn 1985 150 catalogs were distributed. The classrooms for Cabin Fever You are the homes of the people who offer each course. All arrangements are made direclly with the "faculty person" leading the course. There are usually limits placed on the number of panicipants allowed in each class. Everyone in the Cclo area knows who are the best cooks in the community, so places at cooking classes are filled quickly! The kitchen and dining room at the Arthur Morgan School are used to host the Dreams Die Hard Diner every New Year's Day. Robin Dreyer opens for business at 9 a.m. as a New York City diner complete with hot coffee, bagels, eggs, and an occasional bag lady. Sometimes the classroom is under the wide-open sky as in the moonlight walk 10 Crabtree Falls offered by Sue and Lyle Snider. Other events include printing on clay with Catherine Brown, Contra and Square Dancing (with live music and callers), and Bad Food Night with Jan and Beth Plummer - a potluck gathering featuring the likes of macaroni and cheese, frozen pizzas, and Boone's Farm wine. The course offerings for CFU are a blend of serious studies and frivolous fun. If someone cannot find something in the catalogue that sparks their interest, they must be seriously devoted to staring at the fire in the wood stove during the winter. lf you do not live in Yancey or Mitchell counties, you can stan a Cabin Fever University in your own community. Basically, all it requires is one person to generate some interest in the project and a small investment of money 10 produce the catalog. Almost everyone knows a dozen people. Call them and find out what their interests are and what classes or events they would be willing to offer. Usually people are more than willing to get involved, and oftentimes they have been waiting for the opponunity 10 arrive. You would be surprised what your friends, people you have known - or thought you have known for a long time, are into. If you have any questions about CFU or are interested in staning a similar project. call Dick Kennedy at (704) 675-5286. - by Martha Overloc~ Winter 1986-87 �sequence: fire sequence: dream and winging the wind against the fog sailing across the silence below; into the vision and the atoms shirt and the stars re-align and the fog forms fractions I the tea still gets cold before I've drunk it. the heart's song resounds across the winds of time there is no broken heart there is love that is given through the shell that refuses the circle of love is bigger than any wall of hate. love is the loudest song of all the path of love is like the mountain trail; stony, steep, with many ups and downs and getting from one place to the other that are only a few steps across the gulf, but are many miles through reality. and after the traveler has walked his last few steps and has one last prayer to whisper one prays that the path has led a full circle to return from whence he came to end as he began a child created through love "the path of love is like the mountain trail.. ... " Poems by Oliver Loveday • and should we have a moment to turn and reflect no thought would be given to the trail blister or the skinned knee, nor the moments of doubt and confusion. time spent in the valley would leave memories of the tall trees, the bright flowers, the laughter of children, and the cool, clear stream. and the high points would be moments of solitude and freedom of far ranging vision and thoughts. of seeing the eagle in flight catching the first rays of the morning sun and feeling the wind from far above. sure the weary traveler would have a limp with slumped shoulders and a wind much too short to let his laughter run its full course but there would be a twinkle in his eye and a marked space in between his words that only the fire of love could possess. and there would be a strength in his manner of one who has run his course, remained firm to his choice even when lhe path ran the razor-sharp ridge top, when it would have been easier to tum back to the lush son forest floor below. the traveler has his moment of rest at the end of a race well run. but when asked to run the next; a longer, harder trail. the choicer stands to say yes and then is on his way not even a glance backward. sequence: love. yes. tonight, the path is well-lit by a moon so bright it dims the stars and reflects the clouds of steam billowing from my nostrils. As I drop into the cove the air becomes colder, crisp, clear, snapping with the intensity of ice; but the only sound I hear is my own motion. the cabin fire warms me as I recall the walk down. Its hissing name breaks the silence as smells of roast apple enters my senses like the incense of a meditating Buddha. I relax and listen to the clock reminding me of my humanity while my time is measured by the sound of boiling water for tea. I breathe and feel my blood rushing through my body like a million dreams cutting through the silence. I smile as I lay down my pen to listen closer. Outside a rabbit pauses in the frost to curse the dogs and the Full Moon. KATUAH-page 13 Winler 1986-87 �Keeping Warm in Winter: Homeless in Katuah All creatures need shelter ... a home...a nest. As human creatures become more and more dependent on the urban economy, they become removed or abstracted from the means to preserve their own survival. No longer is it easy for a human creature to be "native" with the earth... to find shelter and gather food to keep alive. One usually has 10 rent or own "propeny" which may include a house or apartment. No longer are community wells or water sources available... usually one must "pay" for the use of that very basic many plant closings around here; others never had a job to lose, nor the training to get one. This brief look at this issue is presented in hopes that a more humane, viable, life-centered economy can be developed in this locale and in this region. The human "systems" here are not working as well as they could ...families should nor be financially forced off their farms ... productive industries need to be regionally owned so there is less chance of multination,al-type plant closings... more cooperative small businesses need 10 be encouraged to start up in order 10 provide steady employment. .. and on and on. Our human "systems" need to be re-designed to ensure right livelihood for .i!.11 inhabitants of this area. People who are homeless do not so much need our sympathy but more our empathetic push towards looking at new/old ways in which our human community can live comfonably and gently within this land called Katuah. At present, the three people interviewed here are using the facilities of the Laurentine Shelter in Asheville, NC run by volunteers and the Asheville-Buncombe Community Christian Ministries. Other shelters in this locale include the Western Carolina Mission, the Salvation Army Emergency Lodge and a newly forming independent shelter, the Hospitality House which hopes to be able to accommodate people during the day as well as evenings. At present, uhere are not enough facilities to meet the needs of the homeless people in Asheville. Here is the transcript of the interview: element One may be fonunate enough to grow a garden but often it only supplements one's or one's family's diet. The truth is... much of survival in the city requires money-quite a lot of it. The following is an interview with three men in their 40's and 50's who grew up here in the KatU'ah region who have no shelter of their own to call home--no nest, nor economic niche. Two of them grew up in the country. For one of them, the city expanded into the 'country' thus he became urbanized by just staying put Another could not make it by living in the country, so moved into town. This interview is a glimpse into their stories and their lives. There are many more people like them, men and women, who too are homeless in this region. Some have lost their means of livelihood because of the KATUAH - page 14 K: Are you from around here? AM: I grew up here in Asheville near Oteen. K:What about your family; are they around here? AM: I have a mother living here now but I can't live with her because she lives in one of those low-income housing, so I'm out. [Katiiah checked with the Housing Authority and found that only families, the elderly and the handicapped are eligible to apply for housing assistance. Single adults-male or female-are not eligible to apply for any housing. A family can be any two or more blood relatives living together, so under that category AM. could apply for him and his elderly mother to live together as a "family"; however, there is a waiting list. -Ed.J K: When you were growing up, did you live in town or out in the country? JG: Where we lived was out in the country, still in Buncombe County, though. K: Did y'all do any farming? JG: Oh Lord, yes. All the time. Me and my grandmother and granddaddy. K: Was it tobacco fanning? JG: No, just com and other food. K: Did you sell any of it or just grow it for your own use? JG: Mainly, for our own use. We canned it and used it ourselves. 'Had to back in them days. K: Can you share with us why you feel that you need to use the Shelter. JG: I was born and raised here in this coun~ and you can't find a job nowhere. K: Have you tried to find if there is any kind of govemment way for you to get housing? JG: Well, I don't have no income and you have to have an income before you can do anything like tha1. [Recently, the Housing Authority has begun to accept applications for people who have no income. However, unfortunately, JG is not eligible to apply because he is a single individual. -Edi K: So, there's no way that the government will help you to get housing? JG: No. I know it doesn't sound right. Winter 1986-87 �K: Have you been offered any possibility for a work training program? JG: No. I do know how to do bnckwork, but I haven't been able to get work doing that. [There is a training progmm available in the area under the federal Job Training Partnership Act, administered by the county. -Ed.] K: Did you grow up in this area? DJ: Yes. In Asheville, right in town. K: What has been your experience with getting work-with getting by? DJ: I haven't done much work at all in my life, not at all. I've sold clothes. worked in bars and banks. That's about it. A liule bit of construction. I'm a diabetic and an epileptic. I'm trying to get the disability. That's why I cannot work at all. K: Do you apply for disability through Social Services? DJ: Yes. For what good it does, I really couldn't tell you. K: How is it going? DJ: Well, I was just turned down for the second time. The first time it took me basically about six months to even hear from anybody. And I had at that time, the first time, only one doctor who said I should not work. And now this time, I had three different doctors that told me I should not work. And it took them about three months to say 'no', again. So, now I am going to appeal it, this time. Without the shelter, really and truly I have no idea of what I could have done. My parents are divorced. My dad remarried and he just recently rnoved back to the area. But he doesn't even like to say hello. My mother, she's basically in the same situation as JG's mother. She's lives in low income housing ... in Atlanta. My mom, she and I get along very, very well but I only get to sec her about once every two months because of the regulations there about family visitntion. DJ: This area is a terrific place in the summer but it sure gets cold in the winter. K: What are the hours that you can be at U1e Sheller? DJ: Pretty much 6:30 in the evening til 6:30 in the morning. K: Well, in winter, what do you do? DJ: Just try basically to know somebody, where you could go. What I've been doing I go down to [a fast-food restaurant] and I am lucky enough that they don't ask me to leave. K: It seems your choices are very limited. DJ: I'm afraid a lot of days are like that. K: Did you grow up in this area? JM: Up in Madison County, out in the country. K: That's beautiful land up that way. JM: Yeah, it's nice if you can make it. Some folks go up as far as Tennessee for work. K: All the way to Tennessee? JM: Yeah, most of them do. You know, the ones who've got steady jobs. Most of them just farm down there. K: Are there people who just stay and try to hang on by the skin of their teeth? JM: Yeah, a lot of lhem. K: Do you think they're getting enough food and keeping warm enoogh? JM: Well, some of 'em is and some of 'em ain't I guess. A lot of 'em sleep in old junk cars. K: Do any of them h:l\e land themselves? JM: No, they're just out on the street. K: Is there any place up that way where people can spend the night? JM: No, they don't have a shelter up that way. K: Are there any ch urches that informally offer people an option? JM: I don't think there are. K: Are there any seasonal jobs available to these folks? JM: Yeah, chere're some jobs lhere in the summenime. But it's like around here in the wintertime, there just ain't nothing. K: Well, what do people do in \~inter? JM: They just do the best they can. There'rc not lhat many really there, you know, most of them are here in Asheville. K: How many folks do you know that came from Madison who need a place to live? JM: Well, there's quite a few. There's a lot of them around here and there's a lot of them down in Greenville, SC. They just stay around that mission down there as long as they can. "You set there, you stay warm. If you've got money to buy a cup of coffee or something, why it's alright. If you don't, they'll run you off." K: What's your story? Did you used to do fanning? JM: Yeah, we raised tobacco and stuff like that. My daddy worked for the Southern Railroad and we done farming and raised tobacco, com and stuff like that. We sold the tobacco and the other was garden vegetables that we used. K: Did your family stay up in Madison? JM: No, my brother and sister both moved to South Carolina. K: What do you think needs to happen here in the Asheville area in te rms of this need for housing? JM: I'd like to see them open up another shelter so we can get some more people off lhe street 'cause if it wasn't for the Shelter I'd be out on the street myself. The Shelter is one of the best things that happened here in Asheville. K: What do you do in winter? Do you have to figure out how to keep warm from 6:30 in the morning til the evening, too? JM: I sure do. Well, through the week it's not too bad 'cause , you know, things open up pretty early. Now, on the weekends, there ain't a thing to do. K:Hmrnmm. JM: You know, you can't go in no cafe if you ain't got no money to buy nothing. If they don't sell you nothing, they're going to run you out. DJ: They don't appreciate that. Even at the fast food resrourant I was talking about. JM: Yeah, they don't appreciate it if you go in there and just set. You set there, you siay warm. If you've got money to buy a cup of coffee or something, why it's alright If you don't, they'll run you off. K: What do you think wo uld be good, particularly through the wintertime... would you appreciate if there was a place, sav, a church social hall, wher e you could. be during the day...even have projects to work on there? JM: Yeah, that would be a good thing. For people who ain't got no place to go during the day. K: If there were projects the.re, what would you like to see there? JM: Mainly, woodworking. JG: Yeah, that'd be a good lhing. DJ: Sure would. K: When you moved to town from Madison, did you have work for a while? JM: Yeah, I worked last summer. K: What were you doing? JM: I stayed at lhe Mission down there [in Asheville) last summer and people called in there and wanted you to come out and work. I worked just about every day. K: Now this was at the Mission and people would call up there? JM: They'll let you work, you know, about three days a week. They split it up between everybody, so everybody gets a little bit of it. Mainly, that comes through the employment security office. K: How long have you been in the county here? JM: Well, off and on for the last 15 years. K: Before the mission was around, where did you go? JM: Well, mostly, 'fore they built that mission I was working down in Greenville, SC. You know, I had a preuy good job down there and I could afford an apanment and everything. But now, l ain't got nothing. K: What work were you doing down there? JM: Construction work. And I've worked in a lot of mills, too, you know, cotton mills. K: And then, what happened to the work, did it dry up? JM: Yeah, they just started laying people off, you know. They just kept the ones who'd been there the longest. - continued on page 23 photos by Mamie Muller KATUAH - page 15 \\linter 1986-87 �the w Lloyd C Survfrol ofthe Clans 'This speaks of relationships, who our kinfolk are. The names of the seven clans translate into the seven parts of the world." Tsali's Wife 'That woman is the center of the piece. All to do with the matriarchal society. 'The strength of the woman: how strong she can endure. She knows the dongers. She kno1 than tlie male's. You ca11't break her down." Tsali's Wijj The Family 'The mother, the father, the child. The mother's hand of control, of survival, is close to the child. They learn from her. The moving lines tie it all together, but the same themes move through all my carvings. It's hard to speak of one carving separate from the rest, because the ideas appear in one fonn or another in all the different carvings." �rR of · rl Owle Releasing the Spirit of tlze Stone 'There's something in chat rock, and once I carve it, and you can see it, the spirit is released." life is going on around her. It must have something How she can take care of the children, and how she 1ow to go on. Her system in a lot of ways is stronger I Tribute to Those Who Have Died 'The person is just barely there. Just a whisper, or a touch, or a mention that she is there in the scone." �- -- Each line from the solar panel must have a gate valve installed as close to the tank as possible. A boiler drain valve must be installed at the bottom of the solar panel. Finally, a vacuum breaker must be installed at the top of the panel. by Avrarn Friedman Did you know lhat more than half lhe electricity consumed by the average American household is used to heat water? If people employed alternative methods of heating wacer, such as solar energy or wood heat, there would be no rationale for the continued use of nuclear energy which supplies only about 12% of the nation's elecnicity. Unfortunately, many solar hot water systems on the market today are "active" systems which depend on some external source of energy to operate and which use electronically operated pumps, sensors, valves, controllers and elaborate networks of piping which leave homeowners in awe and bewilderment. It is not uncommon for such systems to remain inoperative for weeks, months, or forever, because repair work requires so much technical expertise. But solar energy systems do not have to be expensive and complex. If the user is willing to play a small active role, the system can be totally passive and all the fancy gadgets can be eliminated. This article will outline how a virtually maintenance-free system can be constructed inexpensively. Basic Principles This type of system is called a "thermosiphon". It requires that the bottom of the water storage tank be located at least 18" above the beat source. In this case there will be two sources of heat: a wood stove and a solar collector. This system can provide 100% of a household's hot water needs. Since cold water is more dense, it falls to the bottom of the system, displacing the less dense hot water to the top of the tank. The cold water continually returns to the bottom where it gains heat and rises to lhe top, etc. As more heat is added, the tank "builds down" with hot water. Components The major components of the system arc a wood stove, a hot water collector, a 40 gallon hot water tank. and copper tubing. Before any construction begins, a diagram of the system should be shown ro the local plumbing inspector. S/he can give you valuable pointers and steer you away from possible dangers. Most inspectors are glad to help. The Tank Any available hor water tank can be adapted to use in this system. It is best to use a new tank to be assured that it will last for a good while. Look for a tank that has at least two outlets on top. The side outlets are for the thennosiphon loop pipes. The top outlets will be used for the cold water supply and the pipe carrying hot water from the tank to the house fixtures (sinks, showers, etc.). The cold warer supply will enter the top and travel down a "dip tube" to the bottom of the tank. Most tanks already have dip tubes installed. Whenever hot water is demanded in rhe house it will come from t.he top of the tank where the water is honest, and is replaced by cold water entering through the dip rube to the bottom of the tank. Be sure to install a temperauue and pressure relief valve at the tOp ofthe rank! "Dielectric unions" at au outlets where copper pipe meets the galvanized steel tank will protect both tank and pipes from galvanic corrosion and extend the life of your system. Pipe Work The next step is to insulate all the pipes and the tank. ll is very important to maximize heat retention. Pipe insulation and hot water "blankets" arc commercially available and relatively cheap. The pipes should be secured with pipe supports, clamps, or fasteners. Make sure there is no stress on any soldered or threaded joints. Maintenana! If all work has been done carefully, the system should be virtually maintenance-free. When the sun is shining or when a fire is burning in the stove, hot water will be produced and available on tap. The only active role the user must play is 10 drain the solar collector in the fall, before freezing weather sets in, and to refill it in the spring, when all danger of freezing has passed. This can be done by the operation of the two "loop" valves and the boiler drain at the bottom of the solar collector. For more information, write: Friedman & Sun Design, Inc/ PO Box 657 Dillsboro, N.C. 28725 A PASSIVE SOLAB .\NO ~ Wood.stove Hot Water Loop Virtually any woodstove can be easily adapted into a thcrmosiphon system. There are several ways to do this, but probably the easiest way is to coil ten feet of 1/2" copper tubing and place it inside the firebox near the exhaust of the stove. This requires that a hole be drilled in the side of the srovc where the "intake" of the coil wilt enter from the bottom of the tank. In addition a hole must be drilled in the stovepipe, about 6" above the stove, where the coil exit.s and runs up to the top of the tank- This creates a "closed loop" between stove and tank. Whenever the stove is used. hot water will be produced. One thing to remember is that the pipe carrying hot water should run continuously in an upward direction and about 3" from the rop. Never loop the hot pipe above the tank and then down through the top of the HEAT HOT \o/ATEP. SV5TEM tank. Solar Loop The solar panel is connected to the tank in the identical fashion as the woodstovc. In this case the panel is the "coil" and forms a closed loop with the tank. If you are building your own solar panel, have the intake at the bottom diagonally positioned from the exit at the top. The solar panel pipes may "T' into the corresponding woodstove pipes instead of attaching directly into the tank. KATUAH - page 18 ~ . l£='= _..,..J'''~I " ) / \ \ I \ I \ Winter 1986-87 I �Homage to Prometheus: A Stovebuilder's Narrative I grew up with fireplaces and Warm Morning heaters that burned both wood and coal as a heat source during winter. As ecological concerns became popular in the late sixties, I became aware of several air-tight, fuel-efficient wood stoves that were available on the market. While they offered a solution to one problem, they were often beyond the budget of most of the community in the area where I grew up. There was also a cenain romance involved in the "back to the land" folks who wanted to be self-sufficient as much as possible, which included building their own stove or fireplace. The fireplace is considered the most inefficient means of heat, but it is unbeatable in conveying a sense of home to a space in the winter. During my college days I picked up some welding skills in sculpture class while at the same time learning a good deal about fire and heating processes in pottery classes. With lhis background, I was taking a welding course at the local vocational school when the need for a woodstove arose. This offered us the opportunity to make a stove as a class project By using as a model a wood stove made domestically based on a Finnish stove design, I developed a design for a srove that utilized one-quarcer inch steel plate, with three of the sides and the bottom lined with regular fire brick. With a baffle chamber and an air-tight door, this stove offered many advantages that appealed to my ecological attitude. While the welding process is not the most balanced of processes in the ecological spectrum, the use of salvaged steel from scrap yards and the ability to build a fuel-efficient stove that could fit into the budget of most folks more than balances this drawback. As more people in my community became aware of my stoves, there was a good deal of interest in how to improve on the design. I received a lot of practical advice and was given recent articles and books about wood stoves. The design I have developed offers a versatile stove that can be customized to fit individual needs while increasing the price of the stove by little or nothing. By using the size of a regular fire brick as the basic unit of size for the box, I am able to offer two sizes of stoves as a general idea of what I can do. Recently I was commissioned to build a large furnace using the same design with simple modifications. After building the furnace and several examples of variations on the basic design, I became interested in two new designs; one being a wood cookstove that used the firebox design and the second being a modification of the barrel stove using large pipe instead of an oil drum with its thin walls. I began the wood cookstove three years ago as a side project using whatever steel was available at the end of other projects. I spent as much time working out the design on paper as I did actually building the stove. This stove was recently completed, but I have not used it enough to be sure that a person can cook on it, bake in the oven, and still not be run out of an overly heated room. There are advantages and disadvanrages in the design, but the disadvantages should become minimal with minor alLerations. The second project proved much easier to apply. After locating a section of pipe two feet in diameter with half-inch wall thickness, I designed a stove for a friend who did truck farming for a living. He needed a stove for his greenhouse that would hold a fire all night and not bum out after one season's use. The stove more than satisfied that need. I used half-inch plate to weld a "V" to the top of the horizantally laid pipe to make a baffle chamber. With an air-tight door, the stove was fuel-efficient and easily adaptable to the space needing heat A current project is to modify my original stove design to fit in the stone work Weld a " V" of 112" plate in 2' pipe of 3/8' wall for a r ugged but effective stove of the house a friend has built. The stone was laid with vents for forced draft to generate uniform heat. We are considering separating the baffle chamber from the firebox so that the forced draft can go between them to increase the amount of BTU's available. Being an anist, I am interested in building stoves that are customized to project an individual statement for the home-owner, while remaining cost-effective and fuel-efficient I plan to explore the use of other fuels and other building materials in the future. Natural gas, while it is a non-renewable heat source, is the most practical fuel for urban residents. It would be easy to design unique, efficient stoves of salvaged pipe (cast iron sewer pipe, etc.) for this fuel. Cast earthenware clay is another material that has been largely ignored in this country in recent years. While clay would not withstand the shock of loading wood into it, it could offer a lot of versatility in design as a material for a gas stove. l have fantasies of someday starting a non-profit co-operative of stove builders to meet the needs of the community and the Earth Mother. While I would be glad to share my ideas with others, I am also aware of the need to get patents on som.e of my original designs so I could continue to use them without someone else gaining legal control over them. With all the advancement of the innovative ideas, my favorite source of heat remains the open-pit fire. I have done little to improve on this design. -Oliver Loveday KATUAH - page 19 Winter 1986-87 I ,..1; I ,;' �NATURAL WORLD NEWS LOW-LEVEL RADIOACITVE WASTE UPDATE Natural World News SCNicc In the present winter session, the srate legislature will decide whether or not Nonh Carolina will remain in the Southeast Low-Level Radioactive Waste Compact. If North Carolina chooses to remain in the compact, it wilJ receive all the low-level waste from eight states in the southeast for the next 20 years. If the legislature chooses to withdraw from the compact, the state will still need a smaller facility to accomodate its own low-level waste. State legislators and the governor arc presently saying that the pros and cons of both courses of action are being studied. An underlying assumption of the radioactive waste debate is that the nuclear induscry will continue to operate its waste generating power plants and perhaps even add new nuclear plants to the grid in the future. The debate, then, is presented 10 the public as merely one in which we decide where and how we bury the waste. The idea of limiting our waste output is not even discussed. In this case, however, the waste dump issue docs affect the source of a large pan of the waste, the nuclear power induscry. If North Carolina and other states choose to handle only their own low-level wastes, it creates a powerful incentive to minimize the waste produced. It would then become a problem each state must deal with. It could not be passed on to "the other guy". Electorates and governments would resist the construction of new nuclear power plants, and they might even press to shut down existing plants. This prospect terrifies the nuclear induscry. This is the real issue at stake. in the Compact debate. Nuclear industry lobbyists are right now twisting arms in ~eigh, causing legislators to give indirect, wIShy-washy answers to public inquiries concerning their positions on Compact m~mbership: "Right now I tend to favor withdrawal, but I'm going to wait until all the facts are in before I commit myself." lf !cgislat~rs ~ait until the legislative session is over, 1t will be too late to withdraw from the Compact. False issues are being raised to dilute the public sentiment to withdraw from the Compact. For instance, the fear is raised that "if we go it alone we'll have to accept waste from all other states", because we won't have the exclusionary clause which protects Compact members. But in reality, KATIJAH - page 20 the Low-Level RadioacLive Waste Policy Act of 1980 directs all states Lo either deal with their own waste or to join a Regional Compact. If every state complies with this federal law by 1993, there will be no one left to send waste to Nonh Carolina. It is particularly disturbing that in this process the will of the people of North Carolina is being basically ignored. The public is being "informed" of the situation and "prepared" for what is to come in the future. This is an arrogant posture for public officials to assume on an issue that the electorate is relatively well-informed about. Democratic government is only democratic if the people realize their power and exercise it. Legislators will operate under the illusion that they can ignore the p~blic until they arc proven wrong. The V 1etnam War and Watergate are examples of arrogant lawmakers learning about the power of the people in this country. le is obvious that the people of Nonh ~li~a don't want a regi~nal waste dump rn tbetr state. But to influence their legislat~rs l? act accordingly, the public will have to msntuie a popular movement which will r~nder the nuclear industry's massive lobbying effon useless. We can not just assume that the legislature will do what is best for the public. Legislators must be made to realize that their political lives depend on voting to withdraw from the Compact. Citizens for a Choice on Nuclear Waste (CCNW) has been circulating a p~tition statewide demanding either withdrawal from the Compact or a binding referendum on the issue. To dare over 5000 signatures have been collected on the petition, and it has been supponed by 20 legislative candidates. This is a good start but it is not nearly enough. ' All concerned people need to get into action again, quickly. Circulating this petition is just one of the iasks that needs to be done. Legislators need to be called written, and confronted directly. Publi~ demonscrations need to be organized and well-attended. In general, it's rime for us all to wake up. If you live in Nonh Carolina and have an opinion about low-level radioactive waste being shipped into the state, call Governor Martin at his toll-free number: 1-800-662-7952 and telJ him how you feel. For copies of the petition, write to: CCNW P.O. Box 653 Dillsboro, NC 28725 MRS: BEHJND CLOSED DOORS from Natural RigltlS Ncwslc11cr The United States Coun of Appeals is deliberating on the case of Tennessee v Herrington. The lawsuit, initiated by th~ State of Tennessee to prevent conscruction of the "temporary" storage and processing facility for High Level Nuclear Wastes known as the MRS (Monitored Retreivablc Storage) which the Dept. of Energy (DOE) wants to site in Oak Ridge. Meanwhile, DOE operatives are quietly at work behind the scenes to bring the nation's waste to Oak Ridge irrespective of how the coun rules. . Last F~bi:unry. District Judge Thomas Wiseman enJorned DOE from submitting any Monitored Retreivable Storage proposal to Congress that was based on the "fatalJy flawed" Oak Ridge siting study. DOE appeale~ that injunctio~. arguing among other things, that the Judicial branch has no constitutional power to enjoin the Executive bra~ch . from commu~icaring with the Lcg1slauve .branch. As 1f to prove the point, DOE conunues 10 engage in extensive communications with senators and con.gressmen in an effon 10 win suppon for !h~1r ~RS plan, despite the court's lnJUnCUOn. Now it appears 1ha1 a bill to create an MRS is being drafted by Senators Johnson (D-LA) and McClure (R-ID) for introduction as soon as the court proceedings are concluded. Such a bill wouJd shortcut the Nuclear Waste Policy Act process and simply authorize DOE 10 construct and operate an MRS at the site of the abandoned Clinch River Breeder Reactor. 30,000 spent nuclear fuel assemblies wouJd be rrucked to that site. Suppon for the Johnson-McClure bill is the trade DOE is offering the 34 senators and 164 representatives in the 17 Second Round Nuclear Waste Repository States and the 12 senators and 53 representatives in the 6 states studied for the First Round Repository. In exchange for help with MRS, DOE is offering 10 slow First Round studies and drop the Second Round selection process entirely. By agreeing to put an MRS in eastern Tennessee, these senators and representatives could t:ruLhfully bra~ about having kept nuclear waste out of their home state in future re-election campaigns. It is not responsible waste ~anagement to put all the nation's high-level nuclear waste in an open field beside a waterway that flows through 8 states before washing into the Gulf of Mexico. It is stupid and dangerous to truck it~ over interstate highways; once to Winter 1986-87 �Tennessee, t~e.n later to a final repos11ory. But the. $4 b1lhon that the plan will cost is ~01 s~bJCCl 10 qramm-Rudman cuts because It will be paid by electric ratepayers. Hopefully. _those who worry about the hazar~s o_f nvers and highways - and their elc~~nc bills - will be powerful allies in the pohucal battle ahead. NUCLEAR FUEL SERVICES AGAIN ' from N1lu1"11l Righis Ncwslcucr In the l 970's, Nuclear Fuel Services Inc. (NFS) simply walked away from it~ reprocessing plant in West Valley. NY, and left 10 state and federal agencies the $400,000,000 task of cleaning up 560,000 gallons of _highly radioactive wastes leaking from the sue. NFS moved its operations to Tennessee, where it went into the business of supplying nuclear fuel for submarines and selling uranium bullets to the international anns trade. Congre.ssperson Edward Markey (0-MA) studied the NFS plant in Erwin, TN as part of a survey of nuclear waste handling in this country. On September 18 1986 Re~. Markey !CP,?"ed to congress 1ha; the. Erw1~ pla~t 1s a toxic nightmare, ooi.mg rad1oacuve contamination into work areas, into lunchrooms and other non-working areas, and into the soil outside work buildings. The plant has coniamina1ed groundwater and off-site railroad land. Even parts of vending machines had 10 be disposed as radioactive waste. In addition. rndioactive waste buried on the plant site linancially endangers state and federal ta_xpaycrs". Markey is conducting a congressional inquiry into union charges 1ha_t .NFS an~ NRC conspire to keep the facility operanng despite safety violations. / . The Namral Ri2f1ts Newslecrer is ava1/ablefrom tl~e ~atural Rights Center, a non-pro/11 public 111terest law project of USA; P.0.Box; Summertown, TN ';/MBJ· EPA PIGEON HOLES CIIAMPION by Mi!Uc Buch•mlll Environmentalists and friends of the Pigeon River won a major legal battle this month in the continuing srruggle to clean up the long-polluted river. U.S. District Judge David Sentelle on Dec. I. dismissed a lawsuit brought by Champion International Corporation against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Sentelle ruled that EPA did not overstep its autho_ritr _when it. took away North Caroltn~ s i;ght. to write a _Pem1it governing C~amp1on s discharge 111to the Pigeon River. Champion was joined by North Carolin.a in its .l egal challenge to the EPA move; rntervemng on behalf of EPA were the State of Tennessee, the Pigeon River Acti~n Group (PRAG), and the Legal Environmental Assistance Foundation (LEAF)._ ~hampion has 30 days to appeal the d~1s1on. If the appeal fails, both Champion and North Carolina will have to accept the terms of the permit currently being drafted by the EPA. . N_orth C~rolina's long history of penmssive penruts has left the Pigeon River below Champion's Canton plant coffee-colored and nearly devoid of life, in sharp contrast to the pure crout scream !bat emerges from the mountains of Haywood County above the plant. Efforts by PRAG and the State of Tennessee led to the unprecedented EPA decision to take back pennitting authority from a state. Key issues in the struggle are the color of the river, which is still brown when it crosses into Tennessee; and the elevated temperature, which has consistently violated Nonh Carolina water quality standards. For more information, contact: Millie Buchanan Qean Water Fund 102 Tacoma Circle Asheville, NC 28801 Pigeon River Action Group P.O. Box 105 Waynesville, NC 28786 (704) 627-9774 BILLBOARD BLIGHT: EYE POLLUTION SOLUTION Natural World News Servu:c . Recently, the meager efforts made by legislators to deal with the advancing onslaught of billboards grai.ing the mount_ains have been compromised by hard !obbymg on the part of the billboard tndustry. To combat this unyielding invading unsightliness, cicizens groups have sprung up and are confronting the billboard industry and its legislators. Carolina Coalition for Scenic Beauty, with its 350 members in Hendersonville and chapters in Buncombe County and Charlotte, has a two-fold plan modeled after the new Waynesville, NC sign ordinance: I) halt ereccion of new billboards (there are now over 17,000 billboards gracing the land in Western Nonh Carolina and the NC coastal tourist areas); 2) repeal laws which allow cutting of crees to put up billboards. f" ~inc m~mber governmental study commission which held hearings for eight months on possible sii.e reduction made no recomendations to reduce the number p_rotect i:ees, or meaningfully reduce th~ sii.e of billboards. Co-chairperson Senator Bo Thomas was the only commission member who recommended any meaningful refo~ and he couldn't even get a second for h1s_p~posals from the nine person study commission. One observer wryly commented that she thought the commission was accing out of self-interest when it was revealed that 2 members owned billboards, another rents land for billboards and yet another member uses billboards for his personal use. Now is the time to get active! Write your legislators, call them on the phone, meet them face to face. Plant trees not • billboards! For more info on ordinance guidelines & legal advice, call: Kay McNett Southern Environmental Law Center Charlottesville, VA (804) 977-4090. I Carolina Coalition for Scenic Beauty POB 1433. Hendersonville, NC 28793 (704) 693-6776. KATUAH- page 21 Winter 1986-87 �NATURAL WORLD NEWS - continued BEARLY MAKING IT Natural World News Service Black bears in Katiiah are facing lean times. In addition to the lack of hard mast (nuts, acorns) resulting from the drought this summer, Roger Powell (Dept. of Zoology, NCSU, Raleigh) of the Pisgah Bear Project reports that because of increased hunting pressure bear "mortality is outstripping reproductivity". Poaching accounts for 50% of all kills, while legal kills account for 30-40% of all bear mortality. In addition, of the 15 bears studied at the Pisgah Bear Sanctuary (one of 28 bear sanctuaries in NC) only one bear is a breeding age female! Previous studies reveal a history of poor "population management". Warburton's 1981-82 study of the Pisgah Bear Sanctuary showed that, of the bears being monitored, 60% were killed, 75% of which were females. ~LL SftC~tS D~~ 22 • continued from page In the drama perfonned at the end of the day, Mother Nature expresses "especially dear to me is Earth, the blue-green gem io space, the watery Living planet where I take delight in all of you and in your spectacular diversity." Amy shares with us, in her own words, the progress of the play: "Then, one by one the critters stood and named themselves. They told each other about troubled times, poisoned waters, disappearing forests, mass slaughters. They confessed fear for the future. They wondered aloud whether their na.~Ln9 Pa.per n a.chi rta.s~s Making a head mask of paper mache is simple in description, but often hard and tedious in practice until, through much repetition, some degree of skill is gained. The fust step is to make a rough frame of wire mesh to stiffen and hold the paper mache as it dries. The frame will be incorporated into the mask. The best material for the frame is regular chicken wire, which is both strong and flexible. If the holes are too big to adequately support the paper mache, two layers may be used. KATUAH - page 22 The N.C. Wild life Resources Commission (N CWR C), whose stated goals are to 1) maintain a stable viable bear population, and 2) maimain an abundant surplus for hunters is "not living up to their mandate as wildlife managers" according to Paul Gal limore, coordinator of the Bear Action Network. T he NCWRC has disregarded Powell's and Warburton's data and maintains that although the bears are facing hardships this year , the "natural mechanics" are such that the bear population normally fluctuates with mast production. Fortunately female bears are denning-up early, and the impact of hunting (legal and illegal) may be lessened this year. Recently, Tennessee shortened their bear season to the last week in December after research from black bear expert Dr. Mike Pelton of the University of Tennessee and the Tennessee Wildlife Commission revealed that populations could be sustained if hunting was restricted until after the denning of females and cubs. Clearly it is time to bring pressure to bear on the NCWRC. The data is in and the bears aren't going co be with us unless WE take action. young cousin s, the humans, understood how all the world was alive, balanced and beautiful, and how they were devastating the entire planet. "Meanwhile people playing 'humans' sauntered in their midst, oblivious to the creatures' plaints. Earphones covered their human ears. The gaze of their human eyes was fixed on television or computer screens or o n literal mirrors. Mother Nature assessed that they were hypnotized and so wrapped up in thoughts of themselves that they had forgotten their place in the magic web of life. "'But if we call Lhem, all of us in our different voices, perhaps we can waken them before it's too late,' suggested Mother Nature. Three times a cry went up from the The frame must be big enough to sit over a person's head; sometimes it helps to begin to form the wire frame over a log or ball of adequate size. The frame must also be formed so that the eye holes and perhaps the mouth and nose holes will line up in advantageous places that fit in with the design of the mask, particularly if it is larger than lifesize. The frame needs only to give a rough outline of the head shape, because the actual contours can be filled in with layers of paper mache. Bur the closer the frame is to a true outline, the better, because building layers of paper mache is slow work. Bend all wire ends into the frame so that they do not catch or poke. Once the frame is constructed, strips of newspaper I 1/2 to 2 inches wide need to be cut. A lot of them! Paper mache work demands a lot of newspaper, and the more that is used, the sturdier the mask. The major limitation is usually time and patience. Call or write the NCWRC now. Ask them to reopen Powell's data and restudy his research. Ask for a moratorium on killing bears. Ask for a shoner season (NC has the longes t bear hunting season in the Southeast). so the females and their cubs have a chance. Executive Director N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission . 512 N.SalisburySt. ~ IWdgh, NC 27611 .Br"' To repon poaching or other violations, call: NC.......... 1-800-662-7137 1-800-922-5431 TN.......... 1-800-262-6704 GA .......... 1-800-241-4113 VA .......... 1-804-257-1000 sc.......... For more infonnation, contact: Paul Gallimore Bear Action Network Route 2, Box 132 Leicester, NC 28748 (704) 683-3662 throat of Lion, Owl and Hawk. Three times a call from Gull and Frog and Dolphin. Three times a call from Heron, Snake and Oak Tree, un til finally the humans responded. Then all joined ha nds and danced to the closing music of flute and drum." All Species Day-Greenville Coordinalor Amy Hannon is a pioneer in the creation of ceremonies and community riwals with an ecological focus. She holds a PhD in Philosophy from Boston College where she taught for seven years. A Winter Solstice earth ceremony based 011 Amy's a1mual solstice ceremony for Greenville was adaptedfor our Kat'iiah region and appeared inKmfla.b..lssue VI, Wimer84-85. , , Then a large bowl of flour-and-water paste needs to be mixed. This is a legitimate use for the cheap, white, bleached flour. Fill the bowl about 1/3 full with flour, and then dip some of the flour into a cup or smaller bowl. Add water (enough to make a thin soupy mixture) and stir until the flour is thoroughly dissolved. The resulting mixture may be added to the larger bowl. Mixing it gradually in this way (always adding the water to the flour) insures a smooth mixture with no lumps. Add water to the mixture unril it is slick and wet and slides off a strip of the newspaper when you run your fingers down it leaving only a thin film adhe.ring. Construct the mask, first defining the general shape and then building up around the ridges and hollows to emphasize the finer features. Paper mache should optimally be added only one layer at a time - continued on next page Winter 1986-87 - •y . �W~11rm KeeJl))fting Wimiteir: nmi ftmi IHiommeiless OC11h1illbl - continued from page 15 K : Do you talk to m any other people who have the problem of no wor k, too? JM: Yeah, 1here's a !or of 'em righ1 here in Asheville. I know a bunch of 'em sleeping down here in these old junk cars. r don'! know how they can stand ir, it's cold. K: Did they try to get in the Shelter? JM: Well, some of them do. And, you know, they come in, slay awhile. Then, 1hey migh1 ger drunk and miss a night or two and somebody else gets their place. And there they are again. "Most of the time, I'm not even hungry. Two meals a day, I can make it on that." K: What about food? Do you get supper at the shelter, then an early breakfast? JM: Yes. K: What about a midday meal? JM: Well, mos1 of the time, I can go down to the Christian Ministry down there to eat, if I'm hungry. Most of the time, I'm not even hungry. Two meals a day, I can make it on that. K: Is that midday meal available aU the time? JM: Just during the week, five days a week. K: So on Saturday and Sunday what can you do? 11.a.'-t.n9 Pa.pet" 11.a.ch.e 11.a.s'-s - continued &om page 22 to allow thorough drying. In any case, do not build up more than 1/8 inch wi1hout allowing a drying time, so that no wet spots (which may rot) are left between the layers. Usually the inside of the mask. or at least the top, is lined so that the wearer is not in direct contact with 1he wire frame of the mask which will poke or catch the hair. Lining can be made with layers of paper KATUAH - page 23 JM: Well, on Sa1urday and Sunday, you can go down 10 the Mjssion and they'll give you a sandwich or 1wo. K: Let's see t here's t he Mission a nd the Shelter, is there any other place in town? JG: The Salvation Am1y, bu1 all you can s1ay is three nights a month. K : Three night.s a month ?? Have you stayed over at the Salvation Army? JM: Oh, yeah. JG: I can'1 stay a1 1he Salvation Army, 'cause I'm a local and they wilJ no1 keep a local there, so they 1old me. They won't even~ a local. K: Is that true?! [Katuah called the Salvation Army and was 1old 1ha1 Lhe Lodge was for "ttansienLs" and LhaL "locals" were discouraged from using it] DJ: The only way [ got in was someone from the Sheller called down there and sfild to let me stay !here. JM: If he hadn't called, you wouldn't have got in. DJ: That's exactly righ1. fm aware of it. They Lold me LO get lost the next morning, LOO. K : Wha t a r e the requiremen ts for the Mission? JM: Their reqllliremems are an ID. K: What does that mean? JM: A driver's license or something to prove where you're from. K: Can a local person go to the mission? JG: Oh yeah. K: Is there a restriction on how many nights you can stay there? JM: Well, they go1 a program down there. If you get on tha1 program, if they let you get on tha1 program, you can stay 45 days. JG: But you got to be alcoholic [or have drug-rela1ed problems -Ed.] to gel on 1ha1 program. JM: Yeah, you have 10 be alcoholic to get in the program. If you stay there long enough, it'll drive you 10 drink.[Jaugh1er] Even if you never touched a drop of ii in your life. K: So, really the Shelter is providing a real service in ter ms of offe ring you an option. Is th er e a ny r est r iction on the length of days? I n other words, if you don 't get 'bumped', you can keep coming back? JM: Yes. K : Do you have to p resent an y ID at the Shelter? JG: They ask who you are and where you're from, then they sign you in. And you get a ticket the next morrung to get back in the next night. K: And bow many beds are there? JG: Twenty. K: I asked about food, what about clothing? Are ther e clot hes ava ilable to you if you need them? Coats, etc? mache laid on the inside of the invened mask or by glueing in pieces of lhin foam or fabric. (Too much foam, however, makes a mask stifling and stuffy.) Sometimes padding is needed for extra protection for Lhe nose or chfo or where the mask rests on the shoulders. When the shape of the mask looks right, it can be painted, or colored paper, fabric, or ornaments may be glued on. Oil-based enamel paints adhere best to paper mache and leave the best finish, but la1ex paints will work also. Water-color pamts DJ: Basically, clothes are available through the Christian Ministry. K: What about basic spending money? You know, you need som e mon ey to get by...JM, have you applied for a ny monies or any kjn d of thing? JM: No, I haven't. Now and then, I get a day's work so I've made it so far. K: So, you 've at least had some pocket money, ever y once in a while. J G, what' s your situation, a re you able off and on to get a day's job? JG: Well, just now and then. "I know a bunch of 'em sleeping down here in these old junk cars. I don't know how they can stand it, it's cold." K: Is the Shelter able to help you find work? Does the E mployment Commission call over to the Shelter a t aU? JG: I don'1 1hink. I never heard tell of them calling over there on account of you can't call over there during the day. It's after 6:30 in the evening and til 6:30 in the morning that the Shelter is open.[The Shelter does encourage people to go over to the employment office, though. -Ed.) K: Would that be good, t hen, for a shelter to stay open longer and connect in wit h the E mpl oyme n t Commisssion a nd other sources so you'd know about possible jobs? JG: Why, sure that would be about the best thing that ever happened. lf we had a "day" sheller here to do 1hat. K : Let me ask you a nother q uestion about t he possibility of a " day" shelter... what if no salaried jobs came up, but say "volunteer jobs" came up, for exam ple, to work on a project or to hel p out in some way.... would that be something you'd like to know about? Particularly, during t he winter so you could keep occupied, indoors. JG: Well, tha1'd be helping somebody that needed it. Cause I know a wealthy person ain't going to ask you to do some1hing like that. DJ: Why, it would be great! I sure 1hink it would. It would be something to do, just ge1 away from the boredom. JM: It would keep your mind occupied. --interviewed by Marnie Muller will not work. Now the mask is finished. Put it on. Identify with it Practice the animal's (or element's) sounds and motions in front of a mirror. Forge1 what is inside the mask and be the creature that is visible in the mirror. To aid in the 1ransference of identity, practice doing things and makfog noises (privately at first) that you would not do in your own body. Gradually an empathy between you and the crea1ure of the mask _, will arise. Winter 1986-87 �DRUMMING LETTERS TO KATUAH Hello Karuah, Herc is a poem that I think you might find interesting. Dark Ridge Creek is in Jackson County and I have walked quite a bit of ii. We are not down to the last trout yet. There are lois of native speckles swimming around; a lot of rainbows, coo. If you want to use the poem, feel free. Keep up the good work. 11iE LAST TROUT IN DARK RIDGE CREEK The only mate I have ever known the only one of my kind to ever swim beside me lies on his side in still water color fading like an autumn leaf sinking to the stream's bonom If I had voice Dear Friends: Your Fall, 1986 issue, centering on the subject of death, is great! I especially appreciate the attention given to DealinK Creatively with Death, I would have liked to see more attention given to memorial societies. There are nearly 200 of these societies and they are the major consumer advocates in the funeral industry. You might like to publish the name and address of the Continental Association of funeral and Memorial Societies and perhaps the names and addresses of societies in the Appalachian area and nearby. I was delighted to see you publish a detailed description and instructions for building burial boxes. Along this same line, a few paragraphs on dealing with the legal details of non-professional bunal might be helpful. Cordially, Ernest Morgan like the bird in the laurel that can sing her young from a tangle of twigs and slow the sun's flight across the sky I would not be alone Our spawn our children once growing breathing wombed in a bed of gravel lie smothered under a blankec of silc as if dark grains of nighc fell from the sky and buried a thousand sunrises Truly, Thad Beach Waynesville, NC Many thanks 10 Ernest Morgan/or his contributions tQ KarUah#J3. The addresses of the memorial societies serving the KatUah province are asfo/kJws: ConJinelllal A.ssodalion cf FUMral aNl Memorial Societies 2()()1 s strtl!l NW (Suitt 530) Washi11g1011, DC 20009 Dear Katiiah, I so enjoy reading the Kllllahl I would like to lcnow more about it, and if there is a group meeting, etc. I have enclosed a poem about "A Place of Warmth for Me". Mtm0rial Society ofGeorgia 191 I Cliff Vality Way NE A1/an1a. GA 30329 Blw Ridge Memorial Society Bo;c2601 ArMvillt, NC 2/WJJ East Tt1111essu Memorial Society Bo;c 1057 KnoJC11illt, TN 37919 Memorial Society ofROQ/IOke Valley Bo;clJIX)l ROQ/IOke, VA 24014 As to the legal details of Mn-professional burial, all sources say, "Consult Tlie Manual' (Ernest Morgan's book Dealing C&tivefy wjth [)emh>." -The Edif()rs Keep up the journal; the reading is great! A PLACE OF WARM1H FOR ME rve searched for my own special place, Where nature's views reflect in my space. My very own plot of ground, Where I could live year 'round. A cabin, small, I'd build, With flowers on the window sills, A happy place, where I could dream, As I listened quietly to a stream. Then, when winter's full of cold and snow, A log fire burning all aglow. The smoke rising ever so high, Like an Eagle in the sky. I've wandered far and near, My place must be full of cheer, Where peace and Jove abide, With God close by my side. I'd dream, I'd sing, I'd write, I'd paint, You'd never hear me say "I can't." l'd look from my mountain top, oh, the beauty I'd see, I'd be just as warm, happy. and content as I could be. Sincerely, Barbara Ann Satterfield Sylva, NC KATUAH - page 24 Wimer 1986-87 �INITIATION Wrapped in buckskin Anllercrown the wind was her king down in the grove where the trees whisper..... Shandoah ..... Shandoah she runs with the deer to her place of power she sleeps on the Earth Her Mother's heartbeat in her ear She receives her Mother's smile knows what to do She walks with the deer spirit to the river of life falling starS in her eyes Moon bath Swimming She is born She is rising The river is sweet She drinks from iis blood She anoints herself and lays in the thicket full and ripe she falls into the world of 1he undreaming She forgets 1he meaning of her Mother's tongue of her Grandmother's sorrow She wears the robe of shadow She mee1s her test with the promise that she will live in all that is that she will awake from the dream to be reclaimed that lhe river flows on through her body and will always empty into her heart -Colleen Rcdman·Copus More Thoughts On Death ToKat6ah: Dear Friends, I enjoyed the issue on death, that cheerful topic. h is something I have been thinking about a lot recently, in connection with my praccice of the "Tac Kwon Do" karate technique. The ancient warrior codes all pivo1ed on !hat stark moment when the warrior was face-to-face with his own death. that was the focus of all their rules of conduct and practice. Whether it was among the Japanese samurai, the Celtic chieftains or the American Indian braves, the key principle was to meet death wherever it came. or, even, 1n the words of Mushashi, the 15th century Japanese swordsman and philosopher, " If you have a choice, seek your death." The concept of facing one's death was also central to lhe "spiritual warrior" practices of, say, Tibetan Buddhism and the classic case of Carlos Castenada's Don Juan, the Mexican b.IJUQ. The practice of the warrior was of course concerned with facing death for pragmatic reasons, but to a large extent it was also because of the depth and meaning it brought into their lives. Sometimes it takes an encounter with death to wake a person up to the richness of life. The warriors saw themselves as examples to the people, as well, teaching them to regard death fearlessly. In those times, war was a personal thing a point of honor. It was fought as much for the glory as for the conquest. The battlefield was a testing-place, an initiation. Compare that to the craven coward with his finger over the nuclear button, who would sacrifice an incalculable number of lives to achieve his own ends. For these men, death is no longer real. Their lives, and all of our lives, arc diminished as a result. For the warrior, living in close proximity to death was the only way to live. The teaching there is that this is the human condition. It is the same for all of us, all the time. Even if we do not make it so graphically clear by seeking our own death, "Death is always over your shoulder"( in the words of Castaneda's Don Juan). We would benefit greatly from having teachers brave enough co tell us that 1he way to die is the way to live. Thank you for bringing the notion of "death" into the Katuah Journal. This is a much-needed discussion, as our culture purposely avoids the idea of death. Death is something to be swept under the rug ...flushed down the toilet ... carried out like the trash. Out of sight, out of mind. The main reason for this, I think, is fear. Our culture is scared to "death" of death and tries to protect its people from having to face the experience of death during the course of their lives. And so we as individuals are left to meet our own demise unprepared and unfamiliar with death. This only promotes confusion and deepens the fear. and so the spiral of alienation continues. The results of this have been disastrous, both for us as people and for the planet as a whole. A tremendous amount of energy and resources go into insulating ourselves from lhe world and propping up the fallacy of the individual ego. We would rather sacrifice whole species of other creatures than allow and accept our individual death. Our neurotic fear of dying has contributed in a large pan to the overpopulation of humans, the degeneration of the planetary environmoot, and our own alienated lifestyles. Of course, the fear of death is not totally responsible for this, but coming to terms with our own monality and realizing the importance of death in our lives would go a long way to helping us change our attitudes and accepting our place in the world. Thank you for helping to lead us a few steps in this direction. Sincerely, Ava Livingston Roanoke, VA My best, E. Thornton Charlotte, NC >'I' KATUAH - page 25 Winter 1986-87 U \IU\.., •••,.It AC'.,.,..,, - ~ATITA ;f �- continued from page 1 different, bm we need to take counsel together. This was desirable before, but since the splitting of the atom, this has become a necessity. I carve a lot of pieces with figures that have what I call "visionary eyes". There is fear in those eyes. Those eyes have seen the bomb, and they're afraid. I guess I'm afraid too. I ge1 the feeling I had as a kid when I read in the Bible of how "They shall have sores and splotches, and so many wounded, and so many of the people will be killed". At the time of the Chernobyl accident they said 1he Chernobyl plant was unprotected and without containment, but later it turned out that the reactor rug have all of that. There are lots of those graphite-cooled nuclear plants within range of us. If four or five of those were to have a meltdown, it would change the nature of life on this planet. When I was in the siitth grade, I was pro-nuclear. I was really for it. "What a wondeiful ideal All that energy!" But we didn't know about nuclear waste. We're primitive when it comes to dealing with our nuclear waste. We think we can bury it in holes in the ground, and that it won't go into the water, and everything will be alright. Bm how delicate the world isl I guess everything is beautiful to me. Everything has its own way. When I see people out there, all together, by the millions, it's beautiful the way that they move. But again, speaking face to face is beautiful because o( the way people are and the ways they are different. I try to communicate through my art. I think of people touching my carvings when I make them, because I know that the love and affection I feel are not for me to keep to myself. Any artist knows his or her work is for all people. An is to help bring out a lot of things about the Creator and how we have come to be humans living as we do. An is also about how to improve ourselves to be better people. Through time artists have helped us more than almost anyone else to figure out who we are and what we're doing. h's a healing feeling to know that God does give us the power to do all these things to feel better or 10 appreciate life more. I ask God to make or to bless each carving that 1 do and ask that people can appreciate and take care of ii. Bui it's just art It should just be appreciated as art, but I guess every artist does feel some attachment to their work. I would like people to understand the thoughts and feelings I put into my carvings. Otherwise they might use a carving for a doorstop. Of course, that's o.k. too, I suppose. It's a rock-it'll hold a door open. But a rock is not "jus1 a rock". The rock I carve is the old pipestone: s1eati1e or chloride schist. It gets a nice finish when I sand it, and it turns darker as people handle it Rock seems primitive, but one wonders whether it's back in time or whether it's in the future. Rock itself is alive. Rock has been ~where and seen ~thing. Rock has traveled the tracks of the stars. It has traveled through all of time. Each time the Earth has gone 1hrough another cycle, the rock has become more condensed. There is an incredible amount of history and eitperience condensed in each chunk of rock. I search out my own pipestone to carve. I see things in the rocks: arms, legs, faces, animals, spirits - all the things of the universe. Sometimes where granite and quartz come together r see designs. When I carve, often I will leave some of the rock in its natural state. Then, along with all the other creatures I represent, the spirit of the stone is in the carving, too. PASSING IT ON people and had no way to eitpress that. So they got upset about it and went to war with the world. Maybe we could have at least a small effect on the problems of the future--the neglect and the abuse. Maybe by communicating or working with some an, people could be more happy, more creative, and perhaps they would be less abusive. It's o.k. to use something, whether it's land or a creative gift, as long as you give something back. That's why l like to show carving to a lot of kids: to give something back. Sometimes on Saturday morning I like to have kids and their parents who are really intcreSted come over here, and I show them how to do some of the carving. Kids are smart, y'know. Often I.bey know more than adults, because their view of the world has not been broken and fragmented. There is as much or more in their minds than in an adult's, bul they don't have the mentnl tools to explain it. There are adults like that, too. A lot of people in prison have seen the world in a different way from the rest of the Interview by Martha Tree, David Wheeler, and Michael Red Fox Joe Roberts 258· 1038 734 Town Mountain Rd FRIEDMAN & 8 Asheville, NC 28805 ~ DESIGN, INC. - ENERGY SYSTEMS THAT PAY FOR THEMSELVF.S AVRAM FRIEDMAN OESlGH~TECHNICIAN KATUAH - page 26 garmiN Water System ......... Ul. IRAVIOl.U PURIFICAllOtl AHO FILIERIHG SYSIEMS SOlAA PAOOUCIS • WAIER ANALYSIS HWY. 107 PO BOX657 DIUS80RO. NC 28125 RANDALL C LANIER 704 293 51112 AT. 68 BOX 125 CULLOWHEE, NC 28723 Winter 1986-87 �A CHILDREN'S PAGE WHAT Wll..D ANIMAL WOULD YOU LIKE MOST TOBE? Darby,8 Miles, 5 A mountain Jion...because I've A rattJesnake...because I like their colors. always liked them...and because I could run fast. Jason,5 Tshu-Tshu, 5 A rattlesnake...because I like how their tail is rattly. A bluejay"'because I like how they ny and how they drop their feathers. Karl, 7 Tyler, 8 A squirrel ....because they're kind if you don't pick them up. Being a squirrel, I can climb up trees and I can run fasLand I can live in a 'treehouse'. An eagle. ...because I Jike to be high....when you're an eagle it's easier to hunt for food ....... . ah, lunch! Lars,8 A robin...because you're able to fly ....you'd be free...you'd be able to see everything•... no limitations... Amanda,7 A wild bird...a cardinal I think it would be neat to see how they live...... and because I could fly above the sky•.. Sara, 7 Ariel, 7 A deer...they seem so quiet... they look so nice...they look gentle,too... Jay, 8 A mountain lion...because they like to roam in the mountains...and so do I. A squirrel....because they'd be protected, not too many creatures could get at them. I would like to be a squirrel because people can't climb trees as well as they can. We welcome original drawings, stories, poems, ideas, or Thanks lo Rainbow Mountain School, Asheville, NC KATUAH - page 27 comments by individua1 children or groups for this page. Let us know what the children of KatUah are doing! Wiruer 19116-87 �J......... .,..~ - '"'"'"'• A.Aov: .· fO~ ·n•e. atUGN0 ntE RULf.S: ' A NOTE ON NEW GRAMMAR . \. We all learned in school dw •a pronoun must agree widl the object oi the JP. RfN~ 3 G~T'N6RCNG The Spring Gathering will be happening 7) Katuah ecology in the 80's again in April. We would like some input 8) Drumming from our readers on activities they would 9) Living outside & inside (dealing with) like to have available. Here are some to the 80's economy choose from. Let us know if these 10) Dowsing suggested topics or others would make 11) Sweat Lodge interesting workshops for the gathering: 12) Community planning, etc. 13) Spirituality (individual and as a whole) l) Herb identification and usage Anyone interested in being on a 2) Tree identification steering committee to bring this gathering 3) Primitive strucrure construelion together please write to us at Katiiah; Box 4) Wilderness survival techniques 873; CuUowhcc, NC 28723. 5) Crystals 6) Wild food foraging and preparation Thi powerful GOl..OEN EAGLE nlH abon lh11iu. tlus tull •Mic•• co!0< dllllJ' , .._...,.11114 °" T· ~~RTS Of 100'<. NUHRUNk COT· C4I011.S11Ytr.[cru, wi.tc SinJ•Ad11111S.XL $hor1SIHnT: AduK·$10.00ppd. l ontSlunT: Adolt·S14.00ppd. 1\!age> 1 J ~ unnCJe 'Na &~r~~l ~ ~ All designs, except Golden Eagle. also available in sweatshirts. Feather or tracks imprinted on sleeve. r ~1IOnl1t;:;:;~~;.;;;;.,N1;.1ls.,..... w : 103311, l1l11mRd.. I 0 Chtd i - ··----- 111. NC 281M(104)456-3003 M ame M11terCa~ NO---------t : O M•••10nl•• O Vl$A Eip. 0•1•1-- - - -- --1 I Lens $1HW toc:l•dH dtlall• d pnlll of lta!Mr °" 110 ... Sallllactioa 1 1 0< 1111JmWlull . - _ Addru•------ -------- --t !, ~• When looking over the Kl1Uh Journal. English teachers and sharp-eyed proofreaders cringe and soflly curse the KaWAh staff for the recurrence of sentences such as: "The attitude of individualism puts one at war against their environment." The pronoun in that sentence is used in a way that violates the precepts of orthodox grammar. But the orthodox grammar assumes that the basic unit of the human race is the archetypal "he", an assumption that we can no longer subscribe to because it leaves the feminine half of the population as non-entities - just one of the subtle ways we are all taught 10 disregard women and their role. Trying to overcome this has led to various complexities in the alternative printed media. If we were to write out the above sentence, for instance, it would read, "The attitude of individualism puts one at war with his or her environmenL" Rather than encumbering our sentences by writing out "his or her", "he and she" each time, we have often chosen to refer to them collectively as "their" and "they", so that in fact that "someone" potentially has become two, and the pronoun agrees with this possibility. That's not any harder to under~tand than it was in sixth grade, is ii? (Or is it still just as hard?) Some may be pleased at this change, others may consider it th e rankest of heresies, most probably could care less. But language is a process and subject 10 change, and there probably will be other changes as we continue to modify our language to conform to the conditions of our lives. We welcome comments and suggestions on this, as we do on all aspeclS of the KluYah journal. Changing our speech is another way we can participate in creating ourselves a life suitable to face the rimes we live in and the times that are to come. "'""'- ------------- - -t i i '- CMck ......... FR(( COlOll CATAUKO ol all eur W1tdltt. Gl•pll••'OU.LU INQUllll[$ UMTlO CIBII!NlE§IE NAWRAL FOOD STORE &DELI ~C1Un»1UNC'll'1UlilE AM» IHl~llllOLOGV cn...nmc 107 Merrimon Avenue Asheville. rt.c. (704) 258·90 J6 KATUAH - page 28 MALAPROP'S BOOKSTORFJCAFE 160 Broadway Asheville, NC 28801 (704) 253-7656 BOOKS - CARDS - RECORDS Where Broadway 61 HAYWOOD ST., ASHEVll..LE, NC 28801 (704) 2S4-6734 Meets Menimon Andl-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. Winter 1986-87 �a • ~ S · 4.!'J!sv:t./J•.:.l 'Jf1-.Jh ,, 'J.i ~,1 ~~o :rro ~,., DECEMBER 21 ASHEVILLE, NC "A Festival of Lights: A Winter Solstice Celebration" with Unity of the Mountains. 6:30 pm. 70 Lexington Ave. Donation. Call 669-9276. MARCH JANUARY 10 & AS HE VILLE,NC 17 Literacy Workshop to train volunteers to teach people how to read. 10:00 am to 4:30 pm. Pack Library. More info: (704) 254-3442. "Parenting for Peace and Justice" conference with Jim and Kathy McGinnis at University Hills Baptist Church. Contacc Joanne Frazier (704)372-9140. 16-17 tANCEL THE COUNTDOWN 17 27-1/4 HOT SPRINGS, NC New Year's Meditation Retreat with John Orr. Southern Dhanna Retreat Center; Rt. 1, Box 34-H; Hot Springs, NC 28743 COOKEVILLE, TN Tennessee Alternative Growers' Association Annual Conference at Tennessee Tech Aqua Facility. For more information, contact TAGA; Rt. 6, Box 526; Crossville, TN 38555 Major national action to protest Trident missiles and "Star Wars" testing, Cape Canaveral, FL. For more information, contact Rural Southern Voice for Peace; 1901 Hannah Branch Rd.; Burnsville, NC 28714 30-1/4 W AYNESVILLE, NC New Year's Retreat at Stil-light Center. $5.00/day. Pre-register: Rt. 1, Box 326; Waynesville, NC 28786 CHARLOTTE, NC 6·9 17 20-22 ASH EVILLE, NC Martin Luther King Prayer Breakfast. 8:30 am. Asheville Civic Cenrer. WAYNESVILLE, NC "Numerology" workshop with Karol Kettering. $20. Stil-light Center. Pre-register. see 12/30-1/4. ABINGDON, VA Teach Our Children Well Festival in honor of Martin Luther King. 3:30 pm. Washington County Library. 18 The Cente r for New Prioriti es is now open, in Asheville, NC, for all groups dedicated to working towards genuine, life-oriented, change for the community. Office space, small meeting space, and kitchen facilities are available. The Center plans to sponsor workshops as welJ as provide a place for groups to network. In January, there will be a meeting of all groups-environmental, peace, social action, spiritual, cultural, etc-who are interested in participating in the formulation of the "scope" of the Center's goals and activities. For more infonnation, call (704) 254-4714 or write the Center, 54 Starnes Avenue, Asheville, NC 28801. The Center appreciates donations, large or small, to help wilh its upkeep and activities. GERTON, NC 24 Drumming Workshop/ African & Haitian, featuirin~ Darrel Rose. Potluck lunch & potluck dinner. $ 25. (partial work scholarships available). Call (704) 625-9722 (ask for Martha) or wrire P.O. Box 65, Genon, NC 28735 FEBRUARY 13-15 W AYNESVILLE,NC Group study weekend: "The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali". $20. Pre-register: Slil-lighr Center. See 12/30-1/4. Rainbow Family Tribal Gathering '87 By a council decision at the 1986 Rainbow Family Tribal Gathering in Pennsylvania, the 1987 gathering of the continental Rainbow people will be held in the Appalachian Mountain Bioregion from July 1 - 7. The Rainbow Gathering currently brings together 10-15,000 people during the week of the event, although people arrive long before and stay long after at the site. They gather in remote natural settings to promote and practice an alternative lifestyle free from the constraints of the dominant culture. Everything is free and shared communally at the gatherings. The temporary village takes care of its own food, medical, sanitary, and security needs, and prides itself on leaving behind a site that is clean and green. The stated goals of the gathering are peace, unity, love, and respect for the Mother Earth. All are welcome. Scouts are moving into the National Forest lands in Appalachia to search for a suitable site on which the Rainbow family can gather in July. They arc looking for 1987 NEW IJOJlLt> eyer,£ Of' e£L£BRAT'LON8 eAI..£N1>...t1t JOURNAL about a 50-acre area of flat or rolling meadows and open woods with a good water supply. The site must be remote from towns and paved roads, yet must have adequate parking for 1,000 or more vehicles somewhere nearby. T o discourage unwanted interference, the site should be accessible only by several miles of trail or road that is closed to vehicles. If there is anyone in the bioregion who knows of a suitable site with a stable ecosystem and soils that would not be dislocated by a great amount of human activity, please contact the Rainbow scouts at the Rainbow regional center: ~ !ftl' ~ ~ Rainbow Family of Living Light Box 1097 Newport, TN 37821 8 1/2" x 1", 160 p ci9es, over 100 cfi.cin s cind tUus trcitlons. r\vcilLci&te f or Sl l.80 ppcL. from: For more information on the continental Rainbow Gathering. contact their publication: All Ways Free Box664 Bearsville, NY 12409 Cross-Cu t turat CaLe nr:!ar Journat of Celebrations New 1Jortc£ Ce!e&r citt.ons L P .O. Box. 6054 CfmrCotte , NC 28207 ...... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~__. KATUAH - page 29 Winter 1986-87 �Ridge mountains with facilities available to rent for groups or individual retreats, either guided or unstructured. Send for information and seasonal calendar of healing, iransformativc events to: Indian Valley Holistic Center: RL 2, Box 58; Willis, VA SCIENCE CENTER dedicated to the understanding and appreciation of the natural world. For membership or visiting info, write P.O. Box 2771; Gainesville, GA 30503. 24380. AMRITA HERBAL PRODUCTS - Comfrey, Eucalyptus, or Golden Seal Salve, Lemon or Lavender Face Cream. Made with natural and essential oils and love. Send for brochure: RL I, Box 737; Floyd, VA 24001. HEROES CONCERT - Music and stories about Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and other champions of peace and courage. For mformauon and bookings, contact: Meg Macleod, 160 Flint SL. AsheviUe, NC 28801 (704) 254-6484. APPALACHIAN PATCHWORK - Mountain talcs and songs by the Appalachian Puppet Theatre. Cassette tape S7.00 from: Appalachian Puppet Theatre, 355 Cedar Creclt Road, Black Mountain, NC 28711 (704) 669-6821. HEALTH and FITNESS SELF.CARE CENTER: A private centet offering comprehensive programs or scientifiealJy and medically docwnented approaches to opumum health and fitness. Seminars, worlcshops.and private consult.a.lions for individuals, famili~ and businesses. Contact: Jeffrey Brown; HFSC; POB 278; Lexington, NC 27293 (704) 2464919. ASHEVILLE I BUNCOMBE COUNTY SOLID WASTE ALTERNATIVES PLANNING WORKSHOP: A design for handling solid wasics in any urban contexL SIS from Long Branch Environmental Education Center. RL 2, Box 132: Leicester, NC 28748. TWO PAPERS - "How to Stan a Co-op" and "Steps Toward Forming an Auto Repair Cooperative" by Dr. Rodney S. Wead, PhD. Available from Appalachian People's Service Organization; P.O. Box 1007: Blacksburg, VA THE LONE RECYCLER - Comic book adventures of humankfod's early struggle to combat wastefulness. $4.00 pp. from Long Branch Environmental Education Center. Rt. 2, Box 132; Leicester, NC 28748. HOLOGRAPH1C ASTROLOGY - Every pan of a hologram contains all the info about the entire hologram, and each cell in your body contains all the genetic data about your whole body. Similarly, every body contains all the information about the entire solar system - you are the solar system and each of your planets is one of your potentials. Chnrt &. Consultation, SS0.00 Harriet Witt Miller (704) 684-0810. MOON DANCE FARM HERBALS - hctbaJ salves, tincnues, &: Olis for birthing & family health. For brochure, please wriic: Moon Dance Fann; RL I, Box 726; Hampwn, TN 37658 DRUM WORKSHOPS - for children of all ages. therapeutic massage - Relaxes the body &: mind ...Call Martha for more info 11 (704) 258-6016 FAIRGLEN FARMS offers organic, biological fCltil.i7.ers for fann and garden. Send SASE for price list Biologically-grown produce to sell? We arc interested in acting as cooperative marlccting agenis with other growers. Write: Route I, Box 319; Clyde, NC 28721. DRUMS - Custom handcrafted ceramic dumbecks &: wooden medicine drums. CalJ Joe at (704) 258-1038 or write to: Joe Roberts, 738 Town Mountain Rd.; Asheville, NC 28804. 24060.Frce. CUSTOM CELTIC HARPS • A'Court Bason; Travianna Fann; Rt. I: Check, VA 24072. •AS WE ARE" - Women's music by Pomegranate Rose, a four-woman group playing lively original music. Cassette tape available for S9.00 ppd. from Rt. 2, Box 435; Pi1tsboro, NC 27312. CRAFTS FROM SALVADORAN AND GUATEMALAN REFUGEES lN NICARAGUA: cards, plaques, boxes, puzzles, paiches; This trade benditS refugees dittctly. Brochure from: Dry Creek Coopemive Trading 918 Jennings Ct. Woodbury, TN 37190 I CAME TO A MOUNTAIN - by William Walters. A book about the Light Ccntet (in Black Mountain, NC) and the power of prayer for peace in the world. Includes a look at the Center's activities for peace and their prayer tours around the world. Avai lable for $9.00 pp. from New World Bookstore, WNC Shopping Center, Hwy 70, Black Mountain, NC a non-profit organization. FOUR WINDS VILLAGE • health and spiritual retreat; home for children in need. For visiting info, write: Box 112: Tiger, GA 30576. 28711. FLOWER ESSENCES - Harmony with Nature&: SpiriL Gentle emotional support during transitions, specific issues, relationships. Opens communications. Self-adjusting, non-toxic, awareness "tools" for improving the inner quality. Correspondence to: Elaine Gcouge, c/o Patchwork Castle, Celo, 3931 HWY 80 So.. Burnsville, NC 28714. "PEACE THROUGH MUSIC" - Ethereal &: Tranquilizing Celestial Music tapes by Medicine Wind/George Tortorelli. Plus exotic Bamboo FluteS, rate scales. Send for free brochure: Medicine Wind Music, 86 NW SSth St., Gainesville, FL 32601. ACCESS is a fiee telephone information service on peace issues including military spending, environmental impacts of military activity, connict resolution, etc. Your only charge is your long-distance phone call. ACCESS # Is (202) 328-2323. KATUAH • page 30 APPALACHIA 1987: THE SIMPLE LIFESTYLE CALENDAR - Distributed by Appalachia Science in the Public Interest to fund their work of developing, an appropriate technology for Appalachia Photos of the "Children of Appalachia" by Warren Brunner. $6.00 pp. from ASP!; Rt. 5, Box 423; Livingston, KY 40445. "CELEBRATION SPACE: Songs to Celebrate Life" - A cassette tape completely produced, performed. and recorded by mem bets and friends of the Floyd County community to raise money for the Floyd County Community Hall. This audio songbook contains IS original songs and chants and 3 traditional songs to learn and sing in your own community. The sound quality is uneven, but the energy, spirit, and joy shine through. For the cassette tape with lyric sheet (ppd.), send SI0.00 to the Floyd County Community Hall Project; Rt. l, Box 735; Floyd, Va 24091. At ARTHUR MORGAN SCHOOL 24 students and 14 staff learn together by living in community. Curriculum includes creative academics, group decision-making, a work program, service prop:ts, extensive field trips, challenging outdoor experiences. Write: 1901 Hannah Branch Rd.; Burnsville, NC 28714. WEB WORKING is free. Send submissions to: KA1GAh P.O. Box 873 Cullowhcc, NC 28723 Winter 1986-87 �MediciHt'-' Allies K.IJJiilJ.Jl wants ta communicate your rl@ughts and feelings I() the other people in the bi.oregi.onal province. Send them to us as letters, poems, stories, drawings, or plio~ographs. Please send your contributions to us at: Kmfmh; Box 873; Cullowhee, NC 28723. The Spring Klu.U.ah. Issue XV, will focus on Women's Issues. The deadline for all submissions for that issue is January 31. Please send your ideas for future themes for Kaiiia.b. ISSUE EIGHT · S UMMER 1985 Celebration' A Way of Life . Katuah 18,000 Years Ago • Sacred Sites • Folk Aru in lhe Schools • Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle Poems: Hilda Downer • Cherokee Herit age Center • Who Owns Appalachia? BACK ISSUES full color T-.s6irt.s ISSUE TWO · WINTER 1983.84 Vona - Bear Hunten • Pigeon River • Another Way With Animals • Alma • Bceoming Politically Effective . Mountain Woodlands • Katuah Under the Drill - Spirilual Warriors In the traditional Cherokee Indian belief, the creatures in the world today are only diminutive 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 K.ma.1i. the lightning, the power of the sky; Utsa'natL the rattlesnake, who personifies the power of the earth plane; and Yynwj Usdj, "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 power 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 shirts, they are available now in all adult sizes from tbe~joumal. "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 Karuah." To order, use the form below. ISSUE NINE · FALL 1985 Tho Waldcc Forest · The Trees Speak • M ia:rating Foresu · Horse Logging • Star1ing a Tree Crop • Urban Trees • Acom Bread · Myth Time ISSUE THREE • SPRINO I984 Sustainable Agriculture • Sunflowers • Humm Impact on the Forest • Childrcns' Education • Veronica Nichotas:Wcmm in Politics • Little People • Mcdicme Allies ISSUE TEN · WINTER 19&5-86 Kate Rogers • Circles of Stone • Internal Mytlunatting • Holistic Healing on Trial • Poems: Steve Knauth • Mythic Places • The Uktcna's Talc • Crystal Magic • "Drcamspcalcing • ISSUE FOUR · SUMMER 1984 Water Orum • Water Quality • Kudm • Solar Ecbpsc • Clearcunin& • Trout • Going to W ater • Ram Pumps • Microhydro • Poems: Bennie Lee Sinclair, Jim Wayne Miller ISSUE ELEVEN· SPRING 1986 Communily Planning • Cities and tho Bioregional Vision • Recycling • Community Gardening- Floyd County, VA • Gasohol · Two Biorcgional Views • Nuclear Supplement • Foxfire Oomes Good Medicine: Visions ISSUE FIVE - FALL 1984 Harvest - Old Ways in Cherokee Ginseng - Nuclear Wute • Our Celtic Heritage • Bioreg1onalism: Past, Present, md Future - John Wilnoty • Healing Darkness • Polities of Panic1pation ISSUETWELVE - SUMMER 1986 Livmg in the Garden • Sbiitakc • The SICRCI Scuab • NC Nuclear Rcfctcndum • Sun Root.s • Aquaculture • "HILAHl'YU": The Form ation of lhe Appalachian Mountains • WISC Woman Herbal • Good Medicine: Tobacco ISSUE SIX · WINTER 1984-85 WinLCt Sobticc Earth Ceremony Horscpasturc River • Coming of lhc Light • Log Cabin Roota • Mountain Agriculwrc: The Right Crop • William Taylor· The Future of the Forest ISSUE THIRTEEN· Fall 1986 Center For Awakening • Eliubelh Callari • A Oenllc Death • Hospice • Emel! Morgm • Dealing Creatively with Death • Home Burial Box • The Wake • The Raven Mocker · Woodslore and Wildwoods Wisdom • Good Medicine: The Sweat Lodge ISSUE SEVEN - SPRJNO 1985 S11Stainablc Economics • Hot Springs • Worlccr Ownership • The Orea! Economy • Self Help Credit Union Wild Turkey • Responsible Investing • Working in the Web of Life J<AIUAH: Bjoregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians Box 873; Cullowhee, North Carolina 28723 Back Issues Issue# __@ $2.00 = $_ _ Issue# __@ $2.00 = $_ _ Issue# __@ $2.00 = $_ _ Issue# __@ $2.00 = $_ _ Issue# __@ $2.00 = $_ _ Complete Set (2· J3) @ $18.00 = $ _ _ For more info: call Mamie Muller (704) 252-9167 Regular Membership........$10/yr. Sponsor.......................$20/yr. Contributor...................$50/yr. Name Address Enclosed is$ I() give this ejf an exrra boost on City State Zip I can be a local contact person for my area Area Code Phone Number ... T-Shirts: specify quantity color: tan S_ _ M_ _ L_ _ XL_ _ @ $9.50 each............$_ _ TOTAL PRICE= postage paid KAWAH - page 31 $_ _ Winter 1986-87 � 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 Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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.  The Katúah Journal 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. This digital collection is only a portion of the Katúah-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 Katúah Journal. 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 Katúah Journal Records 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 Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, Issue 14, Winter 1986-1987 Description An account of the resource The fourteenth issue of the Katúah Journal focuses on varied topics such as the work of stone carver Lloyd Carl Owle, a comparison between the Cherokee Booger dance and the Irish Mummers dance, human beings' place in nature, and an interview with people who are homeless. Authors and artists in this issue include: David Wheeler, Marnie Muller, Tom Underwood, Will Ashe Bason, Martha Overlock, Oliver Loveday, Avram Friedman, Millie Buchanan, Colleen Redman-Copus, Martha Tree, David Wheeler, and Michael Red Fox. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1986-1987 Table Of Contents A list of subunits of the resource. Lloyd Carl Owle.......1 Boogers and Mummers........3 All Species Day........6 Poem by Will Ashe Bason.......9 Good Medicine.......10 Cabin Fever University.......12 Poems by Oliver Loveday.......13 Keeping Warm: Homeless in Katúah.......14 Homemade Hot Water.......18 A Stovemaker's Narrative.......19 Natural World News.......20 Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer. 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 Appalachians (People)--Social life and customs Human ecology Native American--History Cherokee Art Homeless persons--North Carolina, Western 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> 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 Alternative Energy Appalachian History Appalachian Mountains Appalachian Studies Black Bears Cherokees Children's Page Community European Immigration Folklore and Ceremony Good Medicine Habitat Katúah Katúah Organization Pigeon River Poems Politics Radioactive Waste Turtle Island Water Quality 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 Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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.  The Katúah Journal 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. This digital collection is only a portion of the Katúah-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 Katúah Journal. 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 Katúah Journal Records 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 Katúah Journal, Issue 20, Summer 1988 Description An account of the resource The twentieth issue of the Katúah Journal 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. Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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. 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 Highlands of Roan.......6 Celo Community: 50 Years on the Land.......8 Celo: Interview.......10 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 Microhydro Project.......21 Drumming: Letters to Katúah.......22 Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer. 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/e8b264ef4ec25f6e96204d3ae515c995.pdf da3b1c41e52d67bec48c8df227746edd PDF Text Text /-� �UAWURNAL P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748 Postage Paid Bulk Mall Permit #18 Leicester, NC 28748 �FromMountains to the Sea uy uafMyczack........................•....• 1 Profile of a Southern Appalachian Watershed: The Little Tennessee River (An Interview with Dr. William Md.amcy) rtcortkd by David Whttlu.....................3 Freshwater Canaries: The Spotfin Chub b y William Mclarney.........••.•.........•..5 Mudwatch and Fmoount: The Environmental Survey of the Little Tennessee 6 by William McLarnq.......................•• Headwaters Ecology and Blgh Quality Habitat by Mary Kelly.........................•.••....? "It All Comes Down to Water Quality" by Mitlit Buchanan............................8 Water Power: Ac.tion for Aquatic Habitats.... IO Dawn Watchers uySncw Bear ................................ 11 Adventures on the River uy uaf Myaack.............................12 Accessory toMurder: Watts Bar Lake and the Public Trust uy LeafMyczadr........•.........•......••...14 Poem: "Country S10re" by Witliam MU/u...••.......•........•......14 The Nonh Shore Road: Environment or Development in the Great Smokies by Pmrick Clark..............................15 The Long Branch Composting Toilet by Paul Gallimore ..•...............•.....•... 11 GoodMedicine: The Long Human Being....18 Katuah Sells Out!! by Bud Young and Rodney Webb............ 19 Watershed Map of the Kauiah Province......20 Namral World News. ...........................22 Green Spirits: Karuah Rains by Lte Barnts................................26 Off the Grid uy Jim lloustr ...............................21 Drumming (Letters (O Katuah) .................28 Early Warning: The Gypsy Moth ls Coming! uy Ed lytwack..•......•....•............•...30 Poem: "Unbound" by Gaston Siniard............•........••.....31 Events.............................................36 Webworking.....................................38 TaUMint.u, 1990 FROM MOUNTAINS TO THE SEA by LeafMyczack It begins as dense, moist clouds riding the prevailing winds 11p from the Gulf of Mex.ico. Meeting the Corest updrafts from the AppalachianMountains, the clouds release their wet cargo over the rich forest below. The rain drips to the ground through the leafy canopy, seeps into the dark soil, gathers, and begins to triclcJe down the mountain slopes. Ct is here where the River is born. SmaJJ riwlets become streams, splashing and tumbling down rock strewn beds. When enough of these feeder streams converge, creeks form, and Lhey in rum • receive additional aibutaries. From the slopes of the old mountains of Kanlah, the growing rivers bring their watery gifis 10 the valley lands. But rivers do not lend themselves to arbitrary beginnings. The health of a river is the culmination of an ongoing, cyclical process. The health of rivers depends on atmospheric as well as ground conditions. Sulfates, nitrates, and toxic gases are washed to eanh in the form of acid rain. Here the contaminated water combines with herbicide residues used by forest abusers and with din paniclcs from bulldozed land. The first stream f ormed is already poisoned. Add industrial chemicals, silt from road construction, salt fertilizers, utility company herbicides, raw sewage, and the result is a river much diminished in itS capacity 10 suppon life. Even before the rivers leave the Appalachian foothills, their health is often severely compromised. Most humans have forgouen that we arc dependent on the interplay of all life. We think we can clear the forest without harming the river, or that we can diny the atmosphere without harming the forest. Even when confronted with historical evidence of environmental impact, ecologically destructive patterns continue unabated, especially when there is money involved. Greed seems to be the engine of destruction. Cut, rape, slash - "How much money are we making?" Rivers, in order to be healthy, must have a healthy watershed. The atmosphere and the ground must be clean in order to maintain the aquatic environment. To protect the life of the river, steep slopes musr be closed to logging and development. The less roads, the better, for roads only promote the migration of ecologically abusive people and materials. Rivers are intended to be pathways for rich organic nutrients leached from the mountain slopes to feed the diverse aquatic communities living in the estuaries. Damming rivers inhibits this cycle. In place of nutrients, rivers now carry water-soluble toxins that are deposited in delta and estuarine habitats. This Katuah region, sacred in all its biodiversity, is in great danger. The forest ones and the river ones call out for help. The scream of pain is almost constant among them. But their voices are not going unheard. Joining these voices are human voices - Lhe voices of caretakers, poets, Earth defenders • aU advocaLing a respect for all of'life. Ycs, brothers and sisters, trees and rivers do have rights Lo life and good health. Let us sing and dance to life in aJJ its many forms. The dance of life must supersede the chant of death, for without our relatives we are diminished in spirit, mind, and body. It is not a political struggle we are engaged in, but a spiritual quest to find the wellsprings of our soul. Listen closely, and you will hear great wisdom from Karuah. Be creative with your work and your life. for these are your honor song. - illustration by Cielo (canlinucd p, 12) XAtuah Journot � t �� 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 Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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.  The Katúah Journal 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. This digital collection is only a portion of the Katúah-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 Katúah Journal. 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 Katúah Journal Records 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 Katúah Journal, Issue 29, Fall/Winter 1990 Description An account of the resource The twenty-ninth issue of the Katúah Journal focuses on water quality: the Little Tennessee River watershed; Watts Bar Lake; development in the Great Smokies; and solar composting toilets. Authors and artists in this issue include: Leaf Myczack, David Wheeler, William McLarney, Mary Kelly, Millie Buchanan, Snow Bear, William Miller, Patrick Clark, Paul Gallimore, Buck Young, Rodney Webb, Lee Barnes, Jim Houser, Ed Lytwack, Gaston Siniard, Rob Messick, Bob Clark, Marnie Muller, Marlene Mountain, and Susan Adam. Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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. Date A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource 1990 Table Of Contents A list of subunits of the resource. From Mountains to the Sea by Leaf Myczack.......1 Profile of a Southern Appalachian Watershed: The Little Tennessee River (An Interview with Dr. William McLarney), recorded by David Wheeler.......3 Freshwater Canaries: The Spotfin Chub by William McLarney.......5 Mudwatch and Fincount: The Environmental Survey of the Little Tennessee by William McLarney.......6 Headwaters Ecology and High Quality Habitat by Mary Kelly.......7 "It All Comes Down to Water Quality" by Millie Buchanan.......8 Water Power: Action for Aquatic Habitats.......10 Dawn Watchers by Snow Bear.......11 Adventures on the River by Leaf Myczack.......12 Accessor to Murder: Watts Bar Lake and the Public Trust by Leaf Myczack.......14 Poem: "Country Store" by William Miller.......14 The North Shore Road: Environment or Development in the Great Smokies by Patrick Clark........15 The Long Branch Composting Toilet by Paul Gallimore.......17 Good Medicine: The Long Human Being.......18 Katúah Sells Out!! by Buck Young and Rodney Webb........19 Watershed Map of the Katúah Province.......20 Natural World News........22 Green Spirits: Katúah Rains by Lee Barnes.......26 Off the Grid by Jim Houser.......27 Drumming (Letters to Katúah).......28 Early Warning: The Gypsy Moth is Coming! by Ed Lytwack.......30 Poem: "Unbound" by Gaston Siniard.......31 Events.......36 Webworking.......38 Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Katúah Journal, printed by The Waynesville Mountaineer Press Subject The topic of the resource Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern Watersheds--Tennessee, East Watersheds--North Carolina, Western Watersheds--Virginia, Southwest Human ecology--Appalachian Region, Southern Water quality--Appalachian Region, Southern Gypsy moth--Control--Environmental aspects 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/4666185/watts-bar-lake.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 Watts Bar Lake ||||osm 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" 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. 1990s Alternative Energy Appalachian History Appalachian Mountains Appalachian Studies Bioregional Definitions Book Reviews Community Economic Alternatives Education Folklore and Ceremony Forest Issues Geography Good Medicine Habitat Health Katúah Katúah Organization Plants and Herbs Poems Politics Radioactive Waste Reading Resources Recycling South PAW (Preserve Appalachian Wilderness) Stories Transportation Issues Turtle Island Water Quality Wilderness 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 Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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.  The Katúah Journal 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. This digital collection is only a portion of the Katúah-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 Katúah Journal. 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 Katúah Journal Records 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 Katúah Journal, Issue 30, Spring 1991 Description An account of the resource The thirtieth issue of the Katúah Journal 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. Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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. 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 Avoiding the Passive/Helpless Approach to Economic Development by Thomas Power.......4 Ways to a Regenerative Economy by Rob Messick.......5 Sacred Oconomy by Will Ashe Bason.......6 "Money Is the Lowest Form of Wealth": Interview with Ivo Ballentine and Robin Cape by Rodney Webb and Henry Eckler.......7 The Clarksville "Miracle" by Griscom Morgan.......10 Self-Help Credit Union.......10 The Village by Snow Bear.......11 "through dreams, through magic": Poems by Gary Lawless.......12 Food Movers by David Wheeler.......13 Poems by Jim Clark.......14 LifeWork by Ernest Womick and Millie Sandstrom.......15 Green Spirits: "Katúah Planting Calendar" by Lee Barnes.......19 Good Medicine: "Village Economy".......20 On Eco-economics by David Haenke.......21 Thoughts on Work, Productivity, and Development by Richard Lowenthal.......22 Natural World News.......23 Shelton Laurel by Rodney Webb.......25 Off the Grid: "Regional Fuels" by Jim Houser.......26 LETS........27 Resources........27 Drumming.......28 Earth Energies: "The Great Lover" by Charlotte Homsher.......31 Events.......33 Webworking.......34 Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Katúah Journal, printed by The Waynesville Mountaineer 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/78d9246223be9d0574b3bd2b5063d495.pdf dd9e0daeaf638e3c9c89f1668668b7b7 PDF Text Text ISSUE 31 SUMMER 1991 $1.50 �Drawing by Rob Messick ~UAt1 JOURNAL P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748 :ic.\e 0 " () @ ~ Postage Paid Bulk Mail Permit #18 Leicester, NC 28748 .,. (I Printed on recycled paper ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED �Oowsing..................................................... 3 by David Wheeler The Responsibilities of Dowsing: An Interview with Tom Hendricks............5 by Madeline H. Dean Ceremonies of the Moment: An Interview with Joyce Holbrook...........6 "Jack-o-Lantems," Acid Rain, and the Electrical Life of the Eanh............8 by Clyde Hollifield Poem: "Old Houses".......... ,..................... 10 by Richard Nesrer Kaufah and the Eanh Grid ....................... ! 1 by Charlotte Homsher The Call of rhe Ancient Ones.................. 13 by Page Bryaru "If the Eanh Is to HeaJ, Our Heans Musr Be Broken".................. 15 by Richard lowenrlial Good Medicine: On Aggression.............. 17 THE EARTH - SHE LIVES! Poems by James Proffirt.......................... 18 Green Spirits: Sacred Forests.................. 19 by Lee Barnes Off rhe Grid.............................................20 by Jim Houser Natural World News................................21 "Jusr Doing Their Job"............................ 23 by Emmel/ Greendigger Time to Take the Time to Take the Time...................................... 25 by/vo Drumming............. " .................................26 Whole Science......................................... 29 by Rob Messick Tuning ln................................................. 29 by Charlotte Homsher Review· Light in rhe Wind........... .. - ....... 30 Chestnut Grafting Project........................ .31 by David McGrew Events......................................................32 \Vebworking............................................34 Su11u11cr, 199 1 Tradirional cultures around the world have always had a close relationship to the world around them. Dependent as they were on their immediate environment to meet all their needs, it is not surprising that they were closely attuned to the rhythms of their surroundings and the messages that came from the landscape. The foundation of their spiritual belief was that the world is alive. TI1ey saw the Earth as a being, a Great Mother who provided for all her children's needs. With ritual, music, and dancing, they conversed with the Earth and with all the aspects of her power. Here in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, the native Cherokee inhabitants accepted the forces of the world as living beings and addressed thern in their prayers and ceremonies. They saw the mountains as great beings of awe and grandeur, isolated and imposing. At times of spiritual transition, they went to sacred sites, places of extraordinary power, to do their fasting, praying, and divining, or to make a vision quest. As humanity turned toward civilization and sought security by insulating ourselves from our environment, our former connection to the world and the awareness that it engendered slowly dissipated. Skills that were once necessary for survival came to be considered "folk customs" and superstitions. In our minds the Eanh died. As we relied more on our intellectual brain and its offspring, science, for our survival, we began to see our world as a "system" under the rule of "laws" that were mechanical, linear, and absolute. However, in the "backwater.. areas, like 1.he rugged Appalachians, white settlers from Europe kept alive customs that dated back to pre-Christian times in the Old World. They used the power of wild roots for healing. They planted their crops by the signs of the moon. They would call on a "water witch," or dowser, with a forked stick to find an underground waler source. These practices are with us even today. (c:ontinucd on page 3) Xatuoh Journat p09e I �EDlTORlAL STAFF Tl ITS ISSUE: Maria Abbruzzi Lee Barnes Christopher Davis Charloue Homsher Jim Houser Lorraine Kaliher Emmeu Grecndiggcr Richard Lowenthal Rob Messick Mamie Muller Rodney Webb David Wheeler We'd like 10 offer special thanks for the inspiration of Mounlllin Gnrdcns. Thanks and fare well 10 John Creech. Happy trails, compadre! COVER: by Rob Messick © 1991 PUBLISHED BY: Kau,ah Journal PRINTED BY: The Waynesville Mo11111aineer Press EDITORIAL OFFTCE THlS JS SUE: The Globe Valley CONTACT US AT: Ka111ahJ011rnal Box 638; Leicester, NC; Ka1uah Province 28748 (704) 754-6097 Diversity is an impon.am elemcm of bioregionnl ecology. both nawral and socinl. In line will1 this principle. the Katuah Journal tries 10 serve as II fomm for the discu&;ion of rcgion:il issues. Signed rulicks express only the opinion of the nuthors and arc not ncccss:irity the opinions or lhe Katuah Journal editors or staff. The Internal Revenue Scn•1ce has declared K a1uah Jo1u11al a non.profit orgnniz.:ition under section 501(c){3) or Lhc lntemnl Revenue Code. All contributions to K,uuah Journal are dcducublc from pcr!IOn:il income wx. Aruclcs appcnnng in Katuah Journal may be reprimcd in olher publications with permission from the Katuah Journal sulf. Com:ict the journal in writing or call (704) 7S4-6097 or (704) 683-1414. ApOW<Jlj ~ STATEMENT OF PURPOSE 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 VaJley of the Roanoke and U1e Southern PJain 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 The photo of Darry Wood and Eva Bigwitch at Lhe R1vcrc;mc Rendezvous on page 12 of Kauiah Jourl\ill #30 should hove been credited 10Jim Riggs. Jim is a photogrnphcrand 1c:ichcrofprimitive skills "ho was also n guest insLructor at Lile cvcnL 'L'.NVOCA.'TW'.N Ancient Mother, Ancient Mother, You who have waited so long. You who have waited so long for your children to return, Your children are returned. Here we arc. -Swait lodge song Ham1ony with the land is no longer an ideal; it is an imperative. The land is a living being. She is sacred. As tl1e land lives, so do we. As the spirit of the land is diminished, our spirits are diminished as well. The Ka111ah 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. - The Editors Xatimh Journot pngc 2 .... �(continued from page I) Bui as the urban commercial cuhure penetrated even the isolation of the Appalachians, for many people the moumains lost their magic. They could see the old hills only as another collection of available resources to be taken out, totalled up, and rung into the cash register. That unbroken connection 10 the life of the mountains, the life of the Earth, has in the last 100 years faded and almost died ... But it is not gone. When the astronauts took the photos of the Earth from outer space, it became suddenly obvious that our planet is a fragile round ball suspended in the vastness of space. From tha1 new perspecrivc we can see that the Earth is whole. comple1e, an organism unto herself· and beautiful. II is also obvious that she is part of an even grander scheme - a cosmic ecology. We hove a place in the universe: an alignment with the stars, planets. and galaxies: a relationship 10 the cosmos. When we touch the Earth here in Katuah Province on this Tunic Island continent, we mp into an in1erlocking web of energies 1hat extends out into the fanhcst star galaxies. Scientific breakthroughs like "the Gaia theory" and the "new physics" seem revelatory to our jaded intellcccs. The Gaia theory states scientifically that the Earth breathes through ils atmosphere and regula1cs its own respirarion not only is the Earth a living, breathing organism, but ii is also conscious on some level! The "new physics" theory sets fonh a conception of the world radicallydivergen1 from Newtonian physics - one that seems almost more metaphysical than physical, closer to a study of consciousness than of matter. But t11cse scientific concepts are acrually not new. They were in the prayer of a Cherokee medicine man standing with anns uplifted by a waterfall. They were what an old woman could feel through her forked dowsing stick as :;he walked the land. Tho medicine people and the dowsers knew the geology of the mountains. They knew the depth of the fault lines and 1hc deep waterveins. They also could perceive the web of energy encircling the Earth. But they were not scientistS. They worked from their intuition; their practice was handed down from reacher to srudent as pans of long-standing traditions. The Gaia theory, the new physics, and the other recent departures from onhodox scien1ilic thinking offer scientific evidence of the life and consciousness of the world 1hat these old ones felt so clearly, so long :igo. There is still much mystery in this round globe that looks so vulnerable and beautiful from ou1er space. In this issue of the Ka11uihlournal we invite the reader to learn. to speculate, to begin to think of a whole world mind, a unifying world energy that connects us 10 every other place, 10 every other being on the Earth, and 10 the s1ars. The Eanh 1ums, we tum; everywhere we look we are one world. -The Editors Sl11t11ncr, 1991 DOWSING A Briefe Treatise or Digression Concerni11g the Long Historic a11d Practice of tlu• Art a11d Erstwhile Scie11ce of Rliabdo111a11cy by David Wheeler "All alike grasp tire forks of the twig witIr tlreir hands, clenching tlreir fi.rts, it being necessary tlrat tire clenclredjingers slumld be held wward tire sky i11 order tlrat tire twig should be raised at tlUJJ end wlrere the two branches meet Then they wander hither and tlritlrer at random through mountainous regions It is said that tire moment tlrey place their feet on a vein the twig immediately mrns and nvists, and so by its action discloses the vein: when tlrey nwve their feet agaill and go away from tlUJJ spot the Mig becomes once more immobile." • from De,~ metallica. one of lhc ftN wnucn rcrcrcnces 10 dowsing. by Ocorg,u, Agricola. 1556 This is the commonly conceived pic1urc of the dowser, or "water witcht walking the land looking for underground veins of water. However. to be a dowser a person does not have to walk the land, use a forked s1ick, or even be searching for water. Dowsers come in more flavors than ice cream • they e>.hibit many different attitudes, abilities. and mind states. In ilS purest form, dowsing might be defined as the perception of intangible or spiritual energies. Usunlly dowsers use their ability in looking for some1hing. In his paper "The Divining Rod: A His1ory of Water Wi1ching," written in 1917, Anhur J. Ellis says. "In tracing the history of the subject it is found that divining rods have been used for all of the following purposes: (I) To locate ore Drawing b) Rob Meu1<k deposits, (2) 10 discover buried or hidden ucasure. (3) 10 find lost landmarks and reestablish propcny boundaries, (4) 10 de1ect criminals, (5) to analyze personal character, (6) to cure diseases, (7) to tmce lost or strayed domestic animal~. (8) 10 insure immunity against ill fonunc when preserved as a fetish. (9) 10 locate well sites. { I0) 10 trace the courses of underground streams, {11) to determine the amount of water available by drilling at a given spot, ( I2) to determine the deplh at which wa1erorores occur, (13) 10 determine the direction of cardinal pointS. (14) to determine the heights of crecs, and ( 15) 10 analyze ores and w111ers." Dowsers today also search for the answers to questions; negative and positive Earth energies; missing persons; and waywan:1 spirits. They da1e archaeological finds and contac1 UFO's. As well as the tr3ditional forked stick. dowsers use a straight stick; L-shaped mcl41 rods; wire; a dangling pendulum (usually made of me1al or s1one but possibly of other m:uerials); their hands; or pure perception 10 find the object of their search. Dowsers do not have to be on the site but can make contact through maps, photographs, or a person's possessions. Clearly. the general category of "dowsing" covers a wide variety of experiences and abilities. But how does it work? Dowsing is clearly an e,cuasensory experience that draws (ccntmuodonnc,tpAJ:C) JCatud, Jounuat P°'JS 3 �(c:crnmuai Crom pai;o J) on a different pan of the brain than our intellect and our everyday awareness. Walter D.1le. a yeteran dowser in his eigh1ies Yiho hvcs outside Ashevilk, NC, ~ayi. lh:11 there is encrg)' evervwhere and that, "We are able tu iocus in on iiin much the same v.ny that you might tune in to channels on your TV ~r. Do\\:.eri. can do very remarkable things, and v.e can prove it. 1 don't know how 1t's done, but II depcnds on our abil1ty to use this energy thm is everywhere - even though we don't ~ee it. We don't sec radio waves, we don't see TV trnnsmis.\ions. It's very much the same." Ano1hcr dowser, Vern Peter.;on. says, "Dowsing is puuing out an idea or a question of what you want. and 1hb v.ill set up u vibration. If you are looking tor water, for insmnce, the vibration will correspond to water under the ground that you can fed when you get over it with the dowsing rod. "It leads 10 an advancement of consciousness., There's no end 10 where you can go. The longer you smy in dowsing, the more you learn. and the more that you learn how much 1here is to kn6w." Other dowsers speak of spiri1ual influences, a direct channel 10 higher intelligences or 10 the Supreme Intelligence, as explanation of their abilities. Dowsing is nor a new phenomenon. tr seems 10 be an innate pan of the human mind, and many practitioners maintain that dowsing was at one time one of our ba.~ic sense perceptions, and that ii is only with the advent of civilization that this ability has atr0phied in our brain. Animals seem to have the nbili1y to find water, and it seems logical thm in more primitive times we would have relied more on this type of awareness to locate food and water and be alen to dnnger. There is tangible evidence that S1one Age humans in Europe and the British Isles had dowsing abilities. Modem-day dowsers are finding 1ha1 the megaliths or "standing s1ones," However. as anything 1h01 can be deeply veiled in mystery affords a good opportunity/or swindlers, there can be no reasonable doubr that many of rhe large group ofprofessio,wl finders of water. oil, or other minera/J who take pay/or their "service'' or for the sale of their "instruments" are cleliberatt>ly defrauding the people, and that 1/te total amount of nwney rhar 1hey obtain is large. - 0. £. Meinwr. Uniwtl Staies Geological Sur\'c)', 1917 giam rock formmions erected by prehl!>toric humans, are aligned with underground wutercourscs or 1he 1;rid lines of the Eanh's energies. There nn: pictures of ancient Eg, pti:.i.ns holding what appear to be forked divining rods. There nrc various Biblical references, such as to Aaron's rod, 1hn1 dowsers claim a~ evidence of their crafL In 1882 R.W. Raymond wrote: "'1ti1nh JournnC pnl).C ·l Drawing by Ocorgc Agricola. I 556 'The Scyrhians, Persians, and Medes used them. Herodotus says 1ha1 the Scythians de1ec1ed perjurers by means of rods. The word rhabdomancy, originated by the Greeks, shows 1ha1 they practiced this an; and 1he magic power of the rods of Minerva, Circe, and Hermes or Mercury is familiar 10 classical students. The lituus of the Romans, with which the augurs divined, was apparently an arched rod ... Marco Polo reports the use of rods or arrows for divination throughout the Orient, and a later traveler describes it among the Turks. Taci1us says that the ancient Germans used for this purpose branches of fruit trees." During the Middle Ages, when me1al-working became common and widespread. miners ~ought veins of ore by digging trenches by hand. The amount of labor involved mnde any shortcuts extremely valuable, and, while there were physical indications of the presence of ore, divining came to be intel-'1"311)' associa11.-d with prospecting, panicularly in the mining districts of Germany. Divining rods came 10 England with German miners brought in by Queen Elizabe1h I to develop the languishing mining industry in Comwnll, and they spread from there throughout the Bri1ish Isles. Dowsing has been controversial thmughou1 the his1ory of civilized rimes. Since it was often involved with the production of weahh, there w-as alwavs the likelihood of charl:11anrv and fraud. And since ii is conceme<l with the deeper realms of the human mind. dowsing holds 1he possibility of transcendent consc1ousncss, but is olso fraught with mystery, contradtction. and tear. The church became interested in d0\\Sing · some S3Y through jealousy, others say through fear - and, although ecclesiastical ,1ttitudes and interpretauons were ne\er con~istcnt, at least initi:illy the l'hurch e;,;hibitcd an umbiv-.ilcnt auitudc toward the divining rod: it was considered dangerous and discouraged among the geneml populace, but its use Y.,ts widely practiced as a priestly function within the church. Church ti1uals and prarer;; were superimposed on wha1 was obviously a very pagan pracrice - partly 1 strengthen the di vine 0 influence, and panly 10 protect against eanhly persecution, ii is supposed. During the time of 1he Inquisition, dowsing was associated with witchcraft and in some areas became justification for torture and a capital crime. There yer remains a legacy of fear and secrecy lingering from that p.-iriod. Practicing dowser John Shisler says, "Even today, if I go b:1ck into certain areas of the mountains, I'm a 'water witch.' A lot of your traditional Bap1is1s will still say that 'witching' is the work of the devil." Dowsing came 10 Turtle Island with the earliest colonists, where i1 met a people who apparently still retained a basic anunemenr to the land as evidenced by 1he eanhworks 1hey created, 1heir many sacred sites, and the vivid They call it psychic. I call it a gif1, sir. I use it for /lis glorv anti mankind's purpose. I do11'1 charge to go find water, I'll ask 'em 10 come after me and bring me back - if they want to donate a penny, I appreciate it; if 1hey do11'1, well, I'll go anyway. I use it/or what I feel in my heart. and I re.\{'L'Ct it for what it is. - J.C. Ga::mvay, dowser legends assoc1:i1ed with them. From the beginning ~Willer witching" was p:111 of the colonists' folk culture. Many of the wells still used in New England were located through the abilities of dm.. seri.. Early European immigrants brought dowsing imo the Southern Appalachians. At first, it was not necessary 10 locate underground water because of the abundant springs, bur when people began to need wells, they sough1 help from those v.ho had kepi alive the traditional "witching"· (continued gn page 28) S1Un111cr, 199 1 �THE RESPONSIBILITIES OF DOWSING: An Interview with Tom Hendricks OK. But if they can't, then 1 don't think they ought to do iL Ka11ial1: People seem 10 be amazed that they have the power 10 do these things. 111: It's a major responsibility. 1 1hink that regaining power is OK. so long as there is a balance. an understanding. Asking permission is very imponant. I've always had a strong intuition. J developed it in my dowsing. Intuition tells us c,cactly what we need 10 know. Kat(,ah · When did you stan dowsing? Tom Hendricks: About ten years ago. A man T knew in Madison County at the time was president of the Appalachian Chapter of the American Society of Dowsers. I learned techniques from the society. I slowly got to meet everybody. I met hundreds of dowsers from around the country and from across the seas. J sroned off with the pendulum and L-rods. l would use the pendulum 10 ask yes and no questions, L-rods to find a water source or whatever else l was looking for. At some point. I started realizing l was getting the feeling before either one of those tools worked I started paying anention to lhe feeling and didn't much rely on the tools. l preferred to deal with the energy itself. Kan11Jh: You could have the feeling of where water was, for instance? TH: Yes. Most dowsers hang onto the tool forever. Some people have real elaborate pendulums. When l was still using a pendulum. I picked up whatever I had around 10 make one, a piece of suing and a rock. l met an old guy from Tennessee who didn't necessarily use tools. He just felt iL A real good dowser told me how he was bringing him back from Tennessee on interstate 40. The old guy said that they had just driven over a major fault. So they Mopped and checked with their dowsing rods. He had felt a major fault under a moving car. He was real sensitive. But dowsing itself is filtering into all kinds of things these days. It has been incorporated into the whole new age movement. I've noticed, not a total lack of auunement, but only panial auuncment. K01uah: From the dowsers themselves? TH: Not all dowsers. A lot of dowsers were being real exact with what they were doing. But a few dowsers were into playing with the energies, talcing things out or context. ln the dowser's society we were never taught to be concerned with looking at the whole picture. I was clearing our someone's house 1ha1 had a lot of weird energy lines running through iL.. KalJJIJh: From the Earth? TH: Yes. You can get negative energy from water, from fault lines and other ways. These energies arc disruptive to the human system. In dowsing that panicul:ir situation. 11 seemed to be OK to move the energy. We moved it around the house. Bue it staned me asking questions: "Should this energy be moved? Do I have the right 10 move this energy?" K01uah: Would it be a question of why the cnerijy is being vented at that pan.icular location. And what the reason is for it? Summer, 199 1 Kam.ah: That requires a different lifestyle than most people have. TH: The energy needs venting, but docs It need to be vented in this particular place? ls it OK to move it? Katuah: The Earth has allowed a lot of manipulation. TH: The Earth has allowed abuse. She is regaining her will, yet we continue to abuse her. Something l have learned is that when we dowse, we should ask whether it is OK on all levels. One time l was out dowsing with an old timer and his daughter and all of us came to this tremendous flow, a major vein of water. Yet, when they went to drill it, nothing happened. Another dowser came over and said, "Don't you sec the Indian spirits?" Native American spirits were still protecting the area and 1hey had interfered. They were angry at white people for all the abuse we have done, and so they were mixing signals. That got to be another question to consider: "Are there any entities here that may interfere?" With me it went further. I asked, 'Why would they interfere? What arc their reasons?" I ta.kc it as far as 1can. There are plenty of eanhbound spirits that are wandering around Josi. That is another aspect of dowsing, sending eanhbound spirits on their way. Dealing with spirits is tricky business. You don't always know why they arc there or what they are doing. There are so many things involved in life and death that arc beyond our understanding. I haven't been dowsing in years. I'm even beginning to question dowsing for a well. Do l want to dowse for someone to punch a hole? There are enough holes being punched into the Earth. The idea of mining crystals really bothers me. I think people ought to leave crystals where they arc unless those people arc 1otally in tune, can sec or feel the energy, know where it comes from, where it's going and why the energy is moving. Crystals take on energy 1hcy need to be cleaned I know a man who planted a garden with crystals. He put in a center crystal, and then he planted other crystals equidistantly all the way around it at the pyramid angles and generated heat. This guy was preuy tuned in, but I'm not sure whether even he asked if he was interfering with any other energies. I think if people can contact all levels of Ufe and be sure that nothing else is disrupted, then it would be Orawu,g by Rob Messick TH: Our culrurc is very sick. I've come to rcali:ze that a 101 of dowsing that is done just feeds the sickness. I know people who arc on payrolls for oil companies. They dowse for oil and gas. They are making money by telling oil companies where to go punch the holes. When l backed off from dowsing, 1 began a healing for the will. As I understand ir. the will is the female energy, the mother energy. It is the pan of the godhead that moves, that feels, thm gives life. The masculine energy is the spirit. The will has been so far removed from human understanding and consciousness that it is barely there. To my understanding, it is because of the loss of will that we are so out of balance. The w ill, the female energy is thal which feels, that which gives birth. I need to use my will in order 10 understand. Developing intuition is listening 10 the will. Ka1uah.: Is this your self-healing? Or are you trying to manifest this outside yourself in your environment? 11 I: 1 believe that the personal healing musr come first. The disharmony is within ourselves. We need 10 get in 1ouch with our own dilemmas and fears. There are lost emotions that we deny. I also think that b) our own dishannony, we allow things to hun us. If we were in harmony with ourselves, the negative energies from the Earth could pass through us without finding a place to collect. I think emotions cause blockages and tl"llp whatever wants to be trapped in us. So lately I have been focusing on self-healing, rather than manipulating negative eanh energies. We humans feel we have a right 10 do anything that we want to do. We have got to realize our shoncomings. We have responsibilities 10 ourselves. Ka1uah: Are you going to get back to dowsing? Tii: A friend of mine wants me to dowse for a well and I should do it for him. The healing I'm doing is leading me through places I've never experienced before. pans of myself that 1have never experienced before. So l don't know what is going to happen. I feel, in a sense, that I am still dowsing by healing my will and strengthening my intuition. I listen more, not with my cars nccel>S3rily. but with my whole being. ;, Ruorlkd by Madl!llrw II Dean Xat ua h ) oun\Ot ~ 5 �CEREMONIES OF THE MOMENT An Interview with Joyce Holbrook by Charlotte Homsher Joyce was born and raised on a/am, in Wilkes Co11111y, NC. She taught in midwestem co//ege.f/or 17 years before remrning u, the mountai,is. She ,ww smdies and teaches Earth energies throu1:ho111 tlie Southeast. • Kat(iah: What is the nature of the energy grid on Eanh? JH: There are many ideas abou1 chis. The similarity in the ideas is tha1 the Eanh is surrounded by nee working lines of energy in 1hc shape of a dodecahedron, a three-dimensional figure enclosed by twelve sides. Looking at the grid on a smaller scale, it would seem to be divided into uiangles. The triangle is fundamental to so many things; it is the basic geometry of life. l would imagine that . in accord with the hermetic principal of "as above, so below" · there is triangulation involved in the energetics. not only of the human body, but in subsystems of the body, even at the cellular level and probably at the molecular level. It is my opinion that it is the life force energy, whatever that may be, that powers the grid. Katt'iah: What happens when the cosmic energy hits the Eanh grid? JH: When it hits the grid, i1 runs along the lines of the grid. Kacuah: The lines of the grid sometimes being called the "Icy lines"? JH: Yes, the Icy lines. We know that there 1s cosmic energy coming into the Eanh. Th.is has been verified scientifically. However, as far as r know, it has not been verified scicn1ifically that the Earth is surrounded by an energy grid or that this cosmic energy runs along it. These are theories of more recent times. Karual1: Does any of thi$ energy originate from inside the Eanh, or is it all cosmic energy? JH: I think it is cosmic, bu1 it docs have an aspect tha1 comes from inside the Earth. If I stand on a vonex point, a high energy point. I can feel an energy that comes up through my body from the ground and then goes back down in a spiral fashion. I also feel thllt whatever hum:in consciousness does affects the grid. So, obviously, this war-like consciousness impinges on the communication network of the planet and goes out and affects the whole planet Katualr: Can you comment on what is happening with the Appalachian ~Ids and ridge1ops in relation to Eanb energies? "My whole approach to working with Earth energies is to get away from ritual and recipes, to enter into the spo11ta11eity of life." J.H. spiral. That I am sure of, because I have felt it. In the newer theories of physics, the though1 is that matter itself spirals in on a vortex inio mamfestation out of pure consciousness. You could say that vortices exist on every level, even down 10 atoms. And they exist, perhaps, within our own bodies nnd in the Eanh itself. JH: My personal experience with energy comes from the fact that I sense it and see it. I see auras over mountains in the same way that some people see auras around people, and I feel the energy. The Appalachians arc the Grandparents of the planet. They are gentle. old, wise, and loving. These things can not be measured scientifically. This is sensing through the heart and by feeling the energy of nature, rather than through the ra1ional mind. Love can be felt from nature, i1 truly can, when a person's heart is open. And lhe Appalachians embrace you very much like wise old grandparents. There is a certain quality that grandparents lent 10 society, and there is a certain quality th:11 grm1dparent energy lends to the Eanh. The Rocky Mountains have a youthful, vibrant, rather masculine energy. There are many people who feel that the energy of the Appalachians is essentially feminine. But I have also felt mountains within the Appalachians tha1 feel very masculine. For instance, the Black Mountains are masculine. My cabin is on a flank of a mountain that is ma~culine in essence. Pyramidal mountains essentially feel masculine. The balds :-.re round and smooth, and those feel feminine. They are very healing. They wi II raise your energy. I often see golden lines of energy over balds. JH: It could, although r have seem a similarity. 1 had a whole group of people 001 by the Missouri River at a location that wa.~ both in a vortex and on a grid line. The people all felt the line, and everyone had the same response as 10 how they needed to align their bodies in order to feel best in respect to the line. Ka11ialr. Could you explain about the different kinds of voncxes? Kauiah: How is Katuah affected by wh3t happens in another place on the Earth? JH: They arc as different as people are different. The dowsers repon that they see· ·o exist where grid lines cross. They are definitely associated with water activity, flowing water, lakes. oceans, and underground water. There arc people who say that there are male and female vortices. There are also people who describe them as either electric or magnetic or electtomagnetic, which is balanced between male and female. l'm not real sure about that. Bui I have felt energy move in a vortex. It does JH: Before the San Francisco eanhquakc m 1989, I was driving with my sister, and I Katuah: How can we beuer auune ourselves to the Eanh? JI(: By exploring feeling. Find particular places, either by direct sensing or by using dowsing tools, and then simply stand in those places until you can sense with your body how they feel. Your magnetic orientation is imponant - whether you face north, east. sou1h, or west. Kariiah: Would this differ from person 10 person? looked at the mountains. The mountains looked like they were in so much pain. I 1 my sistc:r c!d that something was happening, and the quake occurred within a few hours. Katuah: So all the Eanh is feeling what is happening in any one place? JH: Right. But canhquakes are also a part of nature, and so they arc not an anomaly. Slfmmcr, t991 �w #=fj They are ad-jusanents in nature itself. I think, in particular, mountains are antennae to register what the Eanh is doing. Also streams will register the Earth's pulse, attitude, and vibrations in the same sense that your bloodstream is going to register what is going on in your body, the energetics of your body. Ka11iah: How do you do Earth healing? JH: Places call to me. Roan Mountain has called me many times, and Chimney Rock as well. Killian Mountain has called me recently. r believe narurc is a conscious being and communicates wilh us. There is a thing called the spirit of a place. there is an essence to Roan Mountain, or essence to Table Rocle. that has a consciousness to iL And consciousness communicates with consciousness. When I go 10 a place, I try to humble myself and tune into just "being." I don't go purposefully like some doctor or technician trying 10 ''fix something." I just go there, and I tune into the essence of the place. I always pray in these places. I think it is very imponanL l always pray for inner guidance in any particular moment or situation. And then I may begin to chant, a chant that is not a recipe. 1don't do recipes. I do chanting, toning, and movement for the moment. My whole approach to working with Earth energies is 10 get away from ritual and recipes, to enter into the spontaneity of life. Life has its magic for the moment, has its light for the moment, has its peace for the momenL And that becomes an experience that involves the movement of the body, the voice, the bean, and the feelings. If we allow these aspects of ourselves to blend with the pince and the moment. then we can unlock our bodies, unlock our voices, and unlock our hearts. This is allowing divine love to flow through us. from the place to us, and from us to the place. Once connected, we network out over the grid, over the pathways that are, into the whole system, into the universe itself, nnd into every other person on the planet. Aod this is the healing. The real healing in life is to relax, let go, and allow love to flow, because love is, it is of God and it simply is. We do not have 10 create it. Ka11'iah: Do you go to places where the Earth has been desecrated by humans? JH: Yes. I have been led to places where people have damaged the Eanh. I did this at a whole workshop once in Kentucky. Several people felt led to go this place where for years people had dumped tmsh off the side of the road, and it had fallen into a ravine. The essence of that ravine was speaking to us, and it seemed to be choking and poisoned. We held hands in a circle, we prayed, and then we moved 10 places where we felt comfonablc alongside the ravine. We then entered into silence. One of us began to tone, and then another began to tone, and as it turned out, there was a triad. There were three women, including myself, coning in what became a triangle. This was all spontaneous. And the energy staned to flow down the ravine. Another woman had visions, very powerful visions, of an old medicine man who came up and spoke to her. It was such a - powerful experience that many of us began to cry. We could feel the Eanh saying thank you. That particular day, there was no wind whatsoever, yet single leaves on the trees would just flutter, even though there was no wind to flutter them. We were amazed at what we saw in terms of narure physically communicating with us. And she really does, but people don't notice that. This is my philosophy of healing. It is love that heals. In the process of working with an area, I may end up using some stones to build a wheel, if I feel led 10 do this. But again, I do not have a recipe where I say, 'Take x amount of stones... '' I just go there and allow myself to be pan of the totality of the experience. In doing this with nature, we learn how to beuer do that with each other. Instead of building rigid ways of interacting in families, we learn to flow with the spontaneity of the moment. ,. ,. - JH: Yes, I think the time has come that we have to reconnect with the Earth. We have lost touch with her, and in doing so we have lost touch with ourselves. To reconnect with her is to reconnect with our own individual souls and with each other. I sec it as the answer to bringing love to the planet and to bringing healing. If you go out and lie on the ground, you will be comforted and the problems which disturbed you wiJI just seem to go away. I know some very powerful places that will just wash away your troubles. For information abo111 Earth Energy workshops with Joyce Holbrook, write her at Box 1095: Burnsville, NC 28714. K(ll1iali: Could you say something about the vision you had about making your own medicine wheel? JH: The vision was shown to me to make it of olivine, but at that time l had not seen olivine in nature. A friend told me about an outcropping near an abandoned olivine mine. When I went there. I did not just go in and take rocks without asking permission. I was given these rocks, and I took 12 home and made a wheel, and they turned out lookingjust like I saw 1n the vision. It is on my property. and I go sit in it. Tt is very powerful, and it has taught me that we are a wheel within a wheel. The wounds in our lives which are not healed are broken circles. Medicine wheels help us sec what we need to release to come to full circle again. In going to power places, we can find within ourselves what is s1ill wounded. If we work with these places, things may come up in our memory, emotions mny come fonh, which can snow us what needs healing. Nature is of God. Nature is full of healing, hannoniling forces, just as we are. if we can come to see thaL h is a spiritual experience when I work with the Earth. 1 go out by myself a lot. I do this to bring harmony into my own life. If l have not gone out for three or four days, l just have 10 re tum to the Eanh. 1 was down in Stone Mountain, Georgia recently. Stone Mountain is a very powerful place. It has been contaminated with a lot of materialistic consciousness. but there still are places there that ~ very powerful, and local people could use these places to :ttt!lne and align themselves. Stone Mount,un 1s a power point for the whole Southeast. lf we were not so numb to feeling and sensing energies, people would be able to sense these things. My sister and I have done a lot of work together in the mountains. One of us will say that we should go to a cenain place. and we will go and tone and sing and pray toge~hcr. This has been very powerful for us as sisters. It is a wonderful thing to do with members of your family. It brings harmony into a family. Go inside a stone That would be my way. Let somebody else become a dove Or gnash with a tiger's tooth. I am hnppy to be a stone. I From the outside the stone is a riddle: No one knows how LO answer it. Yet within, it must be cool and quiet Even though a cow steps on it full weight, Even though a child throws it in a river. The stone sinks, slow, unpenurbed To the river bottom Where the fishes come 10 knock on it And listen. I have seen sparks fly out When two stones are rubbed, So perhaps it is not dark inside after all; Perhaps there is a moon shining From somewhere, as though behind a hill Just enough light to make out The strange ,1tritings. the s1nr-chans On the inner walls. -CS Karuoh. Do you have a vision of humans and the Eanh hving together in a more harmonious way? Drav.,in& by RobMcmck Sum nu:< , 1991 JCotimn )ournot pQ(JI!- 7 �"Jack-o-lanterns," Acid Rain, and the Electrical Life of the Earth by Clyde I follifield The lights do not stay strictly on Brown Mountain, but seem 10 occur throughout the whole area. I have seen them in Linville Gorge. We once saw a light on Hawk~bill Mountain, which is the next hill beyond Brown Mountain. It was cruising up and down lhc mountain, circling lhe hill, moving at abouL treetop level. It was moving a too fast to be someone walking with a light, and it was not a vehicle, for there is no road over !here on which a vehicle could travel. S rown Mountain lies southeas1 of Grandfather Mountain near the Linville Gorge Wilderness Arca in Avery County II is an unimpressive, nondescript mountain, little more than a tong low ridge, but it is a focus of curiosity because of strange phenomena known as the Brown Mountain LightS. There arc a lot of different ideas about what the lights look like. Some people say they arc a bright light. Olhcrs 53y that they arc a faint glow. Some say they arc diMinct; others say that they are diffu~c. Some people have seen them in the summcnime; others say that they see them best in the winter. I believe that there are ns mnny different opinions as there arc people who say that they've seen them. And a lot of people have seen them. The Brown Mountain Lights have been known in that area for generations. There arc old folk tales about them. The local inhabit:ints call them "jack-o-lantcms." I have been interested in the Brown Mountain Lights since I was a teen-ager. Friends and I would camp out on Table Rock on summer weekends and were sometimes rewarded by a sight of the lights at the foot of the mountain or drifting up the ridges. They appeared ns Huie lights above the treetops. They were not diffuse or blurry, but were rather small, brig.ht ligh1s, usually about the color of a mercury vapor lamp nnd shining as brightly as n streetlight. They usually ap~d late in the evening nnd in the very early morning. On one occasion about eight or ten years ago, I snw little flashes of light all over Brown Mountain, as if somebody hnd set off thousands of flashbulbs all at once. It was like ligh1ning, outlining the top of the ridge. II only hs1ed for several seconcl~. and then it was gone, bu1 it occurred three or four times that night. It was like elcctricnJ discharges popping off all over the mountain. Other times the lights are long-hvcd. They may appear, move around up on the ridge for several minutes, maybe go behind Xotunh Journat pm.JC 8 the hill, and then come back out again. Today it is hard to pick out Brown Mountain from 1hc background of anificinl lighis. If you arc looking at Brown Mountain, you arc just as likely to sec something beyond it, like Lenoir or Morganton, or houses built on Grandfather Mountain, Blowing Rock, or Boone. My criteria are. first, 1h01 the lights have to be against the side of 1hc mountain where I know there's no habitation, and secondly, that they have 10 be acting strangely • moving too fast. shooting lilce a skyrocket. or coming up over the ridge. Scientists have initiated some smdies on the Brown Mountain LighlS. but they have found the tights to be elusive. Many times when they have tried 10 make observations. the lightS have not appeared. Some of the studies that were carried out tried 10 dismiss 1he occurrences as swamp gas or other easily explainable events. However. I personally have seen two lights n~proach each other from opposite dm:ctions. Sometimes they bump together, sometimes they move apan. but when they nrc moving in opposite dircc1ions, one of them has 10 be moving against the wind. Gases \\OUld have to move in the same direction as the wind, so it is apparent that the lights arc not gaseous in nature They look like a specific object, rather than a blurry. windy-blown name. Even when they arc moving rapidly. they rc1:1in their sh:tpc. A fast-moving gas cloud would tend to diffuse. 1 think 1hat the lights arc simply something that we don·t underMand. They arc a natuntl phenomenon that is outside our knowledge of physics. I have spent whole weekends watching for the lights and been rewarded by only one sighting, or somcumcs even none. The lights seem 10 appear randomly. However, I have a feeling that they arc excited by electrical :.tonns. When I went "light-hunting" with my friends, we would ay to go in August, on an evening after a big_ electncal s1onn. Also, the Brown Mountain Lights are no1 the only electrical phenomena in 1ha1 area. One cold night in November LWO years ago, some friends and I were up on Tobie Rock looking for the Brown Mountain Lights, and I kept seeing little flashes of light nickering around the edge of my vision. They were dim, but I could sec lhcm moving, panicularly when l brushed against a bush. It was subtle, but when I opened the blanket Lhat I had wrapped around me, I saw that the inside of lhe blanket was sparkling with light. I jumped up and called the olhers over, and we examined it. Little sparlcs of light would appear when I dragged the blanket on the ground or rubbed i1 against the bushes. The sparks did not seem like static electricity. They did not give us electrical shock:.. They did not jump or crackle or make any sound. They were just there. We never saw any Brown Mountain Lights that night, but this amazing new sigh1 gave us plenty 10 think about. We joked about how we had come looking for lhc Brown Mountain Lights. and they had been around us all the time. Maybe there is some connection between the electrical sparks and the Brown Mountain Lights. I did not know. but I decided 10 check it ou1. A few weeks laLer some friends and I went to Grandfather Mountain, and we saw a lot more of th:tt same kind of electrical spark. The lights were in our blankets, on our clothing, on the bushes. The Grandfather Mountain swinging bridge was sparkling. It looked like what is known as St. Elmo's fire, which appears frequently in sea stories. It was a cold. clear night, and the "'ind was blo"' ing hard. Our clothes were tlapping in the wind, and the lights would appear on the trailing edge of our co:tts. If I stretched out my finger near another person's coat, the fire would jump to the end of my finger. Jt was uncanhly. We saw a great deal of activity there 1ha1 night. My old blanket. which was made of some blend of wool and acrylic, was lighting up more than our other clothing. and J got the idea that we could use it ns an electrical indicator. Later that month. I took that blanket up 10 the top of Mt. Mitchell. It was another cold December night, nnd the blanket lit up. I experimented as Jtame Drawma by Rob Mcssicl S111nn1cr, 1991 �down th': Parkway by stopping periodically as I descended in elevation and trying the blanket each time. The sparks diminished until I got down to about 3,500 feet, below which they did not reappear. I theorized that the phenomenon was connected somehow to cold nights and high elevation. I went out on several other cold expeditions that winter to different locations, and we tried some other experiments. I had heard that fluorescent light bulbs would sometimes light up under high-voltage power lines because of the electrical emissions. So one time we carried some fluorescent bulbs lO the top of Mt. Mitchell. When we opened the trunk to get them out, we saw lights nickering up and down the shafts of the bulbs. They would light up when we whirled them through the air, touched them 10 bushes or to the ground, or even when we passed them back and fonh among ourselves. We didn't see much of the St. directly from the air. He said that they receive as much as 11 % of their nitr0gen, not through the roots, but through their leaves. These specially adapted nonhem plants are built so that high levels of elecuicity in the in the air around them induces what Professor Aurela calls a "coronal discharge" at their edges or needle tips, which ionizes (or adds an extra electrical charge 10) chemical compounds containing nitrogen, so that the ionized ourogen atoms can be fixed into the plant tissues. The coronal discharge happens often, but it only breaks over into a visible state five or ten percent of the time. However, because the air today also contains sulfur and niuogen pollutants (which we know as "acid rain"), these too arc ionized, and the plants fix them into their tissues as well, causing great damage. Because the air is poisoned, this process which was once vital for their survival is Cl.08'1L ELECIIIICAL CIRCUIT or Schematic various electrical proc:csin O,c global clcc:lnc:11 circu,t Sowce: the Earth', Ekctrical r:.n,iroMIUII by E. Philip Kinl,r and Raymond G. Roble Elmo's fire that night, and we thought that what we were experiencing was some type of static electricity. 1decided that I would find out. Rather than continunlly freezing on mountaintops, l went over to the National Oimatic Data Center office in Asheville, which is pan of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the US Department of Commerce. I was passed around between six different offices and never found anyone who had heard of these occurrences. I corresponded with experts in Washington, DC: Boulder, Colorado: and Fairbanks, Alaska before someone directed my attention to Professor Asko Aurela at the Wihuri Physical Laboratory of the University of Turku in Finland. This man knew all about iL fie amazed me when he told me that the electrical phenomena we had been seeing was connected with acid min! He explained that in the nonhem latitudes, because of the poor, thin soils, and the short growing season, some varieties of plants - like Norway spruce, Scotch pines, and lichens have evolved the ability to absorb nitrogen Summer, 10!1I now speeding these plant species toward destruction. Professor Aurela told me that coron.il discharge is similar in nature to what he called "the luminous pillar," a wide shaft of light going straight up into the sky, and another phenomenon named "low aurom." The fascinating thing about these occurrences, as he exrlained, is that they are all natural parts o the: Earth's electrical environmenL Thundel'5tom1s arc like big generators pumping high voltages of electrical current into the Earth's electrical circuit. There arc thousands of thunderstorms active around the planet at any one time. sending 50-100 bolts of lightning down 10 the Eanh's surface every second. Thunderstorms do not occur everywhere; it requires heat to produce a thunderstorm. 11terefore, on each side of the Equator arc thunderstorm belts that extend from the tr0pics up to the middle Latitudes. The other side of this electrical system is several hundred feel under the surface of the Earth where there runs an energy flow known as the Telluric current. Sometimes the Telluric current disrupts transmissions through oceanic cables, because it gets so strong that it produces static on the wire. Because the seasons in the Nonhem and Southern Hemispheres are reversed, during the winter, when we are seeing electrical phenomena on ML Mitchell and Grandfather Mountain, thunderstorms are playing over the Amawn basin and in South America. They send energy currents up into the ionosphere, a layer of the Earth's upper atmosphere. Thunderstorms are instrumental in keeping an electrical potential difference of about 200,000600,000 volts between the Earth and the ionosphere. The ionospheric current flows north across the Equator and comes back down, 001 at the North Pole, but at about «I' nonh latitude in central Canada. This is the area known as the "auroral ring,• where there is a lot of northern lights activity, more even than at the Nonh Pole. On the Canadian plains during nights of a lot of electrical activity, people cannot use the telephone, and sometimes the whole power grid goes down because the long wires build up so much electrical static. The Southern Appalachians are at the southern edge of this electrically active zone. If we didn't have mountains here, we would not experience electrical phenomena at all. But mountains arc an imponant pan of the Earth's electrical energy circuit. One-third of the Earth's electri.cal current returns 10 the Earth at high mountain peaks. There is a blanket of thicker atmosphere, called the "planetary bound.µ-y layer." that extends one mile above the surface of the Earth and nets as an electrical resistor. As the air gets thinner at higher elevations, it offers less resistnnce, and electricity c;in now more easily through it. High mountains like the Southern Appalachians act like lightning rods, or electrical receptors, that penetrate the planetary boundary layer and conduct the electrical energy back to Earth. The Ea.nh's electrical energy moves in a great circle. When a thunderstorm occurs in the Amazon River Basin or in South America, the energy travels to the nonh, comes into a mountain peak, returns to the ground, and travels underground back 10 South America. When it is summcnime in the north, the polarity shifts so that the thundcl'5torms here gener.11e current which is sent back through the ionosphere 10 the south. It is like an alternating current on a yearly cycle instead of sixty cycles per second, it's one cycle per year - six months one way, six months the other. Professor Aurcla also has a gr.1ph of the daily variation m electrical activity, and the graph shows that here in the nonhem hemisphere the highc.\t level of activity is between l l and one o'clock at night. As happens here, most of the thunders1om1 activity in the southern zone occurs just before sundown, so the surge arrives up here around midnight, and then activity tapers off towards morning. There's a daily variation, and there's a seasonal variation. We just happened 10 be on Grandfather Mountain during a period of peak activity. (conttnucd CG po&< 10) JGoti&ah Journot pal)& 0 �Old Houses Even exposed to all weathers it takes many years for a strong house, untended, 10 collapse of itself. First the boards have to weather, shedding even the little life the ax lelt them. The doors, swollen with rain, must open, inviting owl and vole and every creature at random like a kind of ark: men without money and lovers at play on the one brown mattress. Boys in summer must stone the windows to blindness. then grow themselves into sternness and silence, assuming the weight of their lives. The wine bonles smashed in the oorner must gather dust and the eaves go crazy with birds. and the floors curl up like sleepers grown cold. Then the stones it sits on must sink in the wet eanh as they open at last to the frost's slow demolition. TIii tho whole house slumps, a haven for snakes, so low nol even the wind caJ1 rattle it anymore. II No strata of wills. deeds, papers, stacked in the courthouse can tell you how it came to this, why the rose bush runs wild over the back steps, and a rag doll is left down cellar by a stack of books. No matter. Today is one out of many and you are happy. Nothing here is haunted. Squirrels skitter off like regrets · as you enter their chamber. a tourist, a snapshot. The old boards give back the light with a kind of joy, the rose llght of evening, the sun's dark laughter. For it takes. it takes many years. - Richard Nester Drawing by Rob Memck (aintinued 6om page 9) ls all this related somehow to the Brown Mountain Lights? Maybe it is! Perhaps Brown Mountain for some geological or physical reason is more conductive. Perhaps i1 is positioned in such a way, or iis roots go down to a cenain depth beneath the Eanh so lha1 it aurac1s more of this kind of activity. Maybe not. However, for whatever reason, there are fireballs shooting around on Brown Mountain. And in the Andes Mountains in Peru, 1he highest mountains in the Southern Hemisphere, where one would expect to sec an elecaical activity center, there is a phenomena called the "Andes LlghLc;": mysterious lights that can be seen among I.he mountain peaks. In guidebooks I have seen references to lhe Brown Mountain LighLS tha1 describe I.hem as being "...similar to the Andes Lights in Peru." They seem to be much the same. Bur who knows? We just do not know enough yet to be sure. Xatimh Journot ptuJe t 0 Resource Reading: The Earth's £/ecmcal E11viro11ment by E. Philip Kirder and Raymond G. Roble, co-chairmen (National Academy Press: Washington, DC: 1986) . lightning, Auroras, Nocturnal lights, and Related Phe,wmena by W.R. Corliss (Sourcebook Project; Glen Arm, MD: 1982) Aurela, Asko and Risto Punkkinen,"Atmospheric Nitrogen Dioxide and Nonhem Plants," Report of Kevo Subarctic Research Station 17: 1-6 (1981) or • Schematic diqiam ela:uic c:wn:i,15 in lhe ionosphere and inner magnctosphett. Sowa,: the Eanli's El«tricol EnvirOMIDII b)I E. Phibp Ki.rdcr and Raymond 0 . Roble Punkinnen, R. and A.M. Aurela, "Production of N02 and Sound in Positive Streamer Discharges," 7th lnternatio11al Conference 011 Atmospheric Electricity (American Meteorological Society, Boston, 1984) Summer, 1991 �KA TUAH AND THE EARTH GRlD "The Earth grid" is an energy system that surrounds the emire planet. Dowsers think of the grid as a network ofelectric and magnetlc energies. Meraphysicians see the grid theory as yet atwther demonstration that 1/ze Earth is a self-regulating system and a consciollS being. There is a wide divergence of viewpoints on the nature of the Eartlt Grid and Katuah's place in the system. Following are s1mu11aries of the opinions ofa few of the individuals in Ka11,ah who routinely work with Earth energies: Joll11 Shisler is a biolocation co11sultan1. Using a combinatio11 of traditional dowsing techniques a11d scientific equipment, he assis,s clients i11 choosing building sites and construc1i11g buildings for optimum health. He takes inu, accow11 Earth energies, climate, soil rype, and also the surroundlng lu1111an-created energy fields. Theories about Lhe Earth grid began to surface about 50 years ago in France and Germany. Dr. Josef Oberback of Gennany originated the lheory of two grid systems, a cosmic grid which runs nonh to south, and east to west; and an Eanh grid system which runs northeast 10 southwest, and northwest to southeast. The two grids lie in close proximity, wilh the Eanh grid crossing points about seven inches away from the crossing points of the cosmic grid. There is constant energy exchange and interaction between the two grids, and ii can become difficult to separate the two when mapping. There is no mystery about the grid. It is nothing more than vibration, or frequency. The two grids can be mapped and measured Superimposed on each other, the two grids create what would be ca.lied in electr0nic tenninology, a "2 x 2 memory core system" of el~oical and magne~c fields. These crossing points could be descnbed as "spiral vortex energy." Except in the event of earthquakes, the Eanh Grid fluctuates very li1tle. The cosmic grid fluctuates seasonally, expands and contracts at sunrhe and sunset, and shifts during eanhquakes. The Christian church calendar, which bases its holy days upon the old pagan holidays, follows the seasonal fluctuations in the cosmic grid. On October20 near All Saints Day, the cosmic energy field ' begins to expand. By December 20, the cosmic grid lines are as large as nine feet in width. This i~ also the time of year when people e,cpenence more heallh problems. By February 2, the day when the Christ child was introduced to the church, the cosmic grid lines have receded back to their normal size of two and one-half inches in width. Everything that we do 10 the Earth attracts the magnetic flux in the Earth at the local level. If we dig up tree roots, put in dumps, or place huge culverts in the Eanh, as we are doing now, we change the lines of magnetic flux. The human adult is composed of70% water. Every atom in our bodies is replaced periodically. We lose two pounds of cells per day. We have new skin cells every thiny days. We are in a constant state of change. Every blast of energy goes through our bodies, whether that energy is from the Earth, cosmic rays, magnetic s1onns, or human-made electronic energy. It is not only the gcopathic location of one's residence that determines the debilities 10 which one is most liable. We arc changing !he molecular structure of our bodies because of the barrage of the horizontal electrical field which we have created, as opposed to the venicaJ field of energy coming down from !he cosmos and the steady-state electrical field coming up from the Earth. We arc affecting ourselves at the cellular level so rapidly that we have stepped up our own evolution by 50,000 years. by Charlotte Homsher Richard Crutchfitld, a dbwser from Weaverville, NC works 1 ridgecops along 1l11t Jte Blue ridge Parkway searching for negative vortexes and evldence of ancienc sacred sites. Richard works with two basic grid energies. The Curry grid of magnetism is the Eanh Grid. It runs in lines nine co ten feet apan around !he globe in a nonheast-southwcst orientation. These lines are intersected by peipendicular lines about the same distance apart. The intersections have positive, neutral, and negative energies which alternate along !he lines. . The Hartmann grid is the cosmic grid which overlays the Earth Grid. The cosmic grid has wider lines which vary in width according 10 where the Earth is in relation 10 1he sun, and other factors. The fluctuations of the cosmic grid influence our behavior. {conunucd on nu.I page) The new double pcntadodecahedron grid p:iuern now emerging Summer, 199 1 • from Nrw Earllo Odystty by Joseph Robcn.JochmJJ1s C) 1989 Xatimh Journot paqe 11 �(conlil!ucd from pogo II) Richard has found much evidence of ancient sacred sites in the mountains. Of panicuJar interest 10 him arc the many large rocks which were cut and placed in the landscape by the ancients who placed "walls of energy" into the rocks. Richard uses t11e tenns "positive.. and "negative" to describe vonex energy as either heallhy or unhealthy. Po:.itive vortexes are generally found where the vege1ation is lush and the area seems invi1mg. There may be fairy rings in these areas. The negative vortex area.,; can be recognized by scruffy vegetation and fallen trees. The negative vonexes become unhealthy for various reasons, possibly including violence from old cultures or our own negative thought forms. Using dowsing tools, Richard reverses the flow of energy in the negative vortexes. I le believes that he is aiding the healing of the Earth by helping to restore unblocked flows of energy. • rn late winter, 1991, Richard perceived with his dowsing rods that there were two new energies on the ridgetops. The first was a steady, unfluctuating su-cam of energy which came from the nonhwest and blanketed the mountains. This energy was of a very positive, healing nature. There was also another kind of energy which was moving uphill at knee level with both negative and positive polarity flows. Richard docs not think either of these new energies is geomagnetic, nJthough they may be related 10 the life force energy which comes in through the node system of the Eanh Grid. He believes that the energy may have been activated by very sophisticated pre-planned engineering on the part of someone or some force, possibly by the ancients. When this energy hits sacred sites, the siLes seem 10 spring back to life. Medicine wheels activated by this energy are very powerful. Bill Waften has smdied Native American prophecies and traveled exrensivel>• to sacred sires the world over. His eleventh book, Pilgrimage, will be available this summer at the United Research lighJ Cemer near Black Mo111110i11. The Cherokee Indians recognized that the Earth energy in Katiiah was feminine/right brain energy. They refe~d 10 Grandfather Moon and Grandmother Sun until they were forcefully reloc~ued to Oklahoma where the prevalent energy was masc11line/righ1 brain. The masculine counterpan 10 the Katuah area in the United States is the Four Comers area. The Hopi peace prophecy states that there will be global peace when the Rainbow is completed between the Hopi Four Comers area and the Cherokee Katuah. In 1984 Diana and Jim Gourc from the United Research Light Center began prayer group pilgrimages from Cherokee, North Carolina to the Four Corners area.. They believed that they had anchored the Rainbow into the etheric. However, they were not aware of the Cherokee interpretation of the prophecy that called for extending the pilgrimages 10 the Mount Shasta area and nearby Black Butte, California. The prophecy also called for prayers for all the people who lived between these three power poinlS. Pilgrims from Kntuah who wish to fulfill the Hopi peace prophecies may travel the "Icy lines," or lines of power, by way of the Grand XatiUJh JoumaL pa<JC 12 811/ IValrcrs Canvon, Southern California, Mount Whitnev, and north to Mount Shas1a: or by an alternate. route from the Four Comers area to the Gmnd Teton Mountains, the Bighorn Mountains, Yellowstone National Park, and then west to the Mount Shasta-Black Butte area. Mary arrd Joseph Jocllma11s recemly moved to Sowlt Carolinafrom New Hampshire. Mary is a karmic galactic astrologer and Joseph is known/or his book Rolling Thunder. The Coming Earth Changes. The pair co,uittct 1011.rs 10 sacred sires aro1111d the world and are co11sidered authorities on ancient cultures arrd vortex energy. Together they research what they call the "evolving crystal grid." Their grid theory involves complex patterns ofgalactic co11jiguratio11s, ancient symbols, and sacred geomerry. According to the Jochmans, the Earth is a living evolving, crystal fonn. She has points of power on her surface which increase in number every time she moves into a higher energy. Along with the increase of power points, there is also a corresponding increase in the lines of energy (the grid) between these power points. When the continents were splining apan about 220 million years ago. 1hey broke along Lhe lines of a tetrahedron. Since Lhat time the geomeaic configuration of this grid has become ever more complex. The Earth is now undergoing a massive shif1 which will result in 1he most complex grid yet. The new grid will be a double pentadodecahedron. The power points on this new grid will increase from the present 64 to a ~otaJ of 486 poccntiaJ sacred sites. The ancients located their sacred sites and built their monuments on or near the grid power poims. Many of these old sites will be dying or changing purpose as the new power points emerge. The Harmonic Convergence of 1987 marked the beginning of these changes. The new crystal grid will be in pin~ within 30 ye:irs. The energy now being anchored into the Sou1heas1 is feminine, intuitive, hean energy. Mary claims that the m.ijor power poini for the Capricorn Compassion node will be anchored in the Carolinas or Tennessee by 1996. Compassion as defined by Mary means "the ability to communicate one's compassion for all of life," The old anchoring point for this compassion energy was the ancient mythical Allanth which is off the Florida coast. There are manv Karmic connec1ions between Ka11iah, Atlantis; and Lemuria. Remnants of the land mass of the old Atlantis can still be found in Lhe Southeast. In Peach Tree Rock, a heritage trust site in South Carolina, there arc visible crusts of rock from the original Atlantis. The Elbenon quarry district in Georgia, site of the largest granite deposit in the world, is sitting on the edge of a huge mass of crystalline rock 35 miles long. This same crvstalline mass is connected to the underground mass of Stone Mountain. When the crystalline energy is triggered by the anchoring of the new grid, many mountains, such as Stone Mountain, will become reawakened. Also the EJbenon granite, which has been exponed around the world, will become reac1iva1cd with the Compassion energy. According to Joseph, the Eanh will not allow manipulation of these higher new energies. We cannot force the changes, and neither can we stop them We can delay the anchoring of the energies for a time by our resistance 10 change, bu1 the Earth will be reborn no matter what we do. The Earth changes do not have to be cataclysmic if we can "allow the Eanh Mother to go through this birth." We are the creatures with the greatest po1entiaJ 10 lose everything in the Eanh Changes, yet we are also the potential midwives. "We are the Earth Changes ourselves. If we change within ourselves first, then we become a force of change to bring lrUe co-creation to the planeL" Those who wislifor information about the Jochmans' Alma Tara Multi-versiry, the Universal Magi Apprenticeship program, or to subscribe ro their newsletter. may write them a1; Jlox /0703; Rock Hill, SC 29731. Mary & Joseph Jockmans S11mmcr, l 99 l �THE CALL OF THE ANCIENT ONES: The Spiritual Re-Awakening of the Great Smoky Mountains :Cl has become increasingly evident over lhe past decade lhat the Eanh is indeed chan~ng. All around us rhe climate becomes more unprediclllble while volcanoes awaken to cast the earlh's blood heavenward in fiery splen_dor. De~rts grow larger and areas of rich and tillable soil grow smaller. Rivers and seas continue to pound lhe continental shores, carying their signarures into lhe landscape while battles rage for the cleansing of their polluted walers. UnnaturJl clouds block lhe swlight from our cities, and the land groans wilh the pain of greal quak<!S thal rend and tear the fault lines lhal lay in lace-like patlems over lhe plane1's surface. All the while, humanuy wages war amongst ourselves, economic siabi!ity wav_ers. and political, social, and religious penis challenge our very survival. Bui th<;se are the frightening negatives regarding planetary change, for arnidsl all lhe apprehension and uncenainty some wonderfully positive global events are (!CCUrring lhat are unprecedented in modem umes. These events will perhaps do more to open the minds and heans of humans to a greater awareness of the truth of the "living E~''. theory than anything the academic or s~1enllfic "".orlds could ever offer to prove or disprove this age-old tnnh. An explanation of these events spans lhe fields of geology and geomancy, and encomp~sscs lhe perspectivCl; of_l~e sa_cred ecology of Native American spmtunlity as well as related beliefs and practices of other ancient cullures. The body of Mother Earth is dotted with special power sites, bolh natural and human-created, that were recognized and used by our ancestors for lhe performance of their ~cred c~remonies. Balefires have lil up the mght skies on the grassy slopes of ancient Av~lon while priests and priestesses wound their way through the stone circles at Stonehenge and Avebury. Patient eyes have awmted Grandfather Sun 10 make i1s annual imprint upon the walls of Newgrange in Ireland and Chaco Canyon in the American Sou1hwes1. Sacred mountains all over the \\-Orld have beckoned pilgrims to lhc1r summits and the healing waters from holy rivers, wells. and springs have blessed and repaired 1he bodies and souls of the faithful who have lilied their chalices with sweet waters, 1hc Earth Mother's very source of life. Yes, our forbears were clme to the Earth. They called her Mother. TI1ey knew lhe wholeness of Nature and lived their lives as 11 conscious relauve pan of all the planet'!> life kingdoms. It was precisely because of tl11s closeness that our ancestors could sense the and potent _life force of the planet being emmcd at specific sttes. It "'as to those pfaces that they retreated for healing and rcplenis~me_nt, and it was there that they did ceremonies in honor and recognition of the natural earth forces around them lh3t gave power and purpose lO their hves. ra"': Since the latter days of the Allantean em, Summer, 1991 by Page Bryant Pun&al An by We. Wyan humans have gradually moved forward in evolution. Civilizations have come and gone. Many spiritual traditions have sprung from the Atlantean "root," presided over and preserved down ~rough rime br Egyptian hierophanlS, Delphic oracles, Celuc pneslS and priestesses, My_stery Schools, and adepts and shamans of vanous culrures. As evolution proceeded, ho~~ver, modem times and society nnd new religions pushed the Old Traditions into the darkness of obscurity This, like the Earth, is changing. Once m<?i:e the Wisdom Teachings and the social, sp!ntual, and ecological values they foster, are being sought by modern aspirants. At thi~ panicular lime. a revival of interest in Native American spirituality is spreading like wildfire worldwide, due no doubt to its embodiment of the principles inheren1 in the Earth Religions of the ancienl past. These principles have a tremendous bearing on our ecological problems of today. People are seeking lo learn about ceremony and are using it as a loo! for gaining a closer relationship with the planer. a relalionship 1hat has long been lost and/or devalued. As a result. the location of sacred sites is of intere~t to thousands of sp1riwal seekers worldwide, and ceremonial voices have begun to resound, once again, within sacred stone circles, medicine wheels, fairy rings. and other cercmon1al grounds. Power spots or vortexes. long dormant. have begun to awaken during this time of planetary change and ren~wal. Their power will once again be available 10 empower humans and members of other kingdoms to progress into a New Dawn. While doing the re~arch and channeling for The Earth ChanReS Survival Handbnok some ten years ago, my Spiril Tc,Kher. Albion. lor whom I have been the "mstrUment" for the past twenty years, gave infonnauon aboot lhis time of planetary change and mentioned ccn.un pl3ces in Nonh America 10 "'hich people would be drawn, some tcmporanly and others permanently. The intense degree of natural eanh power, the "energies," if you will, was to be the reason why individuals would foci such on attraction lo these places which would also be where "Light Centers" would spring up. designed to teach nnd guide spiritual seekers. The~ places, which Albion called "way slations," would ah.o be safe. in every way, during the planetary changes. They would be places where lhe land ilself would be tile greatest teacher. One of these locations was identified as the area surrounding Asheville Nonh Carolina. Olhers were Sedona, Ari~na. where my husband and l lived for eleven years; southern Colorado; pans of Hawaii; and Santa Fe, New Mexico, to name bur 3 few. While trying to make a decision as to the proper location for a move. due to a droughl thar Albion predicted would become much worse, and for olher personal desires, Albion brought the Asheville area to our anention o.s the plac~ to which he would like l0 see us move. [a thal ~ession, ~e Teacher offered some interesting infonnauon aboul the Great Smoky Mountains lhat I feel is important to share with my rea~ers,- I am, for the most part, using Albion s exact words so that the reader might get lhe "feeling" that the Teacher tried 10 portray: "...The Great Smoky Mountains themselves arc the Elders... the Ancient Ones:.. whose voices have sung the Song of Creauon on the North American continent longer lhan lhe voices of any other mountain range. They arc so very, very powerful, and lhat power may be explained in lhree ways. "First, because of lheir particular situation geologically, and lhe powerful influence of the ne3=1by sea. the~ mouniains arc magnetic in thet.r charge of hfe force. Magnetism is of the nature of lhe element of watt..-r. It is conducive to helping one rum wi1hin, 10 tap the subconscious and the Collective Unconscious. Magnetism promotes ~nsitivity and awakens the psychic and intuitive faculties wilhin human consciousness. Magnelism is lhe feminine force in Nature. These mountains are filled with natural springs and underground river., and caves that have a sublerrancan water source. "Secondly, because we are labeling lhem as "magnetic mountains," they are conducive: to the energies necessary to assist Spiritual Seekers \l.ith their Vision Quests more so than any other mountains in the world at lhis umc . 'Thir~ly. the Smokie~ hold the 'memory' ol th~ breaking up of the continents dunng previous planet.1ry changes and of the mountain building procc.,s. They have 'recorded' the ancient voices of Nature tha1 are unmatched on your continent. Smee the l:m period of Eanh changes, some len thousand year.; ago, these great mouniuins have hecn 'asleep.' their energy but a shallow breath. It was aho during ll10se ancient times of upheaval that lhese mountains were first inhabited by Allantean m1grnnt, who spread throughout the \I.Orld ~eekmg refuge nnd ne\l. beg.innin~. To this day. there arc ancient rock and b:trk scrolls and SO!llC cave drawings that arc 1\tlamc.1n an their on gin 1h:11 still exi~t wilhin various pans of these mountains. "This place has long been the site of :m:ane ~ercmonies. Although man) of lhe mountain peaks have been worn do"'n wnh time. there were once seven summits in the Smokies which were u~cd throughout the centuri~ as ceremonial !;lit:;. The areas around (aJlllurucd c,n llellt J>OS•) Xotuah Journal JlCl()C 1'3 �(coniinw,d liom Pl&• 13) them still comain n:mnaotS and artifactS of the Old Ways. Some of 1hosc whom you call Native Americans were born from these Atlantcan ancestors, while others migrated here from other continents and settled into this land. For a shon time, the mountains remained awake to their full energy potential before slipping into an introvened slumber. Once, through time, their power re-awakened for a shon time, to embrace the native people who fled into lhem for safety so that they and their tradition might survive the thrca1 of the invaders for later rimes. These who the mountains hid were those you call the Cherokee. "Beginning in the middle of the decade of the 1980's, the Great Smoky mountains began LO awaken once again 10 their full power. This process will be comple1e by the year I 993. Between now and 1hen, many will be drawn 10 this area. They will come to live and to study and to 'connect' themselves with Mother Earth. Teachers will come 10 the area and some will establish Light Centers. Ancient ceremonies will be practiced once again on these mountain slopes and the Native American tradition and people will become stronger and more irnponan1 to the natives themselves. Sacred sites throughout the mountains will re-awaken, sites such as Chimney Rock, Blowing Rock. Mt. Mitchell, Wayah Bald Mountain, Grandfather Mountain, Flat Rock, and Looking Glass Rock will once more embrace Seekers and emit their most potent power. The waters of the Smokies will become more potent and can be used for healing the body. They will be rich for growth and fertility. The planis of the area will increase in their potency so that their medicinal value will be greatly enhanced. The formation of 'brotherhoods' and 'sisterhoods' will have their birth in these mountains once again." must be and what my future as a teacher mus1 be. It is here, in the Great Smoky Mountains that I will live and work 10 awai1 and experience the awakening of the Ancient Ones. It is here that r will listen to 1he Voice of the Earth Mother sing the song of Creation... of Wholeness... and of Rebirth. And, it is here 1hat I will seek to add my ·ligh1· 10 the ·ugh1s· that are already here... in peace and in harmony with the Spirit Forces and the Greai Devas of the Mountains. So mote it be! Page Bryant is a ttacl~r and p.rychic ofmany years txptritnce. Shr has sludit'd atensivt'ly with Nativt American mtdicmt ttachtrs and is familiar with naJivt' prophecies abow the currtfll Earth changes. She has wrttttn st11tral books, one of IM bt'st known Ming The Earth Changes Survival Kandbook. fltr /WO nr:wtsl rtkasts art. Tcrmvis1on, a pr~r on sacred sitts o/tht world. and The Aquarilln Guide lO N;wve American Mythology. Page and l:t'r husband Sco11 Guynup, a visionary artis1, havt optntd 1he Mystic Mowuain Rt1re_a1 and Ltar,ung Cuittr and may bt' rtaehtd at -,07 8rUJIS\l,1C'Jc Drive; Waynmillt', NC 28786 (704} 456-6714. This article was reprinted from Eanh Walk, tht ntwsltlltr ofThe Earth Ctn/tr, which is dedicated 10 personal <kvelopmtnt and Earth htaling by bringing s1udtnts toge1/iLr with well-known Native l.!ru!rican ltachus Olld holding regular spirltMDl ceremonies ill 1hr narivt ,radicion. The Earth Center is mam«zintd by Zoe and Jim Marun. Contact them 01 302 Old Ftllowship Road, Swannanoa, NC 28n6 (704) 298-3935. WIIEN THE MOUNTAINS A WAKE Upon hearing the Teacher's words, I knew, beyond doubt, where 1 must relocate. knew what the next step on my path of life (from a conversation wi1h Page Bryant) "My spiri1 teacher Albion has repeated numerous times in speaking of the Eanh Changes, 'We don't wan1 you to limit yourselves by thinking about 1he Earth in only the physical sense. When we say Earth Changes we are talking about geological and climatic changes, but we are also talking about social, political, and spiritual changes.' RESOURCES ······~. .... . .~~~~.1!·~·-· - • Earth Ascending. Jose Arguelles (Bear & Co. Publisher.i, Santa r-c, NM. 1988) • Thi! Divining Jland: The 500 Ytar Old Mys1try q/ Dowsing. Chris10phcr Bird (New Age Press; P.O. Box 1216; Black Mounlain, NC 28711. 1979-1985) •Ttmn•ision. Page Bryant (Hi1rpcrMd Row, New York. 1991) • Anti·Gravity and tlu- World Grid Ed1tc.d by David Hatcher Childress (Advcntwts Unlimited Press; Box 22: Stelle, IL 60919. 1987) ~ /(:i;<-:;;~\ ..:· . .. • • • ·:. . • ...... , _ ~ ··.... ··.........' ....... ..... . . , ··- .......... .......... . l ....\ ... ······-......... : ; .,-.. •• I jlll'"li~l.'i,,,__ . '• ·..:. - .... .. . . , • r(!C()rtkd by DW • The Earth Sp,ril. Its Ways. Shrines and Mys1tries. John Mitchell (Crossroads Publislung Co., New York, NY. 1975) • T~ Ntw Vi= Over Atlantir. John Mitchell (Harper and Row Puhlishcrs, San Pranci51CO CA. 1986) • Looking Gia.rt Univtrst: The Emogmg Scitnce of IVhokMSS. F. David Peat and John Briggs (Simon & Schuster, Inc., New York. 1984) • Tht Ancitnl Srienu ofGtomancy. Nigel Pennick (Townes & Hudsen. Ltd., London. 1979) • o! •• • "Geomancy: A Tawny G111111mor; Steven ~ l in Rais,: tht Sraus (Spnng, 1984 • Planet Drum Found:11ion; P.O. Box 31251; San Francisco, CA 94131) • Where ug1wi.f livt. Doug Ro~Jln (Cherokee Publicnlions: P.O. Box 256; Cherokee, NC 28719) • Black Dawn • Bright Day. Sun Bear & Wabun Wind (13.e.lrTribe Pub.; Box 9167; SpocMc, WA 99209. 1990) Wet England. 1984) • Nttdlu o[Srone. Tom Graves (Granada Publishing Lid. 1980) :. .: d ~ • Ear1hmind. Paul Devereux, John S1ccle, and David Kubrin (Harper and Row Publishers, New York. 1989) • Ftng Shui: Thr Seitnet ofSacrtd Landscape in China. Em~ J. Eilel wilh commem.:iry by John Michell, (S)'IICJ'getic Pless; 24 Old Gloucester Street: London -... , . . ~. . "The sacred sites in the Appalachian Mountains are coming into their power. 1993 is a year tha1 I feel will be intense in every way. Bui people are not going to be able ro experience that power until they reconnect themselves 10 the Mother Eanh. 'There are mnny ways to regain our connection with the Eanh. One 1s 10 educate yourself about the Earth. That is what my book The Eanh Changes Survival Handbook is all about. 'That is well and good, bu1 we need 10 go a step funher. We need 10 learn from the native people. and the most imponam thing we can learn is ceremony. "We have to get back into doing the ceremonies 1ha1 honor the forces in narure. We've jus1 become 100 sophisticated for our own good. Jus1 try getting up in the morning and greeting the sun. Take a handful of cornmeal and throw it up toward the Sun and say, 'Thank you, Grandfather. Thank you for the new day.' "Do that for seven days - ir you don·t feel better, more connected 10 the Sun and 10 the Earth, then don'1 do it any more. "Something simple: we have a sign by the water tap in the the kitchen tha1 says, 'Remember the water spirits.' "People want to know what that means. I ask them, 'When is the last time you gave 1hanks to the water spiri!S for being here?' "They say, 'What?' "Obviously it's no1 a question of when was the last rime, because they have never done it before. They've never though1 abou1 it 1ha1 way. Well, I lived in the desert for 12 years, and r learned 1here 1ha1 it's really important 10 have a good solid peace with the water spirits. 'That's some1hing to think abouL We lake these things for granted. That's the big enemy: we lake all these things for granted. No1jus1 the Eanh, the waler, and the air, but also each other.. .life! If people can stop doing that, then we've staned the ball rolling." • TM Ages ofGOia: A Biography of our livin1 Ea,-1/t. J:imcs Lovelock ry./.W. Nonon & Co. Inc. New York. 1988) Orawina by Rob Meaick • Sacrtd Pious. James A. Swan (Bear & Co. Publishing. Santa Fe, NM. 1990) • Ear1h Wisdom. Delores LaChapclle (Finn Hill Ans; P.O. Box 542; Silvcr1on, CO 81433. 1~78) Summer, 1991 �"If the Earth Is To Heal, Our Hearts Must Be Broken": Two Experiential Approaches to Reconnecting with the Earth by Richard Lowenthal Earth Dance Since August oflast year I've been deeply involved in the fonnation of an innovative environmemal youth program called EanhDance. There are two primary "guiding lights " behind this program. First is the belief that our youth need in-depth and experiential knowledge about our environmental crisis - . and about viable, practical solutions. Second 1s the observation that young people are . disenfranchised in our society, and are growing up feeling helpless and/or apathetic about their future. They are desperate for guidance, support, and hope. They are seeking a positive aliemative vision. In speaking with groups of young people throughout the Asheville, North Carolina area, EanhDance director Mark Fields and I have been astounded and saddened to hear the bleakness of many kids' vision of the future. Even from nine and ten year olds, when we ask them to imagine the world twenty years from now, we hear responses like: "In 20 years there won't be any eanh." "1 see the whole planet covered in black smoke." "The hole in the owne layer will keep growing, and we'll all be fried by radiation." They have good reason to be frightened Although our culture voices concern for our childrens' future, it ii; simultaneously devouring the planet and pirating the natural, financial, and social resources essential 10 the future of the coming generations. Amazingly, environmental education is still considered an educational "frill," and sits at or near the bottom of the totem pole of educational priorities. This error is a symptom of OUT failed relationship with the natural world. This massive failure in tum translates into failed relationships with our children, since we are initiating them inro a social system badly out of touch with reality. And buying a child off with a new computer or video game doesn't change the underlying truth: if we really cared about our children and the world they are inheriting, we would be doing much more chan we presently are ro deal. with t~e profo~nd social and ecological cnses which cononue to deepen around us. Within our society and within each of us individually, there exists a _pressing n~ed for adaptive change and conscious evoluuon, a need that we consistently refuse to recognize. We need 10 honor the Eanh, to begin again to nunure the awareness chat this planet is our Home, that we belong here and are responsible for caring for our Home place. One way to promote this aw3:"!"CSS, an~ the sense of caring nunurnnce that n evokes. 1s through planting trees. This spring, EanhDance sponsored a tree ~ale and plan tin~ project for young people, wh1<:_h w:c: unique m its multi-leveled approach. This proJCCt had three interconnected goals: 1) To empower young people (age 9-18) to act on behalf of their communities and their S1nt111ia-, 1991 Planring trees al GrQ.NJ[Olhu Mountain natural environment, and 10 literally get "in touch" with che Earth by planting trees. 2) To teach kid5 that environmentalism and money-making can coexist, and in fact can In suppon each other. _ this case, 40~ of the money raised by selling trees went directly . back to their environmental groups or classes m school, 10 be used for other environmental projects chqsen independently by each group. (The remaining 60% of the proceeds covered EarthDance's expenses in coordinating the project.) One group donated its earnings 10 black bear protection work, while an~ther chose 10 buy and protect an area of r:unforest. Yet another group set its money aside to fund the projects of the environmental club during the coming year. 3) To conduct a liCientific experimen1 . based on soil rcminemlizarion as a therapeutic technique for healing both !;Oil and trees. In coordination wilh Dr. Roben Bruck, a nationnlly known expen on acid min and plant pathology, EanhDance arra!'lged for tree plantings on areas at Mt. Mi1chcll and Grandfather Mountain that have been devastated by a combination of airborne pollution, insects, and fungi. Using a na1urally derived mineral rock dust study groups remincmlized half of the where trees were being replanted, while the remaining areas were left alone to serve as controls. Dr. Bruck expects 1he rock dust to significantly im~rove th_e ~es' chances of survival due 10 its alkahmzmg effect on the soil and 'the concentration of irace minerals it provides for the trees' nourishment In . Germany. large-scale remine:-l1iw.tion efforts _m the Black Forest have been highly successful m rejuvenating dying forest stands. . . Herc m Asheville, another expenment 1s under way on the Audubon Society's new land at Beaver Lake, where kids planted 200 trees - area; ~vcamores, hickories, pecans and hybrid chesmms - and remincml1zcd half of them. EanhDance is also planning future projec1i, to explore whether reminemlization can, ns Dr. Bruck suspects, minimize or perhaps stop the damaging dogwood blighL All the!">C effons arc imponant, yet the crucial aspect of the EanhDancc approoch is the focus on active involvement and experiential education for our youth. Technical solutions and temporary improvements will no~ suffice lO insure a sustainable society and a habitable planet. We need a drastit "change of hean" even more than a "change of mind." We already realize the gravity of OUT situation; th~re is plenty of terrifying inf0rnl3tion oa that topic. What we need now is courage, inspiration and lwpe. We need hean-lcvcl inspiration to get _us motivated, but inspiration never lasts unless 11 is convened into hope and encouragement through direct personal experience. As Mark Fields puts it, ''The problems of our world ultimately spring from OUT sense of separation from life and each other. The mos1 effective way to heal this sense of separateness is through building connectedness and community: actual involvement in life. "In thinking 1his through, I concluded that OUT children arc the most effective "acupressure poin1" within human society 10 quickly tum things around. Most a~ults arc either so busy or so shut down emononally that they arc simply unavailable for intensive involvement. Our kids, on the other hand, arc desperate for involvement, for real participation in life. And the kids have the most to lose, too. They know we need to preserve the planet, but they aren't seeing much real change; they arc offered public posturing and "green" slogans instead. This conveys a negative message to our youth, and increases their frustration and cynicism. "If young people don't have a positive oullet for their energy and youthful enthusiasm, they tend to lapse into depression or apathy. But if their potential energy is guided and convened into activated. energy, then they can work to change the direction into which our planet is heading - and they can feel much beuer about themselves and their future. Only if a tremendous grasH'OOts movement arises, among both children and adults, can we move towards righ1 relationship, wholeness, and harmony. I see this movement as one of the bare essentials for the survival of humanity and the planet - and it 1s happening. and slowly growing, becau:;e II is so desperately needed. We need more than anything 10 reconnect with, and honor, our Source.·• MurJ; Firld.r is aformrr busi11essman ondflowtr farmrr who spent many )·ears living in the f<Jln/oresu of Costa Rica lit rtlMTMd nnrth ,n 1988 fuling a dup r.onu,11 for ow social and p/JJMUJry tn1v-0=111. and rpent tM [WI two ~ors dew/oping the ideas bthilld EanhDanct. Phone (704) 2.52.Jlll/8 or writ( to Ca11hDa11cc htStllutt: P.O. Box 2155: Ashl!Vlllf. NC 28802. (continuod on nm r•i:•) �(conlinued rrom page 1S) Children already have the connection. Little kids know - they feel it. It's amazing how much more they know than we do, how much more they sense. They just need encouragement. Karualr: I grew up surTounded by deep woods, arid I used to spend hours and hours exploring them. That was important for my growth, but most kids don't have that anymore. Their feelings are intact when they're very young. but without encouragement to feel their relationship to life around them, they start to lose touch. It's like autism, in a sense. We withdraw into the "separate" self, and cut ourselves off from reality. ReCreation Experiences Another Asheville-based program, ReCrearion Experiences, was begun last/al/ U> literally bring people "down to earth" through wilderness skills and outdoor living training. Based on the Native American ways 111ughr by tracker Tom Brown and his staff. ReCreation Experiences is led by founder Dave Torbett. I spoke with Dave about the focus of his reaching: Karuah Journal: What was the genesis of ReCrearion Experiences? Dave Torbett: About 8 years ago I began to envision developing a program to help people "come home," as I call it. Our culture has a built-in mentality that wilderness is "bad" or "dangerous," so we insulate ourselves from it. Backpacking has become very popular, but even then we're insulated. We wear heavy lug boots, we carry massive backpacks, we sleep enclosed in tents. We pack in our stoves and ice cbestS and lanterns, then go home feeling we've been "back 10 nature"! Despite the big wave of backpacking and outdoor recreation, we still have not gouen back to the Eanh. So I began 10 dream about an alternative to those kinds of camping and outdoor programs - a way to take people home, help them feel corilfonable with the Ennh, help them learn skills that teach them that our Mother provides everything that we need. It's very simple living. There's an old Apache saying that as far a.s humans' feet are protected from feeling the Earth Mother, that's how far humans' hearts will be from knowing her as M0ther. lf people's hearts aren't broken again, and they don't reawaken into a loving, caring relationship with the Earth, environmentalism will do some good, but in the long run people will tire of it and go back to their "convenient," desrructivc ways. So I feel we have to woo people back to our Mother. Xntuafl JoumoC P<1CJC 16 DrawingbyRobMculclt Katuah: It seems that the fundamental problem is our separation from nature. OT: Yes. A lot of it comes out of the Puritan mentality, which maintained that anything passionate was bad, including sex and nature. Anyone who's spent much time outdoors, or been out when the wind's blowing and the sky is tom apan by lightning, knows nature is passionate and alive, and not some thing that we can control. But our western mentality says, "If we can't dominate it, then we will kill it" Thai is still how we approach life: we analyze it, we do endless scientific studies... but there is an clement to the Earth that is spiritual, that is deep - something unfathomable. There's something magical about iL Our culture tries to obliterate that, to w1pei1 out. Karuah: Our obsession with conb'OI seems 10 be a major problem_ DT: Making fire with a bow drill provides a good example. If you don't work with the wood, the cord. and the tinder - if you try to dominate them - you may grind through that fire-board, but you don't get a fire! Once while we were doing a workshop for a group of parents, the lead instructor, Steve Ashmore, became very frustrated because he couldn't get a fire. He wns cranking hard on that bow drill, and nothing was happening. Finally he just laid everything aside and said "J quit." About 1wo seconds later, he looked over. and the '>'ind had sparked a coal in his tinder bundle. His tinder bundle was 5moking, it was on fire. He got a fire by saying ''OK. I give up." This was a great spiritual experience for Steve. As long as he had fought the energy and tried to control it, nothing had worked. But when he let go, the wind blew the coal into a flame for him. Trans formative moments like tha1 happen 10 people when they get back to being a pan of nature. When we're willing just 10 stop. put our bare feet on the Earth. and listen to her speak and b~thc...thcn we arc able 10 be transfonned. DT: Yeah, Tom Brown uses this example: imagine you've been lying in a hospital bed for 10 years. Your muscles atr0phy, and when you try to get up you can't walk, you have to relearn how to walk. We have innate awareness skills: we know how to live in harmony with the Earth, we know how 10 be in balance, we know how 10 let the spirit flow within us. But as our feet became removed from the Earth, our awareness skills atr0phied: all the spiritual awareness, the e,cpanded vision, the sensing of the movementS of our animal and plant brothers. All those sensing skills became atrophied. When people go outside, even for a little while, you hear them say how good they feel. Well, it's that reconnection. But since it's so unfamiliar, we have to help people define what they're feeling and realize that it's good. Sometimes people ask me if I'm "New Age," and I tell them, "No, it's a very "old age" thing we're doing. It's pan of us, we've carried a club a lot longer than we've earned a pen. We're toolmakers and craftspeople. We're more comfortable with creating, sensing and moving with the Ennh, than with anything else. Katuah: How does that deep rccoMcction with nature unfold inside us? What can we do to nurture it? OT: We have to gradually recover our inner sense of being comfonable with the Earth. This may mean starting with small periods of time when you can go outside and be alone and listen. You begin to rune your senses once again. You listen for sounds. you smell whatever's in the air, you begin to look with expanded vision. If you lie down on your stomach and look at one six-inch square piece of ground, you could fiU a notebook with all the things you see. There's a wonderful, mysterious place right there in your back yard. Take your shoes off. stand in the grass, then step away and look at your foorprint. That's the beginning of tracking: observation. Begin to observe what comes in and out of your yard, what lives there, what grows there. Begin to research all the plants that grow there. Take longer periods of time to be silent, breathe. and let the Earth speak to you. Let the spirit that moves in all things speak and move in you, and trust w~3;,,. t you begin to sense and feel. fr RcCrtaJion ~ritncts. an &mh skills and a/llllltlMIII program, offas work.tlwps and training 10 1/rt public. PhcM (704) 252-8688 or writt to RcCrearionuperitncrs:46 Wall S1ru1: Asheville NC 28801. SummcY-, t99t �, I ON AGGRESSION In 1838 Andy Jackson said that we should move aside for "civilized man," meaning white people with their plows, schools, technology, etc.. I think about the thing that happened in Iraq and I think about the wars carried on by "civilized man," and the way that we think about them. For instance.we consider ourselves "civilized" because we don't indiscriminately drop nuclear bombs on our enemies. But at the same rime it's "civilized" 10 thre:1ten people with nuclear weapons by havmg thousands of them To me this says that one of the things we haven't addressed is our own aggression. Looking around today, 1 see that spunking m dny-care centers has become an issue, and the argument is brought up that "the reason that there is so much crime. is because there is not enough spanking." . Now how could a child not grow up bemg aggressive when adulL'i hit him because they assume that his behavior cannot be ~~lied in any other way? Spanking and h11ung (as well as neglect) by adults is what causes wn.rs and criminality • not the tack of those! r recently witnessed white kids having a fight. One was an 11 year old boy who was pounding on a nine year old. The older boy's father came out with a big leather strap and beat the older kid for hitting the younger1>ne. That's how aggression and wars are perpetuated. We learn by example, all of us, adults and children. ln raising kids, it isn't what one says that is important; it's what one does. But in thi~ cul~urc ki?s are expected 10 respond to what ts s:nd, while the adults think that they can do whatever the hell they want to. And they don't realize that the children are learning from wh~t they are doing, not from what they are saying. The way to communicate non-violence. to say that there are other ways 10 solve our human problems than to nuke our enemies or 10 go aftei them with high technology weapons • is 10 live that kind of life. After awhile, we're expected 10 notice when we're doing something that doesn't ~ork. ,:tie v:iay we measure how well a policy 1s working 1s by the results ...and we're still slaughtering ourselves wholesale. The native people never thought that spanking was the right approach 10 dealing with children. To us spanking seemed barbaric - it was a barbaric, savage thing that dominant culture men did to their children. The traditional family was different from the fa!11ilies. of today. F~r.one thing, they were more inclusive. In a tradiuonal family the old people were respected. They were the caretakt:r.;, the nunurers, and the teachers of the children. They weren't meaningless lives best stuck off in a faraway house 10 die. Today we don't seem 10 have time to take care of our children or our old people. We're 100 busy making money 10 survive or 10 get ahead. We often leave the ca.re of our family Su111111cr, 1991 (These n.re the words of a IJ'Dditiorol Cherokee medicine ~n.) members 10 "professionals." But most of these "professionals" arc people who arc hired off the street to work a menial job for a minimum w~~e. Or we i:elinquish the responsibility of ra,s,ng our children 10 the school system. It ends up that frustrated, underpaid, Lower T/uuvkrlwle under-respected people have the responsibility for talcing care of our families. In a traditional family, the children were indulged - their every whim was met. But they we~ also made 10 feel like they were pan of the family and welcome 10 panicipate in family ac~ivi.ties. This ~esulred in a different way of 1h1nkmg, what 1s called a "cultural bias." People's identity was defined first by the family, then by the tribe and by the clan. Everybody, when we get hun. wants sympathy and empathy. r can remember as a small kid falling and crying, and somebody picking me up, hugging me, and raking care of me. I can rcmembt:r that. But as I got older the grown-ups just stopped reacting like that. They gradually had me become more responsible for myself. That went on up through the pubeny and moon lodge ceremonies. As I got older, if I misbehaved, people would simply walk away and act hun. White people call this rejection, but I don't see it as rejection at all. When as an adult, if someone violated cultural customs, but in a way that was not too serious, people might not talk with that person for a week. That was a powerful reprimand. The need 10 belong 10 the family and clan groups was so strong, that it was a motivating factor in modifying people's behavior. The most serious punishment was 10 be ostracized from the tribe. That was worse than death. If someone was ostracized from his family or clan, there was probably a 90-95% chance thnt person would commit suicide. That's a cultural bias. That wouldn't work in this culture. People don't have that tribal sense now. Today it's every man for himself. Just about every one of the native tribes recognized that the tram,ition from childhood 10 adulthood was a very imponant stage in a person's. life and marked it by some son of c_elebrrmon or pubeny ceremony: Pubeny is a t1~1e w_hen young peopl~ are having a variety of b1olog1~I change:. commg over them. and it's also a urni: when they are staning 10 question and doubt the thing:. that have been taught 10 them by the older people. This is called "the ~bellious stage" now. h is a time 10 question. a umc to a.\k: "Is there a God?" "Is Grandpa full of shit?"' - important mauers like that. Instead of trying 10 hold that energy down, or lock it up, or conrrol it, traditional people would encourage the young ones to search and 10 :;eek out answers for themselves. !'I~. one said, "This is the only way that there 1s, because experience taught them that if there was any truth or goodness or sohdriess 10 the philosophy that the young people were raised by, they would come back home after they were allowed to question, to doub1, and 10 experiment for themselves. I sure as hell did it, and the older l get, the more I find myself acting like my grandfather. Every once in awhile I look in the mirror, and I think he's standing there. And when I hear myself talking 10 my children, I hear his voice. I've gone in a big circle in my life. That circle went way, way out there, but now it's come back around. But that's fairly nonnal - that is, if there's any basis 10 the ideas one was brought up with. We also recognized that there was aggression in human beings. The white people have always thought that we had lots of wars among ourselves. but I think that our ''wars" were more like long-1enn, off-and-on feuds. We certainly weren't without aggression, but w~ ~!so didn't ~eep armies and build up m1l11ary s1ockp1les. In warfare and in raising children we were several thousand years more advanced than the dominant culture of today. Instead of putting all our energy into designing new weapons and military hardware, we sho_uld be 101e_lligcnt or civilized enough to deal w11h the basic problems of our aggression, our selfishness, our self-centeredness - not just with the symptom.-.. We have 10 face the fact that aggression is pan of us. It's pan of our t:rue name. Uut the dominant culture doesn't really address that. The present society substitutes "the big stick theory" - since we expect other humans 10 be aggressive, we create a big military to proteet our wealth and our ideas. c-un·.~ on ne11 pa1e) - · _, )(,(ltimf, Journal pa<)C 17 -. �(c:o111inucd from~ 17) The Cherokee people recognized our muuml aggression. They would arrange stickball games. Somelimes lhey senlcd disputes with u game of stickball. The word for "ballgame" was the same as the word for "war." People. ;ot hun playing stickball; somelimes pooplc even got killed. We certainly didn't solve the problems of aggression, but we had ways 10 deal wich them. Jn the Cherokee way of thinking, for example, there was no concept for cowardice. When we were having a baule 1,1,ith our neighbors, maybe the Creeks or somebody else, and we felt that we were losing too many of our people, even though we might be winning the conflict, we would just pack up our weapons and go home. We acted like 1his because life was sacred m us. The loss of too many people was more than we could handle. Indebtedness :ind revenge were parts of our culture in which we were nor VCI)' advanced. The basis of the clan justice svstcm was retaliation. Everybody knew thal if ihey tre:ued a member of :1no1her clan badly, they were going to get their ass kicked by all the rest of the clan. It made people think twice about mistreating someone, but the clans had 10 kick a lot of ass 10 uphold their reputations so the system would keep functioning. In clan maners we weren't as much a tribe a.\ a confederation. If someone was killed who wasn't kin or a clan member, other people often were not too concerned. Some Cherokee villages fought with the Creeks for years, while at the same time other Cherokee villagl!s were friends 10 the same Creeks. But revenge was a powerful motivation. However, there were restraims. The nation had what they called "red villages" and Aging...Changing Asheville, May. Jordan's jus1 now learned how 10 replace a pacifier between tiny we1 lips curled sweetly beneath May's sun while the new leaves of wild strawberries and blue-purple briars discover how it is warm and sad and odd beneath a cloudless Appalachian ceiling. And down the pebbled road I know through the inference of tre~ crashing through irees and the sorrowed, bloody thud of wood to earth lha1 the firs lll'TOSs the ridge arc just now learning, too: seeing how the cones shake and drop through lhe popping, cracking, fibrous wrenching of hot, oily metal teeth. The blue twist of two-cycle oil breath dissipa1es, quite satisfied, up and away through a canopy of needles, waiting in the silence of death for the imminent drying. The bridge has tumbled into the deep. Below the sloshing, muddy torrents !here are creatures calm and curious, monsters bloated, white, and wide-eyed, and between them somewhere in the murky stew an understanding odd and unspoken. Finned ~a1urcs stare at rare monsters queerly, wondenng what purpose they've come to !,C!Ve, To reclaim appliances, furniture, tires, boulcs, and else? To 1emp1 with wonn, jig, or spinner? Or perhaps only 10 say "l have driven submerged". The monsters stare back, but do not see or question • though lips are poised for speech. Hair standing on end pointing downstream, body slowly swaying, stiffening. Above, quiet whispers of drizzle beckon the sun's fading 10 hurry. And upstream muddy banks doued with the living who stand among red and yellow and blue s1r0bes, dizzy, pointing downstream, are disappearing in the rising. The living Stare also, blindly into swirling eddies of death. "w hi1e villages." Generali v it broke down th111 the aggressive people lived in the red villages, and the non-aggressive people lived in the white villa~es. The "Beloved Woman" was another built•in check within the syMcm. If everybody got all excited about something 1he Creeks had done and wanted to go make war right away, a Beloved Woman could say, "Listen, there's not going to be any warfare," and 1here wouldn't be any warfare. We had cenain checks and balances that developed through the centuries. I don't know if it was ever consciously though I out, but it fit in witb our cultural biases. How the clan system of justice would have developed in the future if it had not been contaminated by an influence as strong as western cuhure, J really don't know. Poems by James Proffitt Ancient, crude magnificence evolving from distant overtones to immediate, restless anger low and .still and brittle. Cracking pop splitting flash of flashes and flutter of an in splinters sweet pine mood rain pouring hail and sulphurous love of electric kissing a nameless fir clenched to the crest of a trillion ton stone. This is the beginning. What if old age is a healing crisis? - the harder old age is, the more healing is needed, As we get closer 10 Spirit, we cleanse naturally. Old unhelathy habits of body and mind come 10 the surface - we're more sensitive - more unable 10 abuse ourselves without instant repercussions. ~hat_ if we looked at aging as prosperity? Prospcnty IS abundance. The more we have of something, the more prosperous we arc. With age our numbers build like money in lhe bank experience - wisdom - value. When we age, we slow down so we can notice more. We learn how 10 conserve our energy, so that we can better become involved in olher realms besides the physical. Our culture has taught us that old age often means sickness. Bu, these sicknesses are probably only the accumulations of lifelong habits that harden us when we do not face issues and feelings in relation to ourselves and olhers...When we are not willing 10 change. The word change has age in iL It also bas can. lf we can stay open and make the changes we need to as we go along, the healing crisis needn't be so hard. Don·, let lhc healing pile up until 1he end. Ligh1en up your load. Count your blessings and your years - and when you reach I 00, it could be like collecting interest on a life well invested. • C Redmage Rcprint.cd from !he Floyd ReSl)urce Cooperative Muulrller; Bo~ 81: Floyd. VA 24091 A bear's nose quivers fur pointing that way, buck's ears and tail twitching water hissing steaming up and away from charred wood echo of a fading, wordless language. Later earth whispers beneath a sagging canopy wrecked foliage heaving and sucking expelling long ceremonious sighs having wealhered one more and only rhe foamy brown rnge of a river below and subtle, renewed spirit in flora to show. D,_,,,, by f1t1 Graef,: Xati«lfl Joumat pnge 18 (from IN CllMrttc Ught on tho Wind. .K~ p. JO} Summer. 1991 �SACRED FORESTS: Recommended Guide to Old Growth Stn11ds Green Spirits, our generous plant allies. gifl animal-kind with food, medicine, and counsel. While all animals consume 1he fiber and flesh of plants, few seek out the counsel and cures offered by plants. My favorite way to immerse my soul with plant and eanh energies is by entering and communing with the old growth forests. I prefer the 1enn "old growth forest" over the romantic misnomers "virgin forest" or "wilderness," which only exist in the minds of civilizations which have left the forest. Old growth forests are defined by many criteria, the most obvious of which are: the relative freedom of disturbance by humans; the presence of large trees and an uneven canopy structure; an abundant fungal component; and the presence of logs in alJ stages of decay. I gain reverence by day-hiking into these wooden-cities of forest inhabitants, where I temporarily become a citizen of these woods. But the greatest spiritunl sensitivity'comes to ptc after $pending three or more days in the fores1s. Gradually. one becomes more "in tune" to the subtle rhythms and energies of a truly balanced ecosystem. Words poorly describe this personal experience; I can only encourage readers to directly visit and experience these green energies first hand and with open heans. One should enter the forest with a sense of reverence and should "leave nothing but footprints ... " Katuah's Green Spirits are best felt and embraced within the old(cr) growth forests, especially within the protected areas of the region's largest preserve, the Great Smoky Mountains National Park (hereafter called "the Smokies"). Detailed trail maps of the Smokies can be purchased at any of the visitor centers in the Park, or can be obtained by mail from the Great Smoky Mountain Na1urnl History Association (Grea1 Smoky Mountnins Trail Map- GSMNHA; Rt. 2, Box 572-B; Gatlinburg, TN 37738. $1.00 postpaid). More detailed trail infonnation can be ob1ained from the Sierra Club's Hiker's Guide to the Smokies (Mur!less and Stallings), available at libraries and bookstores. Day-hiking is unrestricted in the Smokies: however, you will need a free backcountry use pcnnit (available from rangers and at several self-service Backcountry Reservation Stations) for any over-night stays in the backcountry. Several of the backcountry camp~ites arc extensively used and require advanced phone reservations. My favorite places 10 eicperience the communities of forest beings have occurred along the following hiking trails in the Smokies: (I} The Gabe Mountain Trail follows the lower slopes of the main ridge crest between Cosby and Greenbrier, Tennessee. East of HenwaJJow f-nlls, the trail travels through se_veral miles of undiscurbed original forest, with _an exceptional diversity of plant and fungi species of enormous age and siz~. There is a Sunmier, 1991 beautiful backcountry campsite (#34- Sugar Cove) located in 1he middle of this forest. This trail offers easy access 10 some of the best woodlands in the Smokies. Joye~ Ki/~r M~morial Forest (2) A few miles awny by trail is the preserved Albrigh1 Grove, a small section of prehi~toric forest, named after a former director of the National Park Service. The trailhead is locared on a short side-road behind the Jellystone Park Campground on US 321 between Gatlinburg and Cosby. fn the grove one may experience the immense presence of several HUGE tulip poplars ("the Behemoths") and record-sized understory trees and ferns. These trees are friendly 10 u-ce-huggcn.. (3) A few stream drainages west of Albright Grove is the Ramsey Cascades Trail, an eight mile round trip day-hike. This tmil leads through mature forests, but with a more limited number of the exceplionally HUGE trees. This is a m<X.lerately difficult hike due to the distance and steady climb (a 1600 foot elevation gain in four miles). (4) One of my favorite trails is the Boogerman Trail in Cataloochec Valley, located off rnterstate 40 at the nonheastem end of the Park. This relatively easy. seven mile round trip trail leads the hiker through magnificent trees of record-sized hemlock, oak, hickory, and poplar trces ...rcalJy fine trees to hug! CataJoochec Valley contains several additional pockets of relatively undisturbed forest, including (along the Big Poplar Trail) the largest tulip poplars in the Park, each with a trunk diameter of six to eight feet. (5) A few trail miles west ofCataloochcc Valley is the high elevation "perched valley" of the headwater:. of Raven Fork. This is the valley of the Cherokee Indian legend of ''Yona-unatawasiti'yi'' ("where the bears wash"), a mythical purple pool where wounded bears are healed . Loc:ued adjacent to the Cherokee Indian Reservation at Cherokee, NC, the headwaters of Raven Fork nrc considered the most isolated and rugged valley in the Park. No maintained tmils lead through this area, bu1 the ridge above it can be reached by hiking the Beech Gap Trail from Roundbouom parking area, nonh of the Cherokee Trout Hatchery. At the head of this trail is the McGee Springs Campsite (#44), from which a very primitive man-way leads along Breakneck Ridge and then descends through thick rh<X.lodendron and laurel to the rushing creek. The forest around the campsite is composed of huge spruce and oak trees. A second and more frcquemly used campsite, Enloe Creek Campsite (#47), is located alongside an especially beautiful section of Raven Fork (6) Small, relatively undisturbed "pockets" of the original forest, remain along the eictreme headwaters of the many southern streams which drain down from the ridgecrest along the Tennessee and Nonh Carolina border in the Smokies. Most of these watersheds were heavily logged in the 1920-30's, but the uppermost re.1ches of these valleys contain magnificent forests. One of the more easily accessible headwaters is that of Deep Creek. This trail-head is located a1 a small parking :irea on RL 441 about a mile south of Newfound Gap in the center of the Park, TI,e trail drop:. steeply into the impressive forest with its many streams and beautiful trees. The tr.iii should be followed for at least 1wo miles. Better yet is 10 walk the four miles to the campsite at Poke Patch (#53). (7) Another exceptional woodland in the Smokies is found at the beginning of the lower section of the Gregory Bald Trail. This trailhead begins 01 1he start of the one-way Parson Branch Road, leading out of Cades Cove, TN. The two mile hike to 1he Forge Creek Campsite (#12) leads beneath an exceptional tree canopy. Continuing up to the crest of the ridge (about a 2600 foot rise in elevation), the hiker will reach the grassy Gregory Bald, another Cherokee mythical siie. "Tsisrn'yi'' ("the Rabbit place"}. Herc the ' rabbics had their townhouse, ruled by their chief Rabbit. who was as large as a deer. This open and grassy mounca.in bald is exceptionally beautiful in mid-June when the native name azaleas bloom in blinding red-to-orange colors. 1hls listing of exceptional forests in the Smokies (and 1'm not telling all my secrets!) is intended as a guide for personal pilgrimages into some of the last old growth forest remnants remaining in K.atuah Province. Go to these places. and scclc the counsel and wisdom of plant spirits there • you will gain greater respect for even the simplest Green Spirits. • / by Lee Barnes Xatuaf1 Journal pngc I 9 �- OFF THE GRID When we 1alk about hydropower we are really talking about mpping into the primary power of the eanh... gravity. Water itself has no power, it has mass. The power is due to the force'of gravity acting upon the mass of water and creating an energy flow, The energy flow represented by flowing water is naturally regenerative (as are all natural cycles}. due to the sun's input. Star energy evaporates water, allowing the wind to carry it , back to the top of the hill. Organisms have been using flowing water to help them do the things they need to do, ever since water first flowed; whether it be the micro-organism that needs it to bring food within its reach, or the person floating downstream in n hollowed-out log. Up here in my neck-of-the-woods, the Blowing Rock, people have been using the many swift and swollen streams to U11nsport themselves for, I imagine, IOOO's of years (though now we just call it spon). More recently, the people of this area took to pu11ing large wheels in the path of a stream's flow in order to change i1i. linear energy in\Q circular mQtion. At first, this 100k the shape of giant water wheels running grist and lumber mills at places like Cove Creek, Valley Crucis, and near Beech Mountain on Beech Creek Road. In fact, the Winebarger mill in Meat Camp is still operational and the giant wheel (over three stories high) that once powered the lumber mill on Beech Creek Road is sull turning, though in a different stream... The first thing you notice when you enter Edith and Ray Estes' small piece of land tucked into a holler along Howard's Creek, is that giant wheel turning slowly and inexorably like some giant fenis wheel from a perpetual fair. Along its circumference, every foot or so. is a metal slat which caplllrCs a stream of water directed to the top of the wheel from somewhere higher up the holler, making the wheel fall with ics weight over and over again. Ray, who has been active for 83 years. once used the wheel's spinning motion 10 spin a 12 kilowa11 (kw) generator. Since then he ha.~ scaled down his operation and uses a smaller wheel nexr 10 his house 10 generate electricity, but rhc big wheel still turns 10 generate memories of the pasL Ray's use of the big ol' lumber mill wheel to gcnerarc electricity, illustrates a very recent use for hydropower which mos, people associate with the term, electricity generation. By virtue of its elevation a stream contains potential energy. hs rate of flow is a measure of this potcnrial being realized. We can use these two simple truths to calcul:ue 1he potential power of any stream: P=HxQ Xnti1<1h Jou rno t pngc 20 Which says that the power (P) of a stream of water is equal to the height (Hor head) from which it is falling multiplied by the speed (Q) at which it falls. The electricians among us may recognize the similarity between this equation and the basic power relation of electricity: P= EX I where P is power in waus, E is electromotive force in volts, and I is current flow in amps. According to More Orher Homes and Garbage, the power of a stream can be expressed in waus by dividing the product of the flow in cubic feet per second and the head in feet by 0.0118. This gives the potential maximum power. How close one can get 10 that figure is a function of how efficiently one's electrical power generating system translates the linear motion of the stream to the circular motion of the generator. Before 1930, Boone got a lot of its clccuical power from a hydroplant off the Blowing Rock Ro:id on the South Fork or the New River. The dam for thtlt system still smnds. Another large hydrosys1em in the area still operates. The dam for this system which crosses the breadth of the Watauga river (ma.king it unnavigable at that point, which would not be allowed today), was originally built in 1890 out of hemlock logs, and the stored power was used to grind com and wheat. In 1905, Ben 0. Ward built a sawmill which still stands, though in a state of long disuse. In 1934 a larger dam was built and Ward began to generate electricity. He received a power franchise from the state und supplied 12 to 15 homes with electricity through a 35 kw synchronous generator. The famous flood of 1940 wiped out the plant (and just about everything else up here), and before it could be rebuilt the Rural Electrical Association (REA) moved in and divided the countryside into regions within which only one company could have a franchise. fn this area that was BREMCO (Blue Ridge Electric Membership Co-op). Now, anyone generating power for more than personal use must sell it 10 BREMCO, they cannot sell it dircclly to their neighbors. Currently, the si1e begun by Ben Ward is maintained by his son Rick. It consists of two 3-phasc induction motors, one 100 hp and the other 125. It is a 69 kw plant with a head of 16 feet forcing a flow which often exceeds 20,000 gallons per minute through the two giant vertical turbines. Mr. Ward produces 50,000 kwh per month which he sells to BREMCO at $0.03/kwh, so he makes about $1500 per month from his hydropower. Ward's system is an example of a low-head, high-flow system. This area, however, also contains a good working example of a high-head, low-flow system. It dams a small creek high arop the hill ii falls down. Water is channeled from this dam down 1680 feet of eight inch diameter drainage pipe (obtained 31 $2.08/ft from leftovers 31 the oon to the generator 168 feet below the head of the dam. A flow of 1200 gallons per minute spins a vertical pelton wheel at 300 rpm, which is geared down to spin a 18 kw 3-phasc induction motor. Like Ward's, this generator is induced by the power company, which means BREMCO supplies the power to the electromagnet within the generator. Thi~ makes 11 unnecessary for the person who is generating the power to have a lot of expensive synchronizing and voltage protection equipment. But it also means when BREMCO goes down. so do they. Not exactly off the grid. but they could be. This micro-hydro system could generate almost 13,000 kwh per month, enough to provide up to 15 normal homes (energy hogs) with electricity. The resuiction on selling power to others could possibly be circumvented by buying land cooperatively, or having all the service homes on a single piece of propeny owned by the power generator. This is the situation which exists on Ray and Edith Estes' estate. Resembling more a riverboat than a house, the Estes' home is tucked away high up in the holler alongside the stream. From there it overlooks a little community of homes and cabins which they rent at very reasonable prices. Ray built a dam across the little stream which runs by his house, and created a small pond above his house, teeming wi1h fish and a family of ducks. He channels some of the water from the pond to a srt13ll tmditional wooden waterwheel which sits right next to his house. adding even more 10 the illusion of a riverboat as it slowly spins in the stream. Its speed of six rpm's turns a giant flywheel which is attached 10 the shaft of a generator by a • leather strap. The 5 kw, l lO V generator is bolled to a workbench in the small wheelhouse Ray built next 10 the waterwheel. Currently he uses the power 10 nm his outside ligh1s, twenty to thirty I00 wan light bulbs. During the day when no lights are needed but a load is needed to prevent the DC generator from burning up, Ray uses the power to heat his hot water. Ray's got a lot of hot water. Ray's system is the best example of a low-tech system which most anyone with a little spunk could build. No exorbitantly expensive turbine, pelton wheel, or piping is required, and il's graceful. Though I think Ray's dam and resulting pond are beautiful, some people (not beavers) object to micro-hydro systems because the ·dams destroy the stream's ecology. At the developing Center for Ecological Living (CEL). which would be Katuah's newest site for investigation into self-sufficient community lifestyles, Rob Messick. curator and local genius, has devised a water delivery system which is unobtrusive to the stream. I le placed a preformed concrete culven, in which he had driven a two inch hole and a couple of small feed holes, i 010 the center of the small but powerful ~tream which flows through the CEL. A two inch nexible black plastic pipe runs out of the two inch hole 250 feet to the pond which sits beside the stream. The flow from the pipe is about 45 gallons/minute, which could be quadrupled by doubling the size of the pipe. Besides using this hydropower to fill the pond, it might be possible to generate electricity as the water enters the pond. Hopefully, we will repon more on this in future OFF Tl IE GRTD columns. Anyone interested at an in-depth look at one person's small 7 kw hydrosystem should refer to Katuah #4, the WATER issue. on page 11. If you don't have it, order a back copy. There are still a few left. If anyone out there i,; running a small h)•drosystem, send in a description and w/''ll print it in this space. ' Big wheel keep on turning ... Jim IJouser S111mm.·r, 1Q91 �"I'M YOUR PUPPET" NIIUn.l World News Service ECOTAGE The Cullasaja controve~ continues (see Na1ural World News Ser-ice Ka11wh Journal #30). At issue are plans for a A series of inc1den1s in Katuah's national forests is leading some fores1 officials and law cnforcemem agencies to suspect 1ha1 there are local activis1s commi1ting acts of "ecotage," damage to equipment that is damaging natural environments. On March 27, Leonard Cook of Cook Bro1hcrs Lumber Company in Franklin reported that spikes embedded in logs from the Paroidge Ridge timber sale near the Namahala Community in Macon County had caused over $1000 worth of damage to his sawmiU. Less than one month later T & S Hardwoods of Sylva, Nonh Carolina reported damage to logging equipment in the Avery Creek area of the Pisgah National Forest. Thomas Stanley, mill manager for the company, reported on April 5 that dirt had been added to the fuel tanks of the machines. Stanley, whose company was also the target of a spiking incident last March, does no1 believe that April's incident was nn act of ecotage: "To me, it looks more like vandalism than someone trying to make a statement." Pisgah District Ranger Art Rowe disagrees. He considers the act "environmental terrorism." The area where the equipment damage occurred is located three miles behind n locked gate, and Rowe said, "That's a long way for somebody to go back into an area just to commit casual vandalism," he said. Rowe wonders if the possible ecotage is in any way connected to an incident two weeks earlier in the North MUls River area of Henderson County, in which an un-named group of people blocked a Jogging truck for nearly three hours as it was attempting to leave a logging site. SAVING WATERSHEDS Natural Wotld News Service Two special places may possibly be slated for federal acquisition this year. Work continues to protect the Chattooga River, and two tracts arc currently available for purchase. $2.2 million is also being sought to buy 1,860 acres on the Horsepasture River. The Horsepasture is designated a Wild and Scenic River and efforts continue to guarantee permanent protection of that status. The Congressional Land and Water Conservation Fund directs a portion of government receipts from offshore oil drilling and other resource depleting activities imo land preservation. Write your Congressional representatives about malcing these important watershed acquisitions through the Land and Water Conservation Fund. Senators US Senate Washingion, DC 20S10 SAY NO TO PLUTONIUM Nawn! World News Sctvice The US government's Rocky Aats plutonium processing operations near Denver, Colorado are being shut down because of plutonium contamination to the surrounding area. Rocky Aats is looking for a home, and the government would like to move the facility either to the Pantex nuclear weapons assembly plant near Amarillo, Texas or 10 Oak Ridge, Tennessee. Presently the Rocky Flats plant reprocesses plutonium so that it can be re-used in nuclear warheads and builds plutonium •pits" which are used as a triggering method inside the warhead. Plutonium has been released into the soil, wr, and water of the plant's surrounding environment. Studies by Dr. Carl Johnson, health officer of Jefferson County, Colorado, showed that people living near the Rocky Flats plant had increased risks of childhood leukemia, brain tumors, skin cancer, and lung cancer. Moving the operation to Karuah's western slope would mean severn.l billions of dollars in construction work on new processing facilities and thousands of jobs, Summer-, 1991 Rcprcsenlntive US House of Reprcscntat.ives WashinglOl'I, DC 205 IS considerations that have the Oak Ridge city government drooling. The town has already signed an agreement - before even looking at the operation plans! - that offers the Dcpanment of Energy (DOE) 5,000 acres of free land and a guarantee of five million gallons of water per day if the agency would locate their supcrplant in Tennessee. The Rocky Flats faciliry would also bring large amounts of plutonium, one of the deadliest substances unleashed on the planet • an clement so volatile that it instantly bursts into flame on comipg into contact with oxygen; a substance so concentrated that it requires only ten pounds to make an atomic warhead. Handling plutonium results in plutonium waste that has a half-life of24,000 years and which, as it decays, creates americium. that gives off bone-penetrating radioactive gamma rays. his impossible to safely handle or pennanently contain plutonium waste, and when it seeps or vaporizes into the environment it collects in living tissue. causing degenerative disease and genetic mutation. The announcement about the Rocky Flats move was contained in a DOE repon titled 'i'hc Reconfiguration of the Nuclear Weapons Complex," which outlines plans to carry $5 million sewage treatment plant proposed by the town of Highlands in Macon County, North Carolina that would dump one-half million gallons of treated effiucm per day into tl1c Cullasaja River. The NC Department of Environmental Management (DEM), although ii was aware of the controversy and has been presented wi1h pmple evidence of the potential impacis of the proposed treatment plant, signed a permit for the facility in April, 1991 without even requiring an environmental assessment for the project. The action set off a storm of protest. Save Our Rivers, Inc., the Macon County Citizens' group organized on behalf of the Cullasaja, filed a lawsuit in civil court to require that the state prepare an environmental assessment of the treanncnt plant proposal. The US Fish and Wildlife Service. the NC Wildlife Resources Commission, and the Clean Water Fund of North Carolina all immediately made public objections to the plant. Senator Terry Sanford sent a letter to the DEM asking for an environmental assessment. Even North Carolina Attorney General Lacey Thornburg, who used to fish in the Cullasaja, sent a letter of protest stating that an environmental document should have been prepared before the pennit was issued. The DEM has turned a deaf car to the uproar. Green LiM newspaper quoted DEM Public Information Officer Debbie Crane as saying, "We haven't heard any real concems...Jt's just mass hysteria." Another DEM spokesperson, Don Fullmer, said, ~we applaud what the town of Highlands is doing." Highlands is an upscale retreat for the rich and powcnul - people who are used to getting what they want. Apparently the tentacles of their influence reach a long way all the way to Raleigh. nuclear weapons production into the 1wcnry-first century. The report offers three alternatives for future plutonium p.rocessing: move Rocky FlatS to the Pan1ex site, to Oak Ridge, or 10 close all the existing operations and move them to a different (as yet unspecified) location. The logical alternative, to shut down plutonium production entirely, is not offered as an option by the DOE. It is up to the public to bring that alternative to the the attention of the agency. There will be public hearings on the DOE report and the plans to move the Rocky Flats opera.lion this summer. Hearings for this region will be held in the Pollan! Auditorium on the campus of the Oak Ridge Associated Universities in the town of Oak Ridge on August 28 starting at 9:00 am. The Oak Ridge Environmental and Peace Alliance (OREPA) is calling on all concerned people to participate in the hearings, OREPA organizer Ralph Hutchison emphasizes the importance of the hearings for the whole region, saying, "If you can only come to Oak Ridge once in your life. come on August 28!" For more ii,formaJion on the DOE:J plans and the Rocl:y Flats move, call OREPA 01 (615) 524-4771. Xoti1oft Journal P"'JG 21 �CHEOAH SET'l LED? ~OT QUITE! BIG TOM'S LEGACY Naruru World New. Scn-i« NillW'lll World Ne,., Sena The US Forest Service (USFS) and several influential environmenml groups reached agreement March 4, 1991 on 1enns to senle an appeal of two disputed timber sales in the Cheoah Bald area, the largest unpro1ec1ed roadless area in rhe Pisgah and Nnntahala National Forests. Under the terms of the se1tlemcn1, the USFS will forego a one-half mile pennanenr road into the Cheoah area and will scale back the Wesser timber sale by dropping one cutting unit which would have required the road for access. In return, Lark Hayes of lhe Southern Environmenml Law Center agreed on behalf of The Wilderness Society, the Sierra Club, the NC Wildlife Federation, and ~e Elisha Mitchell Chapter of the Audobon Society 10 drop the coalition's appeal of the USFS timber sales. Two other appeals of the controversial timber sales had already been turned down by the U~FS. One was by timber industry lobbying groups demanding a higher timber vol~, and ~e other was filed by SoulhPAW, a regional environmental group advocaring 1ha1 the _Southern Appalachian national foresLS be designated a roadless "evolutionary preserve" for the benefit of habitat. The SouthPAW appeal was refiled again at the regional and national levels and wa.~ rejected at every stage. Apparently the USFS did not lake kindly 10 the group's suggestion that the Cheoah Bald area be returned 10 pre-RARE n conditions. This dates back to early 1983, when the Chcoah area was a 21,000 acre roadless area, under study as pan of the Roadlcss Area Review a!1d Evaluation (RARE IT) program. But later m 1ha1 year Chcoah was removed from RARE It consideration, and the Forest Service began a road-building orgy that within only a few yC3I'S reduced 1he roadless component to 7.000 acres, one-third of its previous size. SouthPAW would have the Cheoah roadless area returned 10 ils original condition. Peter Kirby of the sourheasrem regional office of The Wilderness Society hailed the apP?I senlement as a victory. "As well as halung roadbuilding into this crucial roadless area, by recognizing the importance of protecting the roadlcss resource. the agreement SCI a precedent that will be most useful in the course of the upcoming land use and management plan revisions," he said. " SouthP~W activist Rodney Webb said. For s~ch an 1m~rtan1 ~abi_tat area._the only eco_log1cally fea.~1ble pohcy LS very simple: obhterare, revegcuuc - obliterate the roads and allow them 10 be recovered by the natural vegeuuion." 'This area is just across Fontana Lake from the Great Smoky Mountains National Parle. fl is 3:11 important stepping s1one by which species can migrate from the parlc into the southern reaches of the Nnn1ahala National ForesL If we lei them, the Forest Service will chop Oicoah up and carry it away in liule pieces. We can't let that happen. We won't forsake Chcoah. Whatever it takes - a lawsuit in civil court, direct action whatever - we will defend it as long as we~ able." To cc111ac1So1111t n,w, writt to: Box J/4/; Askvillt. NC288(}2. Xatuah Journot ~ 22 Big Tom Wilson was a legendary hunter who roamed the Black Mountains during the laie 1800's. He knew those mountains and ir is said 1h01 he loved them well ' In April, 1991, Wilson family descendants gathered nnd donated a conservation easement on 1800 acres or family land that had been passed down intact since Big Tom's day. The easement does not transfer owne~hip of the property, but ensures that the propeny will never be developed. The area will hereafter be protected as the Big Tom Wilson Preserve. The event marked an important step in maintaining unbroken hnbirar in the Black Mountains, because the Wilson property makes a strategic linkage between Mount Mitchell Srate Parle 10 the east and 1he Big Butt area of the Pisgah National Forest 10 the wesr. To the south lies the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Asheville Watershed area. The easement was done under the auspices of the American Farmland Trust. a non-profit organization dedicated to protecling farmlan~ from encroaching developmen1. It was earned out at the request of the Cane River Club, which is presently administering the land for the Wilson family members. team from Atlanta that invcsug;ired the incident. "It's an ~xpcnsive joke, if that's what ii is. It's pretty s1ck..,1oi.illy uresponsible." According to 11u1hontie:,, fin11I costs of rhe hoax ran into rhe thousands of dollars. On May 8 an anonymous leuer received by the Asltevil/e Cimen-Times signed only "The Black f-1:ig'' rook responsibility for rhe hoax, saying it was "executed in hopes of illiciting (sic) p_u~l!c attention 10 the deadly 1hrea1 and poss1b1hty of nn actual toxic was1e spill," FBI Agent E.K. Miller said he would refer the lcuer 10 the FBl's agent in Charloue that specializes in environmental mauers. . The n1:tion may have been expensive, bur ~1 was not fnvolous. According to the May issue of Green Une. an independent green-oriented paper in Asheville. a survey conducted by the NC Division of Motor Vchicles from December 1990 10 February 19~ I foun~ char 22% of rhe trucks stopping at weigh srauons along 1-26 and 1-40 were carrying radioactive waste. In addition, there is a _re_ar th~t President Bush's five-year, $105 bilhon highway plan, inrended to facilitnte the shipment of defense goods, will result in a markedincrcasein1heamoun1ofhazardous and radioactive waste being transported. LET'S NOT LOSE LOST COVE Narunal World Ne"'-. Service . . . . -RADIOACTIVITY ALERT! N.tunal World New, Service Ar 5:00 nm on April 22. authorities discovered what appeared to be the af1erma1h of a hit-and-run accident near the junction of 1-26 and 1 near Asheville, NC. -40 But this was no ordinary accident. At the scene were four metnl bam:ls labelled "radioactive" and a shanered wooden pallet. it appeared ';h:11 the_ ~Is had spilled from a ITUCk hauling rad1oact1ve materials. and the Stnre Highway patrol immediately closed one lane o_f traffic and ~gan 10 call in experu from five d1ffcren1 agencies 10 look into the incident. Investigators using Geiger counters de1ennined thar the barreb did not, in fact contain any radioactive substnnces and the a~lhorities began 10 suspect thar th~ whole thing was an Eanh Day hoax 10 call ancnrion 10 the dangers of mdioactivc waste transpon. "h looks 10 be a set up." said Dora Ann Danner coordinator of a US EPA emergency rcspo~ [)(.-ep in the nonhern Pisgah National Porest lie the lands known as Lost Cove and Harper Creek. Accessible only by graveled Forest SCJVice roads, this area just south of Grandmother and Grandfather Mountains provides vital habitnt for a great number of plant and animal species. The area is also blessed with many scenic waterfalls and troll! su-eams, along with an extensive network of trails. Curcntly the land is ser aside as a Wilderness Study Area, and the US Forest Service has recommended both areas for wilderness d~ignntion. The proposed Western Nonh Carolina Wilderness Prorecrion Act of 1991 (IIR 35) would protect 13.000 acres of this land from industrial pressures. The bill passed the House or Rcpresenracives last year, but no action was taken by the Senate before adjournment, and the bill died. Cass Bnllengcr. a Republican representing the 10th Congres.~ional District, brought the bill back 10 life this January, and the proposal has broad suppon in his home disrricL In the l Ith Con.,.... · . 11 r west anothl'r 1-··:HE pRESSES, f{ep. faylo d R,-.-- SfOP 1 press, .. propose \\\ went 10. ding tus . 111a1idS t<,.atu\\\'I 1011m was resc1'.1 ,, i11 ihe J·h& •n rhe As ' ti 11ta1 he "h)'~tena , Jogging 1 aw\01ince . bill d11e ro ·s1bililY o, i(derrieS) the? pos ~· would w_ trict ob0141 ~-crtlow Creek dis rf!oW area, .• .,u'CI areas from srudy as ove •v wilderness areas. Wr,u you.r rt'prtst'ntomve cto US I/oust of Rtprtuntotil't!S, ll'o.shington, DC 20$/j. (oontinuecl on J>ll:C 2S) Summer, 1991 �Natural World News I, SPECIAL REPORT .. by Emmett Greendigger Once again, Bjorn Dahl, Lhe US Forest Service's national forests supervisor for Nonh Carolina is the focus of public outcry. This time, Lhough, it's not jus1 a passle of forest 1eformers presenting a petition, or a couple of renegade "Rescue Rangers" chaining themselves to his office door, or a group of activistS protesting ever-increasing roadbuilding and timber harvesting levels on the national fores1s. This time, Dahl is at the center of "a scandal of the first magnitude." The issue is the protection of threatened and endangered species, and this spring Dahl has attracted nationwide attention to the willful neglec1 of his agency's threatened and endangered species programs and to his disregard for good science and professional ethics. This time, Dahl has enraged environmentalistS, scientists, and 1he general public by firing bo1anist Karin Heiman and by causing the dismissal of Chuck Roe, director of Lhe Nonh Carolina Natural Heritage Program, a "(This) brings into serious question the ability of the Forest Service to assess the effects of timber management programs on federally and state-listed threatened and endangered plant species." - Chuck Roe state agency that works with other agencies and the general public to identify and protect rare plants. Heiman, the firs1 full-time botanist hired to work in Lhe Nantahala-Pisgah National Forests, was fired on March 1, af1er onJy nine months on the job and only four months after receiving a "superior" performance rating from the agency. When Roe learned of Ileiman's firing, he tried for two weeks to express his concern to Heiman's immedia1e supervisor, national forest biologist Lauren Hillman. When these effortS failed. Roe, who was very familiar with Heiman's stellar work as a field botanist surveying for threatened and endangered plant species. wrote a letter on March 14 to Bjorn Dahl expressing fear that "the dismissaJ of your staff botanist at the stnn of the 1991 field season brings into serious question the ability of the Forest Service to assess the effectS of timber management programs on federally and state-liSted threatened and endangered plant species." On March 22, Dahl wrote to Roe's boss, Dr. Philip McKnelly, Director of the NC Division of Parks and Recreation, stating that he was "di'imayed to receive the letter from (Roe) expressing so much interes1 in and thinly veiled threats over the dismissal of Karin Heiman." Even a cursory reading of Roe's leneneveals not "threats" but professkmaJ Summer-, 1991 "Just Doing Their Job" concern about the future of threatened and endangered plant species in the national forests. Despite that, Roe, who had 14 years of experience with the Natural Heritage Program, was immediately fired for "violating agency procedures" and the "chain of command." Directly, red flags went up in the environmental and scientific communities in the Southeast. At an April 2 press conference in Asheville to publicize the firings, Bill Thomas of the Sierra Club said, 'The credibility of the Forest Service has slid right down around its ankles." Mary Kelly, Coordinator of the WNC Alliance (WNCA), said that the firings had caused a "rapid, unfortunate, unnecessary, and drastic deterioration in trust and relationships" between the Forest Service and 01her agencies and groups working on forest issues. Scientis1s and aclivists had been especially pleased when, after much pressure, the Forest Service announced in June,1990 that Karin Heiman would be the agency's first full-time botanist. With the hiring of Heiman, a graduate of Warren Wilson College with several years of experience surveying the state's plant communities, the Forest Service seemed at last 10 be displaying a commitment to the state's rich botanicaJ diversity. Heiman did her work wilh diligence and competence. While surveying the Tellico-Robbinsville Federal Highway Project, she discovered two rare lichen species, Gym11oderma /ineare, an unusual Southern Appalachian endemic and candidate for federal listing, and Hydrotheria venosa, an extremely rare and unique aquatic lichen found only at a few locations in the Southern Appalachians and the Cascade Mountains of Oregon. Heiman helped 10 design a management program for rare plants on Roan Mountain, and served as a liaison with other federal and state agencies that work with Lhe Forest Service to protect threatened and endangered plant species. She also perfonned surveys for rare plants on over 20 proposed timber sale projects in nine ranger districts in the mountains and on the coast Her effons did no1 stop or even seriously in1erfere with a single timber sale, and she was praised by Forest Service district personnel for her competence and cooperation. Roe, for his pan, was widely recognized for directing one of the best s1a1e-run rare plant protection programs in lhe nation. He had organized Nonh Carolina's Natural Heritage Program, which has protec1ed unique species and natural areas on 630,000 acres in the stnte and which has entered into over 300 "protection agreements" with public agencies and private and corporate landowners. Roe had acc-0mplished all this with a staff of 4 1/2 persons and a miniscule $164,000 annuaJ budget Why were Lhese two respected and committed scientists fired? The official justifications given were petty and largely undocumented. In Heiman's case, neither Dahl nor Lauren Hillman, her immediate superior, were able to substantiate any change in Heiman's performance that would account for her performance rating falling from the "fully successful" rating she received in October 1990 10 1he "negative" raring she received in February that led 10 her dismissal. 11 seems apparent that Heiman and Roe's only transgression was to carry out the jobs assigned 10 them to the best of their abilities. Unfortunately, competence in their work set them athwnn of political interests that value devastating timbering and roadbuilding operations more than the rich biologicaJ and botanical diversity of the native Appalachian habitnl. And, aJso unfonunately. these interestS control the strings that motiva1e Bjorn Dahl. The supervisor remarked once to a group of timber industry officials that during his tenure in lhe nationaJ forests of the Pacific Northwest, "we used 10 do 400 acre cleazcuts before the spoued owl," and that "it could happen here," implying that the discovery of rare and threatened species in Nonh Carolina's national forests could seriously hnmper timber operations in the state. Most observers believe that Dahl was "I am in contact with several Congressional offices who have said chat they are already aware that this is just the latest incident in what is clearly a national pattern of intimidation of Forest Service scientists. We hope and fully expect my firing to get broader attention soon." - Karin Heiman !f'll~1{~Al~~~!,~~~k't~~~~': Most observers believe that Dahl was concerned that Heiman's trained and observant eyes might discover a "spotted owl" that would slow regional timber harvesting in the Appalachians. Even the Asheville Citizen-Times, normally a mouthpiece for the region's timber industry, seemed to find the firings suspicious. "The evidence offered thus far by the Forest Service" for Heiman's firing "falls embarrassingly shon," read the newspaper's editoriaJ page on ApriJ 15, and went on to say that "there is absolutely no way Stale bureaucrats can come up with a credible excuse for firing Chuck Roe." Sad 10 say. it appears unlikely that these ttnvestie.~ of administrative justice will be righted by the agencies who committed them. Both scientists have appeaJed their dismissals within their own agencies. Forest Service Regional Forester John Alcock has requested that Heiman submit her appe& and all supporting materiaJs to him in writing. In the course of investigating Heiman's appeal, regionaJ personnel officer Rudy Caruthers traveled from Atlanta to Asheville to speak with Dahl and Hillman about the firing but did not infonn Heiman of his visit or give her any opportunity to meet with him personally. Roe, after what he felt was a "one-sided" hearing, >C.Qtuaf,. Journat J)Q(JC 23 �has decided on a second-level appeal of his case. Since the firings, outraged citizens have written hundreds of letters to legislators, agencies, and newspapers in support of Heiman and Roe. Several environmental "watchdog" groups have responded to the incident, including the Association of Forest Employees for Environmental Ethics and the Government Accountability Project, who arc working with Heiman to get a Congressional review of her tem1ination. Heiman has also spoken with several concerned federal legislators: "[ am in contact with several Congressional offices who have said that they are already aware that this is just the latest incident in what is clearly a national pauem of intimidation of Forest Service scientists," Heiman has stated. "We hope and fully expect my firing to get broader attention soon." Ultimately. however, the rrue victims of these firings are the once diverse and flourishing forest ecosystems. Without advocates like Heim:i.n and Roe, they seem doomed to be trampled into extinction. Before Heiman was hired, it was routine for the Forest Service to harvest constantly increasing amounts of timber and to build thousands of miles of roads in some of the finest forest communities on the planet without ever sUJVeying the sale areas for threatened and "We might not be doing everything we could to protect species, but we're not willfully malicious." - Bjorn Dahl endangered species. All evidence indicates that this is how Bjorn Dahl prefers it. The proposed Bee Tree timber sale is a case in point. This area, near Devil's Counhouse in nonhern Transylvania County, was proposed as a timber sale project in early 1990 by District Ranger An Rowe. In June of thnt year, the WNC Alliance and the Sierra Club appealed th.: sale. In their appeals they pointed out that the Forest Service had nm done adequate surveys for threatened and endangered plant species on the Bee Tree site, in spite of the fact thnt botanists consider the area a "high probability site" for rare species. Instead, the district had merely done a cursory search of re.cords indicating the presence or threatened and endangered :,pccics. Finding no previous listings of threatened and endangered species in the area. Rowe felt the "'ay w:l\ clear to proceed with the sale. Dahl concurred, and in October 1990 rejected the environmental groups' appeab. Unhappy with Dahl's decision, Wt-.CA and the Sierra Club c:irried their appeal to Regional Forester Alcock, who in J:inuary. 1991 decided in their favor. specifically citing the lack of a thorough survey for threatened and endangered species, 111c regional oflice ordered Dahl to conduct a site-specific survey of the area. Even after Alcock's decision, Dahl continued to maintain that he felt the records survey had been "adequate," and that there was no need for a site-specific survey. When J{{\tunf~ JounlO! pn9c U Heiman had offered to survey the Bee Tree area in June, 1990, she had been stopped by Hillman and Rowe. Then, after Alcock's decision compelled the national forests administration to make the survey, Heiman was told 10 make the survey during the month of February, 1991 - in the middle of winter when many rare plant species are impossible to locate. Heiman did anempt the survey and concluded that rare plants were likely to be found in the Bee Tree sale area. It was only days later when she received the "negative" performance evaluation that led 10 her dismissal. The survey was completed by a substitute botanist, and last month, in its Environmental Impact Statement for the Bee Tree sale, the Forest Service reported its conclusion that logging in Bee Tree would have "no significant impact" on plant and wildlife species in the area. Unfomrnatcly the Bee Tree sale is not an isolated example of Forest Service manipulations and misdeeds in the name of roads and timber. Heiman has outlined 15 other instances in which she says she was stopped from identifying and protecting rare plant species. When she reponed her findings on the Tellico-Robbinsville Federal Highway Project - which might have halted construction of that infamous "road to nowhere" - her staff officer supponed her findings, but she lost his backing when he retired shortly thereafter. While surveying a site near a proposed parking lot expansion at the Oadle of Forestry, Heiman expressed concern to District Ranger An Rowe that the construction might threaten the rare swamp pink plant. Rowe responded by saying that he felt the parking lot, not the plant, might be a better value for the American public. In defense of the Forest Service, Julie Tneciak, the agency's public relations officer, maintains the agency is "str0ngly committed 10 protecting plants and animals." She said that the agency has increased its Endangered Species program tenfold since 1985, and that there a.re 50 areas managed specifically for threatened plants and animals. She also stated the Forest Service buys land to provide habitat for threatened species, and has entered into agreements with the Plant Conservation Program and the NC Natural Heritage Program to protect rare species on the federal lands. Chuck Roe was the lia.\on between the Natural Heritage Program and the Forest Sc1vicc on the agreements th.11 Trzt.-ciak ci1cs. In the same leucr 10 Dahl i:xprcssing concern about Heiman's firing, Roe pointed out the problems his agency was having with the Forest Service: - the Forest Service had not drawn up contracts to conduct surveys of rare plants on national forest lands, although the funds had been approved since December, 1990. The delay was preventing the Natural Heritage Program from hiring botanists in time to do the surveys this growing season. - the Forest Service had not responded to nominations made two years ago for nearly a doun sites in the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests 10 be designated "special mterest management sites." - The Foresc Service had shown no interest in a one-day infonnational rare plants seminar offered to agency personnel by the Natural Heritage Program. - the Forest Service had told Roe in the fall of 1990 that a revised list of protected, endangered, and threatened species on Forest lands "would soon be put into use by Forest Service personnel." This has yet 10 happen. When asked about these delays, Dahl replied that he was "perplexed" about them, stating that the threatened and endangered species programs are handled by Lauren Hillman's office. Hillman has refused all requests for direct interviews concerning the firings and attendant issues, but said through Tl7.Cciak that she believes "the programs are right on track." 'The credibility of the Forest Service has slid right down around its ankles." - Bill 171omas, Sierra Club Strangely, Bjorn Dahl seems 10 blame a "lack of public input" for the firings and for his agency's blatant unwillingness to establish a vigorous program of protection for rare species. "From these setbacks," he said after the firings made the news, "I hope people will join me in laying out their expectation~." And, as if the flurry of letters, phone calls, and editorials protesung the firings are not vocal evidence enough, Dahl added, "They (the public) should Jay out what they Wdnt more vocally than before. We'll gauge our actions based upon public expectations." Th:11 sounds familiar. Throughout his reign as supervisor of the Nonh Carolina national fore~ts. Dahl has promised to alter agency policies to meet "public expectations." How then b he to explain items like these? Although the puhlic has continued to ask for less timbering on national forest lands, 1991 "timber target" levels are 20% above those of the pre\·ious year. Although the public ha,; conunued to ask for less clearcutting on national fori:st lands, and while the agency states that they have reduced clearcuuing. they have merely increased the number of "selective harvest" units, which silvicultur:1lly are merely smalli:r clearcuts. Although the public. through the WNC Alliance, the Sierra Club and other activist groups, has expressed grave concern for the fotc of threatened and endangered species on (contmuod on page 30) Craphic by Ibby Kenna S11 lllt1IC1', 1991 �TIME TO TAKE THE TIME TO TAKE THE TIME There's a new world 1ryi11g 10 emerge from 1he hearts and hands ofmany...a world of economy where was1c is sold as a resource for new products - with a modern understanding thar so-calli.:d "wasres" an: not wastes unless they are wastcd...a world where efficiency is in keeping wi1h nature and heal1h ... new kind of fann...a more purposeful kind of worlc ... a different feel for our world ... a new day. People are hungry for it. industry is busy with it. But how docs it all really happen? How, when the seeming immensity of it all can so quickly boggle our minds to the point where we throw up our hands and wait for someone else to figure ou1 what to do, or hope the solutions will come packaged for sale? Business in the past looked at money profits as its main goal and let nothing stand in the way of its claim, "If we don't profit, we won't be In business." It had litrle vision of the many more useful long-1erm profi1s such as people, their lives, the food they eat, the water they drink, and the secure alternatives in learning about true wealth. And then with a small sliver of that narrow-minded cash profit, they proceeded to pa1ch up the damages that occur with this sort of obsolescent irresponsibili1y; or beat it in court. This was a the 1rcnd, bur now we are seeing businesses wirh money-making as their chief nlOrh~ Jting fon:e going out of business as thcv rhemsdves predicted. · lt all really happens as we, in our homes. and in our curs, and in our dailv business, ask ourselves, "What docs \\'Ork?'' From inside our:.elvcs this goes out and out and out 10 create the new, more real. marketplace. Environmental problems arc big, but we needn't be boggled, for as big as they :ire, they are equally as small fractioned down 10 the responsibility of each of us. The situation is then i11 our hands and no longer "out of hand." When we realize our own powerful pan by beginning. our go the fears of what wasn't working anyway. The answers then srart to come with all the questions. When we're acrually doing what we can do. the very feeling empowers us and will soon replace an old world built on false economy, and the aging, tired concept of wealth thnt we know, and bring newness • new forms of "profit." From here we can begin to get on with more of the real things. bylvo / (NWN - continued from p. 22) BUSINESSES AGAINST CLEARCUTS N4ruraJ Wo.-ld News Sttvicc On May 15, 1991 the Westem North Carolina Alliance (WNCA) presented the results of its second anti-clearcutting campaign to US Forest Service Supervisor Bjorn Dahl. This new campaign gathered suppon from area businesses and resulted in the collection of 930 names - a fnr greater response than was expected - on a petition that called for an end to clearcutting in the national forests. WNCA targeted the tourism and recreation industry, but a much broader cross-section of businesses, including banks, pharmacies, florists, and grocery stores, from 21 counties in western North Carolina chose 10 get involved. The Southern Appalachian Multiple Use Council, a timber industry lobby group, attempted to manipulate the public by soliciting signatures on a pro-logging petition that was almost identical to the WNCA petition in its fonnat. After complaints about this deceptive tactic, the WNCA staff publicly accused the Multiple Use Council of trying to "muddy the issue and confuse people." Upon receiving the petitions, Mr. Dahl stated that he was "impressed" by the number of signatories, and assured WNCA members and participating businesspeople 1ha1 1he Forest Service would be responsive 10 the public will. Dahl said that, "[n response 10 public wishes, we last year amended the Forest Plan to Summa-, 1991 climina1c clearcutting as the preferred aJ1cmative. The issue of clean::utting is essentially behind us." WNCA staff person Mary Kelly strongly disagreed with this statement. as did others present. She said that the supposed reductions in clearcutting (from 87% to 48% of the harvest over the past two years, according to Dahl) merely reflected use of smaller, less obvious clearcuts, not true selective culling. Kelly stated that some forest expens believe that the allowable sale quantity in our National Forests is twice as high as it should be, and noted that "the Forest Service has historically treated the timber industry as the only industry to consider We're asking them to look at the big picture." Drawings b)' Rob Mcuick ROAD HOGS FIT TO BE TIED Na11aral World News Service There arc three departments of the North Carolina state government that are prcsen1ly not required to announce and hold public hearings before setting poJicy: the Depanment of Correction, the Department of Revenue, and the Department of Transportation (0011. Of these three, the Dcpanments of Correction and Revenue hold fairly specialized responsibilities. The Department ofTransponation every months makes decisions rhat involve millions of dollars of public funds and have imponant implications for the future of every town and county in the state. It is a testament to the great political power of the DOT that the agency still operates only under the advisement of the Board of Transportation, a wcalrhy and influential elite who receive their appointments - a true patronage plum - directly from the hand of the governor in exchange for "seivices rendered." Yet now when Senator Joe Johnson (D-Wake) introduces a bill to require the DOT to conform to public heanng guidelines followed by all the other State agencies, rhc howling and crying is tremendous. ''It's going to cost too much." ··1t·s going 10 be too much trouble." complain the road hogs. The "sacred pigs" will no1 easily or gracefully give up their places at the public trough. Your state legislators need 10 hear your opinions on the bill requiring the DOT to hold public hearings. Xatuafl Journnt JXUJC 25 �DRUMMING LETTERS TO KATUAH To the Editors of the Kattiah Journal, In the otherwise fine article by Thomas Power, "Avoiding the Passive/Helpless Approach to Economic Development" in the Spring, 1991 issue, he mnkes a very erroneous assumption when he suggests, "Jf we are interested in attracting more people, ..." That assumption is the same one that the powers-that-be ascribe to so wholeheanedly: that we have to grow in order to have a healthy regional economy. If Tcaught the gist of the Summer, 1990 "Canying Capncity" issue of the Kau«Jh Journal correctly, then we already are burdened by too many people in the southern mountnins. We do not need to expand, we need to shrink the number of people living here. Beyond a certnin point, numbers or people and the "forested mountains and the environmental quality" Power speaks of are antithetical to each other. We preserve wild habitat for the sake of wild habitat and the wild animals that live in it, not 10 attract more people. These points were minor revelations to me when I read them in the Kamalt Journal. Don't back out on them now! Sincerely, Hoyt Wilhelm N. Wilkesboro, NC Dear Kalllali Journal Friends, l am just writing to tell you how much l have enjoyed reading several issues or your journal that a friend lent me to read. I appreciate your deeply considered opinions and the viewpoint they come from. I consider myself to be somewhat perceptive, and in most Statements that are called "environmental" these days, I can see that the spokespeople are representing some interests besides the environment, whether it be their own career, their own profit, or some philosophical or political ideology. Most of what I read in the Katualr Journal seems to come suaight from the hean, and that makes a difference. There are not many publications that would have the courage to speak out about t.he ''carrying capacity" for human beings or propose that aU the national forest lands in the Southern Appnlachians should be an "evolutionary preserve." 1 have to admit that these ideas were a little shocking 10 me at first, but on reflection r could see that that they are just what is needed in this "bioregion." Now it seems so obvious. I see to what a great extent we are conditioned by the business assumptions that motivate this country. when what is just common sense can seem so unsettling. I wonder what is going 10 happen to this country, and I wonder what is going to happen Xntuaft Journot p119c 26 to Kat1wl, Journal Please continue to say what needs 10 be said (even if it is a little shocking sometimes!) and maybe we will see some1hing change. I am always hoping for the best. Yours truly, Katherine Albright Knoxville, TN TLANUWA Ho. Tlanuwa, Spirit-falcon, Your mighty wings Blot out the sun. Pear strikes all who See you flying Fawn and bear cub, Man-child, too. Carried struggling To your nest si1e, On the cliffs they Feed your ne~tlings. Came a shaman Then to thwan you; Cast your nestlings To the water. There Uktenn, Great homed serpent, Swallowed down your Precious offspring. Great your sorrow, Great your anger. Vengeance wrought you On Uktena. Chunks you pulled our or the serpent, Let them fall down From the heavens. There upon the Eanh his body, Tom and broken Soon did lie. From your empty Nest you fled then; Leaving an Unshadowed sky. Your depanurc Saved our young, but Awe and wonder Left us, 100. Perhaps too high a Price was paid, and Wonder's presence Worth some risk. Ho. Tlanuwa, Spirit-falcon, My heart yearns For your return. - Douglas A. Rossman To the Editor, Back in April some political pranksters threw barrels marked "radioactive waste" by the side of 1-26 where it joins I-40 near Asheville, NC. This caused a big sensation among the officials who flocked to the scene. r read in the Asheville Citizen that one woman from the EPA called it "totally irre!iponsible" and "a sick joke." The S Bl had fun telling the paper all lhe terrible things they would do to the.tricksters if they could catch them. I thought that it was totally responsible to do this. Trucks carrying radioactive waste ~ drive through that intersection. A lot of people don't even know this; a lot of other people do know this, but they choose to ignore it People need to be woken up to what is really happening around here, and somebody found a good way todoit. What is totally irresponsible is for the EPA to grant permits for trucks to cany barrels of real radioactive waste along the highways. lf some barrels of real waste fell off one of these trucks, there would be trouble and danger for Asheville. When I saw how indignant the EPA lady got about somebody's trick, I laughed and laughed at how backward it all was. But it was a sick joke. Sincerely, Etta Bennett Cullowhee, NC (P.S. • I wroie a leuet lO the Ashevil/t Citizen about this. bu1 r don't think they ever printed iL ~l's why I wrote IQ you.) Dear Katuah, Recently, while visiting my sister in Knoxville, I was handed a copy ofKatuah Journal, summer 1989. I must say it was highly inspirational reading. I applaud your work for peace, justice, and ecological harmony in the Katuah Bioregion. Sincerely, Michael Sosadeeter Dear Katua/1, Your Journal is so valuable - and important. I'll be sending more suppon later. Thanks for leading the way. May the Crow Moon bring you growth, green, and peace in these dark times. Sincerely, John King Drawing by Rob Mfflic-. Su mtt1CT , 1991 �Dear Katuah, You are a real friend! Thank you very much for sending me lha1 back issue (on the Chestnut) lha1 I wanted, but even more for the current issue, wilh itS wonderful article on my old friend Mr. Bailey of Clarksville. When I was assigned 10 the 12th Armored Division in 1942, a newly married first lieu1enant in field artillery, I opened an account in Mr. Bailey's bank and immediately became his friend, as ev<:ryone_did: Your story 1ell~ i1 very truly; he believed m his own surroundings and did all he ~ould 10 improve the lot of his people. His influence was very grea4 and I think Mr. Bailey was wrong in thinking that industry never accepted his ideas. l also think Griscom Morgan is wholly wrong in his disparagement of savings, but that is another story. I enclose a Case Statement for the American Chestnut Foundation (P. 0. Box 6057, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506). I think you will find it interesting and encouraging. I am doing all I can 10 raise the additionaJ funding they desperately need, first from private foundations, because 1hat is 1he bes1 chance for early resulis. Later I want 10 identify and approach large landowners in 1he Appalachian region, and especially people with o family history of giving and the means to make those gifts in substantial amounts... When I was growing up the chestnut was still the dominant iree in our forests. I remember it vividly, and recall the distress which everyone felt so keenly as the onslaught of the blight iook those great trees from us. l am fully convinced we will restore the ll'Ce, and after you read our case statement you will understand why. Young men plant flowers; old men, trees. Sincerely yours, WilHam G. Raoul Lookout Mountain, TN Greetings Kaiuah Journal Folk, Thank you for your continued 1ime and effons in pulling together Kaul ah Journal. l just ~anled 10 let you know how much reading the Journal means to me, and the suppon ii offers in living in a "mixed community" with its incessant bombardment of media propaganda extolling the industrial growth society. Even when the in~i?i~us e~fe_cts ofT.V. are personally m1nirruz.ed II is too oflen necessary to live and work with friends, family and associates whose mind and (sadly} values are shaped by 1.O.S. media. Sometimes 1his "reality" seems overwhelming. It is al such a time that a friend like Karuah Journal (and perhaps some wilderness) helps to restore my connection to a "d~per renlity" and community of Jjving bemgs. The real work you are doing is very much appreciated. For All Things Wild, Ed Lytwak I I Sumincr, 1991 Dear Brother & Sister Editors, I have written a prayer that I hope is wonhy to be printed in your paper. I have been disabled for almost six years as rhe result of a back injury. I have been diagnosed as clinically depressed. Many people think I am crazy. Some think I am a lunatic. This could be true but since I became homeless a dear old fri;nd, Danny Jesse, moved me into his old farm house because I had nowhere to go, and I was penniless. The old house has no electricity, and the water is from a spigo1 in the yard. Another dear friend, Charlie Dunaway inuoduced me to Karuah Journal (summer 1990 issue) and 1realized there are s1ill some "real" people left who really care about our Creator, our Mother Earth, and each other. Since l have been here (approximately 6 months) I have developed a close relationship with my Creator. Had it not been for my Creator sending my friend to rescue me I would surely have committed suicide. However, here I am very much alive and would like to share my prayer with you. 0 Great Spirit open my eyes that I will see you in each of your creations 0 Great Spirit open my ears tha1 I will hear your voice in the words of my brothers and the sounds of the Eanh 0 Great Spirit open my heart that your good will flow through me 0 Great Spirit give me knowledge that I will be one with you 0 Great Spirit give me wisdom that I may teach my sons of your love and to love our Mother Eanh 0 Great Spirit be merciful to my brothers who in their greed have scarred my Mother's flesh who have poisoned her flesh and her blood who have polluted her skies who have hate in their heans 0 Great Spirit give me the coumge when death comes so I will welcome ii with the realization that life comes with death as death comes with life. Sincerely, RogcrOark I rhoio by Rob Mcoid< Sometimes Tears Are Not Enough We sang for peace. Woke up this morning to find they are still making bombs. We acted for peace. How, I said, and why? What about our planet? Whal aboul the children? We wor1<ed for peace, even as those surrounding us filled lheir yards and minds with patriotic slogans, waved their flags, called war "just" ·successful" "deserved" Woke up this evening 10 find !hough we sing,act,cry, or even protest they are making bombs now. Singing peace woke 10 lind our songs aren1 enough acting peace how?where? why do we live In such madness? shouting peace as hundreds of thousands or innocent human beings die at Hie hands of our ·smart· precision bombs, hands of boys trained and distanced by video games crying peace woke in the dawn wilh tears on our cheeks from war filled nightmares tears on our cheeks knowing there are those lor whom this war is more lhan a media event or a palriotlc slogan dreaming of singing peace acling peace dancingshou1lngtovingbelieving 11\Jstingtrying peace... concrete dreams cl\Jni>ling to TNT, plutonium, machine guns... they are making bombs now. A child is crying for what she can·t be giving I say, child, stop your c,ying. Gather up your strength for living because somewhere children are dying. Our tears are not enough to chase away the pa,n we cannot understand why war seems to never cease. Yet even as the sun shines bnlhant through the ram we know that through the dar1<ness we must st,U wor1< for peace. (continued on nclll page) �(Cfflllnutd {rQln pogo 27) Dear Ka1uah, I miss you in my life! Please re-subscribe me. I've moved 10 the city and am surviving well on one of the few din roads left in Tallahassee. Bard owls (a couple) are mating now. I wake at night to hear lhcm and it's like manna from heaven. I know the trout lilies are blooming back in Sycamore, and just knowing they're there is not enough. Every day I consider returning 10 lhe country, but life is so much easier here with electricity, running water, and acceptable child care. Still I grieve the losses. Thnnks, Janeice Ray Dear Karual,. I've been thinking lately about what is imponant to me. A few things come out strongly: people I love, doing something I can put my soul into, and encouraging a more ideal world by supporting things I believe in like; • the local baker • organic fanning • and publications that communicate what is important 10 me. I don't live in Ka11111h, but I like feeling pan of the soul 1ha1 is in this journal. I want you 10 know that ideas from the Kaniah Journal have helped me shape my life philosophy and will influence the way I live and impact the world. Thank you for your dedication and work. May you be blessed with strength and pel!Ce. Dan Shoug Bean Goose Farm Dear Kania Ii Staff, I was exin:mcly excited to read issue #30 of the Kan!ah Journal. This was my first contact ru,d I om impressed with the anicles and the overall JayouL The "economy" anicle was eitcellem. I hnve included a check for 3 back issues, plus T wish 10 be a ~ponsor. Thanks, Todd Rohlsson From lhc Floyd ERC Ncw,lcuer (continued Imm page 4) practices in their families. The dowsers' "golden opponunity" came during the eastern gold rush of 1828-29 that centered on Dahlonega, Georgia. It offered great reward for those who could sense the presence of underground veins, but it also brought on the inevitable swindling and che:iting that accompanies the lure of sudden riches. Sharon Johnson of the Gold Museum in Dahlonega said, ''There are people who believe today that they can find gold dowsing with certain rypes of stainless steel rods, and I'm sure that there were people like that back during the gold rush years. '&hey also had what they called 'gold-finders.' These were instruments sold 10 people who were prospecting. I've seen at least two of these, one that dated back to about 1890 and another came from the 1920's. One was no more than a wooden rod which was filled with gold, iron pyrite, and black -;and. It had a compass-like instrument in 1he center. The metal gold-finder was a long tube, prob:ibly made 0111 of aluminum. and I think that came also with a liulc vial of gold." Dowsers do 001 think that theirs is an eicclusive gift. They generally agree that, like intelligence or any statistical curve, there arc tho.SC: eicceptionally sensitive to the psychic energies, many people mildly sensitive, and those who do not perceive that level of existence at all. Walter Dale says, "To learn how to do it, you can get some ideas from a book, but the very best thing to do is 10 have a dowser who is really familiar with the method to show you. Anybody can do it, but you have 10 really want 10 do iL" But he does offer this idea as a way for beginners 10 familiariz.e themselves with the process: "Get yourself a five inch piece of Xcatuaf1 )oun \Q( POlJC 28 saing and tie on a metal nut (used to screw onto a bolt) that is about the size of a nickel. This will make a simple pendulum. "Practice with it by looking at it and saying, 'Give men yes.' ft may lllke several a11emp1s, but you should be able 10 get the pendulum to move consistently in a cenain way. Then ask the pendulum for a no, and after awhile you should be able 10 establish a definite motion for that answer. "Once you get the communication paucm going, relax and know that you can do it. It all comes with practice.~ For additional mfonnauon on dowsing nnd help for those who wi~h IO gci stancd: American Society of DowSCl'I - A~luc;hi.111 Ch;iplCf Bob Barnwell Rd. 137 Fletcher, NC (704) 628-2456 / -;_· The mountains are slow moving waves of rock and gravel trees and microbes on which we all festively ride, meeting old friends from other eras that stir anew notions of supplanting the demise of our kind ... RM Summer, 1991 �Whole Science One need not tum only co metaphysical explanations in working toward an undeTStanding of how some perplexing phenomena occur in Lhe Universe. There is emerging a sound Ecology of Lhe Cosmos which is based on repeamble experience. recorded measurements, and an acknowledgment of the role of human consciousness in interpreting the work of science. The scientists who are now working through more comprehensive means of collecting information, and creating theories that reflect Lhis new infonnation, are finding that the physical Universe is far more complex and inter-related than previously Lhought. Some of these new ideas in science go by the names of Quantum Theory, Dynamic Whole Systems approaches, Chaos, and Gaia Theory. These ideas have in common a break with classical scientific principles which regarded the Universe, and all its constituent pans, as a pre-determined machine which is running down in a clear sequence of events. When Lhe Universe is recognized as being more dynamic and self-organizing, through its many diverse scopes of whole systems and environments, a different picture can be drawn of the regenerative patterns of energy and form that surround us. In Lhe discipline of physics, Quantum Theory has shown that what we as human beings experience as "normal'' is not the same as what other whole systems at other scales of being would consider to be "nonnal." For instance, at Lhe scale of an atom the instruments used to detect an electron's speed or position as it moves around the atom's nucleus interfere drastically with the electrons motions and potenuals. LI becomes impossible to separate the experimenter from the experiment at this scale, since the two are so intimately involved with each other. In addition to this an electron's position can be determined, and its momentum can be determined, but the 1wo can no1 be de1ennined together. Electrons fliner like clouds around atomic nuclei, and Lhe best we can do is find the potemial of either what phase they are in or where they will be in this entangled environment. In the Life Sciences it has been found that all life, in its amazing diversity, is composed of the same types of chemical elements: Carbon, Hydrogen, Nirrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorus, and Sulfur. These and the other kinds of atoms found on the Eanh came together when the planet began m accme in the interstellar medium. It is very likely 1ha1 the atoms we are composed of were strewn from an exploding star, more massive than the sun, which influenced the formation of the Solar System. There are only 20 different fonns of amino acids, which are the basis of all the different strands of protein essential to all life on Eanh. Every living organism came from previous life, which in turn has a common ancestry 1h01 reaches back at least 3 l(l billion years. For much of this history microbes were the major fonn of life. lndependant microbes formed alliances and antagonisms which evenrually became the composite cells found in plants and animals today. Building on past successes, through this kind of mutual advantaging, a strong relationship also developed between living systems and the magma, rock. soils, waters, atmosphere, and magnetosphere of the Earth. These dense-to-gaseous fluid mediums arc cycling physical energy, much as other plnnatary systems do; only for this planet there existed the po1ential for active participation in these cycles by Life. This is a dramatic difference, because the range of circumstances necessary for life 10 emerge on a planet of sufficient endowment and proximity is limited and very unique. 0..wmg by Rob Messick II IIll II III II IIIIIIII II II II II IIIII II1111111111111111111111111111111111111 11 III IIIIIIII llllllllllll11111111111 II IIIIIIII IIIIIIINllllll111111111'I, IlII1111111111111111111 II IIIII III IIIlIIIIII IIIIII IIIIRlllllllll Ill III II Ill IIIII II llllllllllllllll 111111111111 I111111111 llllltllllll TUNING IN There are a number of practices that one can do to increase the intuitive ability as it pertains to the Earth. The exercises which have worked best for me arc adaptations of yoga and techniques from psychic healing. Nearly all meditation techniques translate very well into learning Earth attuncment My inner guidance has been to remain flexible by borrowing from many disciplines and then adapting the techniques wbicb fit into my life in a natural manner. The big revelation for me came in a yoga class when T learned that there are minor chakrns on the feet. 1 suspect that the yogis can stand transfixed in a difficult position, such as on one leg, for hours at a time because they have learned how 10 ground themselves so thoroughly that they are temporarily auached to the Banh through the chakms in the feet. The importance of Lhe feet is somelhing that has been ignored in western civilization. In the Mideast, where lhe feet are ritually wai.hed and perfumed with oils, they are considered sacred. and recognized as one's most vital connection to the planet. One can learn to dispel tired energy through the soles of the feet, and ask the Earth to replenish that energy. Yoga is excellent practice for this. So is T'ai Chi or any of the martial arts, so long as the emphasis is on grounding and balance. Walking meditation, as in Zen Buddhist practice, in which one is very aware of body rhythms, is an excellent way 10 walk through S\1mmcr, 1901 the woods in a state of heightened awareness. I have found that if I can match my stride in a conscious way to the panicular terrain, I usually break through 10 a quietness in which I am aware of my rhythms blending in with the larger, greater rhythms of life around me. This is also a good way 10 become aware of the variations in the lay of the land. Since I live in town these days, I have limited access to wild areas. Still, it is possible to grow in sensitivity if one is willing to make daily connections to the Eanh from a conscious, aware state. l recommend bringing home small momentoes from places Lhat have special meaning. This keeps the memory alive and helps make emotional connections to one's personal sacred places. I routinely bring home pieces of gnarled wood, shells, or small rocks. Do not take large rocks without pennission or rocks that are part of a fairy ring. Usually there is something · a feather, a rock - that stands out, and that is what I take as a gif1. And J always give thanks. ln my house, the kitchen window sill is a great place for an altar, because I can • automatically look at my nature gifts every day when l wash dishes. But the most important practice of all is to get outdoors every day in a conscious way. Usually the only time I can do this and know I wilJ not be interrupted is when the supper dishes arc done or when l am ready to close up the house for the night. l step outside in my backyard, and I let down my guard and open up as totally as possible to whatever is happening at that moment. The Earth is always ready to respond 10 us. However, nothing "happens," to me at least. until I have quieted my mind. When my mind stops its chatter, then my senses literally become more acute. I can hear birds, insects, and 1he rustle of leaves more intensely and with greater detail than I was able to do only a few minutes before. When I do reach that point of the quietness within, there is always something amazingly beautiful and striking Lhat leaps out at me. It may be Lhe full moom peeking out from behind silver clouds, or the sudden wafting of the fragrance of whatever flower is in bloom. Sometimes my holly tree becomes suddenly vibrant and animated. It is a championship holly, and I am sure that a powerful nature spirit lives there. Along with this sudden insight into the beauty of nature, there is always a caressing breeze. I call it caressing, not only because of iLS gentleness, but because it does not appear to come from a specific direction, and it never seems to be thcre until I reach a certain open state of consciousness. I always wait for this moment, because I t:lke it as a re.o;pon~e. a confirmation from the Earth he~lf. How much time does it take out of a busy day to perform this simple ritual? Maybe five minutes. The payoff in tenns of lifted spirits is tremendous. - Charlotte Homsher X.Ot.wlh Journal pogc 29 �(FUUNGS-cool.inucd from pegc 24) REVIEW national forest lands, Dahl responded that the records search on the Bee Tree site was an 'adequate' survey for threatened and endangered plant species and then ordered a survey when the ground was covered with snow. The clear and unfortunate conclusion one must draw from all of this is that the "public'' Dahl listens to moSt closely is the timber industry. LIGHT IN THE WIND chanrs and circle son-gs by Bob Avery-Grubel (available from Bob Avery-Grubel; RL l ,Box 73S: Floyd, VA 24091) Bob Avery-Grubel is a founder and mainstay of The Celebration Singers of a closely-knit community of families inhabiting Floyd County, Virginia. The group sings up-beat, positive, spiritual music, all of which is original, much of it contributed by Bob Avery-Grubel. The songs on l,iglu in the Wind arc typical of I.he Celebration Singers: rhythmic and unifying numbers meant for group singing at evening circle, in the sweat lodge, or at holiday gatherings. The credit sheet says that the music is "dedicated to those moments when we let go into uplifting song and come closer to the truth of who we are," and surely this is so. The songs are simple, as chants and community songs should be, yet they are filling and satisfying. However, the songs leave the listener with a persistent feeling that they are more fun to sing than 10 listen to - and they are! (proven fact) The words are easily learned, but for those in doubt a lyric sheet is available for $1.00. Bob Avery-Grubel's productions are home-made craft pieces. Ught in the Wind was recorded at Bohemian Studios, which are housed in an angular building on a wind-swept farm seven miles from the closest town. The tape was engineered and mixed by Avery-Grubel and A'Coun Bason (who also plays penny whistle and catchy percussion on several differem hand drums). Light in the Wind: a valuable community resource. For tho.-.e who want more. Avery-Orubcl also offers the benefit of his musical and community experiem:e in "Breakthrough Singing" workshops: "a lime and space IO experience healing through song and voice." For information, write h1m at the address above. -MT THE TOE VALLEY CENTER The Toe Valley Ccmer is being established as a non-profit community resource organization to promote and encourage ideas for better living in the three-county area of the Toe River Valley. The Center will: • act as an education and infonnation source for the valley • develop educational programs • initiate meetings and seminars on issues of importance • distribute pamphlets, fact sheecs, and other information • promote I.he vision of a positive future in the Toe River Valley. For information, write or call: Richard Kennedy: 849 JlalUlah Branch Road; Burnsville, NC 28714 (704) 675-52S6. ACUPUNCTURE~ AFFORDABLE ! We otter a sliding scale to get you through hard times In good health! Shortly after she was hired by the Forest Service, Karin Heiman made a statement that. in retrospect, turned out to be eerily prophetic. "What makes my job so challenging," she said, "is the fact that I must strive to find a balance between I.he environmentalists and the timber industry, who both have huge stakes in the decision to harvest or not 10 harvest. And my reports influence that decision." By all accounts, Heiman - and Chuck Roe as well - met that challenge and found that balance. Unfortunately, in the eyes of her employers an honest and thorough naturalist without a political 8.l<e 10 grind is viewed as an obstacle to timber sales rather than as a concerned and commiued scientist dedicated to doing what is best for the forest community. How "vocal" must the public be for I.he the Forest Service to recognize I.hat most people believe that the incredible biological richness they contain is the most valuable "resource" of Southern Appalachia's national foresis? Dahl has recently said, "I'd be the lirst one, if we had an endangered species, to do somclhing about it. I'm not om 10 violate the Endangered Species AcL We might not be doing everylhing we could to protect species, but we're not willfully malicious." Two fired scientists, an enraged public, and we may never know how many rare species would beg to differ. Also Chi Kung (like Tai Chi) every Wednesday 6-7 p.m. at JewtSh Commumly Center. Call to regisler. Ellen Hines, M.Ac., Dipl.Ac. (NCCA) Tradilional C hineSt Acupuncture & Htrbology c:.i.rom... l&.w,.s......... s . - - ~ (704) 2S2-7491 rl :Thu ~ Sanr!J Mush HerbNurse7 WHOLE FOODS VITAMINS ORGANIC PRODUCE WREATHS • POTPOURRI • HERBS • TOPIARY Complete Herb Catalog - $4 Describes more than 800 plants from 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 Aloe to Yarrow A.I.A. , Resource Information Analysis Neil Thomas and Andy Feinstein 305 Westover, Asheville, NC (704) 252-6816 Rt 2, Surrett Cove Road Leicester, North Carolina 28748 Phone for appointment to visit (704) 683-2014 ~umnlci, 199 1 �CHESlNlIT GRAFTING PROJECT by David McGrew SilviculturalisL, French Broad Ranger Districl. USFS Sarurday, April 27, one small step was 1aken toward nmoration of the American chestnut tree to the Southern Appalachian forest. A chestnut grafting workshop was held on lands m.1naged by the French Broad Ranger District of the US Forest Service (USFS) for the purpose of grafting blight-resistant twigs derived from native chestnut trees omo wild chestnut rootstock. The workshop was joir..:y sponsored by the USFS and the American Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation, and served as a uaining session for private cooperators 10 team the grafting technique. The workshop group went 10 a grafting site on a nine acre clearcut in the French Broad District Lhat hod been prepared by the forestry class at Haywood Community College. John Elkins of the American Ches1nu1 Cooperators' Foundation gave the group a brief overview of the breeding and grafting work being done by the foundation and then demonstrated the grafting technique. Each member of the group had a chance 10 perform the grafting operation. and 20 twigs of the blight-resistant American chestnut stock were grafled by the end of the day. At the end of the workshop, all of the private cooperators received 1wig material for grafting in their home areas. Elkins stressed that the twig material was not from trees that were immume to chestnut blight infection but from trees that were better able to resist the infection. He said that a 20-50% survival rate for the grafted twigs is expected, but that a 10% survival rate would be acceptable. A virus disease of the blight fungus, called hypovirulcnce, will be imponant 10 the survival of the gr.tfted trees. "Hypovirulence weakens the blight, just as the nu or a cold will weaken people." said foundation president Gary Griffin. "Chesrnut blight nonnally damages the growing tissues just under the bark, so that Lhe tree can't pass water or nutrients up or down the stem. If enough of the living tissue is damaged, the tree is girdled and it dies. Blight weakened by hypovirulence, however, cannot damage the living tissue under the bark, so the chestnut tree isn't killed, even when heavily infected by blighL" Union Acres An Alternative - i - Acreage for Salt - Smoky Mountain Living with a focus on spirit1111l and ecological values For more information: Contact C. Grant at Route 1. Box 61/ Whittier, NC 28789 (704) 497-4964 Programs to &ncolXoge self and Earth oworEIOeliS. celebration. kinship and nope. • Youlh Camps• School Programs • Farruly Camps• Teacher TniinlOQ • Commut'II)' Programs • Camp Slaff Tre11ing • Outdoot Progrem Consult.ig P.O Box 1306 Gomnt>ug. Tennessee 3n38 615-436-6203 NATURAL MARKET WHOLE FOODS • BULK FOODS• VITAMINES • IIEROS • FAT FREE FOODS • TAKE OUT FOODS• SNACKS• NO SALT, NO CHOLESTEROL According to Elk.ins, blight infection cannot spread as fast on twigs that are genetically resistant to the blight as it can on non-resistant rree$. The hope is that the resistant trees will hold off the blight long enough that the fungus will become infected with the virus disease. Griffin explored the graft.ing site during the workshop, and he found five chestnut trees that had blight infection sites that had been modified by hypovirulence, including one tree where all infection sites were modified. 'These trees give us real hope that this grafting site will be successful in producing large chestnut trees," said Griffin. The French Broad Ranger District will monitor this sile over the next year 10 determine 1he success of the grafting project. The USPS will manage an area of three to four acres around the experiment solely for chestnut, first by maintaining the best growth possible on the surviving gr.tfts, and second, by cutting down all the saplings in the area except naturally-sprouting chestnut saplings. It is a gamble to try these techniques, but it is well wonh the attempt considering how valuable the chestnuts were to these mountain forestS. For more information or lO volWttter l~/p to the American Chtstnut CooptrtJlors· Foundation. write: Lucille Griffin; American Chestmll Cooptra/Ors' Foundaiion; 2667 ForesJ Suviu Road 708; Newport, Va 24128. 265-2700 823 Siow,ng Rock Rd Boone, NC 28607 Shhh. Listen ... ~ by Rob W..essiclt NATIVE FLUTES Two s1yles made of cedar or walnut woods in the traditional manner Hawk Littlejohn Sourwood Farm RI 1, Box 172-l Prospect Hill, NC 27314 (919) 562·3073 Get a set of IO assorted folding cards with artwork you see in Katuah Journal. (Envelopes included.) Send $11.25 postage paid 1 Summer-, 1991 to: RM DESIGNS P.O. BOX 2601 BOONE, NC 28607 Ill l l . ec. 2.)C 11a•oo- NC211139 !7041 $30135 speaking fQr.Jhe earth. �evenrs JULY JUNE 14-23 CIT ICO CREEK, TN Katuah Rainbow Family Galhering Summer Solstice Galhering." ...for the purposes of Peace and Healing, in honor of the Summer Solstice" on Citico Creek in the Cherokee National Foresl, TN. Directions are recorded on lhe Light-Line (404) 662-6112, from NC (704) 563-9218. HO!, Newslet1er of the Kauiah Rainbow Family; Box 5455; Atlanta, GA 30307. • 21-23 ROAN MOUNTArN Summer Solstice and Ent111 energies workshop with Joyce Holbrook. SIOO. Pre-register: Box 109S; Burnsville. NC 28714. 22 SUMMER SOL'-TICE 22-23 GREAT SMOKIES PARK "Wild Mammal~ or the Smokies" field =-ch with Dr. M1 ch.1el Pelton. Hlllld.W>n study or black bear, deer, b3t, and woodchuck populill.ions in the Pork. For information on this and olher field course:.. coniact: Smoky Mounuain F'icld School; c/o Dr. Gayle D. Cooper; Univc:sity ofTcnne=: 600 Henley St. (Suite IOS); Knoxville, TN 37902 (800) 284-8885. BLACK MOUNTAIN, NC "Why Old Women Don't Get the Blucs" with Alice Girard 31 McDibbs. I I9 Cherry SL For info on this gig and summer schedule, call (704) 1A 9-11 AS HEVILLE, NC Broom-making workshop with Carlson Tuulc. For info on this and olher workshops. conlJlCl the Folk Art Center, Box 9545; Asheville, NC 2881.5 (704)298-m8. 11-12 WESSER, NC 669-2456. 1A-27 CREA T SMOKIES PARK ''Family Ounp" - activities for fomilies with children ages 6-12. Nature exploration, slOrytelling. Appalachirul music. hiking, and swimmmg. For info on this and other prognuns, conU1Cc Great Smoky Mountains lnsti1u1c at Tremont; T0Wll5Clld, TN 37882 (615) 448-6700. National Whilewater Championships on the Namahala River, including slalom and wildwater race:;. Nantahala Outdoor Center; 41 US Hwy. 19 West; Bryson City, NC 287 13 (704) 488-2175. LINVI LLE,NC 36111 Annual Grandfather MoUJ1tnin Highland Games and Gathering of the Scouc.h Clan~. Papmtry, pipe bandi:, sheep herding. Scoui,h athletic cvcntS, ccUidh. For info: Highland Game.~; Box 356; Brumer Elle, NC 28604 (704) 898-5286. 11-14 24-27 CULLOWll EE, NC "Landscnping with Native Plants" conference. Lectures, workshops, and field trips led by a host of experts, including Dan Pit1illo, Roben Zahner, George Ellison, and others. $45 + room and board. Pre-conference field trips, 7(21+, are optional and cost extra. For information. call Dr. Jim Horton, (704) 227-7244. 25..S/4 13 ASII FV ILLF~ NC Annunl membership picnic of the Amcric:ln Soc1c1y of Dowsers - Appalachian Chap1cr. Call President Jill1CI Shisler for dctruls: (704) 628-1758. FOLK \1O0T Foll.moot USA brings folk dllncers and musicians from Grcccc. USSR. Fmllllld, Atgcnlina, Holland, Spam, Rom;inia, Puerto Rico, lsr.iel, Turkkey, and Thailand lO perform :u various location.~ in Katu:lh. For schedule and price mfonnauon, conUICt Folkmoot MOUNTAIN LAKE, VA "In Search Of .JI"· ~ploring "iMcr sacred space.• Mt.dicme wheel. dowsing, music. mctliwuon, yoga. drumming, hiking, nnd ritullls. Pre-register: Indian Valley Retreat; Rt. 2. Box 58; Willis, VA 24380 (703) 789-4295. 23-27 27 HOT SPRINGS, NC "lndcpcndcooe Weck Ztn Holiday" WAYNF..SVILLE, NC "Buddhi.gn nnd Meditation• with John Orr. Explora1ion of the Buddhist path 10 sptri1UJI Jjbcra.uon will include meditations, periods ol 5ilcncc, and discussion. For mfo on this and other prognims, con!Xt; Sul-Light Retreat Center. Rt. I. Box 326: Waynesville, NC 28786 (704) 452-4569. F ULL MOON 29-7/6 19-21 19-21 wnh Genie, Sandy Stcwan.. Working. chanling. sttting, dharma talks. and keeping SJlcncc, culminating with a walk up the mountain. For info on this and Olhcr rctrcais: Southern Dtwm11 Rctrea1 Center, RL I. Box 34,H; Hot Springs, NC 28743 (704) 622-7112 USA; Box 523; Waynesville, NC 28786 (800) 334-9036. 26 FULL MOON BLACK MOUl\TAIN, NC Robin and Linda Williams al McDibbs. Sec 7(24. 28 HOT s r RJNGS, NC r-w "Hand~ Sur lhc SIMS. Tum the Ellrth" Tai Oli Ch'uan workshop w1lh Kathleen cu.~ick and Jay Dunbar. Solo nnd two-person play orrcr ins1gh1 inio classical principles of unified movement. Prc-rcgistu. Soulhcm Ollllrma Retreat CcnlCI (sec 6/29). 30-8/1 MARSIIALL, NC "Green Woodworking with Kids" fOl'childrcn ages 10.15 and adult portners. Build a r001S1ool from an 03k log · also swimming, hilting, \l.·1ld plant i<lentificauon, campfires, ond SIOC)'tclhng. Country Workshops: 90 Mill Creek Rd.: Marshnll. NC 28753 (704) 656-2280. S111111nn. 1991 �AUGUST 1-J 16.l!i c;nr:A'f S\IOKll:S r,\RK ·~J!Jvc Amcr1c:111s and the Easth" pr0t,'fiu11 nnhe Grc:u Amoky Moum:am, Instil:.:!~ 111 Tr.:mont, S.:c: 1/:lA-21. 111c;111 ..,:-. ns. NC' "Pinhole V1s1on" - low,tcch pmhok camcm constnu:1100 and c~plur.ulon or crcati\c 1m:1gc-makmg wnh Pinky Ba,;s. For info on thi.~ and 111ocr pho1ogr.iph)· workshops, conl.1(1' App.1lachian finvironmcntal Arts Center: Box 580: I l1ghfands, :-:c 211741 (70-I) 526-4303. J Ul.1..\100~ 26-31 MARSllc\U., l\C -~,:ick Ch:11I111.1kmg• work~ilop wi1h Dan Mayner. Bcgmning wuh a red oak log, parucipants assemble a cluur ic,mg morme and 1cno11 jomcry, dr.i,..knh-cs, and spokeshaves. Prc-rc:g1s1cr. Country Work,hors (sec 7/30-8/1 ). 30-9/2 IIREVARD. NC Soull1cm Life Community Ga1hcrmg • ncl,..Nking on issues of peace, jusucc, and planci;iry protection. Family gathering, orcn IO all .Music hy Cnnd1c and Guy Car:iwan, Contact Rur.d Soulhcm Voicc for Peace (sec 8/2-3). 2-3 CF.1.O, NC Onlhcring of commu111ty orgam,.crs and ga.woots leaders who wish to sh.ire experiences and network at Rural Soulhcm Voice for Peace office in Celo Community. If interested m ancnding, plca.,c contact RSVP; 1898 Hannnh Bmnch Rd.: Burnsville, 1'C 28714 (7o.1) 675-S933. ASHEVILLE, NC 11 lh Annual World Gee-Haw Whimmy Diddle Competition will include whimmy diddle feats, lrlldiuon:il music, and clogging. For info, conlllCt: Folk Art Ctntcr (see 7/9-11). 2.'i SEPTEMBER 2-3 WILLIS, VA 6th Annual "Women's Wellness Week"· an opportunity 10 become part of a supportive women's community for a week of renewing power. honoring spirit, nurturing heart, and encouraging creativity. Activities will include dance, clay sculpting, drumming, tie-dying, healing work, and sweat lodge ceremony. Children's program will run concurrently. Pre-register. Indian Valley Retreat Center (Sf.C 6/23-27). 5-11 17-IR CHEROKEE, NC Freeman Owlc, Cherokee pipcmakcr stone sculptor. and storyteller, will demoru;t.nue nt the Cherokee Hcn!llge Museum and Callery. For infonn:uion on lhis and olhcr eppcara11ccs by nauve cr:if1$pCople, conUJCt: Cherokee Heri1.1ge Museum and Gallery; Box 477: Cherokee, NC 28719 (704) 497-3211. OCOEE RTVER 1991 World Cup and Wild water National Chamnpionshtps will attract over 100 of the top wild water racers in the world. Contact Nantahala Outdoor Center (see 7/11-12). HARRISONBURG, VA PAW (Preserve Appalachian Wilderness) Conference to discuss ideas and Str'Jtegies for "evolutionary preserves" and a wild habitat range the length of the Appalachian Mountains. Sponsored by Virginians for Wilderness/Earth First! and PAW. At James Madison University. For info, write Virginians for Wilderness; Rt. 1, Box 250; Staunton. VA 2440 I or call (703) 885-6983. 14 • 16 19-23 Send $ubmission~ f0t the Event~ page to: Kauiah Calendar Editor; 300 Webb Cove Rd.; Asheville, NC; Katliah Provmcc 28804. Listings for next is.~ue due by Augu.~t 15. "The area's oldcsi and lugc,t natural food~ gtoet'ry • 811/k Herbs, Spices, & Grains Vitamins & Supplements VI/heat, Salt & Yeast-Fm~ Foods Dairy Substitutes Hair & Skin Care Products Beer & Wine Maki11g Stlf'l'lics 200 W. King St, Boone, SC 28607 (704) 261·5220 -p,;, ~~\ Talking J.,,n,~ i~ a monthly J('lutnlll of deep ecology, UISf'ired pen,ooaJ RCIIVlbID rooted ID eMtben 'J'mlWlluy. Pa.,1 1!-!<ucs have rurunxl ar11cles by Gary Soylkr. Statba"J.. Jc>hn S~. Joanna ~facy, 81II ~val!, u•oe Wnlf C1r¢1et;, Barham Mor, etc, AH? NATBR Ml'l'fWl' BLICI'RlCITY with a RAM pump! It works by the action of flowing water and can pump 120 ft. high. Colllplele pump w/ guide -$125. Call or send SASE for free brochure. NATERHAN MK PlJFS 355 Cedar Creek Road -"'-...£.._....____ e1ack Mountain, N.c. 28711 (704) 669-6821 Summer, 19!J1 TnlJ.inl( J.,,111~ ~pew for the n•tural world :and for lhe rd:.indlmg !'I OW' OWII wtld ~JlU11, Suhscnpt1ons arc S15.00 one year/SI 8.00 outside U.S. S25.00 i...o )·ear'IIS36.00 outside U.S. Send chock or M.O. 10: Tn/J.i11x I.raw:, 1430 Willalllt'lle 11367 Eugrlle, OR 97401 5031342-2974 rFR~~,~~~'~:~~~P COMMITTED TO C0'.'.1MUNTIY AND ·cooo-FOR-YOU.FOOO" 255-7650 90 Biltmore AH•nu~ ,\,hevdlc ~C 2 Blocks South ol Downtown Xatimh Journot PCUJC 33 �~BWoR/slt{g • Webworking has changed! There is nowafee of$ 2.50 (PRE-PAJD) per en1ryofjifry words or less. Send b>•A11gust 30th 1991 I(); Rob Messick; P.O. Box 2601; Boone. NC 28607. (704) 754-6097. GOOD STEWARDS WA/IITED for rcmotc land. Approx. IS acres for sale w/ hou.,;e (2 bdrm .• I balh). Organically rarmed for 2tJ )'Cffl, grnv11y recd spring ,,,:ner. High oo Tannsi Ridge. views. Raven ond ~fmnc Walker, Box 23: Lal<c Toxaway. 1'C 28747 (704) 293-7013. RAINFOREST BOTANICALS • from the ancient hc31ing Ulldi11ons of the indigenous people. or SOUlh America. The Life Force of Amawnui. now available io you. Fn:e mformation ID Health Profes.,,onals. Call Lei at l!OO-SJS-0503. '!WO FAMIUES seeking neighborly follcs IO buy mlO 130 acres of beautiful moumainside land near Wcavervillc.1'C. We arc involved in organic gnro,:nmg, homc.~hooling. rwural healing. 1111d spimuality. 20 acre sh3re for S2A,OOO. Call (7~) 658-2676 or 645-7954. 1990,91 DIRECTORY OF INTENTIONAL COMMUNITIES · Just rclc:i~. over 2 years m the nuking. Names, adrcssc.s, phone numbers, and d=riptioos of 320 Nonh American communities. and over 2SO resource ~ . phi., 40 articles. Mops, cross-reference chan.s. fully indexed. $13.SO postpaid from Sandhill Fann: Rt I, Box 155-R; Rulledge. MO 63563. 40% discount available on ordcn of 10 or mate. MUSIC BY BOB AVERY-ORUBELaVllilablcon three casseu.cs. 1'reasuus in the Stream and Circles Returnuig arc folk/rock·J3U. and a recent release of origu1al chants and songs. light in the Wind. isa coptMlla. Lyric sheets included. Send $10 for each tape or $26 for ell throe to Bob Avuy-Grubcl; RL I, Box 735; Aoyd, VA 24091. HIGHLANDER CENTER· IS a communuy-bascd educaLional organ11.auon whol,C purpose IS lO provide space for pcq,lo to learn from each other, and 10 dcvclopc $<llu1ions to cnvircnmcnllll r,roblcms based on their values. experiences, 1111d a~iratlons. They also put out a quanerly newslcua called Highlander RcJ)OrlS. For more information conwcr Highlander Ccnlel'; 1959 Highlander Wuy; New M.lrtkc1, 1N 37820 (615) 933.3443 A SMALL FMflLY COOPERATIVE. IS scckmg a sw1Able ,;pace for homeschooling our children, ages 4,7. We are a responsible, conscious, ruid cxpcri<:nccd a,oup. We 5"k a \l*iOUs house and yanl. away from uafr.c. We prefer lO renr wil.h an Ofltlon lO buy. Call (704) 628-3628 or (704) 252-8183. RAW CHEMICAL-FREE HONEY. Tulip Poplar, Sourwood, and Wildflower hooey from lhc forcstS or Palrick County, VA. No chemicals, no while sugar. no heat ever Slrllincd through ch=ccJoth and p;tekcd in glass. Luni1cd quantities. ~11 or wntc for pnccs & availalnlny. Wade Buckhohs • Bull Mountlin Bcekecpcrs; Rd 2, Box 1S16. S1113r1. VA 2·H71 (703) 694-4571. Xa1uwi JournoC p~ ~ NATIVE AMERICAN Fl.lTT'E MUSIC- Richard Roberts. a well known west TN new age flutist (Ilk.a Zero Ohms), is now availoblc tn lhe East TN/NC are.,. For rcla:ting and uplifimg pcrfonnanccs nr tapes contaet RIChard Robcns: Box 821; Norris, TN 37828 (615)494-8828-oc- RL I, Box 136RD; Lamar, MS 38642 (601) 252-4283. THE DREAM CATCHER - C3tchcs bad dreams and hold, I.hem, 10 be dcsttoyed by the morning sun. Good dreams 0031 down the feather to I.he slcepu. Price: 11 dollars - spcc,fy color prefcrcnccs or nalWUI. Order from Ch1ck:unaugan Fn:c C'hcrolcees: 1915 Buckky Sr #8; Chawrnoogn. TN 37404. I IA WKWlSO EARTII RENEWAL COOPERA11VE • i.\ an 87 acre primitive rcl!C3t and working communily fal!1l, l..oc:31Cd in I.he norlhcm Alabamo mountnin,111>1 11 S miles northwest oC Atlanta. Clas,;c,; on alrcmat1ve lifestyles and Nill.Ive American philosophies arc available on a rcgulor basis. For inform:ition or cnllllog of Nauvc crofts & producL~. Cllll (20S) 635-63().1. 32-ACRE FARM for sale ,n Whittier, NC. Multiple solor hom~ltS, pnvacy, creeks and springs, rwo large orgamc fields. Includes rusuc farmhouse wil.h gravil)'-fcd water and solar sys1em, born, 1111d small solnr suucture. $90,000 for all. Wlll sell pan. Writc Vicki Baker and Tom Graves: Rt 2, Box 108-A: Whittier, NC 28789 or call ('704) 586-8221 or(704) 649-9266. NATIVE AMERICAN CEREMONIAL HERBS • we offer a latge variety of sages, swce1 grass, ruuural resins, 11114 everything ncccssiuy for smudging. Nnrivc smolc.ing m1~tures, flulc music, pow-wow Lape:!, und ceremonial songs. Essential oils, and incenses specifically mode fo, prayer. offcriJlg, and meditation. Forcawlog call or write: Esscncinl Drc:uns; Rt 3. Bo~ 285; Eagle Fork, Hllyc:svillc. NC 2890i (701) 389-9898. whole earth grocery • NATURAL ALTERNATIVES FOR HEALTHFUL LMNG 4~6 e parkway craft «-nt<'r • <ultc 11 gatllnburg, tcnn~ 37738 615-436-6967 PIEDMONT BIOREGIONAL INSTITUTE - For those who live in lhc Piedmon1 area, !here's a biorcgionnl e!fon well underway. Jom Us! We would nJlPrec13lC any donnuon or time or money IO help moot operating expenses. For a gifl of S25.00 or more. we will send you a copy of John Lawson's journal, A New Voyage 10 Coro/mo Also come find ou1 about the Lawson ProjecL PB!; 412 W Rosemary Slt0CI: Chapel Hill, NC 27516; Uwbruna Province. (919) 942-2581. WICKER WORKER· Wicker furniture rcs'U>red. ainc. rush, and recd sc31S woven, D:sskcrs al.,;o repaired. Expericncc:d scat weaver. "If you can't we cane.· Andrea Clarke; 27 Mu Strc<:t Asheville, NC 28801. ('704) 253-6241. RECYCLED PAPER I - Oin:etory or product sources for the Southca~ SuggC$1.Cd Donation of S 1.00 10 Wcstcm Nonh Carolina Alliance: P.O. Box 18087: Asheville, NC 28814 (704) 258-8737 BODY RI/YT/IMS from PIIIIICtnry Mothers • a beautiful and paroctical calendar for women ID chart rhcir ·moonthly" cycles. Send $3.00 plus S 1.00 [lOSWge to: Planetary Mothers Collective (c/o Nancie Yonker); 5231 Riverwood Avenue: Saraso111. FL 34231 FAMILIES LEARNING TOGETHER - is a new sutew1dc ho=hool group welcoming :inyone wirh on i n ~ in home education. Our pulflOSC 1s 10 focili111tc the exchange or infonnauon, Ullcnt. nnd n:sowccs. For more infonnauon contact: Trish Severin (704) 369-6491 QUEST FOR SUR VIVAL/ JOURNEYS TO SPIRITUALITY· 1s .i new program being offered in the Kimlah area. The purpose of the Que.st for Sutv1vll.l progroms 1S to 1C3Ch the sxrcd order of swvivnl (Shcl1.cr, W111er, F,rc, and Food). and explore I.he roles of ~urvival phllnsophy and spin1ulll1ty in 11113lning b:ll:lnccd hannony wil.h ourselves, cai;h other. Qnd the Eonh. Two rnll'Oductory weekends will 111kc plxc in l.Jlurcl Sp<ings, NC on Scp1cmbcr 27-29 for Women, and Oc1obcr 4-6 for Men. Also ii wccl:long program for men is planned for October 6-13 al Turtle hl.1nd Prosct\·c near Deep Gap. NC. For information on any of thc.o;e programs conU1Ct Tom Barnes: P.O. Box 166; S3vcry, WY 82332 or call (307) 383-2625. LAND FOR SALE - wil.h small house in beautiful Spring Creek. 1'C; IS miles west of Hot Spnngs. Pctfcct for the scJJ-sufficicn1 tire. One hour wesr of Asheville. Call Linda Deyo (704) 675-9575. S11tt11ncr-, 1991 �Katuah Journal wams w comm1111icare your 1/,ouglus and feelings 10 the 01her people i11 1he bioregional pmv111ce Send 1hem 10 us as /e11ers, poems, sinries, articles, drawings, or photographs. e1c. Please seridyour contrib111io11s w 11s at: Katuah Journal; P 0. Box 638; Leicester, NC, Ka11'tah Province 28748. The tall issue of Ka111al1 .loumal will be a·i*,tpouni featurhg a strong emphasis on humor and fun. The titles and contents of Lhe major depanments will tn1nsform laughably, and Katiiah Journal will let its hair down: hopefully gcuing its funny bone tickled! Deadline for anicles is July 31, 1991. Our Winter issue will be concerned with Fire in its many manifestations; from forest fires to the warm hearths of home. BACK ISSUES OF KATUAH JOURNAL AVAILABLE ISSUE THREE • SPRINO 1984 Sw;r.ainablc Ag,, iculture • Sunflowers • Human lmp:icl on I.he FOfest. Childrcru· Education· Veronica Nicholas: Woman in Politics Lmlc People· Medicine Allies ISSUE FOUR • SUMMER 1984 W11cr Drum • We11:1 Quality. Kudzu. Solar Eclipse . Clcatcuuing • Trom. Going U> Wiler. R'IITI Pumps Microhydro. Poems: Bemie Lee Sinelair. Jim Wayne Miller ISSUE FOURTEEN • WINTER 1986.87 Lloyd Carl Owlc • Boogcrs and Mummers • All Spooics Day • Cabin Fever University • Homeless m Katuah llomcm~de 1101 Water • Stovcmwcer·s Narrative • Good Medicine: Interspecies Communication ISSUE TWENTY-THREE - SPRINO 1989 Pisgah Village • Planet Art • Oreen City • Poplar Appeal • ·CIC1t s1cy·· ·"A New Eanh". Black Swan • 11'/ld lt;vely Days· Reviews: Sacred Land Sacred Sa, Ice Age • Poem: ··sudden Tendrils" 0 ISSUE FIVE • FALL 1984 Harvest • Old Ways in Cherokee· Oin.scng • NuclClll Waste • Our Celtic Heritage· Biorcg1onalism: Past. Prcser1~ and Future • John WUnoty • Healing Darkncs.s • Politics of Participation 1SSUETW£NTY.FQUR • SUMMER "89 Deep Listening· Life in Atomic City • Direct Action! • Tree of Peace· C.Ommuruty Building· Peacemakers. Ethnic Survival. Pairing Projcc:t . ··Battlesong". Growing Peace in Culturos • Review: Tiu: Chalice and lhe 8/ak ISSUE SIX • WINTER 1984-85 Wintu Solstice Earth Ceremony • HorseJ>3Sturc:a River· Coming or the Light • Log Cabin Root • Mountain Agriculture: The Right Crop. William Taylor. The Future of the Forest ISSUE SEVEN -SPRINO 1985 SuslAlnablc Economies • Hot Springs Worker Ownership - The Orea! Economy . Self Help Credit Union· Wild Turkey - Responsible Investing - Working in the Web or Life ISSUE EIOIIT • SUMMER 1985 Cc:lcbration: A Way of Life. Katuah 18.000 Years Ago Sacn:d Sites • Folk Alts in the Schools . Sun Cycle/Moon Cycle . Poems: Hilcb Downer· Cherokee Heritage Cenll!r · Who Owns Appalachia? ISSUE NINE • FALL 198S Titc Waldcc Forest. The Trees Speak. Migtating Forcsu . Horse Logging · Sllll'ling a Troe Crop· Urb:tn Tr«s • Acom Bre3d • Mylh Tim,, ISSUE TEN • WINTER 1985·86 Kate Rogers. Circles of Stone Internal Mylhmllking • Hohsuc Healing on Trial • Poems: Steve Knauth • Mythic Pieces • 11,c UJ(lena·s Talc • Crystal M•gic • ISSUE FIFTEEN • SPRINO 1987 Coverlcu • Woman f-ores1er • Susie McMahon: Midwife · Alternative Contnception Biosexuality Biorcgion:llism l1lld Women Good Mcdic111C: Matria,chal Culture. P~art ISSUE SIXTEEN • SUMMER 1987 Helen Wlitc Poem: V1$ions in a Garden Visi<>n Quc5t • First Aow - Initiation • Ltaming in the Wililcmei> • Cherokee Challenge· "Valuing Trees" ISSUE EIOHTEEN • WINTER 1987-88 Vem11CUlar Architecture Drums m Wood and Stone . Mountrun Home • Earth Encrgi<:s Eanh.Sheltettd Llving Membrane Houses • Brush Shelter . Pocmr. Octobu Dwk Oood Medicine: "Shelter" ISSUE NINETEEN • SPRING 1988 Pcrclandra G3tdcn Spring Tonics . Blueberries . WddOower Gardens· Onumy Hcrl>1list ·Flower~ · ""Inc Origin of the Animals:· Story · Good Medicine: "Power• • Be A Trec "Drt,:lnl$pMking" ISSUE THIRTEEN • FALL 1986 Center For Awalccnmg Eli1.abclh Callan· A Ocntlc Death Hospice Ernest Morgan • Dealing Crcotively with De.th • Home Burial Box· The Woke The Raven MockcrWood.slorc and Wildwoods Wooom • Good Medk:inc: The Sweat Locl&e ~UAtt JOURNAL ISSUE TWENTY . SUMMER 1988 Prcsavc Appalachian Wildcmcss Highland$ of Roan • Cclo Community • Land Trust • A.rthur M<><i;an School • Zoning Issue • "The Ridge" • Farmers and thc Farm Bill Oood Medicine: "Land" Acid Rain· Ouke·s Power Play • Cherolcee Miaohydro Project P.O. Box 638 Leicester, NC Katuah Province 28748 For more info: call Rob Messick a1 (704) 754- 6097 Name Regular Membership......$ I0/yr. Sponsor..........................$20/yr. Contributor.....................$50/yr. Address Ciry Area Code Summer, 1991 State Phone Number Zip ISSUE TWENTY.TWO. Wl'NTER ·ss~9 Olobal Warmu,g • Fire This Time • Thomas Beny on "Bion:gions" • Eanh Exercise. Kore Loy McWhiner. An Abundance of Emplmess • LETS • Chronicles or Aoyd • D:u,y Wood. The Beat Cl11n Enclosed is $ - ~ - - u, give this effort 011 ex1ra boos1 I can be a local contact person for my area ISSUETW£NTY.S1X . WlNTER, 1~89.'90 Coming or Age in the Ecoroic Eni Kids Saving Rainforest • Kids Treecycling Company • ConOict Resolution . Developing the Creative Spirit - Buth Power · Birth Bonding. The Magic or Puppcuy . Home Schooling. Naming Ceremony MOlhcT Eulh·s CIISS!OOO\ • Oardcnmg for Children ISSUETW£N'fY.SEVEN SPRINO. 1990 Transform•tion - lfoaling Power Pence to Their Ashes. llealing in Kanlah Poem: "When Loft u, Grow·· • Poemr. Stephen Wing The Belly • Food from lhe Ancient Forest ISSUE TWENTY EIOITT SUMMER 1990 Carryu,g Ca~uy . Seu1ng Limit$ to Growth • Whu is Overpopulation? • The Road Oang • Tru: Highway 10 No-.here • The 1.26 Projocl "Cuing Capacity"· People and l11bitll • Designing the Whole Life Community . Steady Sllltc - Poems, WOI Ashe B=n . Tnnsportcm.lbvos · Review· COMUSlfl8 ISSUE TWENTY.NINE . FALl,JWlNTER 1990 From the MounLlllU to the Sea • Promc of The Little Temt$- R1ver • Hcadwatcn Ecology • "It All Comes Down 10 Water Quality. Wata Power: Action for Aquatic HabitalS · Dawn Watchers · Cood Medicine: The Long Human Being The Nonh Shore Road Kllllah Sells Out · Wllcrlhcd M"f) of the Katuah Province ISSUETIURTY SPRJNO 1991 Economy/Ecology Rcsencrativa Economy • "Money Is the Lowest Form of Wealth"· Claruvillc Mira:Je • The VillJ,ge • Food Movers Ll/'eworlt • Oood Medicine: "Village Economy·. Shelton Laurel. LETS Issue 31 Back Issues Issue# __@ $2.50 = $_ _ Issue # _ _@ $2.50 = $_ _ Issue # __@ $2.50 = $_ _ Issue # _ _@ $2.50 = $_ _ Issue#_@ $2.50 = $_ _ postage paid $ _ _ Complete Set (3· lO, 13-16, 18-20, 22-24. 26-30) @ $40.00 = $,_ _ postage paid X.Otu.nfi JourrwL 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 Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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.  The Katúah Journal 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. This digital collection is only a portion of the Katúah-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 Katúah Journal. 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 Katúah Journal Records 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 Katúah Journal, Issue 31, Summer 1991 Description An account of the resource The thirty-first issue of the Katúah Journal focuses on "earth energies" and humans' reconnection with the earth through dowsing; earth healing and Earth Energy workshops; and understanding the Earth grid. Authors and artists in this issue include: David Wheeler, Madeline H. Dean, Joyce Holbrook, Clyde Hollifield, Richard Nester, Charlotte Homsher, Page Bryant, Richard Lowenthal, James Proffitt, Lee Barnes, Jim Houser, Emmett Greendigger, Ivo Ballentine, Rob Messick, David McGrew, George Agricola (1556), Douglas A. Rossman, and Mara. Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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. 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. Dowsing by David Wheeler.......3 The Responsibilities of Dowsing: An Interview with Tom Hendricks by Madeline H. Dean.......5 Ceremonies of the Moment: An Interview with Joyce Holbrook.......6 "Jack-o-Lanterns," Acid Rain, and the Electrical Life of the Earth by Clyde Hollifield.......8 Poem: "Old Houses" by Richard Nester.......10 Katúah and the Earth Grid by Charlotte Homsher.......11 The Call of the Ancient Ones by Page Bryant.......13 "If the Earth Is to Heal, Our Hearts Must Be Broken" by Richard Lowenthal.......15 Good Medicine: On Agression.......17 Poems by James Proffitt.......18 Green Spirits: Sacred Forests by Lee Barnes.......19 Off the Grid by Jim Houser.......20 Natural World News.......21 "Just Doing Their Job" by Emmett Greendigger.......23 Time to Take the Time to Take the Time by Ivo.......25 Drumming.......26 Whole Science by Rob Messick.......29 Tuning In by Charlotte Homsher.......29 Review: Light in the Wind.......30 Chestnut Grafting Project by David McGrew.......31 Events.......32 Webworking.......34 Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Katúah Journal, printed by The Waynesville Mountaineer Press Subject The topic of the resource Bioregionalism--Appalachian Region, Southern Sustainable living--Appalachian Region, Southern New Age movement Dowsing Environmental education--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 Acid Deposition Alternative Energy Appalachian Mountains Appalachian Studies Earth Energies Economic Alternatives Education Folklore and Ceremony Forest Issues Good Medicine Habitat Health Katúah Plants and Herbs Poems Radioactive Waste Reading Resources Recycling Sacred Sites South PAW (Preserve Appalachian Wilderness) Transportation Issues Turtle Island 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 Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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.  The Katúah Journal 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. This digital collection is only a portion of the Katúah-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 Katúah Journal. 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 Katúah Journal Records 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 Katúah Journal, Issue 32, Fall 1991 Description An account of the resource The thirty-second issue of the Katúah Journal 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. Katúah: Bioregional Journal of the Southern Appalachians, later simplified to Katúah 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. 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. Bringing Back the Fire by David Wheeler.......1 A Bit of Mountain Levity by Barbara Wickersham.......5 Climax Never Came by Henry Wender.......7 Is the Southern Appalachian Ecosystem Endangered? by John A. Freeman.......9 "Talking Leaves": Sequoyah by Tom Underwood.......10 Green Spirits: Seed Saving by Lee Barnes.......12 Walking Distance by Will Ashe Bason.......13 Angle: Environment by Ivo Ballentine.......13 Good Medicine.......14 Poem: "A Rotting Log" by Brownie Newman.......15 THE GRANOLA JOURNAL.......16 Livin' By Their Wits, recorded by Rob Messick An Old Family Tale by Bess Harbison The Slide by Rob Messick How Can You Lose Anything as Big as This Ego? by Maxim Didget Paintings: "Mountain Stories" by Robert Johnson.......18 Natural World News.......20 Dying Soils, Dying Waters by Emmett Greendigger.......22 Songs in the Wilderness by Charlotte Homsher.......24 Save James Bay.......25 Drumming.......26 Off the Grid: Solar Ovens by Dennis Scanlin.......29 Events........32 Webworking........34 Katúah Konfusion.......35 Note: This table of contents corresponds to the original document, not the Document Viewer. Publisher An entity responsible for making the resource available Katúah Journal, printed by The Waynesville Mountaineer 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